UPI
Thursday, August 26, 2010
U.S. President Barack Obama sparked controversy in April when he authorized the assassination of Anwar al-Awlaki, a clerical leader of Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula. The U.S.-born cleric is accused of contacting the suspect in the November shooting rampage in Fort Hood, Texas, and the alleged would-be bomber of a passenger jet Christmas Day before their operations.
The United Nations in July placed Awlaki on its so-called 1257 list of suspects tied to the Taliban or al-Qaida.
Special operations forces and the CIA are deploying drones and personnel in the region in operations targeting AQAP and their Somali affiliates in al-Shabaab, The Wall Street Journal reports.
The U.S. military has admitted to playing a limited role in Yemeni counter-terrorism operations but new CIA operations give U.S. intelligence agencies more influence over what has been a quiet military campaign in Yemen, the Journal adds.
U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., who sits on the House Select Committee on Intelligence, said the emerging threats from al-Qaida could come from the Arabian Peninsula, not the mountains of Central Asia.
"It's very possible the next terrorist attack will see its origins coming out of Yemen and Somalia rather than out of Pakistan," said Hoekstra.
Daniel Benjamin, the coordinator for counter-terrorism at the State Department, said al-Qaida affiliates outside of Central Asia were a growing concern when he unveiled a 292-page assessment of terrorism threats to the United States in early August.
Intelligence officials say they worry that al-Shabaab and AQAP may be coordinating in the Arabian peninsula, prompted intelligence officials to weigh launching a drone campaign modeled after the one under way in the mountains of Pakistan, the Journal reports.
Source: UPI