LARA JAKES
AP National Security Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department has designated as a global terrorist an al-Qaida leader accused of plotting to bomb the U.S. Embassy in Yemen.

The official designation on Tuesday freezes all U.S. assets of Shawki Ali Ahmed al-Badani and bans any Americans or U.S. businesses from dealing with him.

Al-Badani is believed to be a leader and operative for al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, which is based in Yemen.

Aside from the 2012 embassy plot, he’s been linked to a suicide bomber who killed more than 100 Yemeni soldiers in a May attack that same year.

It’s also believed al-Badani had a role in a threatened but vague plot that caused 19 U.S. embassies to close across Africa and the Mideast last summer.

Al-Badani is already on Yemen’s most wanted terrorist list.

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