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Blair to Secure Freedom for Britain's 'Aden Five'
LONDON, June 9 (IslamOline) - Five British Muslims jailed in Yemen are to be freed after the British government agreed to issue a plea for clemency, a British newspaper reported here Saturday.
The Times of London newspaper said senior Muslims have been told that the British government will say publicly that the so-called "Aden Five" are victims of a miscarriage of justice. Tony Blair will shortly write to President Ali Abdullah Saleh supporting the pleas, The Times reported without citing a source.
Yemeni ministers have made it clear that they want to hand over the five men, who were jailed for their part in a planned bombing campaign in Aden in December 1998. Officials in the capital Sanaa say that the deal only requires Blair to ask President Saleh for clemency.
The British Foreign Office has indicated that it has changed its rules on clemency pleas and that it believes "there is a prima facie evidence of a miscarriage of justice". Ministers believe that the Aden Five fall into this category.
The announcement of the Prime Minister's support has been carefully prepared to create maximum effect among the Muslim community, the Times said.
Muslim leaders have protested to Downing Street that Blair's government has ignored the Aden Five and dismissed them as "Islamic terrorists". After riots in Oldham and Bradford involving young Asians, Muslim leaders were, however, careful during the election campaign not to raise allegations that racism was to blame for ministers obstructing a deal to free the men.
Dr Ghayasuddin Siddiqui, leader of the Muslim Parliament of Great Britain, welcomed Blair's promised intervention.
"It is long overdue, though welcome. We hope that Mr Blair will honor this commitment to help," he was quoted in the newspaper. He wrote to Blair last month asking him to respond to overtures from the Yemenis.
Families of the five men have complained that they are forgotten victims and say that the government has for months ignored a private offer from Saleh to release them immediately on humanitarian grounds.
The five men were all convicted of conspiracy to cause explosions in the port city. They were accused of trying to blow up the British Embassy, the Anglican cathedral, a nightclub and a hotel used by British businessmen.
They include Mohsen Ghalain from London, 20, the stepson of the conservative Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri, who was sentenced to seven years. Hamza's son, Muhammad Mustafa Kamal, 19, was jailed for three years. Shahid Butt, 35, a father of four from Birmingham and his friend, Samad Ahmed, 21, were given five years. The last of the group is Malik Nassar Harhra, 28, who was sentenced to seven years.
A senior Yemeni source said last night: "The British government has not seemed the least interested."
Dr Siddiqui was quoted in The Times as saying: "I'm afraid I have no doubt that if these had been five white boys from the Home Counties they would have been dealt with differently.
Protocol requires a Prime Minister to ask a President to show clemency and what better time than after an election when the message is that this ushers in a new era between the two countries."
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