U.S. "concerned and disappointed" at release of Yemeni journalist from prison

[Enrique]

http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/07/24/yemeni_journalist_imprisoned_on_suspicion_of_al_qaeda_ties_released_despite_white_h

News broke yesterday afternoon that, after a nearly three-year-long imprisonment, Yemeni journalist Abdulelah Haider Shaye had been released by the Yemeni government. Shaye's work drew international attention in 2009 when he reported on a U.S. airstrike in the Yemeni village of al-Majalla that killed 41 civilians. He also conducted multiple interviews with al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula cleric Anwar al-Awlaki.

U.S. officials, including the U.S. ambassador to Yemen, have told journalists that Shaye facilitated AQAP attacks, but his accounts of his arrest detail press intimidation by the Yemeni government, then still headed by Ali Abdullah Saleh, who resigned amid mass protests in November 2011. Shaye's five-year prison sentence has drawn criticism from Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the International Federation of Journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists, and the Yemen-based Freedom Foundation.

The U.S. government is still concerned about Shaye. Bernadette Meehan, a spokesperson for the National Security Council, told FP this morning by email, "We are concerned and disappointed by the early release of Abd-Ilah al-Shai, who was sentenced by a Yemeni court to five years in prison for his involvement with Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula." Meehan did not comment on whether the United States advocated against his release.

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[dipsydoodle]

1. Tough

.

[G_j]

2. +1000

[railsback]

5. Sounds like you have insiders info on the intelligence gathered on Shaye's activities

Do share.

[cali]

8. sounds to me like you're lost in your endless rah rah

for the U.S. delusion

[railsback]

18. Please, enlighten us all

Seems Shaye has a lot of close, personal friends here, And Also, many who are privy to classified intelligence.

Waiting with baited breath..

[Hell Hath No Fury]

6. Damn straight.

Tough shit.

[malaise]

11. +1,000

Selective freedom of the press indeed - I'm sick of this shit.

[PDJane]

3. *shrug* A journalist should be immune to what the US wants, frankly.

Obama is wrong on this one.

[cali]

4. Fuck the U.S. Fuck the U.S. for black sites, fuck us for Abu Gharib

Fuck us for drone strikes and double tapping and treating the world as if we were the ultimate authority.

[newfie11]

9. My thoughts exactly

I am embarrassed to be an American.

[snooper2]

21. You forgot one, Fuck the U.S. for Friday

fucking Americans

[quinnox]

7. well boo hoo, but foreign journalists should be able to report on atrocities our military commits

A free press should not only apply to our journalists.

[Scuba]

10. Expect the ususal band of DU suspects to begin smearing Abdulelah Haider in 3...2...1.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

12. Hopefully, he will be replaced in prison by the muderers of the civilians.

[Catherina]

13. Boo hoo. World "concerned and disappointed" about US government's killing atrocities. Free at last!

[SamKnause]

14. Journalist

Speaking as a United States citizen, I don't give a hairy rats ass if the corrupt warmongering U.S. government is concerned and disappointed.

If you want to talk about disappointed, I am disappointed with the majority of things that are being done by my government.

[bahrbearian]

15. Nothing a Signature Strike can't fix.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

17. Sadly, was thinking the same thing.

Who needs prisons, or concern for foreign sovereignty, when we have drones? Easy fix. No muss, no fuss.

[Enrique]

19. no kidding

If there are any restraints on the U.S. doing this, I can't think of any. Such an action would even be justified here on DU, I guarantee it. And the public at large, forget about it. The death of some guy in Yemen named Abdulelah Haider Shaye is not going to upset a lot of people.

[BlueCheese]

20. Honestly, you might be right.

If the administration really claims he "facilitated" attacks, then they might feel they have the right to give him the al-Awlaki treatment. And given that he's not a U.S. citizen, the standard is probably even lower.

[dipsydoodle]

16. 2009 U.S. airstrike in the Yemeni village of al-Majalla that killed 41 civilians ?

Well I never - I thought Bush had gone by then.

[The Straight Story]

22. k&r(nt)