Yemen Inmates Offered Amnesty
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SANA, Yemen — A Yemeni court convicted two men Saturday of being Al Qaeda members, and President Ali Abdullah Saleh offered amnesty to jailed followers of a slain rebel cleric if they renounce extremist ideas.
Khadr Abdel Rabou was sentenced to three years in prison. Abdullah Ahmed Remi was sentenced to four years. Both men planned to appeal.
Yemen has long had a reputation of tolerating lawlessness and Islamic militancy and has witnessed attacks on foreign targets, including the 2000 bombing of the U.S. destroyer Cole. After the Sept. 11 attacks, however, the government stepped up cooperation with Washington.
In a meeting Saturday with lawmakers and clerics, Saleh offered conditional amnesty to some of the jailed followers of Hussein Houthi, a rebel leader killed in September after battling Yemeni security forces.
At least 540 followers of Houthi have been detained since June. They accuse the government of becoming too closely allied with Washington.
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