Tulsa Peace Fellowship

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US unmanned assassin drone kills peace activist in Yemen

Salim preached non-violence, deplored violence by militants, and preached AGAINST al-Qaeda -- United States airstrikes in Yemen have killed civilians in violation of international law..

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Comment by Tony Nuspl on November 30, 2013 at 10:09am

More coverage of Yemeni cleric and father of seven who preached loudly against the extremism exhibited by Al Qaeda, and was nonetheless killed by U.S. violent action. 

http://truth-out.org/news/item/20238-drone-strike-victims-find-supp...

Comment by Tony Nuspl on November 22, 2013 at 11:33am

NBC news, 20 Nov 2013:

Yemeni tells White House of US drone strike that he says killed innocent kin 

Faisel bin Ali Jaber, 55, a Yemeni government engineer is seeking U.S. government compensation for his village, a White House official confirmed to NBC News. Jaber also briefed about a half-dozen members of Congress on the attack during his five-day visit to the U.S.

He provided White House officials with a first-hand account of a controversial CIA drone strike last year that he says "terrorized" his small village, scattered body parts near the local mosque and mistakenly killed two members of his family -- including an imam who had denounced al Qaeda and a local police officer.

According to Jaber's account, one of the victims, his brother in law, Salim bin Ali Jaber,  an imam and father of seven, had just  given a sermon at the local mosque criticizing al Qaeda and challenging the group to justify its actions. 

"His last words, his last sermon was that there wasn't anything in the Quran that justified the killing of innocent civilians," Jaber said. "It's not in our religion." 

After the sermon, three men armed with rifles arrived in the village and asked to meet with Salim-apparently to confront him about his anti-al Qaeda message. As Salim left the mosque to meet the visitors, Jaber said, the drones were heard buzzing above and the explosions occurred.  

Days later, Jaber said, he got a call from a Yemeni counterterrorism official who apologized for the attack and told him that the killing of Salim had been a "mistake."  

But Jaber said that's not acceptable. "I want an investigation to know who was responsible for the deaths … and who will be held accountable," he said, adding that he wants compensation for his village, such as a road named for his brother-in-law. "The whole village were victims of this strike. The village was paralyzed by this. … Most importantly, people are still living in fear."

In an earlier interview with NBC News, Jaber described what happened on Aug. 29, 2012, when Hellfire missiles fired from a CIA drone struck Khashamir, the village where he lives in eastern Yemen.

Moments after hearing the humming sound of a drone buzzing over the village, "We saw a flash of light-and a huge explosion,” said Jaber, 55, an engineer with the Yemeni Environmental Protection Agency. “… We thought a mountain was falling on us."

When he rushed to the scene, Jaber said, he discovered a bloody scene – legs, arms and a head strewn on the ground. Among the five he later learned had been killed, he said, were his brother-in-law, the local imam, and Jaber's 26-year-old nephew, a traffic policeman. He said the attack had only made al Qaeda "more popular" and that young people in his village were "infused with anger," including two local teenagers who left to join the terrorist group, never to be heard from again. 

“They would join al Qaeda or any other group that would be able to get them revenge," he said of the youths.

"It's one thing to read about collateral damage. It's another to talk to someone who lost their brother-in-law and their nephew," said Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., a member of the House Intelligence Committee, who also met with Jaber on Wednesday. "I was struck by the perspective that people in his village go about their lives thinking, at any moment, that if they make the wrong turn, or are in the wrong place at the wrong time, the heavens may open up and it may be the end of their existence."

http://investigations.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/11/20/21553062-yemeni-... [emphasis added]

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