Beirut
18 September 2008
Al Arabiya TV is reporting the Yemeni government has arrested at least
25 people in a crackdown on militants thought to be involved in an
attack Wednesday on the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa. For VOA, Edward
Yeranian reports from Beirut.
The Yemeni government has
reportedly rounded up more than two dozen Islamic militants with
suspected ties to al-Qaida, which authorities believe is involved with
the deadly car bomb attack Wednesday against the U.S. Embassy.
Al
Arabiya TV reports that Yemeni police launched the crackdown, amid
threats of further attacks against Western targets. The suspects are
reportedly being interrogated by U.S. and Yemeni investigators.
A
U.S. official, who refused to be named, confirmed that a team of
American investigators had been sent to Yemen, and U.S. Embassy
spokesman Ryan Gliha said that both sides are cooperating.
"A
joint investigation has now begun," he said, "with cooperation between
the Yemeni government, the Yemeni security forces and officials from
the U.S. Embassy."
An eyewitness also reported that he had seen foreign investigators in front of the embassy walls, examining debris.
U.S.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the assault bears the
hallmarks of al-Qaida, but the U.S. has not concluded who is to blame.
A group calling itself Islamic Jihad in Yemen claimed responsibility
and threatened further strikes.
The French Press Agency says the
group is also demanding the U.S. and British embassies in Yemen be
closed if President Ali Abdallah Saleh does not release imprisoned
Islamic militants.
The Yemeni government has arrested groups of
Islamic militants in recent years, but 23 escaped from prison in 2006,
and a number of others were released after pledging not to resort to
violence.
At least 16 people, including six assailants, died in
yesterday's multi-pronged attack against the U.S. Embassy, which
reportedly involved two car bombs.
One U.S. citizen, 18-year-old
Susan Albaneh, who is married to a Yemeni national, was killed along
with her husband in front of the embassy in the Wednesday attack. It
was the second attack on the U.S. Embassy in six months and the fourth
since 2003.