Armies of Liberation

Update 3: JMP officially withdraws from Gulf intiative

Update 2: report from Abyan- Fadhli is not involved with any kind of clashes right now. Residents are evacuating Zanjibar. The militants that the Yemeni government claims are AQ are not AQ but rather loyalists to Salah. Airstrikes are not targeting them but instead they target civilians. There is no security in the city whatsoever, just chaos.

Military camps have surrendered their weapons to these militants. Saleh has instructed commanders of the camps to give up and surrender. The militants are not in one place; they have spread all over the city. Fadhli’s house was hit. People are panicking, even those with Fahdli have no idea how should they act now.

Update: So far so good, no mass casualty event overnight in Sanaa. The fighting appears to be about taking over government buildings. YP: “Clashes resumed in Sana’a Wednesday morning after a mediation committee failed to reach a ceasefire between al-Ahmar family and the Yemeni government. Hundreds of explosions were heard in the capital today. Ahmar tribes have retaken the ministries it handed over to the mediation committee earlier this week and is expanding. This comes as 2000 additional govt troops have been deployed near change square Sana’a. Protesters fear that a new massacre will take place in Sana’a after more than 61 protesters were killed by security forces in Taiz.”

Seven killed in Taiz as protesters regroup. Update: 12, damn, 7 of them in Wadi Al-Qadi, 2 in Markazi and 2 on Misrakh Road in Taiz. Female protesters refuse to leave and surrounded as live fire continues in Wadi al Qadi.

Zanjibar: via the English FB news group: “Anees Mansour to AJA: Navy forces fired missiles at the city while civilians wave white flags. The people that fleed Zanjibar broke into schools in Aden to find themselves a home; hospital is full of injured and appeals to address the humanitarian situation. All attemps to take out the gunmen have failed because of the inistence of the gunmen on rejecting, all calming attemps have been refused by the gunmen. The victories that the regime is announcing are imaginary vitories and civilians are paying the price; military enhancements that the regime is talking of, did not arrive until now…Saleh’s forces are artillery shelling Hamza Mosque in Ja’ar near MTN and the girls school, Abyan.”

The British travel warning is dire: Anyone with British relatives or friends in strife-torn Yemen is being urged to contact them and plead with them to get out of the country while they still can.

General Hussain Arab denies authorizing his name to be included on Military Statement 1. His signature on the travel document for al Nashiri was supposed to be a forgery too.

Original: The Communications Ministry confirms Sabaphone is shut down, citing violations but it is retaliation toward Hamid al Ahmar, majority shareholder. Or worse yet, a black out in advance of impending crimes. The official TV channels are shutting down, the government announced it as generator maintenance. Its 3 am in Sanaa. All international calls from cell phones are blocked. Cutting the phones is standard proceedure for the Saleh regime; the tactic was used in years past during the Saada War and in Dhalie. The electricity is off in broad sections of Sanaa and Yemen further interrupting communications. And there’s sounds of gunfire and bombing throughout the capital. They always attack at night. It was 3 am when they set the tents ablaze in Taiz. The protesters there are still facing live fire when they try to re-enter the square.

All sorts of large explosions are being reported in Sanaa. (Read on …)

The US says a nice word about the protesters and says they should be included in discussions.

PRESS RELEASES
U.S. Condemns Attack on Peaceful Protesters in Taiz
May 30, 2011

The U.S. Embassy in Sana’a condemns the unprovoked and unjustified attack on peaceful demonstrators in Taiz on the evening of May 29th, in which several demonstrators were killed and many more wounded. We commend the youth protesters who have shown both resolve and restraint and have made their viewpoint known through non-violent means.
We reiterate President Obama’s recent call for President Saleh “to move immediately on his commitment to transfer power,” and we emphasize that the way forward is not through violence. Parties must work together with one another and with the youth, who are the future of Yemen, to build a more peaceful, prosperous and secure nation.

In other statements today the JMP “condemned strongly condemns the kidnapping of three French nationals working in humanitarian relief in Hadramout Governorate…the abduction incident, which came just days after the the Government of France showed a strong and supportive position to the demands of the Yemeni people and the peaceful revolution, put question marks on the timing and the identity of the perpetrators and their goals.” I also question the timing.

UK Minister for the Middle East Alistair Burt also condemns the violence in Taiz, issues a threat, “The reach of international justice is long, and the regime should note this” but then urges Saleh sign the GCC agreement, which gives him another two months and immunity from the massacre yesterday. What are they waiting for? He’s not leaving voluntarily and there’s no reason not to start international proceedings now.

For a cold splash of reality, See Don’t Believe Yemen’s Mythical Civil War at the Trench: (Read on …)

Saleh adopts Gaddafi’s strategy and money: Reports indicate the situation in Yemen has been influenced heavily by huge cashflows provided by the Libyan tyrant to his counterpart in Yemen. The first payment (equivalent to US Dollars 200 million) was delivered in cash two months ago to Saleh’s envoy to Libya, the notorious businessman Shaher Abdul Hak, sources report.

Libya has a long history of meddling in Yemen via payments to various individuals and groups.

The international community is concerned about a power vacuum resulting in violence after Saleh’s departure, but a more immediate concern is the continuing slaughter of citizen protesters. It should be clear to all concerned that there can be no immunity for Saleh.

Update: Estimates from the field hospital are that 190 wounded were seized by security and over 400 protesters arrested.

Yemen Post
At least 50 protesters were killed in Taiz today in continuous attacks by government security forces, medical sources in Taiz confirmed. Bushra Maktati, a leading human rights activist in Taiz said that freedom square has basically disappeared after bulldozers took down all the tents and burnt everything down.

She added that over half a million Protesters were always at freedom square and now it is empty. “More than 52 have been killed among them 15 burnt alive while the were sleeping in thier burning tents,” said Maktari. (Read on …)

Abdel Rahman Ba Fadel says the French aid workers were kidnapped because France called for Saleh to step down, unfortunately a likely explanation. He asks the west to step in.

Yemen’s opposition would be willing to sign an agreement with the West to combat al-Qaeda in Yemen, if Ali Abdullah Saleh, the country’s president, steps down, according to an opposition official.

Abdel Rahman Ba Fadel, a member of Yemen’s opposition Islah party, told Al Jazeera that the country’s opposition had contacted the office of the US ambassador in Yemen to this effect. At Youtube

Southern Observatory for Human Rights issues distress call to Red Cross and international orgs. Yemen packages it as six civilians were killed and nine others were wounded on Sunday when Yemeni military forces shelled al-Qaida hideouts. They are suddenly fighting al Qaeda now, from the air after withdrawing forces.

Distress call to the international organizations and the International Committee of the Red Cross

May 30, 2011

Sirs and madams in the international organizations and the International Committee of the International Red Cross

The Southern Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) presents its best compliments to you. And it appeals you in an urgent way that does not bear waiting or delaying to meet some demands, since the fact that there are many people of the south are exposed to murder, torture and seizure till this very moment by the Yemeni forces stationed in Abyan, southern Yemen.

According to our own sources that the cities of Zanzibar, Al-Kaud, and Ja’ar are subjected to indiscriminate bombing by the Yemeni military forces stationed in the region, resulting in the death and wounding of dozens of citizens, including many women and children. (Read on …)

Yemeni Americans submit concrete proposals to President Obama including a no-fly zone, freezing Saleh’s financial assets, no immunity from prosecution, the inclusion of representatives of the revolution in relevant discussions at the UN, and an end to international support, especially from Saudi Arabia, for the regime

H. E. Barak H. Obama, President of the United States
The White House Washington DC 16 May 2011 Dear Mr. President,

As the real people behind the ongoing peaceful Yemeni Revolution. we are at a loss to finding a reasonable explanation for the rather callous attitude of the international community towards the legitimate call of the Yemeni people for immediate and unconditional change of regime. (Read on …)

handy, missing the Feb 25 massacre in Aden, the first time they stole corpses

Alert net: May 30 (Reuters) – Here is a timeline of events in Yemen since protests against President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s 32-year rule began earlier this year:

Jan. 29, 2011 – Yemen’s ruling party calls for dialogue with the opposition in a bid to stem anti-government protests. (Read on …)