Yemeni security forces have detained more than 30 foreign nationals on suspicion of having links with Al-Qaeda, among them three Frenchmen, an American and a Briton, a security official said on Sunday. "Some of them were arrested on suspicion of belonging to Al-Qaeda while others were arrested according to lists provided to Yemen security forces by US intelligence," the official was quoted as saying by AFP.
"Most of those arrested came to Yemen to study Arabic in the same school where Nigerian Omar Farouk had studied," the official added. "During the month of May, a number of foreigners were arrested, including one Frenchman, one American, one Briton, two Malaysians (and) five Nigerians," the official conveyed.
"There are a number of foreigners who were arrested prior to May," including two French nationals arrested in April, he added. The official spoke about one of the French nationals -- Jeremy Johnny Witter -- who was arrested last month. Witter, who was born in 1986 and comes from Orsay, near Paris, arrived in Yemen to study Arabic at the Sanaa Institute in November 2009, after having lived in Egypt for seven years, the official said.
