US Fears Al Qaeda Behind Yemen Plot Could Be Helped by Escaped Prisoners
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MOHAMMED HUWAIS/AFP/Getty Images(SANA’A, Yemen) — As a U.S. Navy reconnaissance plane circled Yemen’s capital Tuesday, scouring the streets and alleyways below for terrorist operatives behind a purported plan that U.S. intelligence claims involves a strike on the U.S. Embassy or other Western targets with explosive-laden trucks, the man allegedly behind the plot was identified.
Nasir al Wuhayshi, a hardened al Qaeda leader, is reportedly behind the plot, ABC News has learned.
He is said to be determined to strike beyond the borders of Yemen to the American homeland. He was reportedly behind the underwear bombing plan to bring down a U.S. aircraft.
And authorities fear he just might get help from a large number of maximum-security prisoners, many of them al Qaeda, who have been busting out of jail in recent weeks with the help of heavily armed militants.
It’s possible they could be suicide bombers or become combatants. Authorities are concerned some may have bomb-making capabilities as well.
In Iraq, 500 have been freed; in Libya, more than 1,000; and from Pakistan, close to 250.
The embassies will remain closed through the weekend but concern about the possibility of an attack before then is real and urgent.
It is because of that concern that the reconnaissance spent so much time over the Yemeni capital.
“It was buzzing over Sana’a for at least five hours,” said Iona Craig, a freelance journalist in the city Tuesday night. “Then it was a break for maybe two hours, then it was back again.”
Earlier in the day, the military evacuated the staff from the embassy. The U.S. Air Force airlifted almost all of the U.S. personnel to Germany, leaving behind only the most essential personnel.
Jen Psaki, a U.S. State Department spokeswoman, parsed words, calling the airlift from Sana’a an “order of reduction” of emergency personnel and not an evacuation. She said that there were no immediate plans to evacuate private citizens.
“We will be evaluating the situation day-by-day and making staffing decisions accordingly,” she said.
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