Yemeni groups to protest against US detentions

A Yemeni human rights coalition has announced it will take part in a protest outside the US embassy in Sanaa on Monday, in solidarity with Yemeni detainees in US prisons. A statement released on Sunday said that six Yemeni organisations will be involved in the protest "in solidarity with the families of dozens of Yemeni detainees in the American Guantanamo Bay prison." The statement said that the families of detainees have been calling for their loved ones, who were detained in Afghanistan following September 11, 2001 to be released. The groups added that the relatives are concerned about the health of the detainees who reportedly began a hunger strike two months ago, leading to some of them being transferred to US hospitals for treatment. The Yemeni government has requested US authorities to extradite 90 Yemenis being held in US detention centres, saying they would be rehabilitated in Yemen. Yemeni diplomatic sources in Washington have said that a government delegation is expected to visit the US for talks about the detainees in the near future.