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Banned
Militant cleric Anwar al-Awlaki was being charged with incitement to kill foreigners at a hearing in Yemen's capital Tuesday.
A Yemeni official in Washington, DC, told CNN Monday that Yemen planned to prosecute al-Awlaki in absentia.
The official, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter, said the case would likely be forwarded to the Specialized Criminal Court in Yemen's capital of Sanaa.
Yemeni authorities are intensifying operations to capture al-Awlaki, a key figure in al Qaeda's branch in Yemen, according to a senior Yemeni government official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
U.S. authorities have linked al-Awlaki, an American-born Yemeni cleric, to Fort Hood shooting suspect Maj. Nidal Hasan and the man accused in the Christmas Day bomb attempt.
Over the past several months, Yemen, which wants to be seen as a committed partner in the fight against terrorism, has launched several offensives against al Qaeda in its country, but has not captured al-Awlaki.
U.S. officials believe that al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, commonly referred to as AQAP, is behind a plot to send bombs from Yemen to the United States. The group is based in Yemen, which has emerged as a major operating base for al Qaeda and other terror groups.
On Friday, authorities in the United Arab Emirates and Britain found two packages from Yemen with explosives that were addressed to synagogues in Chicago, Illinois.
U.S. investigators believe that bombmaker Ibrahim Hasan al-Asiri, 28, is linked to the packages, according to a federal official, who was briefed by authorities.
Al-Asiri, who is thought to be in Yemen, is a Saudi who was high on Saudi Arabia's list of most wanted published in February 2009. He is also believed to be the bomber who designed last year's attempt to blow up an airliner on December 25.
Yemeni authorities are also intensifying operations to capture or kill al-Asiri, the senior Yemeni government official said.
The discovery of the packages prompted Yemen to tighten security at all of its airports, the country's National Civil Aviation Security Committee said Monday.
"Every piece of cargo and luggage will go through extensive searching," the agency said.
Other countries also put restrictions in place Monday in reaction to the security concern.
In the United Kingdom, all passenger and cargo flights, as well as all flights holding unaccompanied freight from Yemen and Somalia, will be banned for a month.
And Germany banned all incoming flights from Yemen, air traffic control officials said.
A Yemeni official told the country's state-run Saba news agency that Germany's decision and other similar actions were "collective punishment" against the government and its people.
"The decision and other hasty reactions due to the two suspected parcels harm Yemen's efforts in the fight against terrorism," the official told SABA, which did not name the source.
Yemen needs assistance fighting al Qaeda, an aide to the country's prime minister said Monday.
"We need a lot of help as regards security information, logistics," and new ways to confront them, Mohammed Qubaty said, even as he emphasized that Yemen does not want foreign troops on its soil.
Yemen has asked for outside help to thwart terror groups, but the country, the ancestral home of Osama bin Laden, is still used for operations, U.S. officials say.
The Obama administration is having a series of high level meetings this week on how to approach the situation in Yemen, senior US officials said.
