What is happening in Yemen?
Relations between Britain and Yemen continue to deteriorate daily. On January 25, Yemen made an official request for the extradition of Muslim cleric, Abu Hamza al-Masri, amidst claims that Britain had a long record of harbouring terrorist groups intent on destabilising the Yemeni government. The official Yemeni news agency said a letter from President Saleh addressed to Tony Blair “expresses the discontent of the Yemeni Government with the terrorist activities led by the terrorist Abu Hamza al- Masri and other people from British territory.” This follows a month-long dispute over who was to blame for the deaths of three British and one Australian tourist in Yemen during an abortive rescue attempt. An examination of the events of the past month reads like a Le Carré novel. It raises more questions than answers over what has led to the recent antagonisms. On December 23 seven men were arrested, including three Britons of Pakistani origin. The Yemeni government claimed they were carrying
