Yemeni Activist Ibrahim Mothana Dies at 24

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Yemeni activist Ibrahim Mothana, a founder of the Al-Watan Party and a prominent critic of the US drone program, has died at the age of only 24. An activist in the democratic movement since the 2011 uprising, he was well-known abroad for his good English, giving him an audience, such as this 2012 New York Times op-ed, "How Drones Help Al Qaeda". Glenn Greenwald at The Guardian published the text this year of his testimony prepared (but not delivered as he could not attend) when he was invited to testify before a US Senate Subcommittee looking into the legality of the use of drones: "A young Yemeni writer on the impact and morality of drone-bombing his country."

The cause of death is unclear but a possible heart attack has been mentioned. Appreciations of his work at the Huffington Post,  Yemen Peace Project website and at Afrah Nasser's blog.