http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=119342&d=18&m=2&y=2009
Wednesday 18 February 2009 (23 Safar 1430)
Al-Qaeda man turns himself in
Arab News
Mohammed Al-Harbi
JEDDAH: A wanted Saudi terrorist, who had become an Al-Qaeda
commander in Yemen after returning from Guantanamo prison, has turned himself
in to Saudi authorities, an Interior Ministry spokesman said yesterday.
The spokesman said the man, Mohammed Ateek Al-Aufi Al-Harbi,
surrendered as a result of the combined efforts of Saudi and Yemeni security
agencies. He expressed his desire to surrender through his family.
Al-Harbi, who had been released from a Saudi counseling center for
those returning from the US military prison camp in Cuba, appeared on an
Al-Qaeda video last month to say he had joined the terror network's regional
wing in Yemen as a commander.
Al Arabiya TV channel earlier said Al-Harbi, on a wanted list of 85
militants issued by the Interior Ministry this month, contacted the Saudi
authorities three days ago before surrendering in Yemen. The government
announcement came after Yemeni authorities said they had arrested dozens of
suspects in a manhunt for Al-Qaeda militants in recent weeks.
The publication of the Saudi wanted list followed a move last month
by Al-Qaeda's wing in Yemen to name Al-Harbi and a fellow Saudi released from
Guantanamo as commanders.
In last month's video, the group's Yemeni leader Abu Bashir Nasser
Al-Wahayshi, threatened attacks against Westerners in the region. Al-Qaeda
militants have been blamed for a series of terrorist attacks in the Kingdom
since May 2003
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