SANA, Yemen — Yemeni special forces launched an offensive Tuesday in rugged terrain, searching for an al-Qaeda bombmaker thought to have designed explosives concealed in printer cartridges that were intercepted in two packages last week before reaching the United States.
The hunt for Ibrahim Asiri, a Saudi-born munitions expert, intensified in Shabwa and Marib provinces. It is the third major operation against al-Qaeda in recent months but one that has taken on new urgency since the plot to blow up aircraft over the U.S was uncovered Friday.
Investigators allege Asiri is one of al-Qaeda’s most lethal strategists. He is alleged to have rigged the explosives in a 2009 suicide bombing carried out by his brother in the failed assassination of Saudi Arabia’s intelligence director. He also is suspected of building a bomb to hide in the underwear of a Nigerian student, who has been charged in a bungled attempt to bring down a U.S. airliner last December.
The military incursion to find Asiri and other fighters from al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula began the same day that Yemen for the first time filed charges against American-born radical cleric Anwar Awlaki. Prosecutors accused him of “plotting to kill foreigners” in the Oct. 6 slaying of a French manager at an oil compound.
Awlaki, a charismatic speaker who has emerged as an al-Qaeda leader, will be tried in absentia with his cousin, Osman Awlaki. The charges were read during a hearing for Hisham Assem, a security guard who shot the Frenchman.
Prosecutor Ali Saneaa said Assem was inspired to kill foreigners after listening to audiotapes and sermons sent to him by Awlaki. The narrative is similar to accusations by U.S. officials that Awlaki’s teachings prompted a killing spree last year at Fort Hood, Texas, allegedly carried out by an Army psychiatrist, and instigated the Nigerian in his alleged attack on a Detroit-bound airplane.
“It was natural for the Yemen government to accuse Awlaki,” said Saeed Ali O. Jemhi, an expert on al-Qaeda. “They had been hunting him without charges. Now, they have legal justification, and it will allow the Yemen and U.S. governments to better cooperate on his capture.”
The two governments, however, ultimately might be in dispute over the cleric’s fate. Yemeni officials have said that Awlaki is a citizen of Yemen and will not be handed over to the U.S. The Obama administration wants to try Awlaki, who was born in New Mexico of Yemeni parents, but also reportedly has placed him on a CIA target list for assassination or capture.
