Yemen Confirms Detention of 5 Terror Alert Suspects

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh confirmed in comments published Sunday that his country had detained five people named in a recent U.S. terror alert for suspected links to Osama bin Laden’s militant network and said more were being sought.

Yemen has been on heightened alert since the FBI issued a warning Feb. 11 about a possible attack on U.S. interests in the poor Arab country by Al Qaeda members.

The FBI also published a list of the names of 17 people it suspected of involvement in the attack.

Saleh told the Arabic-language daily Al Hayat that the five detainees included state sector employees and students. They were among a group of 84 people Yemen had detained for suspected links to Al Qaeda and other militant groups.

Yemen has arrested scores of people for questioning since the Sept. 11 attacks on the U.S.

Saleh said the 84 detainees included people with suspected links to the 2000 bombing of the U.S. destroyer Cole, in which 17 U.S. servicemen were killed. Yemen is still probing the suicide attack, which occurred in the port of Aden.

The main targets of a Yemeni manhunt for suspected backers of Al Qaeda were still at large, Saleh told the daily.

“The campaign continues to hunt Abu Ali al-Harthi and Abu Asem al-Ahdal,” Saleh said, using the suspected militants’ aliases. The U.S. has identified them as Qaed Salim Sunian Harethi and Mohammed Hamdi Ahdal. “God willing, in the very near future they will submit to interrogations.”

Asked if U.S. investigators were helping question detainees, Saleh said, “The Americans did not participate in the interrogations, and they will not participate.”

Yemen says such U.S. involvement would violate the country’s constitution. American agents have passed on questions through Yemeni investigators.