Yemen denies any link between al-Awlaki trial and suspected parcels
The Source: SANA'A/hadhramaut.info/sabanews.net - 05/11/2010
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Yemeni sources have rejected the existence of a link between a court officially charging Anwar al-Awlaki of belonging to al-Qaeda and inciting to killing foreigners, and the failed attempt by al-Qaeda to send two booby-trapped parcels to the United States London-based pan-Arab daily Al-Sharq al-Awsat has quoted the sources as saying that the commencement of the trial of al-Awlaki has come after official charges against him became available.The sources pointed out that the Yemeni security authorities have requested the United States to report to Yemen the crimes committed by al-Awlaki."We have officially requested from the United States to send detailed reports of al-Awlaki's crimes so that his trial can commence according to the Yemeni law," the source said.They explained that the commencing of the trial of al-Awlaki in absentia now despite the passage of a period of time since the US announcement that it has commissioned the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to arrest or assassinate him, and that it has placed him on the blacklist, and also linking him to the US Major who opened fire randomly and killed at least 13 people in Fort Hood in Texas last year "was because the Yemeni side only recently received the report about al-Awlaki's official crimes and charges."The sources stressed that prime minister Ali Mujawar had explained at a recent meeting with the US and EU ambassadors that the Yemeni government rejects the finger of accusation being pointed at Yemen whenever an incident related to international security occurs, and emphasized that Yemen cannot pay the price after every operation "as the recent parcels have passed through more than one international airport, and not only through Sana’a."Mujawar also conveyed to the western ambassadors that Yemen welcomes the joint cooperation in order to protect international security through seeking the help of any expertise from the fraternal and western countries within the framework of advice and cooperation in protecting the airport security and in the mechanism of search.Yemen is prepared to accept the training of the Yemeni forces on combating terrorism; however, this is on condition that the training takes place under Yemeni security command and orders.
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