AL-QIRBI: YEMEN WILL NOT EXTRADITE AL-AWLAKI TO U.S.

SANA'A, May 10 (Saba) – Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Qirbi has said that Yemen would not hand Anwar al-Awlaki to the U.S.

The man the U.S. wants to be extradited will stand trial in Yemen under the national law, the minister said in an interview with the Kuwaiti Al-Dar Newspaper.

We have clearly said that because of his recent terrorist activity, al-Awlaki is now wanted by the Yemeni government; hence, he must be tried once he is captured and convicted in his homeland but never by other governments, he added.

Yemen's position over handing the man to the U.S. is clear and firm because we refuse to hand our people to other countries, he affirmed.

The minister also denied there was a Syrian initiative to reconcile the Yemeni parties.

What Syrians did in this regard was offering suggestions to start dialogue between the ruling party and the opposition, he said.

Moreover, al-Qirbi highlighted the condition of the secessionist movement in the south saying the movement receives financial support from separatists who gained wealth after the 1994 separation war.

There are also Yemenis swerving and spreading the culture of hatred among the Yemeni people and using the case of the south at the expense of their country's interest, he said.

But we assure that the government is able to address all issues in the best interest of the Yemeni people and bring all outlaws and criminals to justice, he concluded.

The U.S. accuses al-Awlaki, who is currently fugitive, of contacting the U.S. officer who killed 13 people, including 12 soldiers, and injured 30 others in a shootout at a Texas army base in late last year.

FR