Al-Thawri editor seeks asylum [Archives:2006/1000/Local News]

SANA'A, Nov. 19 ) Khaled Salman, editor-in-chief of Al-Thawri newspaper ) mouthpiece of the Yemeni Socialist Party, announced his withdrawal from the president's delegation at the London Donors Conference and made a bid for political asylum in the UK.

“The Yemeni governance commits several human rights violations and abuses. It exercises illegal practices against political forces making democracy lose its meaning. The regime uses democracy merely to receive grants and funds that go into the pockets of corrupt officials,” Salman said in a statement.

“The nation experiences division, the citizenship ranks multiplied and the country has fallen prey to the rulers and symbols of the regime who loot property, waste public money and exercise corruption in different government offices,” the statement reads.

“For these reasons, Khaled Salman, member of the Yemeni Socialist Party, central committee and general secretariat, and Editor of the party's newspaper, who is wanted by the government for 13 publication cases, herby announces his withdrawal from the president's media delegation and seeks political asylum in the UK.”

Salman is a Yemeni journalist known for criticizing government corruption and he seeks implementation of political and economic reforms. Since he took the job as the newspaper's editor, he has been in permanent dispute with authorities and now faces up to 13 publication cases.

Salman, who has extensive media experience of over more than three decades, is counted among the foremost names in Yemen's journalism over the last few years. He is famous for his solid attitudes and support of press freedom. Salman's asylum claim is a direct message to the government,

“He preferred to seek a political asylum