Yemen holds Saudi alleged financier of al-Qaeda operations (1st Lead)

Jun 14, 2009, 10:56 GMT

Sana'a - Yemeni police have detained a Saudi man described as the top financier of al-Qaeda operations in Yemen and neighbouring Saudi Arabia, the defence ministry said Sunday.

It said in a statement posted on its website that the suspect, identified as Hassan Hussein bin Alwan, was 'the financier of the operations carried out by members of al-Qaeda in Yemen and Saudi Arabia.'

It further described him as 'one of the most dangerous al-Qaeda terrorists.' The statement gave no further details on the suspect or location of the arrest.

A security source told the German Press Agency dpa that the arrest took place in the desert province of Marib, some 190 kilometres north-west of the capital Sana'a on Friday.

In January, Yemen launched a countrywide manhunt for Yemeni and Saudi fugitive al-Qaeda members after the group announced the merger of its branches in Yemen and Saudi Araiba into the 'al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula'.

The new group, headed by Nasser al-Wahishi, former secretary of Osama bin Laden, is believed to have some 1,200 militants from both countries hiding in four desert provinces in north and east of Yemen.

Yemen, a close US-ally in the 'fight against terrorism', was itself the scene of deadly attacks in recent months.