The Plot Thickens

The story Waq al-waq reported yesterday about the former Guantanamo detainee and another wanted Saudi militant found dead in Sa’dah continues to evolve. Unfortunately, I am not at liberty to disclose everything that I have been able to find out in the past several hours, but I can say that the story goes deeper than just the two Saudis – only one of whose identity has been confirmed.

In another, and perhaps separate twist, al-Sharq al-Awsat is reporting that seven Somalis have been arrested for fighting with the Huthis. (In this the paper is following the reporting of Akbar al-yawm, a pro-government paper.) These two incidents will almost certainly be used by the government to support previous claims that al-Qaeda and the Huthis are in cahoots.

I think it is much too early to tell if this is actually the case, and I would be extremely wary of taking these claims at face value. Too much is still unknown at this point.

In other al-Qaeda news, al-Arabiyya is reporting that it obtained a cell phone video featuring AQAP Deputy Commander and former Guantanamo detainee, Said Ali al-Shihri, calling on individuals in Saudi to donate money to the cause to help their brothers in Yemen with jihad.

Along, with al-Shihri there is a Yemeni militant who is being identified by al-Arabiyya as Muhammad ‘Abd al-Karim al-Ghazali.

A video of the story is available here, and an English language report on the issue is here.