SANAA: A man suspected of being an Al-Qaeda militant behind a 2007 bombing that killed eight Spanish tourists surrendered to Yemeni authorities, the defense ministry’s 26sep.net news website reported on Monday.
Hamza Ali Saleh Al-Dhayani’s "surrender (on Sunday) comes after the tightening of the noose on Al-Qaeda members" in Marib province and "painful blows they have received," 26sep.net quoted Marib’s governor as saying.
His surrender was made possible by cooperation between local security forces, dignitaries and citizens, the governor, Sheikh Naji bin Ali Al-Zaidi, said.
Dhayani is suspected of involvement in a suicide car bombing in July 2007 that killed eight Spanish tourists and two Yemenis at an archaeological site in Marib.
He is also accused of involvement in a March 2008 bomb attack that killed a policeman and a student in Sanaa. Al-Qaeda claimed the attack, saying it was aimed at the US embassy.
Dhayani is the second suspected Al-Qaeda member to surrender in Marib in recent days.
Another, Ghalib Al-Zaidi, gave himself up to authorities in the province on Saturday, a security official told AFP.
Marib, east of the capital Sanaa, is one of Al-Qaeda’s strongholds in Yemen.
Yemen is the ancestral homeland of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and has been the scene of several attacks claimed by the group on foreign missions, tourist sites and oil installations.
Al-Qaeda has suffered setbacks amid US pressure on the government to crack down, but attacks by the group continue.
On Saturday, suspected Al-Qaeda members killed a Yemeni colonel and two other soldiers in the Marib, tribal and military sources said.