By Faisal Abu Bakr | 2025-01-09

ADEN -- Al-Qaeda's recent claim that it executed a Yemeni journalist it abducted in 2015, along with 10 other hostages, underscores the group's ongoing violation of Islamic teachings on the sanctity of life, analysts said.

On December 28, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) announced it had executed Yemen Today's Hadramaut correspondent Mohammed al-Muqri.

It also said it killed Naji al-Zuhairi, Yousef Salih Ahmed al-Humaikani and Hussein Ali Mohammed al-Sawadi, along with others it referred to as "spies."

Yemen Today strongly condemned the crime, while al-Muqri's family issued a statement in which they expressed "strong doubts" about the veracity of al-Qaeda's claim and said they were holding out hope that he was still alive.

"Al-Qaeda has given itself the right to try and execute anyone who disagrees with its opinion," political analyst Mahmoud al-Taher told Al-Fassel. "It is a rogue organization outside the bounds of law and Islam's basic principles."

"The organization refuses to acknowledge its ongoing violation of Islamic law because it considers its extremist terrorist approach and ideology to be correct and anything else to be wrong," al-Taher said.

"Therefore, anyone who tries to expose its extremist ideology becomes a direct enemy."

Al-Muqri was kidnapped in October 2015 while covering demonstrations against al-Qaeda in the Hadramaut provincial capital of al-Mukalla.

AQAP accused him of espionage against Yemeni national interests, charges his family rejected, Yemen Monitor reported January 3.

Al-Qaeda under pressure

Al-Qaeda's execution claim comes as the extremist group faces pressure from Southern Transitional Council forces in Abyan and Shabwa provinces.

The timing is no coincidence, said researcher Saeed al-Jamahi, who studies extremist groups.

"The organization rushed to implement these sentences because it can no longer maintain its positions and areas of geographical control," he told Al-Fassel.

"Al-Qaeda wants to send a message that it is still strong and can expose spies."

Al-Muqri's kidnapping and disappearance highlights the "extreme dangers" Yemeni journalists face, the Committee to Protect Journalists said.

The International Federation of Journalists condemned al-Muqri's alleged execution as a "heinous crime," while the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate demanded accountability.

The Network to Protect Journalists in Yemen also condemned the act in a statement signed by eight other organizations, including the National Organization of Yemeni Reporters.

"This crime not only reflects a blatant violation of human rights and freedom of expression, but is also a blatant assault on humanity, its values, and the values ​​of Yemeni society," the statement said.

"These executions amount to the deliberate killing of innocent civilians," al-Taher said. "They violate basic Islamic tenets due to the lack of fair trials by any official and legitimate authority."