Following a claim of responsibility by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula for a cargo plane crash in September, Dubai is re-investigating evidence from the aircraft. Two pilots were killed in that tragedy which the United Arab
Emirates had believed was caused by lithium batteries igniting in the hold.
Al Qaeda is widely thought to have planted the two package bombs discovered in UK and Dubai at the end of October. They were powerful enough to blast the planes out of the sky.
Director-general of the civil aviation authority of UAE, Saif al Suwaidi, said no evidence had yet been found of a bomb causing the Dubai crash. After reporting smoke in their cabin, the pilots had failed to make it back to Dubai Airport.
Airlines based in the UAE have followed UK and other countries in banning any incoming cargo aircraft which took off from Yemen. The loss of such an important regional hub as Dubai will hit Yemen hard.
AQAP leader, Anwar al-Awlaki, is being sought by Yemen for instigating violence towards foreigners. He is also on the wanted list of the recently reinforced CIA and other US units in Yemen.
The Washington Post reported the use of Predator drones over Yemen but could not confirm if they had launched missiles. Yemen foreign minister, Abu Bakr Abdullah Al Qirbi, said the Yemeni Air Force was conducting drone attacks, using target definitions supplied by the Americans. Al Qirbi was reluctant to say whether drones were being operated by the US.
