Armies of Liberation

This is a statement typical of the southern personalities who are bowing out after being appointed to the National Council without prior knowledge. This one is from the editor of al Ayyam, the well respected Hisham Bashraheel. From the beginning, most southerners wished the revolutionaries well but did not participate. In their view, it was occurring in another country. This is also the logic of the widespread boycott of the 2006 election, the boycott may not have been readily apparent because of ballot stuffing. Many of the revolutionaries are a) unaware of the depth of emotional and alienation in the south b) believe southerners had no right to challenge the legitimacy of the unified state (quite a double standard) and c) believed they would come around. Most of the protests in Aden are by Islahis, and the rest of the south has been quiet when in years past hundreds of thousands would march from city to city. The only vision shared in the north and south at this point is extreme disappointment in the Obama administration’s policies toward Yemen.

Also below a statement from the Arab Sisters Forum endorsing the effort but expressing disappointment that there is a lack of transparency. The Houthis issued a statement in support of the southern position, and have also withdrawn. Maybe it will force a more inclusive transparent council and counter balance the Islahis/ Hashid influence. But it could take months.

I thank the brothers in the National Assembly of the Forces of the Revolution who took in me as a member of the National Assembly.

And as I am proud of this trust, I announce apologies for not accepting to participate because of the lack consultion in advance to include my name and not tell me the version of the principles and policies set for the National Society for the forces of revolution, as and to ignore the issue of South and peaceful movement and its martyrs and their injured and material damage tops resolutions apology and God bless. (Read on …)

We’ll know the US has turned the corner when it utters the words “False flag attack” or “State affiliated jihaddists” or “State officials facilitated attacks.”

YEMEN: Overview: In 2010, resource limitations and unstable security conditions in several parts of the country impeded the Yemeni government’s ability to eliminate potential safe havens in Yemen. In addition, counterterrorism efforts were impeded by a lack of legislation. Yemen’s vulnerability along it long and weakly protected borders has allowed al-Qa’ida associates to find safe haven in Yemen. Nonetheless, the Government of Yemen continued to build its counterterrorism capacity and deployed its security forces against terrorist threats. The Yemeni government security forces killed or captured numerous suspected al-Qa`ida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) militants, and received assistance in the form of equipment and training from the United States. The Yemeni government’s response to the terrorist threat included large-scale kinetic operations against suspected AQAP members in the south. In turn, AQAP attacks against foreign interests, Yemeni government targets, and the Shia Houthi movement in the north increased dramatically in 2010. (Read on …)

Only the US militatry Saudi military will know if this is true but there have been several instances of duplicity by the Saleh regime regarding coordinates: directing the Saudi Air Force to bomb Ali Mohsen’s camp during the Saada War, the awful miss in December 2009, the errant bombing of Sheikh al Shabawni in May 2010, the “near misses” on Awlaki and al Quso, and the state’s own bombing of the tribal force fighting al Qaeda which killed dozens in July. Update: the Jihaddi forums are saying they were Saudi planes and the supplies “blew” over to them, via Critical Threats. Frankly I was hoping it was all anti-Saleh propaganda but now we know AQAP is well stocked.

al Wahdawi: Southern Military Command deliberately gives the wrong coordinates to foreign aircraft that was providing hardware and supplies to the 25th Mechanized Brigade

Confirmed local sources in the city of Zanzibar that four foreign aircraft were carrying supplies to the Brigade 25 Mechanized that is besieged in the capital of Abyan province for two months ago, but instead al Qaeda robbed the load of food, fuel, and other things that was dropped in the area under the control of members of al-Qaeda by the low flying aircraft.

The sources, who declined to reveal their identity and the identity of foreign aircraft said four aircraft type (C-130) were flew to the city of Zanzibar on the evening of 8 August. They were carrying food enough for the military camp for several months, but the Southern Command, led by Maj.Gen. Mahdi Maqualah, Supreme Commander of South Division, gave the aircraft the wrong coordinates to make the cargo delivered into the hands of militants from the al-Qaeda. (Read on …)

In reporting about Yemen, discrepancies abound. Even before the six month revolution, the dictatorship of Ali Abdullah Saleh was a master of propaganda and constructed complex plots to give the west the appearance of reform or counter-terror cooperation when in fact the reverse was true. By the same token, the newspapers associated with opposition parties have a tendency to skew reporting for political advantage.

The news that AQAP, the Yemeni affiliate of al Qaeda, took over a third town in the Abyan province, Shaqra, has inconsistencies, depending on who is reporting it. The Chinese news agency, Xinhua, based on statements from regime officials, is reporting the battle for control of the town lasted days, but multiple Yemeni sites have eyewitnesses who say the military abandoned the town after an hour of light skirmishes amid retreat. China is a prime purchaser of Yemeni oil and has thwarted Security Council statements denouncing the state’s slaughter of Yemeni protesters.

One eyewitness reported to al Teef, an opposition site, that, “I saw them (al Qaeda members) this morning entering the city on the cars owned by the Yemeni army. They were carrying machine guns and RPG’s.”

Yemenis from all walks, from politicians to street vendors, are adamant that in May the Saleh regime relinquished control of Abyan’s capital Zinjibar to Al Qaeda as a foreign policy strategy, -i.e., to pressure the US into supporting the widely reviled dictatorship.

In July, local tribesmen began a counter-offensive against the al Qaeda fanatics, driving them back from several areas. The Yemeni Air Force then bombed tribesmen, killing dozens along with two Yemeni military officers. State officials said it was a mistake, although tribal fighters had notified the Air Force of their position.

My article today at the Yemen Times covers earlier developments but provides a little more background: Al Qaeda in Yemen alienates local jihaddists

This is what happens when Saleh gets cranky, busy or drunk and exactly why the US can’t rely on the Salehs et al for US national security. The US needs better conduits.

News Yemen: Sharia Ansar militants took control again of the coastal city of Shakra in the Abyan province.
The tribes cleared the city in July from insurgents after fierce battles.

Reuters quoted tribal sources and residents said Wednesday that Islamic militants took control of the coastal town of Shakra in the south of Yemen, which became the third town in their hands (ed-after Znijibar and Jaar.)

The tribal sources said that the government forces offered little resistance. And the militants who the government says are linked to al-Qaeda entered in the town in cars coming from another city they control.

Update: the army fires on the tribesmen, al Teef

It doesn’t appear to be the transitional council, but rather a unified front to lead the rev to the point of the transitional council. Its a good step if they make an action plan, drawing on input from their constituencies, as opposed to devolving into a top heavy, bickering entity that issues statements. They better have an English spokesperson unlike the JMP, CCYRC, Civil Coalition, the Southern Movement and the Houthis who all left the regime’s propaganda statements unchallenged in English for a decade. Photos.

Sahwa Net – Yemen opposition parties, the ruling party’s defected politicians met on Wednesday and formed a 143-member national council which aims at uniting various groups against the rule of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

The council included representatives of civil society, members of the secessionist Southern Movement, and the northern Shiite Huthi rebels, as well as independent activists

According to Yemen’s opposition parties, the national council will lead the forces of the revolution until Ali Abdullah Saleh’s departure.

The opposition meeting was held at a hall in Sanaa University amid tight security enforced by the army’s First Armoured Division led by General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, who defected to the opposition in March.

More on the anticipated function from the WaPo:

Salem Mohammed Bassindwa, a top opposition figure, says youth groups and political parties named 143 council members to represent the people, a rare show of unity.

“This is a revolutionary council aimed at toppling the rule of the (Saleh) family and the remnants of this regime,” Bassindwa said. He clarified that it is “not an alternative to the government.”

The council members will elect a president and an executive body. It will also form “popular committees” in Yemeni cities, to be in charge of “protecting citizens’ properties and state institutions” at time of crisis and street clashes, he said.

Ok a listing of the names from News of the Yemen Rev in English

1. Ahmad Al-Qatabi
2. Ahmad Bahaj
3. Ahmad Bazarah
4. Ahmad Salem Obeid
5. Ahmad Said Hashed
6. Amat Al-Salam Raja’a
7. Amal Al-Basha
8. Ameen Al-Akemi
9. Ensaf Mayo
10. Bushra Al-Maqtari (Read on …)

Its al Qaeda and/or the Saleh regime that uses a remote control device to blow somebody up and/or convinces some hapless teen to become cannon fodder and/or puts a dead body in the car, and the Yemeni DNA lab that comes up with the positive ID in half an hour. As much as the Houthis are rabidly paranoid, its clear to them I’m sure that the long string of suicide bombings in Yemen would point to the AQAP murderers as the culprits in this one, either independently or as mercenaries. Maybe the Houthis are trying to de-escalate the situation by blaming the US because in no conceivable parallel universe did the US stage or execute a suicide bombing against the Houthis.

AQAP previously declared jihad on the Houthis and killed Badr al Din al Houthi (along with 14 others) in a suicide car bombing November 2010, also in al Jawf. Its this kind of irresponsible rhetoric which the Saleh regime uses to manipulate the public that the Houthis have condemned for years.

The national: SANAA // Rebel forces yesterday accused US intelligence agencies of plotting the car-bomb attack that killed two people and injured one in Al Matamma, north-east of Sanaa, on Sunday.

Al Houthi rebels said in a statement that the blast targeted a government complex in which their leaders were meeting.

“This is clearly a US intelligence-style criminal act,” the rebels said, while offering no evidence supporting their claim.

The blast came two days after the Al Houthi rebels and the Islamist Islah party agreed to a truce to end the fighting that had flared intermittently since March when Al Jawf province, in which Al Matamma is located, fell to the anti-government tribes.

The Al Houthis said the attack was intended to “provoke sectarian divisions between Yemenis”, adding that the attack was aimed to “help maintain the unjust regime” of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has been facing six months of protests calling for him to relinquish power.

The shipment of weapons is par for the course. Yemeni weapons shipments to Somalia are a leading cause of its instability and have been ongoing for years. The last shipment doesn’t necessarily show that AQAP and al Shabab are linked up in a new level of coordination; what it likely shows is that UN sanctioned weapons dealer Fares Manna is back in business. Its a very complicated relationship, check my category “Proliferation” or search “Fares Manna” for the chapter of the story about the shipload of Chinese weapons brought into Yemen with forged documents from the Defense Ministry. See Evaluating relations between Al-Shabab and Al-Qaeda for a review of the rhetorical and physical support between al Shabab and AQAP, including the arrest of Warsame. For earlier, see the 2006 arrest of eight westerners in Yemen (all later released) who were smuggling weapons to the fanatics in Somalia and the connection of Awlaki to those persons, who are hopefully all under the microscope now. Rahm’s report below seems to be from Sun Times: U.S intercepts ship suspected of carrying weapons for Al-Shabaab

Terror Free Somalia: The U.S Navy has intercepted a Somalia bound Yemeni cargo ship carrying weapons suspected to be for Somalia’s Al Qaeda linked Al-Shabaab militia.Somalia consulate in Yemen said the cargo ship en route from Yemen to Somalia coastline ended up in the hands of U.S Navy at the Gulf of Aden.The Somali consul Hussein Hajji Ahmed said U.S navy opened fire on the ship after the ship captain defied Navy orders to stop the vessel but later surrender to the United States navy.

He added that the ship is suspected of carrying military supplies for the Al-Shabaab militia in Somalia, a clear indication that Yemeni Al-Qaeda supports the militia in terms of weaponry.Ahmed said investigations into the issue are currently underway.He urged the Somali government to boost security along the country’s coastlines and seek supports from the neighbouring countries in making sure that no arms are illegally smuggled into the country through the coastal areas.The U.S has recently received critical information suggesting that Yemeni based Al-Qaeda network provides weapons and other military necessities to Somalia’s Al-Shabaab insurgents fighting the Somali government.

News Yemen: Aden Online said that militants in Zanzibar, who called themselves (supporters of Sharia) arrested a hundred youths in the city on Friday who were guarding their family homes and facilities, and put them in the political security prison. One of the buildings was targeted by the warplanes and military aircraft missiles – according the parents.

The website quoted sources saying the military commander of Ansar al-Sharia and named (Dujana) lduring the past two days led a campaign of arrests for all those who remained in the city of Zanzibar, accusing these young people of giving the warplanes coordinates of insurgent positions, and thus making them vulnerable to aerial bombardment.

Families of young people, who are all displaced outside the province, placed responsibility for the lives of their sons on “Ansar al Sharia” and appealed to the military and civilians in the provinces of Aden and Abyan to move with speed to save their children from the hands of these killers, noting that they are able to capture all of the city and suspicious political deals delay the process of its liberation – in their words

Video: Yemeni children in Arhab run for the caves as the bombing starts

Yemen owes Russia hundreds of millions for the same MIGs the regime is using to murder its own citizens. Russia is Yemen’s single largest bi-lateral creditor due to huge weapons purchases; the state is thought to have at least 18 MIGs in inventory. Russia along with China opposes regime change in Yemen and thwarted strong statements in the UN Security Council. Russia is also playing the al Qaeda card, saying the protests are hampering the regime from battling the fanatics.

The Russian article is titled Yemen fights with Al Qaeda: In the early hours of Tuesday, Yemeni forces had a fight with Al Qaeda militants in the region of Arhab in the country’s northeast. Over 20 militants were killed…Yemen’s authorities would have probably fought with Al Qaeda in their country more successfully, if not for the unstable political situation.

CNN: Fighting has been virtually nonstop for the past two months in the Arhab district, 40 kilometers (about 25 miles) northeast of Sanaa, after tribal leaders went against the government claiming that it killed four tribal members in an effort to create unrest in the district.

In the most recent bloodshed on Tuesday, witnesses said civilians comprised most of the dead from air attacks by the Republican Guard. At least 17 of the dead were children and women, they said, while only nine tribal fighters were among the killed.

At least a dozen fighters were injured, witnesses said. At least 45 tanks and armored vehicles were seen entering Arhab villages during early morning Tuesday, tribal leaders in the area said.

There’s a vid on FB that I am trying to get on Youtube of little children running from the bombing to nearby caves. Obviously some didn’t make it.

@intelwire (J.M. Berger) notes “the reported Abyan fitna (was) mentioned earlier on the forums.”

Khaleej Times ADEN — Clashes between rival extremist groups on Monday left four fighters dead and seven others wounded in Yemen’s restive southern province of Abyan, witnesses said.

A group under the leadership of Abdellatif Sayyed, who has distanced himself from Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, asked alleged members of AQAP to leave the town of Jaar.

But a witness said the latter, who are loyal to a local Al-Qaeda leader named Abu Ali Hadrami, refused, triggering a series of clashes that caused casualties on both sides.

Jaar is 12 kilometres (seven miles) north of the provincial capital of Zinjibar which was seized in May by Partisans of Sharia (Islamic Law), an organisation linked to the Al-Qaeda network.

I wrote it up Monday at Examiner.com as

Al Qaeda in Yemen alienates local jihaddists

Local jihaddists in Abyan, Yemen are fighting their former allies, al Qaeda militants from other countries and other Yemeni provinces, for control of Ja’ar City. The combined group, which calls itself “Ansar al Shariah,” has been in control of areas of Abyan since May when the military withdrew.

Clashes between local jihaddists and al Qaeda erupted Monday morning, al Teef reported. The local militants’ commander, Abullatif Al Sayed, tried to expel the non-resident terrorists who had earlier joined their operations for control of the province. Many came from Marib and are linked to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). The gun battle that ensued raged for hours and the number of casualties is unknown. (Read on …)

Update: SABA provided a translation of Saleh’s speech to the tribal leaders which indicates that he is back to square one, elections in 2013. Same old rhetoric applied to the new oppositionists: he trashes the youth as Marxists, Royalists seeking to restore the Imamate, and the Taliban. How many times have we heard it before? He accuses the tribal elements of stealing the rev from the youth and says, without a trace of irony, he is committed to a transition of power.

SABA:

In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate,

Let me first congratulate you on the occasion of the blessed month of Ramadan. I salute you and pay tribute of respect to you for convening such a conference and I hope that it will conclude with effective decisions and recommendations. I have here with me my brothers parliament speaker Yahya al-Ra’i and prime minister Ali Mohammad Mujawar. They also salute you and salute your conference, which is being held amid dangerous and important circumstances.

We must discuss all the available data, all the events in Yemen, and how to get our country out of the crisis – the crisis which was fabricated by some political forces to reach power. We welcome the opposition and tell them that “you can reach power through ballot boxes, not through coups, statements, denunciation, insults, or irresponsible speeches.” (Read on …)

Local jihaddists are fighting (and seek to expel) their former allies, those al Qaeda militants who came from outside Abyan. It sounds like the indigenous Aden Abyan Army type of fanatic (Nabi, the Dhayans) is fighting with the AQAP type (Wahishi and others from Marib and elsewhere) and Ansar al Shariah is fracturing.

Actually its incorrect to call the local jihaddists “al Qaeda” because they have no transnational coordination, support or goals and never pledged loyalty to any external entity or person (except Saleh). This group has long aspired to an Islamic Emirate in Abyan, going back to the 1990’s, and murdered four suspected homosexuals in 2009 when they were in control of Ja’ar. At that time, they called themselves Jamaat al Jihad or the Jihad group.

After a face to face meeting between Saleh and several of the jihaddists’ leaders in January 2009, Nabi fought in the battle of Jaar alongside the military and Saleh released over 100 of their members in April. The Yemeni embassy here in the US said maybe a few al Qaeda were accidentally mixed in but most of the prisoners released were “aged and harmless” AAIA types, and many had been jailed without trial, or so the justification went.

Al Nabi’s later call for an Islamic Emirate in December 2009 produced some skepticism as he has a long, mutually beneficial relationship with the state and bounces between playing the terrorist villain and reformed jihaddist as needed by Saleh. Also in December 2009, after clashes in Jaar had died down, al Nabi re-took some govt buildings because he did not get some land that Saleh promised him. But things were ironed out between the two as current events demonstrate.

Al Teef, Network Spectrum - Jaar–Monday morning armed clashes erupted between members of Islamist groups claiming affiliation to al-Qaeda in the second-largest city of Jaar after the outbreak of sharp differences between the elements of these groups against the backdrop of the affairs of the city.

According to sources in the town of Jaar speaking to “network spectrum,” the clashes broke out after dawn prayers between the two factions of the armed groups, one follows the leader of these groups, “Mr. Abdul-Latif” (“Abullatif Al Sayed,”) and the other are elements of armed groups from outside Abyan.

There was confrontation during which the machine guns were fired and the outcome of the victims is unknown until the moment within the irrigation district, where elements of Mr. Abdul Latif tried to expel the armed groups coming from other provinces.

The sources pointed out that the elements of the master of the last few days tried to exert control over Jaar and asked members of other groups to leave, an appeal that was rejected and caused the outbreak of fighting at dawn today.

Sharp differences erupted over the last weeks between the elements of armed groups in Abyan after the elements of groups from outside the province were accused of vast destruction and looting while maintaining control of the city.

Another article on the growing schism between the two groups and this morning’s violence in Ja’ar at SaadaAden (ar) indicates the local jihaddists accuse the imported jihaddists of creating “overwhelming discontent” among the population in a war without limits. The stance of the local tribesmen against the militant forces has exacerbated the divisions among them, the article notes.

The Yemen Times reports on the aftermath of seven air strikes in Jaar which destroyed the water tank and hit an empty health clinic over the week-end.

Some of Abyan’s tribe came together to expel the militant groups, according to Ahmed al-Aydaros, the governorate’s council member. After successfully expelling the militant groups from Lauder, they formed popular committees.

“The tribes now discuss their plans to free Zunjbar from the militant groups, but there is a dirty game being played by the authorities to hand Abyan to the militant groups, groups without who believes that the Central Security was under the militant groups without even one bullets” said al-Aydaros.

On the other hand, the main military camp 25 Mika in Abyan has been surrounded by the militant groups for more than three months now. Abdalrahim al-Aswary, public relations officer at the 25 Mika camp, told the Yemen Times that this week things have improved at the camp. “We managed to evacuate the martyrs and casualties from the camp.” Although the camp is still surrounded by al-Qaeda from Zunjbar’s side, the state is using air strikes to free the camp, said Al-Aswary. Food is provided well there but al-Qeada has managed to cut the phone coverage.

Dr. Al Guneid talks about AlQeada in Yemen, the truth and illusions, in the seminar “Our revolution against terrorism” in Taiz on August 10, 2011. An English version will be ready shortly.

تنظيم القاعدة في اليمن خدعة كبيرة !!

هناك جدل كبير حول وجود تنظيم القاعدة في اليمن، وحول حقيقة وجود التنظيم بالحجم الذي تتحدث عنه وسائل الإعلام، وحول علاقته بنظام صالح، لقد تناول الكثيرين الكتابة حول هذا الموضوع الا إن مع معظمها لم تَصب كبدَ الحقيقة..

ما دفعني للكتابة حول هذا الموضوع الندوة التي عُقدت في ساحة الحريه بتعز تحت عنوان ” ثورتنا ضد الارهاب” وكان من ضمن الشخصيات التي تم استضافتها الدكتور / عبدالقادر الجنيد وهو شخصية معروفة جيداً في الوسط الاجتماعي ، ويُقال ان الجنيد احد الجنود المجهولين في الثورة الشعبية وله اسهاماً كبيراً في ايصال صوت الثورة الى العالم الغربي من خلال الدور الاعلامي الكبير الذي يقوم به ليلاً ونهاراً عبر موقع التواصل الاجتماعي التويتر..

الجنيد في المحور الذي تناوله حول ” القاعده في اليمن” شرح ووصف وحلل واستنتج في كلمات غاية بالبساطة والروعة جذبت اهتمام الحاضرين ونالت استحسانهم لطريقة الطرح النادرة..

يقول الجنيد عن القاعده هذا الموضوع الشائك:
(Read on …)

First Saleh floats the figurehead idea. By the next day, he is already unsatisfied and he comes up with something new, that Sadiq al Ahmar and Ali Mohsen have to to leave the country first. What is the next stall tactic going to be? He changed his position since the start of the rev 100 times at least.

Aug. 12 (Bloomberg) — New talks on a transfer of leadership in Yemen foresee President Ali Abdullah Saleh surrendering power to his deputy while keeping his title, a senior official said.

The proposal includes the formation of a new government and elections for head of state, said the official, who was briefed on the negotiations. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to comment publicly. Saleh has agreed on the plan’s outline, though details still have to be worked out and the opposition hasn’t given its consent, the official said. (Read on …)

The good news: obviously they have no access to nuclear materials despite that constant rhetoric. This oddly timed US announcement relates to intel announced in Dec 2010 by the Saudis as the purported poison perfume plot . Update: this article at Global Security decimates the Times article.

MSNBC: American counterterrorism officials are increasingly concerned that the most dangerous regional arm of Al Qaeda is trying to produce the lethal poison ricin, to be packed around small explosives for attacks against the United States.

For more than a year, according to classified intelligence reports, Al Qaeda’s affiliate in Yemen has been making efforts to acquire large quantities of castor beans, which are required to produce ricin, a white, powdery toxin that is so deadly that just a speck can kill if it is inhaled or reaches the bloodstream.

Intelligence officials say they have collected evidence that Qaeda operatives are trying to move castor beans and processing agents to a hideaway in Shabwa Province, in one of Yemen’s rugged tribal areas controlled by insurgents. The officials say the evidence points to efforts to secretly concoct batches of the poison, pack them around small explosives, and then try to explode them in contained spaces, like a shopping mall, an airport or a subway station. (Read on …)

Note to self: If giving a gift to someone in Yemen, make sure its not a Casio watch. Hanafi’s lawyers are claiming he was coerced in to making statements by an implied threat of remaining on the no-fly list without an interview, and the statements should be excluded from the trial

MSNBC: But Manhattan federal prosecutors, in a court filing on Friday, said any statements Brooklyn-born Wesam El-Hanafi, 36, might have made were voluntary and not coerced.

Hanafi was arrested in April last year and charged with conspiracy to provide material support to al Qaeda militants. Prosecutors have said Hanafi bought seven digital Casio watches through Internet seller Amazon to send to militants in Yemen, home to a resurgent al Qaeda wing, and that the alarms in the watches could be used as triggers for a bomb. (Read on …)

Pop quiz: Q: What was the characteristic response of the Saleh regime to power sharing demands following unity in 1990 that precipitated the 1994 civil war? A: Assassinations. Hundreds of southern political leaders were assassinated, often by veterans of the Afghan jihad who were allied with Saleh.

Five protesters wounded in Sanaa by an explosive device thrown from a car with police plates.

War planes bomb Arhab, five dead. Three houses, a mosque and many farms damaged. Clashes in Nehm, 20 km south of Arhab, eight wounded.

The Yemen Post reports Hamid Al-Qushaibi of the 310th escaped a car-bomb assassination attempt in Amran province but al Sahwa reports Major Ismail al-Ghurbani, commander of the 310th Armored Brigade of the 1st Armored Division was shot dead in an assassination in Amran

A truce between Islah and the Houthis in al Jawf will go into effect 8/17 when the JMP declares the national council; Fares Manna, UN sanctioned weapons dealer and long time associate of Saleh, will be replaced as governor by Sheikh Hussein Al-Thaneen from the Islah Party.

One person was killed and three wounded Sunday evening when a suicide car bomber detonated at a gathering of Houthis near the health center in al Jawf, News Yemen reported. The Houthis blamed the US, saying “The process shows the intense action and malicious plots by the Americans and the targeting of Yemen in general and the northern areas in particular.” Mareb Press reports dozens of injuries. Interior Ministery says 14 dead and the hallmarks of al Qaeda.

16 suspected al Qaeda were killed Sunday as clashes in the province take place in seven areas. The tribesmen (like the commander of the 25th Mechanized) say that the government is arming the al Qaeda militants and providing other support.

Yemen Post: Local tribesmen in Abyan province, fighting with government against militants, are accusing the government of helping al-Qaeda fighters stay strong by attacking tribal posts and arming the militants.

According to tribal sources in Abyan, at least 19 tribesmen have been killed by government attacks.

A senior Yemeni Defense Ministry official denies that the toll is that high, but did not deny that government raids did kill tribal fighters in accidental attacks.

Over the last month, tribes have succeeded to retake more than 60 percent of the province from the hands of suspected al-Qaeda militants after the government failed to show progress in its fight against the militants since May.

At least 1600 tribesmen are fighting al-Qaeda militants in the province.

More than 15 al-Qaeda fighters were arrested on Thursday by the tribesmen as their push to cleanse the province from the militants nears the final steps.

Update: Sultan al Barakani says Hamid al Ahmar is the prime suspect in the bombing on the presidential palace because the sims cards used in mobile phones belonged to SabaFone.

After a mass anti-regime march Wednesday in Taiz, a seminar about how al Qaeda in impacting the nation and the revolution was held:

The first sign says, Within the activities of Ramadan and with the Collaboration of the Freedom Square’s Youth the Legal Center for Defending the Revolution – Taiz is holding an intellectual symposium titled “Together against Terrorism”

The second sign: Our Revolution is Against Terrorism and it Seeks Peace for all the nations Of the World

Activist Bushra Maqtari presented a paper I have a scan copy as a photo but not a doc.

On a related note, from what I understand, the organizing committee has decided to hold a nationwide protest against al Qaeda and their attacks on western interests in Yemen (and Yemenis) on the third anniversary of the 9/17/08 attack on the US Embassy in Yemen.

But they may be using the Islamic calendar to determine the anniversary date, and the attack was during Ramadan that year. I think its a good idea and commend them for their initiative. Al Qaeda is sucking the blood of all Yemenis (see below) and has elicited from the US a counter-productive idiotic policy. However, I think Ramadan 17 is also the date the JMP is going to announce the transitional council, so we’ll see what the people are shouting for on that date.

The following cartoon is entitled al Qaeda in Yemen.

God help us, Obama taught them all to lie. At best, he condones and encourages it. Apparently US foreign policy is determined only through the prism of Al Qaeda, CT ops and drones. The entire mid-term “war of ideas” kind of strategy to protect US interests is not present anywhere. And moral considerations are tertiary. Its no wonder Obama has not spoken the word “Yemen” since he called Saleh “a friend” and never once addressed the millions of Yemeni protesters; thirty murderous religious fanatics outweigh all other US concerns. The GCC plan and the earlier US re-branding of Saleh as a good partner in the WOT are efforts to retain as much of the existing US created CT structure as possible. Its a policy doomed to fail and fail big in both countries. Here’s a good article about the Yemeni Air Force bombing the tribes fighting al Qaeda and other developments in Abyan.

Here Brennan lies about civilian casualties in Pakistan but also in Yemen: TN: C.I.A. Is Disputed on Civilian Toll in Drone Strikes, “Fortunately, for more than a year, due to our discretion and precision, the U.S. government has not found credible evidence of collateral deaths resulting from U.S. counterterrorism operations outside of Afghanistan or Iraq, and we will continue to do our best to keep it that way,” Mr. Brennan said.

Its the same type of bold mis-characterization as when General Patraeus, now the head of the CIA, said with a straight face there were no civilians casualties in the ‘09 airstrike in Abyan, because the women and children were related to the terrorists or had sold them vegetables, making them guilty of providing material support. The fact that the poor dead villagers had appealed to local authorities for help in expelling al Qaeda weeks before has no impact on their “lawful enemy” status.

Now certainly these fanatics should be thoroughly condemned for bringing their children to training camps and sheltering among civilians. But no six year old is a terrorist.

And this repugnant spin is similar to US Department of Defense statements that the US found no irrefutable evidence that the US trained counter-terror forces have committed any atrocities in Yemen. Its the other members of the Republican Guard and other divisions that receive US funds I guess who shot all the protesters.

Ammar Saleh, head of the National Security, just bought a three million dollar palace in Sanaa–with cash. I guess he found the money on the street or in a taxi. Your tax dollars at work, worse yet, beyond the scope of congressional oversight.

As an aside and to save the link, some lefty site is carrying Richard Clark’s uncorroborated accusation that the top level of the CIA withheld info on al Midhar and al Hamzi’s presence in the US from the rest of the gov’t. The CIA insists it was only a few low level analysts who knew they were here. The article fails to address the issue of the Yemen Hub, a phone line monitored by the NSA for the CIA since 1996, ie-prior to and after both the 1998 embassy attacks and the USS Cole bombing. The USS Cole bombers called the hub several times in planning the attack; Midhar and Hamzi called the monitored number several times from the US as well. The number was under such heavy surveillance that there was a satellite dedicated to recording visitors to the house.

HCG: As outlined in the Yemen Hub category, the number was under heavy surveillance by the US. It was al-Qaeda’s operations centre and had been integral in the embassy bombings, when it received calls from both the bombers in Africa and bin Laden in Afghanistan. Intercepts of the calls enabled the FBI to map al-Qaeda’s global network (except the 9/11 hijackers in the US, whose location the NSA failed to communicate). According to a US investigator, the hub number was used by the bombers to “put everything together” before the Cole bombing.

There are two simple questions: If the NSA was listening in on the bombers putting everything together before the Cole attack, why was it not prevented? Second, why was the hub not shut down after the Cole attack? The policy of allowing the hub to operate to map al-Qaeda was proved to be a failure by the Cole bombing, as no amount of intelligence was worth the lives of the dead sailors, so the people who ran the hub should have been arrested, as were some of the other Cole bombers in Yemen, like Fahad al-Quso.

Fahd al Quso, who was ultimately given a ten year sentence, was released by Saleh’s govt in May 2007, after three years. The release was met by weak protestations from the USG and outrage by the sailors’ families. By 2010 al Quso, had released an AQAP vid threatening the US, and was placed on the Freds MWT list. Several drone strikes have targeted al Quso since 2009.

Meanwhile the US holds Yemen’s democratic process hostage by insisting on the GCC plan, rejected by Salah, the GPC, the JMP and the demonstrators, in order to implement cosmetic changes to a deeply dysfunctional system:

Victoria Nuland, a spokeswoman for the U.S. State Department, said democratic processes in Yemen shouldn’t be “held hostage” while the president weighs his options.

“Our view is that Yemen needs to move in a democratic direction along the lines of the GCC report,” she said. “How that happens is up to the Yemeni people but it’s got to happen.” Officials in Saleh’s ruling General People’s Congress maintain he is the legitimate leader until the country has presidential elections. ( UPI)

Massive protests on the streets today. Check News of the Yemen Revolution to get the Youtube URLs: https://www.facebook.com/EngYemenNews and Yemen Rights Monitor for all the recent updates, military conflicts and political statements: http://yemenrightsmonitor.blogspot.com/. The day is themed, “Victorious God Willing” Friday and nation-wide protests reject Saleh and GCC plan, and call for the quick announcement of a national council. The protests condemn crimes in Taiz, Arhab, and Abyan.

These vids are from yesterday: (Read on …)