Non-Subscriber Extract
Yemen's suspect release
By Jane's
24 February 2009
Reports that Yemen has released a large number of Al-Qaeda suspects has raised fears that Sanaa is trying to appease and even co-opt jihadists at a time when they are rebuilding their strength in the country.
The first report of jihadists being released appeared in the Yemen Observer on 5 February, which claimed that 11 Al-Qaeda suspects had been released from the Al-Mansurah political security prison in Aden after renouncing violence. The newspaper did not name any of the freed prisoners, but reported that around 150 were expected to be released over the next few days.
This number increased in later reports. On 8 February, the AFP quoted a Yemeni security official as saying: "Directives have been issued to us to free 176 people held for their links to the Al-Qaeda network or to certain activities of this network."
In an attempt to play down fears that large numbers of Al-Qaeda suspects were being released, the Yemeni embassy in Washington issuing a statement on 10 February clarifying the "exaggerated and false" reports.