Al-Qaeda in Yemen information chief Ahmad Mansour has told the Yemen paper Al-Wasat that Al-Qaeda operatives are deployed across Yemen and that their number is increasing, particularly after the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
He said that the fighters have instructions from Osama bin Laden not to attack Yemeni government targets, and that the Yemen regime has asked the organization to fight the Houthi Shi'ite rebels. He added that the U.S. was still their No. 1. enemy, and that the jihad fighters in his organization could carry out terror operations against tourists.
Source: Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, London, January 31, 2008
