Britons and Australian held in Yemen over suspected links to al-Qaeda
Saturday, June 5th, 2010
Yemeni officials have claimed that some of the foreign nationals detained have connections with Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who attempted to blow up a transatlantic airliner on Christmas Day last year, and Anwar al-Awlaki, a jihadist cleric.
The arrests of the British nationals follow an investigation into the activities of an Australian woman by police in the capital Sana’a after information was supposedly passed to the Yemenis by the Australian government.
Shyloh Jayne Giddens, a Muslim convert who moved to Yemen to bring up her two children in an Islamic country, has been detained without charge in Sana’a's political prison since May 15.
Her Australian passport was cancelled two months ago by the Australian government for “national security reasons”.
Ms Giddens, 30, was teaching English in Sana’a at the time of her arrest. She denies having any terrorist links.
At least two of the British nationals being held are of Yemeni extraction, and others detained include American and French nationals as well as “Asians and Africans”, the Independent reports.
Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian student responsible for the failed Christmas Day attack, told US investigators after his arrest that there were “many like me” trained by the Yemen-based al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsular (AQAP).
US intelligence officials warned in February that al-Qaeda was trying to recruit English-speaking westerners, particularly women, who could easily slip past security controls to launch terrorist attacks.
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