Armies of Liberation

The unlikely hero, Yemeni Editor Mohammed al-Asadi, has an interview with Newsweek:

You mean to say the government has a prosecutor dedicated to the press, and that prosecutor has a dedicated jail?
That is one of the characteristics of the Yemeni government, putting journalists in jail to stop us from telling the truth to the public.

Your newspaper has been closely identified with the government, so is this the result of some sort of factional dispute within it?
The Yemen Observer has an independent line, and while it’s true that our CEO is close to the government, when he hired me he granted me complete editorial independence. He had no say over what I published.

The article as a whole discussed Islam and particularly the Prophet in reverential tones. So why the government reaction?
Most of these extremists don’t read English, they just saw the pictures. And the article was accompanied by an editorial, saying the cartoons were terrible, but we should accept the apologies of the newspaper that published them and move on, not continue running through the streets. That’s what really angered the [government] hard-liners. Even religious scholars have supported us: it’s the intention behind the publication, not just the publication.

Regime statement on cooperation:

Last year Yemen handed to Saudi Arabia 69 of its nationals wanted at home for belonging to the al-Qaida network as part of joint efforts to combat terrorism. Yemeni Interior Minister Rachad Alimi was quoted by the Yemeni media Thursday as telling a meeting of European police in Berlin the Saudi terror suspects were mostly captured while trying to sneak into Yemen in 2005. All were believed to belong to al-Qaida, and many had planned to travel to Iraq to join the Sunni insurgency.

Underscoring Yemen’s bid to combat terrorism, Alimi said security forces aborted at least nine terrorist operations between 2002 and 2005 and referred 130 suspects in 11 cases of terror to specialized Yemeni courts, while it still held in custody 172 terror suspects, including 34 who planned to fight in Iraq.

Amazing. Obviously they were noisy but that didnt matter because the authorities refused to take the report.

AP: Sheik Riyad al-Gheili heard the sound of digging 10 days before authorities discovered 23 convicted al-Qaida prisoners had popped through the floor of the women’s restroom at his mosque and escaped.

But police, when informed of the strange noises, discounted the Muslim cleric’s warning.

“When I informed the prison guards of the sounds I was hearing at night, they told me I’m imagining things,” al-Gheili told The Associated Press on Friday, giving the first independent account of an escape that has raised concern in Washington about Yemen’s commitment to fighting terrorism.

The prison break was discovered on Feb. 3, when, a few days after reporting the noise to authorities, al-Gheili again walked the few steps separating Al-Awqaf Mosque from the Political Security Department prison _ this time, to tell them of a hole discovered in the floor of the women’s restroom.

Until then, officials at the maximum-security facility had not been aware the men were missing, al-Gheili said.

The prison break has raised questions about official involvement and whether Yemen _ Osama bin Laden’s ancestral home _ is a serious ally in hunting down terrorists.

The Bush administration has expressed concern about the threat posed by the fugitives, as well as lax security at the prison and the wisdom of housing the prisoners together in one cell.

“There’s definite collusion from inside the jail,” said Muhammad Ali al-Saqqaf, a lawyer. “The story that the men used cutlery to dig their way out doesn’t make sense. Yemenis eat with their fingers. Plus, they needed much stronger instruments to make that tunnel.”

Yemenis, especially some who have been jailed in the prison, agree. They want the government to explain where the dirt extracted from the tunnel was disposed of, why no one reported the sound of digging and the smell of dust, and where the prisoners got the sharp digging tools. (Read on …)

Saleh promises again. This first time he said this, I think it was 2003, I believed him. Then al-Khaiwani went to jail. Now he says this again as al-Asadi is in jail.

(Update: I replaced the orignal version with the World Press version. This guy is such a good editor, he fixed it up so much. Global Politician published it with the full conclusion, which is also good because their’s is a new audience, and the conclusion is an overview. )

One theory circulating in Yemen these days is that the recent escape of 23 prisoners from a maximum-security intelligence facility was orchestrated to transfer them to U.S. custody, circumventing Yemen’s extradition laws. Certainly the U.S. would have an interest in obtaining custody of the escapees. Several were convicted of complicity in the bombing of the U.S.S. Cole, which killed 17 U.S. service members on Oct. 12, 2000. Others include convicted bombers of a French oil tanker, the Lindburg. One was an American, Gaber Elbaneh, who was convicted in the U.S. of involvement in an Al Qaeda cell in Lackawana, New York.

After the jailbreak, the Yemeni government failed to provide Interpol with the prisoners’ photographs fingerprints and other information that would have enabled an international red alert. Lacking the information, Interpol issued a lower, orange alert. If the regime had been acting in concert with the United States, it likely would have attempted to reap the publicity benefit of prompt cooperation with Interpol. Rather, there are many indications that the escape was carried out in concert with Al Qaeda sympathizers in the Yemeni security apparatus. (Read on …)

Much discussion lately has been centered on what limits a responsible media should place on itself. At the other end of the spectrum remains the burning issue of censorship, propaganda and governmental limitations on the flow of information to the public. For some years the reformist posture of the Yemeni regime of Ali Abdullah Saleh had credibility internationally because of the existence of a lively Yemeni press. One reason confidence in Saleh’s commitment to democratization has diminished is a prolonged and systematic assault on Yemeni journalists, as an informative press is the bedrock of a government run by the people.

International reaction to the government’s proposed amendments to Yemen’s Press and Publications Law has been unanimous in condemning the measure as a mechanism of heightened censorship and an infringement on the rights of the Yemeni public.

The Committee of Protect Journalists recently issued an alert outlining numerous and often violent attacks on Yemeni journalists. The CPJ noted that journalists have been stabbed, shot, bombed, arrested, kidnapped and threatened. Newspapers have been fined, closed, and cloned-ie, “establishing similarly titled and similar-looking newspapers to undercut them and confuse readers.” A transcript of a journalist’s tapped telephone conversation with his wife was circulated via email. According to CPJ research, “Witnesses and evidence point to involvement by government officials and suspected state agents in a number of brutal assaults.” In 2005, the violations averaged about one a week. The CPJ notes that the judiciary is also used as a means of retribution against journalists. The latest violation is the verdict against the opposition newspaper al-Thoury and its editor Khalid Solman, The paper, the editor, and several writers were found guilty of the crime of insulting the president.

One function of the media is to act as a watchdog on government, constructively reporting on its failures as well as successes. With increasing concentration of political power, military power, land ownership, and business ownership in much of the same hands, there are very powerful forces working against transparency in Yemen. As illegal and unjust practices multiplied, so have attacks on Yemen’s journalists. In the context of widespread corruption, hostile and powerful elite prefer to operate without public scrutiny.

The institutions that normally would provide a vehicle for the expression of the peoples’ voice are disabled in Yemen, often becoming an extension of regime power. Those in civil society with independence are undermined in a variety of ways. The NGO “Female Journalists Without Borders” was recently cloned by a government affiliated organization that began operating under the same name, forcing the authentic organization to rename itself “Women Journalists without Constraints.” Prominent civil leaders Hafez al-Bokari, head of the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate, and his wife, journalist Rahma Hujaira, were targeted by the official newspaper of the Yemen military, The 26 September, with false charges that they were agents of Denmark. In a letter to the Yemeni public prosecutor, the couple wrote, “Such fake information proves that this article is an attempt to use the anger spread in the Muslim world to attack us individually and to attack our institutions; Yemen Polling Center and Yemen Female Media Forum for that these institutions are concerned with democratic, social, and media reformation and development and they tackle general issues related to the society.”

Some traditional Yemeni social institutions have been distorted by corruption. Some sheiks place their loyalty with the ruling apparatus and work for its welfare as well as their own benefit, with the welfare of the people a distant concern. Sheila Carapico, a professor of Middle Eastern politics at the University of Richmond, recently said in an interview with The Christian Science Monitor that Yemen has used a range of tactics to erode the independence of the tribes. “One of the techniques the government uses to extend its reach is to coopt selected prominent sons of sheikhly families, who are almost always also military officers, into the regime,” Carapico stated.

Many members of Parliament are also from sheikly families. The anthology Building Democracy in Yemen, observes about the ruling party, The General Peoples Congress, “The dominant GPC has developed a policy of mixing tribal sheikhs with the political authorities. These traditional forces have come to dominate Parliament through the GPC, which in turn, because of loopholes in the current electoral system, continues to strengthen ties and to move, from one election to the next, towards a one party system.” The author concludes, “This reflects the dominance of a very small minority in society in terms of actual structure and authentic culture.” This elitism undercuts the equal access and equal rights necessary for democracy.

The inherited political power of some families has distorted the representative nature of the Parliament, which works against the health and welfare of the Yemeni people. The 2006 budget, which passed overwhelmingly, underfunded education, healthcare, electrical development, and water projects, and increased military spending to 37% of the national expenditures. Further, in a clear conflict of interest, many of those with governmental or military positions also have ownership stakes in numerous large businesses and have become some of Yemen’s largest land owners. As noted by Paul Dresch in The History of Modern Yemen, “the style of politics complained of by Southerners as a return to tribalism was complained of by others, within the North, as tribalism’s negation.” The reality he says is “day to day politics with networks of individuals who control both trade and real estate.”

Elections are often a way to express the people’s judgment and hold their representatives accountable. This institution is also dysfunctional in Yemen. The electoral commission is heavily biased toward the ruling party, leaving open the possibility of fraudulent voter registration rolls. Numerous instances of underage voting occurred in the last Parliamentary election. Pre-printed ballots were distributed. Vote buying and voter intimidation occurred. The ruling party controls and exploits the broadcast media, denying equal opportunity to opponents in the market place of ideas.

In the absence of effective social or political institutions for the expression of grievances, some disenfranchised groups have resorted to other means. Motorcyclists have been denied their right to work in Yemen’s capital city, Sanaa. After months of peaceful protest, they left the head of an ox outside Parliament, hoping perhaps that tribal means might get the attention of their representatives. Somali refugees staged a protest outside UN headquarters that resulted in severe violence when security forces moved to disperse them. A march by students was also violently broken up. Residents took to the streets in Taiz to protest water shortages. (The absence of clean water adversely affects over 80% of the Yemeni population while large qat plantations owned by influential persons consume a great deal of water.) Teachers staged a nationwide sit-in to protest unfair and undemocratic practices. Textile workers staged a series of strikes to demand overdue salaries. In July, nation wide protests were sparked by the latest reform dose that was implemented without cuts in government spending or authentic anti-corruption measures. (The effects of the dose are continuing to cripple most Yemeni households while corruption and embezzlement continue in some ministries.) Recently, Yemeni women’s groups protested to urge the government to enact a gun control law that has been pending for years.

Others have taken much more extreme measure to express their grievances. A 2004 Parliamentary report documented individuals including children imprisoned by the government as hostages. Recently in an attempt to force the release of some of these government hostages, tribesmen kidnapped foreign tourists in separate incidents. (The regime normally does not respond with urgency to the kidnapping of Yemenis, thus the identity of the victims.) All incidents were resolved peacefully. In one case, the government agreed to provide money and four governmental jobs to each of the kidnappers. In response to a similar incident the next week, the government announced it would seek the death penalty for the kidnappers. A study of these kidnappings published in the official daily al-Thoura concluded that “wronged and weak people sometimes have no way to express their views, gain their rights or publicize their cases.” Advocates of freedom of the press often emphasize the public’s right to know. As the study demonstrated, equally important is the public’s right to be heard. The non-governmental print media is the only vehicle available to the Yemeni public to voice their grievances to each other, the government and the international community.

Public or independent ownership of broadcast media is illegal in Yemen, depriving the people of a national voice. The proposed amendment to the Press Law continues this exclusion. The government controlled broadcast media in Yemen provides little in the way of standard educational programming in this country with an illiteracy rate of nearly 50%. The governmental media often works to hide the true scope of issues from the people themselves and the rest of the world. A week after the escape of 23 prisoners in Yemen, including many convicted members of al-Qaeda, the official English language news agency of the government, SABA, and that of the ruling party, al-Motamar, made no mention of the escape but covered subsequent events like the scheduling of conferences and congratulations issued to other governments.

While the governmental media engages in name calling and scape goating that can deepen divisions in society, the non-governmental media provides a political space for national reconciliation by exploring important issues. Many in Aden have grievances about land confiscation, exclusion from employment and other discriminatory practices, and indiscriminate tactics by security forces that recently resulted in the death of a little girl. Despite the media blackout on the armed confrontations in Saada province between the military and a rebel group, stories have leaked out about the targeting of civilians and the looting of private property by security forces. Some tribal areas have been systematically denied the most basic human services like wells, hospitals, schools, roads and electricity. The non-governmental media also reports very important but less complex issues like those of cotton farmers in Hudeidah province who complained about tainted insecticide that destroyed their entire crops. Social issues are also addressed like the lack of pre-natal and post-natal health care for over 85% of Yemeni women that results in extremely high death rates for both mother and child.

Despite reformist rhetoric, much political power in Yemen is a function of identity not merit. Rather than empowering the public, the trend has been toward the succession of political and economic power within a few families. Any movement toward pluralism and reform requires that the electorate retain what rights and advantages they have, especially the ability to communicate with each other, their government, and the international community. Every citizen becomes disenfranchised when journalists are unable to speak the truth. A Yemeni journalist beaten or threatened is an attack on Yemenis and their right to be heard. And just as it is the responsibility of journalists to defend society, it is the responsibility of all of society to defend its journalists.

Global Politician
World Press

Works Cited:

Carpacio: http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0124/p06s02-wome.html

Study: http://www.upi.com/InternationalIntelligence/view.php?StoryID=20060113-110615-8468r

CPJ: http://www.cpj.org/news/2006/mideast/yemen26jan06na.html

Paul Dresch, A History of Modern Yemen, Cambridge University Press, 2000

Building Democracy in Yemen: Women’s Political Participation, Political Party Life and Democratic Elections, International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, 2005

Interesting. al-Jaifri as Minster of Justice seemed to be one who was authentically striving for reforms. Im sorry to see him moved. That’s not a good sign and I have to analyse this. It could be an opportunity to crack up the embedded extra-institutional power structures and invigorate the democratic process, or it could be a retrenching and consolidation of loyalists under the guise of reform (with the pretense of sincere concern in reaction to the escape) and populist propaganda in advance of the elections. I am hoping for option one.

SANA’A Feb 11 (Saba) – The republican decree No. 8 for the year
2006 was issued and stipulated a ministerial amendment in the
government of Premier Abdul Qader Ba Jammal, as follows:

Rashad Mohammad al-Alimi – Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior.
Mohammad Naser Ahmad Ali – Minister of Defense.
Hassan Ahmad al-Lawzi – Minister of the information.
Abdul Kareem Ismail al-Arhabi – Minister of Planning and the
International Cooperation.
Abu Bakr al-Qirbi – Minister of the Foreign and Expatriate.

Ali Mohammad Majoor – Minister of the Electricity.

Adnan al-Jefri – Minister of Legal Affairs.

Khalid Abdullah Al-Rowishan – Minister of Culture.

Galal Ibrahim Faqirah – Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation.

Abdul Kareem Rasei – Minister of Public Health and Population.

Seif Mahyoub Al-Asali – Minister of Finance
.
Mahmoud Ibrahim Sageri – Minister of Fishery Wealth.

Gazi Shaif al-Agbari – Minister of Justice.

Saleh Ali Ba-Surah – Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research.

Amat Al-Razaq Ali Hamad – Minister of Social Affairs and Labor.

Nabil Hassan al-Faqih – Minister of Tourism.

Khadigah Ahmad al-Haisami – Minister of Human Rights.

Omar Abdullah Al-Qurshumi Minister of Public Works and Roads.

Abdul Rahman Fadhl al-Eryani – Minister of Water and Environment.

Khalid Mahfouz Ba-Hah – Minister of Oil and Minerals.

Rashad Ahmad al-Rassas – Minister of Parliament and Shura Councils .

Yahya Mohammad al-Shoaibi – Minister of State and Sana’a City Mayor.

The Yemeni regime has a new label to target its reformers, opposition and civil leaders: “pro-Dutch.” (The regime employs a variety of stereotypes to label its opponents in an effort to turn public opinion against them: Zionist, Separatist, Houthi, Terrorist, Mason, American-leaning and Treasonous, to name a few.)

This is the story of Hafez al-Bokari and Rahma Hujira, two leaders of Yemeni civil society who have struggled for years for journalists rights. In May of 2005, one of the regime stooge attack papers, Al-Belad, published a horrible article about them, which the Yemen Times at the time described as insulting to Rehma’s honor. From all reports it was a very derogatory and crude article, but the Yemeni regime specializes in sleeze as well as brutality. Of course, the public prosecutor to date has not responded to their law suit against al-Belad filed in May.

In December, the following appeared on the internet site of al-Shawa newspaper: The manager of the office of the Saudi Okaz newspaper in Sana’a Hafez al-Bukari was dismissed from his job, reasons are vague. While al-Bukari refused to comment on the dismiss, some media reports though it based upon pressures on and calls to the Okaz headquarters in Saudi by Yemeni informants who do not agree with al-Bukari activities and defending stances for the sake of press freedom after he had been elected a secretary-general of the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate in 2004.

Now the paper of the Yemeni military, the 26 September, at the height of public emotion over the cartoons, published a front page article that Hafez and Rahma are agents of the Dutch government. (Hafez as the head of the syndicate was coordinating some journalists’ training program that set up by the Dutch and Yemeni governments. )

Yemen Times The board also condemned the accusation that was brought on the 26 September newspaper website. Here, Al-Bokari and his wife, journalist Rahma Hujaira, are said to have connections with Denmark. The syndicate considered this as a way to blackmail the two journalists, especially after the recent crises regarding the illustrations of the prophet Mohammad in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten.

They attempted to bring a legal suit against the military’s newspaper for publishing false and inflammatory information. From their letter to the Public Prosecutor in Yemen:

This article was published on the first news page on February 1st 2006. It included direct and clear instigation and offense against me Hafez Al-Bukari , President of Yemen Polling Center and General Secretary of Yemen Journalists Syndicate, and against my wife Rahma Hujira, Chairwoman of the Yemen Female Media Forum. You will also notice that this article includes false information that was made up intentionally for the purpose of being used unfairly against us….

Therefore, we would like to bring a legal suit against those responsible for the website and to draw you attention to the risks that may endanger not only our lives but also our children, families, the institutions we work for and the employees working in them. The reason for this is that this instigation published by this official military institution which is supposed to protect us as citizens of this country.

Such fake information proves that this article is an attempt to use the anger spread in the Muslim world to attack us individually and to attack our institutions; Yemen Polling Center and Yemen Female Media Forum for that these institutions are concerned with democratic, social, and media reformation and development and they tackle general issues related to the society.

No response from the Prosecutor yet. This incident is a clear example of the Yemeni government is using the cartoon controversy to target reformers. And it shows the true anti-democratic, anti-reform face of the Yemeni government.

More importantly, I hope it shows what I’ve been saying for the last year(s): there are some real heroes in Yemen, fighting against enormous challenges, to bring about a more just society. Its not just al-Khaiwani, not just Rahma and Hafez, there’s many. The government targets them over and over in a variety of ways. They don’t give up. There’s some corrupt people, hungry people, and frightened people who bend to the will of the regime. The ones who put their country before themselves deserve our full support.

Update: A few days ago, the editor of an oppostion paper, Khalid Solman of al-Thoury, has been convicted of the crime insulting the president. Several of the writers for the paper were convicted as well and are banned from wrtiting for six months. This is the thirteenth time this paper has been hauled before the judges.

I love miniature houses. I already have a collection, but American style.

YT: Ten years ago, it occurred to some Yemeni craftsmen that it would be good to depict the Old City in the form of miniature houses….The idea was welcomed greatly and thereafter, craftsmen began holding special workshops on making miniature houses. Both locals and tourists were eager for the models. Yemenis like to buy such houses as gifts and for special occasions. They like having miniature houses in their homes.

I wonder if there’s a website that sells them. That’s too cute.

How nice! This is an interview with Pierre Akel my friend from Middle East Transparent about Arab Liberalism.

I like this quote: Remember the novel by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, The Autumn of the Patriarch, where people open the palace doors to discover that the dictator has been dead for a long time? This applied to the Soviet Union and now to Arab dictatorships as well. Dictatorships are dead; they lost the ideological and moral high ground years ago. The battle is between fundamentalists and liberals.

Check out my authors page while you’re there.

Its a trilingual website, so take a look.

Jamestown
2006

Yemen has had a long reputation of producing fighters for foreign wars. This tradition, as the current trial of a number of Yemenis for traveling to Iraq to fight illustrates, is still intact (al-Hayat, June 4). The 1980s were no exception, as Yemen contributed a number of young men to the war against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. Like most of the other “Afghan Arabs,” the Yemenis returned home in the late 1980s and early 1990s eager to replicate their successes from abroad. Yemen, unlike most Arab countries, proved to be a hospitable environment for the returned fighters. Training camps were established, some with quasi-official support from government officials, and the men were kept well-supplied and content. (Read on …)

I’m just saving this here becasue Im not sure its here already.
Yemen Times

SANA’A — The Specialized State Security Penal Court acquitted Karama Khamis Monday, March 13. Khamis was freed from the U.S. detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, but Prosecution appealed his release, charging him with drug trafficking. (Read on …)

The offense is insulting President Saleh.

The editor recieved a two year suspended jail sentence. Two writers got a one year suspended jail term, and all of them are not allowed to write for 6 months.

So now if the Yemen Observer (whose license was revoked for publishing the insulting cartoons) is allowed to republish while al-Thoury’s editor Khalid Soloman’s sentence remains in force, it will mean that in Yemen, it is a bigger crime to insult Saleh than to insult the prophet Mohammed.

Update: It is really interesting to see Yemen among all the nations that republished the cartoons, considering its such a conservative Islamic country. Faris really made quite a surprising choice reprinting the cartoons. Considering also what happened in Jordan to a newspaper that published the cartoons. Also Malaysia is now on the list of those countires that printed the cartoon, but it was a non-Muslim editor, not the paper of the president’s press secretary like in Yemen.

Update: The YO editor al-Asadi now in jail. I’m sorry to see this treatment of any journalist even the regime operatives, even the ones who write stupid articles about me. “It appears the Prime Minister, Abdul Qadr Bajammal, perhaps under some pressure, urged the closing of the newspaper. The arrest of the editor in chief followed swiftly thereon. “

SwissInfo: The 23 inmates who escaped through a 140-metre (460-feet) tunnel hollowed under their prison to a nearby mosque included not just leaders of deadly attacks on a U.S. warship and a French oil tanker, but also, it emerged days later, a Yemeni-American with a $5 million U.S. reward on his head.

Western annoyance at the grave security breach has been compounded by a perception that Yemen has been slow to respond and — despite its statements to the contrary — less than fully cooperative with the world police organisation Interpol.

One week after the escape, none of the men has been recaptured. Interpol distributed alerts for them on Tuesday but said it had not been able to issue its highest grade of international wanted notice because it was still waiting for the Yemenis to supply the men’s fingerprints and arrest warrants.

A European counter-terrorism official said the “limited” Yemeni response only reinforced the impression that the escape took place with at least some help from the authorities.

“It’s impossible it was staged without any involvement of prisons guards, prison administration, etc. It’s too big, too well premeditated, too well prepared. There must be some involvement of, let’s say, official elements in Yemen,” he said.

U.S. Senator Carl Levin, senior Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, described the escape this week as “downright appalling” and also questioned whether Yemen’s government was complicit.

Also the US is “disappointed” about the escape, as US ships patrol the coasts.

On a lighter note, the English language website for the paper of the ruling party al-Motamar doesn’t even mention the escape. Neither does Saba the official news agency. Thats a little funny but very common, nothing bad ever happens in Yemen according to the official media, unless it somehow reflects well on the regime. Thus these two official news sources are listed on the sidebar as propaganda sites.

Also Yemen announces suspects to be tried for negligence and slackness in their jobs. Im assuming this means some low level people who had nothing whatsoever to do with actively aiding in the escape.

This is sick:

Yemen Times: At HOOD offices, a woman who was raped painfully described the cruel treatment of many Somali men and women: “On the night of Saturday, Dec. 17, 2005, Central Security soldiers stormed the gathering of about 2,000 refuges in front of the UNHCR office in Sana’a.

“I saw many men, women and children dragged and beaten. The soldiers kicked and trod on pregnant women, children and old men who could not move. They also put women and their babies before water hoses and poured cold water on them. They hit them with clubs and gun butts on all body parts without distinction. One man died and they broke the hands, legs and heads of many other men and women,” she recounted.

The woman continued: “I fell down and the soldiers dragged me to a nearby building under construction. Several of them began raping me brutally. Some tread on my hands with their heavy leather boots, another pulled my hair, while others raped me. The same thing happened to other Somali women. I never expected this to happen in an Islamic country,” she concluded.

in Egypt in The Middle East Times. I’m happy they ran it.

Update: Otay. Thank goodness for Google. Also by the Daily Star in Bangladesh (gee I have to tell my good friend Rezwan) and The Arab Times in Kuwait.

and at our very good friend Abdulkarim al-Khaiwani’s al-Shoura in Yemen in Arabic.

update: Also the The Independent in Bangladesh.

US officials confirm what we knew a few days ago, American Jaber Elbaneh, of Lackawana 7 fame, was one of the escapees in Yemen.

WASHINGTON — U.S. counterterrorism officials said Wednesday that a suspected member of a U.S.-based terror cell was one of a number of convicts who escaped from a prison in Yemen Friday. Jaber Elbaneh, who has been charged along with the so-called “Lackawanna Six,” is believed to have escaped along with Jamal al-Badawi, the suspected mastermind of the attack on the USS Cole.

Elbaneh, a 36-year old American of Yemeni decent, was charged in an FBI criminal complaint with conspiring to provide material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization. Elbaneh, who is from the Buffalo suburb of Lackawanna, is believed have attended an Al Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan before the Sept. 11 attacks with the six other Yemeni-Americans, also from the Buffalo area, who were convicted on terrorism charges.

U.S. officials believe that following the terror training in Afghanistan, Elbaneh went to Yemen — where he was arrested sometime in the last three years. Officials say Elbaneh and the others “have extensive contacts throughout Yemen and the region and are undoubtedly getting help getting out of the country.”

Update: 5 million dollar reward still valid per Buffalo District Attny. ( For Photos, click here.)

The Yemeni Government manipulating the cartoon controversy.

Update, NY YJS emergency meeting scheduled, tactics described as a settling of accounts with the three papers closed. And that seems rather clear but how blatent, really Im shocked and Im not easily shocked anymore.

Related: al-Jazeera reporter detained for taking pictures of the mosque where the escape occurred. This is the same guy they wiretapped and then emailed around transcripts of his conversation with his wife.

Original post:
I can’t believe this. It’s very unfair. I hope they keep up the website. Also does the Prime Minister have the authority to close a newspaper? Its interesting the way the regime is exploiting this cartoon incident to its advantage, like with the taqrgeting of Hafez Burkett. al-Shoama is the paper always printing stories about international conspiracies against Yemen.

SYO ANA’A – The Prime Minister, Adbul-Qader Bajammal gave instructions to cancel the license of the Yemen Observer claiming the newspaper has republished the Danish cartoons.

The move came with blackmailing efforts by the Al-Shomoa publisher, Saif Al-Hadhiri, an anti-western person, to inflame up the angry public against the newspaper.

Yemen Observer has published a full page on the development of Danish cartoons in Yemen in a full page. Fragments of the cartoons were put together with huge and thick black X mark on the drawings in protest to their existence.

“I am very surprised by this development,” Mohammed Al-Asadi, editor-in-chief of the Yemen Observer said.

“They want to close the newspaper in response to our efforts and continuous calls for understanding, tolerance and accepting the apologies of the Danish people, officials, and editors. We have received dozens of apologies from Denmark.

“We are totally against the publication of cartoons and at the same time we should accept apologies that have been several times made by the Danish editors. We should.

“We, at the Yemen Observer, believe in dialogue if misunderstanding takes place anywhere on any issue and believe in co-existence,” Al-Asadi added.

The Newspaper, Akhbar Al-Yawm by Al-Shomoa, is a blackmailing tabloid and everybody in Yemen knows this fact. They have been trying to blackmail us for the past days, when the newspaper refused to respond to their attempts, they published a story on their front page on this issue.

Updates will follow

So now Im on the side of this paper that has published three editorials against me that called me a CIA operative, a neo-conservative hedgehog, an extremist, an operative for the opposition, an idiot, and a Yemeni man in disguise. Oh yes and a Hashimite and a Houthi. And dispite the fact that the owner of this paper attacked me on air on the al-Jazeera show screaming into the phone in a rather bizarre way that I work too hard, I have to say objectively it is unfair and illegal to shut them down.

Saba: The source said the ministry had based its decision on 1990 Law of Pressand Publishing No. 25 regarding the publishing of insulting images thatviolates Section A of Article 103 of illegal publishing, which stipulates that no publication can cause damage to the Islamic belief and its sublimeprinciples, or degrade divine religions and human conventions.The official stressed that the ministry was committed to press freedom,and media .

YO Editorial to follow: (Read on …)

(update: I have been requested to explain who Hittar is. Hittar the dueling Koranic verses judge who dialogs with the AQ to rehabilitate them out of their evil ways so the Yemnei govt can release them. When I was on al-Jazeera, I mentioned that Bin Laden’s body guard had said to the BBC that the dialog program was a sham and just a way to expedite their releases and all they have to promise is not to attack inside Yemen. So when Hittar was in DC in Dec, he invited me to the Yemeni embassy to discuss issues of shared concern with me, but unfortunately, I couldn’t make arrangements for my kids, so I declined. Just to make a point, rehabilitation and integration is an important issue. And I was hoping to hear Hittar’s explanation of the program, but unfortunately he did not answer when I requested that he email me any information he thought I was lacking. )

Maybe he’ll email me finally and we can discuss it.

(Update: Oddly enough, after I posted this I heard from the embassy that Judge Hittar welcomes my questions. So Im happy for that. Its an important issue and I’d like to hear his view.)

Also 200 family members arrested. And sounds of digging were reported earlier:

NY In the wake of the escape of 23 al-Qaeda prisoners from the prison of the Yemen Political Security Organization, security forces here launched a large-scale arrest campaign that included round 200 persons from relatives of the escapees. Security forces arrest campaign is part of investigation in the escape incident which the U.S. State Department described as “a disappointing development”, emphasizing that America would work with Yemeni officials and its international partners in the manhunt of those dangerous terrorists.
Head of the specialized punitive prosecution Saeed al-Aqil is undertaking interrogation with the detainees after he has listened to testimonies of chief of the Political Security Ghalib al-Qamash and deputy of the Political Security Organization Rajih Hunaish and Imam of the mosque Riyadh al-Ghaili whom the security arrested him for three days. He as also listened to testimony of Judge Hamoud al-Hattar, chairman of the Ideological Dialogue with those accused of extremism, who is also preacher of the same mosque. (Read on …)

Middle East Times, SANAA — The mysterious escape of 23 dangerous Al Qaeda operatives from a high-security prison in Yemen is bound to further strain US-Yemeni relations.

Observers expressed fears that the flight of the convicted terrorists will increase tensions in relations between Sanaa and Washington, and expose serious deficiencies in the Yemeni security system.

“We do not know exactly what is going on behind the scenes in terms of reactions to the incident and its direct impact on Yemeni-US relations, which have been extremely tense in the past phase,” said political commentator and journalist Mounir Mawri.

“But one thing is certain is that regardless of the explanations of the incident, it will have sequels and consequences that should be taken seriously inside and outside Yemen,” Mawri told the local English-language daily News. (Read on …)