In Yemen, President Salih has ordered the release of three journalists from Aden's oldest newspaper, al-Ayyam. 

Al-Ayyam was one of six papers banned last May, allegedly for supporting "separatism" in the south of Yemen. The three journalists – Hani Hisham Bashraheel, Mohammed Hisham Bashraheel and Arhab Hassan Yassin – were arrested in January following a confrontation with security forces outside the paper's office. 

It sounds as though the paper may also be allowed to resume publication provided that it respects "the country's law and constitution" (as interpreted, presumably, by President Salih). The paper's director, Bashraheel Hisham Bashraheel, told AFP: "There is an agreement which we cannot disclose at the moment until the release of our three colleagues." 

Posted by Brian Whitaker, 22 April 2010.