Yemen issues list of wanted al-Qaeda suspects

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.