Following last month's botched airstrike which accidentally killed Jaber al-Shabwani, the deputy governor of Marib province, along with four bodyguards, his tribe has now accepted compensationfrom the Yemeni government – in the form of five million riyals ($22,000) and 200 Kalshnikov rifles.

I know that guns are a traditional part of the compensation package in such cases, but it's hard to squared with the declared government policy of trying to disarm Yemen's heavily armed civilian population.

Meanwhile, the government says it may review its methods in fighting al-Qaeda (the intended target of the airstrike that killed Shabwani). 

There are widespread suspicions that an American drone was used in the attack, but US military involvement in Yemen is a highly sensistive issue and a government inquiry into Shabwani's killing threatens to shed unwelcome light on a relationship that the authorities would prefer to keep quiet about.

In an interview with Gulf News, foreign minister Abu Bakr al-Qirbi pleaded ignorance:

“If there was a drone, and we don’t know, then we have to find out if this was used by the Yemeni security forces or by others, but we don’t know how the incident happened. We will have to wait for the results of the investigation,” Qirbi said.

Asked if other parties could include the US, Qirbi said: “Yes.”

Posted by Brian Whitaker, 2 June 2010.