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.