Yemen hands over Saudi suspects after al-Qaeda plots uncovered

Aug 21, 2008, 7:40 GMT

Sana'a, Yemen - Yemen has extradited to Saudi Arabia eight Saudis one week after Yemeni police uncovered suspected plots by al- Qaeda to carry out terrorist attacks in Yemen and Saudi Arabia, a state-run weekly reported Thursday.

The eight men were 'wanted by Saudi security authorities on security-related charges,' said the 26 September newspaper, the defence ministry mouthpiece.

'The handover was made within the past two days in line with cooperation between the two brotherly countries, and under the security cooperation agreement,' the paper quoted an unnamed security source as saying.

This is the latest such handover between Yemen and its oil-rich neighbour Saudi Arabia under an extradition agreement inked in 2003.

Last week, Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh said police had discovered plots by al-Qaeda to strike targets in inside the country and in Saudi Arabia.

Documents and blueprints for the plans were reportedly found after police forces raided a hideout for al-Qaeda in south-eastern Yemen on August 12.

Police killed five suspected members of al-Qaeda in the raid in Tarim town of Hadhramout province.

Among the suspects killed was Hamza al-Quaiti, a suspected mastermind of several car bomb attacks that hit Yemen in recent years. Two other suspects were injured in the firefight and arrested by police. Two police officers were killed in the clash.