Armies of Liberation

Yo-Yo Boy, the problem is not the coverage. The function of the media is to report, not to suppress dissent and enhance unity by broadcasting pro-regime propaganda. Attacks on Yemeni journalists have become more brutal as public dissatisfaction grows, but censorship only increases tension.

Saleh calls Qatar Emir, attacks Aljazeera, Thursday, 27-January-2011, Almotamar.net, Saba -: President Ali Abdullah Saleh telephoned Qatar’s Emir Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani on Thursday asking to urge Aljazeera Satellite Channel not to abuse its profession while reporting on the situation in Yemen.

The channel should stop incitement, exaggeration and distorting the facts, and furthermore it should avoid acts that encourage unrest, violence and sabotage in the Arab countries, Saleh urged. (Read on …)

With the advent of protests in the capital, President Saleh promised a raise for the military, somewhere around $40/month. There are an approximate 600,000 on the military payroll, and an average of ten dependents each, meaning about a quarter of Yemenis will directly or indirectly benefit from the raise, if it is in fact implemented. And promising pay raises is a tactic that has worked before in Yemen to defuse social tension.

President Saleh previously and successfully promised wage increases in order to short circuit civil unrest. In response to the 2005 fuel riots, Saleh enacted the revised Wages Strategy which purported to offset higher fuel costs with salary increases for civil servants. Designed with a multi-staged roll-out, the failure to implement the second phase of the strategy later triggered strikes, notably by the teachers union, when the “type of work” bonus over base line pay was not dispersed to those qualified. In negotiations, the teachers union demanded the salary increases should be retro-active to the date they became law. Saleh’s current promise to increase military wages is being framed by the regime, correctly, as implementation of the third phase of the 2005 Wages Strategy.

In the weeks prior to the 2006 presidential election, Saleh promised a bonus to civil servants–payable after the election. Another regular tactic in response to anti-government protests is the counter pro-regime protest. Often school children and civil servants are ordered to attend under penalty of retribution. Students who did not attend protests were prohibited from taking their finals. Arrests, arbitrary violence and suppression of the media are other characteristic tactics of the Sanna regime, deployed against Southern protesters and civilians in areas of the northern Houthi rebellion. These tactics invariably swelled the ranks of the Southern and Houthi opposition movements, and if implemented again in Sana’a will have the same effect on the new born Northern protest movement.

Yemen Post: In a move described by observers as unhelpful and aiming to avoid a revolt like the one that forced Tunisian President out of office and out of the country this month, the Cabinet approved at its weekly meeting on Tuesday to start implementing the third phase of the Pay Strategy as from next month.

It ordered the Ministries of Civil Service and Insurance and Finance to prepare the executive mechanism to start the strategy that calls for a 30 per cent rise in the wages of the state employees. (Read on …)

It was just a matter of time. Too bad the US is on the wrong side of the fence. It would have been good to hedge their bets a little. And if the state starts shooting people in the head in Sanaa like they do to protesters in the south, will the US keep as quiet or is there some kind of double standard based on location and media coverage? Hundreds of protesters have been killed in South Yemen by security forces in the last three years.

New York Times: “I fear Yemen is going to be ripped apart,” said Mohammed Naji Allaw, coordinator of the National Organization for Defending Rights and Freedom, which was one of the organizers of the protests. “The situation in Yemen is a lot more dangerous than in any other Arab country.”

He said a phrase often heard these days is that Yemen faces “tatasawmal” — the Somalization of a country that witnessed a civil war in the mid-1990s.

Part of Mr. Allaw’s worries sprung from the inability of the opposition to forge a unified message. Some are calling for secession, he said, while others are looking to oust the president through popular protests. Yet others, he said, simply wanted Mr. Saleh to undertake a series of reforms before elections in April.

Khaled Alanesi, a colleague of Mr. Allaw’s at the human rights group in Sana, said: “The opposition is afraid of what would happen if the regime falls. Afraid of the militant groups, Al Qaeda, the tribes and all the arms here.” (Read on …)

Update Yemen Post: 1/28/11, Yemen’s Interior Ministry website said that the six suspects were arrested in Al-Shihr district after being hunted by the security apparatus within the province.

Original: 10 million YR is about $50,000 Some sources of Saudi funds have dried up in the last year, and increased Saudi border patrols as well as Houthi dominance of some border areas have impacted drug smuggling.

As Nassar Arrabyee notes: The incident might be the first after the American-Yemeni extremist cleric Anwar A Awlaki instructed Al Qaeda operatives to finance themselves from the money of the “enemies and Qafer”. The instructions came in an article published in the latest issue of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) magazine , Inspire, earlier this month.

al Masdar, 1/26/11

Four soldiers were killed and a local official shot dead by gunmen believed to belong to al-Qaeda in the province of Hadramout, southeastern Yemen. (Read on …)

Its such a thug regime. Update: maybe everyone is freed already but its not double confirmed as all Yemen news needs to be. Also Tawakkol may still face charges and a court case, its unclear. Updating the update: yes everybody was freed this afternoon. What a stupid stunt that was… Update 3: from the Yemen Times:

Ali Al-Dailami, one of the activists who were arrested on Sunday, said that they spent twenty-seven-and-a-half hours in an underground “dirty” jail. Al-Dailami is head of the Yemeni Organization for Defending Rights and Freedoms and he said that he was taken violently from the street and shoved into a police car. He also said that police hit him on his neck. Al-Dailami said that they couldn’t bear the smell and the dirt of the Central Prison so they donated money to its officials and made the prison guards buy cleaning detergents.

“We spent most of our time there cleaning the jail,” he said.

Original post-

Yemeni Organization condemns the arrest of its member

By Yemen Organization for Defending Rights , Democratic & Freedoms

The Yemeni Organization is condemning the arrest of Ali al-Dailami Executive Director of the Yemeni Organization for Defending Rights , Democratic & Freedoms along with more than 20 human rights activists. (Read on …)

Ali has all the solutions… I am being sarcastic of course. Although Yemen’s military budget is among the highest globally as a percentage of GDP, soldiers are poorly paid and equipped. The proposed raise is $25.00/month, which is a lot of purchasing power in Yemen, and intended to ensure loyalty among the ranks. But if he is unable to deliver, as often happens for example the 2005 Wages Strategy, then Saleh’s unfulfilled promise of a raise will only generate more discontent.

News Yemen: President Ali Abdullah Saleh has asked Yemeni people to forgive him he if has made mistake and said he would not allow “creative chaos” to destroy Yemen which he said is not Tunisia.

In his speech addressing a conference of the armed forces and security leaderships held at the Air Forces headquarters in the capital Sana’a on Sunday, President Saleh called on the political forces to “return to dialogue and stop inciting chaos.” (Read on …)

Also in Hadramout, editor Fuad Rashid was released again after being arrested again and held for 11 days. More on Hadramout protests here. Following is a listing of southern protesters in Hadramout jail without charge; many have been tortured and denied medical care:

هذا ولازالت أسماء كثيرة من أبناء الجنوب في سجون حضرموت لانعرف عنهم شيئاً وعدد كبير منهم تعرض للضرب والشتم والتعذيب والكثير منهم في حالة صحية

صعبة وترفض الأجهزة الأمنية بالمحافظة نقلهم للمستشفيات وجميعهم معتقلين خارج القانون .

1 صبري سالمين بن حطيان سجن أمن مديرية المكلا

2 محمد سعيد سويدان سجن أمن مديرية المكلا

3 عارف سالمين بازرعة سجن أمن مديرية المكلا
(Read on …)

Al Ghad reports Lt Col Aklan was targeted last in November when an explosive device planted in his car was disarmed.

People’s Daily: Militants of the al-Qaida wing shot dead a top security official in northeast Yemen, a provincial security official told Xinhua on Sunday.

Lieutenant Colonel Nabil Aklan, deputy director of the investigation unit in the northeastern province of Marib, was gunned down by a group of al-Qaida militants in front of a supermarket, the official told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

“The attack bore the hallmarks of al-Qaida,” the official said.

They all do this, Fahd al Qarni, al-Khaiwani etc. Its important not to leave the others behind in jail while the spotlight is still on the situation, but sooner or later their friends drag them out. CNN reports Karaman ultimately went home after a promise that the others would be released. She’s on a hunger strike. Hopefully everyone else will be released shortly and all will be well.

Yemen Post: Kerman refused to be released without the detainees who were arrested while defending her yesterday. According to official sources, 21 protesters and activists are still in jail.

Karman is currently protesting inside the prosecutions office in Sana’a where she vowed not to leave until all were released. (Read on …)

The CPJ, Islah and the Houthis also issued statements denouncing the arrest. The JMP even managed to issue a unified statement (alas Arab only) within 24 hours of the incident.

Security arrests lawyers, journalists; confiscates cameras of Al Arabiya and Al Jazeera
Mousa Alnamrani, HOOD online

The security forces arrested today Khaled al-Anesi, a human rights activist and a lawyer, Ali al-Dailami, the executive director of the Yemeni Organization for the Defense of Democratic Rights and Freedom, along with other students when they were in their way to the office of the General Prosecutor to report
the kidnapping of Tawakkol Karman, the journalist and human rights activist. Karman was kidnapped today at 1 after midnight by alleged security members. The security forces also confiscated the cameras of
Al Arabiya ، Al Jazeera and Suhail Channels. (Read on …)

Troops, protesters clash in south Yemen: witnesses

ADEN (AFP) — A second night of clashes and gunbattles between the army and protesters in Yemen’s main southern city of Aden left seven people wounded, three of them soldiers, witnesses and officials said. (Read on …)

No one actually knows how many people are on the military payroll. Some estimates go as high as one million. It is one of the few regular jobs in Yemen and the size of the military is a major source of stability–working men don’t protest. Often Sheiks award military commissions as patronage. Many on the military payroll (including both al Qaeda operatives and members of Parliament) don’t actually do any work or even report in. Southern youth have rioted because they were excluded wholesale during recruitment drives. Military expenditures are 6.6% of GDP, one of the highest globally, but as funds dry up, more incidents of rioting military have been reported. A good report from the Yemen Times that also breaks down the intelligence services:

Most Yemeni families in Sana’a have a relative who serves in the army. While there are no official numbers, the total strength of the army is estimated at about 600,000 soldiers, who all have military IDs and uniforms. (Read on …)

The judge said Anwar and his cousin incited the security guard, a member of the security forces, to murder the French engineer.

BBC: A Yemeni court has sentenced a man to death for killing a French contractor near the capital Sanaa last year. The court also sentenced in his absence radical US-born Yemeni Islamist cleric Anwar al-Awlaki to 10 years in jail for aiding the gunman. (Read on …)

Its google translate but I can read it.

Statement explains the steps we have made through the presence of the National Committee and reveals the lie in allegations by the Authority, issued January 15, 2011 at 2:19 pm

Is the authority and we are back in all views when they talk about the situation in the northern provinces shun all the steps we have made either after the cessation of the sixth war directly or through the presence of the National Committee. (Read on …)

Yemenat started an English page, excellent news. Click here for photos of the protest and other English language articles.

Yemen security arrests 8 protesters shout for Saleh overthrow,
By Abdullah Al-Qubati, for Yemenat

Sanaa- Hundreds demonstrated Saturday in Sanaa calling for the president Saleh and his regime for step down.

A security crackdown imposed blockade on entrances of the Sanaa university to prevent students stream from move to street rally. (Read on …)

Amnesty International is off on the wrong track accusing the US of orchestrating the arrest as retaliation because Abdulelah broke the story of the civilian deaths in the December 2009 US airstrike in Abyan. Its an absurd allegation because he wasn’t the one who broke the story. Everybody knew within hours. Below the fold is a DPA article describing the evidence against Shaea, which seems a little thin from the story.

Yemeni journalist sentenced to five years for terror links By Nasser Arrabyee/18/01/2011:
A Yemeni journalist was sentenced on Tuesday to five years in prisons for links with the Yemen-based Al Qaeda.

The journalist Abdul Elah Haidar Shaea, was sentenced to five years and his colleague Abdul Kareem Al Shami was sentenced to two years in prison. The two men were convicted of forming an armed gang to work with the Yemen-based Al Qaeda branch, Al Qaeda in Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). (Read on …)

Tariq al Fahdli striving for relevance again. Update: an interview here at Yemen Today, and he really does sound sick of everybody, calling the exiled southern leaders idols and dinosaurs.

Yemeni former Jihadist burns US flag and ‘dinosaurs’ pictures
(updated)
By Nasser Arrabyee/20/01/2011: A controversial Yemeni politician from the south set fire on Wednesday to the American and Yemeni flags and picture of President Saleh, and pictures of the exiled socialist leaders, accusing all those of conspiring against the south.

The feudal lord, and former Jihadist with Osama bin Laden, Sheikh Tarek Al Fadhli said he would lead a revolution to liberate the south from the communists who ruled before unity and also from the “occupiers” of the north as call them. (Read on …)

1030 Yemeni Security Force Members Killed, Wounded in 2010 Yemen Post: Yemen’s Interior Ministry said that at least 1030 members of Yemeni security forces were killed or wounded in clashes against terrorists, separatists, criminals, and outlaws in Yemeni provinces during 2010. (Read on …)

Riyadh police round up 109 in clampdown on beggary
ARAB NEWS: Jan 21, 2011, RIYADH: Riyadh police rounded up 109 beggars in the capital city during the past week as part of an intensive campaign against beggary, authorities announced on Friday. A police official said most of those caught were foreign nationals….A survey conducted by UNICEF in 2007 found that up to half of child beggars in the Kingdom entered the country with their parents.

It is reported that Saudi authorities arrest each month around 3,500 Yemeni children who are smuggled into the country to work or beg.

The last time there were widespread protests against Saleh was the 2005 oil riots which overtook the whole country. This is different because there’s no easy way to placate the protesters (like reinstating the subsidies as occurred in 2005 after some tribesmen highjacked oil tankers). One similarity is that Al Motamar reports that university officials deny that any students attended the rallies and imply as usual that its all a JMP plot.

SANAA, Yemen January 22, 2011, NPR: Thousands of Yemeni protesters have called for the ouster of their president after 32 years in power. (Read on …)