Yemen arrests three Qaeda militants, targets leader

SANAA, (Reuters) – Yemeni forces surrounded a  suspected al Qaeda regional leader near the capital yesterday  and captured three militants wounded in a raid, security sources  said.

The Yemeni authorities launched an operation this week to  root out al Qaeda militants who they said were behind threats  that forced Western embassies to close. The raid allayed U.S.  concerns, allowing its heavily fortified mission to reopen.

Yemen, the poorest Arab country, was thrust into the  foreground of the U.S.-led war against Islamist militants after  a Yemen-based wing of al Qaeda said it was behind a Christmas  Day attempt to bomb a U.S.-bound plane.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said fighting in  Yemen was a threat to regional and global stability.

Security sources said Yemeni forces had surrounded an area  in Arhab, 60 km (40 miles) northeast of Sanaa, where a suspected  al Qaeda commander was believed to be hiding in a house. They  said the man was the target of a raid earlier this week.

Local tribal elders were trying to mediate, asking security  forces not to launch an assault while they try to persuade the  suspect to surrender, a tribal source told Reuters.

Yemen’s heavily armed tribes often try to protect their kin  by entering into negotiations with the government to gain their  release or favourable treatment.

Three militants wounded in an attack on Monday were arrested  on Tuesday after being spotted in a hospital, an official said.

Arhab was one of the regions targeted by government forces  with air and artillery strikes last month in operations that a  security source said foiled a series of suicide bombings. Two  suspected militants died in the December operation in Arhab.