WASHINGTON (AFP)
Al-Qaeda has suffered setbacks due to U.S. pressure but its presence in Yemen threatens to turn that country into a dangerous base for training and plotting attacks, a top U.S. counterterrorism official said Wednesday.
The extremist network has been steadily weakened since its attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001, with its haven in northwest Pakistan smaller and less secure, Michael Leiter, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, told a U.S. Senate hearing.
" We have witnessed the reemergence of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, with Yemen as a key battleground and potential regional base of operations from which al-Qaeda can plan attacks, train recruits, and facilitate the movement of operatives " Michael Leiter, National Counterterrorism Center But Leiter said the group's regional affiliates were a growing threat, citing a branch in Yemen as cause for serious concern.
Saudi and Yemeni arms of al-Qaeda announced in January their merger into "al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula" (AQAP), and U.S. officials are worried the group is gaining a dangerous foothold in Yemen.
"We have witnessed the reemergence of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, with Yemen as a key battleground and potential regional base of operations from which al-Qaeda can plan attacks, train recruits, and facilitate the movement of operatives," Leiter said. |
Yemen has been locked in fierce fighting with rebels since August "We are concerned that if AQAP strengthens, al-Qaeda leaders could use the group and the growing presence of foreign fighters in the region to supplement its transnational operations capability," Leiter said before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
A suicide attack in August on Saudi Arabia's anti-terror chief Prince Mohammed bin Nayef was carried out by a bomber who crossed from Yemen.
The senate hearing came as reports that more than 30 people in northern Yemen were killed in a series of clashes between the army and its Shiite rebel foes. |
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Somalia Shebab a concern The United States also was concerned about al-Qaeda's links with Somalia's hardline Islamist group Shabaab, Leiter said.
Leaders of Shabaab "are working with a limited number of East Africa-based al-Qaeda operatives," he said. |
The Islamist rebel group al-Shabaab wants to oust the fragile Somali government Shabaab has attracted hundreds of recruits from around the world, including dozens of ethnic Somalis from the United States, he said.
Most of the U.S. nationals who have traveled to Somalia to fight and train with Shabaab "have been primarily motivated by nationalism and identification with the Somali cause" and not by al-Qaeda's agenda, he said.
But he said U.S. agencies remained concerned at the possibility of al-Qaeda operatives recruiting Americans to return to the United States and launch attacks.
The death this month of wanted al-Qaeda regional leader Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan -- killed in a U.S. military strike by special forces -- could temporarily disrupt al-Qaeda's links with Shabaab, according to Leiter. |
