POLITICS-YEMEN: Extradition Order Raises Tensions

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Nabil Sultan

SANA'A, Aug 4 2003 (IPS) - Tensions are rising over the decision by a Frankfurt court to extradite two Yemenis to the United States.

The two, Mohammad Ali al-Moayyad and Mohsein Zaid have been sought by the U.S. as al-Qaeda susupects. Yemenis say Moayyad is a leading social worker. Zaid is a close aide.

The court in Frankfurt approved extradition of the two to the United States last week. A final decision will be taken by the German government.

Delegates from the religious Shura Council and Parliament have left for Germany to ask the Bundestag, the German parliament, to halt the extradition.

President Ali Abdullah Saleh visited Germany in June to discuss Moayyad’s release with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. Saleh declared at a press conference on return that Schroeder had been sympathetic to the Yemeni case. The ruling now has proved embarrassing to the government.

Both the Yemeni government and the parliament have condemned the decision of the Frankfurt court. The ruling Peoples General Congress (GPC) and the opposition Islah Party have called for Moayyad’s release. But opposition members are now saying the government has been weak in defending the two men.

The government is taking a strong line under such pressure. “The extradition of the two Yemenis to the U.S. will definitely affect relations with the United States of America, I cannot say how,” foreign minister Abu Bakr al-Qirbi said in a statement.

The two were arrested in Frankfurt in January on a U.S. request. The U.S. government says the two men had been financing al-Qaeda and the Hamas movement in Palestine.

They were lured to Frankfurt by a Yemeni citizen on promise of securing donations for their charities. The Yemeni disappeared after the arrest.

U.S. authorities have welcomed the decision by the Frankfurt court, but warned its citizens against retaliation. “The embassy of the United States informs American citizens in Yemen that the German authorities have ruled in favour of the U.S. request to extradite Yemeni Sheikh Mohammad Ali al-Moayyad and his companion. American officials must pay attention to their personal security.”

Two days after the arrests, a grenade exploded near the U.S. embassy in Sana’a. The U.S. embassy is now receiving a flood of protest calls, indicating that the situation is again explosive. “The U.S. should deeply rethink its position and choose the safety of its nationals,” political analyst Saeed Thabet told IPS.

There is little risk to German nationals, however. Leaders of Moayyad’s Khowlan tribe have called on the German government to block extradition, but also appealed to Yemenis not to target German nationals in Yemen. The tribe leaders said in a statement that they appreciate Germany’s positive stand on Arab issues, and German assistance to Yemen.

“German citizens are our friends,” Moayyad said in a statement released through his son Zakaryya. “Don’t harm them or allow anybody to assault them even if German authorities extradite me to the U.S.” Members of parliament from all parties have pointed out that public opinion in Germany supports Moayyad and Zaid.

The court in Frankfurt has said the two men would not be tried by a military or other extraordinary court. Reports in Yemen express fears that the men could face sentences of up to 60 years and 40 years in the U.S.

Mansour al-Zindani, member of parliament from the Islah party says Moayyad is ready to be tried by the International Court of Justice. “He is an old man, sick and suffering,” al-Zindani said in a statement. “The German government should consider human rights in the case, and stand against the illogical wishes of the U.S.”