ABU DHABI Ñ Kuwait has captured a man identified as a leading Al
Qaida operative responsible for the October bombing of a French oil tanker
off the coast of Yemen.
The Kuwaiti national was one of four alleged Al
Qaida members being interrogated by the sheikdom. Authorities identified him
as Mohsen Al Fadli, age 21, said to have fought with insurgents in Chechnya
and with Taliban in Afghanistan.
Mohsen headed Al Qaida operations in Saudi Arabia and
Yemen, according to Kuwaiti security sources. This included relaying orders and funds to Al Qaida agents in both
countries. Most of the money went to Yemeni insurgents, Middle East Newsline reported.
The sources said information on Mohsen was relayed to
France and the United States in early November.
The sources said Mohsen named two men as planners of the Oct. 6 attack on
the French tanker Limburg, which destroyed the ship and killed a crew
member. One of them was said to have been involved in Al Qaida's suicide
mission that destroyed the USS Cole in Aden and killed 17 U.S. sailors.
"Mohsen also confessed that he had prepared with his group a plan to
carry out a suicide attack on a hotel in Sanaa with American guests," the
source was quoted by the Kuwaiti daily Al Qabas as saying.
Security sources said the attack was meant to take place during the
current Islamic fast month of Ramadan. They said the operation was meant to
cost $127,000 and involved the crashing of a truck filled with explosives
into the hotel. The driver of the truck was identified as Osama Al Yemeni,
25.
Kuwaiti authorities also arrested a retired Kuwaiti army officer, the
sources said. They said the officer was also involved in helping plan
attacks on Western interests in Yemen.
The Kuwaiti daily Al Anba said the hotel attack was meant to be headed
by Abu Asim Al Maki, identified as Al Qaida's chief operative in Yemen.
In Washington, U.S. officials said over the weekend that a leading Al
Qaida operative was captured and has been relayed into American custody. The
operative was not identified and officials said he was not Mohsen.
