A German anti-terrorism official identified those arrested as Sheikh Mohammed Ali Hassan al-Mouyad and Mohammed Mohsen Yahya Zayed. A US official in Washington called Mohammed Ali Hassan "a significant fundraiser for al-Qaeda." No information was available on the other suspect.
Yemen asked Germany to hand over the suspects for questioning in Sana'a. A Foreign Ministry official told the official Saba news agency that the US embassy in Sana'a had asked Yemen to allow it to take custody of the suspects, but "Yemen requests the government of the Federal Republic of Germany to hand the Yemeni citizens to her and not to any other party. The Yemeni authorities concerned will interrogate them on the charges attributed to them." They would be put on trial if the US provided evidence deemed by Yemen to be sufficient to incriminate them in court.
Germany was an important launch pad for the September 11th 2001 hijacked airliner attacks on the United States blamed on al-Qaeda. Three of the four pilots lived in the northern port city of Hamburg in the 1990s. The first September 11th trial is under way in Hamburg against a suspected co-plotter, Moroccan student Mounir El- Motassadeq.
Apart from the pair held in Germany, relations between Yemen and the US continue to be warm. This week the US embassy announced that Yemeni security officers would be trained in the United States to improve counter terrorism efforts in their homeland. The Defense Department would train nine Yemeni officers. One would be sent to the Army War College in Carlisle PA, while between four and eight officers from Yemen's military intelligence would study English at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. It was not clear when the officers would travel to America or how long the training would last.
A leading member of the Islah party, who requested not to be identified, denounced the arrests and stressed Yemen's full support for the war on terrorism. He told the Yemen Times that Mohammed Ali Hassan al-Mouyad and Saeed Mohammed Mohsen do not have any kind of connection with al-Qaeda. Al-Mouyad's son, Ibrahim, said that his family received that news of the arrest through the media and that the Islah party is following up the case because his father is important and a member of Islah's Shura Council headed by Abdulmajeed al-Zindani. He ran unsuccessfully for election to parliament in 1993 and 1997.
Sources at the Yemen Congregation for Reform Party (Islah) party claimed al-Mouyad is a moderate preacher and a leading member of the Islamic movement in Yemen. His party's leadership is following up the news on the arrest of al-Mouyad and his companion in Germany and had retained a lawyer for the case. It is also in contact with Yemen's Foreign Ministry and political leadership about the issue.
Al-Mouyad, 58, father of seven children, established the al-Ehsan charitable center four years ago. The center contains a mosque and clinic, and a second building where the Quran is taught. It provides assistance to around 8,000 persons and takes care of some orphans. About 40 people work in the center around the clock.
Another Yemeni source said that if the US has evidence that the two are involved in terrorist acts, it should be presented to the Yemeni authorities. It pointed out that Yemen's constitution forbids the extradition of Yemeni citizens to any other country.
