Aden army carried out Yemen explosions
Yemen-UK, Politics, 8/30/1999

The organisation of the Islamic Aden-Abyan Army claimed responsibility for the three explosions that took place on Saturday at dawn in Yemen.

In a statement released in London on Sunday, a copy of which was sent to the London-based al-Hayat daily, the Ansar al-Sharia group announced that it had received from the current leader of the organization, Abu al-Muhsin, a message in which he stressed that, "Mujahedeen from the army elements carried out the explosions," and he promised to issue an explanatory statement in this respect within two days.

In a telephone call, the group's official, Abu Hamzeh al-Masri (Mustafa Kamel) told al-Hayat that, "The security conditions of members of the Islamic Aden-Abyan Army inside Yemen put restrictions on releasing the organisation's statements." He added that Abu al-Muhsin told him that the British embassy in Sanaa was the target of the explosion, which took place in the city "in reaction to Britain's involvement in striking the Iraqi cities." He indicated that members of the organization "chose midnight as the time for the explosions due to their desire to ensure the safety of the Yemeni people and the tourists."

Abu Hamzeh indicated that the public is prohibited to walk in the area where the Sanaa explosion took place, the diplomatic quarter, stressing that the majority of the killings and wounds were to guards and security men.

He added that Abu al-Muhsin told him of the determination of the Aden-Abyan Army not to stop carrying out explosion campaigns unless three conditions are met: releasing members of the organization detained in Yemeni jails, especially Abu al-Hassan al-Mihdar, implementing the Islamic Sharia in Yemen, and halting the government's deception, "which aims at blackmailing and partitioning Islamists."

Meantime, a Yemeni official said on Monday that the announcement made by Aden -Abyan army in which it claimed responsibility for the explosion took place in the ³ Embassies² quarter on Saturday, should not be believed.

AFP quoted the Yemeni foreign ministry secretary Ghaleb Abu Jamil as saying in a statement to the Yemeni daily al-Itihad published on Monday that statements made by Abu Hamzeh al-Masri on Aden-Abyan army adoption of the explosion ³ is absolutely unbelievable ³, noting that there are many who are trying to ³ fish in the troubled waters to claim heroic actions for themselves.

The minister called on London, in which he said it claims is fighting terrorism, to hand over al-Masri because there are ³ documents which condemns him as a provocateur for criminal acts. On Sunday Abu Hamzeh announced he had received a telephone call from one officials in Aden-Abyan army in which he announced the responsibility of his organisation for the explosion incident.

Previous Stories:
  On the Yemeni explosion   (8/28/1999)
  Explosion shakes Sanaa   (8/28/1999)
  Al-Mihdar asks pardoning against halting activities   (7/27/1999)

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