Over 100 people are being held in Yemen on suspicion of terrorism links, including 15 suspects in the bombing of the destroyer USS Cole, Member of Parliament Sultan Hazzam al-Atwani told AFP on Sunday.
He said the intelligence services admitted they were "detaining 104 people, including 15 suspected of implication in the attack on the USS Cole and the rest arrested after the September 11 attacks in the United States" last year.
The October 2000 bombing of the destroyer killed 17 US sailors in the port of Aden. Atwani belongs to a nine-member parliamentary commission tasked with investigating the conditions of Yemeni terror suspects detained at the US base in Guantanamo and other countries. He said the commission met on Sunday with intelligence officials and asked for the "release or trial of the 104 detainees."
"The United States is putting strong pressure on the (Yemeni) intelligence services" to prevent the release or prosecution of any of the 104 detainees," said Atwani and added that the commission would visit the detainees in a Yemeni jail on Monday.
Meanwhile, the commission also met Sunday with Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Kurbi who said Sanaa has again asked US authorities to repatriate the Yemeni nationals jailed in Guantanamo for trial at home, however Washington rejected the request. (Albawaba.com)
