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CNN Live At Daybreak
Yemen Officials Say Two Key Al Qaeda Operatives Could Provide Critical Information
Aired February 06, 2002 - 05:06 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Officials in Yemen say two key al Qaeda operatives could provide critical information about the terrorist group.
CNN's Brent Sadler is in Sanaa, Yemen with the latest on the search for these men -- Brent, what's the latest?
BRENT SADLER, NBC CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
Well, Yemen, first of all, is taking action against terror in this country on two fronts. First of all, as you say, trying to capture two top al Qaeda suspects. U.S. officials describe them as major cogs in Osama bin Laden's terror network responsible for moving money, materials and also helping to plan terror activities.
Yemen is also continuing to deport religious students, being sent home for visa violations, as part of a government crackdown. Four Britons and a Dutchman are among the latest nationalities to be deported.
(voice-over): Picking up the trail of two top al Qaeda suspects thought to be on the run in Yemen's Marib Province, a wild and rugged region with a long history of highway robbery, kidnappings and lawlessness. But times here are changing. Army checkpoints now control the highway.
It's the first time the Yemeni authorities have allowed cameras inside this highly sensitive tribal area, a focal point for the al Qaeda manhunt aimed at capturing two men, both Yemenis, Mohammed al- Ahdal and Qaed al-Harethi, wanted by the United States for the bombing of the USS warship Cole some 15 months ago.
Mohammed al-Ahdal, say villagers, used to buy food here in the market at Hosun al-Jalal, not far from the two story house he rented, al-Ahdal's last known whereabouts. Entrances locked by order of the government.
A neighbor, Ali Akbar Jalal (ph), introduces himself to talk about al-Ahdal. Others wearing daggers or carrying guns also want to talk, complaining bitterly.
The government stormed the area last December, suspicious that an influential tribe might be harboring the terror suspects. Property was destroyed and lives lost in a bloody firefight. But al-Ahdal reportedly fled the scene days earlier and little is known about his alleged accomplice.
(on camera): The villagers here may now regret the day Mohammed al-Ahdal came to live in their midst. As to the al Qaeda suspect's whereabouts now, no one here seems to know or perhaps can't say.
(voice-over): "But if I see them," says Ali Akbar Jalal, "I'll turn them in." In reality, though, say U.S. officials, the al Qaeda search is like an elephant looking for a mouse in the desert.
(on camera): Well, the government here has locked up around 40 relatives of tribal chiefs hoping to pressure the tribes into fully cooperating with the government's manhunt, a move which coincides with Yemeni reports that at least one tribal chief is attempting to negotiate the surrender of those two al Qaeda suspects whose only condition, it appears, is to have a guarantee from the Yemeni authorities that they will not be extradited to the United States for any possible trial.
Back to you, Carol.
COSTELLO: You know, it seems they have so many places to hide and it's so difficult to find them. Can you explain to us why that is?
SADLER: Yes, indeed, the security and intelligence forces here are working very hard to try and locate precisely where these suspects are and they really drew our attention to the difficulties that the United States has had in Afghanistan in trying to track down bin Laden himself and, of course, the top end of the Taliban leadership.
And the same sort of problems are here, big wilderness, a huge desert, mountainous areas, plenty of places to hide. And they say that they are hoping that all these efforts to possibly pressure those tribal areas to try to arrange a peaceful negotiated surrender will be far better than using force, which as I reported earlier, led to that bloodshed last December -- Carol.
COSTELLO: I understand.
Thank you, Brent Sadler reporting live for us from Yemen this morning.
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