Yemen tries amnesty for terrorism suspects

SAN’A, Yemen — The Islamic leaders of Osama bin Laden’s ancestral homeland have come up with a unique solution to fighting terrorism — release 246 jailed suspects, put some on the army payroll, and use millions of dollars to pay off tribes that sheltered them.

The freed inmates aren’t required to work, but are kept under surveillance after repenting to a senior cleric picked by President Ali Abdullah Saleh, said officials.

The amnesty experiment is one of the more unusual measures Yemen has taken since the USS Cole bombing killed 17 U.S. sailors off the port of Aden in October 2000, nearly a year before the September 11 attacks.

Yemen also is working with the United States and Saudi Arabia to close borders and ports to weapons smuggling and terrorist traffic. But critics say the moves aren’t enough to wipe out terrorism in a country where poverty, extremism, corruption and nepotism are rampant and U.S. policies on Iraq and the Palestinians are unpopular with the public and the religious leaders.

“The feeling of hatred for Americans is increasing day after day, and this represents a huge obstacle to improving relations further with America,” said Muhammad al-Sabri, a free-lance columnist who focuses on Yemeni-U.S. relations.

Prime Minister Abdul-Kader Bajammal said Yemen has dismantled 90 percent of terrorism cells since the September 11 attacks, while 20 to 25 of the most hard-core wanted men remain at large.

There hasn’t been a major terrorist act inside the country since three American missionaries were fatally shot at a Southern Baptist missionary hospital in the southern town of Jibla in 2002.

Still, some religious leaders aren’t helping, and export of terrorism from Yemen — to Iraq or elsewhere — remains a concern.

When Mr. Saleh asked senior clerics in August 2002 to initiate a dialogue with the jailed suspects, all but one balked.

Unlike his colleagues, Supreme Court Judge Hammoud al-Hitar, who also is a senior cleric, wasn’t concerned about being labeled a U.S. agent for cajoling the Muslim radicals into repenting and pursuing a more moderate religious path.

The effort led to the release of 246 inmates — not one of whom has lapsed to his old ways, Judge al-Hitar said. About 65 suspects remain in prison, including those indicted for terrorist acts. Judge Al-Hitar recently went to London to talk to British security officials about his experience.

Sitting on his living room floor, he said he began his talks with the most dedicated al Qaeda recruits, holding “tough” sessions.

He said he went through all their arguments for militancy — that jihad, or holy war, means attacking others and that the spilling of the blood of non-Muslims is legitimate — and proved to them that the Koran considers their beliefs wrong.

After repeated sessions, the inmates were released in three stages. Judge Al-Hitar said he is “100 percent sure they repented out of conviction, and not because they wanted to get out of jail.”

He said the men have been told that they are under surveillance. No infractions have been reported since their release, he added.

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