Guantanamo Bay: the Yemen connection

Following the failed attack on an American aeroplane on Christmas day - by a Nigerian man who co-ordinated the plot with members of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula - the world has turned its attention to Yemen and its links with Islamic militancy.

The activity of al-Qaeda in Yemen is a huge worry for the US administration and its allies in the Gulf, and complicates President Obama's decisions on what to do about Guantanamo Bay.

President Obama has suspended the repatriation of prisoners from Guantanamo, but still pledges to close down the prison - although not by his own initial target of January 22.

Some officials fear that any Yemeni prisoners released from could join or rejoin militant groups in Yemen.

To examine the links between Guantanamo Bay, al-Qaeda and Yemen, Lyse Doucet from Newshour speaks to a panel of guests:

• Bernard Haykel, professor of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University;
• Victoria Clark, author of Yemen: Dancing on the Heads of Snakes.
• Karen Greenberg, executive director of the Center on Law and Security at NYU Law School

She asked Karen Greenberg first of all what was known about the Yemenis who had already been released from Guantanamo:

First broadcast 9 January 2010