Friday, October 12, 2007

Proposed Yemen-Djibouti Bridge Threatens AFRICOM Security

by Chris Heffelfinger and Olivier Guitta from The Jamestown Foundation

A newly announced project to build the world's longest bridge—17 miles connecting Yemen and Djibouti—under Saudi billionaire Tarek bin Laden's (half-brother to Osama) Middle East Development LLC. More than merely a developer, in the 1990s he was general supervisor of the International Islamic Relief Organization (IIRO), a fraudulent Saudi group designated by the U.S. Treasury Department as having aided al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups' fundraising efforts ... The project physically and figuratively links al-Qaeda in Arabia to the African continent. Taking into regard al-Qaeda's growing presence in Yemen, it is puzzling how the U.S. envisions this project promotes greater security or help combat terrorism.

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