Yemenis say red planet is theirs
Yemen, International, 7/25/1997

Three Yemeni men claiming ownership of Mars have filed a lawsuit against the US space agency for invading the red planet, the weekly al Thalwri reported on July 25.

It said Adam Ismail, Mustafa Khalil and Abdullah Al Umari presented documents to Yemen's prosecutor general which they said proved their claim.

"We inherited the planet from our ancestors who had lived on it 3,000 years ago," the Arabic-language paper quoted the men as saying in one of the documents.

The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Pathfinder spacecraft landed on Mars on July 14, and its Sojourner rover began exploring the planet and sending back photos and data for analysis.

"Sojourner and Pathfinder, are owned by the US government, landed on Mars and began exploring it without informing us or seeking our approval ," the men said.

The men demanded the immediate suspension of all operations on Mars until the court delivers a verdict. They also requested that NASA refrain from disclosing any information about Mars' atmosphere, surface or gravity before receiving approval from them or until a verdict is reached.

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