Alleged Yemeni spy transmitted secrets via the Yemeni Consulate
Bit by bit the story comes together. Al-Rawhani is charged with transmitting military secrets and prohibited military equipment via the Yemeni consulate in California. YO. This is the case that originally hit the media regarding one of his co-conspirators, Ahmen Ahmed Ali.
Amin Ali al-Rawhani, the head of the Yemeni Expatriates Federation in San Francisco who was recently charged with spying and sending military equipment to Yemen, is an American national. But Yemen’s Minister of Foreign and Expatriates affairs, Abu Bakr al-Qirbi, said that the ministry is following al-Rawhani’s case closely.
Al-Rawhani is charged with sending military equipment to Yemen through the Yemeni Consulate in California and the Yemeni community there. In an exclusive statement to Observer, al-Qirbi said that the Yemeni community is working to help al-Rawhani, although he is an American national. According to the minister, al-Rawhani will receive all rights of an American citizen to receive fair trial.
“We are not sure about the accusations against him, and the ministry has not any information right now,” he said. He denied reports that there are other detainees with al-Rawhani, saying that this is false news. Yemeni consul Mansour al-Moliki revealed that al-Rawhani sent what he is accused of having sent to specific people in Yemen, not to the Yemeni government. Al-Moliki said that al-Rawhani is still in custody, saying that the authorities have set bail at more than $1 million. His friends and relatives are trying to collect this sum.
According to Al-Sharq Al-Awasat newspaper, the American authorities found in al-Rawhani’s papers a phone number of Mohammed al-Moayyad, who was sentenced to 75 years in prison on charges of funding terror. But al-Rawhani’s relatives said that the existence of a number doesn’t mean that they have had contact. Hafdallah al-Rawhani, one of al-Rawhani relatives, said that the documents that the Americans claimed are proof of spying are only poems which have been sent to Yemeni embassy in Washington, and do not include any sensitive information. Regarding the military equipment, al-Rawhani said that he has bought two items, which any American could buy from public shop, to send them as gifts.
Lawyer Khalid al-Anisi said that Yemen has a right to ensure the legality of measures taken against al-Rawhani, as he has Yemeni nationality in addition to his American nationality. Al-Anisi doubted that al-Rawhani would receive all the rights stated in the American law. He said that the American law provides rights for all, but after 9/11, the American authorities deal with suspects in accordance with nationality and religion. He said that Yemen has good relations with the United States, as it is a key ally in the war against terror. Yemen could utilize these relations to get further insurance of a fair trial for al-Rawhani. He pointed out that the American embassy in Sana’a used to attend the trial of Yemenis who have American nationality.
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