Armies of Liberation

from M&C:

On Feb. 25 Yemen`s Specialized State Security Penal Court tried 17 suspects accused of forming an armed unit to attack Western interests in the country. The Specialized State Security Penal Court hearing listened to evidence from the prosecution, which included suspects` confessions and seized materials, including weapons, bombs, computers, bogus stamps and identity cards, explosives and electrical devices to wire mobile phones to use for remote detonation.

The suspects acknowledged that the prosecution`s investigations were correct, But they claimed that their materials were being prepared to use against U.S. forces in Iraq.

So with no legal prohibitions against going to Iraq to make IEDs against the US troops, this is a legitimate defense (that they weren’t planning on killing anyone in Yemen, just Iraq.)

Technically are the Yemeni training camps, financing and logistics supporting the insurgency in Iraq legal in Yemen too? I guess the travel documents are only illegal if they are forged. But what about killing Iraqi civilians, there’s no law against that in Yemen either?

From the Yemen Observer:

President Ali Abdullah Saleh has repeated that he will not stand for presidency in the upcoming elections expected for September, according to an interview with the London-based Al-Hayat weekly newspaper.

In the wide ranging interview, republished on the official 26Sep.net website, Saleh gave the example of Lebanon as an example of where a president had stepped down from power. ..

Saleh repeated his intention not to run in the presidential elections in September. The President said that the recent cabinet reshuffle was necessary for the national interest, and to encourage government missions to take greater steps towards greater development, reform and to fight corruption.

Well, if he sticks to it, I’ll really have to give him credit, unless Ahmed steps in.

Otay so its six months to the elections and theres no candidate inside Yemen. While the JMP does have valid points regarding the electoral commisssion, can’t they fight that while they field a candidate? Wouldn’t it be more of a powerful statement if a popular opposition candidate threatened to withdraw rather than all this mumbling about a boycott? Lacking resources and in an atmosphere of ruling party domination of the media, doesnt it make sense to attempt to develop some grass roots support for an opposition candidate? Its a long shot, but its a shot. I dont get it. (Considering Saleh vetoed the GPC’s choices for the presiduim of the Parliament, its likely the GPC candidate would have to have his approval and continue to serve vested interests although there are some in the GPC with the national interest as their priority.)

I’m happy about this. From the Yemen Times:

The Kidney Failure Patients Society held a Feb. 23 ceremony at Ibb Cultural Center to inaugurate the opening of a kidney dialysis center at Al-Thawra Hospital, Ibb….Dr. Amin Abdul Wahid Al-Rubie, health office director and head of Friends of the Kidney Failure Patients Society, welcomed ceremony attendees. He explained kidney failure, highlighting the suffering of kidney patients at large, who cannot afford treatment costs, and in Ibb in particular. Ibb is famous for having the largest number of kidney failure patients. He said the society has a commitment to pay the company providing serum and equipment YR 12 million but unfortunately, it has failed to pay that sum until now. (huh?)…..

There are six kidney dialysis centers among the governorates and Ibb’s center is one of them. Al-Motawakil hoped center duties would not be limited only to kidney dialysis, but that it also would send patients to the Sana’a kidney transplant center, pointing out that donors should be from among patients’ relatives.

In some of the other governates, the patients get treatment but not as frequently as necessary. So let’s hope things are improving on this issue.

Well thats a good idea, considering the journos are excluded, for the MP’s to go. Maybe finally we can have an independent (?) assessment of the humanitarian situation. From News Yemen:

The General People’s Congress’ (GPC) assistant secretary-general and head of the GPC parliamentary block, Sultan al-Barakani said that the MPs as members of a parliamentary delegation visiting Saada on Monday just want to get acquainted with the situation there….Yemen Observer newspaper website in Arabic has quoted al-Barakani as saying that the visit aims to be acquainted with the governorate and evaluate the security and developmental situation in it, adding that the visit will also include many of its districts, especially the remote ones that were scenes of military fighting between the government forces and the rebels. He has pointed out that the MPs will meet citizens and the local authorities to discuss with them the needs of the governorate and its problems and what could the parliament offer in this regard….

Abdulmalik al-Houthi said whom he described as his followers had ceased fire, indicating that they “are keen on the comprehensive peaceful solution and we use arms just for self-defense rather than achieving demands” He denied his signing of any agreement with the government, but said ceasefire was achieved by virtue of the good efforts and that he was feeling a positive official direction for solving the issue. Al-Shoura net has quoted him as saying that the dialogue is the ideal way to reach a solution sparing bloodshed and stopping daily losses. He added that there are some parties in the authority beneficiary from the war and they work for its continuation.

The residents sent out a pamphlet in April ‘05 that 65,000 residents had their homes destroyed, about 8000 homes presumably. I cant imagine that they’ve all been resettled or that things have improved in the last year. Its worrisome. So its good somebody is going in, considering its been closed off for the better part of two years. More on the new governor in the Yemen Times.

From the Syrian News Agency:

President Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen has strongly criticizes the campaign that targets Syria, describing the pressures on the country as unjustified.

In an interview published Sunday in the Arab-speaking London-based ‘al-Hayat’ daily newspaper, president Saleh said Syria has been cooperating with the international investigation committee into the assassination of former Lebanese Premier Rafik Hariri. He called for waiting the outcomes of the investigation, warning against jumping to unfounded judgment and said the investigation should be neutral and unbiased. The Yemeni President also stressed necessity of establishing good relations between Syria and Lebanon.

Maybe he’s got another letter. Then there’s abu Mazen in Sanaa. From the Palestinian News Agency:

For his part, President Saleh renewed his support to the Palestinian cause, hailing the Palestinian legislative elections, which he described as free, transparent and democratic. In his residence in Sanaa, President Abbas received the Yemeni Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Kerabi. President Abbas updated the Yemeni Minister with the most recent improvements in the Palestinian arena and the priorities of the leadership for the upcoming period. Mr. al-Kerabi stressed his country’s support to the Palestinian cause and the Palestinians’ rights to have their independent state.
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Earlier, President Abbas met with the Chairman if the Yemeni Shura Council and discussed the issue of holding the Palestinian legislative elections. Meanwhile, President Received Abbas the Key of the Yemeni Capital Sanaa from the Capital’s Secretary, Yehya al-Shu’ebi.

Yemen’s Speaker of the Parliament is in Jordan. From the Jordan News Aency:

His Majesty King Abdullah II received Yemeni Speaker of Parliament Abdul Aziz Abdul Ghani and discussed with him means of enhancing bilateral relations in the various fields. During the meeting, His Majesty reviewed the latest developments in the region, stressing the important role of the Arab Parliamentary Union to defend the challenges that face the Nation, defame its identity and religion, and prevent its progress. The King expressed hope that the Arab Summit, which will be held in Sudan next month, will come up with results that serve the Arab joint work. The Yemeni official delivered to the King the best regards of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh. He praised the prosperity that Jordan had achieved in the various fields, expressing his country’s willingness to benefit from the Jordanian experiment.

from alsharq alawasat:

Asked why the citizens of Marib province and the Sarwah region specifically have kidnapped foreigners in the past, the tribal leader replied, “There are many reasons.”

“If you look at the people of Marib, you will not find any of them in any government institutions… Marib is a large province with many tribes but it is isolated. For example, not one of its inhabitants is in government as a minister or a governor or military leader. When all the doors are shut, where do you seek refuge? The president is the only one who listens to us… but how do you reach him? In daily matters, it’s not possible to refer to him everyday,” he added.

This one in the Yemen Times on the election commission is perfect for me. It explains the laws and the issues clearly and precisely.

The issue of selecting SCER members remains mysterious since local public opinion does not know how to select candidates for the commission race. Since 1993 elections, only the three main parties have occupied SCER posts: the ruling party, Islah and the Yemeni Socialist Party, which was ruled out in 1997 and 1999 elections. The issue still is misleading since it says the SCER is independent and neutral, while it is in fact administratively and politically controlled by the ruling party.

This one in News Yemen explains very clearly what happened in that election for the presidium of the Paliarment:

1- President Saleh continues to impose the leadership agenda on GPC members regardless how the majority in the party have voted. The sudden change did not happen because Basaleh or Mahmood campaigned over night, it happened because the presidency wanted it to change.
2- If real democratic procedures become the norm within the GPC, its members are capable of bringing good people to the frontline. GPC has some responsible and clean people.
3- 44 MPs of the ruling party who had voted for Sakher in the party exercise changed their position and voted for the other two. It makes me wonder, why have they changed and can we trust them again?
4- What happened was a disgrace and a blow to the government claims about reforms and change. Government is not serious about reform and the need to change; in spite of its media covering pages and pages of papers with big headlines “Change is the title of the Era” in Al-Thawra – Feb 12th, 2006. “Change” 26 September same day and so on… if the government really believes in the value change brings, it would not have let a golden opportunity (the parliamentary presidium) slip out of its hand.
5- To reform, you need to identify qualified, moderate and reform minded individuals within the system and outside it and promote them to do the restoration job. What happens in Yemen is the contradictory to this simple equation. The leadership finds qualified and reform minded people, but instead of promoting them it crushes them and ensures they are in no place to impact their “evil, culturally insensitive western reforms” on the process….

PS. Islah and YSP are not better off. The two main oppositions did not even run anyone and they remained a by watcher (as usual) and later will continue to balm the party with the majority for all our misfortune. They would have looked better and will have a good argument to justify the future challenges if they had run for the deputies’ seats and lost. It is not by watching you would convince people you are doing something.

This is another one from the Yemen Times on the same subject: However, dealing with them as employees makes them only a herd without enthusiasm for the ruler, his party and regime. What kind of democracy or peaceful transfer of power are we talking about if the President never accepts any decision from his party bloc? Good point.

What this means, what is the deal, why anyone would escape just to surrender: I dont know. From the YObserver:

President Ali Abdullah Saleh confirmed that three Al-Qaeda inmates who were part of a group that managed to escape from a Yemeni jail earlier this month have given themselves up to the government…

“So far, three have given themselves up and we are in contact with the rest of them and they are for certain still inside the country,” president of Yemen told the paper.“They want to give themselves up and most of them have finished the majority of their sentence already.”

How odd, who accomplished what here? They finished most of their sentences, so…..

On the other hand, John Kerry will be happy to know that not everybody considers him a lilly- livered wimp…

On the other hand, the Yemeni authorities put last Wednesday on trial 17 men, including five Saudis, charged with planning attacks against US interests in the country on the orders of the leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi. The prosecutor said the defendants had planned to carry out “criminal attacks” to avenge the US Central Intelligence Agency’s killing of a top Al-Qaeda operative in 2002. He said they had travelled to Iraq and then returned to Yemen in 2004 to “carry out their mission on the directives of Abu Musab Al Zarqawi”. The defendants admitted to going to Iraq but denied planning any attacks in Yemen. “Our problem with the United States is in Iraq, not Yemen,” said the leader of the group, Ali Al-Sayyad Al-Harithi.

He said he had received explosive-making training in Iraq but that he had left after he said that John Kerry, the Democratic candidate in the 2004 US presidential election, had threatened Yemen. “I wanted to defend my country,” he added.

Somehow related, the US complains about Zindani and the FBI searches the offices of the Yemeni national airlines. From DEBKA:

The FBI seizes suspicious documents in raid of Yemen airline Yamaniya offices in Dearborn, Detroit:
The raid was carried out after Yemeni president Ali Abdallah Salah refused a White House request to arrest the prominent radical Sheikh Abdul Majid Zindani, head of the powerful Islamist al-Islah (Reform) party and Iman University of Sanaa, for inciting to terrorism. DEBKAfile’s counter-terror sources report that although the sheikh is on a UN list of terrorists, Salah included him in his official party to the Islamic Conference summit in Mecca last December. He is respected as a scholar in Saudi Arabia. The Yemeni president demanded US intelligence proofs of Zindani’s involvement in terrorism. Iman University is known as a breeding ground for radical Islamists. He has been recorded in a speech as accusing “Bush and the Jews” of conspiring to carry out the Sept. 11 attack in New York.

That great liberal icon Michael Moore also accuses Bush and the Jews of carrying out 9/11. Back on the planet earth, though, it was a little surprising when Zindani went to Mecca, but that was December, after Saleh’s visit in November.

Keeping with the good news theme, hope for an end to the Houthi rebellion. From the Yemen Observer:

Yeya Al-Shami, the new Governor of Saada, has said that the judiciary is preparing to release hundreds of the Houthi’s followers within the next few days, a media report said. The moves follow the successful talks made between the Mediation and Dialogue Committee with the Houthi followers, persuading them to stop attacks on official and government institutions in the northern Saada region. Al-Shami, the head of the committee, said that the committee was continuing its efforts to reach an end to the rebellion for the sake of national interest.

“The committee is on the way to root out the rebellion,” he said. Sheikhs, clerics, civil society organizations and local council officials all took part in the mediation talks. Steps would be taken to release those prisoners who are not found to be guilty, freed after mediation efforts by prominent social figures in response to orders by the President. A statement, signed by Abdul-Karim Al-Houthi confirmed his and his followers support for the law and state legitimacy.

There’s been a lot of deaths of soldiers, civilians and rebels.