US axes terrorism convictions of Yemeni men

CONVICTIONS QUASHED: A US federal court has overturned the terrorism convictions of two Yemen men. (Getty Images)

Yemeni Foreign Minister Abu Bakr Al-Kurbi called on Saturday for the immediate release of two nationals whose convictions on terrorism charges have been overturned by a US federal appeals court.

The minister said that his government would "continue its efforts to secure the release, at the earliest opportunity" of the two Yemenis whose convictions for Al-Qaeda membership were quashed on Thursday.

The second US circuit court of appeals overturned the convictions of Sheikh Mohammed Ali Al-Moayad and Mohammed Zayed, who had been sentenced to 75 and 45 years in jail respectively on Thursday.

Following the ruling, the two men - who were arrested in Germany in 2003 and extradited to the United States - were put under the jurisdiction of another judge and could be retried.

The appeals court said that the convictions against Al-Moayad, 60, and Zayed, 34, for giving financial support to Al-Qaeda and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas were based on "highly inflammatory and irrelevant" testimony from third parties who had unfairly influenced the jury.

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