Armies of Liberation

I love a good gif, these courtsey of Eagelspeak. Apparently this is the normal route for these size ships which are staying closer to the maritime security zone. But I had no idea that it was all pretty much off the coast of Yemen, not Somalia:

And another, UN free content:

This (UNOSAT) 3D perspective map illustrates the relative spatial density of reported pirate incidents in the Gulf of Aden for 2008 (current as of 21 November). Incidents that have occurred within 5km of the Maritime Security Patrol Area (MSPA) following implementation on 26 August 2008 are identified.

Al-Khaiwani was scheduled to speak on a panel called : Oblique Government Tactics that Impede a Free Arab Press when he was stopped at the airport. So this is one tactic: Not to let them travel. The rest of the Yemeni delegation has an impromptu sit-in in solidarity and none of them went. Its amazing how terrified the Yemeni government is of free speech. Poor al-Khaiwani gets targeted so much, he has his own category. The whole country is a giant prison.

SANA’A, NewsYemen

Yemeni National Security at the Sana’a International Airport on Sunday barred journalist AbdulKarim from heading for Cairo of Egypt to participate in a conference organized by the National Council for Human Rights in cooperation with the United Nations Human Rights Commissioner.

MP Shawqi al-Qadhi, lawyer Mohammad Naji Alaw, editor of al-Nida weekly Sami Ghalib, former chairman of the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate AbdulBari Taher and rights activist Afra’a al-Hariri were also barred to leave with al-Khaiwani. They condemned this “illegal” demeanor and staged a sit-in at the airport for hours.

Rights activists said the airport security’s behavior was a violation of laws and constitution as al-Khaiwani has been pardoned by President Saleh and all convictions against him have been canceled.

A source in the National Security said that banning al-Khaiwani from travel was on a request of the Passports Department at the airport.

Head of Yemeni Lawyers Syndicate, Abdullah Rajeh, said nobody has the right to prevent al-Khaiwani from traveling after he was given an amnesty for all charges against him.

The Arab Sisters Forum has condemned this “aggressive” action against al-Khaiwani who has become free after the president’s pardon.

Update: Tacky, they corrected it without noting the correction: Three of the seven men involved in an attack against the US embassy in Yemen in September were graduates of the Yemeni rehabilitation programme.

But at least we know the story is what we thought it was.

Original Post:
What? BBC sez: Three of the seven men involved in an attack against the US embassy in Yemen in September were former Guantanamo detainees who had gone through the Yemeni rehabilitation programme.

That’s the first I heard of that, there were 13 returned from Gitmo prior to Hamden. Three of the embassy attackers were returnees from Iraq. I haven’t read anything about the embassy attackers having been repatriated from Gitmo. I’m so not in the mood to start matching up names. This is a clerical error, yes?

Security forces are finding it harder to block out the news in Sana’a than it is in Sa’ada or Dhalie, but they’re trying.

Security assaults NewsYemen editor and other journalists

Security personnel on Thursday assaulted the editor of NewsYemen AbdulSatar Bagash for taking pictures in a massive rally in Sana’a against the upcoming parliament elections.

Bagash said the security personnel have opened fire on him and beat him with sticks and took away his camera as he was taking pictures outside the Ministry of Justice.

Chief Editor of NewsYemen, Nabeel al-Sufi, said the attack on Bagash and other journalists over covering a public protest means that police have received direct orders to violently deal with journalists as enemies.

Al-Sufi has urged the Ministry of Information to compensate Bagash and to return the camera and pictures. “We do not ask for punishment against security personnel but they should be informed that the camera is not a gun and Yemen has a press law which prohibits violence with press like treachery against the country,” said al-Sufi.

The first deputy chairman of the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate, Saeed Thabet, and other journalists from al-Ayyam daily, Yemen Observer, New Yemen news website and the Women Journalists Without Chains were assaulted during covering the protest.

YJS and the Women Journalists Forum has condemned assaulting journalists and said such practices do harm Yemen’s image and provokes violence and hatred.

More on the Sana’a demo at Yemen Post

Confrontations between security forces and demonstrators affiliated with the opposing Joint Meeting Parties (JMP) left 23 protesters injured, three in serious condition, as protesters were attacked by governmental forces. Governmental sources were forced at times to shoot bullets to the air to disperse protesters from the scene.

Despite the fact that security forces were armed with batons and armed, they blocked all the roads leading to Al-Tahrir, the supposed congregation place for the protest. The JMP gathered nearly eighty thousand of their followers in the protest and called for boycotting the forthcoming parliamentary elections due to be conducted in April 2009.

Journalists were also attacked while covering the protest, as seven journalists were injured. A number of journalists reported that their cameras were damaged and were verbally threatened by security forces.

Opposition sources revealed that 24 of demonstrators were arrested. Hours later, they were released.

As they were denied access to the congregation place, demonstrators marched through the streets of the capital protesting what they called attempted rigging of elections and the illegitimacy of the Supreme Commission for Elections and Referendum (SCER).

Democracy is suicide for dictators, so they just pretend to reform, then they open fire. What I don’t understand is why so many others are playing along with the charade.

This is a nifty article: As dangerous as terrorism, the rise of autocratic dictatorship is a grave threat to world peace, writes Ayman El-Amir in al-Ahram

As the phenomenon gains momentum, with varying degrees of resistance in most parts of the world, countries where the transition to democracy has been stymied may begin to experience violent instability. Dictators who come to power under unusual circumstances tend to experience the delusion of being “men of destiny” and assume the mantra of “the father of the nation”. A dictator’s coterie, whose fortunes are linked to the ruler’s continuity in power, feed him with the megalomaniac sense that his perpetuity in power is the salvation of the nation. They also fabricate a multitude of enemies that he has to ward off in order to protect the nation. Problems abound, fuelling the sense that a sitting president has to continue in power until all problems are resolved, or until he passes from life. (Read on …)

Republican decree appoints Yemen ambassador to Canada

[04 December 2008]

SANA’A, Dec. 04 (Saba) – Republican decree No. 288 for the year 2008 issued on Thursday appointing Khaled Mahfoudh Bahah ambassador of Yemen to Canada.

SANA’A, NewsYemen

The Democracy Reporting International (DRI), in cooperation with the Human Rights Information and Training Center (HRITC), released on Wednesday a report comprehensively assessing the electoral framework of Yemen. The report highlighted some shortcomings in the electoral system in Yemen and offered recommendations in light of the current political crisis between the ruling part and opposition. Here is an excerpt of the report:
The 2009 Elections: A Potential Step Backwards?

Elections for the 301 seats in parliament as well as local elections for 21 governorate councils and the 333 district councils are scheduled for April 2009. A new electoral commission has been appointed and election preparations are already underway yet there is still no political agreement on the rules for the election. (Read on …)

Reuters

Blast kills two militants in Yemen-security source 27 Nov 2008 10:24:17 GMT
Source: Reuters
ADEN, Yemen, Nov 27 (Reuters) – Two Islamist militants were killed in a southern Yemeni province on Thursday when explosives they were carrying on a motorcycle blew up accidentally, a security source said.

The two men were planning to attack an unknown target in the province of Abyan, where the blast took place, the source said without giving further details.

Earlier this month four Yemeni soldiers and a civilian were killed in clashes between suspected militants and government forces in Abyan.

The government has sought to clamp down on Islamist militants since the Sept. 11 attacks on U.S. cities in 2001.

Yemen has jailed scores of militants in connection with bombings of Western targets and clashes with authorities, but is still viewed in the West as a haven for militancy.

IOL

Sanaa, Yemen – Three people were killed and four wounded on Thursday when a bomb ripped through a minibus at a central bus station in Sanaa, a police official said.

“A bomb exploded on a minibus, killing three people and wounding four among the passengers,” the official said requesting anonymity.

The explosion took place at al-Hasba bus station.

The official said that police are investigating whether the bomb was a terrorist attack or motivated by tribal vengeance.