A Nigerian man accused in the attempted bombing of a US-bound plane on Christmas Day was recruited by al-Qaeda in London and met a radical US Muslim cleric in Yemen, a top Yemeni official said today.
Yemen, the poorest Arab country, was thrust into the foreground of the US-led war against Islamist militants after a Yemen-based wing of al-Qaeda said it was behind the failed bomb attempt.
"The information provided to us is that Umar Farouk (Abdulmutallab) joined al-Qaeda in London," Rshad al-Alimi, Yemen's Deputy Prime Minister for Defence and Security, told a news conference today.
Alimi said that Abdulmutallab had also met with Muslim preacher Anwar al-Awlaki during his time in Yemen, referring to an English-speaking cleric linked to a gunman who ran amok in a US army base in Texas.
A Yemeni security official has said Awlaki was believed to have later died in a strike on al-Qaeda militants last month.
Yemen, trying to fight a resurgent al-Qaeda on its territory, launched an operation this week to root out al Qaeda militants who they said were behind threats that forced Western embassies to close on Sunday.
The raid, which killed two militants, allayed US concerns and allowed its heavily fortified mission to reopen.
Yemeni Foreign Minister Abubakr al-Qirbi, whose country is also facing a Shia revolt in the north and simmering separatist sentiment in the south, said fighting militants was a priority for Yemeni forces and rejected foreign intervention.
"We think this is the priority and the responsibility of our security forces and the army," Mr Qirbi told the US news channel CNN.
Asked by CNN whether Yemen would accept direct US intervention, Mr Qirbi said: "No, I don't think we will accept that. I think the US, as well, have learned from Afghanistan and Iraq and other places that direct intervention can be self-defeating."
Reuters