Armies of Liberation

Journalist al-Khaiwani is on trial as a terrorist for having war news; the real terrorists are roaming free. Abdulkarim Al-Khaiwani has been a perpetual target of the regime: arrested, beaten, threatened, kidnapped, death threats on his kids and jailed. He’s a real hero in today’s world. Also on trial you’ll note is a doctor who treated wounded rebels. When the regime cut off food, medicine, and cooking oil to the northern Sa’ada region from January through June 2007, apparently it became illegal for doctors to practice medicine. The “terrorists” referred to are domestic Shiite insurgents with no ties to international terror organizations.

Yemen Observer

The Sana’a criminal court, headed by Judge Mohsin Alwan, Trial began on Monday for a group of 15 people alleged to be the “second Sana’a terrorist cell.” Among the defendants are two women and a journalist.

In the hearing, the prosecution stated that the seventh defendant Ismael al-Shami received 4,000 Saudi Ryals from the Al-Houthi followers transferred through his mother to buy communication kits for the rebels. He has also been accused of donating $500 to the Al-Houthi movement.

The eighth defendant, Ali Ibrahim Ali al-Kohlani, confessed to having given medication to Al-Houthi followers of an estimated value of YR50,000.

Al-Kohlani is a physician at a military hospital and said in his confession that he is morally and ethically obligated to medically treat victims on both sides of any conflict. The confession of the eleventh defendant, a woman named Mona Ghalib, was read in court, stating that she had met Abdul-Karim al-Khaiwani a number of times. In one of the meetings she brought her nephew, one of Al-Houthi followers, who handed al-Khaiwani a flash disk containing information about the war in Sa’ada. (Read on …)

This kind of anarchy results from the fact that the entire leadership structure of Yemen’s security forces and military is in the hands of the president’s relatives who operate with impunity, and so do their associates, and their associates’ associates. And so it goes until things deteriorate to the point that a college security guard can walk into a police station, shoot a prisoner in the head, and then go dancing home to threaten the dead guy’s kid.

Yemen Times op-ed:

Salal al-Rawee was slaughtered like a goat at the hands of savage tribesmen at the criminal investigation office in Ibb Oct. 13. The irony is that the perpetrators are the head of the criminal investigation office at Thamar governorate, the security officer of Thamar University and a professor at the same university accompanied with a group of armed tribesmen. Exploiting their security positions, they managed to go through with their guns all security checkpoints stationed along the way from Thamar to Ibb governorate. They went into the criminal investigations office and asked for the defendant Salah al-Rawee. They camouflaged the security men at the office and when Salah was brought from his cell, they stabbed him with their Jambias or daggers and then shot him dead. Some managed to escape and go back dancing after this great victory, while others were arrested. Not only this, the tribesmen descending from al-Hadda in Thamar invaded the city of Ibb again and destroyed the small house of al-Rawee and continued threatening to kidnap his son. They also protested to demand the release of the murderers. (Read on …)

Yemen Times

Al-Sahwa

Retirees and jobless youths sue mosque preacher

The Coordination Council of Military and Civil Retirees’ Societies and jobless youth associations in the governorates of Aden, Dhale’, Lahj, Abyan, Shabwa, Mahrah and Hadramout, filed a lawsuit against Nasser Al-Shaibani, Preacher of Al-Janad Mosque for instigating security personnel to exercise violence against protestors while giving the Eid sermon, the weekly newspaper reported in its lead story. Filed by the defense-advocate Ali Mahmoud Al-Araziqi to Taiz Appeal Prosecution, the lawsuit demanded investigating the defendant Nasser Al-Shaibani for calling retirees disbelievers.

According to the newspaper, the suit included several charges against Al-Shaibani, who gave a fatwa permitting bloodshed of protestors and demonstrators, who claim their constitutional rights during the Eid sermon before President of the Republic. The retirees societies also threatened to sue a penal action against Al-Shaibani to the UN Security Council.

Same YT issue:

Fatwa against retired soldiers

Local sources confirmed that the associations of the military and civil retirees lodged a lawsuit against the former Endowment minister Naser Al-Shaibani who made Fatwa that retirees are disbelievers and not Muslims any more. This came in a lawsuit presented by the lawyer, Ali. Al-Azraqi to the court of appeal in Taiz province, where Al-Shaibani delivered the Eid’s sermon in Al-Janad Mosque.

Al-Azraqi said that this lawsuit incitement to murder retired soldiers . He also demanded the investigation with Al-Shaibani whose Fatwa resulted in killing four people and injuring another during the Radfan rally.

The lawsuit also discussed that Al-Shaibani in his Fatwa allowed bloodshed of those who protested and staged sit-ins. It further stated that Al-Shaibani considered the retirees’ associations as communistic and aesthetic, which attempt to Christianize and Americanize the Yemeni people.

Incitement among the southern military associations and the Yemeni authorities have caused worries and agitation in the southern provinces. The military retirees’ associations go into confrontations with the security forces as well.

The situation worsens day after day indicating the futile efforts made by president Ali Abdullah Saleh to contain the crisis aggravated more by the confrontations that occurred between the police and the protesters in Radfan on Wednesday. These confrontations ended by detaining some protesters, making the military retirees associations consider them as an insistence of the authority to exacerbate the crisis.

SANA’A, Oct, 28 — About 20,000 people marched in protest Saturday in city of Mukalla of Hadhramout province celebrating the 44th commemoration of the 14th of October revolution against the British occupation.

The Political Activities Coordination Committee (PACC) said in a statement that local authorities in the southern province of Hadhramout “a massive matchless public rally.”

The authorities in charge of Mukalla city stood against the rally earlier but retreated to avoid any possible confrontations. However, the PACC statement said that the authorities attempted to stop the rally by hiring some people who tried to “change the rally into a chaos and riots.” However, the local residents foiled their attempts, making it peaceful, the statement added.

For the second time, the authorities prevented Al-Jazeerah Satelite team from airing the rally. The team was not allowed to cover a similar rally held on 14 October in Radfan

According to the PACC, the security authorities detained Al-Jazeera team and cameramen and confiscated their cell phones after attacking them while they were in their hotel.

However, the chairman of the executive committee of the Joint Meeting Parties, JMP, in Hadhramout confirmed that the rally was successful, though the authorities attempted to cancel it.

Meanwhile, the executive committee of the JMP condemned preventing Al-Jazeera team from covering the event. It also denounced the detention of the Hadhramout Press Website editor. (Read on …)

No, he’s not. If he was, he’d put himself in jail, and his relatives:

SANA’A, NewsYemen : The government is not earnest to fight corruption which has become a real threat against development, said member of Anti-Corruption Parliamentarians Salim bin Talib.

“The financial corruption is widely spread out in the country and risks economic and social development,” said bin Talib. “Reports of the Central Organization of Controlling and Auditing and the admissions of officials in the government confirm this.”

Bin Talib praised the government’s steps such as forming the National Anti-corruption Authority and issuing the Tenders Law, but said such steps have been taken to meet international requests “not to really fight corruption”. (Read on …)

Empty Quarter has a lot of good expert analysis on Yemen in general and al-Badawi’s release in particular, including this gem:

Many news sources out their have al Badawi being “rearrested.” This is wrong on two accounts – first, and most egregiously, the statements from the Yemeni government never indicated that he was rearrested…they simply sought to redefine his current state of custody. Secondly, those sources obviously relied upon the Yemeni government’s English translation of their statement which says that al Badawi is “under arrest.” Technically, if you look at the Arabic versions of the article they all use the word ”محتجز” which is more accurately translated as “detained” (but can also mean anything from secluded to sequestered to isolated). the meaning of “Mohtajz” CAN INCLUDE HOUSE ARREST. If they wanted to say ”arrested” as in being in prison they would have used “عتقل” which cannot be used for house arrest, and is much more clear.

Yemen has released many terrorists in addition to Jamal al-Badawi. They defend this practice as a valid counter-terror strategy. This handly list from Jamestown demonstrates my point.

The Yemen Observer is owned by President Saleh’s press secretary, Faris Sanabani. This latest official version of the ever evolving story does not take into account that his relatives said they visited him at home and, according the the AP, other witnesses saw him in Aden.

ADEN – UPDATED: More that one security official at Aden Central Prison confirmed to the Yemen Observer that Jamal al-Badawi is in prison. The Yemen Observer’s Aden correspondent is on the ground attempting to gain access to the imprisoned al-Badawi for a brief statement. More updates will follow.

Jamal al-Badawi, a high-profile Al-Qaeda leader in Yemen, is in police custody, contrary to widespread media reports. Al-Badawi surrendered himself to authorities two weeks ago, according to a senior security official at the Yemeni Ministry of Interior.

The rumor that al-Badawi had been released and was being kept under effective house arrest after pledging allegiance to the authorities was denied by security officials in Yemen. A senior security official at the Ministry of Interior told Yemen Observer that al-Badawi had not been set free, nor was the sentence against him dropped as has been reported by US media.

Regarding the following International Herald Tribune article, first of all, the escape was in February 2006, but second of all, hasn’t the MSM figured out that “re-arrested” means “released” in Yemen? None of them are in jail.

IHT: Al-Badawi and 22 others, mostly al-Qaida fighters, escaped from prison in 2004. Only four are still at large while the others were either killed or re-arrested. He with nine other suspects of the Cole attack had escaped prison in April 2003, but was re-arrested.