Yemeni opposition to appeal for political prisoners' release

After halting its work for 9 months, the Higher Council of the Opposition Parties (HCOP) in Yemen resumed its activities with a meeting that was held in the headquarters of the Socialist Party in Sanaa, chaired by the secretary general of the Socialist Party, Aly Saleh Ayad.

This meeting is considered the first one that Ayad will attend as head of the HCOP, as the differences between the Socialist Party and the other parties thwarted previous HCOP meetings.

The meeting was attended by the leaders of the seven parties that are members of the HCOP: the Nasserist Unionist Organization, the Popular Powers Union, the Sons of Yemen Association, the Unionist Gathering, the National Baath Party, and the Truth Party, in addition to the Socialist Party.

The HCOP will hold a meeting to establish an agenda for the upcoming period and to appeal to the Yemeni President in order to the release of political prisoners from the prisons of Hadra Mote and Lahg.

The HCOP had stopped its activities due to a division in its member parties over their stances toward the election which was held last April. Three parties had agreed to participate:, the Nasserist, the Truth, and the Baath, while the other parties boycotted it and rejected the political situation which resulted from that election.