Explosion attempt a stark reminder of al-Qaeda threat

ANALYSIS: A number of Saudis who had been released from Guantánamo Bay fled to Yemen to join the terror group, on which they…

ANALYSIS:A number of Saudis who had been released from Guantánamo Bay fled to Yemen to join the terror group, on which they now form the majority

AL-QAEDA in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the organisation being blamed for last week’s US-bound parcel bombs, was responsible for the Christmas Day bombing attempt on a US airliner over Detroit.

The explosive material which was loaded into the parcels, PETN, was used in the Detroit bomb and also by a suicide bomber who tried to assassinate a Saudi prince in October 2009.

The latest devices were discovered in Dubai and Britain after Saudi Arabia – which appears to have infiltrated the terror group in the region – provided US, British and Emirati intelligence with the tracking numbers of the parcels.

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AQAP was formed in January 2009 when al-Qaeda’s Yemeni and Saudi affiliates merged. US-born Yemeni activist Anwar al-Awlaki was the instigator of the merger which took place at a time when the Saudi element had been largely suppressed by the kingdom’s security agencies, forcing Saudi militants to seek refuge in Yemen.

A number of Saudis held at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba were released, returned to Saudi Arabia and forced to undergo re-education before they fled to Yemen to join AQAP. Saudis comprise the majority of this group’s members.

Awlaki, a US-educated engineer, is a preacher said to have inspired two hijackers involved in the September 11th, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington.

He may have had a close internet connection with US army major Nidal Hasan who last year shot and killed 13 servicemen and wounded another 32 at Fort Hood in Texas.

Faisal Shahzad, a US citizen of Pakistani origin who attempted to explode a crude bomb in New York City’s Times Square, admitted he had been influenced by Awlaki.

AQAP transformed itself into the most active al-Qaeda organisation outside North Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan. The terror group in the Arabian Peninsula is more an affiliate of the parent group than a splinter organisation and adheres closely to the teachings of al-Qaeda’s founder Osama bin Laden, a Saudi citizen of Yemeni origin.

Bin Laden seeks to overthrow the western-aligned Saudi monarchy and liberate Jerusalem from Israeli occupation.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is also determined to topple the secular Arab nationalist Yemeni administration which, over the past decade has co-operated closely with the US in the campaign against al-Qaeda.

Furthermore, Yemen’s security forces are fighting a Shia insurgency in the north and a secular campaign for secession in the south.

AQAP has about 400 fighters who are based in the eastern provinces.

The operatives, led by a former bin Laden aide Nasser al-Wuhayshi, have killed more than 50 Yemeni security men this year. The group has targeted diplomats, aid workers and foreign tourists and has forged ties to al-Shabab – al-Qaeda connected militants who are trying to impose an Islamic state in neighbouring Somalia.

Michael Jansen

Michael Jansen

Michael Jansen contributes news from and analysis of the Middle East to The Irish Times