Yemen Gazette

Said al-Shihir, a senior leader in AQAP SANAA, 12 March -- The independent website, Marib Press Friday cited “former al-Qaeda operatives,” as saying “al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in Yemen has been making arrangements for months to move its headquarters to the district of Arhab, 15 kilometers north of the capital, Sanaa.”  Talking to Marib Press editor, a number of al-Qaeda members, most of them from Arhab, who were released from prison a few days ago said al-Qaeda military commander in Yemen Qasim al-Rimi and AQAP chief in the country, Naser al-Wahishi “and others were telling us during meetings with them of movements to transfer the command center to Arhab,” adding “compared with remote regions such as Shabwa or Marib, it is less risky to enter Sanaa from Arhab especially suicide cars and explosive belts.”

They said “AQAP network picked a number of targets in the country including foreign embassies, senior security officials and security centers in the capital.”  The suspects were released after they pledged not to go back to al-Qaeda and a number of tribal figures in Arhab hailed what they described as “civilized treatment” shown by the National Security Agency (NSA).  Meanwhile, a number of reports on Friday tried to link a statement by Naser al-Wahishi in a January 2009 interview about a nuclear attack on the US to American citizen Sharif Mobley who allegedly worked at three nuclear power plants in New Jersey.  Mobley killed a guard last week inside the Republican Hospital in Sanaa while he tried to bust out of the hospital.  Initial official reports said he was a German citizen of Somali origin.