Abu Ali al-Harithi
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
Abu Ali al-Harithi was a citizen of Yemen and a suspected al-Qaida operative who is believed to have been the mastermind behind the October 2000 USS Cole bombing. He was killed by the U.S. CIA during a covert mission in Yemen on November 3, 2002. The CIA used an RQ-1 Predator remote-controlled pilotless drone to shoot the Hellfire missile that killed al-Harithi and five other suspected al-Qaida operatives as they rode in a vehicle 100 miles east of the Yemeni capital, Sanaa.
Al-Harithi was traveling with Ahmed Hijazi, a US citizen, and Hijazi's killing is the first known case of the U.S. government intentionally killing an American citizen during the War on Terror. Unlike Afghanistan and Iraq, Yemen was not considered a battlefield or an enemy state by the United States at the time of the attack.
The George W. Bush administration, citing the authority of a presidential finding that permits worldwide covert actions against Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida network, considered al-Harithi and his traveling party a justifiable military target.
References
- 'Lackawanna 6' Link To Yemen Killings? (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/11/04/attack/main527971.shtml)
- U.S. Citizen Among Those Killed In Yemen Predator Missile Strike (http://www-tech.mit.edu/V122/N54/long4-54.54w.html)
- US missiles kill al Qaeda suspects (http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/11/05/1036308311314.html?oneclick=true)
