Long-Running Antiterrorism Work With Saudis Led to Airline Plot’s Failure
WASHINGTON — In the video, Yemeni militants can be seen forcing their prisoner to his knees in the bright sunlight. The gunmen read out a death sentence declaring the man to be a Saudi spy who hoped to infiltrate Al Qaeda, and then, as the screen goes blank, a rifle shot rings out, followed by cries of “God is great!”
That gruesome clip was released by Al Qaeda’s Yemeni affiliate in March, two months before the revelation this week that American and Saudi intelligence agencies had infiltrated Al Qaeda in Yemen and foiled an effort to smuggle a bomb onto a United States-bound jetliner. But it offers a glimpse of the clandestine battle going on in the remote mountains and deserts of Yemen, where Saudi Arabia and the United States have worked closely together against a militant network that remains determined to strike American targets.
That collaboration appears to have intensified over the past two years, despite a long history of mistrust rooted in the role of Saudi hijackers in the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The relationship was tested again last year when Saudi leaders responded furiously to American endorsement of the revolt that ousted a Saudi ally, President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt. American diplomats were surprised and angered in turn soon afterward when Saudi Arabia sent troops to help put down unrest in neighboring Bahrain.
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