Judge Hamoud al-Hitar and four of his fellow judges decided that the best way to discourage Islamist insurgency in Yemen would be to have dialogues with imprisoned members of al Qaeda and other insurgency groups. The judge proposed that if the Islamists could support their radical claims with evidence from the Qu'ran, then he (and his fellows) would join the cause; however, if the judges could present an opposing view supported by evidence from the Qu'ran, then the insurgents would agree to go home and renounce their violent ways.
Critics have taken a very disagreeable view toward these 'Koranic duels' because, they argue, the judges have allowed several known terrorists to go free. The judge counters that all significant cases of terrorism in Yemen have been prosecuted, including those Islamists responsible for the U.S.S. Cole attack, and all of these cases have been resolved with the execution of the responsible individuals. Those individuals that have been released have largely been recent recruits who have been duped by what the judge would call a 'false teaching' of Islam.
The presentation of the 'true Islam' to these individuals enables the judges to free them from their misguided understanding of the teachings of Mohammed. According to the CSMonitor report, most (if not all) of those released prisoners have gone back to their homes to lead productive lives. Many of them have enrolled in educational programs or have begun new jobs. In addition to the efforts by these judges to re-educate the Islamists, Yemen has closed all madrassas in the country--hoping to eradicate the negative influence of the extreme views of Islam held by al Qaeda and the Wahhabists of Saudi Arabia.
This story just goes to show that education and dialogue can perhaps accomplish as much as bullets and tanks.
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