SANA'A: Yemen launched a major operation Tuesday to arrest an Arab bombmaker suspected of being behind a foiled bomb plot involving US-bound parcels as the poverty-hit nation comes under pressure to find those responsible. The aim of the operation in the provinces of Maarib and Shabwa was to capture Ibrahim Al-Asiri, as well as the US-born radical preacher Anwar Al-Awlaki, who is wanted by Washington for his links to Al-Qaeda, a Yemeni security official said. Yemeni authorities also began the trial in absentia of Al-Awlaki, who has been linked to the failed bombing of a US-bound plane in December 2009 that was claimed by Yemen's Al-Qaeda wing and who is thought to be in southern Yemen. “Asiri is believed to be hiding and moving with senior Al-Qaeda elements such as (Yemen Al-Qaeda leader) Nasser Al-Wahayshi. Security intelligence are still tracking them down to exactly identify their whereabouts,” the official said. “The campaign includes intensive intelligence and military work,” he added. Security forces had been deployed to parts of the two provinces, and were working to seal off some areas. Maarib and Shabwa are neighboring provinces that are known for their impenetrable desert landscape. Shabwa is in central Yemen and borders the Arabian Sea, while Maarib lies to the west of the country. The two parcel bombs were intercepted last week on cargo planes in Britain and Dubai and are thought to be the work of Al-Qaeda's Yemen-based arm, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), US officials say. The US Treasury has blacklisted Al-Awlaki as a “specially designated global terrorist”. Earlier this year, the United States authorized the CIA to capture or kill him. US President Barack Obama has increased funding for Yemen this year, providing $150 million in military assistance alone. Unmanned American drone aircraft gather information about militants and have occasionally fired missiles at them, although neither Washington nor Sana'a is keen to admit this. Meanwhile, German police disarmed a mail bomb Tuesday that was sent from Greece to German Chancellor Angela Merkel's office, hours after similar small bombs exploded outside the Russian and Swiss embassies in Athens in attacks blamed on far-left Greek extremists. Greek police destroyed five more suspected bombs meant for other offices in Athens, and two local men have been charged with mailing bombs.
