Yemen nabs Egyptian suspect linked to attacks against US targets

Apr 19, 2008, 18:58 GMT

Sana'a, Yemen - Yemeni security forces have arrested a member of the Egyptian militant Jihad group believed to have connections to terrorists behind a series of recent attacks against US targets in the Yemeni capital Sana'a, a news report said on Saturday.

An anti-terrorism unit captured the Egyptian man, identified as Muhammad Yaqout, in a sting operation in Sana'a last week, the RayNews website said, quoting a police source.

The unnamed source said Yaqout was a leading Jihad member and that he was linked to two mortar attacks that targeted the US embassy in Sana'a on March 18 and a residential compound housing US and Western citizens on April 6.

Interior Ministry officials were not available for comment.

Yaqout was arrested in Sana'a last August as part of a crackdown on Yemeni and foreign suspected militants after a suicide car bombing attack against a convoy of Spanish tourist in the north-central province of Marib on July 2, 2007.

He was released two months later after investigations showed that he had no links to the attack that left eight Spanish tourists dead.