What is the case against Abraham Golan?

Anssaf Ali Mayo, a Yemeni politician, claimed that Abraham Golan, a Hungarian-Israeli security contractor who led the mercenary outfit, Spear Operations Group, was hired to assassinate him in 2015 as part of a larger efforts by the UAE to eliminate its political rivals in the region, particularly those who opposed Emirati intervention in Yemen's Civil War.

Mayo has filed a lawsuit in a US federal court in California, alleging that the Spear Operations Group, a Delaware-based private military firm Golan started started with a former Navy SEAL, Issac Gilmore, was hired by the UAE to execute a targeted assassination program, which also included him.

Besides Gilmore, Spear included several US special forces operators as its employees, the lawsuit claims, alleging that the firm was essentially a mercenary outfit, and was hired by the Emiratis for a monthly payment of $1.5 million plus bonuses to targeted killings in Yemen.

All three defendants, Golan, Gilmore and Dale Comstock, another US Army Special Forces member, have previously admitted to being involved in assassination campaign, including the attempt to kill Mayo. "There was a targeted assassination program in Yemen. I was running it. We did it. It was sanctioned by the UAE within the coalition," Abraham Golan had told Buzzfeed in 2018.

While Abu Dhabi has acknowledged supporting "counterterrorism" efforts in Yemen, it has vehemently denied targeting political figures in the war-torn country, including those who oppose the UAE.

How Golan's mercenary group tried to assassinate Mayo?

Anssaf Ali Mayo, a member of Yemeni parliament and a prominent figure in the Islamist Al-Islah party, has filed the lawsuit under the Alien Tort Statute, a US law which allows non-US citizens to file suits in US federal courts for violations of international law.

According to Mayo, Golan's Spear group planted explosives in his office building in the southern city of Aden on December 29, 2015. The politician narrowly escaped, fleeing the building minutes before the blast, and later immigrated to Saudi Arabia, fearing his safety.

"Spear tried to assassinate me ten years ago. I survived but have been forced to live in exile separated from my family," Mayo said in a statement.

Who is Abraham Golan?

Avraham Golan, also known as Abraham Golan is a private security contractor, with a dual citizenship of Hungary and Israel, and a military career spanning from the IDF and the French Foreign Legion, as well private security operations across Africa and the Middle East.

While Golan's military career remains shrouded in mystery, Daniel Corbett, a former US SEAL Team Six operative employed by Golan, believes he may have served in the French Foreign Legion, and was likely member of the Israeli armed forces at some point.

Abraham Golan is primarily known as the founder of Spear Operations Group, a private military company (PMC) described by several rights groups as a mercenary outfit, which hit global headlines in October 2018 when the group's assassination operations were exposed by Buzzfeed News.

Meanwhile, Daniel McLaughlin, legal director at the Center for Justice & Accountability, stated that Mayo's lawsuit underscores the need to hold former US military members accountable for illegal actions.

"Our government has a duty to regulate how former members of our military use their training and know-how, and a responsibility to hold them accountable when they break the law," McLaughlin said in a statement, according to the Associated Press.