Bin Laden living comfortably in Pakistan
A Yemeni court sentenced to death convicted al-Qaeda bombmaker Saleh al-Shawesh on Monday amid a mounting battle between the security forces and the local branch of the jihadist network, as a NATO official confirmed that the terrorist group’s chief Osama bin Laden is living in northwest Pakistan.
Shawesh was caught red-handed on Jan. 30 as he prepared to carry out a suicide bombing in the Hadramawt port city of Mukalla. He was stopped on his motorbike and found to be wearing an explosives belt and carrying two bombs.
"God willing, your end will come at our hands and the start will be from Abyan," Shawesh shouted from the dock as the judge handed down the sentence.
He was referring to a southern province which has seen deadly clashes between the army and suspected al-Qaeda militants in recent months.
Shawesh confessed to involvement in seven deadly attacks claimed by al-Qaeda on oil and military installations in Hadramawt and Marib provinces, east of the capital Sanaa.
"The actions attributed to me are correct," he told an Oct. 9 hearing. "I prepared and carried out these operations voluntarily and without duress."
He has lodged no appeal against the verdict.
Southern Yemen has seen a growing number of attacks by suspected al-Qaeda militants.
On Sunday, Yemeni authorities tightened security around the British and U.S. embassies in Sanaa after diplomatic missions warned of a heightened risk of attack.
Bin Laden living comfortably
The poorest country in the Arab world, Yemen is the ancestral homeland of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
The CNN, meanwhile, quoted a NATO official as saying that al-Qaeda chief Bin Laden is living comfortably in northwest Pakistan close to his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri,
The Saudi-born militant wanted for the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States nine years ago was being protected by local people and "some members of the Pakistani intelligence services," CNN said.
"Nobody in al-Qaeda is living in a cave," the unnamed senior NATO official reportedly told the network.
"The official also confirmed the U.S. assessment that Mullah Omar, the leader of the Taliban, has moved between the cities of Quetta and Karachi in Pakistan over the last several months," said the report on CNN’s website.
It said the NATO official could not be named "because of the sensitivity of the intelligence matters involved."