Cairo, December 29: Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which claimed responsibility for the attempted attack on a US airliner bound for Detroit, is led by a Yemeni who was once a close aide to Osama bin Laden.
The group formed in January this year, when leader Naser Abdel Karim al-Wahishi announced a merger between operatives from Saudi Arabia and Yemen.
Al-Wahishi, who goes by the alias Abu Basir, was among 23 al Qaeda figures who escaped from a Yemeni prison in 2006. He is on Saudi Arabia’s most wanted list, which includes many militants currently in Yemen.
At least two former detainees released in November 2007 from the US military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have resurfaced as al Qaeda commanders in Yemen.
Said al-Shihri, who was released from a Saudi rehabilitation program last year, is a deputy leader of the organisation in Yemen.
Another former Guantanamo inmate, Abu al-Hareth Muhammad al-Oufi, surfaced in January in a video clip showing him sporting a bandolier of bullets as an al Qaeda field commander.
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has been blamed for a series of attacks in Yemen, including an assault against the US embassy in San’a, and suicide bombings targeting South Korean visitors.
—Agencies