Yemen Arrests 30 Muslim Activists as Suspect Admits Wide Plan

03/01/2003| IslamWeb

Acting on FB information, Yemen has arrested at least 30 Muslim activists suspected in the murder of three American missionaries, Yemeni security officials said Wednesday. All are believed to be part of a terrorist cell in Yemen that is plotting attacks on foreigners and secular political leaders, officials said. Yemen is the ancestral home of Osama bin Laden's family and is a refuge for Muslim militants. The central government in Yemen is weak, and guns are plentiful.

But Yemen joined the U.S.-led war on terrorism last year and has allowed FBI and CIA officials to train its security forces and search for suspected activists, particularly members of bin Laden's al-Qaeda network. Support for the activists, at least in the Yemeni capital, San'a, appears to be fading.

On Wednesday, at the funeral of a prominent politician killed by activists Saturday, tens of thousands of Yemenis shouted, ''Death to extremists and terrorists.'' Jarallah Omar, the deputy leader of Yemen's socialist party, was shot after speaking at an Islamic political party meeting.

Officials: Yemen Suspects Admit Wide Plan

Among the 30 Islamists detained so far are Ali al-Jarallah and Abed Abdul Razak Kamel, in custody for allegedly killing three American Christian missionaries and Jarallah Omar.

The two murder suspects, had plans to attack other foreigners, journalists and Yemeni political leaders, security officials said Thursday.

They gave police a list of eight targets during interrogation, the officials said on condition of anonymity.

The officials did not release the full list of alleged targets nor name anyone believed to be included in the hit list. But they said one target was a guesthouse used by Ismaili Muslims in San'a. Some Sunni Muslim extremists consider Ismailism - a form of the Shiite branch of Islam - heretical.

The officials did not say whether the suspects had described how they planned to attack their planned targets.

Officials have said they believe Kamel, the suspect in the missionary hospital killings, is linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terror network, which has found a fertile recruiting ground in Yemen.

The officials said Yemeni interrogators have been briefing the FBI as the investigations progress but that U.S. agents were not allowed to interrogate Kamel.

U.S. diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity Thursday, said the Americans were getting all the cooperation they need from the Yemenis.

Like elsewhere in the Arab world, anti-American sentiments are running high in Yemen over Washington's support for Israel and the standoff with Iraq.

PHOTO CAPTION

Abed Abdul Razak Kamel, who is accused in the slaying of three American Christian missionaries, is seen in this undated police handout photograph made available Thursday, Jan. 2, 2003AP Photo/HO)&nbs