Armies of Liberation

The State Dept issued its 2005 Country Reports on Terrorism, from Chapter Three: Terrorist Safe Havens

Several terrorist organizations continued to maintain a presence in Yemen throughout 2005.
The Government of Yemen recognizes HAMAS and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) as legal
organizations. HAMAS conducted extensive fundraising through mosques and other
charitable organizations and maintains offices. In December, HAMAS leader Khaled Mishal
visited Sanaa and met publicly with President Saleh. Al-Qaida’s operational structure in
Yemen has been weakened and dispersed, but concerns remain about the organization’s
attempts to reconstitute operational cells there. Yemen continues to increase its maritime
security capabilities, but land border security along the extensive frontier with Saudi Arabia
remains a problem, despite increased Yemeni-Saudi cooperation on bilateral security issues.

From Chapter Five, Middle East and North Africa Overview

146
Yemen
The Republic of Yemen took action against al-Qaida and local extremists, arresting several
individuals suspected of having al-Qaida ties and prosecuting the perpetrators of numerous
terrorist acts. On February 26, an appeals court upheld verdicts against six al-Qaida members
for their role in the October 2000 U.S.S. Cole attack in Aden that killed 17 U.S. sailors and
injured 35. The original September 2004 verdict had been appealed by both the defense and
the prosecution, the latter arguing that some of the sentences were too light. The appeals
court upheld one death sentence against ringleader Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, who was tried in
absentia. The court commuted the death sentence for Jamal al-Badawi to 15 years’
imprisonment. The prosecution failed to secure harsher sentences for the other convicted al-
Qaida members, whose original sentences ranged from five to ten years. On August 22, the
Supreme Court upheld all six sentences.
On February 6, the Sanaa Appellate Court upheld the convictions against 15 al-Qaida
members for multiple crimes: the October 2002 attack on the French tanker M/V Limburg;
the murder of a Ministry of Interior officer during the November 2002 attack on an oil
company helicopter; a plot to attack the Civil Aviation and Meteorology Authority; a plot to
attack four foreign embassies in Sanaa; a plot to kill the U.S. Ambassador; and the forging of
documents for the purpose of carrying out terrorism. The appeals court re-sentenced one
defendant to death (from a 10-year sentence), awarded harsher sentences for two defendants,
and upheld the remaining sentences. The case is expected to be appealed to the Supreme
Court.
On April 23, the Yemeni Supreme Court upheld the 2003 death sentences of Ali Ahmed
Mohamed Jarallah and Abed Abdulrazak al-Kamel for the December 2002, shootings of three
American citizens in Jibla. Jarallah was executed in November. No date has been set for al-
Kamel’s execution.
Yemeni security forces continued to arrest and try suspected members of al-Qaida and other
terrorists groups. In August, the Sanaa Primary Court convicted six al-Qaida members for
planning attacks against the British and Italian Embassies and the French Cultural Center.
The ringleader, Anwar al-Jilani, received a four-year sentence, with the remaining five
defendants receiving sentences ranging from two years to 40 months.
In June, the Sanaa Appellate Court found 11 alleged al-Qaida suspects not guilty of planning
attacks on undisclosed targets in Yemen and abroad. The prosecution had alleged that the
defendants trained in Afghanistan and were planning to travel to Iraq to fight against U.S.-led
Coalition forces.
In August, the Sanaa Primary Court began trying 34 supporters of the slain rebel Shia cleric
Hussein Al-Houthi for planning terrorist attacks against Yemeni military sites and the U.S.
Ambassador. In December, the Sanaa court also began trying two individuals, Hizam al-Mass
and Khalid al-Halilah, for a 2004 plot to assassinate the U.S. Ambassador.
Yemen used its Islamic Dialogue Committee, headed by a leading judge, to continue its
dialogue with detainees arrested for connections to terrorist groups and extremist elements.
The government releases detainees it considers to be rehabilitated after they pledge to uphold
the Yemeni constitution and laws, the rights of non-Muslims, and the inviolability of foreign
interests. No comprehensive program exists to monitor recidivism rates. An undisclosed
number of released detainees from previous years reportedly have traveled to Iraq to
participate in attacks against Coalition forces.
The government’s capacity for stemming terrorism financing remains limited. In 2004, the
UN 1267 Sanctions Committee designated prominent Yemeni Sheikh Abd al-Majid al-
Zindani for his association with al-Qaida. The Yemeni Government took no action to bar his
travel or freeze his assets in compliance with its UN obligations. In December, al-Zindani
accompanied President Saleh to an Organization of the Islamic Conference meeting in Saudi
Arabia.

Yemen Times

this year’s first quarter, Yemen’s total volume of marine life production and export of various species and fish was more than three million tons worth more than $6 million.

Ghazi Ahmed Saleh, General Manager of Aden governorate’s Fish Wealth Office, explained that last year’s production was more than 19 million tons of fish products and marine life exported to a number of Arab and foreign countries.

In related developments, Yemeni coast guard forces foiled four sea piracy attempts in Aden Gulf and Arabian Sea territorial waters in the period between March 1 and mid-April.

Additionally, fishermen from the Hodeidah governorate town of Al-Khawkha have complained that Egyptian industrial boats are sweeping their fishing nets with their fish catch, thereby causing them losses estimated at millions, let alone marine life destruction due to industrial sweeping by means of sweeping and sucking up fish wealth.

The fishermen expressed their astonishment regarding Ministry of Fish Wealth officials’ silence about what is happening to Yemen’s fish wealth in Red Sea regional waters. They affirmed that the Egyptian boats sail near Red Sea shores at Khawkha port, Umzahar, Sahari, Al-Nasser and Salif.

They appealed to the ministry to respect its commitment to Parliament two years ago to not renew any contract with foreign, regional or even local firms using artificial fishery methods in Red Sea regional waters so that Yemen’s shores will not empty of fish due to that fishing style. The fishermen added that the fish catch is dwindling in comparison to previous years because of such Egyptian boats’ fishing methods in the Red Sea.

Abdulhadi Khidr, director-general of Hodeidah’s Fish Wealth Office, said no agreement has been signed for two years with Arab or foreign firms practicing industrial fishing, adding that some Egyptian boats present in the Red Sea are affiliated with a Yemeni investor and registered in his name, according to which he obtained a fishing license.

He confirmed that his office fairly compensated fishermen whose nets and catch were damaged and that ministry monitors are watching the Yemeni investor’s Egyptian boats.

CSO:

Quantity (tons), Value (millions of riyals)
Table No.: 8 جدول رقم : 8
Year 2003 2002 2001 السنة
Item قيمه كميه قيمه كميه قيمه كميه البيان
Value Quantity Value Quantity Value Quantity
Surface Water Fish 27777.8 202758 27342.9 151905 18618.9 122493 اسماك سطح
Deep Water Fish 1146 10911 1744.7 19591 1090 7792 اسماك اعماق
Other Aquatic Catch 9582.8 14447 4044.0 8088 4210.4 11913 احياء بحريه أخرى
Total 38506.6 228116 33131.6 179584 23919.3 142198 الاجمالي

so is the average production annually 19 million tons or 38 thousand tons?

Sooner or later:

The fishery exports rose from 12.9 thousand tons in 2000 to 47.6 thousand tons in 2004 and their values grew from $40 million to $312 million during the same period of time.

ok 38KT, 2003, 47kT, 2004 and 19mt 2005

NYTimes

Other major difficulties have emerged in Washington’s negotiations with the government of Yemen, which has about 105 citizens at Guantánamo. (The Pentagon has refused to make public the nationalities of all of the Guantánamo prisoners.)

The State Department report cited the use of sleep deprivation, threats of sexual assault and other abuses by Yemeni state-security agents. Despite efforts by the Yemeni Interior Ministry to curb torture in its prisons, the department said, there were also reports that ministry agents “routinely” used of torture to extract confessions from criminal defendants.

Even so, some American officials said a more immediate obstacle to the possible transfer of Guantánamo prisoners was a basic lack of security in Yemeni prisons. The most vivid example, they said, was the escape on Feb. 3 of 23 men, including some important operatives of Al Qaeda, from a high-security prison run by the country’s intelligence service in the capital, Sana. (Eight have surrendered or been recaptured.)

Barely a month later, Yemeni security officials announced that they had thwarted two more escape attempts involving a dozen Qaeda operatives at other prisons.

A spokesman for the Yemeni Embassy in Washington, Mohammed al-Basha, said his government was eager to have Yemeni detainees repatriated and was “fully committed” to international laws governing their treatment.

The regime thwarted the escape attempt at another prison based on a tip, they said, from one of the escapees from the first group, thereby demonstrating that the two groups of imprisoned al-Qaeda were in touch with each other or at least aware of escape plans.

They are still negotiating, since early February, with the remaining 15 escapees.

Vienna, 28 April 2006

IPI Condemns Harassment and Intimidation of Yemeni Journalists

The International Press Institute (IPI), the global network of editors, media executives and leading journalists, strongly condemns the ongoing campaign of harassment and intimidation against representatives of the independent press in Yemen.

Acts of intimidation targeting two journalists in recent days highlights the hostile climate of fear that the independent press in Yemen are forced to work in.

Abed Al-Mahthari, editor-in-chief of the independent weekly Al Deya, remains in hiding after escaping an attack by armed assailants on 19 April. Since 2004, Al-Mahthari has been investigating and reporting on alleged arms trafficking in northern Yemen near the Saudi Arabia border. In May of 2004, after receiving two death threats, Al-Mahthari was forced to temper his reporting, but has since renewed his investigations.

In recent weeks Al-Mahthari has reported on alleged corruption of security forces and cooperation with arms dealers; the threats against him are thought to be in connection with these reports. On the evening of 19 April, Al-Mahthari received a call from an unidentified source warning that he would be killed that night.

Al-Mahthari averted the attack by having a friend drive his car away from his family home. The car was followed by two men, driving a military style vehicle with a private license plate. The assailants followed the driver of Al-Mahthari’s car, smashing down the door to the driver’s home. They then looked for Al-Mahthari at the Al Thawra publishing house. When the assailants could not find him, they returned to the area where Al-Mahthari’s car had been parked, took several items from within the car and then smashed it with weapons they had been carrying.

Although the assailants were identified by several witnesses who saw them attack the vehicle, the two have not been arrested and Al-Mahthari remains in hiding.

A campaign of intimidation is also being waged against Al Wasat editor-in-chief Jamal Amer. Al Wasat released a statement on 26 April voicing concern that Amer’s movements and activities have been closely observed since his August kidnapping. On 23 August, Amer was kidnapped by armed assailants who threatened to kill him if his newspaper continued to publish articles about corruption and abuse of power in the government.

The 26 April Al Wasat statement was released shortly after a group of individuals, led by a political security officer, visited the street of Amer’s family home, inquiring about his apartment building, the license plate number of his vehicle and the names of his children’s school.

Amer, who is currently in the United States as part of the International Visitors Program, has become the victim of a smear campaign attempting to discredit him and the critical information reported by his newspaper. Articles published this week in state-controlled publications have accused Amer of being connected to Israel’s intelligence organisation, of acting as an “agent of the West” and of working to “meet the needs of the imperialist opposition forces abroad.”

Commenting on the action being taken against Al-Mahthari and Amer, IPI Director Johann P. Fritz said: “The targeting of these two editors paints a disturbing picture of the varied methods being used to silence critical voices in the Yemeni press.”

“The increase in both direct and indirect attacks on independent journalists is cause for serious concern, particularly since many of the attacks carried out in recent months have taken place with complete immunity.”

“If the Yemeni press is to be able to carry out its important watchdog role, journalists must be free to carry out their work without fear of intimidation and harassment.”

____________________________

International Press Institute (IPI)
Spiegelgasse 2/29
A-1010 Vienna
Austria
Tel: + 431-512 90 11
Fax: + 431-512 90 14
E-mail: ipi@freemedia.at
http://www.freemedia.at

CPJ also issues statement condemning attacks.

Saba the official news agency of Yemen:

On the other hand, an international report published by the Freedom House in United States talked about women rights in Middle East for the year 2005 praising the Yemeni women participation in elections and political area.

The report said, that the Yemeni performance was the best in the political life that made the Yemeni women non- governmental organizations able to participate and work in all stages of the local, parliamentary and presidential election processes.

It gifted Yemen 2.5 and 2.9 points from 3 points in terms of practicing the political rights, expression freedom, women rights respect and participation of the civil society organizations in the political arena.

The report also pointed out to the Yemeni elections law respecting women rights to be voters or candidates in all elections.

In the Freedom House report referrenced, the scale is 1-5 with one being the lowest score, not 1-3 like SABA says. Its actually a rather sharp assessment of women rights and participation in Yemen, not praising as SABA indicates. Some of the recommendations for improvement are good.

So Jamal Amer is the editor of al-Wasat who we all recall who was kidnapped beaten up and threatened in August for writing articles on nepotism is the allocation of college scholorships. They came in military car. So now the PSO is sniffing around his family and his kids. Very annoying. Last time the sleezy slimy dirtbags threatened to harm his kids if he told anyone about the incident. How low can you go? The Yemen Times has the story of the current targeting of Amer:

In a statement released Wednesday, Al-Wasat weekly holds authorities accountable to protect its chief editor from attacks by anonymous individuals. The statement confirmed that a group of individuals led by a political security officer – whose names are being withheld by the paper – visited the street where Jamal Amer lives. They inquired about his apartment, vehicle license plate number and schools his children attend. The strange inquiries raised fear among Amer’s family members, as the head of the household was abroad.

According to Al-Wasat’s statement, this is not the first time inquiries were made about Amer, as his movements and activities have been observed since he was kidnapped. Ruling party newspapers accused Amer of being an agent for the West because he accepted a travel invitation to the U.S.

The statement urged human rights organizations and political parties to react to such attacks, which contravene the Constitution and human morals and tend to become a widespread phenomenon. The newspaper notified President Ali Abdullah Saleh, the highest ranking official responsible to protect his citizens, the Attorney General and the Minister of Interior to investigate the case and take firm action against the perpetrators.

Akhbar Al-Yawm, which appears to be in line with authorities, published a story on its front page stating that Ibrahim Bin Ali Al-Wazir, an opposition leader and Popular Forces Unionist Party member residing in the U.S., held a meeting with many Yemeni journalists, including Amer, in Washington.

In its story, the newspaper reported that the meeting involved U.S. writer Jane Novak and another man named Malik, who is working as a coordinator in Yemen for Israel’s intelligence organization. The story added that these individuals agreed to launch an English-language web site and a satellite channel to meet the needs of imperialist opposition forces abroad.

What? What did that say? I’m laughing again. I already have an english language website. A satellite channel? No. Israeli intelligence? No. Never happened. Not Malik (who is Malik anyway), not al-Wazeer. Its very funny. Continuing,

Capital Southeast Court postponed its Wednesday hearing devoted to Al-Hurriyya newspaper’s defense team’s response to charges filed against the paper, as the team did not attend the previous session.

Press and Publication Prosecution responded to an appeal filed by Al-Hurriyya’s defense team, affirming that it never accused journalists who republished the Prophet Mohammed’s caricature of atheism. It said such journalists face charges of publication crimes, as stipulated by the Crimes and Penalties Law.

The Yemeni Journalists’ Syndicate (YJS) met with Minister of Interior Dr. Rashad Al-Alimi last week to discuss abuses and harassments against journalists. The syndicate informed Al-Alimi of the attack on Abed Al-Mahdhari, who faced threats and his car forcibly was grabbed from the capital. He was threatened with murder by a group of individuals demanding he stop discussing arms trade issues.

Arms trade a sensitive topic? Ok, I’ll keep that in mind.

Also the same story picked up al-Jazeera, the bastion of credibility. Article description:
The first part of it is about the great Yemeni president who will solve the Palestinian problem with his close friend Mubark of Egypt.
The second part is about you, Jamal, and the people who were with him.It says that all of you are part of an Imperialism and Zionism plot who want to destroy the election procedures and the stability of Yemen.
The Third part is about Islah party band violations in the election process.

awww, Im going to miss the official spokesperson speaking anonymously. YT:

During his meeting with Yemeni Journalists Syndicate (YJS) leaders, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Dr. Rashad Al-Alimi announced that his ministry will appoint an official spokesman and establish an information center, a step aimed at helping journalists obtain information associated with local security.

“The information center aims to consolidate transparency of democratic work, which government adopts, plus spread the culture of democracy and knowledge nationwide,” Al-Alimi said.

He promised to bring a continuing mechanism to facilitate journalists’ tasks and hold periodic meetings between the YJS and the Interior Ministry to tackle problems that may arise in the future.

Al-Alimi indicated that security apparatuses have a behavioral vision toward violations and abuses against journalists for several reasons, the most important of which is lack of democratic trust among social classes, including security recruits.

The meeting also reviewed results of ministry efforts regarding arresting and punishing perpetrators involved in attacks against journalists. Al-Alimi pointed out that some perpetrators were arrested, while security apparatuses still are investigating other journalist assaults to detain other perpetrators and bring them to prosecution.

He highlighted journalism’s enlightening role to solve public issues, support democracy and develop Yemeni society, pointing out that such a role entails objectivity, examining authenticity of information and presenting facts as they happen.

Al-Alimi emphasized his ministry’s desire to cooperate with the YJS in tackling issues and problems throughout the nation. The ministry asked Attorney-General Dr. Abdullah Al-Ulify to write a report on the capture of well-known arms trader Faris Manna’a for his recurring threats and attacks against Abed Al-Mahdhari, Editor-in-Chief of the Sa’ada-based Al-Deyyar newspaper.

YT

The general inflation rate rose to 19.4 percent in the past year, while foodstuff inflation jumped to 36.6 percent, with the former recording a nine percent increase and the latter 30.7 percent, as compared to 2004, according to an official quarterly report.

The economic development report issued by the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation attributed the high inflation rate to fuel price hikes and national currency decline. It confirmed that transportation and agriculture were the most affected sectors due to increasing prices of fuel products, as the transportation inflation rate spiked from one percent in June 2005 to 31.6 percent in September of that same year.

According to the report, skyrocketing transportation fares helped raise inflation rates in all production and handicraft sectors, as well as increase agricultural production costs, as plant irrigation depends on diesel pumps.

The report added that the Yemeni Riyal fell 3.5 percent in January 2005 compared to the dollar, which helped raise commodities prices, particularly imported items. This fact coincided with monetary supply growth, which mounted to YR 975 billion, accounting for 42.2 percent of gross domestic product.

UN:

Yemen must address a dire shortage of both schools and professional teachers, according to a recent report from UN Children’s Fund UNICEF.

“The lack of teachers is one of the main challenges facing education, mainly among rural women,” said Naseem Ur-Rehman, communications coordinator at the fund’s Sana’a office. “There’s also a lack of schools – students in some areas have to walk long distances to get to school.”

A UNICEF statement issued on Wednesday noted that a whopping 46 percent of eligible school children “are not given basic education”, with primary school enrolment for boys and girls countrywide standing at about 65 percent and 41 percent respectively. “The task before the educationists is formidable,” the statement noted, “and makes it obligatory on the national leadership to mobilise the support of all partners for realising the child’s right to education.”

The situation is far worse in rural areas, where only 30 percent of girls are enrolled in school, the statement noted. Moreover, a full half of the Yemeni girls who begin primary school drop out before they reach the sixth grade.

The lack of education is reflected in national illiteracy rates. Almost half of the Yemeni population, of 19.7 million people, between the ages of 10 and 45 is illiterate, according to government statistics. While the figure hovers at about 30 percent for men, it exceeds 67 percent for women.

In 2001, Yemen developed the Basic Education Development Strategy (BEDS) project with the help of the World Bank and donor countries and agencies. “Yemen prepared a suitable education strategy which has been reviewed and endorsed by the international community,” said BEDS Director Dr Abdulateef al-Munaifi. “BEDS is targeting education quality, building schools and encouraging child enrolment.”

Al-Munaifi said that the problem wasn’t necessarily with the numbers of available teachers, but with how they were distributed throughout the country. “We have around 170,000 teachers, but they aren’t well-distributed,” he said. “They’re focused mainly in the cities.” He added that there were currently around 14,000 schools countrywide, accommodating five million students at the basic and secondary levels.

The education problem is not unique to Yemen. UNESCO estimates that Arab states in general will need to create 450,000 new teaching posts to cope with incoming students, particularly in Egypt, Iraq, Morocco and Saudi Arabia.

The UNICEF statement was issued on the occasion of the international “Education for All” week, celebrated annually to promote the UN millennium development goal of putting every child in school by 2015.

from SCER, everything is fine, just fine.

SANAA, 24 April (IRIN) - Yemen’s process of voter registration, which began last week, is progressing smoothly despite problems in 40 registration centres due to tribal disputes, according to officials at the Supreme Commission for Elections and Referendums (SCER).

“So far, voter registration is going well, although there are some difficulties that we’re trying to overcome,” said Abdu al-Janadi, head of the SCER’s information department. “Everything has been done in a transparent manner, although we’ve received complaints from the ruling party, the People’s General Congress (PGC) and the Joint Meeting Parties (JMP) opposition coalition.”

According to al-Janadi, two people were killed on Saturday in the governorate of Ibb, some 160km south of Sana’a, which has held up the registration process there. He said the killing, which took place at a voter-registration centre, was the result of tribal feuding.

“Registration was halted in about 40 centres due to tribal disputes,” said al-Janadi. “We’re contacting the local authorities to sort out these problems. We’re also trying to persuade tribes in the Thamar governorate [10km south of the capital] to allow the registration process to continue.” Some of these problems, he said, were related to tribal demands for development assistance.

Al-Janadi added that over 366,000 citizens had registered to vote so far, a number that he expects to peak at about one and a half million. In the meantime, thousands of civil society volunteers are monitoring and reporting on the registration phase of local and presidential elections, which are scheduled to be held in September.

Since 1990, Yemen has been considered by donor nations to be one of the few Arab states taking concrete steps towards democratisation. This assessment is based mainly on three successful past parliamentary elections, held in 1993, 1997 and 2003. In the last election, the ruling GPC won a landslide victory, clinching 226 out of a total of 301 elected seats.

Meanwhile, disputes over electoral reform have dragged on for weeks between the JMP and the SCER. The opposition accuses the SCER – which is dominated by the PGC – of acting fraudulently, and has refused to be represented on its committees. As a result, the election commission excluded all political parties from the process, seeking instead the help of civil servants to run the exercise.

“The SCER has violated the Constitution and the law by excluding political parties from the registration process,” read an open letter from the JMP to President Ali Abdallah Saleh. “This will… lead to negative consequences that will bring the legitimacy of the elections, and their results, into question.”

“The dialogue was a waste of time,” said JMP spokesman Mohammed Qahtan. “The ruling party’s refusal of our initiative for political reform is a signal that it isn’t willing to conduct real reforms.” Qahtan added that the opposition was prepared to throw its support behind Saleh if he adopted their recommendations for reform.

Last November, the JMP proposed changing the current presidential system into a parliamentary system in order to reduce the powers of the executive.

The following oped from the Yemen Times gives a little more context:

The dialogue between the opposition Joint Meeting Parties (JMP) and the People’s General Congress (PGC) has been fluctuating without any concrete results.

After a meeting with president Saleh, the opposition and the PGC went to agree on setting up a committee composed of legal experts and academicians to monitor the job of the elections committee. Suddenly, the ruling party apologized and said the agreement should be called off. The opposition held the PGC accountable for the failure of several rounds of dialogue to overhaul the elections administration. This fluctuation of the dialogue shows a visible problem inside the PGC itself, being unable to conduct agreements without the approval of the big man, President Saleh.

In fact, the regime is not serious about the dialogue and wants to confuse and exhaust the opposition, wasting the time as it is few months and the candidates for the presidential office have not been named yet.

In an unprecedented move, the JMP has been able to maneuver and stand against all sorts of pressure exercised by the ruling party. It even announced that they will go ahead in their joint work to challenge the PGC. The position of the opposition has become a bit stronger with the announcement of the Islah, an old ally to Saleh’s regime, that it will not let the other parties down and has solo agreement with the PGC. Of course, the backlash of the ruling party was strong and went to accuse the JMP coalition of attempting to overthrow the regime with a foreign support.

(Read on …)

Very sadly over 100 people are reportedly killed and wounded. For updates, stay tuned to the Big Pharaoh: I am alive. I’m far away from Dahab but the security situation is very tight where I am. I had plans to go to Dahab though. I called a friend who went back to Cairo from Dahab yesterday and he told me that two of his friends, who remained in Dahab, were injured in the attack. This is very very shocking. The third terrorist attack in Sinai after Taba and Sharm el Sheikh.

Condi: The United States condemns the vicious terrorist bombing in Dahab, Egypt,
today. We extend our deepest sympathies to those injured by this attack and to
the families and loved ones of those killed. There can be no justification for
this barbaric act of terrorism. Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of
Egypt in this time of grief.

YO: Yemen has strongly denounced the terrorist bombing in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Dahab on Monday, which resulted in a large number of casualties. At least 23 people were killed and 62 wounded when three bombs exploded at the beach resort on the Sinai peninsula. In a telephone conversation with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, President Saleh repeated Yemen’ call for a stronger international stance to prevent terrorist acts.

(No similiar statement to the Iraqis for the 20 killed and 90 wounded yesterday.)

Update: Egypt’s intelligence chief, Omar Suleiman, flew to Yemen on Wednesday for talks on the Dahab bombings, according to intelligence officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the information. They said Egypt wants to know if al-Qaida activists who escaped from a prison in Yemen might be connected to Sinai terror cells.

YO: Yemen is in talks with the USA to monitor the export and prevent the spread of dangerous materials, as part of the Policies Exchange Program (PEP). Ja’afer Ba Saleh, the Vice-speaker of the Parliament, has headed to Washington for the PEP meetings, from April 25-28.

The meetings will the US experience and the procedures to prevent the transportation of biological, chemical and nuclear weapons, especially at the airports and customs. The meetings will also address action Yemen can take to spread of such materials.

(Saba)- During his meeting with the American ambassador to Sana’a Thomas Krajeski, Minister of Legal Affairs Adnan al-Jefri reviewed the steps achieved in the legal reforms program.

In the meeting, al-Jefri affirmed that the government would continue the legal and financial reforms. He pointed out that the ministry is interested to get the benefit form USA experience in areas of law enforcement and training the legal cadres.

For his part, the American official affirmed his country keenness to offer the technical support for Yemen so that it can improve the national laws.

He also praised Yemen’s devotion to improve its legal system in the framework of economic and financial reforms program being achieved by the government.

On the other hand, a meeting held on Monday including al-Jefri discussed the current preparations for the conference of heads of state-causes units in the Arab counties to be held in Sana’a next June.

In the meeting, the minister affirmed the importance of activating the different units at the ministry such as the international trade, fighting corruption, women and children rights.

IMF: Yemen

Projected % Change 2006 2007
Real GDP……………….. 3.9….. 3.0
Consumer Prices……..15.5….12.0

Source: World Economic Outlook (April 2006)
Please refer to more recent PIN/Staff reports on this country for possible revisions.

I dont think this report factors in the population growth.

(Update: NY: “Dr. Fu’ad Al-Salahi, professor of political sociology, demanded that politicians on all sides translate the lives of the average citizen into policy and to listen to the street. He considers that some philanthropic organizations only cause the country to grow more poor because they offer seasonal services and have no political relationship and do not try to remedy the issues of poverty and unemployment.
He believes that these activities weaken the performance of the parties and marginalize their efficacy.
He invited the parties via NewsYemen to give up useless comparisons and to leave behind closed connections to party activities and to adopt the “concerns of the street” and to incorporate them into the political discourse.
Motorcycle drives burned political party flags due to their lack of interest in their issue. The government bans motorcycles in the capital thus depriving many of a source of income.
Al-Silahi stated that, “these parties are far from the daily reality of these people and their programs are void of concern for the marginalized and unemployed. The political discourse does not include these strata of society. It does not discuss ways to incorporate them into the discourse.”
Al-Ansi stated that “marginalization is no longer limited to one group, but the state of poverty affects all people. Very few fatten themselves on the majority.” He continued by saying that, “poverty blurs lines between all social strata and if you wondered who is ‘marginalized’ the answer is clear, we all are.”
The president of the republic focuses on issues such as the parties, journalism, and the armed forces. He neglects issues of the workforce and does not visit the marginalized. According to one, the president is keen to be very selective concerning all groups of society.”)

YT entitles the following article: Opposition: “We may be compelled to address the people’s court about the whole regime’s corruption” And this the attitude seems prevelent, that the people are another card to be played at the appropriate time, although the job of the opposition is to get the people mobilized and enfranchised and not just prior to the election. If as many think, one of the largest problems facing Yemen is the massive corruption, then this should have been part of the dialog between the opposition and the people all along. The parties are not supposed to address the people now and then but represent them, to dialog with them continuously and base their policies on what the people say.

At a press conference at the Socialist Party center to inform the media of the latest developments, the Joint Meeting Parties (JMP) distributed a number of last week’s conduct violations by the Supreme Commission for Election and Referendum (SCER), which opposition listed.

Opposition revealed 150 illegal violations on the first day of registration, which began last Tuesday, occurring in the Capital Secretariat, Sana’a, Taiz, Amran, Al-Dhale and Thamar. In its daily violation report, it mentioned that 119 election centers in Sana’a, Thamar and Amran remained closed on the first day, as well as all electoral centers in Al-Jawf.

According to the report, the most important violations were concentrated in election committees, which were late in beginning their work in the early hours. Others remained closed until the following day.However, constituencies 200 and 201 have been closed since registration list checking began because of ruling party branches restructuring, according to opposition. The JMP reports spoke of moving registration centers from their locations due to intervention of influential ruling party bodies.

Responding to a question on the report’s sources, opposition representative Mohamed Qahtan pointed to developing awareness among citizens, saying they began watching violations and reporting them to the parties.

Qahtan started the press conference by reading a statement, which pointed out that dialogue with the ruling party is futile, noting that it is a waste of time. He reconfirmed opposition’s stance regarding the SCER issue and demanded its change.

(Read on …)

phillynews:

A Yemeni member of al-Qaida, one of 23 who escaped from a prison here earlier this year, has surrendered to authorities, security officials said Sunday.

Khaled Mohammed Abdullah al-Batati turned himself in during the past two days, a security source said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Al-Batati was the eighth to turn himself in from the group that broke out of a heavily guarded Yemeni prison in February.

Arrested in a crackdown last year, Al-Batati was sentenced by a Yemeni court to three years in prison in May 2005 for plotting to attack the British and Italian embassies and the French cultural center in the capital, San’a.

The prisoners escaped on February 3 through a 180-yard tunnel that ended inside a mosque. Among those at large is a militant convicted in the 2000 attack on the destroyer USS Cole in Aden’s harbor.

Tribal leaders and Muslim clerics were mediating between authorities and those who remain at large to get them to surrender, the security official said. Authorities have offered a reward of $27,800 for information leading to the arrest of any of the fugitives.

So if the surrenders are the product of negotiations, what was the deal? Its interesting to note the authories are in touch with the escapees and continue their negotiation efforts that began in early February.

Related Bodine, February: Yemen a true partner in the WOT. (HT SisyphusShrugged)

O’BRIEN: I should say. Barbara Bodine, what does this tell you about the government there? The fact that a tunnel could be dug in this prison? Clearly accomplices were involved. Is the Yemeni government looking the other way?

BARBARA BODINE, FMR. U.S. AMB. TO YEMEN: No, I don’t think that you can say that about the Yemeni government. This is, obviously, a very elaborate plot. To dig a tunnel of that length in downtown Sanaa is not a simple undertaking. In a way, it also says that the prison was much more fortified and these people were far better guarded previously, but this does not…

O’BRIEN: I’m sorry, I don’t get your point. This proves they were better guarded?

BODINE: That in a — to be perfectly honest, if you simply wanted to get one person out, there were other ways to do it. This was a very elaborate plot to get almost two dozen people out. But I don’t think that this is a slap at the Yemeni government, per se, or their support for counterterrorism — our joint counter terrorism effort. This was a prison break, a very sophisticated well-planned prison break, but not necessarily part of a Yemeni government acquiescence.

(Read on …)

The Bee:

Reopening the investigation sounds like a good idea to me.

This article says: Lippold authorized three Yemeni barges to come out and remove garbage. As the third boat approached, its two Arab crew members, after waving to the sailors up high on the Cole deck, detonated their cargo of explosives.

The article covers the warning(s) from Able Danger given to Schoomaker as well as the warning Fallis gave at DIA: neither of which were passed up the chain of command. It fails to mention General Zinni’s role in authorizing the refueling. Although Franks was at that point the head of Centcom, Zinni had made the decision previously based in part on the close relationship he had with President Saleh.

The Navy gave Cmdr. Kirk Lippold a medal for saving the USS Cole and preventing further loss of life after al-Qaida operatives blew a huge hole into the guided-missile destroyer in the Yemen port of Aden on Oct. 12, 2000.

Little did Lippold know then that his fast-track career might be over.

While Lippol.ld’s punishment has not been made public, he is the first commissioned military officer or civilian official since George W. Bush became president to be held liable for failing to prevent an act of terrorism against the United States.

Bush has been criticized for not holding more people accountable, particularly in connection with the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, faulty intelligence leading up to the Iraq war, and poor war planning. In recent days, he has defended Donald Rumsfeld against withering attacks from retired generals angry over the defense secretary’s handling of Iraq.

But now some are questioning whether the White House and Congress, in denying Lippold’s Pentagon-approved promotion to the rank of captain, have nailed the right man.

Breaking his silence for the first time, Lippold, who will turn 47 on Saturday, says the system is wrong to blame him for the attack on the Cole.

“If you want accountability, there was one accountable officer on that ship, and that was me,” Lippold said during a three-hour interview. “But if you want to blame me for allowing that attack on my ship that killed 17 of my sailors - that is essentially putting me as a U.S. military commander in the war on terrorism on the same level as Osama bin Laden, and I believe that’s wrong.”

Retired Navy Cmdr. Bob Brogan puts it more succinctly.

“Our friend has gotten a royal screwing,” said Brogan, who was Lippold’s ROTC instructor at Carson City High School in Nevada. “He went into that port completely blind.”

Not everyone agrees Lippold should escape responsibility. Some military officials and family members of Cole victims believe he deserves punishment. So, apparently, does Republican Sen. John Warner, who as chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee is the man most responsible for scuttling Lippold’s promotion, though he is doing it behind closed doors.

“They told us he deserved a medal for saving his ship and preventing his crew from drowning,” said Anton Gunn, whose brother, Seaman Cherone Gunn, perished on the Cole. “Well, what about saving my brother and his 16 shipmates from dying? What did he do to prevent that?”

Yet there is more to this story. In particular, there are questions about why Lippold didn’t know, before his refueling stop in Yemen, that two separate intelligence programs had found signs of a possible attack on U.S. interests in the Middle East in the days before the Cole bombing.

(Read on …)

UPI

Security forces clashed with the kidnappers of a medical convoy including U.S. nationals in north Yemen and successfully freed the hostages Thursday.

A security source said the convoy affiliated with the medical services project financed by the U.S. Agency for International Development and the project for combating tuberculosis were seized in the region of Bani Sareem in the northern province of Omran on Monday.

The source said police were instructed by the interior ministry to take the necessary measures for freeing the hostages and arresting the armed group that kidnapped them. Government forces were immediately dispatched to Omran where they clashed with the kidnappers and succeeded in freeing the hostages. There was no immediate information on whether casualties occurred.

Armed Yemeni tribes often resort to the kidnapping of foreign nationals to press for their demands from the government. In the past 16 years, no less than 100 cases of kidnappings took place in Yemen, which ended without casualties in all but one case. In 1998, four foreign hostages were killed after being kidnapped by Muslim fundamentalists belonging to the so-called Islamic Army of Aden. The authorities then cracked down on the group and executed its leader Abu Hassan al-Mohdar.

In another development, Yemen said U.S. authorities will hand over 14 Yemenis out of 107 imprisoned at the U.S. base in Guantanamo in Cuba. An official source said the Yemeni government received two letters from the State Department informing it of the imminent release of the prisoners. He said a Yemeni delegation will travel to the U.S. in the next few days to escort the released prisoners back home. The Yemeni government says that 95 percent of the Yemeni prisoners had no connection to al-Qaida and that only 5 percent were involved in the network’s military activities.

Well thats good.

Yemen Times

SANA’A, April 18 — In a press conference held Monday, Abdul-Rahman Al-Attiyah, Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), said the Yemeni economy’s stability ensures stability of Gulf countries’ economies and affirmed the Yemeni economy’s integration with the GCC as “an irreversible objective.”

Al-Attiyah also stressed that Yemen’s economic reforms constitute genuine insurance for investors to establish developing projects in Yemen. “Economic reform agendas are going so well that there are no worries about Yemen’s economy. We appreciate the Yemeni government’s role in economic reforms, which are characterized by transparency,” Al-Attiyah noted.

He indicated that national reforms to promote judiciary independence, the Control and Audit Committee and the High Tender Board, in addition to transparency in derivative industries, are all important to investors and donors alike.

For his part, Abu Bakr Al-Qirbi, Minister of Foreign and Expatriate Affairs, said Yemen’s government has estimated $45 billion to integrate with the GCC economy in a 10-year term. The government will provide 65-70 percent of the amount, with the rest collected during the upcoming donor countries’ conference. “We are not looking forward to providing funds, but it is the means upon which implementing projects rests,” Al-Qirbi said.

Regarding Yemeni-Gulf relations, Al-Attiyah stated that trends in Yemeni-Gulf relations are evident in four main areas. The first involves activating the joint working group, whereby accepting Yemen as a member in many GCC institutions and commissions was approved at the 2001 Mascot Summit.

The second issue involves arranging the donor countries’ conference as agreed in technical committee meetings which included GCC finance ministers, the GCC Secretariat Office and Yemen’s Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation. An investment opportunities conference also will be held in Yemen next February 2007. The last area pertains to a Gulf funds meeting that would finance Yemen’s infrastructure, as suggested by Yemen.

As for security-related issues, Al-Attiyah pointed out that Yemen’s security is part of the Gulf’s. He also expressed concern about Iran’s nuclear strategy, affirming that diplomatic dialogue will ensure a solution to the nuclear crisis.

Al-Attiyah left Sana’a after a three-day visit, during which he held talks with Yemeni officials on promoting cooperation between Yemen and GCC members. He also met with President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who awarded Al-Attiyah in appreciation of his efforts to promote relations and cooperation between Yemen and GCC members.

I first heard this name in relation to diesel smuggling. Then I heard he was President Saleh’s business partner, that Saleh is actually also a business man and openly involved in economic pursuits, and then later that Abdul-Rahim was the distributor for the fuel products. Now it seems he owes the government (the people) 2 billion YR and is getting more government contracts. Does Saleh as his partner openly profit from the government contracts, is it documented?

SANA’A - The Prime Minister gave orders earlier this month to the oil, electricity and trade ministries to sign contracts with the investor Tawfiq Abdul-Rahim to supply oil products to them, according to media sources last week.

The go-ahead comes after much disagreement between the businessman and the government, and claims Abdul-Rahim owes the government over YR 2 billion.
In May 2002 President Saleh ordered the cancellation of a contract signed between the Ministry of Electricity and the investors to supply the ministry with diesel and gas, according to the Al-Sahwa newspaper.
Amr Al-Arhabi, acting manager of the oil company, said that the decision was made in response to reports and recommendations made by the Central Organization for Audit and Controlling (COCA), which criticized the contract.

The paper quoted a statement published by the Al-Thawara newspaper on October 10 2004, in which the president’s directives were welcomed by citizens and workers in the company who threatened to lost their jobs due to the contract.
The paper pointed out that the President had also ordered the general prosecution investigate Abdul-Rahim, who it was alleged had been to blame for work stoppages at the Barah Cement Factory.

The President asked that the investor should also pay losses and damages caused by the mixing of gas oil with other materials. The Prime Minister also gave orders that action be taken to sue Tawfiq Abdul-Rahim.
The orders came after COCA issued a report in which the organization recommended the cancellation of a diesel contact between the Ministry of Electricity and Abdul-Rahim, due to the potential impact if the contract was implemented.

The paper said that executive documents reveal Adul-Rahim owed the government was YR 2,456,465,000.
The documents back up a memo presented by Al-Arhabi to the Deputy Minister of Oil, in which he said that Abdul-Rahim had not paid his company’s debts.

The Al-Sahwa newspaper also claimed another document, presented to the oil ministry from Al-Arhabi and Ahmed Sha’a, the Director-General of the Oil and Gas Corporation, rejected Abdul-Rahim following an agreement between a judge to allow COCA to return money from Abdul-Rahim, in accordance with the President’s directives.

Parliament reports on its failure to report:

A recent parliamentary report revealed egregious failures in the performance of the permanent committees in the parliament over the last three years. It indicated that there has been a striking increase of committees accompanied by a less and less achievement.
According to the report presented by the general administration of the committees the number of sessions of the complaints committee totaled 256 or 60% of the total sessions of committees. Following this performance is the committee on local authority. It met a total of 116 times or 2.7% of all total sessions. It too did not submit a report. The legislative oversight committee meet 232 times, or 4.5% of total parliamentary meetings and did not submit a single report over the last three years. The committee for rights and freedoms has only submitted three reports despite having met 113 times of 2.6% of total meetings. The committees for defense and commerce only submitted four reports over the course of three years. The committee for justice and waqf met the most at 285 times and reported back only 7 times. The committees for higher education, education, and transport met 247, 252, 226 times respectively.
The report mentioned that the committees of development, oil and financial affairs alongside services and general health were the most productive. It met 197 times and submitted 18 reports. The health committee met 244 times and submitted 13 reports while the services committee met 254 times and thus submitted 14 reports. The committees for the constitution, water and environment, agriculture, fish, and affairs each produced 10 reports over the last three years.
Clause 73ab of the parliament’s by-laws does not stipulate the compensation for meetings of the committee except that it must not be less than one day’s compensation of the total of a member’s monthly salary. This daily amount is doubled if the meeting of the committee occurs during a holiday or when the parliament is not in session.
The evaluation confirms that many of the members of the committees are not active or effective and do not deal with the issues presented on the agenda. Some members only show up at the beginning or end while others sign the roster for absent members.

Related draft anti-corruption legislation

Yemen Times

Negotiations between President Ali Abdullah Saleh and General People’s Congress (GPC) leaders on one hand and the Joint Meeting Parties (JMP) on the other regarding Yemeni political reforms have failed.

Saleh met opposition parties to discuss their attitude toward the electoral process and listen to their letter calling for political reforms, but the dialogue between the two sides failed. Opposition leaders attributed the failure to ruling party leaders’ objection to JMP calls for comprehensive national reforms.

In a statement to the Yemen Times, JMP spokesman Mohamed Qahtan said, “GPC leaders ignore the fact that they are pursuing a scorched earth policy. Consequently, they are directing the country toward an unprecedented catastrophe. Their policy still has a few steps to go before becoming like that pursued by Somalian President Mohammed Siyad Barre.

“Ruling party leaders are unable to understand why opposition insists on comprehensive national reforms. They cannot understand the situation’s risk, the country’s poor conditions, nor do they perceive the fact that political reform is key to other reforms,” he added, “Only political reform can resume the republican regime and rescue government institutions from dire situations.”

According to Qahtan, political reform is necessary to reshuffle government institutions based on proper constitutional principles, political plurality and peaceful transfer of power. Such reform will help separate authorities and provide principles of accountability, transparency and good governance. Conducting free and fair elections is the first step toward reform.

Yemeni Socialist Party Secretary-General Dr. Yasin Sa’eed Nu’man expressed concern about statements by ruling party leaders who attempt to divide JMP unity and disgrace opposition leaders. “The JMP sent a joint letter to the president containing their viewpoints on political reforms, topped by those ensuring free and fair elections,” Nu’man explained.

He added that the JMP letter included numerous violations committed by the Supreme Commission for Elections and Referendum (SCER) and the GPC. Both sides formed supervisory and voter registration committees contrary to the law, thereby depriving other political parties of participating in controlling electoral registers.

Regarding the reasons leading Islamist Islah Party Secretary-General Abdulwahab Al-Anisi and other opposition leaders to quit negotiations, Nu’man explained, “We quit negotiations because GPC Assistant Secretary-General Sultan Al-Barakani defamed opposition leaders, calling them liars before the president.

“Al-Barakani’s statement does not deserve any reaction and there is no need to engage ourselves with him. We feel sorry when the GPC addresses people with such superficiality,” Nu’man commented.

Al-Barakani told media that the JMP’s malicious intents are the primary reason behind the dialogue’s failure, claiming that opposition leaders merely are seeking excuses.

Responding to the causes for Al-Anisi’s quitting the dialogue, Al-Barakani said, “Long discussion with JMP leaders ended, as Al-Anisi quit following sharp controversy between both sides of the dialogue.” According to media, Al-Barakani hinted that JMP leaders demanded government posts.

Regarding alleged GPC attempts to persuade opposition parties to accept postponing this September’s presidential elections, an opposition leader wishing to remain anonymous stated, “Some GPC leaders indirectly attempted to persuade opposition parties to accept postponing presidential elections to another time, under the pretext that opposition demands are too difficult to fulfill within the remaining time period.”

GPC political office member Dr. Mujeeb Al-Ansi told the Yemen Times via telephone, “Statements about the presidential elections’ postponement are not true and this suggestion was not presented in the GPC’s Seventh General Congress. Above all, there is a legislative staff for the GPC. The Constitution and the law are the sole references specifying the time of the presidential poll.”

A GPC political office member stated that the dialogue failed because opposition leaders insisted on a stance and presented false proofs. He commented, “By doing so, JMP leaders want to gain personal interests that never serve the nation, its achievements or the democratic process.”

The view of the SCER from the Yemen Times:

In a special statement to the Yemen Times, Abdo Mohamed Al-Janadi, information secretary for the Supreme Commission for Election and Referendum (SCER), confirmed Wednesday that committees formed from the Civil Service’s graduate job seekers list received final training to check and alter voter lists beginning Thursday. He added that observation committee heads were chosen from those with higher university degrees.

Al-Janadi said the SCER will make August’s local and presidential elections a success, adding that it will not heed parties’ demands because it held many fruitless talks with them.

(Read on …)

Andrew Stone, a specialist with the World Bank covering the Middle East and North Africa stated that the political climate in Yemen places barriers to women’s involvement in projects and other activities. John Speckman, another specialist of the private sector, stated that women are often not able to procure funding for projects.
The IFC, a branch of the World Bank, has mechanisms to evaluate the climate of a given country. The two specialists announced their findings in a seminar on international funding in the Middle East and North Africa. Yemen receives funding via a distinguished institution known as PEP-MENA.
The goal of the seminar was to present preliminary conclusions and results that were obtained during discussions. Many from the chamber of commerce, ministry of industry and commerce, and other donor groups were present.
Andrew Stone discussed what the positive affects of women’s involvement would be on the work force and markets. “It is clear that the investing environment in Yemen places barriers in front of women’s participation. First and foremost is her lack of education and her inability to obtain funding.”
John Speckman stated that, “the Yemeni woman suffers far more than the man. She, unlike the man, is unable to find funding sources and cannot build personal relationships with banks.” He proposed that women be incorporated into all areas of society.
The World Bank has chosen Yemen along with 18 other countries to receive funding and support to fund women’s projects.
The director of the women in business office of the chamber of commerce, Fawzia Nashir, stated that women suffer from obstacles. “I personally have lost large sums of money and been shut down because society is unable to accept a businesswoman.”
Women entrepreneurs are found only in three governorates (a total of 232, 200 of which are in Aden, 12 in Taiz, and 20 in Sana’a). Most of them are between the ages of 20-40 allowing them to work and fulfill their family responsibilities at the same time.
According to Dr. Husnia Al-Qadri, most women do not like to register their names with the chamber of commerce out of fear of taxation. “Despite the great competition in the private sector, which was once the sole domain of men, there has been an increase in businesswomen in Yemen, especially in Sana’a, Taiz, and Aden.” She indicated that the obstacles for women’s incorporation to the business world are lack of sufficient funding and a distrustful society and investing climate, Gender discrimination also plays a large role in preventing women from participating.

from News Yemen

More on the failure of the National Bank and subsequent lawsuits. (Its a private bank named Watani, National.)

The criminal court decided to hear the plea bargain initiative of the lawyer of the National Bank to rectify the National Bank with the Central Bank. The depositors are beneficiaries and not a side in the current dispute. Impounding of their possessions and loans to the bank prevented them from traveling abroad and froze all their foreign investment companies.
In its session on Sunday one of the lawyers stated that an Iranian investment company intended to leave Yemen this week and is indebted to the National Bank. There is no insurance for the large amount of its debts.
The state’s lawyer for the depositors opposed his colleague’s initiative (Abdullah Hashim, lawyer of the National Bank) that would require the banks to return the depositors’ money in one lump sum.
The hearing will continue on June 7. The court threatened to suspend the trial unless the criminal body execute the court’s previous decisions especially the release of Abduh Muhyub. “There is no point to a trial if its decisions are not executed,” stated Judge Al-Qadri.
The court accepted a new request by the public prosecutor to try tow other individuals (Ahmed Abdullah Al-Adimi and Salah Abdullah Al-Yafai) who are accused of taking money the bank. The total amount reached 300K USD. They were also accused of treason and for facilitating the seizure of money from the bank by using false checks. Al-Adimi personally took 146K USD.
Depositors protested inside the chamber despite the judge demanding they leave.
One female investor stated that if the plea bargain is accepted she would not want to accept the profit from the Central Bank but would demand her capital back.
The defense lawyer stated that the public prosecutor divided the words of the three accused and combined the accusations together. He claims there was no precision in directing the accusations. A general accusation was lobbed against all three men.
He stated, “perhaps they can play with us as citizens, but the court is not able to tamper with the law.” He indicated that the attempt of the public prosecution to annul the normal courts and transfer the cases to criminal courts was illegal.

Refresher from January:

The first trial session of some board members of the bankrupt private Watani Bank is to be held next Sunday, according to judicial sources.
The trial will be dealing with accusations of fund embezzlement and noncompliance by state laws plus a host of other issues.
The government, represented by the central Bank of Yemen, accuses some of the bank’s board members of embezzling YR 47.8 billion (approx. USD 245 million) and misusing assets deposited by the bank’s clients.
The trial is starting upon the conclusion of the prosecutor’s interrogation of a few of the bank’s board members and finalizing the case against the bank and some of its affiliates.
The Watani Bank had been seized by the CBY and was declared bankrupt on December 8, 2005. The decision at the time was based on the bank’s inability to raise the needed capital as a reserve at the CBY’s, which is now required by new laws.

More from today:

16/4/2006 Penal court prevents WB debtors from traveling

Al-Sahwa.net - The Penal Court, specialized in state
security cases, prevented on Saturday all debtors for
the Watani Bank from traveling abroad and it ordered
to shelve their accounts. (Read on …)

NY

The west criminal court decided to refer the suit of the newspaper Al-Rai Al-Am to the district attorney’s office to conduct an investigation of those who were incited to kill and provoke Muslim sentiment and gather large sums of money via illegal means.
The court also decided on Saturday to cancel everything outside the cases as well as what is mentioned in the civil suit.
The court listened to the response of the newspaper toward the charges lobbed against it by the defense body.
The lawyers responded to the defense by attacking their lack of specialization in raising civil suits and their inability to describe in what way Muslims had been injured by the newspaper’s decision to republish the cartoon.
Khaled Al-Ansi, prosecutor, opposed the defense lawyers’ response considering that if this case were not accepted, then Islam would not longer be able to stand and it would be open to further attack.
Judge Husan Al-Akwa decided to postpone the issue until May 13.

GPC calls for return of licenses:

SANA’A- An official source in the ruling General People Congress (GPC) party said that the party is working to cancel the decision to withdraw the licenses of three newspapers, including the Yemen Observer.
The licenses were suspended after they were accused of republishing the cartoons which insulted Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) in February.

The source asked “concerned bodies” to cancel the decision and allow the newspapers - Al-Ray Al-Am, Yemen Observer and Al-Horiah - to resume printing, until judge issues a verdict in the ongoing court cases.
The source pointed out that the Editors-in-Chief of the newspapers have argued the republishing the cartoons was to defend the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH).

He said that the three papers work to defend the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH), and that the GPC was working to allow the papers to return to work, as the decision was given by Ministry of Information not by the judicial authority.

In February, the Ministry of Information gave orders to cancel the license of the three papers following the alleged printing of the cartoons first printed in Denmark.
The trial of Mohammed Al-Asadi, Editor-in-Chief of the Yemen Observer, is due to resume on Wednesday April 19.

Yemen Observer:

The trial of Mohammed Al-Asadi, Editor-in-Chief of the Yemen Observer, was adjourned on Wednesday for two weeks because the prosecution team had failed to adequately prepare for the trial.
Judge Mohammed Sahl adjourned the hearing in the General South-East Court in Sana’a until May 3.

Al-Asadi is accused in connection with allegations of republishing insulting cartoons first printed in Denmark of the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH). The editor, who denies all charges, is charged under a press law that bans publication of anything that “prejudices the Islamic faith”.
The newspaper published two thumbnail images of the cartoons in the February 4 edition, which were obscured with a thick black cross.

The defense team criticized the prosecution lawyers, pointing out that it was the fourth time the trial had been adjourned, and that they had had plenty of time since the last hearing on March 22 to prepare.

However, prosecution lawyers claimed they had been “confused” about the trial date because they had been preparing for separate a case, and asked for the hearing to be adjourned for a week. The court postponed it for two.

Defense lawyer Khalid Al-Ansi, from the National Organization for Defending Rights and Freedoms (HOOD), called for the case to be dismissed since one lawyer who had filed a case against Al-Asadi had failed to turn up.

(Read on …)

Analysis from Jm Dunnigan at Strategy Page;

April 19, 2006: Yemen always appears to be living on the edge of civil war. This is not an idle threat. For most of the last fifty years, Yemen was in a state of civil war. The country has settled most of the disagreements, but one big dispute remains. This involves radial Shia tribes in northern Yemen. Two years ago, a radical cleric who led rebellious Shia tribesmen, Hussein Badr Eddin al Hawthi, was killed in a clash with police. That quieted things down for a bit, but on April 15th, a group of al Hawthi loyalists tried to take over a major Shia mosque in the north. Four of the rebels were killed by police guarding the mosque, and another three were wounded.

Decades of fighting civil wars has led Yemeni leaders to find less destructive ways to keep the peace. The discovery of oil was delayed, by all the civil strife, until the 1980s. After the two Yemens were re united in 1990, oil production began in earnest. But output has been modest, currently producing sales of about $8 billion a year. But that has been enough to buy peace with many of the factions. For those who won’t accept a modest bribe, there is lots of armed force. The government has been buying lots of weapons of late. This year, nearly $900 million is being spent on arms. The government is buying quantity, not quality, getting most of its stuff from Russia, China and North Korea.

The country is awash with weapons, and you can go anywhere in the country and see armed men. Actually, even off the coast, passing ships have been alarmed at the site of speedboats full of armed Yemenis. Recently, an American yacht sent off an SOS when it spotted a boat load of Yemenis with weapons. This proved to be a false alarm, but the weapons were real.

What is most worrisome about the situation is the potential for Yemen’s stormy past returning. The tribal and religious tensions are still there. More weapons are there. More oil wealth is there. The government pushes the idea of continued peace, economic development and everyone just getting along. It’s uncertain how long this will last.

News Yemen, both sides agitating:

According to NewsYemen sources, a security campaign headed to the municipality of Safiyan in Amran to apprehend Sheikh Mujahid Haidar on the accusation that he is harboring some members of Badar Al-Din Al-Huthi.
Local sources stated that armed engagement occurred yesterday near a mosque. The fight broke out between the army, security, and a number of civilians. Two Huthi fell victim as well as one security member. Additionally, an unspecified number were injured on both sides.
The incident began three weeks ago due to some citizens raising a slogan. This is the first such war to break out in the Amran region in the Saada gove