Saudi Arabia to hand over some 14 wanted Yemenis over security issues

A Yemeni official source said that the Saudi Arabian authorities will hand over Yemen next week a group of Yemenis wanted by the Justice and suspected of committing crimes and having connections with various security issues.

The Yemeni weekly ( September 26), mouthpiece of the Yemeni ministry of defense, said on Thursday " that 14 Yemenis, asked for by the Yemeni security forces and arrested in Saudi Arabia, will be handed over to Yemen during the few coming days."

The process of exchanging accused persons between Yemen and Saudi Arabia in security and terrorist matters, comes in the framework of security cooperation and the security agreement signed between the two states. During the few past months 34 accused persons were handed over, involved in terrorist matters.

Yemen had received from the Saudi authorities 11 wanted including persons involved in the blowing up a French oil tanker "Limburg" in the coasts of Hadramout in October 2002.

In the same month, the Saudi authorities received from Yemen some 12 accused persons, with one of them suspected to be a member in al-Qaida organization, in addition to Bandar Abdul Rahman al-Ghamidi, about whom Riyadh is searching within 19 members belong to al-Qaida organization and is suspected to have had planned to launch attacks in Saudi Arabia.

The Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh received last Tuesday the Saudi deputy minister of the interior for security affairs, Prince Muhammad Bin Nayef, and discussed with him bilateral relations especially in the security field. Following the meeting, the Yemeni President said: " security of the two countries is an integrated matter and what is of concern to the Kingdom is of concern to Yemen's security and vice-versa."