Military

DATE=4/2/2002

TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT

TITLE=YEMEN / BIN LADEN PART THREE

NUMBER=5-51359

BYLINE=ALISHA RYU

DATELINE=HADRAMOUT, EASTERN YEMEN

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: The United States has identified Yemen on the corner of the Arabian Peninsula - as one of the countries Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terrorist network may be using to hide or to regroup. In part three or a four-part series on Yemen, V-O-A's Alisha Ryu visits one area of the country where historical ties to the bin Laden family are instilling fear in many of the local people.

TEXT: In eastern Yemen lies one of the most remote, traditional areas in the Middle East.

/// OPEN SOUND OF DONKEYS & BIRDS EST & FADE ///

Those who know Hadramout say the province has changed little since biblical times. Homes made of straw and mud still cling precariously against towering stone cliffs. Under the harsh desert sun, women dressed in heavy black veils and robes tend goats and make honey while young boys tug their camels and donkeys up steep dirt paths.

This is the barren land that Osama bin Laden's father, Mohammed, left behind decades ago. He moved his family to nearby Saudi Arabia where he founded a construction company and earned a fortune on building projects sponsored by the royal family - including the minarets and stadium seating at the Islamic holy site of Mecca.

Before the September 11th attacks in the United States, thousands of Europeans used to visit Hadramout every year - enchanted by its wild natural setting. Now, the only visitors here are Western journalists, eager to see the ancestral home of the most wanted man in the world.

The place getting the most attention in Hadramout these days is Rebat Ba-e-Shin - a village so remote, it was impossible to reach it without the aid of a four-wheel drive vehicle.

/// OPEN SOUND OF DOOR CREAKING OPEN EST & FADE ///

Journalists have been flocking to a run-down, four-story, mud-brick school building in the village that was once home to Osama bin Laden's uncle, Abdullah.

The locals say Abdullah was a well-respected businessman before he, like his brother Mohammed, left Yemen for good in 1967. The school's superintendent, 49 year-old Sayeed Mohammed Omar, says he remembers Abdullah bin Laden well.

/// FIRST OMAR ACT IN ARABIC EST & FADE ///

He says Abdullah bin Laden was a good man a famous merchant in the region. He built roads and gave generous donations to the local hospital.

But when I ask Mr. Omar about Osama bin Laden's father, Mohammed, he suddenly looks uneasy. Pursing his lips, Mr. Omar replies that he knows nothing about Osama bin Laden or his father even though Mohammed bin Laden is believed to have stayed with his brother for a time in the house before he left for Saudi Arabia.

/// SECOND OMAR ACT IN ARABIC EST & FADE ///

Why is everyone coming here asking such questions, he says. He doubts Osama bin Laden has ever visited Hadramout and insists the bin Laden family has no more ties to Yemen or to the village.

Not so, say sources in Yemen's capital Sana'a. While Osama bin Laden was born in Saudi Arabia, there is ample evidence that the al-Qaida leader felt very much at home here in Hadramout.

One of the suspects in the bombing of the U-S Navy destroyer U-S-S Cole in the Yemeni port city of Aden a year and a half ago is believed to be from Hadramout. Moreover, Osama bin Laden recruited men from the area in the 1980s to fight Soviet invaders in Afghanistan.

In an interview with an Arabic newspaper four years ago, Osama bin Laden said that if he ever had to leave Afghanistan, he might come to the mountains of Hadramout to "breathe the air."

But it is difficult to know if Osama bin Laden would be welcome again in this part of Yemen.

In recent months, the government of President Ali Abdullah Saleh has forged an anti-terrorism alliance with the United States. Almost everyone I spoke to in Hadramout like 25 year-old Hassan - claims to support the government and U-S efforts to combat terrorism and the al-Qaida in Yemen.

/// HASSAN ACT IN ARABIC EST & FADE UNDER ///

He says if Osama bin Laden was really behind the attack on America, he is insane because no good, decent Muslim would ever carry out such an act.

At the same time, there are indications that President Saleh's toughening stance against those who oppose the alliance with the United States may be pushing some of the anti-American, pro-Osama bin Laden sentiment underground.

One young man who refused to be interviewed on tape said Osama bin Laden is a hero to many of the rural villagers simply because he is now wanted by the richest and the most powerful country in the world. (Signed)

NEB/AR/JO/MAR/JP