Sana'a: Al Qaida-linked group that controls many towns in southern Yemen said on Saturday that it would set free 73 soldiers , a local tribal leader told Gulf News.
Ansar Al Sharia , an Al Qaida offshoot in Yemen , announced that they decided to release the hostages for "the sake of God and in response to the appeals of the soldiers' families and the tribal mediation". The militants invited on Friday reporters, mediators, human rights activists and the soldiers' relatives to their stronghold, Ja'ar, to decide whether to release or behead the captives.
"The soldiers will be handed to their families who came to Ja'ar to receive them," the tribal figure said.
The soldiers were captured early last month when Al Qaida militants launched an assault on an army camp in Abyan province. At least 200 soldiers were also killed in the same attack. This week, Al Qaida announced in Ja'ar town that it would kill ten soldiers each week if the government does not release jailed militants.
