| Submit your comments on this article |
| Arabia |
| Yemen hunts for al-Qaeda |
| 2003-03-16 |
| Yemeni security forces launched last week a massive arrest campaign against al-Qaeda suspects in Ibb and Aden. The security arrested one al-Qaeda suspect in Ibb last Tuesday and over 20 others at different places in Aden. Reliable sources said that a suspect named al-Qasim was arrested in Ibb upon his return form a Gulf country. His family tried to get him released on bail but to no avail. At the same time police in Aden arrested a number of people suspected of having links to al-Qaeda and Islamic Jihad. Among the arrestees were mosque preachers and religious personalities. Some of the arrestees were released but others are still in jail and have been charged with being affiliated to some terrorist networks. Meanwhile, over 50 detainees in al-Hodeidah governorate appealed to President Ali Abdullah Saleh and human rights organizations requesting them to interfere and get them released or at least presented to court. They were arrested more than a year and a half ago upon the launch of the war against terrorism campaign. They complained that there was no legal justification for their imprisonment. According to official sources, there are currently 104 detainees in Yemeni prisons suspected of being members of al-Qaeda. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |