al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula Urges Jihad

A Yemen-based offshoot of al-Qaeda has called on Muslims in the region to wage holy war against the US and its allies.

A purported audio statement by Said al-Shihri, deputy leader of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, warned “American and Crusader interests are everywhere”.

“Attack them and eliminate as many enemies as you can,” Mr Shihri urged.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has said it was behind a failed bomb attack on a US passenger jet as it flew into Detroit on Christmas Day.

A Nigerian man, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, has been charged with attempting to blow up the Northwest Airlines Airbus A330.

He has allegedly said AQAP operatives trained him in Yemen, equipped him with a powerful explosive device and told him what to do.

via BBC News – Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula urges jihad.

Credible Threat From al Qaeda In Yemen

CNN reports the United States is closely monitoring a “credible threat” from al Qaeda in Yemen against the U.S. homeland.

At the same time, one official Wednesday cautioned that the threat is fairly general in nature and does not have too much specificity — and the second said this is not a case of “we connected the dots to something imminent.”

The first official did say, though, that the U.S. had gleaned that al Qaeda is already “adapting” to new U.S. security measures and that, in part, has raised the concerns.

A third source said that in following up on accused Christmas Day airplane bomber Omar Farouk AbdulMutallab, officials came across some information relevant to aviation. A fourth source confirmed the information has to do with aviation and al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). The level of concern is “measurable” this source said, adding “There is more prickling of the neck hair.”

The U.S. has some information about time frame, this source continued, saying, “It is more definitive than it usually is.”

via ‘Credible threat’ from al Qaeda in Yemen – CNN.com.