AHMED AL-HAJ
Associated Press

SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Yemen’s Interior Ministry says security forces have arrested a leading al-Qaida leader involved in orchestrating abductions of foreigners and looting banks.

The ministry identified the man as Abdel-Rahman Shoueib, aka Abu Musab, saying in a statement Wednesday that he was arrested in Hodeida province. It added that Abu Musab led an attack on a checkpoint that killed two soldiers in April.

In the capital, security officials said that anti-terrorism forces arrested three suspected militants who were allegedly planning an attack. The officials didn’t reveal the nature of the plans but said the three were seized from a hotel in Sanaa. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press.

Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula is seen by Washington as al-Qaida’s most dangerous offshoot.

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