From AP, with thanks to Nicolei:
Security forces have arrested a leading al-Qaida member in their pursuit of militants in the south Yemeni mountains, security officials said Thursday.
Abdul Raouf Naseeb was one of more than a dozen militants captured Wednesday night in a security force operation in the mountains of Abyan province, 292 miles south of the capital San’a, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Naseeb was sought by Yemeni police and U.S. officials and is believed to have survived the November 2002 attack by a CIA-operated drone that killed al-Qaida’s chief agent in Yemen, Qaed Salim Sinan al-Harethi, said the officials. At the time of the attack, Yemeni officials did not say that any al-Qaida operatives had survived.
Naseeb allegedly planned the breakout of 10 militants who escaped from an Aden prison in April 2003, the officials added. The militants had been detained in connection with the suicide attack of the destroyer USS Cole in 2000, which killed 17 American sailors.