Saudi Arabia takes custody of al-Qaeda leader from Yemen (Roundup)

Feb 17, 2009, 19:06 GMT

Riyadh/Sana'a - Saudi Arabia took custody of al-Qaeda commander Mohammed al-Awfi from Yemeni authorities on Tuesday, according to Saudi and Yemeni security sources.

Sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that al-Awfi had turned himself in to the Yemeni authorities.

Al-Awfi, also known as Abu Hareth, is a former Guantanamo detainee who had been released from a Saudi centre for those returning from the US military prison camp.

After being released, al-Awfi went to Yemen and appeared on an al- Qaeda video last month to say he had joined the group's regional wing in Yemen as a commander.

He was described in the video as the field commander of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

Yemen's Interior Ministry later confirmed the surrender of al-Awfi and his extradition to Saudi Arabia.

The ministry said in a statement the man gave himself up to police in the south-eastern Yemeni province of Shabwa.

It said al-Awfi was on a list of 85 al-Qaeda suspects issued by Saudi authorities last week.

Yemeni security forces have launched a nationwide manhunt in pursuit of fugitives believed to be linked to al-Qaeda after the group's local leader, Nasser al-Wahishi, made his first appearance in a video posted on Jihadist websites.

In the video, al-Awfi and another Saudi man appeared sitting with al-Wahishi, who threatened to carry out attacks against US and Western interests in the Arabian Peninsula.