Culture minister tours Saudi pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka    Al Ahli edges Al Ain 2-1, bolsters perfect start in AFC Champions League Elite    Saud Abdulhamid makes history as first Saudi player in Serie A    Saudi Cabinet to hold special budget session on Tuesday    King Salman orders extension of Citizen's Account Program and additional support for a full year    Al-Falih: 1,238 foreign investors obtain premium residency in Saudi Arabia    Irish PM apologizes for walking away from care worker    Several dead as Storm Bert wreaks havoc across Britain    Most decorated Australian Olympian McKeon retires    Adele doesn't know when she'll perform again after tearful Vegas goodbye    'Pregnant' for 15 months: Inside the 'miracle' pregnancy scam    Ukraine losing ground in Russia's Kursk region, says military source    Hezbollah fires rocket barrages into Israel after deadly Beirut strikes    Al Ittihad claims top spot in Saudi Pro League after victory over Al Fateh    Do cigarettes belong in a museum?    Saudi Arabia joins international partnership initiative to boost hydrogen economy    Riyadh Emir inaugurates International Conference on Conjoined Twins in Riyadh    Saudi Arabia to host 28th Annual World Investment Conference in Riyadh    Saudi Arabia allows licensed flour milling companies to export flour    Katy Perry v Katie Perry: Singer wins right to use name in Australia    Order vs. Morality: Lessons from New York's 1977 Blackout    India puts blockbuster Pakistani film on hold    The Vikings and the Islamic world    Filipino pilgrim's incredible evolution from an enemy of Islam to its staunch advocate    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Top Qaeda militants escape Yemen attack
Ahmad Al-Shemairi
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 27 - 12 - 2009

born radical cleric is alive and well following reports he may have been killed in a Yemeni airstrike against suspected Al-Qaeda hideouts, friends and relatives said Friday.
The government said it targeted a meeting of high-level Al-Qaeda operatives in Thursday's airstrike in the remote Shabwa region.
It claimed at least 30 militants were killed, possibly including Anwar Al-Awlaki, a radical cleric who has been linked to the shooter in last month's attack at the Fort Hood military base in the US. In addition to Al-Awlaki, the top leader of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (in Saudi Arabia and Yemen), Nasser Abdulkarim Al-Wahishi, and his Saudi deputy Saeed Al-Shehri were also believed to have survived the airstrike, according to the chief of Al-Awlaki tribe, Fareed Abu Bakr Al-Awlaki.
At least seven Saudis along with some other foreign fighters were injured in the attack, Fareed Al-Awlaki said.
On Friday, a friend of the cleric, Abu Bakr Al-Awlaki, told the AP that he was not among those killed. He refused to say if the cleric was attending the meeting. Abu Bakr Al-Awlaki was in Shabwa and in contact with the gunmen in control of the area following the strike.
He is not related to the cleric, but the two are from the same tribe and carry the same last name. Thursday's airstrikes were the second in a week against Al-Qaeda.
The newly aggressive Yemeni campaign, backed by American aid, reflects Washington's fears that the terror network could turn this fragmented, unstable nation into an Afghanistan-like refuge in a highly strategic location on the border with Saudi Arabia. The Yemeni government said it struck a gathering of senior Al-Qaeda figures in Rafd, a remote mountain valley in eastern Shabwa province, where they were plotting new terror attacks.
But Yemeni officials still have no access to the area, which is controlled by armed gunmen and supporters of Al-Qaeda, and could not confirm for certain who was killed in the attack.
In Washington, a US government official who was briefed on the strike told The Associated Press that there has been no confirmation yet of who was killed in the strike. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the attack.
Al-Awlaki was born in the United States and moved back to Yemen in 2002. Al-Awlaki reportedly corresponded by e-mail with Maj. Nidal Malik Hassan, who is charged with killing 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas, on Nov. 5.
People close to Al-Alwaki said it is unlikely the cleric would be sitting through a field meeting convened by fighters, considering he saw his role as a scholar and one that gives religious advises and rulings.
The cleric's brother, who only agreed to speak on condition of anonymity, said he also received assurances that his older sibling is still alive.
A tribal chief in Shabwa, who only used his alias Abu Muhammed, said he was informed that Anwar Al-Alwaki was alive and is unharmed. He refused to elaborate.
So far, residents of the area and relatives of those killed say six bodies have been retrieved from the area of the strike and buried. The relatives spoke on condition of anonymity because they were still at the area controlled by the gunmen.


Clic here to read the story from its source.