Armies of Liberation

The GPC created an “opposition” coalition (including the Baath party which is headed by the President’s nephew*) in an effort to undermine the JMP. (The JMP although partially co-opted is partially not). However the new opposition are all regime allies who have come together under the lovely name “National Democratic Coalition”. Do we think the international community and western press will fall for this latest slight of hand? Maybe.

Saba News

PGC, opposition parties sign political coalition document

SANA’A, July 23 (Saba)- Ruling party People General Congress (PGC), Parties of National Council for Opposition, al-Ba’ath Arab Socialist National Party, Yemeni Association Party and Democratic September System signed on Wednesday a strategic political coalition document.

Vice President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi, who signed the coalition document, called the National Democratic Coalition, for PGC part, expressed his great pleasure for holding this meeting that represents strategic political trend for serving national aims and Yemeni two revolutions’ goals.

The coalition document’s items included a number of public norms that stipulate on grasping Islam as a faith and legislation, protecting national bases toped by republican system, revolution and unity, and implementing law and constitution.

The document also affirms facing calls for separatism, sectarianism, regionalism and tribalism, and fighting all forms of false political and intellectual mobilizations harming national unity as well as fighting violence, extremism, terrorism, organized crime, all forms of hatred and seditions among Yemeni citizens and working on keeping social security and peace.

The document stipulates on activating role and activities of cultural, thinking, educational and information institutions in stabilizing unity, democracy and social justices as well hating violence, separation and hatred for improving national enlightenment among the people.

In addition to a number of mentioned conditions above and others, the parties have agreed on regulating parties law, especially committees, financial resources and bases of distributing government support among them.

*Yahya Mohammed Abdullah Saleh, head of the Central Security Forces, is president Saleh’s nephew. He is also the secretary general of the Yemeni Baath Party, according to the Yemen Observer, and hosted a condolences service after Saddam Hussain’s execution. Yahya Saleh heads an organization dedicated to supporting the Lebanese and Palestinian causes with charitable contributions, the Yemeni Public Committee to Support the Resistance. A symposium at Sanaa University organized by the Yemeni Popular Committee to Support Palestinian, Lebanon, Iraqi Resistance featured Sheikh Harith al-Dhari, head of the Iraqi Muslim Scholars Association, who is wanted in Iraq for colluding with insurgents, At the symposium in December 2006, Yahya Mohammed Abdullah Saleh, “praised the Iraqi resistance that could prove itself and cause loses to the occupation forces. He considered the siege imposed by the US on Iraq as a clear example of the hostility of the US and its allies,” al-Motamar, website of the GPC reported. Yahya Mohammed Abdullah Saleh is also chairman of the Yemeni Society of Tourism and Travel Agencies. And he’s head of the Progress and Advancement Forum.

From the Times Online, via Weasel Zippers:

Dr Williams said: “The Anbar Awakening (in Iraq) really broke the hearts of a lot of al-Qaeda followers who saw the jihad in Iraq in black-and-white terms. Sunni Arab al-Qaeda were pushed out by fellow Sunni Arabs.

“Iraq is seen as a defeat. The image of Afghanistan is seen as a more pristine jihad.”

The Times has learnt from several insurgency sources that Abu Yusuf Saleh al-Yemeni, an emissary for al-Qaeda, met the leadership of Hizb-e-Islami, the Afghan insurgent group, in Nuristan province on the eastern border in autumn 2007. The two sides agreed to work together. Al-Yemeni now leads a band of al-Qaeda fighters alongside Hizb-e-Islami fighters, as well as Taleban and Pakistani militants from bases in Nuristan.

The US financial assessment team found efforts to counter money laundering are in their infancy, or non-existent. Parliament is stalling the bill because it will restrict the transfer of charity funds and/or to “legitimate resistance” like Hamas.

SANA’A, July 23 (Saba) - Plans the Yemeni government has taken to fight money laundering and terrorism finance and preventing the establishment of unlicensed currency exchange companies helped revive the currency exchange during the last ten years, a report has said.

The report issued by the Yemen Central Bank noted that the exchange companies number has more than doubled in a decade. This number increased from 210 to 528. The improvement came as the government introduced a new law for combating money laundering and terrorist finance that is yet to be approved by the parliament.

According to the report, the Yemen Central Bank makes it compulsory for exchange companies to present detailed information about their banking services. The bank increased these companies capital to YR 20 million to increase their annual fees to YR 1 million and the individual institutions to YR 150.000.

The JMP, which is the actual political opposition not like that new fangled creation, must get on the ball. The Parliamentary election is in April and the SCER isn’t formed yet.

Yemen Online

Yemen Elections : JMP shouldn’t hold the elections hostage ” El-Erayni says

Dr.Abdul karim El-Eryani, Political Advisor of the Yemeni president and Second Vice-President of General People Congress (Ruling party) declared to YemenOnline that the elections and formation of the Supreme Commission For Elections & Referendum (SCER)are completely independent process . Joint Meeting Parties (JMP) shouldn’t hold the elections hostage because they have political problems with the government.Dr.El-Eryani has left the dialogue on the formation of SCER with JMP because they were insisted on linking elections to other issues not related to elections .

There are thousands of political prisoners, preventative detentions or arbitrary arrests relating to the Sa’ada war. Witness Testimony, Click Here Today IRIN reported, “Abdul-Rashid al-Faqih, head of Hiwar Forum, a local non-governmental organisation (NGO), said about 3,000 people had been arrested by the authorities for supporting al-Houthi. Of these, 500 detainees are known. The rest are unidentified because their families are scared of reporting their fate. Their whereabouts are unknown, he told IRIN.”

About 3000 sounds right and then there are the southern political prisoners, Al-Sahwa:

Sahwa Net-Several activists have stressed the importance of opposing the arbitrary arrests, affirming the illegality of what is named the State Security Court in which southern leaders and activists are trying.

Mohammad al-Mikhlafi , head of the Yemeni Observatory for Human Rights, said that the political prisoners number amounted 864 from March up to-date, pointing out that all of them are from the southern provinces except the comedian Fahad al-Qarni.

He added in a seminar organized by YOHR on Wednesday in Sana’a that such trials ignite hatred against the unification particularly when many political figures are among those who are being prosecuted. Al-Mikhlafi said that the judiciary became an opponent of journalists, indicating that journalists are prevented from attending public hearings and prosecuted.

Yemen Observer

Bait al-Faqih court acquitted Sheikh Shuaib al-Fashiq of charges of raping a citizen Hamdan al-Dersi and restricted the freedom given to him in the indictment. The victim’s complaint was presented to the General Attorney by Allawo Foundation for Advocate.

Al-Dersi, the Hodeidah worker who filed the suit against Sheikh al-Fashiq allegedly for sodomizing and torturing him, was represented by his lawyer Khaled al-Raimi, who demanded YR 10 million as compensation for his client.

The court convicted al-Fashiq with private prison with a minimum penalty, which is considered an inherited social need to the objective address of relevant stakeholders, as stated in the operative provision:

“we do not absolve of the judgment to condemn the accused in this regard under the Article No. 246 sanctions.”

The provision said that al-Fashiq has the right to demand compensation to confront what the case caused, as the public prosecutor is entitled to refer Mohammed al-Dersi and others to trail for perjury in accordance with the law. “There is no intention to publish the judgment through the press, which has followed the case as a kind of reconsideration for the accused al-Fashiq,” the judgment read.

The court session presided over by Judge Jalal al-Maqtari ordered to arrest al-Dersi after the sentence was read and to put him in jail.

Lawyer Mohammed Naji Allawo, General Coordinator of the National Authority for the Defense of Rights and Freedoms (HOOD), expressed the judgment as a blow up of the constitutional provisions for customs and bad social inheritance. “Al-Fashiq attacked our client al-Dersi by force and prepared a special prison for seizing the freedom of people and torturing them,” he said.

“We do not expect from the weak judiciary system caught up in corruption and subservience to authority over such provisions to be effective; in the end the system condemns the victim and discharges the offender,” Allawo said.

Al-Dersi decided to appeal the judgment, according to his lawyer al-Raimi. “We reserve our comments on the judgment until we receive a response and until we end studying its causes and its reasons.”

Lets review the case, shall we?

Head of Hodeidah Appeal Prosecution, Judge Ali Al-Samet accused Shuaib Al-Faseq of restricting the freedom and violating the honor of Darsi, removed his clothes, chained him with iron chains and inserted a solid instrument in his anus and sent him out the house naked. The Attorney-General Dr. Abdullah Al-Olifi gave his orders on December 23rd, 2007 to investigate in the case and to arrest the offenders after Al-Darsi presented a complaint to him against Al-Fasheq.

For his part, Al-Husainiah citizens in Bait Al-Faqeeh provinvce, Hodeidah Governorate denounced what happened to Hamdan Al-Darsi of beatings, torture and violation of his honor by Sheikh Shuaib Mohammed Hassan Al-Fasheq and his companions. In a written statement with their signatures, Nass press got a copy of it, they explained that Hamdan was sent in AL-Fasheq private prison under the pretext that he was working in a building that was under arguments in the mid of last December asserting that Al-Fasheq’s followers put chains on his feet and left him with no food until the midnight.

They added in their statement, “then Al-Fasheq ordered his followers to take off the clothes of Hamdan and to hang his feet in the ceiling, then Al-Fasheq inserted a thick stick in his anus and poured wine over head and threatened him with burning him with sulfur and then sent out the prison and threatened to be killed if he talked about what happened to him. Hamdan says “during torture and also after the completion of his criminal act and violation of my honor, he used to put his cigarette in my anus and he put a knife on my neck, I wished that he slaughtered me and not to do what he did.”

About the torture of Hamdan Al-Darsi, a report prepared by Hodeidah Security based on eye-witnesses stated that Al-Fasheq imprisoned Hamdan from afternoon Wednesday 12, 20th, 2006 and tortured physically then released after midnight after he finished his torture and sent him out his home naked. The report pointed out that the victim submitted a medical report issued from the Health Office of Bait Al-Faqeeh Province shows geological, burning and swelling of the anal victim, and the presence of abrasions, burning and swollen behind left leg and forearms.

And the Sheik goes free and gets to claim compensation.

Me too!

IFJ Renews Call for Justice for Yemeni Journalist Abdelkarim Al Khaiwani

Source: IFJ

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has congratulated Yemeni journalist Abdelkarim Al Khaiwani winner of Amnesty International’s “Sepcial Award for Human Rights Journalism Under Threat” and renewed its call for journalist organisations around the world to support Al Khaiwani as he challenges a six-year jail sentence handed down by the state security court.

“Abdul Karim is one our members and a very special member too,” said IFJ President Jim Boumelha “He is one of those rare breed of journalists, some of the bravest and the most determined - those who are prepared to sacrifice their personal and professional lives for the public good. Abdul Karim is convinced that standing up to bullies and having to face up torture and imprisonment can make the difference.”

(Read on …)

later reports put the figure at eight wounded

SANAA (AFP) — Five people, including a young boy, were wounded in southern Yemen on Tuesday when police fired on demonstrators demanding the release of more than 80 people arrested during previous protests, witnesses said.

Dozens of demonstrators were also detained during the new protest, in Radfan in southern Lahij province, the witnesses told AFP.

Police fired live bullets and tear gas to disperse the march, they said.

Besides demanding the release of scores of people held since demonstrations in southern provinces earlier this year, the protestors also called for an end to the trials of three senior members of the opposition Yemen Socialist Party (YSP) and 36 other people who were charged in connection with the turmoil.

Hassan Baoum, a member of the YSP’s political bureau, YSP central committee member Yehya Ghaleb al-Shuaibi and activist Ali Haitham al-Ghareeb were charged with inciting protests which led to clashes with police in March and April.

Defence lawyers call their trial, which began in May, politically-motivated.

Authorities have blamed the wave of protests on the YSP, the former ruling party in southern Yemen.

Good for her! A surprise visit to the prisons is just whats needed. They wont be able to kick her out or beat her up like they do with the MP’s who visit.

Yemen Observer:
The Minister of Human Rights Huda al-Ban today began a surprise visit to inspect prisons in Ibb and Taiz governorates in order to view the conditions of the prisoners and prisons facilities.

Close sources reported that the Minister will check on the duration of imprisonment and will set free some penniless ones who have served the majority of their terms and were indebted with large fines. The Ministry will pay the sums to creditors for them, from the fund set by the Vice-President for this purpose.

The same source added that the minister will check prison conditions from the point of view of cleanliness, food and treatment of prisoners, since cells are houses of correction and reformatory aimed to rehabilitate prisoners into the community. In case the minister finds that any of the cells she visits do not meet the required conditions, she will report them to the cabinet including binding recommendations for the concerned ministries to reform them. The report will also include recommendations for punishing jailors who violate the laws that organize and deal with cells and respect for human rights.

The Ministry of Human Rights has released 155 prisoners, 10 of them women, from four governorates to help celebrate May 22. The Ministry paid more than YR 8 million as debts to creditors. Financial aid was offered to other needy prisoners as well.

Excellent! Yemeni President Saleh called rebel leader Abdulmalik al-Houthi and they ended the war that raged in northern Yemen since 2004. The army is withdrawing from areas they haven’t vacated since 2004. The general consensus is that the ICC charges against the President of Sudan for genocide gave the Yemeni president the necessary motivation. Brigadier General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar who led the war effort in Sa’ada is thought to be under loose house arrest. Hopefully aid groups can get to the internal refugees now, and the regime empties the prisons of the arbitrarily arrested and frees al-Khaiwani. Even though the prior three mediated settlements broke down, I think theres a real prospect for a lasting peace here. The disengagement by the Yemeni military seems much more robust than anything I’ve seen thus far. Its great news for the 700,000 residents of the area.

Mareb Press

Ministerial committee to visit Sa’ada
Governmental troops withdraw, Houthis celebrate the end of war
Wednesday 23 July 2008 00ouWed, 23 Jul 2008 00:08:59 +0300 12 AM / Mareb Press

The al-Houthi supporters in Haidan and Saqain districts celebrated today the end of Sa’ada war and the withdrawal of the army from the two districts.

A group of Al Houthi supporters were cleaning with water and soaps the house of the slain leader of the rebels Hussein Badr Al Deen Al Houthi,” said a statement issued by the office of the rebels’ leader Abdul Malik Al Houthi in al-Manber website. The house was under the control of the army since Hussein Al Houthi was killed in September 2004.

“The calm has prevailed most of the areas after the declaration of the end of war in Sa’ada except for very few clashes which were under control,” said the statement. The source said the army withdrew from all sites in Haidan and Maran district and al-Houthi followers have received all these sites.

The cabinet set up today, Wednesday a ministerial committee including a number of ministers chaired by the Minister of Local Administration Abdul Qader Hilal to estimate the damages and the destruction in Sa’ada province.

Of all the marginalized groups in Yemen, none is more so then black Yemenis who are called akhdam, which means servants, seriously. The Akdam are thought to be of Ethiopian descent and have been in Yemen for centuries, yet to achieve integration or equality. The racial discrimination is so dramatic and engrained its hardly noticed. The reason they work as street sweepers is no one will hire them for anything else. Children are excluded from public schools. They are a sub-caste of society.

IRIN: SANAA, 21 July 2008 (IRIN) - Police moved into a slum area of Sanaa city on 20 July to try to evict several hundred impoverished people who had moved into the area saying they could not longer afford to pay rent.

Police used a tractor to demolish about 10 tin shacks, according to Saad Ahmed Salem, a slum leader, but did not succeed in evicting any of the roughly 200 families in the slum.

(Read on …)

Yay! Now I know what everybody said.

SANA’A, NewsYemen

The Washington-based Arab al-Hurra TV on Sunday highlighted in its program “Eye on Democracy” the issue of Yemeni journalist Abdul-Karim al-Khaiwani who was sentenced a month ago to six years in jail.

The program hosted Yemeni journalist and columnist in Washington Muneer al-Maweri, the executive director of the American Islamic Congress, Zainab al-Suwaij, the Middle East Program Coordinator in Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Joel Campagna, and the former Yemeni Journalists Syndicate chairman, Abdul-Bari Taher.

Al-Maweri urged to President Saleh to give al-Khaiwani a “humanitarian” pardon, accusing some Yemeni officials “who are encouraging violation of press freedom and abuses against journalists” of hurting the image of Yemen and President Saleh himself.

“I wonder how Yemeni authorities release convicted terrorists while they jail journalist al-Khaiwani and popular singer Fahd al-Qarni…We had hoped that Yemeni authorities would have dealt with al-Khaiwani in the same way it dealt with terrorists who were freed or got lenient sentences”, said al-Maweri.

Al-Maweri denied that judiciary has become independent and said that it receives and carries out directives from the executive authority. “How can a judiciary that let out Jamal al-Badawi and jailed journalist al-Khaiwani and activist al-Qarni be independent?” said al-Maweri.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) senior Middle East Program Coordinator, Joel Campagna, said that alleged terror charges against al-Khaiwani were false. He said al-Khaiwani was convicted for writing about war in Sa’ada, north of Yemen, and criticizing the Yemeni government. The Yemeni government used terror charges against al-Khaiwani just to avoid international blame for jailing a journalist, he said.

Al-Suwaji also defended al-Khaiwani and said terrorism is to commit violence and kill innocent people and al-Khaiwani did neither. Al-Suwaji added that the AIC launched an international drive to press the Yemeni government to free al-Khaiwani.

Al-Khaiwani has critical articles against some of the government’s policies and violations against journalists and press freedom. He was jailed many times but receiving the latest six-year sentence along with other 12 convicted of supporting rebellion in north Yemen. Al-Khaiwani got last June 9 the award of the Amnesty International 2008 for “Journalists Under Threat”.

M&C: Sana’a, Yemen - A state security court in Sana’a imposed a media gag order Monday in the trial of three opposition leaders charged with stirring up violent protests in southern Yemen earlier this year.

Presiding judge Muhssien Alwan issued the order at the start of the second hearing into the case, saying that the gag order applied to both local and foreign media.

Police officers guarding the court’s gate prevented journalists from entering even before the judge issued the ban. When the highly publicized trial began on May 28, journalists were allowed into the courtroom.

Hassan Baoum, Yahya al-Shouaibi and Ali al-Gharib, all senior members of the opposition Yemeni Socialist Party, are charged with instigating civil disorder.

Protests and riots hit several southern Yemeni cities where disgruntled youths took to the streets in April to protest what they called discriminatory army recruiting policies against southerners.

The Yemeni authorities charge the three men incited violent protests and riots that hit several southern cities.

At least 13 people were killed and more than 70 were injured in clashes with security forces.

I have 26 killed, hundreds injured and several hundred imprisoned.

Update 1: Defense withdraws, and Baoum admits to calling for secesssion.

Sahwa Net –The defense of three political prisoners withdrew from the court on Monday as it decided imposing media ban in the trial. Journalists were prevented from attending the trial even before the judge issued the ban.

The three senior leaders of the Yemeni Social Party, Hassan Ba Oam, Yahya al-Shouaibi and Ali al-Gharib are charged with inciting violent protests and riots that hit several southern cities in this year . In the hearing, Hassan Ba Oam admitted that he had called to secession, and refusing Yemen’s regime and the trial.

Update 2: Two of three defense withdrew, one is a journalist.

The Ruling Party website (I guess the ban doesn’t apply to them.) The Court also decided banning publication that would affect the process of justice and permitting publication of only proceedings of the trial. The body defending the defendants withdrew from the court except the defence lawyer of defendant Hassan Baoum.

Defendant Ali Haitham al-Gharib claimed that this charge is a publication charge and that he is a journalist, demanding that his file be sent to the Press Prosecution but the chairman of prosecution replied to the defendant statement that the crime is against the security of the state.

(Read on …)

Welcome! Please sign a letter for the Yemeni journalist. Thank you.
Click here please.

مرحبا. يرجى تسجيل الدخول لرسالة الصحافي اليمني. شكرا لك.
اضغط هنا من فضلك.

Update: that was the first time I heard al-Khaiwani’s voice. He sounded nice but different than I was expecting. And my kitchen looked clean. My kids were excited that our kitchen was on TV. My 20 year old dining room table managed to look shiney. I wish there was a transcript to translate but I’m sure it was a very good show. Any attention on al-Khaiwani’s case is good, but with that line-up, I’m sure the real issues got out.

The war that al-Khaiwani wrote about, which got him imprisoned, is supposedly over. The Yemeni president called the rebel leader and its done. Hopefully, they will release al-Khaiwani now that everybody is friends again.

The Yemeni military’s extensive bombing campaign over the last four years has destoyed homes, villages, and infrastructure including schools and water facilities in Yemen’s northern Sa’ada province. The regime is currently calling for the nearly 100,000 people who were driven from their homes by the fighting to return. Quite tragically, many have no place to go anymore. But if it is safe for the people to return then it must be safe enough for the Yemeni government to finally allow access to international aid organizations. Both Doctors Without Borders and the ICRC have deemed the region a humanitarian disaster; however, they haven’t been able to get in to render medicine, food, water and shelter to the displaced families. From Yemen Online.

“End” of War in Yemen: Displaced Residents of Harf Sufian to Return Home
YemenOnline- July 20, 2008- The gubernatorial leaders of Amran met to discuss the return of those displaced by the war against between the government and the Houthi Rebels. Led by the deputy governor of Amran, Saleh Abu Uja, the meeting birthed a committee that would facilitate the return of the displaced citizens. The return of the residents, however, will not be possible without rebuilding the damaged town. The war had left Harf Sufian demolished, as described by many. It was a critical battle ground and an important location that was fought over repeatedly throughout the war. It was captured and recaptured by both sides on several incidents. President Ali Abdullah Saleh announced an end to hostilities on Thursday. However, even after the cease fire fighting still continued in Sadah, casting doubt on how long the peace would last. The rehabilitation of Harf Sufian has symbolic significance. This healing of the country’s war wounds is an important step forward in the peace process.

Having played the terrorism card to exhaustion, Saleh plays the religion card with some trick to divide the Islah party, something to bolster his political capital at a time of weakness. Whatever it is, its a furtherance of the growing Talabanization of Yemen. This is an interesting post by a Yemeni woman entitled “Yemen, Sexual Harassment and Women”, who writes:

The problem in Yemen and Saudi in my opinion stems from the sexual objectification of women and a culture that views them as inferior, not only are they physically weaker but intellectually and morally inferior….The strict segregation is part of the cause as well, it creates lack of interaction and familiarity between the sexes. I consider it unhealthy that relatives for example cannot mingle with each other, instead females retreat hastily in another room if a man is approaching without even a greeting. Curtains are used to separate the sexes when talking to each other, those situations sexualise a perfectly normal environment. Any interaction between the sexes is deemed to be sexual.

The above author concludes , “It’s important that we strike a middle and balanced ground in order to have a healthy society and when pursuing virtue not achieve the opposite.”

An article from the Yemen Oserver notes the attendees of the conference were mostly al-Iman students, so the whole thing is looking like an al-Zindani creation, including the declaration that any women in the work force will lead to chaos in society and sex in the streets. Meanwhile the vice in Yemeni society is concentrated among its elite and leaders who steal food daily from the mouths of starving children. They are the ones who need moral guardians on an hourly basis. As the Italians say, a fish rots from its head. And of course and predictably, the conference focused on villifying journalists in particular.

The Yemen Observer: An alliance of Yemeni religious scholars and tribal leaders has decided to watch and safeguard the morals and values of the society through holding annual meetings rather than permanent committees, which were strongly criticized before being established.

Under the slogan “It’s the guards of virtue who will protect the ship from drowning,” the clerics and tribesmen – the self-appointed guardians of virtue – decided to hold a yearly conference, called “The meeting of promoting virtue and combating vice.” They backed down from a previous proposal submitted to President Ali Abdullah Saleh last May, for establishing virtue committees (religious police) and for monitoring the activities of individuals and institutions by banning any vice-related activity such as selling alcoholic drinks, night clubs, hotels, restaurants, or massage centers.

The clerics and tribesmen retracted from establishing their committees of promoting virtue and combating vice after strong criticisms from journalists, writers and politicians, who viewed the job of such committees as the responsibility of the state.

No single woman attended the one-day meeting held on Tuesday July 15 by the tribesmen and the Sunni religious scholars. The meeting was chaired by the tribal leader, Sadeq Abdullah al-Ahmar – sheikh of Yemen’s most influential tribe, the Hashed – and cleric Abdul Majeed al-Zandani, who is accused by the United States of supporting terrorism.

Most of the nearly two thousands male attendees were students of Al-Eyman University, a religious university run and owned by al-Zandani. The rest of the attendees were Salafi clerics and tribesmen. No prominent politicians from the Islamist party Islah attended the meeting except Sheikh al-Zandani, who has his own Salafi current inside the party. The politicians of Islah refused the demand of establishing committees for virtue, saying that it was only a political trick from the president Saleh to divide the Islah party, the largest opposition party on the one hand, and divide the opposition alliance which includes the Islah Islamists, Socialists and Nasserites on the other.

“Talking about committees for virtue has political reasons behind, aiming to mix the cards and confuse political life in an official attempt to divert the attention from its helplessness and corruption of the government, and thus holding others responsible for its faults including weakening the effectiveness of the official bodies and working outside the constitution and law,” said the alliance of the three parties in a statement issued three days before the meeting of the clerics and tribesmen.

(Read on …)

Update: its on at 3:10 in New York, I forgot about daylight savings. I think I’ll add a Yemen clock to the blog.

The show is “Eye on Democracy ” on al-Hurra satellite TV at 22:10 Yemen time, which is as we all know 14:10 New York time.

The woman who will be on is Zainab Al-Suwaij, Executive Director of the American Islamic Congress, which sponsors HAMSA which is coordinating the letters campaign for al-Khaiwani, the American guy is Joel Campagna who heads the Committee to Protect Journalists Middle East program and the Yemeni guy is Munier al-Mawari, a Yemeni American journalist and analyst.

The crew came to my house to tape an interview, which I though was nice. You can watch it streaming here. Also al-Hurra re-plays the show through the week, schedule here.

Also this week’s issue of Rotana magazine has a nice article (I hear) about al-Khaiwani and me, entitled, “American Jane Novak, the most famous foreigner known in Yemen”. I can’t believe I’m anywhere in a celebrity magazine but apparently so.

I just wish I could read the Rotana article and/or understand what they are saying on al-Hurra. My Arabic studies are going very slowly. Its such a hard language. I wish I could get somebody to live-blog the show.

Oh and in October, the Ladies Home Journal, again somewhat incomprehensible to me. However al-Khaiwani is still in jail. I’m going to need a new plan if the “End of the Sa’ada War” machinations don’t include his release along with all the kids and thousands others arbitrarily arrested in relation to the war.

Theres corruption and then theres grand corruption, elite capture of the vast majority of national resources and wealth on an organized and methodical basis. The best report ever I think was the Journalists Against Corruption report Available here. This YO report is a tad confusing on what the numbers mean:

Tender corruption is currently costing millions of dollars worth of public wealth. This came in a statement for the Supreme National Authority for Combating Corruption (SNACC) manager, Ahmed al-Anisi, at a debate organized by the al-Saeed establishment last Thursday.

Al-Anisi said that they cooperated with other authorities to issue cabinet resolutions to cancel all private authorizations. Al-Anisi helped in controlling some important corruption cases, pointing out that both public and opposition press were their source for discovering some of the corruption cases, mentioning the atomic energy case as an example. He reviewed their achievements as realized in the discussion of the scholarship case and the deductions on the students’ bursaries at the higher Education Ministry.

He ensured the recovery of YR 2 billion and YR 600,000, with several cases being referred to prosecution following long tedious procedures….

(Read on …)

I hope its true and that the release of al-Khaiwani is part of the deal:

Mareb Press: The President Ali Abdullah Saleh said that the war between the governmental troops and Al Houthi rebels has ended and it would never come back again.

“The war which was in some districts of Sa’ada has ended three days ago, and it will never come back again,” Saleh said.

In the first reaction, Yahya al-Houthi, currently residing in Germany, said in an interview with al-Jazeera satellite channel, President Saleh and his brother Abdul-Malik have agreed in telephone calls to end war in Sa’ada.

“The reason for ending the war is that we (al-Houthis) have severely blockaded the 17th militar infantry devision brigades under the leadership of brigadier Abdul Azeezal-Shahari, in Sa’ada for two months. So, the president asked for stopping war,” he added.

Yahya said it is President Saleh who always “begins and ends wars.” However, al-Houthi said that ceasefire this time is more serious.

He said “this ceasefire will continue just if the state army stops attack on people and people can equally get their rights. To continue this truce, we need peace, serious and responsible dialogue and we need to implement Doha deal”, said al-Houthi.

Local sources said that some clashes are still taken place in some of Sa’ada districts between the army and al-Houthi rebels.

Flight Global

Yemen’s Felix Airways has ordered eight Bombardier CRJ700 aircraft, powered by CF34-8C engines. The engine order is valued at more than $90 million and delivery will begin in September 2008. Felix Airways is a new private airline based in Yemen and will operate domestic routes previously served by Yemen Airways together with additional regional routes.

Yemen’s fleet deal

Yemen’s eponymous national flag carrier has selected Pratt & Whitney global service partners for a 10-year, $90-million fleet management programme agreement. The deal covers all engine maintenance and engine health monitoring for the ‘owned’ Airbus A310 aircraft in Yemen Airways’ fleet powered by Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engines. Yemen Airways has three owned Airbus A310s in its long-haul fleet, operating from its main base in Sana’a and a hub in Aden. The airline flies to more than 30 destinations in Africa, the Middle East, Europe and Asia.

Of course, performing “jihad” (a/k/a/ murder) in Iraq is legal in Yemen. The Yemeni judical system doesn’t even take into account if the returning “jihaddists” killed innocent Iraqi civilians or Iraqi police. So murder abroad carries no legal sanction in Yemen no matter who gets killed even kids.

I’m not posting the link to the following but it reminds me of the article by the Iraqi journalist who was on a Yemenia flight to Syria. He wrote there were a over a dozen jihaddists on the flight openly talking about going to fight in Iraq. That was after the National Security took over jursidiction of the airports from the Political Security in November 2006.

Al-Furqan media, the mouthpiece of the ISI has now released a new 41-minute video featuring a number of istishahadah (martyrdom attacks) carried out by foreign mujahideen in Iraq. The video is the third of a series called “Knights of Martyrdom.”

A major part of the video has been dedicated to a spectacular attack that destroyed the Badosh bridge, Northern Mosul, in May 2007. The attack was carried out by a Yemeni mujahideen going by the name Abu Huzeifa. He drove his explosives-packed truck past the security post at the entrance of the bridge, and detonated it about 150 meters further. The explosion was massive, causing the bridge to collapse. According to al Qaeda foreign mujahideens’ records released earlier this year by CTC, Abu Huzeifa was an arm-dealer from the city of Taez in Yemen. He arrived in Iraq via Syria, and registered as a martyrdom seeker on entering the country. He was 28 years old when he carried out the attack.

This from the CTC is also interesting. Its information from captured documents about assorted foreign fighters in Iraq. You’ll notice some patterns. I’m surpirsed they published so much personal information. There’s a lot more Yemenis listed at the link, this is just a sample. Its really sad that all these young guys get brainwashed into thinking their greatest contribution in life and to the world is to kill themselves.

Name: Raffat Abd Allah Al Amoudi
Alias: Abu-Azzam
Address: Yemen- Aden
Telephone:
Birth Date: 1982
Arrival Date: //
Contribution: //
Sake keeping: passport/ Identification/ Watch
Coordinator: Abu Mussab
Where do you know the coordinator from: Through a brother came back from Iraq
How did you arrive to Syria? Airplane
Stages of arrival to Iraq: Egypt, Syria

Document Summary: This document contains personal information of three individuals, one fighter and two suicide bombers. The first was Hamad ‘Abdallah al-Mutayri, also known as Abu-Hajar, a suicide bomber from Saudi. The second was Sami Ahsan al-Jufi, also known as Abu-Asid al-Jufi, a fighter from Yemen. And the third was al-Mutawakkil ‘Ala-Allah Mahdi, also known as Abu-al-Fida’, a suicide bomber from Yemen.
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Name: Hamad ‘Abdallah al-Mutayri
Alias: Alu Hajar [TC: they misspelled it, instead of Abu-Hajar]
Country: Saudi Arabia
Telephone: House/ 009664545217
Facilitator: —————
Occupation: Suicide bomber
Deposits: Passport
Donations: A watch/ 400 USD
Name: Sami Ahsan al-Jufi
Alias: Abu-Asid al-Jufi
Country: Yemen/ San’a’
Telephone: His brother/ 00967733821512- House/ 00967274750
Facilitator: ‘Abd-al-Hay
Occupation: Fighter
Deposits: Passport/ Identification card
Donations: A watch
Name: al-Mutawakkil ‘Ala-Allah Mahdi
Alias: Abu-al-Fida’
Country: Yemen/ San’a’
Telephone: House/ 009671544144
Facilitator: al-Haram al-Jurbani/ Salim al-Dulaymi
Occupation: Suicide bomber
Deposits: Passport
Donations: 240 USD
[End of Translation]

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ISA:

Text of report by London-based independent newspaper Al-Quds al- Arabi website on 17 July
[Report by Khalid al-Hammadi in Sanaa: "Analysts consider the formation of the Virtue Commission in Yemen as a sign of the weakness of the state or intended to divert the attention of the public away from its suffering prior to the parliamentary elections; the Commission for the Propagation of Virtue or the 'Yemeni Al- Mutawa'ah' declares war on prostitution, alcoholic beverages, drugs, and child trade"]

The commission to protect virtue in Yemen held its first conference in Sanaa yesterday. The conference -that was held with official backing -was attended by a large gathering of senior religious scholars and intellectuals from various parts of Yemen with a noticeable absence of the leaders of the opposition parties, including the Islamist Reform Party. The conferees decided to change the name of the commission from the Virtue Commission to the Commission for the Propagation of Virtue thus becoming identical in character and tasks to the Saudi Commission for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice that is popularly known as the “Al- Mutawa’ah”.

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Saleh is celebrating 30 years in power.

Sahwa Net –Demonstrations held on Thursday in Dhala and Lahj provinces demanded to cancel celebrations in which the authorities force citizens to attend to, according to their descriptions .

The demonstrators described marking the July 17th as a two parts behavior and exclusion policy. Sahwa Net correspondent in Dhala province said that slogans demanding to recognize the south issue end of prosecuting southern activists and release political prisoners were raised in the demonstrations. “Demonstrators stressed the continuation of peaceful struggle until all citizens’ rights are met” added he. Furthermore, demonstrations held Thursday in Lahj province denounced marking the July 17 as a national occasion, considering such act a devotion of division language.

On the other hand, the Joint Meeting Parties in Mahweet condemned forcing employees to attend the celebration of the president’s 30th anniversary of assuming power. Yemen’s president Saleh took power in north on 17 July 1978.

Beautiful women who work outside the house will drive society to chaos. What does that mean? Men and woman have no self-restraint and are consumed only with thinking about sex? Are we talking about animals or humans here? How insulting to everybody.

Mareb Press:

The Yemeni Women Union condemned today the religious decree issued by the religious scholars about quota system.

The YWU accused the religious scholars who issued that decree of defaming the women and offending their honor, dignity and decency.

The YWU mentioned some Quranic verses in support of their viewpoint. Allah says “Those who persecute or draw into temptation, the believers men and women, and do not turn in repentance, will have the penalty of hell”.

The YWU said the statement of the religious scholars is reducing the value and importance of the great role of women in building the society.

The statement added that everything in this booklet is contradicting with Islam which gives women absolute equality with men, said the statement denying any superiority for men over women citing from Quran “Mankind, we created you from a single (pair) of a male and female, and made you into nations and tribes that you may know each other, verily the most honoured of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you and Allah has full knowledge and is well-acquainted.”

“The women quota contradicts with our religion,” said the fatwa in the booklet. “Women racing to get out of the houses and be mixed with men in the places of work showing their beauty for all men, will lead to non-marriage relations, relations of lovers, and continuation of these relations will make the society drop to sexual chaos, loss of the decency, spread of adultery and illegal kids,” the booklet said. “We are with the equality of religious responsibilities of men and women, but we are not with the equality of employment of the roles of men and women,” said the scholars.

There was a two day lull. From the Yemen Times:

Alleged human rights abuses in Bani Hushaish

The Yemeni Socialist Party-affiliated Aleshtaraki.net reports that the Yemeni army has committed human rights abuses against several residents of Bani Hushaish, located east of Sana’a. It quoted local sources as saying that the army attacked Beit Al-Aghrabi village with heavy weaponry, although Houthi gunmen withdrew from the village and stopped fighting, according to a tribal mediation.

“The army destroyed residents’ homes and property before raiding the village. [Army personnel] evicted residents, including women and children, to a nearby school,” Bani Hushaish sources say, adding that the soldiers beat, badmouthed and insulted citizens.

According to the same sources, female soldiers from counterterrorism units deployed in the area arrested numerous women from Beit Al-Aghrabi village on suspicion of supporting Houthi gunmen. They further noted that the Yemeni army has arrested the majority of the village’s male residents under age 50.

In a statement published by state-run Al-Thawrah daily newspaper on Wednesday, an official government source in Bani Hushaish denied the authenticity of the report by Aleshteraki.net, clarifying that the Yemeni army is searching for wanted fugitives and that no human rights abuses have been committed.

Various sources allege that several army commanders, tribal leaders and regional forces have intervened to foil the mediation efforts that played a notable role in ending the war, unblocking the Sana’a-Sa’ada Highway, releasing besieged troops and transporting food supplies to the war-affected governorate.

Regarding the proposed “Popular Army” to be comprised of 27,000 recruits under the command of the Hashid tribe to fight Houthis, tribal sources affirm that the establishment of this army is underway.

In its most recent issue, Al-Ahale independent weekly newspaper blamed the Saudi Special Committee, chaired by Emir Sultan Bin Abdulaziz, for establishing and funding what it described as the “Janjawid Army,” hinting at the prospective popular army.

The weekly continued, reporting that an unnamed Saudi committee member recently visited Yemen to meet with tribal leaders, encouraging them to back the government in its war against Houthis.

Worries over potential sectarian conflict

A religious forum including Salafi members and tribesmen was held Tuesday, chaired by Sheikh Abdulmajid Al-Zindani, rector of Al-Iman Islamist University and also on the U.S. terror list. At the forum, participants agreed to contribute to the gathering of tribesmen under the name of a “Popular Army” to fight against Houthis, who belong to the Zaidi Islamic sect.

Reliable sources report that Salafi leaders promised to gather thousands of well-trained jihadists, most of whom are called “Yemeni Afghans,” to back the Yemeni army in its fight against Zaidi Houthis in Sa’ada and other areas.

The Yemeni government’s intent to form a religious committee in collaboration with Salafis to fight against Zaidi Houthis has raised sharp controversy among all of those concerned, who predict that doing so will create a new crisis, as well as sectarian and political conflicts that may harm Yemen’s social fabric.

Various social figures believe that establishing such a committee with religious powers constitutes a threat to personal and civil freedoms, noting that it also creates obstacles to Yemen’s emergency democracy.

Imagine how messy its going to get if the “citizens’ militia” comes to fruition.

Sana’a, Yemen - Gunmen loyal to a Shiite rebel group killed a senior regional official in an ambush in the north-western Yemeni al-Jawf province on Wednesday, local sources said.

The sources told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that Abdul-Wahab al- Dhamin, the deputy governor of al-Jawf, and three tribal chieftains accompanying him were killed after the gunmen opened fire on al- Dhamin’s car.

The attackers ambushed the car near al-Zahir district of al-Jawf, some 195 kilometres north west of the capital Sana’a, they said.

The assassination of al-Dhamin was likely a direct retaliation of the killing Abdu Abu-Rass, a leading member of the rebel group, in al-Jawf earlier in the day.

Abu-Rass and one of his body guards were ambushed by armed tribesmen in al-Zahir district.

In a separate ambush, two soldiers were killed and four others injured in the Barat district of al-Jawf Wednesday, local officials said, adding that the attackers were also Shiite rebels.

I wish it was true but the machine guns are still audible from the capital, Sana’a. This is at least the fifth declaration of the end of the war since 2005

Saada war ended three days ago, Pres. Saleh declares

SANA’A, July 17 (Saba) - President Ali Abdullah Saleh declared here Thursday the end of the war in Saada province, the north of Yemen.

“The war in districts of Saada province ended three days ago and it will never back.” Saleh said during the inauguration ceremony of summer centers and youth camps organized by the Supreme Committee for Summer Centers and Youth Camps and Ministry of Youth and Sport.

Worth mentioning, the Supreme Security Committee called last Wednesday all citizens fled from their villages in districts of Saada province to return home.

The committee also called citizens of Bani Hushaish and Harf sufian district of Amran governorate to return to their villages and homes peacefully.

CSM

Mir argues that the sudden shift of tactics and the apparent rapid enhancement in the sophistication of the attacks by insurgents point to an external capability. The attack on Benazir Bhutto and the Serena Hotel in Kabul were indicative of better planning and coordination that could not have come from the Taliban alone, he argues.

“They are traditional fighters,” he says. “Not thinkers. Recent attacks have also revealed the involvement of police and this is not the Taliban style at all.”

Recent reports have indicated increased activity of Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and the bordering regions of Pakistan. Last week saw the death of a top commander of Al Qaeda in Khost Province in southern Afghanistan. Abu al Hassan al Saeedi was reportedly a Yemeni leader who was killed in fighting with American forces, according to the local news agency Pajhwok. Killed alongside him was Umer Haqqani, son of Jalaluddin Haqqani, considered one of the top militant leaders in Afghanistan.

Well thats pretty forthright IMHO.

Yemen Online

Yemen-Advancing Freedom and Democracy Reports – 2008
YemenOnline-July 15,2008- Released by the US Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor- Part 1
Yemen is a republic headed by President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has ruled the country since 1978. In September 2006 citizens re-elected President Saleh to another seven-year term in a generally open and competitive election, characterized by multiple problems with the voting process and use of state resources on behalf of the ruling party. Although there is a multiparty system, overwhelming power rests with the president and the ruling party, the General People’s Congress. Significant human rights problems continued to exist in some areas. Weak governmental institutions, tribal patronage networks, and pervasive corruption continued to undermine civil liberties. There were reports that government forces committed arbitrary and unlawful killings, and that torture and poor conditions existed in prisons. Prolonged pretrial detention, judicial corruption, and executive interference continued to undermine due process. Arbitrary arrest and detention increased, particularly of individuals with suspected links to the rebellious al-Houthi movement in the Saada governorate. Restrictions on freedoms of speech, press, and peaceful assembly increased significantly. Pervasive discrimination against women and southerners also occurred, as well as child labor and child trafficking.

Part 2

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Fresh on the heels of the politicized trial of Yemeni journalist Abdulkarim al-Khaiwani, sentenced to six years for “an article liable to demoralize the military”, comes the conviction of Fahd al-Qarni, COMEDIAN. Seriously. From HAMSA’s C.R.I.M.E. report:

Fahd Al-Qarani faced the judge in the southern Yemeni city of Taiz. The nationally-beloved comedian-singer (dubbed by some the Adam Sandler of Yemen) was being charged by the government for “insulting Yemen’s president, Ali Abdullah Saleh.” To prove their case, prosecutors played a tape of one of his sketches. The entire courtroom burst out laughing – and prosecutors rushed to demand a recess as police intervened.

BTW, al-Qarni was given the opportunity to apologize to the ever sensitive President Saleh in order to gain his freedom. Al-Qarni refused saying, “I will not kneel.”

Clearly, Al-Qarani is a pretty funny guy. Because much of Yemen’s population is illiterate, his recordings reach a much wider audience than opposition newspapers, and his concerts draw thousands of spectators. One of Al-Qarani’s most popular sketches features a taxi driver who, though never named, speaks in a dead-on imitation of President Saleh. The skit is both hilarious and blunt: Yemen is being taken for a ride by a reckless driver.

While Yemeni crowds were laughing – inside and outside of courtrooms – President Saleh was not. After repeated attempts to silence Al-Qarani, the government won its case on July 9, as the comic was sentenced to 18 months in ja