Abdulelah Haider Shaye, or Abd al-Ilah Haydar Al-Sha’i (born c. 1977), is a prominent Yemeni investigative journalist best known for his reporting of the December 17, 2009 U.S. cruise missile strike on al-Majalah in southern Yemen, his interviews with al-Qaeda leaders, and the controversial nature of his arrest and imprisonment in 2011.
[citation needed] In 2013, Shaye won a coveted Alkarama Human Rights Defenders award in Geneva for his work in exposing the reality of the US-led drone war in his country.
U.S. responsibility was denied by Pentagon officials[3] but later confirmed by Amnesty International,[4] The Telegraph newspaper,[5] and a release of leaked diplomatic cables.
[1][9][10] Journalist Jeremy Scahill reported that, according to his sources in Yemen, Saleh rescinded his pardon primarily due to the call from President Obama.
[11] On July 23, 2013, Shaye was released from prison to serve out the remaining two years of his five-year sentence under house arrest.