Suspected mastermind of the USS Cole bombing arrested

Mohammed Hamdi al-Ahdal

The New York Post reports that "a suspected mastermind of the USS Cole bombing was arrested by security forces in Yemen, and officials say he could provide tips about ongoing terror plots on the Arabian Peninsula." Thanks to Internet Haganah.)

"'He's a big fish. He's a logistics guy in al Qaeda. He'll know about cell operations,' a U.S. official said. 'He's the most prominent al Qaeda facilitator in Yemen.'

"Mohammed Hamdi al-Ahdal, also known as Abu Assem al-Makky, was arrested after Yemeni security forces surrounded his hideout in the capital, San'a, and fired shots in the air to warn him he couldn't escape, witnesses and ministry officials said.

"The Yemeni government believes al-Ahdal got $500,000 in outside financing and planned the October 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in the Aden harbor, which killed 17 sailors, as well as last year's bombing of a French oil tanker, the Limburg.

"In both attacks, suicide terrorists approached the larger ships in small boats packed with explosives.

"Al-Ahdal, 32, a Yemeni national with a wife and four kids, also is accused of planning an aborted attack last year on a five-star Yemen hotel where FBI agents were staying."

Posted by Robert at November 26, 2003 2:25 PM
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