Al-Qaeda Claims Failed Attack In Yemen

By Ahmad Shihadah
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

SA’NA, Yemen – Al Qaeda’s Yemen wing has claimed a suicide attack on the British ambassador to Sanaa, accusing him of leading a war on Muslims in the Arabian peninsula on Britain’s behalf, a monitoring group said on Wednesday.

SITE Intelligence Group said in a news release that Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula claimed responsibility for the attack in a communique released on jihadist forums Tuesday.

The British envoy survived the April 26 attempt on his life, carried out by a suicide bomber who targeted his convoy in Sanaa in an attack Yemen said bore the hallmarks of al Qaeda. The bomber was killed and three people were wounded.

The attack on came four months after the Yemen-based branch of al-Qaeda tried to blow up a U.S. airliner with 278 passengers as it approached Detroit.

John Brennan, President Barack Obama’s assistant for homeland security and counterterrorism, said on Jan. 3 that there were probably several hundred al-Qaeda members in Yemen and that the U.S. was concerned they may be training other operatives for attacks in the U.S. and elsewhere.

Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter and holder of one-fifth of global reserves, also faces a threat from al- Qaeda militants based across the border with Yemen. In August, the group attempted to assassinate a top Saudi internal security official, Prince Muhammad bin Nayef bin Abdulaziz.

Yemen is the poorest Arab country, and the government expects oil reserves that fund 70 percent of the budget to run out over the next decade.

The U.K. hosted an aid conference in January for Yemen that promised further assistance if the government carries out political and economic improvements that would allow better use of foreign donations.

In the statement, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula vilified Britain for convening the London conference, SITE said.

For more information, please see:

Reuters – Yemen Al Qaeda Arm Claims Attack On UK Ambassador – 12 May 2010

AP – Al-Qaeda Group Claims April Attack In Yemen – May 12 2010

Bloomsburg – Al-Qaeda Claims Failed Attack On UK Envoy – May 12 2010

Author: Impunity Watch Archive