[debacle]

A QA engineer (someone who writes tests, and works hand-in-hand with release engineering and programmers to develop a testable system) should definitely know how to program, and, in my opinion should have experience programming in a professional capacity.

A QA analyst (someone who runs manual tests, fills out bug reports, and annoys programmers) does not need to be a programmer. It would be a waste of salary and it is more important that these people are persistent and meticulous than they know the internals of the system they are working with.