YEMEN Press Agency

UN official abducted by al-Qaeda in Abyan freed

SANAA, Aug 11 (YPA) -Al-Qaeda’s Yemen branch has released Akam Sofyol Anam, the director of the UN Office of Security and Safety after 18 months of abduction.

Bangladeshi national Akam Sofyol Anam was abducted in February 2022 along with four other UN Yemeni workers.

Al-Malaham website published pictures for the UN worker and wrote on one of them that the UN kidnapper “has young children”.

The written phrase has raised the astonishment of political analysts, as the issue of family support has never been among the concerns of the organization.

The organization believes that the killing of innocent civilians is permissible because society lives in a state of ignorance and alienation from Islam” without any considerations for the families of the victims, while the terrorist organization has already executed thousands of parents and blew up schools and mosques, in which many children are the victims.

On September 2, 2022, the terrorist organization’s “Al-Malaham” website published recording of the UN abducted worker in which he appealed to the United Nations to pay the ransom demanded by the organization, estimated at $ 5 million, saying: “Currently I am in the grip of Al-Qaeda away from my children. I appeal to the United Nations, the international community and humanitarian organizations to intervene and respond to the demands of the kidnappers to free me and my colleagues.”

In the same context, activists and media loyal to the Saudi-led coalition confirmed that al-Qaeda had received the ransom paid by the UAE to release the UN official. This comes within the methods of hidden support for the terrorist organization by regional and international powers.

“On my own responsibility, $3 million dollars paid by the UAE to al-Qaeda in Yemen as a ransom for the release of UN official Akam Sofyol Anam,” Adel al-Hasani, a former leader of the Southern Resistance, tweeted.

“The UN official arrived in his country Bangladesh, coming from the UAE,” al-Hasani said.

Al-Hasani revealed that the deal was made through former al-Qaeda leader and currently close to the UAE, Nasser al-Shaybah al-Kazmi (Abu Jahiman).

“Nasser al-Shaybah was previously the mediator in al-Qaeda’s withdrawal from Mukalla and its handover to the UAE without recording a single death,” he said.

For his part, the journalist “Anis Mansour”, editor-in-chief of “Hona Aden” newspaper, wondered  about the secret in transferring the UN kidnapped from Aden airport to Abu Dhabi, and not releasing the four Yemeni workers who were with him during the abduction.”

E.M