DUBAI // Yemen has arrested 29 suspected al Qaeda members since raiding the group to foil attacks on oil installations and foreign interests including the British embassy, National Security Chief Ali Mohammad Al-Ansi said.
Al Qaeda's presence in Yemen has grown over the past year, and Washington has said a Nigerian who tried to bomb a US passenger jet on Christmas Day claimed he got help from al Qaeda militants in the impoverished Arab country.
Ansi said on the defence ministry website that al Qaeda had been planning to attack Yemeni government institutions as well as the UK embassy in Sanaa.
"Until now 29 persons have been arrested and authorities are still following up and pursuing the remaining terrorists," he said in the remarks published on Monday.
Al Ansi made no comment on the attempted Christmas Day bombing of the US jet, which has put a spotlight on Yemen.
Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who is charged with trying to blow up a Northwest Airlines plane as it approached Detroit, has been linked to the country.
In US questioning Abdulmutallab claimed al Qaeda operatives in Yemen gave him an explosive device and trained him on how to detonate it, a US official said.
Yemen has staged two major raids on al Qaeda this month.
Last week Sanaa said it had killed more than 30 al Qaeda members in an air raid. The dead possibly included the top two leaders of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and an American Muslim preacher linked to a man who shot dead 13 people at a US army base. The earlier raid on December 17 raid killed about 30 militants in the eastern province of Abyan and in Arhab, northeast of the capital Sanaa, the government said.
The United States and Saudi Arabia, which borders Yemen, fear al Qeada will use instability in the country to stage attacks in the world's top oil exporting region and beyond.
Apart from al Qaeda, Yemen is also grappling with a Shiite revolt in the north and a separatist movement in the south with both complaining of social and economic discrimination, a charge the government denies.
On Monday the ministry also said 13 senior Houthi rebel commanders, part of the Shiite rebellion, had been killed, according to the website.
The conflict in northern Yemen drew in Saudi Arabia last month when the rebels briefly occupied some Saudi territory, prompting Riyadh to launch an offensive against them.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
FA Cup quarter-final draw
The matches will be played across the weekend of 21 and 22 March
Sheffield United v Arsenal
Newcastle v Manchester City
Norwich v Derby/Manchester United
Leicester City v Chelsea
Common OCD symptoms and how they manifest
Checking: the obsession or thoughts focus on some harm coming from things not being as they should, which usually centre around the theme of safety. For example, the obsession is “the building will burn down”, therefore the compulsion is checking that the oven is switched off.
Contamination: the obsession is focused on the presence of germs, dirt or harmful bacteria and how this will impact the person and/or their loved ones. For example, the obsession is “the floor is dirty; me and my family will get sick and die”, the compulsion is repetitive cleaning.
Orderliness: the obsession is a fear of sitting with uncomfortable feelings, or to prevent harm coming to oneself or others. Objectively there appears to be no logical link between the obsession and compulsion. For example,” I won’t feel right if the jars aren’t lined up” or “harm will come to my family if I don’t line up all the jars”, so the compulsion is therefore lining up the jars.
Intrusive thoughts: the intrusive thought is usually highly distressing and repetitive. Common examples may include thoughts of perpetrating violence towards others, harming others, or questions over one’s character or deeds, usually in conflict with the person’s true values. An example would be: “I think I might hurt my family”, which in turn leads to the compulsion of avoiding social gatherings.
Hoarding: the intrusive thought is the overvaluing of objects or possessions, while the compulsion is stashing or hoarding these items and refusing to let them go. For example, “this newspaper may come in useful one day”, therefore, the compulsion is hoarding newspapers instead of discarding them the next day.
Source: Dr Robert Chandler, clinical psychologist at Lighthouse Arabia