Faisal bin Ali Jaber lost his brother in law, a preacher who publicly opposed al Qaeda, and nephew, a local policeman, in a strike that took place in the Hadhramout region on August 29, 2012.

Just days before he was killed, Salim bin Ali Jaber had preached at the local mosque against al Qaeda.  He was killed, along with police officer Waleed bin Ali Jaber, in a strike which may have been targeted at three strangers who visited the village demanding to speak to Salem following his sermon.

Mr Jaber is visiting Washington DC from Thursday November 14 to Wednesday November 20 in order to hold meetings with members of Congress and address conferences of academics and activists regarding his experiences.  His visa has been sponsored by peace group Code Pink, at whose conference he is speaking on Saturday.

Writing to President Obama on behalf of Mr Jaber, his legal representative, Cori Crider, an attorney at human rights charity Reprieve said:

"As well as killing innocent Yemenis, Faisal believes the drone strikes are counter-productive.  His village is peaceful.  They bore the US no ill-will, quite the contrary as can be seen from Salim’s brave stand five days before he died.  Yet today the villagers associate the US with the brutal murder of two of their own. 

"Faisal is visiting the US as a representative of the victims’ families to bring attention to the true cost of the drone war, not only in terms of Yemeni lives and but in terms of America’s reputation in the region.  I know that you are very busy, but I hope that you might make time to meet him, in order to understand the cost of the US’ drone programme for those on the ground in Yemen."
 

ENDS

1. For further information, and to request interviews with Mr Jaber, please contact Donald Campbell in Reprieve’s press office: +44 (0) 207 553 8166 / donald.campbell@reprieve.org.uk

2. The full text of the letter, sent via email on November 11, is available on request.

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