SANAA, 24 September 2005 — Yemen has officially asked the United States to drop the name of a prominent Yemeni cleric from a list of suspected financiers of terrorism, the official Saba news agency reported yesterday.
“The Republic of Yemen has sent a letter to the US administration asking it to drop charges against Sheikh Abdul-Majid Al-Zindani,” said the agency.
In February 2004, the US Treasury Department added Al-Zindani, 55, to the list of people suspected of supporting terrorist activities, dubbing him as “a loyalist to Osama Bin Laden and supporter of Al-Qaeda.”
It accused him of recruiting for Al-Qaeda training camps and playing a key role in the purchase of weapons on behalf of the terror network and other terrorists.
Yemen, however, insisted in its official letter that “most of the information upon which the US charges were based might have been taken from intriguer partisan newspapers,” said Saba. “If any proofs against Sheikh Al-Zindani exist, they should be submitted to the Yemeni government, which would carry its responsibility and take the necessary legal actions,” read the letter, quoted by Saba.
Zindani, an outspoken cleric, is chairman of the central committee of Yemen’s biggest opposition party, Islah.
