Yemeni air raid hits Qaida leader house, no casualties

SANAA, Jan. 20, 2010 (Xinhua) --

A Yemeni air strike hit a suspected house of al-Qaida leader Ayed al-Shabwani in the eastern province of Marib, with no one confirmed killed or injured.

Shabwani was one of six Qaida figures announced killed by Sanaa in a Friday air strike targeting their two cars in northern Yemen. Al-Qaida denied the claim on Monday, saying some of its elements were only "slightly injured."

The air strikes that targeted Shabwani's house and farm in al- Shabwan region, Marib province, came in retaliation for al-Qaida leaders' celebration on Saturday after they survived the Friday raid, a high-profile security official in Marib said.

Al-Qaida elements holed up in the farm, about one and half kilometer to the west of Marib's capital, fired back at the Yemeni fighters with anti-aircraft weapons, the official told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Eyewitnesses at the area said no fatalities or casualties caused by the strike, as al-Qaida fighters there were expecting the strike.

Shabwani's house and farm as well as neighboring houses were all evacuated after al-Qaida held a celebration on Saturday, the eyewitnesses added.

So far, no official statement has been released by the government on the attack.

According to pan-Arab al-Jazeera news channel, Shabwani survived the attack and is still alive.

Editor: Pliny

Five Al-Qaeda members reported dead

Yemeni religious scholars reject foreign military intervention


Mohammad Bin Sallam and Ali Saeed

Yemen Times, Published:18-01-2010

SA’ADA, JAN. 17 —

The Ministry of the Interior has confirmed that five people killed last Saturday in a government air raid in Al-Ajasher are members of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

They were ambushed by the Yemeni Air Force on Friday in Al-Ajasher, which is located between Al-Jawf governorate and Al-Booq’, near the Yemeni-Saudi border.

According to sources, there were eight individuals travelling in a four-wheel drive who were targeted, and six of whom were killed, while two escaped.

The slain individuals, who are alleged to have been members of Al-Qaeda, were Qasem Al-Raimi, a field leader, Ammar Al-Wa’eli, Saleh Al-Tais, Aedh Al-Shabwani and Ibraheem Al-Bana’a who went by the name Saleh Al-Jawfi and who was considered their ideological leader. The sixth, however, could not be identified.

According to Yemeni sources, Ammar Al-Wa’eli and Saleh Al-Tais were selling weapons and ammunition to Houthis to benefit Al-Qaeda operations. The ammunition was taken illegally from coastal cities and transported through the desert to Sa’ada.

Security sources said that Ayed Al-Shabwani was killed in confrontations between Al-Qaeda members and Yemeni soldiers in Al-Jawf last July. For their part, Al-Qaeda has denied that.

Qasem Al-Raimi is one of Yemen’s most wanted fugitives. He escaped along with another 23 prisoners from the Yemeni secret police in February, 2006. About 116 additional individuals were also announced as wanted, 85 of whom are from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).

The security sources reported that the Yemeni secret police exerted their best efforts in order to investigate the wanted fugitives. They distributed identifying pictures of the wanted men to many authorities like Yemeni security offices , marine, air and land ports, the Authority of Civil Affairs and registration bureaus and all branches of these authorities in addition to all police stations and security and military check-points.

Al-Raimi is not on the FBI’s most wanted list of fugitives. He is only wanted for questioning regarding possible links to terrorism. 

The Ministry of Interior has confirmed that it will work on “pursuing Al-Qaeda terrorists” and that the government will spare no efforts in expelling terrorism from Yemen.

Tribal sources announced the presence of a military jihadist camp in Al-Ajasher. This camp, as well as the Jubara Jihadist camp, were re-established during the fifth war in Sa’ada.

Sheikh Saleh Habra, the spokesman for the Houthis, stated to the Yemen Times in a former interview that there exists a new camp for Jihadists in the desert near the Yemeni-Saudi border, which was set-up again during the fifth war.
The Friday air raid was launched as a part of a series of strikes against Al-Qaeda members. Abdullah Al-Mehdhar was killed by the air raid. He is suspected to have been the leader of Al-Qaeda members in Shabwa governorate in Yemen.

Ali Hassan Al-Ahmadi, the Governor of Shabwa, said that dozens of fighters, among them Egyptians and Saudis, are hiding in Shabwa. He confirmed that Nasser Al-Wohaishi, Al-Qaeda leader in Yemen, Anwar Al-Awlaqi and Saeed Al-Shehri were hiding there as well.

The security authorities stated last week that Mohammad Al-Haneq, in addition two other men, were arrested because they were suspected of sending threatening letters to foreign offices in Yemen which forced many embassies, including the American and the British, to close their operations for several days.

In a related subject, September Net, the Yemeni Army website, mentioned that three members of Al-Qaeda were arrested yesterday as they were in the process of disguising themselves by donning military uniforms. The three men were all holding grenades and in possession of propaganda promoting terrorism.

On Thursday, over 150 Yemeni religious scholars have warned that if participants in the London Conference later this month decide on foreign military intervention in Yemen, the scholars will call for jihad.

The 150 Islamic scholars from different Islamic schools throughout Yemen said this after a statement made by the Chairman of the US Senate Armed Services Committee, Carl Levine, in which he advised the US administration to target Al Qaeda with armed drones, air strikes, or covert operations.

However, US newspapers quoted U.S. President Obama as saying he has no intention of sending troops to Yemen.
The scholars gathered in Al-Mashad Mosque in the center of the Old City in Sana’a. The mosque has historical significance for all Yemenis since it was built by the Prophet’s companion Farwa bin Musaik and it was the first place in Sana’a used for Eid prayer.

During the conference, the scholars discussed the danger of foreign intervention in Yemen, sending a powerful message to any foreign power who might be considering military intervention in Yemen that such action would lead to a call for jihad.

In the religious statement (fatwa) signed by all 150 Islamic scholars, they expressed their complete refusal to consider having the military bases of any foreign power on Yemen’s territory or within its regional waters.

They also condemned the killing of Al-Qaeda members without fair trials in court, saying that Islam prohibits the killing of foreign civilians and anyone who commits such aggression, must be brought to court.

In the fatwa, they criminalized the killing of innocent civilians in the governorates of Abyan, Shabwa, and Arhab as a result of US-supported government raids on Al-Qaeda hideouts at the end of December.

The majority of the civilian deaths resulting from the raids occurred in Abyan, as approximately 82 were killed and more than 213 were injured, according to previous reports by the Yemen Times.  

The conference was attended by many Islamic students from the Iman University, and the Al-Da’wa Salafi School in Sana’a, as well as by dozens of western reporters.

The attendees from among the students and scholars were silent until the fatwa stated that all Yemeni scholars refuse any foreign intervention, to which all the attendees shouted loudly, “Allahu akbar! Allahu akbar!” (God is the greatest). 
“Yemeni scholars have been following up on the new dangerous developments that Yemen has been going through and the conspiracy by foreign powers to interfere in Yemen’s issues such as security, military and politics,” read the preamble of the fatwa.

The preamble considered the portrayal of Yemen’s situation as a threat to the regional and international status quo and its exaggeration to internationalize the issue as simply a pretext to creating another Afghanistan or Iraq in order to create more homeless and dead people.

It also sent a warning to those participating in the London Conference that is going to be held on January 18, regarding the conference as a threat to the Yemen’s security, unity and stability since the conference was called on by foreign powers.

At the end of the fatwa’s preamble, it stated that this fatwa by the Yemeni scholars comes as a religious duty upon clerics to advise people about what should be done.

Before reading the fatwa, Sheikh Abdulmajeeed Al-Zindani, rector of the Iman University, said that the conference was in response to Yemenis asking about the role of Islamic scholars in this critical situation.

“In order to carry out their duties to the Yemeni citizens, the scholars prepared for this conference for a couple of days” Al-Zindani said.

“After we heard some generals at the US Pentagon stating to the press that Yemen is a state teetering on the brink of failure and the advice of the US administration to take action, the Yemeni scholars became alert and held this conference,” he added.

Al-Zindani also condemned the prevalence of international forces in the Gulf of Aden under the pretext of combating piracy.

“Somali pirates are a small group and do not require all these forces,” he said. “So why are they gathering in the Gulf of Aden?”

“And we also heard Britain -who were occupying the South of Yemen at the beginning of the past century- calling for a conference to discuss the Yemen’s issues,” he said. “Who are you to discuss our problems?”

He suggested that all Yemenis should resolve their disputes within Yemen and all of them: the ruler, the opposition, and the people should come to the table of Islamic Shariah law.

The fatwa also states the refusal of any convention or security and military cooperation with any foreign party that violates the Islamic Shariah law and harms the interests of the country.

And in case the cooperation or the convention does not violate Islam or does not harm the country, it should be approved by the Parliament, Shura Council, and the scholars.

The fatwa recommends forming a committee composed of scholars, judges, and experts to examine these incidents, their causes, and their results in order to determine legal solutions.

In addition, the fatwa invited all Yemenis, the President, the state, the people and all the effective powers in the country to seek advice from the Holy Quran and the Sunna.

The fatwa urged all Islamic nations, rulers and people, scholars and organizations to support their Muslim bothers in Yemen and stand with them against any foreign conspiracy or intervention.

In a similar context, the Islamic Action Front Party in Jordan condemned the American intervention in Yemen saying that Washington is working to bring about chaos in Yemen in order to dominate the Arab region.