An official source denied that President Saleh had ordered confiscating lands belonging to former prime minister Haider Abu Bakr Al-Attas in Hadramout and denied any plan for assassinating him.

This comes in response to an interview conducted by a local newspaper with Al-Attas who claimed that Saleh had ordered confiscation of his lands in Al-Mukalla. Al-Attas mentioned also that Saleh took this decision after he had allegedly refused to attend the meeting Saleh called for and in which he [Saleh] met with several Southern leaders living in United Arab Emirates.

The source also revealed that the lands Al-Attas spoke about are owned by state and they had been possessed by the British Colonial forces, hinting that Al-Attas had tried to seize and add them to his possession, but he managed not as he failed to complete the legal measures of registration.

It also continued that Al-Attas had built himself two palaces in Al-Mukalla's Fuwah zone from Yemen people's money when he joined the secession conspiracy which to be a great failure.

Moreover, the source also emphasized that there are no directives to confiscate any lands or real estate he seized in Al-Mukalla or elsewhere, maintaining that President Saleh ordered last week formation of fact-finding committees from parliament blocs and its specialized committees to investigate the alleged and illegal pillage of lands and property to present their reports before public and parliament so that concerned authorities can hold looters into account. 

The source further mentioned that what Al-Attas said about the attempted assassination is baseless and it is no more than fabrications and lies, stressing that such claims have no existence only in his confused mind which is full of conspiracy, plots, seditions and lies.