KUWAIT CITY, Nov. 18 (UPI) -- The interior ministers of the Persian Gulf Arab states met this month to discuss what they viewed as a dangerous new development that could put their states at risk: reports that a number of al-Qaida's top operatives have moved to Yemen from Iran.
Among them is Saifa al-Adel, a former colonel in the Egyptian army's Special Forces, and considered one of the top al-Qaida figures from the first generation of jihadists led by Osama bin Laden.
A variety of recent intelligence reports claim he and a dozen other senior figures who were either held in Iran after fleeing from Afghanistan in late 2001 or were allowed to operate by Tehran, have left the Islamic Republic over the last 18 months or so.
This has injected a cadre of battle-hardened and highly seasoned veterans into al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, a highly effective operational unit based in Yemen and made up primarily of Yemenis and Saudis.
Adel, once al-Qaida's operations chief, was a key figure in Egypt's al-Gamaa Islamiya, the Islamic Group and is close to bin Laden's Egyptian deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri.
UPI
