Al-Mihdar at Abyan court: Yes, I am the leader of the kidnappers

Commander of the group which kidnapped the Western tourists in Abyan, Yemen, Zein al-Abidin al-Mihdar (Abu al-Hassan) admitted before the court on Wednesday that he is the "managing mind" for the kidnapping operation and that he had ordered his men to kill the tourists if the security forces approached the place where the tourists were being held.

In a lengthy statement before Abeen's preliminary court he announced that he is the leader of the "Abyan Islamic Army, which is entitled to hoist the banner of al-Jihad, and fight secularism in Yemen and the Arab countries."

Meantime, armed men affiliated to al-Jaeid tribe in al-Jawf province (east Sanaa) on Wednesday released British citizen John Brooke, who was kidnapped last Saturday from in front of his office in one of oil services company in Maareb province. Brooke was transported to Sanaa by a Yemeni helicopter and handed over to the British embassy there.

Attention, on the other hand, has been focused on the trial of tourists kidnappers, in the presence of representative from the British embassy.