Yemen says 30 al-Qaeda suspects planned attacks in Saudi Arabia

Aug 28, 2008, 6:13 GMT

Sana'a, Yemen - Yemeni authorities have arrested 30 suspected members of the al-Qaeda terrorist network believed to have been plotting attacks in neighbouring Saudi Arabia, official sources said Thursday.

The 30 men, all Yemenis, were captured in the south-eastern province of Hadhramout, where police forces dismantled an al-Qaeda cell on August 12, a police source was quoted as saying by the 26 September weekly.

'They were planning to join al-Qaeda members in Saudi Arabia to carry out joint attacks,' the unnamed source told the paper.

The arrests were made after police gained information about the suspects from documents and a computer found in the al-Qaeda house raided by police in Tarim town in Hadhramout on August 12.

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

He said documents and blueprints for the plans were found after police forces raided the Tarim hideout. Police killed five suspected members of al-Qaeda in the raid.

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.

Last week, Yemen extradited to Saudi Arabia eight Saudis wanted by Saudi security authorities on security-related charges.