Al-Qaida's Yemen wing issues threats to Saudi gov't

The No. 2 figure of al-Qaida's Yemeni wing has threatened to overthrow the Saudi government by issuing instructions to its sympathizers in that country.

The message was delivered by Saeed Ali al-Shihri, deputy leader of al- Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), in an audio recording posted on the internet Tuesday.

He claimed that al-Qaida has sympathizers in the ranks of Saudi police and armed forces, and he has ordered them to overthrow the government because it was "collaborating with" the United States in controlling the Arab world.

The AQAP has carried out a series of deadly attacks on Yemeni security facilities and Western interests in southern Yemen over the past two months.

Last week, it claimed responsibility for two separated attacks, on July 22 and July 25 respectively, in the southeast oil province of Shabwa, killing 12 Yemeni security soldiers, including top officers.

On July 14, al-Qaida said it was behind the twin raids on the general security and intelligence buildings in the southern province of Abyan, which killed at least three soldiers.

On June 19, militants raided the intelligence headquarters in the southern port city of Aden. Al-Qaida claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it killed at least 24 people.

Al-Shihri, a former prisoner at Guantanamo bay, made orders on June 3 in an audio message to al-Qaida regional cells in Saudi Arabia to abduct Christians and Saudi princes to press for the release of its militants jailed in Saudi Arabia.


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