The Aden 'bomb plot'
The arrests | The evidence | The suspects | Suspects' statements | The verdict
The kidnapping in Abyan
Abduction of tourists | The kidnappers | The trial | Execution of Abu al-Hassan
People
Abu Hamza | Abu al-Hassan
Introduction
In 1998, two very different groups of travellers set out from Britain for Yemen.
One group, on an adventure tour with Explore Worldwide, went in search of history and a traditional culture. The other group were young men from a Muslim background who had gone, according to their families, to learn Arabic, have a holiday and experience life in the Islamic world.
Both trips met with disaster. Ten of the young men were arrested on terrorism charges. The 16 adventure tourists were taken hostage and four died when Yemeni forces tried to rescue them.
In both cases there was a common link: to Abu Hamza al-Masri, the fiery imam of Finsbury Park mosque in London, and his Yemeni friend, Abu al-Hassan, commander of the "Islamic Army of Aden-Abyan" – a jihadist group with connections to al-Qaeda.
In London, Abu Hamza had established a militant organisation called Supporters of Shariah and the young men arrested in Yemen had gone there under its auspices to gain some experience of jihad with the Islamic Army.
Their arrests put a stop to that but in the hope of securing the young men's release the Islamic Army responded by kidnapping the group of adventure tourists. The Yemeni authorities refused to negotiate, though, and launched on an ill-fated operation to release the abducted tourists.
The reports on these pages pieced together the evidence as it unfolded. Check the chronology for later developments ...