Investigation Committee Takes Samples from an “Incomplete Corpse” Attributed to Yemeni Politician “Mohammed Qahtan” In Sana’a
Yemen Monitor/ Sana’a/ Exclusive:
The quad committee tasked with verifying the fate of prominent Yemeni politician Mohammed Qahtan took samples today, Thursday, from a corpse presented by the Houthi group in the capital, Sana’a. The group claimed the body belongs to the politician who has been forcibly disappeared in its prisons for over 11 years, as part of medical examination and identity verification procedures.
Sources closely linked to the committee told “Yemen Monitor” that the corpse delivered and examined at the “Kuwait Hospital” in Sana’a was “incomplete,” noting that while the committee finished its examination of the body, it remains skeptical about the circumstances of death and the true identity of the displayed corpse.
The sources revealed shocking details regarding the condition of the presented body; Zaid Qahtan (the son of the disappeared politician) stated that the body shown to the family was limited to the lower half of the body only, while the upper part—including the head—was completely missing.
The Houthi group justified the disappearance of the upper half by claiming the body was subjected to a previous airstrike, a justification that the family stressed does not dispel the heavy doubts surrounding the case, but rather increases its ambiguity. The family also noted that its members were subjected to intense pressure to force them into signing the “examination report.”
Information obtained by “Yemen Monitor” indicates that Qahtan was liquidated inside Houthi prisons, and that there is no truth to the claims that he was killed in an airstrike as the group alleges.
According to the sources, four multiple samples were taken from the corpse for the purpose of DNA testing, and were distributed to the family, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the Yemeni government representatives, and the Houthi group.
A source in the committee confirmed to “Yemen Monitor” that the ICRC will oversee the transport of the samples and conduct the necessary laboratory tests in specialized labs in a country outside of Yemen to ensure integrity and accuracy.
The quad committee’s visit to the site in Sana’a came one day after a meeting between Zaid Qahtan and members of the committee present in the capital to follow up on his father’s file, following the arrival of the government’s representatives on the committee to Sana’a yesterday.
Members of the international committee and the Houthi group had previously informed Qahtan’s son that the arrangements and preparations for the field visit had been completed, and that things were moving forward based on the permits granted, prior to the actual visit today, Thursday, to examine the body amid an atmosphere charged with skepticism and the shadow of Houthi pressure on the family.
