COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A Norwegian citizen who became a member of al-Qaida in Yemen has been arrested in Yemen by the country’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels, Norwegian broadcaster NRK said Monday.
According to the report, Anders Cameroon Østensvig Dale is being held in a hospital in Sanaa. He is sought at home on suspicion of terrorism and was put on a blacklist by the United States.
Norwegian prosecutor Haris Hrenovica with the Norwegian security service PST said the suspect’s hospital detention “makes us believe that there is an injury.” It was unclear when and how he was apprehended and there was no immediate confirmation from the Houthis.
The broadcaster said Ostensvig Dale converted to Islam in 2008 and visited Yemen several times before eventually joining al-Qaida’s branch there, known as Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula.
NRK added that he left Norway for good in 2011. Three years later, PST suspected him of taking part in a terror organization and he was sought internationally.
Hrenovica told NRK that there could be ”challenges” to having Østensvig Dale extradited to Norway because of the Houthis, who control Sanaa and much of northern Yemen. The rebels have been at war since 2015 with a Saudi-led coalition that has been trying to restore Yemen’s internationally recognized government to power.
