Yemen confirms 200 al-Qaeda militants on trial

Protesters have refused to leave Yemen’s Tahrir Square since 2011 Yemen will put 200 al-Qaeda-linked militants on trial soon following intense investigations, a state-run website reported on Sunday. The suspects include 25 foreign nationals, including individuals from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Sudan, Jordan, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Somalia.
10 more militants are also expected to go on trial in the near future, following a special prosecution.
A Yemeni military committee, headed by Interior Minister Major General Abdul Qader Mohammed Qahtan, meanwhile announced plans to remove protest camps in Sanaa Square, which have occupied the space since the beginning of the 2011 Arab Spring uprising against President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi.
Observers fear the move could cause fresh clashes in the Yemeni capital, as protesters refuse to vacate the camp until the “goals of the youth revolution” are realised.
As Yemen remained under the diplomatic spotlight, the United Nations Secretary-General's envoy to Yemen, Jamal Benomar, revealed on his official Facebook page on Sunday that he had had “fruitful meetings” with “the Yemeni President, the government and political parties.”
Benomar added he would file a report with the UN’s Security Council on February 7, in attempts to reach a political settlement amid the transfer of power in Yemen.
The announcement coincided with a rare appearance of former President Saleh’s son, Brigadier General Ahmed Ali, after a long time abroad. Ali made a speech to military commanders in a base south of Sanaa on Sunday, backing President Hadi’s decisions in the run-up to national dialogue talks.
Ahmed was the leader of the so-called Republican Guard, dismantled by Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi last December.