Here’s more information about two of the Australians arrested in Yemen for an Al Qaeda plot to smuggle arms to Somalia: The mother, her sons and their terrorist dad. (Hat tip: Aussiemagpie.)

TWO of the Australian men arrested in Yemen on terrorism charges are the sons of Abdul Rahim Ayub, the man who set up a Jemaah Islamiah cell here and fled after the Bali bombings.

The Herald can also reveal that the mother of the two brothers is an Australian-born woman called Rabiah Hutchison and is regarded by security agencies as possibly more radical than her former husband.

Ms Hutchison is in Yemen with her sons, Mohammed Ayub and Abdullah Ayub, and the Herald has been told that their tour group was joined by some of the wives of the men who were arrested on terrorism charges in Sydney one year ago.

The group - most of whom have been intensely monitored by ASIO for years - insist they went to Yemen to further their religious instruction.

But the two brothers - and a third man of Polish ancestry who became an Australian citizen in the 1980s and later converted to Islam - were arrested in a CIA-led operation on October 17, accused of being part of an al-Qaeda cell and planning to smuggle light arms to Somalia.

Australian consular officials, who have flown in from the Saudi capital, Riyadh, were scheduled to meet with the men overnight. The officials will also meet Yemeni authorities to talk about the circumstances behind the arrests, and what the formal charges are likely to be.

The Australians were arrested with five other men, including a Briton, a German and a Dane.

A Sydney lawyer, Adam Houda, who represents Mohammed and Abdullah Ayub and their mother, has described the allegations as ridiculous and has blamed Australia for alerting Yemeni authorities to their visit.