Yemeni Woman Arrested In Bomb Plot

By Chuck Sudo in News on Oct 31, 2010 1:00PM

Yemeni officials announced yesterday the arrests of a woman and her mother in connection with Friday's suspected bomb plot against Jewish synagogues and community centers in Chicago. The two women have not been identified, but a defense lawyer who was in contact with the family identified the 22-year-old woman as an engineering student.

Both Yemeni and U.S. officials are increasingly seeing al-Qaida's influence in the failed plot. But efforts to weaken al-Qaida in Yemen could prove to be a rough row to hoe. Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh said in a news conference yesterday that his government was taking a hard stance on terrorism. But President Ali can't move forward with stronger anti-terrorism measures without foreign assistance, which will be hard to do in a country with rebellions in its northern and southern regions, an anarchic clan system and strong anti-Western sentiment among its citizens. It's very similar to the situation the U.S. faces combating militants in Pakistan.

Meanwhile, UPS announced that it would immediately suspend cargo shipments from Yemen.