 A Yemeni court convicted two men Saturday for being al-Qaida members and President Ali Abdullah Saleh offered amnesty to jailed followers of a slain rebel cleric if they renounce their extremist ideas, officials said. The two men, convicted of belonging to al-Qaida and carrying forged passports, had trained in Afghan terrorist camps a few months before the U.S. invasion in 2001. Al-Khadr Abdel Rabou, deported from Syria earlier this year, was sentenced to three years and four months in prison. Abdullah Ahmed al-Remi was sentenced to four years. But both men planned to appeal the court's ruling.
| "Yez got nuttin' on us, coppers! Nuttin'! We'll be out in a week!" |
Meanwhile, Saleh, during a meeting with lawmakers and clerics, offered conditional amnesty to some of the jailed followers of Badr Eddin al-Hawthi, the rebel leader who was killed last September after battling Yemeni security forces. Al-Hawthi's father, who the government accuses of reviving the rebellion, has turned down previous offers of amnesty. "One more time, I ask you, honorable clerics to go tell those in the prisons, convince them to change their thoughts," Saleh said. "We do not want one prisoner remaining." It was not immediately clear if the amnesty offer included the senior al-Hawthi, who is at large. At least 540 followers of al-Hawthi have been detained since fighting began last June. Al-Hawthi's followers are angry at the government, saying it has become too closely allied with Washington, and have focused their attacks on security forces. |