Please find below an example of UPI's continuing coverage of al-Qaida and the U.S. war on terrorism, from earlier this week. A shorter version was published on A13 of this morning's Washington Times. The text of the full-length version is below and you may link to it on the Web here:
http://www.upi.com/inc/view.php?StoryID=20061030-080114-5388r This story remains the copyright property of UPI. If you wish to publish or archive this article, or get more information about UPI products and services, please contact me or e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] To stop receiving these alerts, just reply with the word "unsubscribe" in the subject line. Shaun Waterman UPI Homeland and National Security Editor E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Tel: 202 898 8081 Web-page: http://homeland-hack.blogspot.com/ Analysis: Yemen arrests show terror danger By SHAUN WATERMAN UPI Homeland and National Security Editor WASHINGTON, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- The arrest in Yemen of six Westerners said to be members of al-Qaida has highlighted concerns that the region remains a "transmission belt" for Islamic converts looking for a way to join jihadi terror groups. But experts caution that the facts of the case remain murky, and warned against jumping to conclusions, saying the Yemeni government had many reasons to try to burnish their counter-terrorist credentials by exaggerating the importance of the arrests. Authorities in Yemen told local media outlets at the weekend that they had arrested three Australians, a Dane, a German, a Briton and two other foreigners Oct. 16, and charged them with trying to smuggle weapons to Islamic militias in neighboring Somalia. "Preliminary investigations indicate that they are members of al Qaida," an Interior Ministry official said in a statement carried by the state-run news agency, Saba. "This was a pretty good wrap up of a group of bad guys," one U.S. intelligence official told United Press International. U.S. and European counter-terrorist officials have long been concerned about the possible terrorist recruitment of people with European or Australian nationality. They can travel much more freely than recruits with Pakistani, Somali, or other "country-of-interest" citizenship. The concern is accentuated in chaotic, failing states like Yemen, where intelligence gathering and interdiction are more difficult. "It's said that they were converts" to Islam, Australian Prime Minister John Howard told Southern Cross Radio Monday. Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told the Australian Parliament that two of the men were native-born, while the third was a Polish-born immigrant who had become an Australian citizen in the 1980s. No information was immediately available about the other arrestees, but the Yemen Times, citing unidentified sources, reported that the eight were all students at the Al-Iman religious university in the capital Sana'a, headed by Sheikh Abd al-Majid al-Zindani. Zindani has been named a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the U.S. Treasury Department, which said he had "a long history of working with (al-Qaida leader Osama) bin Laden, notably serving as one of his spiritual leaders," was implicated in "actively recruiting for al-Qaida training camps," and had "played a key role in the purchase of weapons on behalf of al-Qaida and other terrorists." Al-Iman University was where the American John Walker Lindh -- who later became notorious as the "Californian Taliban" -- studied before traveling to Afghanistan. The Yemen Times quoted a spokesman for the university as denying any links to the accused, or to arms smuggling to the Somali militias. "The university's activities are purely educational and (it) operates within the Yemeni constitution and laws," he said. Bernard Haykel, professor of Islamic law and history at New York University and an expert on Yemen, told United Press International that the country has one of the "top five" al-Qaida presences in the world, and is a "major arms trafficking hub," with more weapons per capita than any other country, and strong links to Somalia. Karin Von Hippel, a former U.N. official and regional expert, told UPI that there were well-documented arms transfers to Somalia from Yemen. "It is very plausible that Islamic extremists in Yemen might be trying to get arms" to the Islamic Courts Union, the umbrella group for Islamic militias that have seized control of most of Somalia. Haykel added that Yemen had in the past served as a "transmission belt country," for jihadist recruitment of Westerners -- like Lindh. "It was, and to some extent still is, a place where there were many young Westerners, lost souls if you will," looking for spiritual and religious enlightenment. "Some were recruited (by extremists), some went on to do bad things," he said. But there are also many who come to learn Arabic and study the Koran legitimately, he said, adding that there was "something fishy about the story" of the arrests. "The (Yemeni) government has a history of trying to prove they are hunting al-Qaida," he said, whereas in reality they have a modus vivendi with the group. "As long as they don't stage attacks in Yemen," he said, "they are left alone." Von Hippel added that, given the situation, "It is easy to believe almost anything, but very hard to find evidence," especially without the presence on the ground that most news organizations and intelligence agencies lacked. The Yemeni government was embarrassed in February when 13 al-Qaida militants -- including the leaders of the attacks on the USS Cole and the French oil tanker Limburg -- were among 23 inmates who escaped by tunneling out of their prison to a nearby mosque. "This could be a charade," Haykel said of the arrests, staged to burnish the Yemeni's counter-terrorist credentials. Arresting foreigners, especially westerners, he said, "costs (the Yemeni government) nothing locally. If you arrest a Yemeni, you may have to deal with his tribe, with his family; you do not know whether he might have friends or allies ... No one cares if you arrest westerners." But the U.S. intelligence official told UPI the arrests were "appropriate." "This was not for show," the official said. One Australian media report said the men had been watched for some time by Western intelligence before the arrests, which it described as a "CIA-led operation." The CIA's office of public affairs did not respond to a request for comment. (c) Copyright 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? 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