Armies of Liberation

a traitor to the resistance, they say

Sahwa Net – Nearly 60 Yemeni lawmakers demanded on Saturday the Yemeni government to not receive what they called the outgoing Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas in Yemen, pointing out that he betrayed the Palestinian issue and conspire against the national resistance.

The deputies also asked the government to not receive any Yemeni assistance to all those Palestinian officials who stood against the resistance.

Kuwaiti lawmakers had urged their government to bar the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas from an Arab economic summit taking place in the Gulf state in protest at his stance over Israel’s offensive in Gaza.

Yemen Online

Former bodyguard for Bin Laden: I escaped from the intelligence prison through a tunnel we dug by spoons, and the new Al-Qaeda members are engaged in decentralized retaliatory
YemenOnline. January 31, 2009 – In an interview with Al-Quds Al-Arabi, former bodyguard of Sheikh Osama bin Laden’s – Fawzi Al-Wajeeh – talked about the organization of al-Qaeda in Yemen and Somalia.

His full story was covered during the interview, beginning with his enrolment to Al-Qaeda, his escape from prison through a tunnel dug by spoons, and his surrender to the President Ali Salih. Regarding integration into the community in exchange of abandonment of violence, he said ” the issue is not a matter of barter, but a question of convictions stemming from the experiences in the field of reality that we and the state have lived and experienced, and everyone arrived at the convictions of working towards the unity of the sons of one homeland” On Al-Qaida and the new generation, he said ‘there was central in the selection of targets, and I consider the youth of the post-September 11as a revolution of decentralized reprisals caused by American pressure on Arab governments, which generated a clash between them and these young people ‘.

(Read on …)

Trying to block the Saudi border. At least the Yemeni seciurity knows where all the smuggling routes are.

Terrorist plot for strikes at foreign interests in Yemen

Almotamar.net – Security source has Saturday told almotamar.net that Yemeni authorities have begun deployment of hundreds of soldiers in their border areas in precaution for infiltration of al-Qaeda members from neighbouring countries into Yemeni territories for implementation of a terrorist plot against foreign interests and vital installations in Yemen.

The source that asked not to be identified said these measures came in the wake of the Yemeni security authorities have obtained information on some elements of al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia attempting to infiltrate into the Yemeni territories in order to join colleagues present in Yemen and to launch joint terrorist attacks on vital installations and foreign interests in the country.

The source also disclosed of confessions made by persons suspected of affiliation to al-Qaeda organisation, among them Saudis with whom investigations are still going on, their confessions mentioned they receive logistic support from foreign parties for perpetrating their terrorist acts, particularly targeting the American and British embassies in addition to some tourist facilities and establishments in Yemen. The source declined to mention about the identity of those sides for reasons he said related to being connected to security measures.

Assistant OF THE Saudi Interior Minister Prince Mohammed bin Naif bin Abdulaziz Al Saud last week visited Yemen carrying a message from the Saudi Monarch King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz to President Ali Abdullah Saleh pertaining to bilateral relations and areas of coordination and cooperation especially in security fields and combating terror.

The Saudi official visit to Yemen came days after a blitz operation carried out by Yemeni security that involved armed confrontation with elements from al-Qaeda organisation cell and resulted in the killing of two members of the cell

Two Al-Qaeda suspects arrested.
YemenOnline. January 31, 2009 – The security forces in the governorate of Marib arrested two Al-Qaeda suspects, a Kuwaiti national named Yusuf Said Abdel Latif Aldhirbas and another Yemeni named Ali Said Al-Qared.
Meanwhile, a number of national observers were surprised at the failure of reconciliation efforts exerted by Shiekh Soltan Al-Aradah in Mareb Governorate.

Heavy military reinforcements arrived today to Al-Damasheqa area to demand the hand over of one of ten accused persons of being to Al-Qaeda members.

Update: YemenOnline March 24 – Yemeni security in Marib arrested a Kuwaiti citizen called Abdel Latif Aldhirbas .He leaved in Marib governorate for ten years as flock of sheep and camels. Official source assure that the security of Marib are conducting an investigation with Aldhirias, especially after having his Yemeni citizenship in illegal way and with some charges which are connected to Al Qaeda.

First, Zawahiri promises Saleh more fighters:

Long War Journal – Tensions between the Saleh government and al Qaeda increased after an al Qaeda assault team conducted a coordinated attack on the US embassy in Sana’a. “Saleh feared his government would be the next target, but Zawahiri wanted al Qaeda prisoners released from Yemeni jails and committed al Qaeda foot soldiers to fight the Houthi rebels. Zawahiri does not want to sour relations” between al Qaeda and Iran, “so he took great care by reaching out to the Iranians.”

Second, the Saudi branch of Al Qaeda merges with the Yemeni branch, and unrolls a media blitz.

Third, Zawahiri promplty acknowledges the new organization, AQAP.

WMRC : Al-Qaida groups in both Yemen and Saudi Arabia have announced their intention to merge operations, heightening fears about a resurgence of attacks in the region. The announcement was made in a video recording by al-Qaida’s spiritual leader Aymen al-Zawahri which was broadcast online yesterday, according to Al Jazeera network. Nasir Wuhaishi was named as the new head of the joint al-Qaida group, a former Guantanamo Bay inmate Said al-Shihri was named deputy of the group. According to the video recording, the group would carry out attacks across the Arabian Peninsula and beyond.

The only question here is how credible is the information that Zawahiri promised fighters to Saleh. Its coming from “a senior US intelligence official” according to The Long War Journal, which is a highly credible site. Some analysts in Yemen insist the AQAP merger must be regime-sanctioned, and they don’t know about the reports of a Zawahiri-Saleh agreement.

Saleh is under huge domestic pressure, of his own making. He needs US and Saudi support. From Saleh’s side, the last step in the sequence would be a politically advantageous terror attack or to unleash AQAP on his domestic enemies- the Houthis or the Southerners. Meanwhile al Qaeda central would take advantage of the situation to advance its long term strategy, as it has been doing all along, or shorter term goals.

That’s a freaky but not improbable scenario.

Update: Fourth, AQAP explains the strategy to its members and legitimizes fighting for the state by referencing the 1994 war.

The Empty Quarter notes the letter obtained by News Yemen from AQAP leadership to members says Saleh wants AQAP to fight for him, especailly those who did already in 1994, and AQAP demanded more prison releases and unimpeded travel to external theaters of jihad.

The letter seems like an explanation to make AQAP’s mercenary trade-off acceptable to the members by reminding them of the 1994 war when jihad for the state was “good (mercenary) jihad” and by showing members that AQAP will be getting a good deal in return. But it sounds like the Zawahiri deal hitting the streets.

Update: Releases, 11 with 170 to follow, later reports openly confirm this.

al Sahwa

Sahwa Net – Yemeni security forces released on Tuesday 11 al-Qaeda suspects who were held at al-Mansour prison in Aden , well-informed sources told Sahwa Net.

According to the sources, the release came following issuing official orders to the prison management , pointing out that these orders would include 140 prisoners charged with affiliation to al-Qaeda.

The sources also revealed that the freed persons pledged to abandon terror acts which could damage Yemen , its security and stability.

Yemeni security sources had declared last month that it managed to thwart escaping attempt from al-Mansoura prison, indicating that an underground tunnel was discovered inside the prison.

Just as an aside, the 2006 foiled plot on the oil facilities led by Wahishi came days after a Zawahiri rant about Crusaders and oil blah blah.

This poor guy al-Khaiwani gets targeted so much, he has his own catagory.Menassat

CAIRO, January 29, 2009 (ANHRI/IFEX) — The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) strongly denounces the 26 January 2009 decision by Yemen’s Special Terrorism Court upholding the initial sentence against prominent journalist Abdel Karim Al Khaiwani to six years in prison, originally leveled against him in June 2008. This decision is contrary to the presidential pardon the journalist received in September, and formal assurances from the Minister of Justice and other judicial officials that the case had been closed.

The court upheld the 6-year prison sentence against Al Khaiwani who was charged with being a member of a terrorist cell and part of the Al Houthi faction. According to Al Khaiwani, he had not been summoned to a court session and had not been notified that the trial was underway. Moreover, the court did not consider an appeal filed by the defense against the severity of the initial sentence passed on 9 June, despite the fact that the hearing had been documented by several local and international media. (Read on …)

Judge al Hittar is the Minister of Endowments in Yemen. He supposedly rose through the security ranks to become a judge and later began the religious dialog program in 2002, which in and of itself is a good idea. Judge al Hittar is a bit biased against Hashimites (shocker!) and thats why there was never any dialog with the Houthi rebels. In the dialog program with imprisoned al Qaeda operatives, al Hittar only discussed the non-acceptability of attacks within Yemen and going to Iraq for jihad was not actively discouraged. The program itself became an expedited release program, a charade of reform, and was discontinued in 2005. This is the guy who will be in charge of “rehabilitating” the Gitmo detainees. (In the 2006 escape, the 23 al Qaeda prisoners tunneled- with their spoons- to the ladies bathroom in a mosque where al Hittar preaches.)

The existance of a private prison is sad for a ministry that is supposed to be overseeing all things religious. Shame shame. However, private prisons are common. Powerful people have the authority to imrpison citizens without recourse, and Kudos to HOOD for taking a stand when a preacher was randomly thrown into this jail.

HOOD revealed a secret private prison inside the Endowment Minister facility after receiving a complaint from an ordinary person and then a team from HOOD lawyers went to follow up and pictured the prison.

Maher Mohammed Ismail Hebah, an orator and Immam of al-Ansar mosque, was apprehended yesterday “without knowing exactly his charges”, he said to HOOD lawyer Abdul-Rahman Barman.

News has come up before about private prison in the ministry, but was uncertain until it was realistically disclosed today, said Barman. “It is ironic that as you enter the building, ‘Smile, you are at the Endowment Ministry’ phrase caught an eye,” said Barman.

This prison is considered illegal because the ministry is not entitled to arrest anyone. “It is a crime to apprehend anyone without a judicial writ,” said Khaled al-Anesi, the executive Director of HOOD.

On other hand, the ministry imprisoned Hibah due to his apposing speech in his mosque aginst the ministry and the government, said Mohammed al-Hajj, the secretary of the Minister. He confirmed that there is no prison but detention for the problems that happen in the ministry. Al-Hajj said that the ministry has the right to arrest whoever create unrest. He added that the matter is simple, Hibah should bring a guarantor to get him released. Hibah is reported that he signed a statement that he committed to stopping talking in such manner.

HOOD sent a letter to the General Prosecution to visit the detention scene to close it and release Hibah. The team, who went to visit the place, is the lawyers: Mohammed al-Aroosi, Taha Farhan, Ahmed Arman and Abdul-Rahman Barman

via World Mag, an analysis from Stratfor.com I’m happy to see them note the subversion of parts of the security and military. But they are not all hold overs from the 1994 war, many jihaddists were integrated into the ruling apparatus in the last decade and the last several years. Co-option, lovely, I get it but there’s a tipping point where the jihaddists begin to co-opt the structures. We past that point a while ago. A jihaddi in a tie or a uniform is still a jihaddi. Also the article notes al Wahishi exploits in AQAP his stature and training from his association with bin Laden, but never broaches the idea of any current commication between the two. Nothing on the training and indoctrination the jihaddists have been receiving in Sa’ada. I dont mean to nitpick, its a very good article that covers a lot of ground well.

Like the Saudi node, the fortunes of other al-Qaida regional franchises have risen or fallen based upon ability of the franchise’s leadership. For example, in August 2006 al-Qaida announced with great fanfare that the Egyptian militant group Gamaah al-Islamiyah (GAI) had joined forces with al Qaeda. Likewise, in November 2007 al-Qaida announced that the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) had formally joined the al-Qaida network. But neither of these groups really ever got off the ground. While a large portion of the responsibility for the groups’ lack of success may be due to the oppressive natures of the Egyptian and Libyan governments and the aggressive efforts those governments undertook to control the new al-Qaida franchises, we believe the lack of success also stems from poor leadership. (There are certainly other significant factors contributing to the failure of al-Qaida nodes in various places, such as the alienation of the local population.) (Read on …)