YEMEN SAYS 35 AL QAEDA SUSPECTS KILLED, DOZENS ARRESTED

SANA'A, May 03 (Saba) – Security authorities in Yemen revealed on Sunday that more than 35 al-Qaeda operatives had been killed and dozens arrested in preemptive terror operations in the last period, the September website reported.

The deaths and arrests took place in the provinces of Sana'a, Hodeida, Shabwa and Abyan. Among the killed were dangerous and most wanted terrorist leaders.

A source at the Interior Ministry also said that the security apparatuses could parallelize the tactics of al-Qaeda in the country before attacking vital targets.

In late 2009 and early this year, Yemen carried out successful terror operations in Sana'a, Abyan and Shabwa in which scores of terrorist suspects were killed, injured and arrested.

The operations came within an intensified campaign against the organization across the country amid fears of growing terror threats.

They were regionally and internationally hailed as a model.

On the other hand, police in the border district of Haradh have foiled an attempt to smuggle hashish to Saudi Arabia.

The Interior Ministry's Information Center reported that a 27-year-old man was arrested while trying to traffic one kg of hashish, made abroad, to the kingdom.

The center also reported that two drugs dealers had captured a Saudi citizen in Yemen amid a conflict over payment for almost large hashish quantities, almost 36 kg, that was previously trafficked into Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi has been arrested for 20 days and he is now free. An investigation into the matter was launched.

FR