Yemen to release opposition leader

Yemen will release an opposition Socialist party leader held for allegedly supporting southern separatists for “lack of evidence” against him, the prosecutor « s office said on Wednesday.

Mohammed Ghaleb Ahmed “will be released in the coming hours for lack of evidence” against him, an official told AFP.

» Ahmed said on Sunday the attorney general had summoned him and asked about his role in funding southern activists who allegedly “sabotaged” last months Gulf Cup football tournament hosted by Yemen.

State news agency Saba said on Sunday that Ahmed, a member of the party political bureau, had been pulled in for questioning after incriminating statements made by a southern activist who is under arrest.

Taher Tammah, a leader of the Southern Movement that is spearheading opposition to the Sanaa government, had said the party allegedly offered 50,000 dollars (38,100 euros) to “sabotage” the November tournament.

The financial offer was allegedly made by Ahmed, Saba.net reported.
Sanaa has implicated Southern Movement activists, who are pushing for independence or increased autonomy, in a bomb attack on Al-Wahda sports club in Aden that killed three people and wounded 14 on October 11.

The November 22-December 5 Gulf Cup football tournament was staged under tight security after the Southern Movement vowed to try to disrupt the tournament.
Ahead of the contest, the authorities arrested a number of activist from the group.

The Socialist party, which ruled South Yemen before unification in 1990, has so far refrained from openly supporting the uprising in the south.

South Yemen was independent from the 1967 British withdrawal from Aden until the region united with the north in 1990.

The south seceded in 1994, sparking a short-lived civil war that ended with it being overrun by northern troops.