Yemen hunting for explosive maker

SAN’A, Yemen – Yemeni special forces launched an offensive Tuesday in rugged terrain, searching for an al-Qaida bomb maker believed to have designed explosives concealed in printer cartridges intercepted in two packages last week before reaching the United States.

The hunt for Ibrahim Asiri, a Saudi-born munitions expert, intensified in militant strongholds in Shabwa and Marib provinces. It is the third major operation against al-Qaida in recent months but has taken on new urgency since a plot to blow up aircraft over the U.S was uncovered Friday.

Investigators allege Asiri is one of al-Qaida’s most lethal strategists. He is alleged to have rigged the explosives in a 2009 suicide bombing carried out by his brother in the failed assassination of Saudi Arabia’s intelligence director. He also is suspected of building a bomb to hide in the underwear of a Nigerian student charged in a bungled attempt to bring down a U.S. airliner last December.

The military incursion began the same day Yemen for the first time filed charges against American-born radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki. Prosecutors accused him of “plotting to kill foreigners” in the Oct. 6 slaying of a French manager at an oil compound.

Al-Awlaki will be tried in absentia.

Prosecutor Ali Saneaa said Hisham Assem, a security guard who shot the Frenchman, was inspired to kill foreigners after listening to audiotapes and sermons sent to him by al-Awlaki. The narrative is similar to accusations by U.S. officials that al-Awlaki’s teachings prompted a killing spree last year at Fort Hood, Texas.