62 al-Qaida prisoners escape from Yemeni prison

[News_Editor]

62 al-Qaida prisoners escape from Yemeni prison

2011-06-23 00:24:19 GMT+7 (ICT)

MUKALLA, YEMEN (BNO NEWS) -- Yemeni authorities on Wednesday announced that 62 al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) militants have escaped from a prison in the southern region of the nation, the Yemen Post reported.

On Wednesday morning, a prison break took place at the central security prison in the southern city of Mukalla. One security personnel and one prisoner were killed in the incident.

Most of the 62 prisoners that managed to escape were serving sentences of over five years in prison on charges relating to terrorism. Wednesday's incident is considered to be the biggest ever prison breakout of AQAP members.

Opposition parties blamed that the breakout was facilitated by senior military officials with close ties to embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh. They alleged that the plot was intended to cause further chaos in the south in order to get more U.S. support, apparently in an attempt to prove that the ongoing crackdown on anti-government protesters is justified.

In May, authorities informed that AQAP militants were taking advantage of the unrest in the country to perpetrate terrorist acts; mostly in the southern region. Protests continue in the Middle Eastern country as hundreds of people have taken to the streets demanding the immediate departure of longtime President Saleh.

The government has recently stepped up the crackdown on demonstrators citing 'civil disobedience.' The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) recently proposed a plan for a peaceful transition in Yemen which includes the resignation of Saleh within 30 days.

Protesters rejected the proposed plan as they want the immediate ouster of Saleh. According to the United Nations, the recent political turmoil has left an estimated 140 deaths and hundreds of injuries as security forces have been firing live ammunition in order to disrupt mass protests.

AQAP is based primarily in the tribal areas outside of the capital city Sanaa, which remains outside the control of the Yemeni government. The terrorist organization has orchestrated high-profile attacks since 2009.

Most notably, AQAP sent Nigerian-born Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab who attempted to detonate an explosive device aboard a Northwest Airlines flight on December 25, 2009. This was the first attempted U.S. homeland attack by an al-Qaeda affiliate since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-06-23

[Exsexyman]

They will probably turn up in Libya, fighting for the armed rebels trying to overthrow Gaddaffi alongside many of their comrades. With NATO acting as their air force. What a farce!

[Steely Dan]

They will probably turn up in Libya, fighting for the armed rebels trying to overthrow Gaddaffi alongside many of their comrades. With NATO acting as their air force. What a farce!

Much that is pains me I have to agree with you. If I was into conspiracy theories I would conclude they were allowed to escape for this precise purpose, but agency capture of western governments has surely not gone that far, yet?

[Exsexyman]

They will probably turn up in Libya, fighting for the armed rebels trying to overthrow Gaddaffi alongside many of their comrades. With NATO acting as their air force. What a farce!

Much that is pains me I have to agree with you. If I was into conspiracy theories I would conclude they were allowed to escape for this precise purpose, but agency capture of western governments has surely not gone that far, yet?

Oh dear. Does it cause you pain that you have to agree with me? Or it pains you that the Al Qaida loons will probably turn up in Libya? I agree with you that it is unlikely that they were allowed to escape for this purpose. But this is Yemen! Oh, and that didnt pain me at all!

[Steely Dan]

They will probably turn up in Libya, fighting for the armed rebels trying to overthrow Gaddaffi alongside many of their comrades. With NATO acting as their air force. What a farce!

Much that is pains me I have to agree with you. If I was into conspiracy theories I would conclude they were allowed to escape for this precise purpose, but agency capture of western governments has surely not gone that far, yet?

Oh dear. Does it cause you pain that you have to agree with me? Or it pains you that the Al Qaida loons will probably turn up in Libya? I agree with you that it is unlikely that they were allowed to escape for this purpose. But this is Yemen! Oh, and that didnt pain me at all!

No the pain is not from agreeing with you, but a direct result of the utter stupidity of intervening in Libya without any clear game plan or even exit strategy worked out.

[Exsexyman]

They will probably turn up in Libya, fighting for the armed rebels trying to overthrow Gaddaffi alongside many of their comrades. With NATO acting as their air force. What a farce!

Much that is pains me I have to agree with you. If I was into conspiracy theories I would conclude they were allowed to escape for this precise purpose, but agency capture of western governments has surely not gone that far, yet?

Oh dear. Does it cause you pain that you have to agree with me? Or it pains you that the Al Qaida loons will probably turn up in Libya? I agree with you that it is unlikely that they were allowed to escape for this purpose. But this is Yemen! Oh, and that didnt pain me at all!

No the pain is not from agreeing with you, but a direct result of the utter stupidity of intervening in Libya without any clear game plan or even exit strategy worked out.

I couldnt agree more. Utter stupidity is putting it mildly. When the UK is cutting back on the NHS, pensions, public services etc because 'there is no money left', hundreds of millions of pounds are being spent dropping bombs on Tripoli. I get the impression now that there is a touch of desperation about it, after all it was all going to be over by Easter! But this 'War', (incidently, when was war declared, i must have missed that), was never about protecting civilians. The total inaction in Bahrain, Syria, Saudia Arabia etc, exposes that for the lie that it is. Libya is on the recieving end of this bombardment because Gaddaffi was in the process of setting up a gold dinar currency whereby oil would be purchased using gold as the currency, completely bypassing the dollar. Although Colonel Gaddaffi would certainly never be on my Christmas card list, it is worth bearing in mind that Libya has by far the highest standard of living in the region. Good education, universities, health care, housing etc. Not to mention a fairly recent 200 million dollar irrigation system for the country. All this without owing one cent to the IMF and the World Bank. They are completely in control of their own resources. This could not be tolerated. This 'War' is being waged on behalf of the world's bankers. And the rest of us are being treated as mugs.