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U.S. sanctions al-Qaida leader in Yemen

18 June 2014 03:59 (UTC +04:00)

The State Department branded Shawki Ali Ahmed al-Badani as a specially designated global terrorist, while the Department of Treasury imposed sanctions on him that freeze all of his assets under U.S. jurisdiction and bar American citizens from doing business with him.

The State Department described al-Badani as a leader and operative of the AQAP who sought to target the U.S. embassy in Sanaa, Yemen, in 2012 and was linked to a suicide bomber who killed more than 100 Yemeni soldiers in a May 2012 attack.

The agency said the man also played a "key" role in a plan for a major attack in summer 2013 that forced the U.S. to close 19 diplomatic missions across the Middle East and Africa. It also said al-Badani is on Yemen's Most Wanted list and the Yemeni government has offered a bounty of 100,000 U.S. dollars on him.

The Obama administration is helping the Yemeni government fight the AQAP, which it listed as a foreign terrorist organization in January 2010.