REPORTS OF AL-QAIDA ARRESTS IN YEMEN

S E C R E T SANAA 000657 SIPDIS NOFORN E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/03/2012 TAGS: PTER YM COUNTER TERRORISM SUBJECT: REPORTS OF AL-QAIDA ARRESTS IN YEMEN Classified By: DCM: AGMISENHEIMER FOR REASONS 1.5 (B) AND (D) ¶1. (U) Eleven persons with suspected links to the al-Qaida terror network, including two of the Yemeni government's most-wanted terror suspects, have been arrested in various parts of Yemen, according to an April 1 Associated Press report datelined Sanaa. Citing a Yemeni security official, AP reported that the eleven suspects are now detained in the intelligence prison in Sanaa, and that the two most-wanted suspects were arrested last week, but further details were not available. ¶2. (S/Noforn) The two "most-wanted suspects" referenced in the AP report in all likelihood are Fawaz al-Rabai'e (aka Furqan) and Hamza al-Majali, and ORCA has reported in its channels about their recent arrests by Yemeni authorities. Identities of the remaining nine suspects, as well as timing and circumstances of their arrests are unclear. The Yemenis may have arrested nine new individuals recently; it is just as plausible that these "nine" could represent a Yemeni spin on their combined total of successful moves against specific Al-Qaida individuals over some recent period, or perhaps even since August 2002. ¶3. (C) We have no doubt that the AP report was generated by sources close to President Salih, likely either Mohamed Sudam or Fares Sanibani. Its purpose was to underline -- for anyone to see -- that the ROYG remains firmly committed to the pursuit of Al-Qaida terrorists in Yemen (which is clearly perceived both in Yemen and across the region as a joint CT effort with the USG),notwithstanding ROYG views regarding the war with Iraq. HULL