Yemen Cracks Down on Illegal Residents; 80 at School Held

Authorities in Yemen have detained 80 foreign students and teachers from a fundamentalist Islamic institute during a crackdown on illegal residents, a security official said Saturday.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said authorities were investigating whether the foreigners--all men--were in the country legally. The detentions came near the end of a 30-day grace period provided to foreigners to legalize their presence in the country.

The foreigners, mostly from Arab and South Asian countries, were studying and teaching at the private Dar Al-Hadith institute in the Abida tribal region--the same area where Yemeni special forces have been searching for members of Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda network in recent weeks. Heavy fighting Dec. 18 killed at least 24 soldiers and six tribesmen.

The tribal region is in Marib province, 100 miles east of the capital, Sana. The official did not say if any of the men being held were thought to have links to Al Qaeda.

In the aftermath of the October 2000 bombing of the U.S. destroyer Cole in Aden harbor and the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States, Yemen has taken steps to crack down on religious extremists and Arab veterans of Afghan wars who have taken refuge in this relatively lawless country on the southern tip of the Arabian peninsula.

The Abida tribe, which numbers about 5,000, is the largest in Marib province, which has earned a reputation for lawlessness. Since 1990, about 100 foreigners have been kidnapped in Marib, usually to be used in negotiations with the government to secure aid and better living conditions.

The United States blames Bin Laden and Al Qaeda for the Sept. 11 attacks and the Cole bombing, which killed 17 American sailors. U.S. officials have pressed the Yemeni government to crack down on Al Qaeda cells in the country.

Also Saturday, a special court handed 25-year jail sentences to several tribesmen convicted of kidnapping a German engineer this month. The hostage was unharmed.

Three others convicted in absentia were given 20 years, while another suspect, also at large, was acquitted.

The Yemeni government responded to the kidnapping with unusual force, shelling the tribe’s stronghold.