DUBAI (Reuters) – Yemen has arrested a man described as the lead financer of al Qaeda in Yemen and Saudi Arabia, a security source told Reuters on Sunday.
The source said Hassan Hussein Alwan, a Saudi national, was seized two days ago in Marib province in the east of Yemen.
Militant activity in Yemen, a revolt in the north and a secessionist movement in the south has unsettled Western governments and Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter.
Earlier on Sunday, a government source said seven Germans, a Briton and a South Korean were kidnapped in the Saada area of north Yemen, days after 24 doctors and nurses were held then released within a day.
Yemeni tribesmen in Saada on Friday released the medical workers they had abducted a day earlier, demanding the authorities release two prisoners, a government official said.
Tribesmen in Saada, led by members of the Houthi clan, began an intermittent rebellion against the government in 2004 to protest against what they say is economic and religious discrimination.