Yemeni government sources have confirmed that Ibrahim Saleh Mujahid Al-Khalifa – the 29-year-old Saudi whose death was announced by Al-Qaeda in a recent Internet statement – was one of several Al-Qaeda members killed in clashes with security forces in Hadhramawt. Al-Khalifa, who was not on the Ministry of Interior's 2009 list of 85 most wanted fugitives, reportedly disappeared from his home in Al-Ras in Qassim shortly after Eid Al-Fitr last year, prompting relatives to inform the security authorities. Al-Khalifa subsequently entered Yemeni territory using his Saudi passport. General Mansour Al-Turki, spokesman for the Ministry of Interior, said the authorities have contacted the Yemeni government “to check the veracity of that information”. Al-Khalifa's family said they received a call from a friend of their son, called Walid Al-Jarboo'a, informing them of Al-Khalifa's death. The call was from inside Yemen. Dr. Khalifa Al-Khalifa, the deceased's half brother who is a judge at Althebiyah Court, in northwest Al-Ras province, said his brother had sold a plot of land he owned a few days before he went to Yemen. Dr. Al-Khalifa believes Al-Jarboo'a, who is from Al-Ras's Al-Shanana area, had convinced his brother to join Al-Qaeda in Yemen, despite the fact the friend was not educated and had been imprisoned before, he added. Dr. Khalifa expressed his shock at Al-Jarboo'a's ability to influence his university graduate brother, who had become a teacher. “I wonder what banner they (the deviant groups) are performing Jihad under. What they are doing cannot be tolerated by any Muslim. When a Muslim kills a Muslim he is [condemned to] Hell. Young Muslims must avoid this.” A government source in Al-Ras said that a relative of Al-Khalifa, a medical student, was killed attempting to cross into Iraq two years ago.
