Including senior officials. Tiny Minority of Extremists Update: “Yemen: Ex-prisoner in US receives hero’s welcome,” from Al-Bawaba, August 11 (thanks to Sr. Soph):
Many Yemenis, including senior officials, gathered outside the Sana’a International Airport to welcome Sheikh Mohammed Hassan al-Moayad and his aide Mohammed Zayed after their release from a US prison. The two were freed on Friday.
Ministers of Foreign, Endowments and Guidance and Human Rights as well as Yemeni clerics and MPs and Shoura Council members attended the event, SABA news agency reported….
Last week and after a New York appeals court hearing, the two were ordered released and transferred to Yemen after they pleaded guilty to some charges including providing financial support to Hamas….
In 2005, the two were sentenced to 75 and 45 years in prison respectively….
Who is al-Moayad? His boasts about being “Osama bin Laden’s spiritual adviser” are here, and there is more info here.