Yemen releases 21 Indonesian students

Yemen releases 21 Indonesian students

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Yemen government has released 21 Indonesian students but will
deport 23 others in an unprecedented row over terrorism which is
feared will disrupt diplomatic ties between the two countries.

The release of Indonesians, who are studying Islam in a
university in Tarim, Hadramaut came after a meeting between the
Indonesian ambassador to the Arab country, Yulwis Yatim, and
Yemen Home Affairs Minister Maj. Gen. Mutahar Al-Masri on Sunday.

Yulwis expressed his regret over the detention, which followed
a move against terrorism in the country between November last
year and January this year.

"On behalf of the Indonesian government, I deplore the
detention because there was no prior notice to the Indonesian
embassy. According to international codes, the Yemen government
should have informed us of the arrest three days after they were
made. That's why we asked them to release the students," Yulwis
said as quoted by Antara in Sana'a.

He also regretted the fact that the 44 Indonesian students
were questioned without the presence of defense lawyers.

"As far as we observe, those students are not involved in
either political or terrorism activities," he said.

Al-Masri told Antara that he did not expect the incident to
affect diplomatic ties between Sana'a and Jakarta.

He said the arrest occurred because the country's police could
not tell the Indonesians apart from other foreigners.

He said 23 of the Indonesians would be deported since the
universities where they were studying at, in the provinces of
Ma'reb and Sa'dah, were illegal. The two universities are run by
the Darul Hadis foundation.

But Al-Masri did not rule out a request from Yuswil that the
students could be moved to accredited universities in a bid to
avoid deportation.

The Yemen government also asked Indonesians wishing to study
there to obtain approval from Jakarta and to register with
recognized universities.