Country Reports on Terrorism 2007 - Yemen

Yemen's 2007 counterterrorism record was mixed. The Republic of Yemen took action against al-Qa'ida (AQ) and local extremists, arresting and killing several individuals suspected of having AQ ties, and prosecuted the perpetrators of previous terrorist acts. However, significant setbacks included the June 22 announcement that Abu Basir Nasir al-Wahishi was the new head of al-Qa'ida in Yemen (AQY), and the July 2 terrorist attack in Marib that killed ten people. Despite United States pressure, Yemen continued to implement a surrender program with lenient requirements for terrorists it could not apprehend, which often led to their relatively lax incarceration. Yemen also released all returned Guantanamo detainees after short periods of assessment and rehabilitation, into a government monitoring program that lacked strict monitoring measures. U.S.S. Cole bomber Jamal al-Badawi's continued incarceration remained uncertain at the end of 2007.

On July 2, Abdu Mohamad Sad Ahmad Reheqa drove a suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (SVBIED) into a group of western tourists in Marib, killing him and several others. AQY claimed responsibility. Three days later, U.S.-trained Yemeni security forces killed the suspected leader of the SVBIED bombing, Ahmed Basyouni Dwedar, an Egyptian wanted in Egypt for his ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. On August 8 and 13, Yemeni security forces raided two houses, arresting 17 and killing four AQ-affiliated suspects while suffering one casualty.

On June 22, AQ affiliate and February 2006 prison escapee Abu Basir Nasir al-Wahishi announced he was the new head of AQY, replacing Abdul Ali al-Harithi, who was killed in 2002. On August 23, the Yemeni Ministry of Interior instituted a gun ban in major cities

throughout Yemen based on a 1992 gun control law. Security forces continued to report increasing numbers of weapons seized.

Despite Yemen's history of terrorist activity and repeated offers of assistance from the USG, Yemen lacked a comprehensive counterterrorism law. Current law as applied to counterterrorism was weak. In October, the government established a working group on drafting a comprehensive counterterrorism law. The Yemeni justice system was also ineffective. The courts did not set dates for the trials of suspects involved in the two September 2006 AQY-orchestrated attacks on oil facilities in eastern Yemen. In August 2006, the Sanaa Appellate Court returned to a lower court the case of two individuals accused of plotting in 2004 to assassinate the U.S. Ambassador, claiming the judge did not follow correct sentencing procedures. Consequently, the March 2006 convictions to five years in prison for Hizam al-Mass and Khalid al-Halilah were under appeal at year's end.

Yemeni security forces continued to arrest and try suspected members of AQ and other terrorist groups throughout the year. On November 12, a Yemeni court sentenced December 2006 U.S. Embassy shooter Saleh Alawi al-Ammari to five years in prison. On November 6, the government sentenced 23 suspected AQ affiliated individuals to between two and 15 years in prison.

Although the government lacked laws to criminalize or prevent foreign fighters going to Iraq, it applied available lesser laws to thwart foreign fighter activity. At year's end twenty-one individuals awaited the appeal of their July 2006 Special Penal Court conviction on fraudulent document charges relating to traveling to Iraq to attack U.S. forces. On August 22, a Yemeni court sentenced 19 individuals charged with conspiring to travel to Iraq to attack U.S. and Yemeni interests to 40 months in prison for falsifying documents, possession of arms and aiding AQ suspects.

On August 8, the courts sentenced two Yemenis to one year in prison for their part in the February 2006 escape from a maximum security prison of 23 suspected AQ supporters. Much of this sentence will be time served. The escapees included individuals convicted of participating in the 2000 U.S.S. Cole and 2002 M/V Limburg attacks. On January 15, the Yemeni security forces killed prison escapee Yasir Hamayqani in southern Yemen. In total, ten escapees returned to Yemeni custody and security forces killed six. The government could not account for seven of the escapees at year's end.

In May 2006, a security court convicted Mohammed Hamdi al-Ahdal, allegedly AQ's number two in Yemen, to 37 months in prison for financing terrorist groups associated with AQ.

The government had a surrender program for wanted terrorists that it believed it could not apprehend. The program provided lenient requirements for completion of convictions to those who surrendered. Most notably on October 15, mastermind of the U.S.S. Cole bombing and February 2006 prison escapee Jamal al-Badawi surrendered to Yemeni authorities. He was released to house arrest on October 17, under the terms of this program. Following substantial USG pressure, he was back in jail by October 29. The Yemeni constitution precludes extradition of Yemeni citizens.

Yemen used its Islamic Dialogue Committee, headed by a leading judge who was also the Minister of Religious Guidance and Endowments, to continue its dialogue with detainees arrested for connections to terrorist groups. The government released detainees it considered rehabilitated after they pledged to uphold the Yemeni constitution and laws, the rights of non-Muslims, and the inviolability of foreign interests. The government also released all 12 returned Guantanamo detainees, lacking sufficient evidence for convictions after short periods of assessment and rehabilitation. The government monitoring program of released detainees was loose. The government considers this program to have a very high success rate, but this has not been independently corroborated.

The Government of Yemen's capacity for stemming terrorism financing remained limited. On November 6, the government presented a terrorism financing bill to parliament for approval, where it remained at year's end. On August 6, the UN agreed to a study at the behest of the Yemeni government to rescind the 2004 UN 1267 sanctions against Abdulmajeed al-Zindani, who was associated with promoting and supporting AQ. Yemen continued to take no action to bar his travel or freeze his assets in compliance with its UN obligations. Throughout the year, President Saleh continued to voice public support for al-Zindani and his Al-Iman University.