Sana'a, Yemen - Yemen's Interior Ministry on Monday issued a
list of 154 most wanted al-Qaeda suspects as police forces launched a
nationwide manhunt campaign for the fugitive suspects.
The ministry said in a statement that the list, which includes 85
Saudis, was circulated to police stations, checkpoints, airports as
well as sea and land outposts.
Security sources said police forces, backed by helicopters, began
a fierce manhunt for al-Qaeda fugitives, mainly in eastern and
southern desert provinces of the Arab country.
The ministry urged citizens in its statement to cooperate with
police in the crackdown on al-Qaeda militants and to inform
authorities about their whereabouts or movements.
It was not clear whether the 85 Saudi suspects on the list are the
same suspects Saudi authorities listed on an international arrest
warrant in February.
On Saturday, Yemen extradited to Saudi Arabia five Saudi suspects
wanted over links to terrorist activities, security sources said. The
repatriated suspects included Abdullah Abdul-Rahman al-Harbi, a
leading al-Qaeda suspect who was arrested in southern Yemen on March
14.
Yemen and Saudi Arabia have in recent years swapped dozens of
suspects under a security agreement signed by the two countries in
2004.
In February, Yemen sent back to Saudi Arabia Mohammed al-Awfi, an
al-Qaeda commander, after he turned himself in to the Yemeni
authorities.
Two suspected members of an al-Qaeda cell, including a Saudi
national, were killed after police raided a house in Sana'a on
January 19.
Last August, Yemen said it had detained 30 suspected al-Qaeda
members believed to have been plotting joint attacks in Saudi Arabia
and Yemen. The men, all Yemenis, were captured in the south-eastern
province of Hadhramout.
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