Armies of Liberation

Recalling the June negotiation between al-Qaeda representatives, President Saleh and the head of the Political Security Organization, a leading Yemeni Taliban/al-Qaeda figure says Yemen is the best regime to deal with them. Apparently the truce is holding in spite of al-Raibee.

NY: A leading Yemeni in al-Qaeda and the Taliban government said that the killing of Fawaz al-Rabei and Mohammad al-Dailami “is not the end of al-Qaeda’s file in Yemen, because it is an ideology related to fundamental issues of this Umah(nation).
Rashad Mohammad Saeed (Abu al-Fida’a) refused in an interview with Al-Wasat newspaper to talk more about the story, but he condemned “bloodsheds by any organization”. He confirmed that what happened for al-Rabei and al-Dailami was “horrible and may have bad impacts in future”.
“The Yemeni government will not enter open confrontations with Mujahideen after the incident”. He said that Yemen was the best country to deal with Mujahideen (combatants) when it has adopted the dialogue method.
Abu al-Fida’a warned US Embassy in Yemen not to intervene in affairs of other peoples. “We are annoyed, like others, for its practices”, said Abu al-Fida’a referring to the US embassy in Sana’a.
He revealed that one of those involved in attacks on oil facilities in Marib and Hadhramout last September was one of the al-Qaeda escapees from the Political Security prison in Sana’a last February. He expected that other escapees might remain in Yemen. He called them to get the chance to better their situation in the society. “The legislative and personal interest is to settle their situations to continue productivity instead of losing them in events which have not moral positive consequences in this nation”, said Abu al-Fida’a.
The former leading member in Taliban government denied Yemen is included in the strategic plans of al-Qaeda. He said America has not potential interests in Yemen, saying that the latest events were “only a result of suffocation that those young people feel”.
Abu al-Fida’a, who came back to Yemen less than a month after Sept. 11 events, called regimes “to think of decisive solutions away from US interventions, like Yemen”.
“The results of dialogue in Yemen are positive and president Ali Abdullah Saleh and the head of the Political Security Organization, Ghalib al-Qamish, have showed true determination to solve the problems for personal and humanitarian concepts”, he said.
He said that the latest events in Yemen would not affect the dialogue and understanding as “keeping bloods, security and stability are the goals of all”.
He denied he knows al-Tharhani, the bodyguard of the presidential candidate Bin Shamlan, who was said to be al-Qaeda member.
Abu al-Fida’a challenged America to face al-Qaeda without alliances and threats against states, organizations, groups and parties to pressure them to cooperate with them against al-Qaeda.
“The US administration has trends against Arabs and Muslims and this feeds the al-Qaeda ideology and extends its network,” he said.
Abu al-Fida’a said that “war against al-Qaeda has given it some benefits such as the unity of Jihad groups under one flag, moving Jihad from centralization into decentralization, finding locations for recruiting combatants, publicly, attracting America to direct war with al-Qaeda instead of using other regimes and jaws as US agents and making al-Qaeda more dynamic by recruiting new bloods.

Its customary for the season.

SANAAM – Chairman of the Judiciary Higher Council Abdulwahab al-Samawi said on Thursday the number of prisoners to be released in accordance with reports of field committees for inspection and the decision of president Ali Abdullah Saleh is 1063 prisoners added to them 180 prisoners who have been set free already after receiving financial assistance from philanthropists and thus the number reaches 1340.

Al-Samawi added in a statement to 26 September newspaper the number is getting higher because there will be added the number of those the president of the republic will help them as part of his every year gesture in the release of the insolvent prisoners and those who have spent three quarters of their sentence period.
Committees of field inspection have been formed pursuant to presidential directives to visit prisons and get acquainted with conditions of prisoners and the needy of them in order to tackle their situations.

Maybe they should have tunneled in.

NY: Tens of representatives of civil society organizations, journalists, MPs and journalists called upon the general prosecutor to immediate release of Ali al-Dailami, the human rights activist whom security forces arrested last Monday at the Sana’a airport.
The demonstrators marched to the Political Security Organization and hand over a letter asking for al-Dailami release or referring him to justice if he was guilty.
The secretary-general of the Social Democratic Forum and member of the Civil Society Organizations Coalition, Nabil Abdul-Hafiz Majid, said the political security gave them a promise to allow the family of al-Dailami to visit him in his prison.
But, Majid accused, in a statement to NewsYemen, the political security of arresting member of the Rights and Freedoms Committee in the Parliament, Ahmad Saif, for one hour while he was taking photos for demonstrators outside the office of the general prosecutor.
“Officials in the PSO refused to meet us,” said Majid, confirming that al-Dailami has not links to any terrorist cell.
Head of the Sisters Forum for Human Rights, Amal Basha, said the detention and disappearance of al-Dailami was not legal, asking for more explanation about the charge and place of al-Dailami.

A good report on Yemen’s democratic development: “The level of consolidation of democracy has not changed significantly since the second half of the 1990s. ”

A. Executive summary

During the period under review, the Republic of Yemen continued to undergo a structural adjustment program while democratic standards, achieved in the early 1990s and lost in 1994, were not regained.

Fundamental structural flaws have proved difficult to correct. These flaws include tribal challenges to the state’s monopoly on the use of force; legal pluralism that weakens the entire legal system; patronage and corruption; low qualification of the labor force; military and security forces whose character is not transparent; and a weak infrastructure.

However, in comparison with many neighboring states, the transformation process as a whole has brought a remarkable undercurrent of democratic attitudes to the surface in Yemen. These have come forward even though external constraints, such as solidarity with the United States in the war on terrorism, and internal uncertainties, such as dependence on declining oil income, increasing poverty, and tribal and family interests, continue to loom large as obstacles. In view of Yemen’s extraordinary (though declining) population growth and inescapable domestic and international pressures, the future of the transformation process remains uncertain.

B. History and characteristics of transformation

In the late 1980s signs of political liberalization became apparent in the Yemen Arab Republic (YAR, North Yemen) and the People’s Democratic Republic (PDRY, South Yemen). The Yemeni Socialist Party (YSP), which ruled the PDRY, lost its most generous sponsor and it was literally bankrupted after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Meanwhile, the YAR’s nationalist leadership, organized in the People’s General Congress (PGC), was faced with a growing Islamist movement and it was in need of a more secular-oriented ally. Thus, the leadership of YAR and PDRY created the Republic of Yemen in 1990 out of two fundamentally different social and economic orders. The YAR had a liberal economic system governed by a conservative and autocratic, though generally weak, presidential system. Influential independent tribes in the north and northeast of the YAR kept a certain degree of autonomy. By contrast, the PDRY was a socialist country whose leaders had destroyed much of the tribal structure and espoused the principles of a centralized and planned economy. However, both systems were of a rather corporate character, which facilitated the unification process.

The leadership of the two combined states tried to secure survival via political pluralism. Thus, the first years of the Republic of Yemen were characterized by a multi-party system, hitherto unprecedented press freedom, a referendum on the constitution in 1991 and parliamentary elections in 1993. These elections abolished the PGC-YSP power sharing formula and resulted in a coalition of three parties: the PGC, the YSP and the newly formed conservative-Islamist Yemeni Congregation for Reform (YCR), led by Yemen’s most influential tribal figure.

However, privatization of the former PDRY state-owned companies, return of confiscated land, unification of public companies (e.g. airlines), and unification of the legal system was slow. The second Gulf war and Yemen’s rejection of international troops to liberate Kuwait led the latter to expel nearly a million Yemeni migrant workers. Tourism suffered from frequent kidnappings after 1992, and inflation and corruption became uncontrollable. On top of this, the exploitation of recently discovered oil reserves, especially on the territory of the former PDRY, aggravated conflicts over distribution rights between the two former ruling elites.

One year after the first parliamentary election, in spring 1994, the two former state leaderships went to war with each other. Although the southern leadership apparently received money and arms from Saudi Arabia, it was the northern leadership, which employed its own military and won support from segments of the former PDRY army and from militias made up of tribesmen and militant Islamists that emerged victorious. In July 1994, the southerners who had led the war of separation from the north left for exile in the Gulf States.

The 1994 disaster has had lasting repercussions, and the victorious leadership of the former YAR was left with the conviction that political pluralism could result in separatism. The constitution was amended immediately after the war and the Presidential Council was abolished. Instead, the president (elected by parliament in 1994) was to be directly elected and the Shariah was made the sole source of legislation, as had been the case in the YAR before unification. Press freedom was restricted, many political organizations and parties lost their (YSP) funding, and critical voices were labeled as separatists and silenced by the regime.

Mounting debts forced the leadership to accept a structural adjustment program, which started in 1995 and whose results are debatable. Yemen’s very weakly developed economy remains extremely dependent on the oil sector and has attained only a modest level of stability since structural adjustment measures were implemented.

The Yemeni government seemed to return to its path of political liberalization with parliamentary elections in 1997. The YSP boycotted these elections because its assets had been confiscated after the 1994 war and had not been returned, thus rendering any campaigning impossible. The PGC won an absolute majority and the YCR, coalition member since 1993, became the most important opposition party. When direct presidential elections were due in 1999, candidates for president had to be nominated by parliament, but because the YSP had boycotted the 1997 parliamentary elections, it could not nominate its candidate. The YCR, on the other hand, supported President Ali Abdallah Salih’s (PGC) candidature. His ruling party had to name a second candidate from its own ranks, but President Ali Abdallah Salih won 96.2% of the vote.

A second amendment to the constitution in 2001, accepted by referendum, not only extended the term of the president from five to seven years and the term of the parliament from four to five years, it also weakened the position of the parliament (majlis an-nuwwab) vis-à-vis the executive in several ways. A consultative council (al-majlis ash-shura), appointed by the president and introduced as a consultative body (al-majlis al-istishari) to the executive according to the amendments of 1994, took over some legislative functions, and the president’s options to dissolve parliament were increased.

Decentralization, a promise going back to the early 1990s, was brought forward, and together with the constitutional referendum, local councils were elected for the first time in 2001. The PGC dominated the local elections and when parliamentary elections were held for the third time in 2001, the PGC gained a two-thirds majority.

C. Assessment

1. Democracy

The malfunctioning of the political system reached its preliminary peak with the presidential elections in 1999. The method of trial and error that characterized the early 1990s seems to have resulted only in a modernized version of the political system of the YAR. There are, however, a number of major differences. Party pluralism and decentralization have become generally accepted principles, a number of relatively critical newspapers have been established and are distributed in print and online, literacy is on the rise, national television stations have to compete with satellite stations like al-Jazeera, and a number of civil society organizations have taken root. Neighboring countries, having embarked on the path of political and economic liberalization themselves, have less reason to interfere in Yemen’s domestic affairs.

1.1. Stateness

Despite some alarming press reports after 9/11, the state’s monopoly on the use of force is established in principle in central parts of the country, though the lack and/or weakness of state institutions leads many citizens to stick to traditional methods of conflict resolution. However, there are some large but sparsely populated areas where tribal forces continue to resist what they perceive as the state’s encroachment on their autonomy, especially when the state is represented by security forces rather than any kind of services.

Moreover, the population in most rural areas remains armed, mainly for status reasons, but clashes between tribesmen or between tribesmen and security forces occasionally occur. Serious recent problems have occurred between tribal and security forces in the northern governorate of Sa’da since summer 2004. Husain Badr ad-Din al-Huthi, a rebellious Zaidi (a moderate Shi’a sect that is predominant in northern Yemen) sayyid (a descendant of the prophet’s family who would have been qualified to become Imam or ruler of North Yemen before the revolution in 1962) challenged the government for its policy toward the United States. The government’s brutal reaction drew local tribes into the conflict because the Zaidi sayyids are traditionally protected by the tribes in whose territory they settle. Hundreds were killed in clashes that kept erupting in early 2005 despite al-Huthi’s death in autumn 2004.

There is fundamental agreement about which people qualify as citizens of the state. All citizens have the same civil rights. The majority fundamentally acknowledges the constitution that was approved by referendum in 1991. The constitution has been amended twice thereafter, and since 1994 has made the Shariah the sole source of legislation which could affect women and the tiny Jewish minority of roughly 1,000 members. While the only public office that is officially reserved to a male Muslim is the presidential office, a Jewish candidate was not accepted by the Supreme Elections Committee in 2003. Women have been elected to parliament (two in 1993, two in 1997 and one in 2003), there are female ambassadors, and a woman was appointed Human Rights Minister in 2003. Nevertheless, women are disadvantaged by the personal status law, and female judges, a normal phenomenon in the former PDRY, are de facto restricted to juvenile courts. Traditional roles, especially in the former YAR, change only at a very slow pace.

The state functions as a secular order with modern institutions. However, for approximately a thousand years all ruling elites in the northwestern (and sometimes in the southeastern) part of the country have used Islam to varying degrees as a basis of legitimacy and thus integrated, in one form or another, religious dogmas into the legal and political sphere. Even though the Zaidi Imamate was replaced by the Yemen Arab Republic in 1962, the Shariah has officially remained the sole source of legislation to date (except between 1990 and 1994). Unlike in other Arab countries, however, religious institutions do not interfere in politics.

The state infrastructure and its powers are beginning to extend beyond maintaining law and order, but there is a physical lack of courts, police stations and appropriately trained state employees, particularly in rural areas. Decentralization measures (including local elections in 2001) have been hampered by lack of financial and human resources.

1.2. Political participation

Yemen has had a multi-party system since 1990, and general elections are held at local, parliamentary and presidential levels and accepted in principle as the means of filling leadership positions. Elections are supervised by a formally independent committee, the Supreme Committee for Elections and Referenda, whose members are suggested by parliament and appointed by the president. Domestic and foreign observers can work freely. However, the PGC dominates the Supreme Elections Committee, and there are claims of unequal opportunities for campaigning and irregularities during registration and on Election Day.

The first direct Presidential elections in 1999 were de facto uncompetitive because the YCR supported PGC candidate President Ali Abdallah Salih and the YSP could not nominate their candidate due to their boycott of the 1997 parliamentary elections. Since 2003, five parties, including the YSP, have been represented in the Yemeni parliament, but the PGC holds a two-thirds majority. The YCR is the only opposition party to be reckoned with, but its leadership tends to enter into informal agreements with the ruling PGC.

Elected rulers have the power to govern in important matters, but they simultaneously represent particular interest groups: the president represents the military and the speaker of parliament represents traditional rural elites and business interests. The last amendment of the constitution further strengthened the executive vis-à-vis the legislature. While these amendments were approved by referendum, it can be assumed that the majority of voters were unaware of the contents of the amendments, which were not widely published.

Party pluralism has been anchored in the constitution since 1991. NGOs are allowed to function within the limits of the NGO law (Law Number 1 of 2001) and its by-law of May 2004. However, corporatism prevails and the government supports the fundraising of “loyal” NGOs. While the NGO law grants a relatively large degree of freedom to NGOs, including foreign finance, its by-law makes sure that foreign funding remains under control and internal elections are observed by representatives of the ministries. As a rule, there are no prohibitions on parties or social organizations as long as they are not perceived as threatening national unity. NGOs are concentrated in urban areas, mainly Sanaa, Ta’izz and Aden. In general, the third sector is weak. However, opposition parties and NGOs (including academic research centers) keep pushing for human rights, clean elections and better governance, and put much effort into educating the younger generations on citizens’ rights.

The constitution guarantees all citizens freedom of opinion and expression in all forms. It also guarantees freedom of the press, publication and mass media. However, Article 103 of the law on press and publications (Law Number 25 of 1990) sets a number of limits on press freedom. Journalists who are not protected by influential political actors are frequently arrested, especially when they criticize the president and his family, or are seen as stirring up public unrest or threatening national unity. The Yemeni Journalists Syndicate recently began coordinating a debate about improvement of the press law.

(Read on …)

To quote the immortal words of my blogbrother Dr. Rusty:
“Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit.
Did I mention bullshit?”

YO: Yemen security authorities have accused a human rights activist of terrorist links—specifically with the two Al-Qaeda suspects who were killed earlier this month in clashes with security forces in Sana’a. Ali al-Dailami, the executive manager of the Yemen Organization for Dissenting Rights and Freedoms, has suspicious relations with a terrorist cell, whose leader, Fawaz al-Rabi’e, and his associate, Mohammed al-Dailami were killed, according to the Defense Ministry website (www.26sep.net), quoting an unidentified official.

Al-Dailami was supposed to travel to Denmark, as part of a delegation of representatives of non-governmental organizations from Yemen, in order to take part in a human rights partnership meeting in the Danish capital, Copenhagen. Human rights activists organized a demonstration and march on Monday to the office of the General-Prosecutor to demand the release of Ali al-Dailami, who was detained by the security forces at the airport in Sana’a, on Monday, October 9th.

The official said that al-Dailami’s file would be referred to the special prosecutor’s office as soon as the initial investigations were completed. Al-Dailami’s family, however, denied any relation between their relative and the terrorist cell, except for the similarity between his surname, al-Dailami, and that of the slain Al-Qaeda suspect, Mohammed al-Dailami. “Accusing our son of terror is an attempt to justify the crime of kidnapping committed by the security forces,” said a source from the family.

“Why did the security officials not tell us about this accusation when they arrested him at the airport? Why did they not even tell us where he was being held? We asked in all security offices, and no one answered us,” the source said. “The announcement of the detention and accusation came a week after his forced disappearance.” Shortly after the detention, the London-based NGO Amnesty International criticized the detention, saying in a statement, “Ali al-Dailami is being held incommunicado at an unconfirmed location, and may be at risk of torture and ill-treatment. He appears to be a prisoner of conscience, held solely as a result of his human rights work.”

“Ali al-Dailami previously campaigned on behalf of his brother, cleric Yahya al-Dailami, who was sentenced to death on May 29, 2005 after an unfair trial. Yahia al-Dailami’s death sentence was later commuted and he was released,” the statement said. Amnesty International said the “arrests and detentions by the Political Security Organ in Yemen are carried out with total disregard for the rule of law and for Yemen’s international human rights obligations.”

“Arrests are carried out without the judicial-supervision required by law and those detained were invariably subjected to lengthy incommunicado detention and interrogations, during which some detainees claim that they were tortured or ill-treated,” the statement said. “Detainees have also been denied access to lawyers, as well as being denied the opportunity to challenge the legality of their detention before a court.”
Copyright 2002 – 2006 Yemen Observer

Sana’a, Oct. 18(NewsYemen.net)- The Supreme Commission for Elections andReferendum (SCER) has decided to complete polling in election
constituencieswhere “people could not vote on September 20 for some problems.”

Head of the Technical Affairs in the SCER, Mohammad al-Sayani, told NewsYementhat the different sectors of the commission had started
preparing forlocal and presidential polling next December in 80 election centers andsome constituencies in five districts.

Al-Sayani said that voters in those centers would also vote for presidential candidates without respect to the result announced and
that the new numberof voters would be added to votes for each candidate.

He said the commission had excluded voting in Sirar district of Abyan province where voters refused to vote.

The SCER announced the local constituencies in 12 governorates where polling has been hampered and results have not been announced due to
tensionsbetween candidates or between locals.

Just joking, it was Armitage.

The article by Clarice Feldman at American Thinker quotes this article from the Wall Street Journal,

State’s Near East Affairs Bureau has always been a force for preserving the region’s despotic status quo. And now that Saddam’s regime is on the way out, NEA bureaucrats would prefer to see him replaced by ex-Baathists more amenable to their friends in the Saudi and Egyptian foreign ministries. We’re not saying the U.S. should anoint Mr. Chalabi or any individual as the next Iraqi leader. But State and the CIA seem less afraid of Saddam than of real democrats who could set a new example and exert pressure for change throughout the Middle East.

And apparently the trend continues. Back to the article from the American Thinker:

Killing the Program

On January 18, 2002, Richard Armitage was working to cut off all funds to finance Liberty TV. In a meeting with representatives from the Near East Affairs Office (NEA) of the State Department (Mr. Krajeski and Ms. Lempert and Portz), the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) of the State Department, NEA’s Deputy Director announced they were cutting off all funds to the INC.

The only basis for concern on the record was a minor audit issue (about $14,000 spent to rent an office in a residential apartment not permitted under the grant) which was quickly resolved. (The accounting rules of these grants are fairly arcane, and it is far from unusual for grantees to have some audit issues at the outset. In any event, the INC quickly resolved this single issue, adopted a sound accounting program and was fully compliant after the initial utterly minor problem.)

The Inspector General’s Berman expressed shock at the suggestion.

“During the interim period after the report is issued—we don’t do this to other grantees (cut off funding until all recommendations are completed).” He also observed that “other grantees take years to make implementations and the funding continues.”

More, he told the Near East Affairs, He “didn’t think” that politically the funding could be cut.

Ms Ropella of the OIG added that the INC response showed they were making a “good faith effort” at compliance with the audit requirements.

Nevertheless, Krajeski said that the Deputy Secretary (Armitage) “makes all decisions” and that “he’d make the final decision.” Though he acknowledged that “Congress loves Liberty TV” and that “the newspaper (produced by the INC) is pretty good”. (Read on …)

Political no?

(almotamar.net) – SANA’A- Security authorities on Monday arrested three people charged with tearing up some 25 copies of the holy Quran in Banai Husheish district, north of Sana’a city.
Brigadier general Hamid al-Dharab of Sana’a governorate security department told almotamar.net that his department has on Saturday summoned Endowments’ workers and preachers in three mosques at al-Esha village for questioning. “But they condemned the incident of tearing up copies of the holy Quran. So did prominent social figures of the village,” he added.
According to al-Dharab, the three people who torn up the copies of the holy Quran are being detained for investigations. They were charged with pulling out posters stuck on the first and last pages of the copies. On the posters was written the phrase “Printed at President Saleh’s expenses.” He considered the incident as an attack against the nation’s constitution [the holy Quran] and not against the President of the Republic.

For anyone just tuning in, Yemen’s thirty days of free speech are over and now its time for retribution against those who took advantage of the opportunity to criticize President Saleh, like Hamid Al-Ahmar. The bogus arrest of al-Dailimi is part of this pattern, proving all the talk about democratic reform and pluralism was just part of the show. Democracy without minority rights results in a tyranny of the majority.

YO

The General People’s Congress bloc has threatened to meet after the Eid holiday to support a request from the Ministry of Justice to lift the immunity of parliament member Hamid al-Ahmar, said a source within the ruling party. Al-Ahmar is accused of sending death threats to the editor-in-chief of the 26th September newspaper.

According to the 26th September newspaper, the office of the Attorney General sent a letter regarding these threats by al-Ahmar to the Ministry of Interior in order to take appropriate action. The paper said that the prosecution would send a request to the Ministry of Justice to take the issue to the President of Parliament. The next step would be to seek the lifting of his parliamentary immunity, in order to allow law enforcement to investigate him on account of his alleged threats to kill Ali Hassan al-Shatar, the paper’s editor-in-chief.

Al-Shatar says he received a call from al-Ahmar last Tuesday at 5:45 pm, threatening to use force against al-Shater for publishing an insulting poem in the paper’s issue No. 1291 on October 5, 2006. However, al-Ahmar’s media office denied having threatened the editor, arguing it is merely a slander campaign on the part of the 26 September website. It asked for an immediate article refuting the accusations that al-Ahmar had made threats.

It subsequently asked of the paper for an apology over the insulting poems, which include invective language against al-Ahmar in person. The office argues that even the writer credited with the poem denies having written it. The poet, Sheikh Mohammed Mansour, sent a handwritten letter to al-Shater to express his surprise over the poem. He also called for an investigation regarding the use of his name with respect to this particular poem.

Al-Ahmar’s media office argues the paper accused him of threats in an attempt to dodge a legal battle over the use of a poet’s name to insult others. It added that Sheikh al-Ahmar needn’t threaten anyone, as the constitution protects everyone’s rights, including his own.

almotamar.net – SANA’A- Al-Balagh independent newspaper quoted its sources as saying Sheikh Abdul-Majeed al-Zindani, chairman of Islah Shoura Council, has talked with President Ali Abdullah Saleh on the phone in an attempt to mediate for Hamid al-Ahmer, informing Saleh to treat al-Ahmer as his son and discipline him when making mistakes.
The newspaper said al-Zindaini’s attempt was made at the directives of Hamid al-Ahmer, adding such mediation didn’t succeed, which caused al-Ahmer to attack the General People’s Congress during the celebration held last week to honor former presidential candidate of the Joint Meeting Parties.

YT

Another reason is frankly attributed to the additional salary awarded to all government employees right before election day. This move persuaded many people to vote for the ruling party. “We had one concern in our lives, poverty. When the president ordered one salary extra, that concern seemed to vanish temporarily and we went to vote feeling pleased with the government,” according to my aunt, a teacher in a village in Taiz governorate.

Canadian oil firm Nexen refused to pay the additional month’s wages but the other oil companies complied.

YT

For his press freedom contributions, Jamal Amer, Al-Waset Editor-in-Chief, will be honored along with four other international journalists by the New York-based Committee to Protect the Journalists

The award ceremony will be made on Nov. 21, timed with the anniversary for establishing the committee.

The committee said these five journalists risk their lives to cover news and reveal truth despite threats, assaults, attacks and imprisonment.

Additionally, the committee will honor late al-Arabia correspondent, Atwar Bahjat, who was killed working in Iraq last February.

“We honor these brave journalists, belonging to different world areas, for their solidity in bringing out news stories despite risks and bad conditions,” said the committee’s head of board of trustees.

For his part, Joel Simon, the committee’s executive director, extolled the bravery of these journalists, revealing some risks journalists face.

“Criticizing authorities’ abuse of power, exposing corruption and covering news from the front lines in local conflicts are some ways journalists use while doing their tasks,” said Simon, explaining the difficulties these journalists face daily.

The press statement issued by CPJ described Amer’s al-Waset Newspaper as one of most neutral and independent Yemeni newspapers.

Exposing corruption, addressing religious extremism and political issues resulted in a number of threats and terrifying attacks against al-Waset’s reports and editors, according to the statement.

Amer himself faced persecution when four men, believed to be security affiliates, attacked him and then detained him for 6 hours, accusing him of receiving money from the governments of America and Kuwait while warning him not to criticize officials.

Amer was also subject to threats following to his paper’s publication of three reports, including officials’ exploitation of scholarships provided by the state to send their sons instead of those who deserve them.

Later, Amer was subjects to harassment and his family was kept under the government’s watch.

Iranian:
The U.N. under an African so far has shown no disposition to stop this campaign of eradication of black Muslims from Darfur. The UN Security Council on August 31, 2006 adopted Resolution 1706, which called for a transition from an African peacekeeping force of 7,000 to a UN force of 20,000 to be on the ground in Darfur by January 2007. 12 members of the Security Council, with China, Russia, and Yemen abstaining, supported this initiative. These abstentions are signs of trouble, especially when coupled with the refusal of the Sudan government to give its consent to a UN peacekeeping presence within its borders.

The situation seems deadlocked with time running out. The UN must overcome the reluctance of China and Russia, which have oil interests in Sudan, to persuade the government in Khartoum to let in the troops and humanitarian groups that can stop the exodus and genocide of its own citizens. The President of Sudan, Omar al-Bashir, has gone so far as to say that his country would respond to any UN effort to establish a presence in Darfur “as Hezbollah beat Israel.”

YT

The Islah Party critized the handling of the election results by the Supreme Commission for Elections and Referendum

The problem is not with the announced results, but with those who are still frozen and further the ruling party broke into the polling centers and confiscated the documents and minutes which were signed by one party, said Ibrahim Al-Hayer, in charge of elections office affiliated with Islah Party, in a press statement.

Additionally, Al-Hayer accused the ruling party of confiscating polling boxes in Sa’ada governorate and other districts including Sharaab, Al-Salam in Taiz, Al-Zaher in Al-Jawf and some other districts in Ibb and Hajjah.

He also pointed out the suspended centers are those of opposition, noting some centers submitted appeals to judiciary in Aden and Ibb and the judiciary approved their victory there; however, results are still suspended.

He further expressed his sorrow for the way by which the Supreme Commission for Elections and Referendum dealt with the election results, accusing the commission of being “run from outside.”

The facts thus far:

1- There are three persons with duel US-Yemeni citizenship who are accused of spying and sending military equipment to Yemen without State Department authorization. Two are in custody; one is on the run.

2- The investigation began *after* a shipment of night visions goggles, chemical protection suits and body armour was sent to Yemen from the US.

3- Ahmen Ahmed Ali told an undercover agent that he was a former military official and could smuggle items into Yemen without alerting US agents there. They have him on videotape. He had official Yemen documents which permitted him and his cargo free passage into and out of Yemen.

4- They didnt discover Moyaad’s number until after they made the arrest and executed a search warrent, negating the idea that the individuals were arrested for having Moyaad’s phone number. Thats why his bail was so high, but not why he was arrested.

5- During a two year undercover investigation, the indictment alleges, the three conspired to purchase and ship military equipment to Yemen as well as military secrets, and al-Rawhani, head of the Yemeni Expatriots Union, transmitted to these Yemen with the assistance of the Yemeni consulate in California.

YO: The Yemeni government is closely monitoring the case of Ameen al-Rawhani, the Yemeni-American citizen recently detained in the US on charges of spying, Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Qirbi told the Yemen Observer in an exclusive interview. “The man is also an American citizen, therefore, the American rules and laws will apply to him, but we are following this case through our consul in California, and through the Yemeni community there,” al-Qirbi said.

Al-Rawhani is accused of illegally shipping contraband military items to individuals in Yemen, in addition to the spying charges. Al-Qirbi clarified that the man had sent bulletproof vests and night-vision goggles to Yemen. “These were, according to the gathered information, sent to individuals in Yemen, and not to the government of Yemen, as some people have indicated. The Yemeni government does not need anybody to do that for Yemeni citizens. Regarding the spying, there is no evidence that he was a spy or was passing information to anybody,” he said. Al-Rawhani is also accused of having Mohammed al-Moayad’s telephone number in his diary, furthering authorities’ suspicions.

“It is really absurd to accuse somebody of being a terrorist simply for having the telephone number of a major public figure in Yemen, like Mohammad al-Moayad,” said the minister. Al-Moayad, a Yemeni cleric best known locally for his charitable works benefiting the poor, was sentenced in 2005 to 75 years in a US jail on charges of supporting Al-Qaeda and Hamas. “Al-Moayad’s case is under the jurisdiction of the courts; therefore it can’t be solved politically at this stage,” al-Qirbi said. “So, until the appeal process is carried out—let’s wait and see what is the result of his appeal of the initial sentence is.

We can’t say anything now.” As for Abdul-Majeed al-Zindani, founder and president of Al-Iman University and chairman of the Shoura Council, whose name was put in the list of those accused of terror by the United States, al-Qirbi said, “The Yemen government has done everything in its power. It has contacted the US government, and the responsible UN committee. We have been told that in order for his name to be removed from the list, he has to file an application to the UN committee, which he probably has done. Now, we have to wait and see.”

Yahoo News: Yemeni authorities are to lodge a formal protest with a European government after antiquities were found in a diplomat’s baggage at Sanaa International Airport, the official Saba news agency said.

The works of art, which date back to the pre-Islamic period, were confiscated as the envoy prepared to board a Frankfurt-bound flight, the news agency said, without specifying the diplomat’s nationality.

“Because of the European diplomat’s diplomatic immunity, a report will be sent to the foreign ministry so that the necessary measures can be taken,” the airport’s security director Colonel Abdel Wahab al-Kinai told the news agency.

Yemen was a centre of ancient civilisation before the Islamic era, including the historic land of Sheba mentioned in the Bible, whose queen married King Solomon, according to Christian tradition.

A number of Yemeni cities are classified as world heritage sites by UNESCO, including the old city of Sanaa and the ancient cities of the eastern region of Hadramawt.

Update: The diplomat was Bulgarian.

(Read on …)

Its a very bad move to humiliate and marginalize the opposition, nonetheless, its on.

almotamar.net – SANA’A- President Ali Abdullah Saleh criticized the political address of the opposition parties during their presidential and local council elections campaigns held last September.
At an iftar celebration held Saturday in Taiz, Saleh said “The opposition forces don’t know the people and their peculiarities as they [opposition] live in closed rooms and dream that the regime begins to fall, and that a popular revolution is there.”
President Saleh advised the opposition parties to head for psychological sanatoria, affirming people will refuse these forces during the Parliamentary elections to be held in 2009.
Saleh renewed his call for the political parties to start a new page, provided “they learn from the people.”
Official spokesman of the Joint Meeting Parties Mohammed Qahtan threatened to bring about a public revolution after the announcement of the presidential election results that gave President Saleh a landslide victory.
Source: Saba news

YT:

SANA’A, Oct. 11 — The Public Forces Union Party asked for the release fo Ali Hussain Al-Dilami, director of the Yemeni Organization for the Defense of Public Rights and Liberties and member of the union party.

The statement said such conduct would create a bad impression about the post-election period, asking for Al-Dilami’s immediate release.

A number of opposition parties asked authorities to release Al-Dilami, as the arrest is against human rights ensured in the constitution.

Similarly, a number of organizations interested in human rights, denounced Al-Dilami’s arrest.

Al-Dilami was arrested in Sana’a Airport when he was in his way to Denmark among a delegation, representing Yemeni civic society organizations.

News Yemen: The Coalition of Civil Society Organizations, human rights advocators and politicians called for a sit-in outside the office of the General Prosecution asking for the release of Ali Al-Dailami, the executive director of the National Organization for Defending Rights and Freedoms.
The lawyer Ali Al-Dailami was arrested by the security authorities last Monday at Sana’a airport as he was traveling abroad to participate in an event.
The coalition said the sit-in would be on Monday outside the office of the general prosecutor.
The Amnesty International expressed its worries about the detention of al-Dailami in a mysterious place ad said that means disrespect of laws and international treaties which Yemen is one signatory.

Amnesty Calls for Release:
Amnesty International called for Yemeni authorities to reveal the location where Ali Al-Dailami, Executive Director of Yemen Organization for Defending Rights and Freedoms, is detained. They demanded authorities release Al-Dailami.

The call comes within a week of Al-Dailami’s arrest at the Sana’a Airport on Oct. 10 when he was heading for Denmark, along with other Yemeni NGO representatives.

Amnesty International demanded Al-Dailami be released immediately without any restriction or condition, as he has been detained for struggling to promote human rights in the country. They say there is no clear reason why Al-Dailami is detained besides his work with human rights activities. (Read on …)

Its so bizarre they think anyone will buy the story that suddenly the regime is concerned for journalists rights when over 50 journalists were targeted last year without any redress through the judicial system. Its flat out targeting of oppositionist Hamid al-Ahmar under the guise of protecting journalists and its even funnier that some verbal threat is drawing all this attention when journalists in Yemen in the last year have been kidnapped, beaten up, stabbed, shot at, letter bombed and had *their kids* threatened. Paw widdle al-Shater had someone yell at him on the phone. Awww….

al-Motamar: SANA’A- Assistant Secretary-General of the General People’s Congress (GPC), Sheikh Sultan al-Barakani, expressed wonder at MP Hamid al-Amer’s flagrant mistake as he threatened to kill editor-in-chief of 26 September newspaper Ali Hassan al-Shater.
Al-Barakani praised the behavior of al-Shater as he decided to resort to justice and calling on the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate (YJS) as well as civil society organizations to protect freedoms and rights of people.
The 22 May weekly newspaper quoted al-Barakani as saying, “We didn’t expect that a member of the Parliament would commit a gross mistake as that of Hamid al-Ahmer who infringed the law. It would have been more suitable if al-Ahmer had resorted to justice over the poem published by the 26 September newspaper instead of threatening to kill al-Shater.”
Did Hamid al-Ahmer, al-Barakani went on to say, want to make those who believe in the civilized state repeat the saying “if I belong to a powerful tribe, then my camels can’t not be seized?”.
Al-Barakani concluded his statements by saying “I don’t think the anti-law waves would triumph after the Yemeni people elected President Ali Abdullah Saleh.”

October 13, 2006 7:14 p.m. EST

Matthew Borghese – All Headline News
Washington, D.C. (AHN) – The U.S. Department of State has updated the travel warning for Americans in Yemen.

According to the warning, officials “strongly urge U.S. citizens to consider carefully the risks of traveling to Yemen.”

Upon review, authorities believe “the security threat level remains high due to terrorist activities in Yemen, and Americans in Yemen are urged to exercise caution and take prudent measures to maintain their security.”

“The Department remains concerned about possible attacks by extremist individuals or groups against U.S. citizens, facilities, businesses and perceived interests. On February 3, 2006, 23 convicts, including known affiliates of al-Qaeda, escaped from a high-security prison in the capital city, Sanaa. Among the al-Qaeda associates were individuals imprisoned for their roles in the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole and the 2002 attack on the French oil tanker Limburg.”

The warning explains, “In the weeks following the escape, some prisoners voluntarily turned themselves in to authorities; to date however, many escapees remain at large. Two of the escapees were killed in vehicle-based suicide attacks on oil facilities near Mukalla and Marib on September 15. Those attacks were followed by the arrest the next day in Sanaa of four suspected al-Qaeda operatives, who had stockpiled explosives and weapons.

“U.S. citizens in Yemen should exercise caution and take prudent measures to maintain their security… The U.S. Embassy in Sanaa advises American citizens in Yemen to exercise particular caution at locations frequented by foreigners countrywide and at restaurants and hotels frequented by expatriates. Americans who believe they are being followed or threatened while driving in urban centers should proceed as quickly as possible to the nearest police station or major intersection and request assistance from the officers in the blue-and-white police cars stationed there… Travelers should be in contact with the Embassy for up-to-date information.”