Suzanne Staton' blog: Attack on Yemen Prison Frees Dozens of Militants

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Attack on Yemen Prison Frees Dozens of Militants

By LAURA KASINOF

Published: June 22, 2011

SANA, Yemen ? Gunmen attacked the main prison in Yemen?s southern port city of Mukalla on Wednesday in a coordinated strike that freed at least 40 prisoners, according to security and ruling party officials.

The attack underscored the country?s worsening security situation, and came as State Department envoy, Jeffrey D. Feltman, began two days of meetings in the capital, Sana, with Yemen?s vice president and top ruling party officials. They were to discuss the political crisis here, which deepened earlier this month when President Ali Abdullah Saleh was forced to seek medical treatment in Saudi Arabia after an attack on his presidential compound.

Ahmed Sofan, a prominent ruling party official, said the jailbreak provided ?another sign of what happens when a country is collapsing.?

He said many of the escaped prisoners were Islamic militants but that it was unclear whether they were members of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the local branch of the terrorist network. News agencies, citing anonymous Yemeni security sources, reported that many of the prisoners belonged to the group.

A military official in Mukalla, 310 miles east of the southern city of Aden, said about 20 gunmen were involved in the attack, which lasted about 30 minutes and appeared to have been coordinated with the prisoners inside.

The political crisis in Yemen entered a tense and uncertain phase after the attack on the presidential palace, which delivered severe burns to Mr. Saleh and injured a number of leading ruling party officials, who also left Yemen for treatment in Saudi Arabia. The state of Mr. Saleh?s health is not known.

While the vice president, Abed Rabbo Mansour al-Hadi, has been technically in charge of the country in Mr. Saleh?s absence, he has not stepped up as a leader as rumors have circulated around whether Mr. Saleh would soon return.

The United States has played an important role in the negotiations for a peaceful transfer of power in Yemen. But Mr. Saleh, an American ally who has ruled Yemen for 33 years, has repeatedly avoided signing any negotiated deal despite promises to do so.

On Wednesday, Mr. Feltman, the American assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs, met with Mr. Hadi and condemned the attack on Mr. Saleh?s palace while calling for dialogue to prevent the country from falling further into crisis, the official Saba news agency reported.

A severe economic crisis threatens to throw the country, already the poorest in the Middle East, into deeper chaos as the price of basic commodities soar. Residents in the capital talk about how long they can hold on. Lines for gas clog major streets.

Nasser Arrabyee contributed reporting.