John Brennan says al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is
"increasingly active" The group is "the most operationally active node of the al
Qaeda network," he says The government of Yemen is the United States' ally in the fight
Washington (CNN) -- The administration's top counterterrorism
adviser said Friday that the al Qaeda group based in Yemen poses a greater
threat to Americans than Osama bin Laden's group based in Pakistan.
John Brennan, assistant to the president for homeland security and
counterterrorism, said the Yemen-based group, al Qaeda in the Arabian
Peninsula, is "increasingly active" in reaching out to find
terrorist recruits, even in the United States.
"Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is now the most operationally
active node of the al Qaeda network," Brennan said during a forum at the
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
"The ranks of al Qaeda have been bolstered by members with ties to the
West, or with American citizenship, such as Anwar al-Awlaki," he said.
"Indeed, al Qaeda is seeking to attract not just Westerners or Americans
overseas, but Americans inside the United States."
Al-Awlaki is the American-born Muslim who moved to Yemen and has become a
key figure in AQAP. He has been linked to the suspect in the Fort Hood
massacre of 13 people last year, as well as the suspect in last year's
Christmas Day "underwear bombing" attempt in which a man allegedly
tried to detonate an explosive device sewn into his underwear as his flight
headed toward Detroit.
Brennan's remarks came a day after the release of the annual
Afghanistan/Pakistan review and President Barack Obama's outline of his view
of the threat posed by al Qaeda from its Pakistan base.
"It will take time to ultimately defeat al
Qaeda, and it remains a
ruthless and resilient enemy bent on attacking our country," Obama said
Thursday.
But it's been al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula that has been behind most
recent terror plots inside the United States.
Yemen tightened security at all of its airports last month in the aftermath
of a plot to send bombs from Yemen to the United States hidden inside printer
parts, the country's National Civil Aviation Security Committee said. AQAP
claimed responsibility for the failed bomb plots.
America's top ally in the battle against AQAP is the central government of
Yemen. Brennan described his meetings with Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh
as "animated."
Last winter, the U.S. Department of Defense announced plans to boost the
military aid it is sending Yemen from $70 million to $150 million. And a
recently leaked diplomatic cable showed Yemen's president was willing to
deceive the public about air strikes against al Qaeda sites.
"Saleh lamented the use of cruise missiles that are "not very
accurate" and welcomed the use of aircraft-deployed precision-guided
bombs instead. 'We'll continue saying the bombs are ours, not yours,' Saleh
said," according to the leaked cable from January of this year.
Despite this incident, Brennan said, "the relationship between
Washington and Sanaa (Yeman's capital) is, at times, marked by differences of
view, tension, and even strong frustration by each side."
But he went on to say that's a good thing: "That is
the hallmark of true friendship -- not telling the other what they want to
hear, but telling the other what they need to hear."
Richardson presents proposals to
North Korea
aimed at easing crisis
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson is welcomed by an unidentified North
Korean official upon his arrival at the Pyongyang Airport on December
16.
Pyongyang, North Korea (CNN) -- New Mexico
Gov. Bill Richardson provided North Korea with a series of proposals
Saturday in what he described as a "good meeting" with the
country's chief nuclear negotiator -- part of a series of meetings on a
four-day trip aimed at easing tensions in the region.
Richardson declined to provide details about his
proposals, and it was unclear how North Korea responded to them.
His meeting with the North's chief nuclear
negotiator Kim Gye Gwan came as South Korea announced that scheduled
military drills likely would not be held this weeked due to an adverse
weather forecast.
The drills will be held only if the weather
improves in the areas surrounding Yeonpyeong Island, South Korea's Joint
Chiefs of Staff said.
The planned drills sparked harsh reaction from
North Korea, which warned that it would launch a military strike against
the South if Seoul goes ahead with the live-fire exercises, the North's
state-run Korean Central News Agency reported.
The drills, originally scheduled to take place
between December 18 and 21, will likely be pushed back a day or two, South
Korea's official Yonhap News Agency reported.
"Kim Gye Gwan basically told Richardson he
didn't sleep last night because of the tensions on the Korean peninsula.
It's a very serious situation," said CNN's Wolf Blitzer, who is
traveling with the governor in North Korea.
Richardson told Blitzer that he made a series of
proposals in Saturday's meeting "that he thinks if implemented could
ease the crisis, which by all accounts right now is the most serious
crisis on the Korean peninsula since the 1953 armistice which ended the
Korean war."
Richardson said earlier Saturday he was concerned
about escalating tensions on the Korean peninsula, where he is urging
"maximum" restraint around the planned military exercises.
"This is a tinderbox," he told Blitzer.
"Right now, my objective is to say -- tamp things down."
Both Koreas have traded tough talk and conducted
aggressive military drills in the weeks after North Korea shelled a South
Korean island last month.
Richardson, a former U.N. ambassador, arrived in
North Korea Thursday on a four-day trip he hopes will help to ease
tensions in the region.
"Let's cool things down. No response. Let
the exercises take place," said Richardson, who added: "On all
sides, I'm urging restraint."
He met with a vice minister of North Korea's
Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday and is scheduled to meet with a top
North Korean general Sunday.
"Meeting a top military person is
significant," said Richardson, who has hosted a North Korean
delegation in New Mexico in the past. "Hopefully, we can keep things
from firing up."
Richardson is not in North Korea as an official
U.S. envoy.
Tensions mounted between the Koreas on November
23, when North Korea shelled Yeonpyeong Island, which lies in South Korean
territory. The attack killed two marines and two civilians and injured 18
people.
The North has accused the South of provoking the
attack because shells from a South Korean military drill landed in the
North's waters.
Last month's attack was the first direct
artillery assault on South Korea since 1953, when an armistice ended
fighting.
The U.S. military has said it
is concerned that South Korea's scheduled exercises could spark an
uncontrollable clash with the North, but the State Department said the
exercises are not meant to be threatening or provocative.