The trial of Abdulelah Shai started on Tuesday in a special security court not attended by his lawyers, who like several attorneys in Yemen, consider the court illegal and boycott it.

Shai's interview with radical preacher Anwar Al-Awlaki, who has been linked to the failed bombing of a US-bound plane in December 2009, was posted on the Website of Al- Jazeera television earlier this year.

Prosecutors accused Shai of “being an active Al-Qaeda member, including acting as a media secretary for the radical preacher and working to attract a number of foreigners into joining Al-Qaeda.” His defense team denies the charges.

“Everything Shai did was part of a journalist's job of seeking information, whether this is information the government likes or not,” said Mohamed Allawo of the National Organization for Defending Rights and Freedoms, which is defending Shai.

Shai has made numerous appearances in international media as an Al- Qaeda expert and is often described as having a close relationship with members of the group.

“There is no real charge, because there's no case in the Yemen judiciary against Anwar Al-Awlaki and there is no ruling that criminalizes contact with Awlaki,” Allawo said.

The US Treasury has blacklisted Al-Awlaki as a “specially designated global terrorist,” a move that freezes any assets he may have under US jurisdiction. Earlier this year, the United States authorized the CIA to capture or kill him. Al-Awlaki has been linked to an army major who went on a shooting spree that killed 13 people last year at Fort Hood in Texas.

Yemen has been under international pressure to quash a resurgent regional wing of Al-Qaeda based in the country. Last month, the Committee to Protect Journalists called on Yemen to release Shai, criticizing the country for what it said was a crackdown on the media.

Fifteen suspected Al-Qaeda members have surrendered to the governor of the restive south Yemen province of Abyan, a security official said on Tuesday.

They surrendered to Ahmed Al-Mayassari on Monday in the presence of tribal leaders and their relatives, the official said, adding that the men had joined Al-Qaeda about a year ago.

“Some of the men played an important role in the recent clashes between Al-Qaeda and the army in Loder and Mudia,” two towns in Abyan, the official said.

Local authorities had pressured the families of the men to obtain their surrender, sources close to the governor said.

The Defense Ministry's 26sep.net news website quoted a local administration spokesman as saying that six of the men who surrendered are dangerous and are on a Yemeni wanted list.

Tribal authorities are negotiating for the surrender of six other alleged Al-Qaeda members, including the jihadist group's local leader Abdul Monaam Al-Fahtani, the spokesman said, adding that the talks could be concluded shortly.

Yemen has ordered the confiscation of all firearms in the possession of its citizens after canceling weapons' licenses not carrying the Interior Minister's signature.

Some 50 million firearms are thought to be in the possession of Yemen's estimated 23 million people.

The minister, Gen. Mouthar Al-Masri, Tuesday ordered checkpoints and security patrols across the nation to confiscate any weapons they come across.

Possessing a firearm is a rite of passage for most Yemeni males and it will be virtually impossible to enforce the ban, the latest attempt by authorities to try to curtail the spread of illegal weapons.