Al-Qaeda in Yemen denies U.S. claims on attack plots.

Al-Qaeda in Yemen denies U.S. claims 

on attack plots.

Yemeni security forces at a checkpoint in Sana’a. Embassies were
 closed during August due to allegations that the al-Qaeda was
planning attacks in Yemen. (File Photo: AFP)

Dubai | AFP | 27 Aug 2013 :: Al-Qaeda in Yemen has denied U.S. allegations it is plotting massive attacks that prompted the closure of Western missions in the country this month, in a statement posted online.

The extremist network also denied reports confirmed by Yemen’s President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi that U.S. intelligence services had intercepted a conversation between al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri and Nasser al-Wuhayshi, head of the Yemen-based al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

“Hadi repeated the nonsense and propaganda published by U.S. intelligence on telephone calls between jihadist leaders to justify the US plot to kill Muslims in Yemen through continued raids,” AQAP said in the statement posted on jihadist Internet forums.

Hadi had “claimed the jihadists were plotting to target oil terminals in the country using bomb-laden trucks,” said AQAP.

“We deny what he said and regard it as an attempt to justify US criminal practices.”

“We also affirm our concern... in preserving the blood of Muslims,” the statement added.

A source close to Hadi quoted the Yemeni leader as saying Friday that in the alleged conversation between the al-Qaeda leaders Wuhayshi told Zawahiri he would be hearing of something “that will change the course of history”.

Hadi and U.S. President Barack Obama had discussed the matter at the White House on August 1, according to the same source.

On August 4, the United States shut 19 of its consulates and embassies in the Arab and Muslim countries amid what American officials said was a threat of an imminent al-Qaeda attack.(Courtesy:Al Arabia)Read More>>>

Al-Qaeda chief’s message triggered embassy closures.

Al-Qaeda chief’s message triggered embassy closures.

Intercepted communications about terror plans from bin Laden’s successor to deputy in Yemen set off sweeping terror alert

WASHINGTON | AP | 06 Aug 2013 ::  An intercepted secret message between al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahri and his deputy in Yemen about plans for a major terror attack was the trigger that set off the current shutdown of many US embassies, two officials told The Associated Press on Monday.

A US intelligence official and a Mideast diplomat said al-Zawahri’s message was picked up several weeks ago and appeared to initially target Yemeni interests. The threat was expanded to include American or other Western sites abroad, officials said, indicating the target could be a single embassy, a number of posts or some other site. Lawmakers have said it was a massive plot in the final stages, but they have offered no specifics.

The intelligence official said the message was sent to Nasser al-Wahishi, the head of the terror network’s organization, based in Yemen, known as al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the sensitive issue publicly.

American spies and intelligence analysts on Monday scoured email, phone calls and radio communications between al-Qaeda operatives in Yemen and the organization’s senior leaders to determine the timing and targets of the planned attack.

The call from al-Zawahri, who took over for Osama bin Laden after US Navy SEALs killed the al-Qaeda leader in May 2011, led the Obama administration to close diplomatic posts from Mauritania on Africa’s west coast through the Middle East to Bangladesh, east of India, and as far south as Madagascar.

The US did decide to reopen some posts on Monday, including well-defended embassies in Kabul, Afghanistan, and Baghdad.

Authorities in Yemen, meanwhile, released the names of 25 wanted al-Qaeda suspects and said those people had been planning terrorist attacks targeting “foreign offices and organizations and Yemeni installations” in the capital Sanaa and other cities across the country.

The Yemeni government also went on high alert Monday, stepping up security at government facilities and checkpoints.

Officials in the US wouldn’t say who intercepted the initial suspect communications — the CIA, the National Security Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency or one of the other intelligence agencies — that kicked off the sweeping pre-emptive closure of US facilities. But an intelligence official said the controversial NSA programs that gather data on American phone calls or track Internet communications with suspected terrorists played no part in detecting the initial tip. That official spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to discuss the spying publicly.(Courtesy:Times of Israel)Read More >>>