JEDDAH, 29 March 2005 — Within the framework of a security pact signed between the two countries, Saudi Arabia and Yemen yesterday exchanged a total of 33 wanted criminals including 25 Saudis, according to the Interior Ministry. “Security agencies in the Kingdom have received 25 Saudis wanted for security-related issues while eight Yemenis detained for security reasons were extradited to the authorities in Sanaa,” the Saudi Press Agency said, quoting an official.
The official did not say whether any of the 33 were on the list of 26 wanted terrorists issued by the ministry in December 2003. Saudi Arabia has killed or arrested most of the wanted terrorists. The Saudi official commended the security cooperation between the two countries saying it helped in exchanging many wanted criminals.
Interior Minister Prince Naif visited Sanaa two weeks ago and met his Yemeni counterpart Rashad Al-Alimi. The two sides pledged to strengthen border security in order to prevent arms smuggling and infiltration.
In a related development, Anwar Al-Jilani, one of eight suspects facing trial on charges of plotting to attack Western targets in Yemen, told a Sanaa court yesterday that he had planned a strike against the British Embassy at the behest of Al-Qaeda’s Saudi branch. “I was entrusted by the brethren in Saudi Arabia to plan an operation against the British Embassy. We collected information, which we passed on to the brethren in Saudi Arabia,” Jilani told the court.
Jilani, a 20-year-old Iraqi who went on trial on March 21 has been described as the head of an eight-member cell suspected of membership in the terror network. The eight face charges of forming an armed gang to carry out attacks, forging passports and other documents, and possessing arms and explosives. Jilani insisted, however, that he never intended to carry out the attacks. “My task was limited to planning. Execution was up to the brethren in Saudi Arabia,” he said.
— Additional input from agencies
