Yemen strikes at al Qaeda, Britain stops flights

SANAA (Reuters) - Yemeni war planes struck at the rural home of an al Qaeda leader on Wednesday, pressing a government offensive against militants whose presence in the Arab country has alarmed Western governments.

In London, the government said it was suspending Yemenia airline flights to London over security concerns.

Sanaa declared war on al Qaeda last week as pressure mounted on it to crack down on the global militant group after its Yemen-based wing said it was behind an attempt on December 25 to bomb a U.S.-bound passenger plane.

"The home of the terrorist Ayed al-Shabwani was targeted in an air raid today, but until now there are no details on the result of the raid," a Yemeni official told Reuters.

It was not known if Shabwani was in his house at time of the strike in Maarib, east of Sanaa. He is accused of sheltering militants on his farm, where training also took place.

Shabwani was one of six al Qaeda militants the government had previously said died in an air strike last week. Al Qaeda later denied any of its members had been killed.

Separately, Yemeni forces shot dead an al Qaeda fighter who tried to steal a government vehicle, state media reported.

Western powers and neighbouring Saudi Arabia worry Yemen could turn into a failed state and fear al Qaeda could exploit the ensuing chaos to strengthen its foothold in the poorest Arab country and turn it into a launch pad for further attacks.

Yemen, hunting al Qaeda in several provinces, is also fighting a northern Shi'ite insurgency and faces separatist sentiment in the south.

Yemen has occasionally been hasty in announcing the deaths of militants. The death of another militant, Anwar al-Awlaki, whom Yemen reported last month might have been killed in an air strike, was never confirmed.

A local government source in Shabwa province later said officials were in talks with tribal sheikhs to try to persuade Awlaki to surrender, or be taken by force.

Yemen gained a reputation as an al Qaeda haven after the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, and came under the spotlight after crackdowns on the group in Pakistan and Afghanistan raised fears Yemen was becoming a training and recruiting centre for militants.

LONDON FLIGHT SUSPENDED

Britain suspended direct flights from Yemen as part of a wave of measures to tighten up border security, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Wednesday, warning that militant cells were actively planning attacks.

"We know that a number of terrorist cells are actively trying to attack Britain and other countries," Brown told parliament.

He said Britain had agreed with Yemenia to suspend direct flights to London until security was improved.

A Yemenia official told Reuters in Sanaa that British officials had told Yemenia that, if it wants to fly to Britain, flights must first stop in a third country for security checks.

Greater scrutiny of suspect airline passengers and closer global cooperation announced by Brown are aimed at preventing a repeat of intelligence mistakes that allowed the Nigerian suspect in the Detroit plot to board a U.S.-bound flight.

Washington is considering giving the Pentagon expanded powers to build up security forces in Yemen and other countries seen as emerging havens for al Qaeda, defence and congressional officials have said.

The proposed U.S. changes under consideration would give the Pentagon new authority to train and equip a wider range of security forces, among them special counterterrorism units controlled by Yemen's Interior Ministry.

Critics say the internal security and intelligence services that could receive the support were human rights abusers and that an expanded Pentagon role risked fuelling anti-American sentiment and boosting al Qaeda's standing.

A new report by a U.S. Senate committee said that some U.S. citizens suspected of training in al Qaeda camps in Yemen, including dozens who converted to Islam in prison, may pose a serious threat to the United States.

Two groups of Americans based in Yemen are causing concern for U.S. counter-terrorism experts in the Gulf region, according to the report by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee staff, prepared for release on Wednesday.

Most worrisome is a group of up to 36 former U.S. criminals who converted to Islam in prison and arrived in Yemen in the past year, ostensibly to study Arabic, the report said.

Some disappeared and it is feared they were "radicalised in prison and travelled to Yemen for training," the report added.

(Additional reporting by Susan Cornwell and Adam Entous in Washington, Louis Charbonneau in New York; writing by Cynthia Johnston; Editing by Angus MacSwan)

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