Armies of Liberation

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 governorate. Friday’s sermon railed against America and Israel.
The sources added that shots were exchanged near the mosque.
Al-Raid Sad Abid, head of municipal security refused to talk to NewsYemen and stated that such comments were not in his purview but that of the governorate.
Security sources stated that elements on both sides have been agitating chaos in the region now for over four months.
Due to numerous security breaches, there are several security men now standing outside the mosque to prevent entry of any weapon and to avoid strife.

More at the YO:

SANA’A – Tension remains high between Al-Houthi rebels and government troops in northern Yemen, despite efforts to build on peace efforts last month.
Three people were killed and nine others injured in clashes with security forces at Friday Prayers in the Harf Sifyan area of Amran. Sources reported that fighting started after armed rebel Houthi supporters attempted to take control of one of the mosques in the area.

One soldier was killed and five others were injured as a group of soldiers moved forward to reinforce troops already battling the gunmen. Two of the reported rebels were killed and five others wounded in the firefight. Two more were arrested once soldiers had overcome the fighters.

In addition, fresh clashes between army units and Hothi fighters were reported on Saturday in the Al-Qarn in the Al Salem region of Saada governorate, according to the Qatari newspaper Alsharq.
The firefight lasted for about an hour but no casualty figures were given, according to Alsharq. The newspaper, quoting sources in the area, said the atmosphere was “tense” with two army units in the region keeping a fragile peace.

Colonel Yahia Al-Shami, the newly appointed Governor of Saada, has worked hard to ease tension between the military and Houthi followers by brokering talks and encouraging dialogue between the major shieks and leading Houthi supporters on one hand, and the leaders of security forces on the other. (Read on …)

More on the meeting between the ruling party and the cabinet.

President Saleh headed a joint meeting of the cabinet and general wings. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the GPC’s role in supporting the government. Sources announced that the President directed 20B YR to fund small production projects. Salih insisted on forming an independent committee for governmental budgetary deficits. Members are to be fair and hold a high level of experience in the financial world and are able to execute projects with transparency and skill.
For the first time in two years, President Saleh has lauded the media stating that “it contributes to the awareness and education of the people.” He demanded that officials in the government clarify facts first from the parliament or the public opinion and to supply the media with this correct information. A meeting will be held every two weeks to clarify these facts.
The meeting also confirmed the necessity of dealing with civil society and activating its role in society. The meeting additionally ratified the incorporation of the Agricultural Loan Bank with the Housing Loan Bank to form a new bank called the Bank for Development, Agriculture, and Housing. The president directed 20B YR to the venture to be used to fund small production projects.

LA Times:

A Yemeni court sentenced 13 Islamist militants to prison terms of up to seven years Wednesday for planning attacks against American and other Western targets.

Group leader Ali Sufyan al-Amari was sentenced to seven years in prison for his role in founding the group with the intent of kidnapping foreigners and bombing Western interests in Yemen.

Other members of the group received prison terms ranging between 18 months and six years.

Only one of the 14 defendants, Faisal Abdul-Aziz, was acquitted because he had turned himself in and cooperated with investigators. All the defendants were present in the court.

The group also was charged with planning attacks against military and security officials and possession of explosives and weapons.

Yemen, the ancestral home of Osama bin Laden, had long tolerated Muslim extremists but cracked down on militants following the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States. It also has allowed American forces to train Yemeni troops to combat terrorism.

More at WaPo

More at the YT

17/4/2006

Teachers syndicates call for demonstration on

Al-Sahwa.net- The Teachers Syndicate and the Technical
Education Syndicate called today all teachers for
peaceful demonstrations next Wednesday at al-Tahrir
square in the capital Sana’a.
The call for demonstrations came after a statement by
the two syndicates on April 16 that the Education
Office in the capital Sana’a made cuttings from the
salaries of tens of teachers, male and female, in
different districts of the capital as a punishment for
participation of those teachers in strikes over drops
in salaries strategy early this month.
The two syndicates said Monday in a joint statement
that the complaints of teachers whose salaries
subjected to illegal cuttings would be raised to a
joint legal committee to study the complaints before
presenting them to the specialized court.
The statement pointed that letters were sent to the
capital secretariat, ministry of education, ministry
of human rights, the general attorney and other
concerned bodies to support teachers who were punished
to defend their rights.
“While teachers were waiting for justice that the
government promised, they are facing more injustice in
this difficult life, the statement said.

Yemen Observer

The Yemen Female Media Forum (YFMF) is holding a training course on ‘Journal News and Reports’, runnig from April 23-27
A total of 25 female journalists from different printing and broadcast media institutions are expected to attend the course. It is designed to “promote the abilities and skills of the participants” to “advance the professional performance” of female journalists, according to a press release from the YFMF.

Saeed Thabet, the Yemeni Journalist Syndicate’s (YJS) charge d’affaires, and Sadek Nasher, manager of the Emirates Gulf office in Sana’a, will run the course.
YFMF has already held four training courses on different aspects of journalism, putting theory into practice.

YFMF has run several intensive courses designed to improve the participants’ ability, experience and skills, as well as gaining the benefit from leading local and foreign experts with long experience in the media in Yemen or a wider international market.

CALGARY, AB, April 18 /CNW Telbec/ – Calvalley Petroleum Inc.
(TSX: CVI.A)
Calvalley Petroleum Inc. (the “Company”), an international junior oil and
gas company based in Calgary, Alberta, is pleased to provide the following
update on its operations on Block 9 in the Republic of Yemen.

Production and Delivery

The Company is currently in the early oil production period that utilizes
tanker trucks for transporting the crude westward from Block 9 to Block 18.
The bottleneck at the Block 18 facility has been resolved by constructing a
new truck offloading facility. On the start-up of the new offloading facility,
oil production increased from the 2,000 barrels of oil per day (“bopd”) to
5,000 bopd and is expected to reach the allowable 10,000 bopd as set by the
Yemeni Ministry of Oil and Minerals (the “Ministry”) by month’s end.
The Company intends to seek an approval from the applicable regulatory
bodies in Yemen to increase trucking capacity beyond the allowable limit of
10,000 bopd. The current production is currently limited to the Hiswah 3 &
6 wells. Nearby horizontal wells Hiswah-7, 8, 9 and 10 are being completed and
tied-in which will allow for the desired increase in oil production as well as
provide for additional operational flexibility.

Newsmax: Former CENTCOM Commander, Gen. Anthony Zinni – who has called for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to resign because of Rumsfeld’s alleged incompetence in running the Iraq war – admitted six years ago that he made the disastrous decision to have the USS Cole use the port of Aden, Yemen for refueling, where the ship was blown up by al-Qaida terrorists.

The 2000 Congressional testimony of the Senate Investigation of the Cole bombing reveals how trusting Zinni is. Tommy Franks was actually the commander of CENTCOM at the time, but the decison was made previously by Zinnni and not reviewed by Franks, nor somehow did the warning from Able Danger or the second one from some guy in MIA ever make its way to the commander of the Cole.

from a CSM article on a potential electrified fence between Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

But it is not only on the Iraqi border that Saudi Arabia feels threatened. Its 900-mileborder with Yemen has long been a transit point for smugglers of weapons and drugs, and terrorists sneaking into the country. Running through mountains in the west into Saudi Arabia’s barren Empty Quarter in the east, the border with Yemen has been difficult to patrol and impossible to seal off completely. Smugglers have even reportedly trained goods-laden mules to avoid Saudi border guards.

In an attempt to control the border, Saudi Arabia began building a fence but was forced to freeze the project in 2004 after strong protests from the Yemeni government.

“The Saudi government has a habit of overspending on security, and the Yemeni fence project will cost upwards of over $10 billion once it is finished,” says Ali al-Ahmad, director of the Institute for Gulf Affairs, a Saudi opposition think tank in Washington. In an e-mail exchange, Mr. Ahmad contends that the security fence along the Yemeni border has failed to stop weapons, drugs, terrorists, and illegal workers from “flooding” into the kingdom.

Ahmad believes that the Yemeni border poses a greater risk than the Iraqi border, in part because Yemen is a key weapons source for Al Qaeda operatives in Saudi Arabia.

Slowly they trickle in, so thats 16 still in negotiations?

SANAA, Yemen, April 18 (UPI) — A seventh al-Qaida runaway from the 23 prisoners who fled the central intelligence prison in Sanaa February has surrendered to Yemeni authorities.

Daily al-Rai quoted a security source as saying Tuesday that “the seventh runaway al-Qaida member surrendered Monday in an operation that appears to have been preceded by negotiations.”

The source said security forces raided an apartment in a neighborhood south of Sanaa where they seized Zakaria Yafii, who made no attempt to resist arrest. He was taken back to the central intelligence prison which he fled 75 days ago in an operation still shrouded in mystery and suspicion.

The source said the police had been tipped off with regard to Yafii’s whereabouts and that the information was checked by intelligence agents before they carried out the operation and forced the man to surrender.

Yafii’s surrender is believed to have been the result of negotiations between the intelligence service and tribal leaders, as were previous deals that led to the surrender of six other runaway prisoners.

Yafii was among 23 inmates who managed to flee through a tunnel dug between a cell and a nearby mosque located outside the prison’s fence Feb. 3. He is one of six suspects who were waiting to be tried on charges of belonging to al-Qaida and planning terrorist attacks against foreign interests in Yemen.

The runaway prisoners described as “dangerous” included convicts in the October 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in the port of Aden in which 17 U.S. servicemen were killed. Their escape caused tensions in U.S.-Yemeni relations as Washington suspected the complicity of high intelligence officials.

By Dr. Moncef Marzouki*

The problems facing the Yemeni journalist Mohammed Al-Asadi and the other Arab journalists arrested in Morocco, Algeria and Jordan for accusations of reprinting insulting cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH), reminds us of the American military terminology of ‘collateral damage’.

They are like the associated, often innocent, casualties arising from a showdown between two warring sides.

However, I take it for granted that the collateral damages are part of plot and not a mistake. Indeed, sometimes are in fact the goal of the plot, which is ostensibly targeted otherwise.

The sides that fuelled the war of the blasphemous cartoons are the racist right-wingers who dream of a devastating collision of civilizations, while also seizing the opportunity for Islamic and Arab regimes to appear as advocates of Islamic values. Instead, they are desperately in need of a shot of mercy.

Some religious figures, such as the Mufti of Qatar, have exploited the opportunity for improving their own battered image. They want to form what they call ‘Committees for Prophet Protection’, a behaviour that suggests the Holy Prophet Mohammed Salla Allahu Alayhi Wasallam, is an ordinary person.

They have taken it upon themselves, as if the prophet needs these jokers to defend him. It has become a battle between two mad, opportunist sides who struck successfully at the most sensitive of issues.

In this battle of elephants, the journalist Mohammed Al-Asadi, editor of the Yemen Observer, has been maliciously knocked to the ground, so that he is now amongst those blackmailed for the alleged assault against the symbol of holiness.

Among al-Asadi’s writings I have read are these phrases: “My name is Mohammed, the same name of the prophet Sallah Allahu Alayhi Wasallam. I can’t in any way insult him. “What I published defends the Prophet, and you can see that for yourself”.

He adds: “The report of ours joined the Islamic world in denouncing the insult. It was a summary of what some scholars have said in admiration of the prophet”.

He also said: “I published a 5cm picture of parts of the cartoons, concealed with a large cross. It was a signal of total rejection and contempt of the cartoons for the western readers of the paper”.
He asks: “Is this a slander of the Holy Prophet – which no Muslim can do, as long as he professes that there is no God except Allah and that Mohammed is Allah’s messenger?” He has given all the articles and information, translated into Arabic, to the court. “This is an accusation of my faith that I can’t accept,” he adds.

Is that then the crux of the issue? Al-Asadi is a journalist, a profession sometimes seen as one of the worst threats for Arab states under totalitarian rule.

Here we come to face our regular enemy that we hold in contempt and hate, the corrupt Arab political regime.

However, the problem is that Al-Asadi’s case is more complicated that it appears to be. A totalitarian state merely exploits the opportunity to annihilate its most hated foe, free journalists producing news of corruption and distortion.

Yet the person spearheading this campaign against Al-Asadi is one of the victims of this regime. He doesn’t bother to make an ally of Al-Asadi today, even though he may fear they may be a potential enemy of the regime tomorrow

Ali al-Jaradi, the media and culture director for the Association of Yemeni Journalists, has called on Sheikh Abdulmajid al-Zandani to use the funds he raised for suing the journalists to instead sue the US authorities, for alleged abuse in the Guantanamo Bay prison including flushing a Holy Qu’ran down a toilet.

Perhaps we exaggerated by blaming political autocracy, for that is simply the tip of the iceberg.

What we have learnt is that this political totalitarianism is not an import from Mars, nor the imposed will of Israel or President Bush. Instead, the regimes crippling our energies are the result of our own totalitarian societies. This is incontrovertible.

The one spearheading the oppression of this free journalist is not the ruling authority. Instead, it is an individual volunteering to raise funds not for fighting hunger but for suiting Al-Asadi. He is well aware of what he will gain, killing two birds with one stone.

This person is carrying the flag of a society riddled with fanaticism and misogynism.

If it is not stopped, only a bloodier form of totalitarianism will be established over the ruins of the present totalitarian system.

The new totalitarianism will be ignorant and will only slowly learn – over the dead bodies of the innocent.

Al-Asadi is between the heavy hammer of political totalitarianism and the deeper totalitarianism of the society. We are all morally obliged to stand by him and to step up our rhetoric to attack totalitarianism.
Journalism, the most important tool of democracy – represented by Al-Asadi – is under siege in Yemen and the whole Arab world on two fronts, not a single one.

We must look after the individual tree more than we care for the whole wood.

——————————————————————————–

* A Tunisian Public Freedoms Activist and writer.

Yemen Observer

There is a ‘kind of profession allowance” built into the Wages and Salaries Strategy that was produced in July after the riots over the price hikes that resulted from the partial lifting of deisel subsidies. (wow now thats a run on sentence that impresses even me.) Thats what the teachers were striking for, now the judical employees are also threatening a strike:

12/4/2006

Syndicate of Judicial Personnel earns of strike

Al-Sahwa.net- The Syndicate of Judicial Personnel
called all employees of the judiciary to be ready for
putting red 0000000 as a post-strike step to protest
the government tarry to implement the salaries and
wages strategy.
The syndicate general assembly urged president Ali
Abdullah Saleh, who is the president of the Judicial
Authority, to grant the employees of judiciary special
allowances because, it said, they do distinguished
tasks and enjoy independence according to the
constitution.
The judiciary employees also asked the concerned
bodies to quickly implement the strategy. They
stressed that the minister of justice should classify
courts heads, secretaries, clerks and prosecutions
according to their tasks.
They also requested “housing allowance”, commissions,
bonuses like other colleagues.
The syndicate said it would notify the minister of
justice and the general attorney next Saturday about
the requests of its members and that it would give the
ministry 15 days.

I hope this is not mumps, but whatever it is, an infectious disease breaking out without vaccine is bad.

13/4/2006

60 persons found nums infected

Al-Sahwa.net- The health office in Dhamar confirmed
that the nums disease appeared in Gherar area of Ans
district.
Head of the office Fadhel al-Akwa’a said he called
citizens to exclude the infected people to control the
disease not to spread out in other areas.
Unfortunately, people did not respond to our
cautions,” said Fadhel.
He told al-Sahwa.net that the available medicines can
temporarily treats the effects of nums like fever, but
said Yemen has not the anti-nums vaccine. He said that
nums spreads by a virus like the virus of polio.
Fadhel said that a field team went to the area to
distribute medicines to relieve the effects.

Deputy general, Dr. Abdullah Al-Ulfi, stated that reforms must be made to the law concerning corruption crimes to such a degree that large and small officials receive equal punishment.
Al-Whida reported that Al-Ulfi indicated the current law does not treat high ranking officials. Often, it is the smaller officials who commit the infractions, both monetary and administrative, under the pretext that their direct heads compelled them to do it. It is necessary to take another look at some of these laws so that all are equal before the law.
He went on further to state that there is cooperation between Yemen and Germany to develop the capabilities of the Yemeni financial and administrative cadres.
He stressed the necessity of full cooperation of the judiciary and oversight bodies to raise their readiness to deal with issues tied to money and corruption. In an official report it was made clear that the repeated nature of such violations is due to the absence of any punishments that are effective.
A report published by the monetary committee analyzed and studied the infractions mentioned in the reports by oversight and accounting. It confirmed there was a lack of cooperation among different administrative units with the oversight body. This was most often in delaying or not responding to their requests. This is what has hampered the body from being effective the most.
Thos who participated in the workshop for fighting corruption stressed the importance of finding a legal construct to fight corruption and to protect public monies and to strengthen ways to prevent such infractions. Over 180 people participated in the workshop from the judiciary and oversight bodies. They began their work on Wednesday.
They recommended the necessity of strengthening and activating internal oversight in all units and institutions of the state and to create a review administration in the management body of the state.

NY

For his series on Yemeni tribes.

Nifty.

Columbia Journalism Review:

In the Explanatory Reporting category, David Finkel’s series on a U.S. funded program to encourage democracy in Yemen in the Washington Post was the winner; the pieces appaered on December 19, and 20.

After nearly a year of in-depth reporting, Finkel provided a nuanced portrait of a Washington-based non-profit and their efforts to promote democracy in one of the world’s least developed nations. As Finkel explained, the program was one of hundreds funded by the Bush administration, aiming to export American-style democracy in some of the roughest patches of the world.

While democracy promotion sounds great in theory, Finkel’s series provided a riveting reminder of the difficulties such programs can crash into in real life.

All hail Finkle.

You would think the Columbia Journalism Review would know how to spell appeared. I liked the series more for the insight into the Yemeni tribes as well as the political system.

From the WaPO: Reporter David Finkel’s three-part series followed a U.S.-funded program to encourage democracy from its inception to its conclusion, and was based on a year of reporting in Washington and Yemen. It was done with the cooperation of the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, which gave The Washington Post full access to the program without knowing how it, or any stories about it, would turn out.

A large number of international reports find that Yemen is among the poorest of countries and suffers from, lack of potable water, lack of rain, large consumption of water, increase in population, weak water policies, and the lack of capable mechanism to control what remains of the water supply.
Sana’a and Taiz suffer most from this water crisis. Taiz has a water deficiency of 20M meters. The deficit percentage is around 210% and there is a continuous fall in water levels in wells. Sana’a will experience a similar fate over the next 15 years. The Center for Water and Environment estimate that 182M meters of water are removed yearly for Sana’a consumption. Water from rain is about 52M square meters. Well water levels decrease yearly at a rate of 6-8%. (Read on …)