Dozens of Qaeda militants 'hiding out in Yemen'

SANAA (AFP)

“There are dozens of Saudi and Egyptian Al-Qaeda militants who came to the province,” Ahmadi told the London-based Al-Sharq Al-Awsat daily.

“This is in addition to Yemenis who came from Marib and Abyan (provinces) and a number of militants from Shabwa province itself,” he added.

Among them, he added, are the leader of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) Nasser al-Wahishi, his number two, Saeed Ali al-Shehri, a Saudi, and radical US-Yemeni cleric Anwar al-Awlaqi.

The Egyptians and Saudis, Ahmadi said, had travelled to Yemen from Afghanistan.

AFP