Armies of Liberation

NPR is talking about Jaber Albaneh here and brings in the Lackawanna connection and Yemen’s obstruction of the FBI. Its a good article missing only that Ali A. al-Banna (Jaber’s uncle) was convicted of sending money from one of the Lackawanna six to Yemeni-American Derwish in Yemen who was later killed sitting next to al-Qaeda chief al-Harthi in a hellfire missle attack in 2002. The uncle admitted in his 2006 plea agreement that he used false names in registering the transaction. In total, millions were sent to Yemen.

NPR: “He’s on FBI.gov and there is a picture and a wanted poster of him,” said FBI spokesman Richard Kolko. “He’s been in Yemen, and several months ago he escaped from jail and there were reports last week that he was back in jail and we haven’t confirmed his status at this point.”

The FBI isn’t confirming that Elbaneh is behind bars because of an odd dance they have had to do with the Yemeni authorities. Working with officials in Yemen has been hit or miss. They will report they have a terrorist fugitive in prison one day, and then he will be gone the next, he said.

One former law enforcement official familiar with the case said that Elbaneh’s arrest in Yemen is like a “catch and release program,” because he has been arrested and then released on numerous occasions.

Elbaneh was in Yemen’s maximum security prison last year when he escaped. He and two dozen prisoners dug a tunnel out of the facility and emerged from under the women’s bathroom floor of a nearby mosque and disappeared. Among the people thought to have escaped with him were masterminds of the USS Cole bombing in Aden, Yemen, which took the lives of more than a dozen U.S. servicemen and blew a house-sized hole into the American destroyer.

“Elbaneh had been on the lam for quite a while,” Kolko said. “We have a legal attache that is stationed in Yemen and she will work with the local authorities there to try to determine Elbaneh’s current status and we’ll have to go from there.”

There is a great deal of interest in the Lackawanna Six because they have been a marquee case for the Bush administration and its war on terror. When officials talk about battlefield successes, Lackawanna is always in that list.

The FBI learned about the Lackawanna Six by sheer luck: they received an anonymous letter from someone in the Yemeni-American community who knew the Lackawanna Six had gone to Afghanistan to train at the al Qaida camp. The FBI began tracking the men from the moment they returned, just months before the 911 attacks.

They watched them for a year hoping, among other things, that Elbaneh and the man who recruited the participants, Kamel Derwish, would return. Neither man came back. The FBI finally arrested the group in the States and charged them with material support of a terrorist organization. Some observers say the men never planned anything against the United States, but were arrested for political reasons.

“The greatest significance of that case was the timing,” said Rodney Personius, one of the defense attorneys for the Lackawanna Six. “The arrest took place on the one year anniversary after 9-11 and the case was used by the Bush administration as evidence that, in their words, they were winning the war on terrorism.”

The FBI is eager to apprehend Elbaneh, though the organization doesn’t think he will shed any more light on the Lackawanna Six case. The men who were charged already admitted that they attended the camp in Afghanistan and even met Osama bin Laden. They also provided information about their recruitment and details about the camps themselves and pleaded guilty to the charges. They are now serving between 7 and 10 years in prison.

What Jaber Elbaneh may provide, analysts say, is a goldmine of information on what happened after the Lackawanna Six came home. Elbaneh’s time in Yemen could provide clues into recruitment and al Qaida training. “He may have gone back to Yemen and stayed in Yemen to do things that the group in New York were not doing,” said Tom Sanderson of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Of course, the FBI needs the Yemeni government to hand over Elbaneh first.

Update: ABC: Elbaneh under house arrest

One of the FBI’s most wanted terrorists has been placed under “house arrest” in Yemen, according to U.S. counterterrorism and federal law enforcement officials.

Jaber Elbaneh, an alleged al Qaeda operative with ties to the Buffalo, N.Y., “Lackawanna six” terrorism case, reportedly surrendered to Yemeni security services last week. Elbaneh has been charged in the United States with providing material support to al Qaeda and is currently on the FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorist list.

But officials say it’s unclear when  or even if  they will ever get to question Elbaneh.

A spokesman for the Yemeni Embassy released a statement to ABC News, noting that because Elbaneh is a Yemeni citizen, the constitution of that country prohibits his extradition to face a trial abroad.

Elbaneh holds dual citizenship with the U.S., but no extradition treaty exists between the two countries.

Spokesman Mohammed Albahsa concluded his statement by saying, “Elbaneh is in our custody and make no mistake justice will prevail.”

Yemen Times

SA’ADA, May 27 — Yemeni Interior Minister Rashad Al-Alimi assures that the security situation in Sa’ada governorate is under control and that the Yemeni army has seized all districts except Ghamer, Qataber and Razih, which it hasn’t entered yet because the armed forces don’t want to shed civilian blood.

In a Thursday press conference at the Yemeni Cabinet headquarters in Sana’a, Al-Alimi noted that Houthi loyalists are using civilians as shields, adding that army and security forces eventually will enter those areas in a manner they deem suitable.

He went on to report that Yemeni security forces managed to foil several explosives implanted in areas of Sana’a, stressing that Houthis have sent numerous elements to the capital city to carry out terrorist acts, the most recent of which was a bomb explosion near the Defense Ministry, causing serious injury to two children. One later died and the other still is being treated.Shiite

Al-Alimi accused international parties of supporting Houthis. “Iran has exploited its official media, including Tehran Radio and Al-Aalam [The World) channel, to support Houthis,” he alleged. (Read on …)

Its a nice article in that it addresses the Sa’ada issue and some of its complexities, but this could use a little clarification:

Jamestown

Al-Houthi led a rebellion of Zaidi Muslims—an off-shoot of Shiism. The Zaidis, who comprise as much as 40% of Yemen and form a majority in the northwest, do not recognize the primacy of the government. This, therefore, was not solely a political uprising; it had a religious message that resonated with a significant number of Yemenis.

A large number of Zaidis were among the revolutionaries in the 1962 revolution overthrowing the Imamate. Houthis perhaps reject the primacy of government. A discussion of the religious aspect of the conflict is lacking without bringing in the issue of the Salafi tribesmen, jihaddis and the fatwa publicized by the defense ministry.

Another one

Equilibri.net (01 August 2007)

The Zaydist rebellion

In less than a month the truce between the government of Sana‘a and the group of Zaydists barricaded in the mountainous region of Sa‘ada, North of the country was broken. The agreement, reached under mediation from Qatar, required rebels to deliver weapons and prisoners under their possession in exchange for impunity, and, for the leader of the group, a golden exile in Doha. Abd al-Malik al-Houthi’s men have nonetheless failed to respect the agreements, putting the government at fault for proceeding with attacks on their settlements. In practical terms, it is increasingly difficult for the two sides to arrive at a common agreement, given that either side has been seeking to annihilate the other.

In Yemmen, 15% of the country’s 20 million people belongs to Zaydism, one of the three main branches of shiite Islam and almost exclusively present in the country. The region of Sa‘ada is the stronghold of Zaydists, who have been in power uninterruptedly for almost a thousand years up until 1962, when a coup d’etat saw the country pass into the hands of a military government. In the current context, rebels are fighting for their region’s independence and for the recognition of their own rights, mainly in response to ardent discrimination but also with the further aim of rendering the government inactive. On the other hand, government forces have been trying to eliminate pockets of shiite resistance, seen as the only obstacle to a neo-Salafist takeover in Yemmen. Authorities have been noticed for their strong Islamic conservatism, harking back to Wahhabist and Salafist tendencies, openly hostile to shiites. At the same time, and in an apparent contradiction, the government of President Ali Abdullah Saleh is also one of the closest allies of the US government, especially in light of the latter’s anti-terrorism campaign following 9/11. The two countries’ strategic alliance is lambasted by the rebels, who criticise the government for submission vis-à-vis conflicts with the West. As a matter of fact, the offensive carried out by Sana‘a, in repressing the Zaydist minority, seems to be a rather factious affair and has left the impression of hiding specific, elitist interests under the umbrella of the “war on terror”. In such a conflict of interests, the United States has turned a blind eye to ideological extremism practised by authorities in the Yemmeni government against shiites, whilst accusing Iran of orchestrating attempts to destabilise Yemmen. As such, the country runs the risk of falling into the hands of a rather authoritarian and fundamentalist regime with a Salafist veneer, while ironically becoming one of the main targets of the war on terror and a fertile ground for jihad.
Nepotism, clientelism and internal jihad

At the helm of the Yemmeni government stands President Saleh, admitted into power in 1978 and re-elected in 2004 with nearly 97% of suffrage. Nepotism characterises umpteen relations at state level, to such an extent that army forces are almost completely composed of relatives and contacts close to the head of state. Furthermore, Yemmen is a region where tribal power is still predominantly robust, and no different from Arab tradition, whereby many influential and important tribe leaders are instituted into power, following a logic of clientelism that resemble the feudal system. Some of the most important positions in the military, legal, and secret services are dominated by a conservative mentality. In an internal war that has continued for three years now, the assault to the settlements of al-Houthi’s troops has been led by General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, a figure supposedly linked to the President’s family and accused of recruiting men into Bin Laden’s network in the 1980’s, when Bin Laden himself took refuge and organised actions in Yemen.

Saleh has likewise resorted to using well-trained, expert members of global jihad (with combat experience in Bosnia, Chechnya and Afghanistan, as well as currently in Iraq), such as he did in 1994, when militants were flung up against southern socialist independence fighters, labelled apostates. In an act that closely resembles a fatwa (a religious edict), the Minister of Defence issued a call authorising the use of violence against shiites in his own personal webpage. The country’s dilemmas seem to have brought it to an internal state of jihad, along the same lines of other occurrences in the Middle East. Rebels have taken refuge in the mountains, where they fight against government forces in guerrillas, whilst the government has decided to cut all means of communication in the region, including the blocking of mobile phone services. Yet, such a conflict is not only increasing the chances of an ensuing humanitarian crisis – the isolation and collapse of the Sa‘ada region’s main economic activities, such as local trade and agriculture, suggest just that – but also preventing the region from being receptive of any aid that may come to be necessary. At the same time, the government has left itself out of the region, making it more difficult to monitor and intercept communication between al-Houthi’s bases. Among a host of other problems faced by the administration is the diffusion of weapons among the population. Since the end of the civil war in 1994, it is estimated that 60 million firearms (most of which AK-47 assault rifles), are in the hands of tribes acting parallel to state power.
Operations in the Middle East

Accusations of Sana‘a’s government against Teheran, for harbouring Zaydist warriors in the North of the country, are not entirely unconvincing. As a matter of fact, one can observe a renewed conflict between Iran and Saudi Arabia over hegemony in the Muslim world. The battle has been fought on a number of fronts, with different alliances and tactics, and Yemmen serving as a potential piece of the puzzle in the internal conflict between Muslims. A deep schism is evident between sunnis and shiites in Iraq, the same way that the relevance of outside influences in the country is no less negligible nor responsible for surveilling the country’s segregation. Countless times have the United States labelled Iran as the principal commandant and supporter of shiite militias wreaking havoc in what is already a martyred territory in Iraq, performing vindictive acts of violence against the sunni portion of the population, more so than against foreign troops. In that respect, Teheran’s objectives for the region are clear: to expand their sphere of influence rather than fight foreign “invaders”, such as the sunni insurgency has been more dedicated to doing.

In Lebanon, Iran has a weighted influence in the power of Hezbollah and has been successful at keeping the country under its reach for years. In a recent resurgement of sunni fundamentalism, inspired on al-Qaeda, such as Fatah al-Islam, shiite militantism has not gone unabated. A number of intelligence sources confirm that groups such as Fatah-al-Islam have been created and established in Lebanon with the support of Riyad. Still in Yemmen, as conflicts re-emerge between the government and the shiite minority, a new terrorist attack in the touristic site of al-Marib has been attributed to the work of al-Qaeda. Again, it is difficult to make out a possible sunni response to shiite ambitions. Al-Qaeda, or rather the group of movements that consider themselves as such, seems to have shifted increasingly towards the West, in the Maghreb region, where a real terrorist threat is more likely to take hold (and has already done so a number of times, as is evident in recent attcks in Algeria, arrests in Tunis, and disorder caused by a number of suicide bombs in Morocco). It seems as though such movements have moved further and further away from the influence of Teheran and the shiites. In addition, Saudi Arabia’s shiite minority, located atop oil-fields in one of the country’s wealthies regions, pose a threat to the central government. There is, furthermore, a host of predominantly shiite countries like Bahrain, where 75% of the population is shiite, and, in a more strategic position, Syria, Teheran’s ally par excellence. Conflicts in Yemmen are hence intricately intertwined with transversal alliances across the region.
Conclusions

Yemmen is a new territory ravaged by internal conflict between a shiite minority and oppressive government forces. The government accuses rebels of wanting to give birth to a theocratic state along the lines of Iran and has obtained full support from Washington and Riyad in trying to obliterate al-Houthi’s rebel militias. By pledging their support, the US risks supporting a much more dangerous kind of fundamentalism than that of Zaydists (which, among the traditional variants of shiism, is in theory the most moderate and least inclined towards political and religious extremism). One possible scenario is for the country to arrive at a similar situation to Lebanon’s, where anti-shiite forces may lose control and end up putting the country on the road to fundamentalism, inspired by Salafist ideals.

26 Septemper News

SANA’A, May 24, (26sep.net) – Deputy PM and Minister of Interior, Rashad Al-Alimi described President Saleh’s order to suspend military operations in Saada governorate as a historical one , and stressed on leaders of sabotage and terrorism in Sa’dah to respond to this decision.

In a press conference held today in the cabinet in the presence of Minister of Information Mr. Hasan Al-Laowzi said that Yemeni religious scholars are still in Saada governorate waiting for response from sabotage and terrorism leaders in some Saada’s directorates. He emphasized the security positions in Sa’dah governorate and its all directorates are absolutely under control of the armed forces and security in exception of three directorates: Al-Ghamr, Qatayer and Razeh for avoiding more victims and causalities among citizens, children and women as the terrorist elements used them as human shields.

He mentioned that when the terrorist elements in Sa’dah governorate collapsed, they (terrorist elements) sent a number of cells to conduct terror operations in the capital secretariat, of which one bombs exploded on 21 May in the eve of the National Unity Day and resulted in killing of one child and injured another, who still in the hospital, adding that the security forces have put out of action of five explosive charges during the late hours of 21 May in the eve of the National Unity Day which may be resulted of several causalities and victims.

He said the terrorist elements send sabotage elements to the capital secretariat to carry out sabotage and terror acts against innocent children and women, where they put explosions in mobiles and devices boxes used in the public gardens and places visited by children and women.

Iran and Libya of Sa’dah events

Minister of Interior and Vice Prime Minister, Rashad Al-Alimi unveiled that the security apparatus had controlled Iranian elements involved on criminal acts and drugs trafficking in Yemen, requiring Iranian government to express and define its stance of Sa’dah events. On the other hand, he appreciated Libya late stance of Sa’dah events.

Activity of Drugs Trafficking

He asserted that investigations have been proved the link of terrorist elements with the drugs trafficking to Saudi Arabia.

He said Yemen during last two years 2006 and 2007 have be enabled to control tons of drugs directed to the Gulf and the Arabian peninsula, especially the Kingdom of Saudia Arabia.

Al-Alimi added there is a close cooperation and coordination with the KSA in fighting drugs. He mentioned the drugs trafficking have been activated during the last six months and many drugs traffickers have been arrested and introduced to trial.

He hinted the drugs traffickers across Yemen-Saudi borders, especially in Sa’dah and Hajjah governorates have a link with the insurgents in Sa’dah governorate.

He mentioned the security apparatus have evidences and proofs that terrorist elements have drugs and used it for funding the sabotage acts and carried out attacks in Sa’dah.

In a videotape and pictures, the minister presented a large quantity of drugs controlled three days ago by the security apparatus in Ammran governorate, which it was directed to Sa’dah governorate.
He went on the activity of drugs trafficking during last six months because insurgents in Sa’dah governorate controlled most parts of areas of Yemeni-Saudi borders.

Security Proliferation

Al-Alimi explained the fifth phase of the security proliferation plan will be inaugurated next July, which will cover all the rest of directorates in the Republic to safe highways and roads

In the government strategy of removing weapons sources, Al-Alimi clarified that weapons considered an essential problem for threatening stability and security in Yemen.

In this regard, the National Defense Council was held a meeting headed by president Saleh and took a historical decision to collect the heavy, middle weapons and firecrackers in the property of Yemeni citizens.

There are pledges from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States to support the project of disarmaments, not for Yemen safety but for safety all the region, Al-Alimi said.

The government was made a brave order to halt all weapons sale shops and markets and a field committee made a visit to all the governorates to ensure of closing such weapons shops, Al-Alimi said.

African Refugees to Yemen

Al-Alimi pointed out that the problem of refugees from African Horn to Yemen is due to that Yemen has 2400 km coastline, the matter which many efforts have been exerted to safe sea borders and prevent infiltrating and smuggling.

The coastguards plan will end in 2010, through which the government will complete during next three years all procedures pertain to protection of Yemen coastline whether relate to radars network or security control center or pavement that protect Yemeni coastline, Al-Alimi pointed out.

Source: 26 September Net

Idiot, there’s no US troops in Sa’ada.

The internationalization of the conflict grows as a variety of regional players try to frame the conflict to their own advantage.

Sana’a, NewsYemen

The Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has said that Yemeni and US forces “are committing human rights violations in Saada” where confrontations between al-Houthi supporters and the army are ongoing.

Al-Sadr, who is the leader of Mahdi army in Iraq and after hiding four months ago, called the United Nations, the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Conference to intervene to stop violations in Saada which he said reached the use of “prevented weapons”.

Al-Sadr statement came after Yemen accused Iranian religious institutions of giving financial support to Shiite rebels who have been fighting government forces in northern Yemen.

We know that rebels receive funds from some Iranian religious institutions,” Interior Minister, Rashad al-Alimi told reporters Thursday.

Authorities accuse al-Houthi of trying to “invent relationship between what is happening in Iraq with events in Saada to get external support”.

On May 13, the Yemeni newspaper Ray News reported that fugitive terrorist Jaber Elbaneh (Jabr Al-Banna) surrendered to Yemeni authorities. That’s the good news; the bad news is that its almost two weeks later and the FBI hasn’t been able to confirm he’s in custody.

Elbaneh is among the FBI’s most wanted terrorists. He was charged with providing material support to a terrorist organization and conspiring to provide material support to Al-Qaeda in a 2003 federal criminal complaint unsealed in Buffalo, New York. Elbaneh reportedly trained at the al-Farook training camp in Afghanistan along with six other Yemeni men from Lackawanna, New York. The six pleaded guilty on terror related charges in 2003, and received sentences ranging from seven to ten years.

Elbaneh never returned to the US and in 2002, was reported to be in Yemen along with another American from Lackawanna Kamal Derwish. An Al-Qaeda operative, Derwish at the time was the only American known to have attained a position of authority in al-Qaeda. Derwish was killed by a CIA-fired Hellfire missile in Yemen in November 2002 along with Yemeni al-Qaeda chief and Cole bombing suspect, Qaed Salim Sinan al-Harethi.

In 2006, Jaber Elbaneh’s uncle Mohammed was convicted of illegally transmitting millions of dollars to Yemen. In a plea deal, Mohamed Albanna was sentenced to five years imprisonment and three years supervised release. Another of Jaber’s uncles, Mohammed’s brother, Ali A. Albanna received a sentence of 56 months imprisonment and two years supervised release.

At the time, US Attorney Terrance P. Flynn noted that Ali A. Albanna admitted in his plea agreement that in March of 2002, he handled a money transfer from Yahya Goba (one of the Lackawanna six) in New York to Kamal Derwish in Yemen. ( Goba recently testified in the trial of Jose Padilla, describing for the prosecution the al-Farook al-Qaeda training camp that the US charges Padilla attended.)

Jaber Elbaneh was reported in custody of the Yemeni authorities in 2004. Yemen never officially responded to US requests to hand Elbaneh, an American citizen, to US custody.

In 2006, Elbaneh escaped from a maximum security prison in Yemen’s capital along with 22 other high level al-Qaeda operatives. Eight who turned themselves after negotiations in were later released. The US offered forensic assistance to the Yemeni government after four of the escapees were killed in a “thwarted terror attack” and their remains “strewn all over the place” according to an official statement by the Interior Ministry. The offer was not accepted US officials reported at the time. One of the escapees, Yaser Al-Humaikani, was killed in Abian in January 2007 after a random identity check sparked a shoot-out.

Considering Elbaneh is an American citizen, its surprising the Yemeni regime hasn’t let US representative go take his fingerprints. Meanwhile hope springs eternal: “We certainly do hope he is caught,” FBI spokesman Richard Kolko said Monday.

International Press Institute

YT

The Yemeni press is one of the most boisterous in the region and journalists regularly voice criticism of authorities and cover hard-hitting issues. The diversity of the press is threatened, however, by a crackdown in recent years that has seen a number of journalists pay dearly for exercising their watchdog role. The authorities have stepped up their interference with national media by closing down newspapers and harassing journalists. Security forces employ covert and underhanded methods to intimidate the press, and a number of violent attacks have been reported. Attacks on journalists are rarely investigated by the police, meaning that perpetrators are often free from judgment or justice for their crimes. (Read on …)

article from the ruling party’s website

Almotamar.net – Local sources in the governorate of Saada said Thursday that terrorist elements, followers of Abdulmalik al-Houthi, took advantage of the halt in military operations to continue their attacks on citizens who refuse to cooperate with them. They have assassinated Sheikh Abdullah Ahmed Muawadh and wounded other citizens in the district of Safraaa after they sneaked to their houses at night.

The sources told almotamar.net that five terrorist elements last night killed sheikh Muawadh in his house in Damaj area, Safraa district and a number of citizens were injured in clashes with those elements while trying to enter houses in the village. The sources did not mention about the fate of those elements because stark darkness but said they were strongly confronted by inhabitants of the village.

On the other hand other local sources told almotamar.net that security men captured a person in the district of Manbah carrying 5kg of drugs and who it was later revealed he is one of terrorist elements. The sources added that the person Al-Aksar was arrested in the wake of suspicions by security men who were in a patrol nearby the district centre that he is one of the terrorists. The moment he was caught they found out he was carrying a quantity of drugs he was intending to take them to terrorists he has been retained and drugs confiscated.

An official source at a forward operation room in the north-western military area in Saada earlier announced implementation of president Ali Abdullah Saleh’s directives on suspending military operations in Saada beginning from last Monday to give the terrorist elements an opportunity to surrender themselves and their medium and heavy weapons to the state in implementation of decision taken by the National Defence Council and statement of Yemen scholars.

Surrender or die

YO: A committee of scholars dedicated to ending the war up in Sa’ada arrived there Saturday, carrying a message for the al-Houthi rebels. “We will try to convince the rebels to surrender and lay down arms and stop the war against the camps of the state,” said the Minister of Endowment and Guidance, Hamoud al-Hitar. The committee was formed last week, at the end of a conference to come up with solutions to the four-month armed conflict between the government and Shiite rebels in the north.

The conference formed the committee to follow up the implementation of its recommendations and findings. The final statement of conference said the conference would continue to be held until the rebellion is eradicated and life in the Sa’ada province gets back to normal. The committee includes al-Hitar; Abdul-Majeed al-Zindani, the Islah leader; Mohammed al-Hajee, the president’s advisor; Mohammed al-Mansour and Hamoud al-Moayyad, scholars in the Zaidi faith, and others. Abdul-Majeed al-Zindani’s office said that he was not actually a member of the committee, despite official announcements.

Committee member Abdullah al-Sheikh said that if the rebels refuse the invitation of the scholars to lay down arms, they would go to all of the villages and cities to clarify the truth for the people and to rally people against this armed rebellion. (Read on …)

Very funny. This site is blocked in Yemen. Wimps.

YO Yemen is one of 25 countries currently blocking various websites for political or social reasons, says a new study by OpenNet Initiative. Internet filtering in the Republic of Yemen is relatively broad in scope, with pornography a principal target, according to the study. Despite the wide range of content censored, however, the depth of filtering in Yemen is inconsistent; many users of Yemen’s primary Internet service provider are not filtered when the user-licensing quota in the filtering software agreement is exceeded.

The OpenNet Initiative is a collaborative partnership of four leading academic institutions: the Citizen Lab at the Munk Centre for International Studies; the University of Toronto; the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School; the Advanced Network Research Group at the Cambridge Security Programme, University of Cambridge; and the Oxford Internet Institute, Oxford University. The study examined Internet censorship in a total of 40 countries. In Yemen, no one denies that pornography websites are blocked. The Minster of Telecommunication Kamal al-Jabri said that sex websites are filtered because of the religious nature of our society.

“This is normally done according to our traditions and religion,” said the al-Jabri. “I cannot say that we blocked all the porn websites 100 percent but I can say that we do it regularly,” he said. “Almost 70 percent of the websites blocked were porn, according the demands from the people and the religious scholars of mosque,” said Hassan Amer, who is responsible for public relations in the Ministry of Telecommunication. “We have banned these websites,” he said. “Commercially speaking, if we open the Internet, we will gain more money because more people will use the Internet, but because this censoring is the demand of the society, we have to do it,” he said.

“But, there are some who can get through and I can not deny this because each day, 30,000 new porn websites are made and we can follow them as soon as we go to them.” Of course, the fact that the government feels a need to ban these websites suggest that it does not trust the Yemeni people to stay away from them on their own. If these sites were not banned, perhaps Yemenis would not be able to resist them, one can logically conclude from their stance. Unethical websites are the only ones to be closed, said Amer Haza’a, the general manager of YemenNet, the public company responsible for providing Internet services.

“These are sensitive topics that hurt anyone’s religion, country, and society. We are closing the websites to protect our kids,” he said. He said that the medical websites are not blocked, as the ministry checks the websites to make sure of that. But there was a split in opinion when it came to political websites. The owners of the websites; alshora.net, the mouthpiece of the Public and Democratic Union Party, Nass Press, and eshtraki.net, the mouthpiece of the Yemeni Socialist Party say that all of those sites are blocked. The Yemen Observer checked their claims, and found that both alshora.net and eshtraki.net were blocked. Nass Press is currently not blocked.

But the Nass Press website was stopped temporarily for about 15 days during the run-up to the presidential election last fall. “It was stopped because our website covered the accident of the death of many people in Ibb during the rally of the president Ali Abdullah Saleh,” said Abdul-Basit al-Qaedi, the manger editor of the Nass Press website. Al-Shoura.net has been stopped since the election, said Mansour al-Jaradi, a member in the editing staff. “This website launched in 1991 and it is still not running until now; this is on orders from high authorities.” Eshtraki.net was more recently blocked.

“It was blocked from last Wednesday because it covered the events in Sa’ada,” said Mohammed al-Maqaleh, the deputy of the head of the media bloc of the Yemeni Socialist Party. “I personally accuse the President Ali Abdullah Saleh for ordering others to block their website,” he said. He said that the Minster of Telecommunication has no authority to do this, and so orders to block his site must be coming from higher political authorities. “The people in the Ministry of Telecommunications are liars, because they are responsible for blocking sites,” said Dr.Yassin Sa’eed No’aman, the secretary general of the YSP. “The authority is responsible for this. (Read on …)

Student union leader beset by gang of thugs from stooge student union, called the Freedom Committee:

SANA’A, May 20 – Ridhwan Masoud, head of Sana’a University’s General Union for Yemeni Students, said Thursday that a group of students attacked him and threatened to kill him after a dispute about including some articles in the upcoming Rights and Freedoms Directory.

In a statement to local news web site NassPress.com, Masoud alleged that Mohammed Al-Ba’adani, head of the student union’s Freedoms Committee, attacked him with the help of more than 20 others after destroying some union property. “They also threatened to kill me in front of students,” he added.

According to Masoud, Al-Ba’adani wanted to include in the directory some articles prepared by the union’s committee. “When I refused to include the articles, Al-Ba’adani suddenly attacked me and threw a cup of tea in my face,” Masoud recounted.

The proposed articles stipulate that security authorities can intervene in student activities and stop any peaceful demonstration or expression on the university campus.

The alleged incident occurred a few days after the student union announced its solidarity with university teachers in their strike seeking to implement 2005’s Wages and Salaries Law No. 43.

Masoud accuses influential figures within the General People’s Congress, Yemen’s ruling party, of trying to cripple the union’s activities, but affirmed that it will continue defending students’ rights. A source at the student union holds university leaders responsible for the strike and called on the university’s president to resign.

The Sana’a University Staff Members Syndicate further accused university leaders of politicizing academic and administrative positions and linking appointments to political affiliation rather than capability and eligibility.

Additionally, Masoud denied reports on the ruling party web site almotamar.net that he attacked Al-Ba’adani.

The web site reported Thursday that Masoud attacked Al-Ba’adani, a member of the ruling party, at Sana’a University and that the student union’s executive office had decided to suspend Masoud as a result.

Al-Sahwa

May 22,207 – Hundreds citizens in al-Dhalie and other Yemeni cities province protested against price hikes, lifting black banners on the same day of the Yemeni unification anniversary.

The protesters denounced growing prices and declined living standards, slamming the government policies of poverty.

The protesters said that the Central Security Forces opened up intensive fire in an attempt to prevent them of entering the main street of the city, however, they could do.

Yemen Times

SANA’A, May 23 — Yemen celebrated the 17th anniversary of its reunification amid varying challenges and tensions in several governorates.

Dozens of military and civil pensioners, along with their counterparts in Lahj, Aden and Abyan, demonstrated in Al-Dhale’ city, marching through the city streets and raising black flags to protest poor living conditions and price hikes.

The demonstration also witnessed extensive firing by security personnel in an effort to prevent demonstrators from reaching the main street. In their speeches, the event’s organizers pointed out that it aimed to draw the state’s attention to pensioners’ rights confiscated since 1994.

Likewise, hundreds of citizens from Abyan’s Al-Mahfed area blocked the main road linking Shabwa and Abyan governorates, denouncing what they described as authorities’ attempts to deny them their deserved rights, according to AdenPress web site. The blockade was led by Sa’eed Al-Shahtor, a former military commander in the South Yemen army.

Qathan is against erasing history.
Al-Sahwa

May 24, 2007- The member of the Joint Meeting Parties’ Supreme Council, Mohammad Qahtan Said that it is better to honor the ex-president of what was called the South Yemen and the vice president of Yemen after the unification, Mr Ali Salim al-Beed ,on the 17th anniversary of Yemen’s Unification .

“Mr. al-Beedh sacrificed his position as a president and stepped down from the presidency of a whole state which had its own flag, motto and was represented in UK” he added.

He said that amnesty has to be granted to Mr. al-Beed, as it was granted to the second figure of secessionists. (Read on …)

some kids are used to smuggle drugs

News Yemen The National Organization for Defending Rights and Freedoms, called HOOD, said that Yemeni laws that illegalize child trafficking and identify punishment against violators are not enacted and that some officials and MPs intervene not to be enacted.

The executive director of HOOD, Khalid al-Ansi, accused the government of encouraging people to join corruption in the country when it puts laws out of action and ignores violations.

“If the government wants to apply laws so it can do as it sends soldiers to people to pay taxes,” said al-Ansi.

Al-Ansi said as discussing a graduation research offered by student Imarat Sabra in a ceremony on the graduating of a new batch from the Media College, Public Relations Section, in Sana’a University that “some officials and members in the Parliament are involved in a mafia practicing child trafficking.” He did not give names.

But, the journalist Ahmad al-Qershi criticized media means that he said “circulate the so-called child trafficking”. He preferred to call it “illegal migration” or “escaping hunger to find decent life in somewhere else”.

Yemen does not suffer such horrible child trafficking like other countries, said al-Qershi. He said some media means do offer wrong numbers and refer information to unknown sources about the so-called child trafficking phenomenon.

The lawyer al-Ansi responded to al-Qershi as saying that taking a child by force, parents agree or not, is a crime and taking the child out of borders in illegal way is clearly human trafficking.

The number of children is not important, but the most important is that we face a phenomenon needs solutions, said al-Ansi.

The researcher Ali al-Buraihi also criticized al-Qershi and said the phenomenon exists and the solutions should be practical, not only sound bites.

I have conducted a field survey along with some colleagues to get facts about children trafficking and we have found that some parents had contracts with smugglers to take their children away to work outside the country, said al-Buraihi. He said that some children were used in drugs smuggling and other risky adventures.

The original fatwa, the recent last-chance-before-a-fatwa statement by the religious scholars, and the very traditional, tribal call to arms by Sheik al-Ahmar after a visit from President Saleh were all designed to increase popular participation in the war on behalf of the regime, however the 58,000 soldiers in the Republican Guard remain in Sana’a, with Saleh’s son Ahmed, who may be the ultimate and only winner in the war.

Gulf News: Sana’a: The state must fight the rebels in Sa’ada if they do not surrender themselves, said Yemeni religious scholars yesterday at the end of a conference that aims to end the four-month armed rebellion in the north. (Read on …)

But the Libyans they thank.

Almotamar.net – Deputy Premier, the Minister of Interior Dr RAshad al-Alimi announced Thursday that armed forces and security units completely control over all districts of Saada except three of them which forces avoid to advance on because the terrorists there are using the citizens as human shields.

The Interior Minister disclosed in a press conference held today that security men have caught Iranian elements involved in criminal acts and smuggling of drugs into Yemen, demanding at the same time the Iranian government to declare a clear stand concerning the events of Saada at the time he expressed Yemen’s appreciation of the recent Libyan stand regarding these events.

The minister also revealed that there are doctors and hospital attendants from Arab nationalities working with the rebellions in Saada, confirming that investigations proved relationship of the terrorists to drug-smuggling operations to Saudi Arabia.

On the other hand the minister revealed that security authorities defused five explosive charges terrorists planted in different places in the capital on the eve of celebration of the 17th National Day of the republic of Yemen.

YO

Libya condemns the terrorist acts of the al-Houthi rebels operating out of Sa’ada governorate in the north of Yemen, Libyan leader Muammar al-Qaddafi told President Ali Abdullah Saleh in a letter received on Saturday. The letter was handed over by Libyan Leader Special Envoy and Secretary of Foreign Affairs Suleiman al-Shuhumi. Al-Shuhumi clarified Libya’s position on what is happening in some areas of Sa’ada, saying, “We are with the stability of Yemen with President Ali Abdullah Saleh, with the Yemeni rule against any sectarian issue that affects the stability of Yemen, and we take this opportunity to emphasize that we have a strong relations, and it will not be affected by anything,” he said.

Qaddafi also expressed his congratulations to President Saleh on the 17th anniversary of Yemeni Reunification. “Libya’s support for the Yemeni government in facing the revolt in Sa’ada governorate, my country will back Yemen and all procedures that safeguard and protect peace and unification of Yemen,” Qaddafi stressed in his letter to the President Saleh. Qaddafi’s message also dealt with issues of common and Arab concern. He said that Yemeni and Libyan relations were experiencing constant development, mutual respect and great cordiality and fruitful cooperation between the two brotherly countries.

“These relations were established in the 40 years since the September Revolution, and we always remember and never forget the Yemeni support to Libya,” al-Shuhumi said. “We condemn any rebellion or attempt to seize power by the way of non-democracy and non-ethics of Yemeni people,” al-Shuhumi said. “We constantly stress that we are with the law and close solidarity with liberal democracy followed in all countries, and therefore we condemn any attempts of the rebellion.” Al-Shuhumi said that the Libyan leader was keen to support the stability of Yemen and its unity, security and safety of its people and its regime.

“Libya has always stood with Yemen and it has always supported the unity of Yemen,” he said. President Saleh conveyed to the Libyan official a reply letter to Qaddafi, expressing Yemen’s fixed stance in developing its relations with Libya. “Even if there are differences between the two countries in some issues,” said Saleh, “Yemen condemns and refuses any personal abuse of the Libyan leadership or any Arab leadership in general.”

With aid of firm in California

Engineering News Record: Acting on endorsements and pledges of land from the president of Yemen and the president of the African nation of Djibouti, a Dubai-based developer has tapped an American firm to build a bridge across the Red Sea.

Middle East Development LLC on April 25 issued a notice-to-proceed to Noor City Development Corp., Napa, Calif. It authorizes Noor City, as sole agent, “to proceed with the planning, development, construction and management of the bridge between Yemen and Djibouti.”

MED is chaired by Tarek M. Bin Laden. His second-generation company, a powerhouse of construction in the Middle East, labors under the dark reputation of Bin Laden’s notorious half-brother, Osama Bin Laden. While Osama’s name is an anathema to much of the world, the greater Bin Laden family has a long history of driving major construction and development in the region. Its work continues today with signature projects throughout the region. Tarek Bin Laden turns aside questions about his half brother, saying he has no contact with him and no knowledge of his whereabouts.

The newly formed Noor City Development Corp. is led by Tariq E. Ayyad, president. Ayyad is also president of ShareChive LLC, San Francisco, a technology firm with patented systems for delivering constantly refreshed project data to mobile computers on jobsites, with an emphasis on highway and large infrastructure. Ayyad is an American of Kuwaiti extraction, a civil engineer, construction manager and a former bridge engineer with the California Dept. of Transportation.

Ayyad says MED’s goal is to create economic opportunity and stability on both sides of the Red Sea by tying in the bridge to new rail and road construction hubs and networks in Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.

“MED is a developer. They want to create jobs, they want to move products,” Ayyad says. “It is very, very critical to connect the African nations and their products and crops right to the Middle East. The Middle East is extremely wealthy in money and oil, but we lack quite a lot of crops and services.”

Noor City is forming an international commission to refine concepts for a design/build/operate/transfer concession to create the rail and highway crossing. Concepts developed by Danish engineering firm COWI envision a 28.5 km crossing with a suspension span over the Bab al Mendab Straits.

Phase I will likely be a 3.5 km leap to the Yemeni island of Perim and a 4 km land link to the western channel. Phase II may be broken into several contracts for the 21.5 km transit to Djibouti, which will include 13 km of suspension bridge and 8 km of girder bridge. Cost is estimated at between $10 billion and $20 billion, depending on design, project organization and financing. Construction would take seven to nine years.

“If you open up to this [transportation system that provides access into the heart of Africa] then you can create jobs by moving products, moving services,” Ayyad says. “You can ignite economic development just by the transportation element. The bridge is really critical.”

Apparently the plan is to leave the GPC and half co-opted Islah and maybe let the Salafis form a new party while dissolving the PFU (after al-Haq, the other Zaidi party, was recently disbanded). The article also threatens the YSP. President Saleh’s GPC operates in a largely technically criminal manner and permits opposition only as long as it is not threatening to the underlying configuration of power:

Almotamar.net – Legal sources and offices close to Political Parties and Organisations Affairs Committee (PPOAC) mentioned Saturday that there is presently serious consideration of dissolving the Union of People’s Forces Party owing to discovering of examples of forgery in lists of names the party had presented to the PPOAC as founders of the party.
(Read on …)

Opinion article from the Yemen Times:

he political regime in Yemen seems to be in hot water with regards to the fighting with al-Houthi rebels in the northern governorate in Sa’ada. It has been trying its best with clerics of the Zaidi sect to issue a statement condemning the war in Sa’ada and calling for rebels confrontation.

It has tried to get Sheikh Abdullah Bin Hussein al-Ahmer involved and pushed him to call the tribes of Sa’ada, according to the accustomed tribal mores, to join hands and fight the insurgents. However, the consequence was terrible as the tribes of Sa’ada put al-Ahmer in a fix and embarrassed him when they said in a letter to him that they would like him to thwart the harassments they are going through at the hands of the government troops and their fellow tribesmen backing them up. This letter shows that it is not only al-Houthi supporters who are fighting against the government troops and that some tribesmen are involved.

Again, last week president Saleh mandated the clerics of Yemen to find a way out for this headache of Sa’ada fighting. But, he failed to get a final religious edict to legitimize a war against al-Houthi rebels based on religious ground. In their statement, the clerics who gathered around in a 2-day conference decided to give al-Houthi fighters another chance to let their arms and live peacefully.

But, it is really dangerous that the state gives the whole responsibility to others to sort out such a serious problem that has been there since 2004. It entails unawareness to the grave consequences of such an unclear policy towards the question of the war in Sa’ada.

I understand there is a tremendous growth and expansion for the Salafia movement and their supporters who are given an official patronage these days; these people are very much radical in their views towards al-Houthis and the Shiite groups at large to the extent they name them in their mosque sermons infidels and are on tenterhooks to have a green light to launch a religious war against these people.

It is really dangerous that the political regime hands such a serious issue to a group of clerics to handle. Some might allege that this is a tactic by which the government then claims it has tried all possible ways to nip this problem at the bud but the rebels gave deaf ears to all initiatives and thus it has the right to crack them down. Such kind of offers by the government to the rebels gives an impression that this is a signal of weakness rather than strength.

I believe rebels have been outlawed and all do oppose their use of arms to the fight the government. Therefore, it is the task of the government and not the clerics or tribesmen to sort out the problem with al-Houthis. It is fine that they can take the advice of the clerics or tribesmen but they can never be the main players. I would prefer that the government has involved also the political parties and civil society organizations in any talk on the problem of Sa’ada to get their feedback on how it can be worked out. It is really dangerous that the state gives up its responsibility to others as this is a signal of its weakness which might incite more tumult here and there.

Thats odd. You would think the regime would let some US official come take a peek at him. He is a US citizen after all. Kinda reminds me of when the regime turned down the US offer of forensic assistance after the thwarted bombings when the bodies of the bombers who were escaped prisoners were “strewn all over” according to the Interior Minister.

So the year of negotiation paid off in the end. I wonder how the talks with al-Reimi and al-Badawi are coming.

WASHINGTON (AP) – 1 of the FBI’s most-sought terrorism suspects has surrendered to authorities in Yemen, more than a year after tunneling out of a prison there.

That’s according to a spokesman for the Yemeni Embassy today.

Jaber A. Elbaneh lived in Lackawanna, New York, before leaving to train at Osama bin Laden’s al-Farooq training camp in Afghanistan in 2001. That’s according to a federal indictment in Buffalo.

6 of his traveling companions – dubbed the “Lackawanna Six” – returned to the United States and were arrested in September 2002.

Authorities believe Elbaneh never returned to the United States and instead traveled to his native Yemen to live with his wife and children.

A spokesman for the Yemeni Embassy in Washington said in an e-mail to The Associated Press that Elbaneh had surrendered.

The FBI can not confirm that Elbaneh is in custody.

They sound a little dubious. “We certainly do hope he is caught,” FBI spokesman Richard Kolko said Monday according to the AP.

The Yemen Times reported that, “As a condition for their surrender, security authorities said they wouldn’t prolong the sentences leveled against the two suspects, the newspaper (Ray News) added.” So what does this mean for Elbanegh who was never charged or tried in Yemen? Several of the escaped prisoners who previously surrendered were released immediately.

The Elbaneh Rewards for Justice page is still up and a round-up.

YO

The members and leaders of the Joint Meeting Parties met this week to express their happiness on the occasion of the 17th anniversary of national unity.But their pleasure in unification is currently overwhelmed by sorrowful feelings about the various problems currently facing the country, including the war up north in Sa’ada, and the absence of completion of many of the goals of unification, they said.The JMP’s celebration of national unity was held in Sana’a in the building of the Yemeni Socialist Party on Thursday, April 24.

The celebration was held under the slogan “Yemeni Unification is the Victory of the People’s Will, and the Means to Achieve Justice and Equality.” The celebration was attended by the leaderships of the JMP parties, the supreme council of JMP, the national opposition, parliamentary members, politicians and civil society organizations.“This celebration indicated and carried special feelings for this holy occasion. But this celebration is also full of corruption and hypocrisy. (Read on …)