Yemen releases two British accused of terrorism

Yemen has released two British Muslims who were jailed under accusations pertaining to terrorism after the expiry of their imprisonment period, of five years.

A Yemeni official said that the two men, who are Shahed Baat and Sarmaad Ahmad, were released from a prison to the south of Yemen.

A British diplomat confirmed their release, noting they were due to leave for Britain late yesterday.

In 1999, a Yemeni court convicted the two men in addition to other 6 Britons of Pakistani and Arab origins, of forming an armed group to execute terrorist acts in Yemen.

The 8 British, in addition to two men of Moroccan origin, were detained after kidnapping 16 western tourists in Yemen in 1998, and killing 4 tourists among them in a rescue attempt carried out by the Yemeni army.

Yemen wants from Britain to hand over Abu Hamza al-Masri, father of the British who was released in 2002, to try him on charge of being involved in kidnapping. Abi Hamza al-Masri, a British citizen born in Egypt, presides over Ansar al-Sharia group, which has London as headquarters.