Armies of Liberation

Yemen Times

Jamal Al-Sanabani, Deputy President of the Yemeni Laborers Union spoke to Ali Saeed from the Yemen Times about the nature of union work and the challenges that unions face. (Read on …)

Yemen Post:

Eighteen people were killed in clashes between two tribes in Amran governorate, northern Yemen, in the two days past.
Local sources in Amran said that the clashes were renewed lately between Harf Sufian and Al-Osaimat tribes after the failure of a number of local mediation efforts to put an end to the clashes.
Over 74 people, including women and children, have been killed in the conflict which remains ongoing using various weapons.
The conflict between Harf Sufian and Al-Osaimat tribes has erupted since November 2008, according to local sheikhs.
The tribes belong to powerful rival tribal coalitions, the Bakil and the Hashid.The conflict has its roots in the early 20th century with disagreements over land known as al-Sawad, bordering al-Osaimat and Harf Sufian areas.

YEMEN- Omer Salim Bawazir (AbuAlharith), 37, is among the handful of Hadramout’s scholars who has dialogued with some of the homegrown terrorists. Raised and educated in Saudi Arabia, Sheikh Bawazir proudly states that he was a student of prominent Saudi scholars like Bin Authaimian and Al-Jabreen. He is an imam of AlKhair mosque in Mukalla and the head of Rawabi Al-Khair for Development. (Read on …)

Of course the government blames the Houthis and the Houthis deny it. These are civilians killed after the last ceasefire, not during the five rounds of war. Normally the rebels target soldiers, while the Yemeni government has engaged in collective punishment targeting the civilian population, not to mention prolonged bombing campaigns in cities and villages.

( From the Yemen Times: Last Tuesday, four people were killed and a fifth one injured from the same family following a random bombardment launched by military units belonging to the First Armored Division. The attack was launched against citizens’ houses in Hasama villages believed to be loyal to the Houthis.)

Arab News SANAA: At least 338 civilians have been killed and more than 200 injured since the skirmishes between government forces and Shiite rebels renewed in the northwestern Yemeni province of Saada in 12 months ago, the Defense Ministry said on Thursday. (Read on …)

Yes thats true.

Reuters: Hassan Abu Taleb of the Al Ahram Centre for Strategic and Political Studies in Cairo said that despite Saudi fears, its puritanical brand of Sunni Islam had played a key role in creating a fertile environment for al Qaeda in Yemen.

“Over the last 20 years Yemen has been a launchpad for al Qaeda elements and some tribes in the centre of the country have blood and close links with al Qaeda elements,” he said.

“Yemeni judges now go to Saudi Arabia for training and come back filled with Wahhabi thoughts,” he added, referring to the austere Saudi school of Islam.

Boucek also said that though there was no unified Saudi policy to boost Sunni fundamentalism — known as Salafism — in its southern neighbour, Saudi Arabia played a role.

“The importation of Salafi extremists, funding of scientific institutes, return of Yemenis from Saudi, and the radicalisation process going on in younger Yemenis have all been problematic and have changed the ideological environment,” he said.

There seems to be several carloads of weapons floating around Yemen this week.

almotamar.net – Security sources confirmed Tuesday to almotamar.net that security apparatuses in Jaar district, governorate of Abyan in Yemen on Monday captured a car loaded with weapons intended to be transported to the terrorists led by a terrorist called Tahir Tammah.

The security sources mentioned that security men at Batis checkpoint in Jaar district seized the car loaded with weapons and explosives and was carrying a group of sabotage elements that in interrogation have confessed that the weapons and explosives shipment was meant to be delivered to the terrorist who leads them Tahir Tammah, indicating that the arrested elements have been sent to concerned authorities.

The Yemen Observer is usually more nuanced than the other stooge papers in spreading the regime’s propaganda, but this is the last line of the following article: All know that there is no political prisoner in Yemen and that those behind bars are those who committed acts and practices violating the law.

Anyway the YO article says the JMP formally announced the suspension of dialog with the GPC. (The JMP spokesperson Naif al-Qanis was later threatened with death in a car “accident” if he didn’t resign his post.)

Yemen may have seen its last election under the Saleh regime.

YEMEN – The Joint Meeting Parties (JMP) decided to officially suspend their dialogue with the General People’s Congress (GPC) until their demands are met, the war in Sa’adah is stopped, and all confrontations and conflicts in southern and eastern governorates are settled, said the JMP spokesperson. (Read on …)

Another significant criminal enterprise in Yemen, currency counterfeiting rings often overlap with drug and antiquities smuggling. This story is from the Yemen Observer:

Thirty traffickers of various counterfeit currencies have been detained since the beginning of July 2009 in different Yemeni cities, said a security source at the Ministry of the Interior. (Read on …)

Update: thanks everybody!!!! It says its Ali Mohsen al Ahmar’s faction of al Qaeda…The jihaddists who killed the four soldiers were found with military cards and dead bodies in their car. Thats what the articles say.

Whether Ali Mohsen was trying to make the southerners look bad or he was making a move during an internal power struggle, the bottom line is – according to the articles- terrorists acting as agents of the Yemeni military killed other soldiers in a propaganda ploy.

They have been doing things like this all along, cloning their opponents to perpetrate various false flag attacks. The idea that al Qaeda when allied with the Yemeni regime is any less dangerous is absurd. If anything, the access to state resources increases their capacity.

Update 2: al Motamar reported the arrests (and blamed al Fadhli) and later began denying the arrests – which may mean they were released after some high level intercession: An official security sources has on Thursday denied the information reported by some newspapers and electronic papers on arresting, by security authorities in Mareb, the perpetrators of the crime of killing four security soldiers and injuring a fifth in Um Ayn the day before yesterday.

How complicated! The soldiers were killed in Abyan. And there’s fighting in Marib between al Qaeda and some security. This may take days to shake out.

Original post: I have to figure this out (or rather get someone to explain if it says what I think it says- HINT HINT.) Its a google translation of the latest scandal. It seems to say the perpetrators of the murder of the four Yemeni soldiers were state jihaddists but I need confirmation of who they belong to. There’s several groups of state jihaddists. From Aden Press (and below from Marib Press):

Control group of armed Bmorb followed involved the murder of Muhsin Red Yemeni security soldiers Babin

News مأرب_لندن “عدن برس” خاص: 29-7-2009 Marib-London, “Aden said,” special: 29-7-2009
تمكن أفراد إحدى النقاط العسكرية التابعة للجيش اليمني بمحافظة مأرب صباح اليوم من اعتقال منفذي الهجوم على إحدى نقاط الانتشار الأمنية الواقعة بمنطقة العين مديرية لودر والتي راح ضحيتها 4 جنود وأصيب خامس بإصابات بالغة . Enable members of one of the points of the military army of the Yemeni province of Marib on Monday morning from the arrest of the perpetrators of the attack on one of its proliferation in the eye of the security directorate for the generation that killed 4 soldiers and wounded a fifth was seriously injured. واكتشف الجنود تورط الجماعة الإرهابية المسلحة وذلك حينما مرت السيارة التي تقلهم بالنقطة وخضعت لعملية تفتيش روتينية عثر الجنود خلالها على جثتين لأشخاص قتلوا بالرصاص الحي . The soldiers discovered the involvement of the armed terrorist group, when the car passed the point of them underwent a routine check during which the soldiers found the bodies of people killed with live bullets.

وحينها قام الجنود بإلقاء القبض على من كان في السيارة بعد أن تم سلبهم أسلحتهم الشخصية وبتفتيش السيارة عثر بداخلها على بطائق عسكرية تخص الجماعة المسلحة حيث اتضح أنهم عسكريون يتبعون المنطقة العسكرية الشمالية التي يقودها علي محسن الأحمر احد اكبر الشخصيات المثيرة للجدل داخل صنعاء. And then the soldiers to arrest those who were in the car after it had been robbed of their personal weapons and searched the car found inside the military cards belonging to the armed group, where the military found that they follow the northern military region, which led to an improved one of the largest Red controversial figures in Sanaa. إحدى القيادات العسكرية في اللواء 315 مشاة من أبناء محافظة أبين والذي كان مشاركا في عملية توقيف السيارة واحتجازا فرادها قال في اتصال هاتفي بـ”عدن برس” طالبا عن عدم الكشف عن هويته أن عملية الإيقاف جاءت عن طريق الصدفة وعبر عملية تفتيش روتينية مؤكدا أن الجماعة المسلحة التي تم إيقافها تم العثور بحوزة أفرادها على مبالغ مالية وهواتف خليوية تعمل بنظام “الثرياء”. One of the military leadership in the 315 infantry brigade from the province of Abyan, which was involved in the process of arrest and detention car Fradha said in a telephone call to “Aden said,” students not to be named, that the suspension came about by accident and through a process of routine inspection, stressing that the armed group was stopped was found in possession of its members on the money and cell phones operating system “Althreya.” وكانت المفاجأة التي فجرها هذا القيادي هو تأكيده على أن مسئولين في العاصمة صنعاء ومسئولين عسكريين في المنطقة الشمالية قد حاولوا التدخل لأجل الإفراج الفوري عنهم وقبل ان يتم إبلاغ الجهات الرسمية في مر كز العاصمة صنعاء والتي أصدرت بدورها تعليمات فورية ومشددة بضرورة التحفظ على من تم اعتقالهم حتى وصول قوات خاصة من صنعاء لاستلامهم . It was triggered by the surprise leader, is the assertion that officials in the capital Sanaa, and military officials in the northern region had tried to intervene for the immediate release them and be informed before the official authorities in the capital Sanaa over Kz, which in turn issued instructions for immediate and heavy need a reservation to have been arrested so The arrival of special forces from Sanaa to receiving them. (Read on …)

These are not accused of being complicit in the kidnapping of the nine foreigners in June, six of whom are still missing. Yemen Post

Yemeni Interior Ministry announced that 101 suspects were arrested in Yemeni governorates in connection with kidnapping Yemeni and foreign people during the middle of last year till July 2009.
Interior Ministry said that arrests aimed to catch outlaws to bring them to justice, ”most of the suspects handed down in Yemeni courts in different cases related to broken laws” Interior Ministry explained.
101 suspects were arrested in different governorates, including 50 in the capital, 8 Aden, 7 Taiz, 8 Hadramout, 9 Hodeida, 3 Abyan, and 10 in Dhmar governorate. (Read on …)

World Press, Jane Novak July 26, 2009
Also at the Yemen Times. July 30, 2009

On July 17, Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh celebrated the 31st anniversary of his ascension to power. The Sana’a regime, perverted by corruption, is largely unable to provide public services, including water, electricity, security, medical care and education. A third of Yemenis—7 million people—are malnourished. Police and military units act as enforcers for corrupt officials. The judiciary dispenses political retribution. Torture in Yemeni jails is systemic and brutal.

On his anniversary, Saleh published an essay calling for dialog and tolerance. The same week, 18 protesters were killed by police, a journalist sentenced to jail and an opposition party prevented from holding its conference. (Read on …)

2009
ترجمة: عبدالله عبدالوهاب ناجي- ترجمة خاصة بيمنات
Yemenat

احتفل الرئيس اليمني علي عبدالله صالح في السابع عشر من يوليو بالذكرى الواحدة والثلاثين لتوليه السلطة. ويعتبر نظام صنعاء، المضلل بالفساد، غير قادر، إلى حد كبير، على تقديم الخدمات العامة بما فيها المياه والكهرباء والأمن، والرعاية الطبية والتعليم. حيث يعاني ثلث من اليمنيين- سبعة ملايين نسمة- من سوء التغذية. تعمل وحدات من الشرطة والجيش كمنقذين لمسئولين فاسدين. القضاء ينفذ عقوبات سياسية. كما أن التعذيب في السجون اليمنية شامل ووحشي.

نشر صالح بياناً يدعو فيه إلى الحوار والتسامح بمناسبة ذكرى توليه السلطة، وفي نفس الأسبوع قتلت الشرطة ثمانية عشر متظاهراً، وتم الحكم على صحفي بالسجن، ومُنع أحد أحزاب المعارضة من عقد مؤتمره. إن مضي أربع سنوات من حركة التمرد في شمال البلاد وسنتين من الانتفاضة في الجنوب يهدد بإغراق البلد في دوامة من العنف. ويتجول أعضاء معروفون في تنظيم القاعدة في العاصمة بحرية، ويستهدف مفجرون انتحاريون مراهقون سائحين مسنين بشكل متكرر.
(Read on …)

I thought it was much less by now. An estimated 70% are women and children. Its a dismal, complete and accurate report: Summary, and the Full report HTML.

A good overview from Brian Whitaker concludes:

Solving the problem is not easy, especially in a country with such limited resources, but it should start with a more inclusive style of government where people can feel that the state is at least trying to look after their interests rather than feathering the nests of the elite. It’s very doubtful, though, whether that can happen while Ali Abdullah Saleh remains president.

Saleh, who has been in power since 1978, spent several days in hospital last week, allegedly being treated for bruises sustained while “practicising his favourite sport”. If he’s wise, and wants to avoid more bruising, he’ll step aside now. But I don’t suppose he will.

It’s such a tragic situation in human terms and a dangerous one geo-politically. Its not to late to avoid disaster but we’re really getting close.

The prospect of millions from the Millennium Challenge Account didn’t work to create reforms, the 4.6 billion in donor funds in 2006 didn’t work and increased military aid won’t work either. The profits of corruption are much too great and the system so entrenched that its nearly impossible at this point to undo. And with General Patraeus arriving days after the slaughter of the protesters, I would assume the conversation contained more than praise. The timing gives the impression that the US is giving Yemen a pass on all human rights issues, even outright murder by police, but what’s really happening is anyone’s guess. Yemen says every US official visits in order to deliver praise; in five years, the only one who contradicted the Yemeni statement after the meeting was Mueller. Nonetheless, US military aid (slated for trucks and boats) in 2010 is at the highest level in years. Yemen’s counter-terror policies are often smoke and mirrors with little substance.

Yemen, U.S. discuss military cooperation July 26 (Saba)- Minister of Defense Mohammed Nasir Ahmed along with Minister of Interior Mutahar Rashad al-Masri held a meeting on Sunday with the U.S. Commander of Central Military Command General David Petraeus who is currently visiting Yemen over means of enhancing bilateral relations between two armies of both countries and joint efforts of combating terror. (Read on …)

These are one type of ordinance that the Yemeni military was using to bomb cities and villages in northern Yemen during the last outbreak of the Sa’ada war. Nearly 200,000 fled the bombing and many are still in refugee camps with little support.

Residents reported the bombs used in the last war seemed bigger than the previous.

UPI

Piracy in the Gulf of Aden has cost Yemen $350 million, a sum that includes $200 million in losses suffered by fishermen, official documents indicate.

Government reports cited Wednesday by Saba, Yemen’s official news agency, showed that direct government losses from maritime piracy amounted to $150 million. Also included in the total was costly piracy insurance purchased for ships that ply the pirate-infested gulf waters. (Read on …)

CanadianPress: Security was upgraded in Yemen’s capital this week after intelligence reports warned of attacks planned against the U.S. Embassy, a senior security official said Tuesday.

The intelligence official said the unconfirmed reports indicated attacks were being planned against the U.S. embassies in Algeria and Yemen.
(Read on …)

According to the Houthis they are..

According to informed sources to the news that Sheikh Sa’dah / Manna Knight Chairman of the Committee for mediation between the authority and Houthis are extensive discussions in Saudi Arabia, accompanied by Sheikh / Red Hussein. (Read on …)

UPI: Police in the Khawlan district, east of the capital Sanaa, said they thwarted an attack on a regional oil pipeline. Two suspects were detained on allegations of digging tunnels under the pipeline with the intent of detonating an explosive device by remote control, the Yemen Observer reports.

An attack July 2 that damaged about 525 feet of pipeline in Shabwa bore similar hallmarks as those alleged by the two suspects investigated by Khawlan police. (Read on …)