Uncle Sam
04-22-2004, 03:41 PM
http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_1516248,00.html
San'a - Security forces have arrested a Yemeni militant they claim was involved in the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole that killed 17 American sailors.
A security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said on Thursday the man, identified only by his surname of al-Nagar, played a major role in the attack in Aden harbour carried out by suicide bombers who rammed an explosives-laden boat into the destroyer.
Al-Nagar was arrested earlier this month in a house in Lawdar, a town 250km southeast of the capital, San'a.
The official said al-Nagar gave himself up afater negotiations with security forces who had surrounded the house.
The official claimed al-Nagar was the middleman between the two suicide bombers and al-Qaeda sympathisers in the Aden town of Bouraiqa, who helped acquire the boat used for the attack blamed on Osama bin Laden's terror network.
Being questioned in police custody
Last month, Yemeni forces recaptured 10 militants suspected of involvement in the Cole bombing after their escape from prison last year.
Police also arrested two other wanted al-Qaeda militants from Yemen in the same town this month, the official said.
The official did not specify when al-Nagar and the three militants were arrested, nor say if they were associated or provide details about the two other militants.
The three are being questioned in police custody in San'a.
Yemen, a conservative country at the southern tip of the Arabian peninsula, is bin Laden's ancestral homeland and has been a hotbed of militant activity.
The country's government, however, allied itself with the United States after the September 11 2001, terrorist attacks, which have been blamed on al-Qaeda.
The government has also allowed American forces into Yemen to train its military to combat militants.
San'a - Security forces have arrested a Yemeni militant they claim was involved in the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole that killed 17 American sailors.
A security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said on Thursday the man, identified only by his surname of al-Nagar, played a major role in the attack in Aden harbour carried out by suicide bombers who rammed an explosives-laden boat into the destroyer.
Al-Nagar was arrested earlier this month in a house in Lawdar, a town 250km southeast of the capital, San'a.
The official said al-Nagar gave himself up afater negotiations with security forces who had surrounded the house.
The official claimed al-Nagar was the middleman between the two suicide bombers and al-Qaeda sympathisers in the Aden town of Bouraiqa, who helped acquire the boat used for the attack blamed on Osama bin Laden's terror network.
Being questioned in police custody
Last month, Yemeni forces recaptured 10 militants suspected of involvement in the Cole bombing after their escape from prison last year.
Police also arrested two other wanted al-Qaeda militants from Yemen in the same town this month, the official said.
The official did not specify when al-Nagar and the three militants were arrested, nor say if they were associated or provide details about the two other militants.
The three are being questioned in police custody in San'a.
Yemen, a conservative country at the southern tip of the Arabian peninsula, is bin Laden's ancestral homeland and has been a hotbed of militant activity.
The country's government, however, allied itself with the United States after the September 11 2001, terrorist attacks, which have been blamed on al-Qaeda.
The government has also allowed American forces into Yemen to train its military to combat militants.