Armies of Liberation

an article from News Yemen:

Yemen’s foreign relations have been the source of much contention especially since official discourse incites against those who deal with those abroad like in the times of Brezhnev.
Before we begin our discussion let us say that perhaps the official intelligence does know about foreign conferences that go against the interests of Yemen. It would therefore be incumbent on the government to face these threats whether it would affect the political situation or local schools. I also posit however that world intelligence services have become much more coordinated.
Perhaps now is a good time to make an observation about the size of cooperative efforts between Yemen’s intelligence organization and Egypt, Saudi, and even America.
It is no longer acceptable to pass the blame among each other, the authorities and society. It is true that we always hear criticism against the outside world, especially America, especially its ambassador here in Yemen. This criticism comes from sheiks and other personalities, including sheik Ahmar. Some have even suggested that the American ambassador is working outside the legal framework.
I believe that the discourse against the outside world remains a problem with the Arabo-Islamic discourse, not Osama Bin Laden and his schools, but I believe those are manifestations. Arab authorities talk about the west without responsibility. The dispute between them and bin Laden is a manifestation of the phenomenon.
This problem is spread throughout the Arab world.
I now return to the Yemeni official discourse. The rules that govern it were established during the cold war. Of course the foreign powers acted and overstepped boundaries without regard for the good of Yemen. However, this is not what our sheikhs are talking about now. They attack the west and east. When you read or listen to anything you begin to think you are living in a martial state of the past.
The problem is that after the attacks in New York, Yemen, namely the president, tried to get different factions to lighten their discourse against the west.
It is necessary to remember that the official authorities defended the shelling of Abu Ali Al-Harthi in Marib in 2002. They stated that if the airplane had not been American, then they would not have done it. The Harthi were not following the law and were planning terrorist attacks.
Our orators have now returned to square one. They blame foreign countries for random shelling. This created problems not only internationally, but domestically as well.
I believe it is time to change the ruling culture that governs foreign relations-a change that goes beyond demonizing the world or being its agent.
The Arab mentality is governed by negative experiences such as colonialism. However, with the fall of the iron curtain the role of intelligence agencies decreased as the great powers rose along side civil society and the private sector which greatly changed the playing field.
This never means that the world became less secure. It simply means that international relations changed. It became possible for the Yemeni president to contact James Baker’s office more easily than his contact with his own intelligence agency.
In order to change this culture of rule inside and out, there must be review of those in power, not only those involved in security issues, but in politics and culture as well. Yes, we can discussion the outside world via a multifarious lens. We need a new awareness that will govern our external relations. This awareness will not weaken due to incitement or humiliation. This awareness will be open to relations with the other because the world’s interests are Yemen’s interests.
America, Holland and Britain are philanthropic organizations that will help Yemen regardless of mutual benefit. Why do we believe that Holland’s interests will not be realized except at the expense of Yemen’s?
Yes there are disputes. This simply pushes us towards shared development.

from News Yemen:

The Kuwaiti propagandist, Tariq al-Swedaan, visited Sana’a where he proposed unexpected and interesting theses.
Dr. Swedaan surprised the Yemeni republic during the course of lectures that looked at issues that remain delicate in Yemeni religious thought. These ideas were warmly received by many in the audience. The renewal of Islamic thought in Yemen came by way of al-Shukani who describes this era as one of intellectual freedom.
Despite the warmness of the reception, some opposition surfaced. Sheikh al-Zandani stated during al-Swedaan’s lecture at al-Iman University that difference of opinion does not spoil the two men’s relationship, even though he attacked al-Sweedan’s thoughts.
The Kuwaiti propagandist criticized the traditional religious discourse and accused it of blinding and deceiving minds. He called for the liberation of the mind as an essential condition for renaissance and success, both personally and for nations. He said there is no contradiction between the mind and religion, calling for the practice of rationality to its utmost level. He said that the prevailing religious discourse is filled with irrationality that has contributed to the obstruction of government administration in the name of religion.
He stated that the curricula of Islamic law and the means by which the ulama teach it, continue to obstruct the mind and create a papacy in the name of religion. Additionally the ulama contribute in blinding minds and obstructing rational thinking. He continued that the despotic regimes also contribute in obstructing the will of the umma, transforming the ulama and the leaders into obstacles on the pathway to renaissance.

Update: no no no thats not right either. This I think is it: under the new wages law the teachers recieve less pay then they did under the old teachers law: (YT)

So the new wage law does not give raises, thats then the issue. From the Yemen Times:

Thousands of teachers and education workers staged a sit-in Tuesday in front of Parliament to protest against government’s false promises. The government issued a new wage and salary law, which they say is unfair since it puts down teachers and education workers.

Protesters raised banners and chanted slogans denouncing violations and attacks authorities launched on striking teachers. They described such acts irresponsible and illegal.

The sit-in was held two weeks after teachers and education workers went on strike and ceased working in schools and education offices nationwide. This led authorities to take tough and irresponsible measures such as firing some teachers and preventing them from resuming work. Authorities asked police to help hunt and arrest strikers.

Yemeni Teachers Syndicate (YTS) Secretary-General Ali Al-Rubaihi pointed out that the sit-in is a reaction to arbitrary procedures authorities implemented against teachers. “This is a massive violation of teachers’ rights ensured by law,” he said.

Al-Rubaihi noted that the second clause of Labor Law Article No. 48 states that penalties, including dismissal, must not be imposed on workers while striking. “Peaceful strike is one of the legal means for workers and their unions or syndicates to defend their rights and claim their legal demands if their issues are not resolved through negotiations,” he added.

from the Yemen Times:

When Yemeni Journalists Syndicate (YJS) chief Mahboub Ali suddenly resigned his post for health reasons, some officials considering YJS a foe initiated meetings and preparations to work on reshuffling it. Ali’s resignation marks the beginning of a broad media campaign to uncover the YJS council’s failure and the necessity for a new face to lead journalists.

The campaign appeared on the front pages of the official newspapers, particularly Al-Jumhouria, Al-Thawrah and 14 October papers. The accusations culminated with the ruling party-affiliated Al-Methaq publishing last Monday charges against the YJS Secretary General Hafez Al-Bukari and Al-Wasat Editor Jamal Amer. The paper said the two journalists’ prospective visit to the U.S. comes in the framework of personal tasks.

Al-Methaq added Hafez Al-Bukari headed for Paris during the past few days in a surprise visit to journalists having dubious relations with foreign governments and organizations.

Al-Methaq pointed out its sources weighed that Al-Bukari headed for Denmark to get financial support due to be spent on an electoral campaign for him to stand in the YJS elections.

A YJS spokesman expressed concern over what he described as a broad instigation campaign against journalists. Also he criticized what has been published by Al-Methaq paper.

The YJS Media Committee Head Ali Al-Jaradi claimed the official parties and the Interior Ministry to take measures against the instigative address aimed at spreading the culture of hatred. The address, he noted, sparked violations against journalists nationwide and acts of vandalism, mounting up to assassination attempts like what happed to journalist Haj’e Al-Jehafi. Al-Jaradi called on his colleagues not to bear animosity toward each other.

The YJS explained the travel of Jamal Amer and Murad Hashem Manager of the Sana’a-based Al-Jazeerah Space Television Office to Washington is part of the international visitor’s program to the United States. Al-Bukari traveled to the U.S. to take part in a symposium on Yemen’s democracy in Washington.

YJS never received any welcome from authorities following its February 2004 elections. Its leaders face charges of being loyal to opposition parties and failing to run the syndicate. YJS member Sami Ghaleb holds a different viewpoint, saying such charges are untrue. Theoretically, the YJS council is composed of 12 members, five of whom belong to the ruling party, plus the chief, while seven members have opposition party affiliations.

Its just absolutely idiotic.

from News Yemen:

Dr. Abdul Karim Rasi, minister of health, and Arif Al-Zuka, from Marib discussed with Thomas Krajeski, US ambassador to Yemen, and Dr. Mike Sarhan from USAID the donation made by the country to develop the health sector.
Over 7M dollars was donated to finance various projects and hospital initiatives.
The American-built hospital was equipped with a training area and health awareness unit as well as EMT training area. A new ambulance was also donated to help the Marib area.
45 were received American training in the training institute.
USAID announced that it financed projects to improve the health sector. This will be supervised by Dr. Abdul Jabar Al-Ghithi under cooperation by the ministry of health and the health office in the region.
Marib considers this support extremely important. Support such as this confirms the US’ commitment to the region.
The ambassador stated that investment in the people would give rich rewards.
A number of projects between the ministry of health and the US government have been funded in the past. Yemen has received aid totaling over 26 million dollars in order to develop the countryside

Also France donates one million Euros through the UN World Food Program and from Reuters

The United States is playing an important role in improving food security in Yemen, a local official said following a US $26 million grant of food aid from Washington.

“This is a continuous programme that has been going on since 1999, whereby Yemen gets annual food aid which is sold in the Yemeni market to help finance development projects,” said Nabil Shaiban, head of the international cooperation department at the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation.

On Monday, the Yemeni and US governments signed an agreement for the disbursement of foodstuffs, mainly wheat, which will be sold off by the authorities to help finance other projects.

“The money generated from this food programme is used to finance projects in rural development, agriculture, livestock, health and some other areas,” explained Shaiban. “It has dual objectives: to improve food security by selling food commodities to poor families, and to provide finance for development activities, which has an impact on rural development.”

The United Nations World Food Programme reports that 7.9 percent of the Yemeni population regularly experience severe food insecurity and cannot always afford to buy food for themselves or their families. This means one or more family member does not eat for an entire day due to a lack of food.

Shaiban described the programme as one of the more efficient and successful food aid monetisation programmes. “Yemen is a food-insecure country due to ongoing population increases,” he said. “We depend mainly on importing foodstuffs from abroad to cover our needs.”

Of the funds to be generated selling these goods, some US $2.4 million have already been allocated to upgrade the Baihan hospital in the eastern governorate of Shabwa, according to the programme.

There have been drastic changes in agricultural production trends in recent decades. In the early 1970s, Yemen produced nearly all of its domestic cereal requirements. By 1998, however, the country was able to meet only 26 percent of local demand, according to UNDP figures. The shortfall has been blamed mainly on dwindling water resources.

According to the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation, food security is also declining in Yemen because of the under-funding of agricultural development by both the government and international donors.

Yemen’s 2004 poverty reduction strategy report highlighted the low level of spending on agriculture in relation to other countries in the region. According to the report, the government spent only 2.8 percent of its budget on agriculture in 2003, despite the fact that the sector contributed some 16 percent of national GDP for that year.

from the Daily Star:

SANAA: Four Yemenis accused of kidnapping five Italian tourists in a lawless area of Yemen in January were each sentenced to 20 years in jail Wednesday. The men, from the Al-Zaidi clan, were jailed by a Sanaa court for planning and carrying out the kidnapping. Two others, from the Al-Ameri clan, received five- and 10- year sentences for abetting the crime.

The Italians, three women and two men, were freed after a five-day ordeal in the Maarib region following a standoff between security forces and the kidnappers.

One defense lawyer said the court ruling was unfair and vowed to press ahead with

an appeal.

“It is an unjust ruling and did not take into account the defense case which is that the defendants did not kidnap the tourists with the intent to hurt them but to pressure the government to release relatives imprisoned by authorities without a trial,” said Mohammad Tuaiman.

The heavily guarded courtroom was packed with the defendants’ relatives, most of them in traditional tribal dress.

“Kidnapping is a peaceful way of diffusing the tension between tribesmen and the army,” said the brother of Merai al-Ameri, who received the 10-year prison term.

The Yemeni penal code stipulates prison terms of between 10 years and 25 years for hostage-takings and the death sentence for those who harm their hostages.

Tribesmen often kidnap foreigners to use as bargaining chips to make financial demands of the government or settle local scores.

More than 200 foreigners have been kidnapped in the country over the past decade.

The kidnapping of the Italians has sparked a controversy in their country where a consumer group, Codacons, has filed a law suit to try to force the government to refund the money it allegedly paid to free the hostages.

The group said the government paid 600,000 euros ($725,000) to free the hostages whom it blamed for their fate because they went to Yemen despite a travel warning from the Italian Foreign Ministry.

The Yemeni government said the five were freed “in a military operation,” while a tribal dignitary involved in negotiations said both mediation and military action had secured their release. - AFP

from the Yemen Times:

The defendants appealed against the verdict after hearing it, describing it as unfair. They asked why the court never has tried the German tourists’ kidnappers, as well as complaining about officials who demolished their homes and detained their relatives. The kidnappers’ relatives attending the session stated that authorities never seek the reasons behind tourist kidnappings.

YT:

Bajammal highlighted the Vatican’s vital role in consolidating dialogue between religions and civilizations, pointing out that Islam emphasizes respecting other religions’ ideologies and condemns acts of extremism.

“The Yemeni community is forgiving. This is one of the qualities of Yemeni civilization extending throughout various stages of history,” Bajammal added. “The Yemeni government calls for more understanding and cooperation between Islam and Christianity for the sake of peace and improving human relations.” He wished the Vatican diplomat prosperity and success in his mission to upgrade bilateral relations and achieve joint interests.

raising funds for Hamas in Yemen via al-Jazeera at MEMRI TV, transcript here. He’s quite the speaker. Zindani is the same guy who raised funds for and is pushing civil lawsuits against the editor of the Yemen Observer, Mohammed al-Asaadi, claiming damages for publishing the cartoons with X’s over them.

from ADNKI

Khartoum, 28 March (AKI) - In a surprise move, the foreign minister of Yemen, Abubaker Abdullah al-Qirbi, will challenge the secretary general of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, whose mandate expires in May, at the helm of the organisation, said sources at the league’s summit starting in Khartoum on Tuesday. The reconfirmation of Moussa, an Egyptian, for another term was considered up until now a mere formality. However, sources said his re-election could be affected by the absence of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak at the summit.
The Yemeni candidate is reportedly backed by many Arab states and by the United Arab Emirates in particular, the only member state which has openly opposed Moussa’s reconfirmation.

The Arab League secretary general has in the past clashed with the UAE government over the possibility of a reconciliation with Israel.

Update: Moussa re-elected.

RW:

Arab leaders reached a deal on Tuesday to provide funding for cash-strapped African Union troops in the troubled Sudanese region of Darfur, Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh told reporters.

He said they also agreed at their summit in Khartoum to strengthen the AU force by providing troops from Arab states.

However, an Arab diplomat told AFP that discussions were still underway and that a final accord had yet to be reached.

The move came after Sudan appealed for the 22-member Arab League to help strengthen the AU force and back its rejection of plans by the UN Security Council to send UN peacekeepers to Darfur.

The three-year conflict in Darfur and a devastating humanitarian crisis has left up to 300,000 people dead and an estimated 2.4 million displaced.

On Saturday, Sudanese Foreign Minister Lam Akol had demanded Arab funding for the AU mission to block “attempts to hand over its tasks to international forces.”

The UN Security Council had voted Friday to speed up plans to deploy peacekeepers to replace the AU mission.

The 7,000-strong African Union force, which was deployed in 2004, agreed on March 10 to continue for six more months its mission, which is already being largely financed by the United States, Canada and the European Union.

War broke out in Darfur in February 2003 when rebel groups revolted against what they say is the political and economic marginalization of the region’s black African ethnic groups by the Arab-dominated regime in Khartoum.

The government responded by unleashing the Janjaweed militia, a force of horse-mounted gunmen, which has been blamed for many atrocities including systemic rape and the burning of villages.

Poverty

SANAA — An official Yemeni report disclosed that organised smugglers existed at the Saudi-Yemeni borders as they exploit large numbers of children who live in the governorate of Hoja to enable them to smuggle goods between the Saudi-Yemeni strip for little amount of money. The report pointed out that the families of the children, as a result of the intensive poverty and bad living conditions, force their children to work with these gangs to smuggle flour between the borders of Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

The report, prepared by a teamwork of specialists working at several official bodies in Yemen, revealed that some unscrupulous dealers make use of the poor conditions of families and tempt them by money to allow their children to work with them to smuggle goods.

The report highlighted that the route and the distance the children pass by are very dangerous. This report came after a visit paid by a team that included members from the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour.

from the Khaleej Times

More statistics

26/3/2006 al Shawa

Parliament summons two ministers over teachers strike

Al-Sahwa.net - The parliament agreed on Sunday
to summon the ministers of civil service and education
for questioning next Wednesday over the strike that
teachers started last week protesting to drops in the
new strategy of wages.
MP Abdul-Karim Shaiban said that teachers in many
governorates face aggressive practices because they
asked for their rights guaranteed by law and
constitution.
MP for the Yemeni Socialist Party Mohammad al-Saqaf
Ba-alghaith wondered from the government ignorance for
teachers’ “legal requests” and keeping silent toward
the issue of teachers who seek improving their life
standards.
Ba-alghaith criticized the government attempt to use
secondary school graduates and university students to
fill the vacuum strikers left in schools. “Instead the
government has to find proper solutions,” said
Ba-alghaith.
MP Fuad Dehabah accused the government of breaching
the law of wages and salaries number 43 for the year
2005 and depriving teachers from their legal rights.
“The Parliament has to earnestly protect teachers and
to assign specialized committees to follow up the
government to achieve the wages and salaries
law,” Dehabah said.

This IRIN article makes it look like they just want a raise where as the al-Shawa articles makes it clear they are striking for the implementation of the salaries law.

Despite government warnings, local school teachers are planning to stage a nationwide strike on 3 April to demand higher salaries, according to Yemeni Teachers Union (YTU) Chairman Ahmed al-Rubahi.

“We’ve informed the government that we will go ahead with our decision to stage massive demonstrations in the capital and in other cities. We’re not breaking the law, but exercising our constitutional rights,” said al-Rubahi, adding that protests were scheduled to start on Tuesday in Sana’a.

“Unless the government fulfils our demands for higher pay, demonstrations will certainly be carried out.”

In a 25 March press statement, however, the interior ministry warned teachers against participating in planned protests.
“This is an infringement of law no. 29 of 2003, which stipulates that licenses must be granted for any protest,” the statement noted. “People calling for such a protest are to be held accountable for any riots or other lawless acts.”

The YTU initially called for the strike following a breakdown in talks with the government last week. “We’re demanding higher pay for the teaching staff and are protesting against the harassment we’ve faced to deter us from striking,” said al-Rubahi. He went on to complain of heavy-handed measures taken against dissatisfied schoolteachers, including arrests, dismissals and threats of salary suspensions.

“We’ve used all possible means, including wearing red badges and staging partial strikes to pressure the government to meet our demands,” he said.

Teachers are insisting on a 110-percent pay rise, including allowances. Currently, school teachers are paid the equivalent of between US $150 and US $200 a month. Assistant professors at universities are paid the equivalent of US $500 a month.

Al-Rubahi explained that the quality of education countrywide could be expected to deteriorate unless teachers’ demands were met. “The role of teachers in a society plagued with illiteracy and poverty is vital,” he said. “Unless they are paid well, they won’t be able to perform their jobs properly.”

According to government statistics, almost 50 percent of the population aged between 10 and 45 are illiterate. The number hovers at about 30 percent among men and exceeds 67 percent among women.

Minister of Civil Service Hamoud Khaled al-Sufi expressed disapproval of the planned strike. “Teachers should know that pay rises are governed by available resources and the overall economic structure of the state,” he said. With teachers representing half of the country’s civil service, he added, available resources were insufficient to increase salaries across the board.

More from al Sahwa: (3/23)

Teachers in many schools in Aden
continue their strike over the government delay to
increase their salaries according to wages strategy
and students protest detention of their teachers.

In Khor Maksar city, 85 percent of schools responded
to the general strike called for by the Yemeni
Teachers Syndicate and in other schools the percentage
ranging between 70% to 50%.

Students in Batheeb Secondary School made a sit-in on
Wednesday protesting the detention campaign against
teachers. They carried placards calling for justice
and releasing the school teachers whom security forces
detained Tuesday over the strike.

Security forces in Aden arrested on Tuesday four
teachers and released only one of them.
Al-Sahwa.net was informed that Aden prosecution sent a
letter to the central security office asking for
releasing all teachers as detention did not base on
legal evidence.

Lawyer of detained teachers Mohammad al-Amrawi said
security authorities have no legal justification to
practice such detentions.

“Strike is a guaranteed right that teachers used as a
legal choice to defend their financial rights based on
the law No.35 regarding the syndicates work,” said
al-Amrawi. “The Yemeni Teachers Syndicate arranged for
the strike according to law so there is no any reason
gives them the right to prevent the strike.”

The lawyer of YTS said the illegal practice was the
detention of teachers without legal justification,
describing the behavior of security forces as
“teachers rights violation”.

And of course if all else fails, call them Houthis, terrorists or seperatists, arrest them, beat them up and take away their jobs: al Sahwa (3/22)

Head of Yemeni Teachers Syndicate branch in Hodeidah
Abdul-Hafiz al-Hutami accused the security forces of
raiding al-Noor educational complex in an attempt to
replace the strikers with other teachers, but said
students refused the new teachers and threw them with
stones.

He said the education office in Shabwa impeded 14
schools directors and three teachers.
In Aden, the security forces arrested three teachers
Tuesday morning and brought them to the office of the
Political Security Organization for investigation over
provoking teachers to do strike.

Head of Yemeni Teachers Syndicate branch in Hodeidah
Abdul-Hafiz al-Hutami accused the security forces of
raiding al-Noor educational complex in an attempt to
replace the strikers with other teachers, but said
students refused the new teachers and threw them with
stones.

He told al-Sahwa.net the head of the education office
in Hodeidah and vice rector of Hodeidah University had
broken-in the Al-Hara’a Girls School and tried to
convince female teachers to break the strike, but said
the teachers refused and forced them to leave. …

It is said that teachers in Abyan and other
governorates received threats to be replaced or sent
to other places or dismissed if not give up strike.
Al-Sahwa.net got some detention and transmitting
letters against teachers in different governorates
over the strike.

Chairman of the Yemeni Teachers Syndicate confirmed in
a statement to journalists that teachers who achieved
the general strike were accused by security
authorities of terrorist acts and backing al-Houthi
rebellion and plotting to revolt against the regime.

The Yemeni Teachers Syndicate warned the government
days ago of strikes all over the country if the latter
“does not raise the salaries of teachers based on the
wages strategy”, but the government did not fulfill
its promises.

YT: “In a March 24 statement, teachers and educators syndicates confirmed continuation of an open comprehensive strike in all educational institutions until their demands are met. The Yemen Times received a copy of the statement, which holds the government responsible for all deterioration that has befallen the education process. They also confirmed that the strike involves 85 percent of the republic’s schools.

The syndicates denounced oppression and professional terrorism by some officials, going as far as detention. The statement said officials prevented some teachers from entering their schools and asked the help of armed vehicles to dodge striking teachers. The statement also accused officials of firing a large number of striking teachers, while deputies, headmasters and managers were replaced on the pretext that they were lenient in resisting striking teachers. The last such oppression mentioned was preventing strikers from signing attendance lists.”

A good article, from the Yemen Times:

I have chosen to use the term ‘genderism’ instead of ’sexism’, commonly used in gender studies literature, mainly because I am aware that the later term might make some of my readers pant, perspire and panic, as any word with ’sex’ as a component is tabooed and the speaker or the writer of the word is ogled by others. Both these terms mean that one of the sexes -female or male -is oppressed in favour of the other. Like racism and classism, sexism is against the interest of the students, if practiced in schools and colleges, consciously or unconsciously. Many people have raised their voices against racism and classism, oppression and inequality in terms of colour, wealth, politics, ethnicity and nationality in social and educational institutions and laws against them have been instituted in many countries, but very few voices have been raised against sexism and rarely had any laws been instituted against sexist practices in schools and colleges; even in countries where such laws are in vogue, they remain in law books: curriculums continue to be gender-biased; classroom practices are in favour of one sex; teaching materials are skewed against one sex. Unfortunately, the oppressed sex happens to be the females, irrespective of whether it is a developed or developing country. With the onset of movements such as women’s liberation movements in countries like the USA and the practice of equal opportunities policies, girls have gained an edge over the boys, for example in their continuous performance in GCSE, and there are voices calling for reconsideration and, if necessary, reversal of the policies so that positive action is now directed at boys’ learning problems.

The main reason for this inequality against females is not difficult to understand. Our society is traditionally a patriarchal one, grounded on three assumptions: that the separate spheres of men and women are natural divisions based on biology-as-destiny ideology; that women are defined in relation to men and children rather than as individual beings; and that women are inferior to men. In India, female children are often unwanted and the government’s attempts to educate people against this inhuman practice through mass media drain the exchequer; the results are rather encouraging. In most other countries, including the developed ones, female children are brought up in such a way that they grow weak, meek, submissive and domesticated, based on the belief that biology is destiny. This belief is instilled in girls through socialization practices such as male chauvinism and institutional sexism in male-dominated institutions such as schools, colleges and work places.

Male chauvinism, exhibited at the level of personal relationships, refers to attitudes and activities through which males display their sense of superiority over females. For example, the slang terms such as chick, fox, and bitch to refer to women place them metaphorically on the level of animals; other terms such as broad and party for women refer to things rather than human beings. In some societies like mine, the pronoun used for women is ‘adhu / idhu’, the Tamil equivalent of ‘it’, denigrating them to the status of things. In some other societies in India, the husband addresses his wife not by her name but as the mother of X or Y (son or daughter), as if she doesn’t possess any name at all. With in the home, male chauvinism is expressed in other ways too. Many men refuse to share the household tasks such as cooking, cleaning and baby caring, as such activities are women’s work. Some men feel proud saying that they have never entered the kitchen even for making a cup of tea in their life! ‘In our culture’, say Hochschild and Machung in their book “The second shift: inside the Two-job marriage”, ‘a man’s home is his castle and since few households have paid servants, the little woman must often suffice’. Women who work outside the home are not spared from housekeeping and they are expected to do it cheerfully. In addition, working women may have to tolerate the ‘male mischief’, which is common in sophisticated societies, in the office functions and parties. Women who challenge such practices are dubbed as frustrated females and frigid.

(Read on …)

Most dramatically, an Iraqi intelligence report, apparently written in early 1997, describes Iraqi efforts to establish ties with various elements in the Saudi opposition, including Osama bin Ladin. Until 1996, the Saudi renegade was based in Sudan, then ruled by Hassan Turabi’s National Islamic Front. One of Iraq’s few allies, Sudan served as an intermediary between Baghdad and bin Ladin, as well as other Islamic radicals. On Feb. 19, 1995, an Iraqi intelligence agent met with bin Ladin in Khartoum. Bin Ladin asked for two things: to carry out joint operations against foreign forces in Saudi Arabia and to broadcast the speeches of a radical Saudi cleric. Iraq agreed to the latter, but apparently not the former, at least as far as the author of this report knew. Notably, the report also states, “we are working at the present time to activate this relationship through new channels.”

This one report hints at the extensive international presence that the Iraqi Intelligence Service (IIS) maintained. Iraq’s ambassadors to Sudan and Yemen were intelligence agents, suggesting that those two countries were major centers of IIS activity. The report also mentions IIS stations in Islamabad, New Delhi and New York.

And New York. Read the rest.

Laurie Mylroie is an adjunct fellow at AEI and author of Study of Revenge: The First World Trade Center Attack and Saddam Hussein’s War against America (AEI Press, 2001).

From the Yemen Times, the quote of the day, “This is really stupid.“

The hysteric media barrage the political regime is launching against the opposition parties entails a bad omen of the coming few months prior to the presidential and local elections. Upon hearing rumors that the former president of the South Yemen Ali Naser Mohammed would run for office, the regime has opened up the question of the mass graves of the January 13, 1986 Aden, bringing into mind of the Yemeni people the agonies of the infighting and reviving the bloodshed memories and hatred sentiments.

Again, the state-run- and -financed media have also tried to revive the hostilities between the socialists, saying that the socialists of the North have controlled everything and left nothing for the socialists of the South.

Last Thursday, the 26 September newspaper of the army said the US embassy had given the government some important documents about the South during 1980s. It described these documents as important, revealing secrets of the conflict between the leaders of the socialist party at that time and other relevant issues to their term in office.

This is really stupid. What does it mean to incite such kind of sentiments? Won’t this hamper the national unity and stability of the country? They always say the unity is a “red line” and a taboo that must not be touched whatsoever the reason. I agree with my colleague Jamal Anaam when he said that the unity of the political parties is a part of the overall unity of the country. President Ali Abdullah Saleh has been always giving sermons on the importance of keeping the country united, burying the past hostilities and looking ahead for a better tomorrow. Why now recalling the past with all its miseries and pains? Won’t this stir up the anger the people of the South who are now lamenting the pre-unification era wherein law and order was respected and cherished by everybody, despite the other wrongdoings of the socialist regime.

Read the rest.

Guest Post by Guest Poster A (meaning this was written by someone else whom we shall refer to as GPA)

A recent article in Jane’s Intelligence Review quoted that figure ‘an
estimated 80 million small arms’ as part of a running description of
Yemen as as a lawless and dangerous failed state. If you examine
that figure, you might unpack it this way:

Yemen has twenty million people, half of them women, half of them
under the age of fourteen, this leaves us with five million adult
males or premium potential gun owners. If one fifth of that five
million are urban or live in major centres or are good southerners,
and another fifth of that five million are in what the government and
development agencies describe as ‘food poverty’. This leaves a round
maximum of three million likely gun owners. At eighty million
weapons this gives a flat average twenty-seven guns apiece? On the
basis of a value of two hundred and fifty dollars for the Yemeni
standard Kalashnikov, this equates to six thousand seven hundred and
fifty dollar’s-worth of weapons, each. This equates to the purchase
price of a second hand Toyota pick-up truck, or four year’s gross
salary for an average employed man. Even if some ten-year olds have
guns and even if some women carry guns, it doesn’t shift the basic
conclusion.

But distribution will not be even. So starting from with that average
of twenty-seven weapons distributed equally throughout the rural
areas, if one in a hundred men is a weapons trader and each ordinary
man has two guns, that community’s weapons trader is left with two-
thousand five hundred weapons, a roomfull of rusting and slow-moving
weapons worth over a quarter of a million dollars. Like any
businessman looking to feed his very extended family, he’d sell the
guns and buy a bulldozer or a truck. Only in the major and well-
known weapons markets with a large turnover will you find big well-
stocked stores - and those markets are fairly closely monitored by
the government.

The vast majority of Yemenis are engaged full-time in the business of
survival and savings. They know that goats plus rain equals money,
or that pick-up trucks plus subsidized fuel plus cheap labour equals
money. They also know that there is very little that you can do on a
daily basis with a gun that makes money. Forget notions of weapons
culture, or the odd gun freak that has five or six weapons, ordinary
people in the tribal areas can only afford to keep what weapons they
have in order to protect their other assets, so if you ask yourself
what is required to do this - you arrive at a very different answer,
but one which exactly tallies with first hand observation of rural
people’s houses and lives.

This is an interesting article on tribalism from the CSM:

Western strategists and policymakers should stop talking about a clash of civilizations and focus on the real problem: extreme tribalism. Recent events - riots in many nations protesting cartoons of the prophet Muhammad, Sunni-Shiite warring in Iraq, the Taliban resurgence in Afghanistan - confirm that the West is not in a clash with Islam. Instead, Islam, which is a civilizing force, has fallen under the sway of Islamists who are a tribalizing force.

Unfortunately, the tribalism theme has difficulty gaining traction. After the end of the cold war, many American strategists preferred the optimistic “end of history” idea that democracy would triumph around the world, advanced by Francis Fukuyama in 1989. A contrary notion - reversion to tribalism - made better sense to other strategists, such as France’s Jacques Attali in 1992. Indeed, the emergence of ethnic warring in the Balkans and elsewhere confirmed that when societies crumble, people revert to tribal and clan behaviors that repudiate liberal ideals.

Perhaps partly because the idea of “tribalism” sounds too anthropological for modern strategists, it has not taken hold. American thinking has shifted to revolve around a more high-minded but less accurate concept: “the clash of civilizations” articulated by Samuel Huntington in 1993.

But what troubles the world is far more a travail of tribalisms than a clash of civilizations. The major clashes are not between civilizations per se, but between antagonistic segments that are fighting across fringe border zones (like Christian Serbs vs. Muslim Kosovars), or feuding within the same civilization, such as Sunnis vs. Shiites in Iraq.

Most antagonists, no matter how high-mindedly they proclaim their ideals, are operating in terribly tribal and clannish ways. Some, such as Al Qaeda terrorists, are extreme tribalists who dream of making the West start over at a razed, tribal level.

This travail is sure to persist, fueling terrorism, ethnonationalism, religious strife, sectarian feuds, and clannish gang violence and crime. Thus, the cartoon protest riots pose an effort to mobilize an Islamic global tribe, not a civilization. Al Qaeda and its affiliates comprise an information age network, but they, too, operate like a global tribe: decentralized, segmental, lacking in central hierarchy, egalitarian toward kith and kin, ruthless toward others.

What are tribes like? The tribe was the first major form of social organization. The hierarchy, market, and network forms developed ages later. Classic tribes are ruled by kinship principles about blood and brotherhood that fix one’s sense of identity and belonging. Tribes are also egalitarian and segmental. Everyone is deemed equal and must share. Each part, such as a clan, is structured similarly, aiming for self-sufficiency. And there is no formal chief, though a “big man” may arise. Democracy may appear in tribal councils, but it is not liberal, since it does not tolerate minority rights and dissident views once a consensus emerges.

What maintains order in a tribe is not hierarchy and law - it is too early a form for that - but kinship principles stressing mutual respect, dignity, pride, and honor. Reciprocal gift giving is essential. Humiliating insults upset peace more than anything else, for an insult to one is seen as an insult to everyone of that lineage. And there are only two ways to restore honor: compensation or revenge. Finally, a tribe may view itself as a realm of virtue, but see outsiders as a different realm that may be treated differently, even brutally, especially if they are “different.”

Much of the world is still like this. Of particular concern to strategists, a dense arc of tribal and clan systems runs across North Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia, up into the “stans” of Central Asia. Even modern societies still have tribal cores and impulses. That shows in their cultures, nationalisms, identity politics, kindred glues like sports clubs and social fads, and in cronyism, nepotism, and gang life. Tribalism, for good and ill, is alive everywhere, all the time. We just don’t think about it much, and use other terms.

So let’s shift away from the civilization paradigm. The tribalism paradigm is better for illuminating the crucial problem: the tribalization of religion. The more that extremists create divisions between “us” and “them,” vainly claim sacredness solely for their own ends, demonize others, revel in codes of revenge, crave territorial and spiritual conquests, and suppress moderates who disagree - all the while claiming to act on behalf of a deity - the more their religious orientation becomes utterly tribal and prone to wreaking violence of the darkest kind. They can only pretend to represent a civilization.

The “war of ideas” should be rethought. Western leaders keep pressing Muslim leaders everywhere to denounce terrorism as uncivilized. But this approach, plus counterpressures from sectarian Islamists, has put moderate Muslims on the defensive, stymieing them from speaking out. An approach that focuses on questioning extreme tribalism may be more effective at freeing up dialogue and inviting a search for common, ecumenical ground.

Shifting to a travail-of-tribalisms perspective would have to be carefully thought out. The point is not to condemn all tribal ways. Many people around the world appreciate (indeed, prefer) this communal way of life and will defend it from insult. It is not always uncivilized to be tribal. The point is to strike at the awful effects that extreme tribalization can have - to oppose not a terrorist’s or insurgent’s religion, but the reduction of that religion to raw tribalist tenets.

• David Ronfeldt is a senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation, a nonprofit research organization, and the author of “Al Qaeda and Its Affiliates: A Global Tribe Waging Segmental Warfare?”

from News Yemen:

The opposition parties have changed their options completely. The ruling party is now persona non grata. In more clear terms, the president in not the candidate for the people like what happened earlier. “There will no longer be personal bargaining.”
As the elections approach, the language being used in the political arena is becoming more clear and challenging, but represents the esprit de l’age.
The first directive was a press conference held by the joint parties opposition to announce the failure of important talks with the GPC.
Instead of postponing the elections as was supposed from the first press statement released by the opposition, they showed their teeth and backed down from their initial position to boycott the elections.
This new threatening language that has incited the street against the authorities appeared suddenly despite all the small advancement achieved. During the last few years since the end of the 1994 war and the failure of the initial government, no party has been able to gain the confidence of the people.
For more than 10 years, the public has watched the opposition parties acquiesce to the GPC in exchange for political agreements. They have not achieved anything and all their attempts (which appear more as personal interest deals) have ended in failure.
During the previous election seasons, they have turned a blind eye to the infractions committed and have supported the candidate of the GPC. They have watched the policies of the state with apprehension and boycotted them. However, today it hopes to force the GPC to run free and fair elections.
Has the American Empire’s model borne fruit? This is not too far-fetched a question especially since the relationship between Washington and the embassy has witnessed a tangible improvement with the major opposition parties including Islah.
However, day after day the relationship between Washington and Sana’a grows more sour. In his last letter to President Salih, President Bush complained of lack of cooperation in the war on terror. He went so far as to insinuate the difficulty of finding a neutral ruler.
The demands of the opposition center on getting rid of the GPC’s grip over the High Commission on Elections. It currently enjoys a 5:2 advantage against the opposition. This control has tainted the council and made it biased.
While the elections date continues to approach, the opposition has squandered time in negotiations with the GPC. The Congress insists upon dividing seats in the HCE based upon each party’s representative number in parliament. The joint parties see that the reliance upon this percentage causes the HCE to lose its neutrality as legislated in the constitution. The opposition believes seats should be divided evenly. “We lose in both cases. The GPC retains the majority of seats based on its representation in parliament and the HCE will be divided among different parties, thus insuring their marginalization.”
What was surprising during the last press conference for the opposition was its lack of retreat before the continuing hardening of the GPC. It has begun to look for personal and separate accords as usual.
Instead of showing weakness, the opposition has doubled its demands. It is now calling for reform of the electoral system which had been laid out in the bill “A vision for insuring free and fair elections.”

Real the rest. This guy on the other hand takes the long view and has another very good article but doesnt believe its possible to put the pieces in place befroe the election and instead calls for a consensus to accomplish the following:

1. Completion of the transformation of the Yemeni political system in to a parliamentary system
2. Promulgation of a hybrid electoral system combining proportional representation and the list system with the single-member district system
3. Limiting the role and purview of the armed and security forces within the constitutional framework of the state under the auspices of a democratic political system based on the principles of political pluralism and the peaceful alternation of power.
These negotiations should result in national consensus on the constitutional provisions necessary to adopt the above-mentioned points, and to complete the necessary steps to promulgate them as stipulated in the current constitution. It would also include a transitional clause stating that the implementation of the constitution amendments related to the first point, transformation of the political system into a parliamentary system, would be delayed until the completion of the coming presidential term.

Its hard to get information in Yemen. From News Yemen:

“It was a very strange action when he denied what he had said” reported a journalist concerning an interview he conducted with a member of parliament. The journalist stated that as soon as he had finished recording the MP’s remarks, the MP left and went to another media source and denied everything.
Such behavior has become normal between the parties and the journalists who complain of difficulty in obtaining information from MPs. Sami Ghaleb, editor in chief of Al-Nida’, stated that the behavior of many MPs is far from being professional. He said that the reason behind this goes back to the leadership’s inability to listen to different opinions as well the ideological and historical background of these parties. The presence of local newspapers is new to the political life in Yemen. He feels that time and the continued practice of journalism in Yemen will change the political field’s opinion of it and that relationships between the journalism profession and the parties will change as well. “Our papers hold to professional standards and give balance to their coverage which will find acceptance among the ruling elite.
Al-Ghobari stated that dealing with the parties is much easier than dealing with the official bodies. He stated that it is a priority of the ruling party to make interaction with the journalistic profession difficult, followed by Islah. He stated that dealing with the Nasserite party and the YSP is the easiest. He said that the political parties in Yemen still show great reservation towards giving information about disputes among the ruling party and the opposition.
Concerning the internal workings of the parties, Islah is the most tight-fisted when it comes to giving information. He said most information is passed on by news leaks and conversation and not through official channels.
It is unlikely that the position of the parties will change their position towards journalists and try to solve the current impasse. An official spokesman stated that his is a paradox that does not only concern the parties but the state as well.

Also: this is interesting:

Sami Ghaleb defended the syndicate in his article published in Al-Nida’ under the title “The Governmental Quagmire and the Journalists’ Syndicate.” He considers this as a war waged by the government against journalism in order to raise party strife and incite anger against its members. This campaign began after the leader of the syndicate presented his resignation and following the joint parties’ support of it. He was surprised by this after a cordial visit between the minister of information and the syndicate which was considered a first step by a government official.
Al-Thawra published an article that stated “there are accusations of deals being made between journalists and foreign embassies in order to execute suspicious projects. However, do not forget the doubt surrounding MPs and their evil intentions towards the syndicate.”
The author, Al-Majidi, stated that the reason for the attacks comes from the profession’s defense of several journalists who underwent attacks and death threats as well as their opposition to laws that would restrict journalistic freedom.

Theres a lot more in the original article.

between the market price of oil and that accounted for in the budget. The accounting is at $40.00/barrel and the market prices is $60.00/barrel. (not to mention the amountof public money lost by smuggling) From News Yemen.

MP Ali Ashal criticized the discrepancies in the official report the government submitted concerning oil revenues. He stated such discrepancies are a tool to confuse the public.
A member of the committee for development and oil stated that the statistics provided by the Central Yemen Bank for the month of January show a total production of 5.11 million barrels thus bringing the year-end total to 60 million barrels. The government predicts that this year’s total will be 39.6 million barrels, a decrease of 21 million from the year previous. It has calculated price per barrel at $40 despite the world market price of $60.
The report indicated that the budget for the year 2006 from oil exports is expected to exceed 3.6B dollars, i.e. the difference in price will exceed 2B dollars. The government does not interact with these resources a fact which was taken into account. It was accused of building a budget based on a deficit and “that is not true in most cases.” Ashal clarifies that since 2001 parliament has demanded that this price difference be made available to the future generations and to build more infrastructure. However, this money has been going into the pockets of the corrupt. Mr. Ashal also stated that the oversight committee is unable to produce the real number of government revenue from oil.
Mr. Ashal based his claims on the monopoly of the centers of power over information and their blinding of the truth.
A member on the committee for development and oil confirmed that there was a lack of transparency based on the discrepancies in the central bank’s report. Sakhar Al-Wajih talked about the differences in oil price and stated “the institutions in our country don’t know anything because we are not a state of institutions. Our institutions are only decoration for the world.” He also criticized the government for using the 2B dollars to strengthen security at a time when “the man in the street fears the man in the uniform.”
Ahmed Al-Sharabi, a leader in the GPC, asked those present to not condemn the situation “because it is a difficult situation and people’s feelings are provoked. He stated the “the amount of oil in our country is small and our corruption is big. In other countries the sheer amount of oil covers the size of corruption.”

Related: Yemen seeks 300 million loan from China as some MPs call for some controls on international loans and their dispursement: “The joint council also recommended that the government be bound to not use the revenue from the loans for purposes other than those previously agreed upon….Mohammed Al-Saqaaf called for a clause in the loan law barring the government from buying cars and furniture with loan monies.”

Motorcyclists denied their right to work in Yemen engaged in a symbolic funeral procession for the main Yemeni political parties. It may have been an apt analogy: the multi-party system may be dead. The democratic institutions established over fifteen years ago in Yemen may shrivel up and blow away without anyone noticing. The country may sink further into chaos as it slowly implodes and the oil runs out.

But do not place your bets just yet. Nationalism in Yemen is alive and well. In a region widely lacking habits of regular transition of executive authority, Yemen may become among the first to achieve popular empowerment through democratic processes. There’s a Presidential election coming in September.

The nature, character and history of Yemen make it the most likely Middle Eastern nation to evolve politically without external stressors. The last chaotic fifty years of Yemeni history were defined by people committed to the nation. Yemen, in existence since pre-Islamic times, has already been a leader in the new age of participatory legitimacy in the Middle East if only by absorbing the rhetoric and forms of democracy. With the unity of North and South Yemen in 1990, the Yemeni people came to a consensus for democracy and since have internalized the legitimacy of its underlying premises.

The failure of democracy to thrive in Yemen has been attributed to political tribalism. The Yemeni political system operates from the top down whereby elites from nearly all important power centers are co-opted by the regime, trading patronage for loyalty. As a result, many local and national leaders do not advance local and national interests as defined by the population but rather advance regime interests onto their constituencies. Much dissatisfaction in Yemen comes from the failure of the government to implement and follow its own laws. The new Yemeni revolutionaries are those who seek to advance the rule of law, the equality of citizens, and the duty of representatives and constituencies to operate in the national interest.

The Yemeni opposition has turned from negotiating with the regime to negotiating with the people. The days of trading editors for buildings have apparently passed. The opposition is demanding a fair election, starting with a non-biased electoral commission, a linchpin of the process. At worst, the opposition by contesting the election may force important incremental changes on the political process. At best, they’ll win.

In the 2003 parliamentary elections the opposition parties received nearly half the votes (but only a quarter of the seats). The main hurtle for an opposition candidate in the current presidential election may be having enough time to inspire the trust of the nation and develop a bond with the voters. Moving itself beyond criticism, the opposition has advanced a reasonable reform platform which advocates centering more authority within Parliament to decentralize executive power, enabling badly needed political and economic reforms. Parliament refused to empower itself.

Dominated by the ruling party, over two thirds of the members of the Yemeni parliament are Sheiks, Sheiks in business, or the sons of Sheiks. It is this parliament that must approve the candidacy of the opposition candidate. Reformers within the GPC are continually stymied by their own party and are threatened when they speak out.

Like the regime, some Yemeni political parties are tribal in nature, undemocratic in practice, and operate from a top down authority system. At the last GPC conference, the forms of democracy were in abundance as delegates voted for predetermined candidates, except for those who were appointed. The GPC said at that time that it will nominate president Saleh as its candidate although President Saleh has repeated stated he will not nominate himself.

If President Saleh stands by his pledge to step down from the presidency after 28 years, he would empower Yemeni citizens and all Arab peoples through out the Middle East. His action would mark a defining moment in modern history. It would be a source of pride for the Yemeni people and would define Saleh forever as a great statesman who deferred power to progress and modernity.

But even that would not be enough. Additionally President Saleh would have to intervene to enable a free and fair election by ending the harassment of journalists, opening the broadcast media to the opposition, and ensuring the impartiality of the electoral commission and other governmental institutions like the military.

The military leadership is dominated by President Saleh’s relatives. In the last election, the military and security forces were instruments of intimidation and enforcement for the ruling party. Yet the military may be infused with enough nationalism, patriotism and strength to stand apart from the election and allow the process to proceed neutrally. In this election, the choice for Yemen’s warriors is whether they will protect the powerful or the voters.

The US and EU are taking a strong stand with Belarus, condemning its unfair presidential election and subsequent crackdown on protesters. The Yemeni people deserve this level of international support as well. All people have a right to freedom from intimidation in making their political choices, and international election observers are sorely needed in the villages as well as the cities. The US, which exerted a great deal of international public diplomacy in the run up to the Egyptian presidential elections, is silent regarding the upcoming Yemeni elections, possibly because the major parties have not announced their candidates yet.

If Yemeni patriots in all regions, political parties, institutions and civil society are to coalesce, they need not only international support, they need popular support. Analysis has shown that only popular pressure that can force reform on an authoritarian regime. As the symbolic funeral procession shows, some citizens are demanding that the parties function democratically and their representatives represent them. The Yemeni people are already agents of modernization, and have generated demands for equal rights in the work place, free speech, the participation of women, and the advancement of human rights. And if they demand a fair election now, they can set in motion a century of freedom for themselves and the entire region. That would require quite a bit of heroism as the authority can be quite brutal, but Yemenis are known for their courage.

Can a Parliament full of Sheiks reject political tribalism, can a president return power, can a loyalist Cabinet speak for the people, can the military defend the citizens, can the opposition lead, can the partisan media take a national view, can the electoral commission refrain from endorsing a candidate, and can a nation mobilize itself from pure frustration? Yes, it’s possible in Yemen.

(Article published Arab News, Saudi Arabia, and in Yemen by al-Wasat (Arabic), and our buddy al-Khaiwani at al-Shoura, also in Yemen by News Yemen, and by my French buddy Pierre at Middle East Transparent.)

1) Resign from the judiciary as promised.

2) Hold the next shingdig to announce the GPC nominee for president.

3) Find those pesky al-Qaeda escapees, or wrap up negotiations with them.

4) Implement the Houthi amnesty.

From Reuters:

“Most of the relatives told us that only about 150 detainees had been released so far,” Amal Basha, chairperson of the local NGO, Arab Sisters Forum for Human Rights (SAF) said in Sana’a. “We want the President’s pardon decree to be implemented by releasing all detainees without any exception,” she added. President Ali Abdullah Saleh had issued a pardon decree on 25 September 2005, ordering the release of all detainees held over the Sa’ada war. No number was given in the decree. He also ordered fair compensation for those affected by the conflict, as well as the allocation of $150 million for development projects in the governorate.

On 3 March 2006, the state-run media announced the release of 630 supporters after 80 MPs had visited the war-affected areas in Sa’ada. “The pardon decree should not suppress the truth, there have been violations of the laws and international conventions in that war,” said Basha. “There is no transparency, everyone is keeping the information ‘top secret’, including the president, the political security (intelligence) and the media,” she said.

More from the YT:

Yemeni Socialist Party (YSP) member Mohamed Al-Maqaleh affirmed that President Saleh’s amnesty is good, as it aimed to end the fighting. He said Yemen is governed by two authorities: one represented by constitutional institutions – Parliament and the president, while the other is a hidden authority whose presence indicates absence of the other authority.

This dual authority was manifested during Sa’ada fighting when the hidden authority played an active role, leading involved parties to dispense with Parliament and the government, Al-Maqaleh added.

According to Al-Maqaleh, nobody has dared talk about the Sa’ada War. Hussein Al-Dailami was arrested for staging a sit-in to end the fighting, while amnesty has not been implemented due to conflicts between authorities unable to reach consensus.

5) After five rounds of announcements about closing some overseas embassys as a cost cutting measure, so far its just Romania.

from ADNKI:

Mosques around Yemen have collected more than 72 billion rials (more than 3 million euros) to finance the election campaign of the country’s main Islamic party, Al-Islah. The money comes from donations made over the last six years by Muslims attending Friday prayers in Yemen’s more than 50,000 mosques. According to the Arabic online daily Elaph, Al-Islah party will use it to finance its future election campaigns.

The governing General People’s Congress party and Al-Islah have been Yemen’s main political parties since a civil war in 1994.

Since its expulsion from government in 1997, Al-Islah has played the role of a moderate opposition force, but the party decided to support the country’s current president Ali Abdullah Saleh in 1999 elections. Saleh announced last year that he does not intend to run for another term as president.

The next presidential elections in Yemen are scheduled for September

It would be nice if there was a JMP presidential candidate for the election in September.

Thats an interesting proposal, women only competition for certain constituencies:

from News Yemen:

The deputy secretary general of the GPC for political affairs demanded that certain jurisdictions be set aside for women in the upcoming local and parliamentary elections. He expressed his parties commitment to close certain precincts for competition between the women candidates according to the agreement by all political parties.
In a meeting held by the council for women’s incorporation in politics (GPC, Islah, YSP, and Nasserite parties) which is overseen by the Institute for National Democracy, Abdul Rahman renewed his party’s support for women and announced the decision of the general body to appropriate %15 of seats to women.
The leadership called for an open discussion for women’s support and signed an agreement to make it binding.
The women’s council has held meetings with the parties to discuss how to strengthen their presence in the coming elections.

By the way, I wonder how those negotiations with the al-Qaeda escapees are going…its been several weeks since President Ali Abdullah Saleh reported that he was in contact with the escapees and negotiating with them for their return.

From New Yemen:

Riyad Al-Ghili, imam of the Awqaf mosque is still imprisoned following a press statement made by him stating that he had informed security concerning the holes around his mosque prior to the escape of 23 convicts. Among those who fled are many indicted for their connection with Al-Qaeda. They escaped through tunnels from the prison that exited into the women’s restroom of the Awqaf mosque.
Al-Ghili was released three days after his imprisonment and before the escape of the prisoners. He told News Yemen that members of the security force invaded his home. He also confirmed that he was investigated by the public prosecutor’s office and not by security.
The lawyer Khaled Al-Ansi, executive director for the national organization for the defense of rights and freedoms stated that he considers Al-Ghili’s imprisonment a breach of human rights. He confirmed that his organization had spoken with the deputy general and head of the political security unit.
The relatives of Al-Ghili have criticized the AP and News Yemen for not covering his arrest.
Al-Ansi considers the imprisonment an aggression against society’s right to know information and opinions as well as the charges filed against his person especially since this is a private citizen and not a government employee.
He was arrested the night of Wednesday and taken from his home.
The lawyer Mohammed Naji Alawa demanded the public prosecutor’s office to take swift action in investigating the issue and to allow the defendant to speak for himself. He continued by saying he hopes the authorities deal with the issue in accordance to the constitution and laws of the land.
Mr. Alawa stated that Hud will implore the council to investigate the case with respect to the prisoners’ rights. He declared that the prisoners currently live in inhumane circumstances and are handcuffed. They are in solitary confinement and are not allowed visitors.
In Al-Ghili’s first statement after his release he said that he had informed the police of the tunnels after hearing sounds coming from them. However, the police declared this as imaginations only.

from the Institute for Counter Terrorism:

The Global Jihad, The Yemeni Connection:

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