Diplomats discuss Yemen dissident exchange

An offer to exchange five Britons convicted of terrorist acts for a Britain-based dissident accused of terrorism in Yemen was today being considered by Government officials.

Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh said he was willing to do the exchange, whereby the men imprisoned in Yemen could serve the rest of their sentences in Britain, if the Government agreed to extradite Abu Hamza al-Masri.

In a letter to the British Embassy, Saleh stated Yemen’s willingness to allow Britain to appoint either a Yemeni or British lawyer to defend al-Masri.

He is accused of forming an armed group and planning terrorist acts against American and British interests in Yemen, a Yemeni official said.

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said she did not know the likelihood of the proposed exchange.

‘‘We haven’t dismissed it out of hand but we do need to consider what our response will be. We will have to consider details of the proposal with the Home Office and other officials.’’

She said Britain’s ambassador to Yemen, Frances Guy, met Saleh on Saturday and discussed the prisoners.

’’We will now be considering how best to respond and what our actions should be.

I haven’t heard of many instances like this but there have been cases.’’

The five Britons, who are of Pakistani origin, were convicted and sentenced in 1999 to between three and seven years in prison.

They were among 10 men convicted of plotting with Islamic fundamentalists to bomb British targets in Aden.

They were also accused of working with Islamic radicals who kidnapped 16 Westerners in December 1998.

Four of the Westerners died in a shootout during a botched rescue attempt by Yemeni security forces.

Three other suspects arrested in the case were sentenced to time served and released.