Nisha Rathode

Abdulelah Haider Shaye

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Name  Abdulelah Shaye

Role  Journalist
Abdulelah Haider Shaye Yemeni Journalist Held Up for Exposing US Attack Al

Why is president obama keeping yemeni journalist abdulelah haider shaye in prison 1 of 2

Abdulelah Haider Shaye or Abd al-Ilah Haydar Al-Sha’i (born c. 1977) is a prominent Yemeni investigative journalist best known for his reporting of the December 17, 2009 U.S. cruise missile strike on al-Majalah in southern Yemen, his interviews with al-Qaeda leaders, and the controversial nature of his arrest and imprisonment in 2011.


Abdulelah Haider Shaye Why Is President Obama Keeping a Journalist in Prison in

In 2011, Shaye was arrested, beaten, and held in solitary confinement for 34 days in Yemen. He was eventually tried and convicted of terrorism-related charges and sentenced to five years in prison, followed by two years of restricted movement and government surveillance. His conviction and sentencing was deeply unpopular with the Yemeni populace. On February 2, 2011, President Obama called then-Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh to discuss counterterrorism cooperation and Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. At the end of the call, according to a White House read-out, Obama “expressed concern” over the release of Shaye. Shaye had not been released at the time of the call, but Saleh did have a pardon prepared. Consequently, Shaye was not released until 2013.


Shaye is related by marriage to the radical Islamic cleric Abdul Majid al Zindani and he has used this relationship and other connections to gain access to al-Qaeda leaders, including the late Yemeni-American Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki.

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In 2013, Shaye won a coveted Alkarama Human Rights Defenders award in Geneva for his work in exposing the reality of the US-led drone war in his country.

Abdulelah Haider Shaye Alkarama Award 2013 Filmportrait on Abdulelah Haider

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Reporting on al-Majalah bombing

Shaye reported that the site of the al-Majalah bombing was littered with remnants of U.S. Tomahawk missiles and cluster munitions, contradicting claims by the government of Yemen that the bombing was their own. U.S. responsibility was denied by Pentagon officials but later confirmed by Amnesty International, The Telegraph newspaper, and a release of secret materials by Wikileaks. He also reported that 21 children and 14 women had been killed in the bombing.



Journalist Jeremy Scahill reported that, according to his sources in Yemen, Saleh rescinded his pardon primarily due to the call from President Obama. Scahill suggested that Yemen's counter-terrorism funding from the United States may have motivated Saleh's cooperation.

On July 23, 2013, Shaye was released from prison to serve out the remaining 2 years of his 5-year sentence under house arrest.

In media

  • Dirty Wars, a 2013 American documentary directed by Richard Rowley, and written by Jeremy Scahill and David Riker.
  • References

    Abdulelah Haider Shaye Wikipedia

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