Rights delegation to mediate with al-Qaeda against executing Yemeni soldiers

Ansar has threatened to execute some of the soldiers A delegation of human rights activists, media, and tribesmen  are heading to Abyan province in southern Yemen to act as mediators with the Ansar al-Sharia group, an affiliate of   al-Qaeda, to try and prevent the  execution of Yemeni soldiers who have been held by the group since the beginning of March. Ansar has threatened to execute some of the soldiers, beginning Monday, in response to what they described as the indifference of the Yemeni authorities towards the group’s demands to release its fighters held by Yemen,  in exchange for the soldiers.
The Alkarama (Dignity)  for Human Rights organisation based in Geneva and  the Hood human rights organisation in Sanaa,  have formed the delegation which also include youth who took part in the Yemeni revolution and some members of the arrested soldiers’ families.
Alkarama representative, activist Mohamed al-Ahmadi, told Arabstoday that the human rights organisations had received confirmation from Ansar al-Sharia that they would start executing the detained soldiers as of Monday.
He added that Alkarama and Hood communicated with leaders of the Ansar al-Sharia group to appeal to them not to proceed with the executions, "however, we did not receive a positive response" he said, adding that they agreed with the group to carry out direct negotiations via this delegation.
Ahmadi pointed out that the group refused to negotiate with the Yemeni government quoting them as saying:  "it does not address the issue with the required seriousness."
Al-Ahmadi, who is the spokesman for the two human rights organisations -- Alkarama and Hood -- appealed to the Yemeni authorities to stop shelling the region in order that the  negotiating team could perform its humanitarian mission safely. He noted that the mission may take three days and the outcome will be subsequently reported.
In the same context, the international Human Rights Watch organisation appealed to Ansar al-Sharia to withdraw its threats to kill the 73 arrested soldiers, saying that  killing prisoners "constitutes a serious breach of law and is considered a war crime."  It also said that the use of the arrested hostages as bargaining tools by threatening to kill or harm them also constitutes a war crime.