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01/23/2004: Fraud & Conspiracy Fraud & Conspiracy

Yemen: A New US Base
from African Intelligence.com

Yemen's president, general Ali Abdallah Saleh, and his son, colonel Ahmed Saleh, have become strong allies of the U.S. in the fight against Islamic terrorist movements. The FBI bureau in Aden where terrorists attacked the destroyer USS Cole in October, 2000 now counts over 100 agents. The FBI office in Sanaa, which lies inside the U.S. embassy, has been greatly beefed up in recent months. The FBI rubs shoulders in the premises with a sizeable team from the CIA which coordinates American operations with those of Yemen's Political Security service. The latter is primarily tasked with tracking down Ansar al Qaeda (?Al Qaeda's Partisans?, headed by Mohamed Abu Gaith) and Jaish Aden-Abyan (?The Aden and Abyan Army).The high profile Political Security service is headed by general Ghaleb al Qimch and boasts a rapid intervention force commanded by the president's son and trained by American special forces instructors (notably from Delta Force). These experienced units last week received a first delivery of American equipment designed to bolster the fight against terrorism. It included night-vision equipment and radar systems for surveillance of Yemen's coast and crossing points on its border with Saudi Arabia. In addition, an American-Yemeni liaison office at the defense ministry in Sanna is linked directly to the headquarters of American forces in Djibouti where 700 Marines earmarked for operations in the Horn of Africa are stationed.

Didn't we make this mistake in Afganistan and Iraq? Training and arming despotic regimes for temporary political or security advantages? See more for the full text of the intelligence summary.


Copyright 2003 Indigo Publications
Intelligence Online

December 12, 2003

SECTION: POLITICAL INTELLIGENCE; N. 466

LENGTH: 435 words

HEADLINE: Yemen a New U.S. Base

BODY:

Yemen's president, general Ali Abdallah Saleh, and his son, colonel Ahmed
Saleh, have become strong allies of the U.S. in the fight against Islamic
terrorist movements. The FBI bureau in Aden where terrorists attacked the
destroyer USS Cole in October, 2000 now counts over 100 agents. The FBI office
in Sanaa, which lies inside the U.S. embassy, has been greatly beefed up in
recent months. The FBI rubs shoulders in the premises with a sizeable team from
the CIA which coordinates American operations with those of Yemen's Political
Security service. The latter is primarily tasked with tracking down Ansar al
Qaeda (?Al Qaeda's Partisans?, headed by Mohamed Abu Gaith) and Jaish Aden-Abyan
(?The Aden and Abyan Army).The high profile Political Security service is headed
by general Ghaleb al Qimch and boasts a rapid intervention force commanded by
the president's son and trained by American special forces instructors (notably
from Delta Force). These experienced units last week received a first delivery
of American equipment designed to bolster the fight against terrorism. It
included night-vision equipment and radar systems for surveillance of Yemen's
coast and crossing points on its border with Saudi Arabia. In addition, an
American-Yemeni liaison office at the defense ministry in Sanna is linked
directly to the headquarters of American forces in Djibouti where 700 Marines
earmarked for operations in the Horn of Africa are stationed. The Public
Security service pulled off a major coup on Nov. 25 by arresting Mohamed Hamdi
al Ahdal, also known under the alias of Abu Issam al Mekki. He is accused of
being the brains behind the attack against the USS Cole along with Ali Qaed
Senyan al Harthi, who was killed by a missile fired by a Predator UAV operated
by the CIA in November, 2002. Born at Medina in Saudi Arabia in 1971, Ahdal
fought in Afghanistan, Bosnia and in Chechnya, where he lost a leg. He was
arrested in Riyadh in 1999 and was 14 months. After surrendering without a
fight, Ahdal was quick to talk to his captors. According to a Yemeni source
close to the president's staff, he implicated a number of Saudi and Kuwaiti
personalities in the funding of terrorist operations carried out under his
orders in Yemen. However, Yemen remains a high-risk country. The Ansar al Qaeda
movement operates across the entire nation and notably in tribal zones in which
the central government exercises little, if any, control. The British and French
embassies issued warnings in November concerning the threat against Western
interests in the country.