Armies of Liberation

Niiiiice, long time friend of this website, Yemen and me personally, Naser al Weddady gets a nice write up in the Atlantic recognizing his work and his amazing contribution to supporting freedom and civil rights in some of the darkest corners of earth, the Middle East. Naser helped me a lot with strategy, advice and moral support for both of the campaigns for al Khaiwani (2005, 2008) and his door is always open when I’m confused (or furious). A very smart guy, Nasser is dedicated to changing the world and is actually doing it. Read it all at the Atlantic.

Thats funny, so I thought maybe I should stop gushing about Naser for a minute and read the entire article (I got the link off twitter) before I posted it and there I was too:

Testifying to the global reach of the cyber activists, Jane Novak, a New Jersey housewife, has established herself as a highly-regarded source on all things Yemen, even, at one point, consulting with the U.S. State Department. Her Twitter feed and blog, armiesofliberation.com, are consulted by activists and journalists. She is well-known among policy makers, activists and reporters in the country’s besieged capital, Sana’a. And she has never been to Yemen.

“She doesn’t speak a word of Arabic, she hasn’t set foot in the Middle East, but she still became an authority,” Weddady says. He claims her influence helped secure the 2008 release of Yemeni journalist Abdulkarim al-Khawaini, who had been convicted of defaming President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

To clarify, I gave a 2008 presentation at the Carnegie Institute, at the invitation of State, on media repression in Yemen. I said many of the attacks on press freedom are retribution for journalists who exposed mass corruption at the highest levels of the US allied Saleh regime.

Its funny that Naser describes the fact that I don’t speak Arabic or visit Yemen in a positive light, when the na-na-nana-na crowd always tries to use it to depreciate my work and me personally. My ten thousand Yemeni friends don’t hold it against me though.

I’m not in Yemen but as far as I can tell the rest of it is correct

Assafikr

أي أثر لمقتل بن لادن على الثورة اليمنية ونظام صالح؟

دنيز يمين
بعد استيعاب العالم صدمة تفجيرات واشنطن ونيويورك في 11 أيلول 2001، كان السؤال المصيري الأكثر إثارة للقلق «إلى أين يتجه العرب والغرب بعد الزلزال المدوّي الذي ترك بصماته عند كل مفصل في حياة العرب والمسلمين وغيّر معالم السياسة العالمية كلها؟». لم تتأخر الإجابة في الظهور بعدما فتح مخطط «الحرب على الإرهاب» الباب أمام الحكومات الغربية ـ الراعية لهذا المشروع والمشاركة فيه ـ لوضع كل القوى المنضوية تحت محور «ممانعة أميركا»، في قفص الاتهام ذاته، بعدما كان تصنيف «الإرهابي» مقترنا بعناصر تنظيم «القاعدة» فقط. أما اليوم، وقد تحقق الجزء الأهم من الـ«بروباغندا» الأميركية لـ«الحرب على الإرهاب» بمقتل زعيم
(Read on …)

My interview with the Aden News Agency

Jane Novak… a name that has become coupled with Yemen, not Yemen that is known as it is known by those who doesn’t know it, but Yemen as it known by its people, with all its sorrows and economical, political and humanitarian setbacks, that are recognized by Jane Novak from a distance, from the United States, her country. The human rights, political and media activist, Jane Novak, has devoted herself for Yemen and its several issues, and whom the distance couldn’t separate her from Yemen’s issues, but she has recognized them at first hand, whether traditionally or through the modern technology.

Jane Novak is known for her severe defense for the human rights in Yemen and the freedom of the press and word, besides giving a number of initiatives that may extract Yemen from its political crises. She is also known for her unhurried reading of the reality of Yemen, and refraining from reading one-media propaganda, while she wrote tens of articles about Yemen and its issues accurately and objectively on famous websites like World Press, Arab American News, in addition to her well-known website the Armies of Liberation, this empathy gained her the sympathy of many of the Southern Case supporters in the south, and Sa’ada Case in the north.

The Aden News Agency has conducted an exclusive interview with the writer Jane Novak, we hope that it would cast some light on the fact of the different and recent issues of Yemen.

* You were attacked by official Yemeni media, are you afraid of visiting Yemen?

- The Yemeni government treats me as if I am a Yemeni journalist. They blocked my website for years, introduced false testimony about me in court and slandered me in the newspapers. We know what happens to Yemeni journalists, they get arrested, kidnapped and imprisoned and suffer other penalties for their work. The Yemeni government has no ethics or humanitarian limitations regarding its own citizens. The reason for the targeting of Yemeni journalists is that the truth is so dangerous to the regime. The Yemeni government spends a lot of energy creating propaganda and false realities for the Yemeni citizens and the international community.

* Do not you think that there is a contradiction between the concept of “democracy” and the United States’ support for the regime of President Saleh that is in power in since 1978? (Read on …)

وفاك في حوار مع «عنا»: قادة الحراك لايمارسون الديمقراطية

Aden News Agency

الأربعاء / 8 ديسمبر كانون الأول 2010

جين نوفاك… اسم بات مقروناً باليمن، ليس باليمن الذي يعرفه من لا يعرفه، ولكن اليمن الذي يعرفه أهله بمآسيه ونكباته الاقتصادية والسياسية والانسانية والتي تعرفت عليها الكاتبة (جين نوفاك) عن بعد، من الولايات المتحدة الأميركية، موطنها، حيث سخرت هذه الكاتبة والناشطة الحقوقية والسياسية والإعلامية نفسها لليمن وقضايا اليمن المتعددة والتي لم تحول المسافة بينها وبين معرفتها بقضاياه بل تعرفت عليها عن قرب، عبر التماس حال الناس أنفسهم، سواءً بأسلوب تقليدي أو معاصر عبر التقنية الحديثة.

وعرفت “جين نوفاك” بدفاعها الشرس عن حقوق الإنسان في اليمن، وحرية الصحافة والكلمة، إلى جانب تقديمها المبادرات تلو الأخرى للخروج باليمن من أزماته السياسية المتأزمة، حيث تمتاز بقراءتها المتأنية للواقع اليمني وعدم اتباع الإعلام الواحد سواء كان إعلام السلطة أو المعارضة حيث قامت بكتابة العشرات من المقالات عن اليمن وأزماته بكل موضوعية ودقة وتعبير عن حال اليمن المعاش في عدة مواقع إلكترونية معروفة كـ World Press و Arab American News بالإضافة إلى موقعها الشهير Armies of Liberation أو “جيوش الحرية”، الشيء الأمر أدى بالتالي إلى اكتسابها تعاطف الكثير من حملة القضية الجنوبية جنوباً, وحملة قضية صعدة شمالاً, وحملة القضايا الاقتصادية والسياسية والحقوقية والاجتماعية جنوباً و شمالاً.

وفي حوار مع وكالة أنباء عدن “عنا” قالت نوفاك أن النظام اليمني يلعب ببطاقة الإرهاب بشكل جيد جداً, مضيفة “والعلاقة السرية مع القاعدة تجلب الكثير من الفوائد لكل من النظام والقاعدة على حد سواء”.

وقالت نوفاك أن “ادعاء الولايات المتحدة بأن اليمن بلد ديمقراطي أو مهتم بالتقدم الديمقراطي. وهذا يسمح للنظام الحاكم أن يتنصل من المسؤولية عن أفعاله”, واتهمت “الولايات المتحدة والمانحين الغربيين يبدو أنهم يريدون أي انتخابات، سواء كانت نزيهة أم لا، لكي تضفي صورة شرعية على حزب حاكم مهيمن”.

وعن ما وصفتها بـ”جرائم الحرب العلنية” قالت نوفاك “إنها الآن مفتوحة تماماً وموثقة بشكل جيد من قبل جماعات حقوق الإنسان الدولية” لكنها استدركت “حتى الآن يركز المجتمع الدولي على المضي قدماً مع الرئيس صالح” وعن إمكانية رفع قضايا في محاكم دولية أكدت أن هناك “رغبة ضعيفة من جانب المجتمع الدولي لتعقب هذه الاتهامات”.

وانتقدت “نوفاك أحزاب المعارضة اليمنية بأنها لديها “نفس العقلية النخبوية التي ينتقدونها. الشخصيات القيادية لازالوا قيادات سياسية لعقود” وأضافت “اللقاء المشترك يحرك قاعدته في شكل احتجاجات فقط كتكتيك مؤقت للضغط على المؤتمر الشعبي العام وعادة مايكون في خضم صفقة”.
(Read on …)

The interview actually contains the phrase, “President Saleh, to his credit….”

ANA: United States of America (us) – ruled out the American journalist specialized in the affairs of Yemen “Jane Novak” any US military intervention in Yemen, describing the consequences of such a thing as “disastrous” and emphasized that, according to US government officials the United States is “working with the army and the Yemeni security” but however that “the United States lacks the truth of the Yemeni side.” (Read on …)

Annabelle 8/25/10

Diese hausfrau ist der Schrecken der jemenitischen Regierung. Denn Jane Novaks Blog gibt der Bevolkerung des arabischen Landes eine Stimme. Taglich deckt die Amerikanerin Missstande auf – obwohl sie noch nie einen Fuss in den Jemen gesetzt hat.

Minderstens sechs Stunden am Tag bearbeitet Jane Novak ihre emails und surft arabische Zeitungen und websites im Internet ab. Alle Meldungen, die sie unber den Jemen finden kann, lasst sie sich vom Uber setzungsprogramm ihres Computers ins English ubersetzen, checkt die Informationen und fugt all diese Puzzlestucke zu einem Gesamtbild, zu einer ausserst prazisen Innenansicht des geheimnisvollen Jemen zusammen. (Read on …)

(published August 25, 2010 by Annabelle Magazine, Switzerland, translated from German)

The housewife and state enemy

This housewife is the terror of the Yemeni government. For Jane Novak’s blog is the population of the Arab country’s one vote. The American covers the situation daily – even though she has never set foot in the Yemen.

When Jane Novak’s morning alarm clock rings at 6:45, it is still dark outside in New Jersey. Her husband, on a construction site in Manhattan, has been several hours out of the house. As always, Jane Novak wakes first the young son and then the daughter. She runs down quickly in the kitchen, baking waffles and bagels smeared and gives each child a glass of orange juice.

“Do you have your homework?” Two quick kisses goodbye, and then the school bus turns the corner. Jane Novak fills the washing machine, makes the beds and writes a shopping list for the supermarket. Then she climbs the stairs to the basement where her work is, where gold framed baby pictures, wedding pictures and other family photographs hang over her desk. Outside the window is the tiptop-kept garden of Novak- an American idyll.

Jane Novak opens the lid of her laptop. Now the 48 – year old is state enemy No. 1
(Read on …)

The August 25 issue of Anabelle, the largest woman’s magazine in Switzerland, has a profile of yours truly starting on page 60. Its not online but I decided to translate the title and one blockquote:

Hausfrau Und Staats-Feindin
diese hausfrau ist der Schrecken der jemenitischen Regierung. Denn Jane Novaks Blog gibt der Bevolkerung des arabischen Landes eine Stimme. Taglich deckt die Amerikanerin Missstande auf – obwohl sie noch nie einen Fuss in den Jemen gesetzt hat.

“Mutter sind mutter, egal, wo sie leben und an welchen Gott sie glauben”

Housewife and state enemy
This housewife is the terror of the Yemeni government. For Jane Novak’s blog is the population of the Arab country’s one vote. The American covers the situation daily – even though she has never set foot in the Yemen.

“Mothers are mothers, no matter where they live and what God they believe in.”

You’re welcome!!

Gratitude to Ms. Novak of South Yemen> By / Raed Jehafi

Miss Jane Novak, writer and human rights activist U.S., specializing in the political affairs of Yemen, one of the best political analysts in Yemeni affairs, as dealing with the issues of Yemen with tact and professionalism, and during the six years since Yemen outbreak of war in Sa’ada between the Yemeni and Houthi, managed Ms. Novak of addressing the problem of Saada politically wise and far-sightedness and impartial adult, was making a contribution to all new developments, not to relent in defending human rights in Saada and exposing the crimes of murder and destruction, which affected people in Sa’ada, and by then proceeded Ms. Jane Novak at follow-up developments in the street south in southern Yemen , is well aware of what the status quo in the southern provinces, has a historical background of Yemen and its inherited political stages of different political systems unless they owned the majority of Yemenis, including writers, journalists, and became the American writer dealing with deeply serious terrorism files and al-Qaeda in Yemen, the sequence of events is accurate and proficient in sort of problems and analysis through the draw from the evidence and the evidence, you receive a day thousands of information on Yemen and the issue of Houthi and al-Qaeda and the case of South and connect with nearly four thousand Yemen and south, share with most of them, especially intellectuals, politicians, journalists and other information and ideas, and engage in discussion in the overall issues Yemeni affairs, and through numerous news media are included in the Web, co writer Jane Novak Yemen and South through the codes and three locations the most important of the armies of liberation, in addition to Facebook and other living writer, Novak reality and suffering of the streets of Yemen and South, and had a head start thanks defense of cases of the victims accelerated in southern Yemen and other …

باسمي وباسم أبناء الجنوب اليمني مثقفين ورجال اعلام وساسة وطلاب وفلاحين وغيرهم نتقدم بأجمل التحايا وجزيل الشكر والعرفان للسيدة نوفاك. My own behalf and on behalf of the sons of the South Yemeni intellectuals and media men and politicians, students, farmers and others extend greetings and warmest thanks and gratitude to Ms. Novak.

المصدر:ملتقى جحاف Source: Forum Juhav jhaff.com

برقية وفاء وعرفان للسيدة نوفاك من جنوب اليمن
08-30-2010 06:23
الجنوب الحر – رائد الجحافي

الآنسة جين نوفاك , كاتبة وناشطة حقوقية امريكية , متخصصة في الشؤون السياسية اليمنية , تعد من أفضل المحللين السياسيين في الشأن اليمني , إذ تتناول قضايا اليمن بحصافة واقتدار, وخلال ست سنوات منذو اندلاع حرب صعدة بين السلطة اليمنية وأتباع الحوثي , تمكنت السيدة نوفاك من تناول مشكلة صعدة بحنكة سياسية وبُعد نظر وبحيادية بالغة , كانت تدلي بدلوها في كافة المستجدات , لم تتوانى في الدفاع عن حقوق الانسان في صعدة وفي كشف جرائم القتل والتدمير التي طالت السكان في صعدة , والى جانب ذلك شرعت السيدة جين نوفاك في متابعة مستجدات الشارع الجنوبي في جنوب اليمن , تدرك جيداً ماهية الوضع القائم في المحافظات الجنوبية , لديها من المعلومات التاريخية اليمنية ومن الموروث السياسي لمراحل الأنظمة السياسية المختلفة مالم يمتلكها غالبية اليمنيين , بمن فيهم الكتاب والصحافيين , وأضحت الكاتبة الامريكية تتناول بعمقٍ بالغ ملفات الارهاب والقاعدة في اليمن , تتابع الاحداث بشكل دقيق وتجيد في فرز المشاكل وتحليلها من خلال ما تستخلصها من قرائن وأدلة , تتلقى في اليوم الواحد آلاف المعلومات عن اليمن وقضية الحوثي والقاعدة والقضية الجنوبية , وتتواصل مع ما يقارب الأربعة آلاف يمني وجنوبي , تتبادل مع معظمهم خصوصاً المثقفين والسياسيين والصحافيين وغيرهم المعلومات والأفكار , وتدخل في نقاش في مجمل قضايا الشأن اليمني , وعبر وسائط اعلامية عديدة تندرج جميعها داخل الشبكة العنكبوتية , تعايش الكاتبة جين نوفاك اليمن والجنوب من خلال مدونات ومواقع ثلاثة أهمها جيوش التحرير , بالاضافة الى موقع الفيس بوك وغيرها , تعيش الكاتبة نوفاك واقع ومعاناة الشارعين اليمني والجنوبي , وكان لها السبق والفضل في الدفاع عن قضايا ضحايا المعجلة في جنوب اليمن وغيرها…

باسمي وباسم أبناء الجنوب اليمني مثقفين ورجال اعلام وساسة وطلاب وفلاحين وغيرهم نتقدم بأجمل التحايا وجزيل الشكر والعرفان للسيدة نوفاك.

المصدر:ملتقى جحاف

Wow. Jay Nordlinger attended the Oslo Freedom Forum, the human-rights conference in the Norwegian capital and wrote it up for the National Review. Among the speakers was Abdulkarim al Khaiwani). Abdulkarim has won several prestigious awards for his dedication to his ideals and his courage, in between being repeatedly kidnapped, beaten, bugged, smeared and jailed. He’s also an extremely talented writer.

Abdulkarim al-Khaiwani repeatedly appeals for solidarity. I mentioned him in this journal a few days ago — he is the journalist from Yemen who has endured kidnappings, beatings, imprisonment, and other ghastly things. Here in theater, he says that “living in Yemen is like being trapped on a hijacked plane.” Elections are never fair, and the judiciary is directly controlled by the presidency. It is “dangerous” to be a journalist in Yemen, he says — as his life has proven.

He mentions the prominent American journalist Thomas Friedman. He expresses disappointment: saying that Friedman came to Yemen and stuck close to the government, his hosts, without “going into the streets” or “meeting any journalists.” (I have no idea whether this charge is true.) He then says, “I would like to salute the American blogger Jane Novak, who learned about Yemen and led an international campaign to free me. Jane restored my faith in human beings.” He pleads with journalists in free countries to keep an eye on their colleagues in unfree countries, and yell as loud as they can when those colleagues are in danger.

He closes his remarks by saying, “I have made it a tradition to write an article entitled ‘We Shall Continue’ every time I leave prison. And I say to you now, ‘We shall continue.’”

That’s a very nice salute. Actually I led two campaigns to free him, 2005 and 2008, but who’s counting? I had a lot of help from the other bloggers and HAMSA was incredible in the second campaign. Al Khaiwani is absolutely correct that if journalists with rights focused the spotlight on the brutal targeting of journalists with no rights, the world would get better much faster. Information is power, and journalists and bloggers give it to the people. And what do we have? Olberman. The US media entirely ignores the plight of their colleagues abroad when they could do so much so easily.

Update: full Arabic text below

Khaiwani Oslo: failed democratic experience in Yemen.
الإثنين 10-05-2010 01:36 صباحا Monday 05/10/2010 1:36

المصدر صحيفة النداء. Source newspaper appeal.
السلام عليكم.. Peace be upon you .. ونهاركم جميل كأوسلو Beautiful and a Good Kooslo
أولا أشكر منظمة العفو التي جاءت لتقديمي إليكم اليوم. First, I thank the Amnesty, which came to a presentation to you today.
- أولاً اسمحوا لي باسمي وباسم الصحفيين اليمنيين أن أوجه – First let me on my behalf and on behalf of Yemeni journalists to draw
الشكر لمنتدى أوسلو للحريات لإتاحة الفرصة لنقل واقع الحرب Thanks to the Oslo forum freedoms to allow for the transfer of the reality of war
التي تشن على الصحفيين اليمنيين. Being waged against Yemeni journalists. (Read on …)

CTV

As with Afghanistan, experts say there’s no easy solution to countering al Qaeda in Yemen.

Joost Hiltermann, deputy program director with International Crisis Group’s Middle East and North Africa arm, warned that military intervention could weaken the central government, allowing al Qaeda more free rein there.

“In a situation as fragile as in Yemen, to put a major external military force could be fatal,” Hiltermann told CTV.ca. “The country may not be able to sustain it.”

Complex problems

Yemen is a semi-mountainous country on the southern tip of the Arabian peninsula with a fast-growing population of some 22 million people. (Read on …)

That Michelle is so spot on.

Yahoo: Yemen human rights activist and blogger Jane Novak has reported for years on how Yemeni intelligence and military officials have facilitated al-Qaida training camps — often providing “safe houses, training and passports to the jihadists that travel to Iraq to attempt to kill U.S. troops.”

The Yemeni government, Novak points out, has also used al-Qaida mercenaries to fight northern rebels and train tribal militias. Jihad spiritual advisor Anwar al-Awlaki, linked to the Sept. 11 hijackers and Fort Hood mass killer Hasan, also calls Yemen home — and reportedly blessed the Crotch Bomber attack, according to The Washington Times.

Now, the Yemen government has the gall to blame the West for not providing enough assistance to stop the breeding of hundreds of future flying Crotch Bombers.

The woman really has a way with words, read it all.

I’m happy to report that I have an analysis included in the new book published in Yemen entitled: Yemen Unity.. Discussions and Studies

The following article which appears in the book in English and Arabic concludes, “Almost any strategy is better than pinning the future of 22 million Yemenis on dreams of rehabilitating President Ali Abdullah Saleh.”

Yemen on the Brink of Civil War

On May 3, the U.S. Embassy in Sana’a issued a statement on the political violence in South Yemen that claimed eight lives last week. The United States stressed that “Yemen’s unity depends on its ability to guarantee every citizen equal treatment under the law.” What the Yemeni government calls unity, the protesters call occupation.

Since protests erupted in South Yemen in May 2007, dozens were killed, hundreds injured and over a thousand arrested. As police shot into the crowds, Southern claims of institutionalized discrimination turned into calls for independence. After regional protest marches last week, Yemen began shelling the town of Radfan. Some Southerners took up arms for the first time.

Southern grievances include overt theft of public and private land by Northern officials, the embezzlement of oil revenues and the subjugation of the south after Yemen’s 1994 civil war.

Northern citizens outside President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s ruling elite are just as impoverished and face the same brutality. The Yemeni military bombed cities and villages in the northern Sa’ada province, countering an isolated Shiite rebellion that flared from 2004 to 2008. (Read on …)

IRIN: Yemen’s stability and security, and its future as a unitary state, are in jeopardy following recent violent demonstrations in the south, experts say.

In the past few days, thousands of protesters have taken to the streets in the governorates of Lahj, al-Dhalei, Hadhramaut and Abyan, chanting anti-government slogans and calling for secession and the withdrawal of “the northern occupation”.

Scores were killed in clashes between protestors and security forces, and a number of soldiers were killed when armed groups attacked security checkpoints.

The violent demonstrations were the worst in the south since late 2006.

Mohammed al-Daheri, a professor of politics at Sanaa University, said the protesters had initially demanded rights but were now calling for secession.

“If the situation remains unresolved, those who are calling for secession could find a sympathetic ear among the jobless and those who feel oppressed,” he told IRIN. (Read on …)

Lets hope Yemeni security forces don’t follow their standard pattern and shoot into the crowds of southern demonstrators on Monday.

The 27th is Tariq al Fadhli’s “Day of Silent Protest” in Zanjibar, although the regime is calling it “Democracy Day” along with planning other distractions.

The military build-up is going swimmingly in all southern provinces including Aden (a military camp now), Dhalie (two more injured in Radfdan yesterday), other parts of Lahj, Hadramout and all over Abyan where al Fadhli is calling for the marches tomorrow.

Oddly the military let the would-be protesters heading for Zanjibar past the check-points, and thousands are already gathered. (Read on …)

Commenting on the following NTY article, The Weekly Standard notes Gitmo detainee al-Hilal, a top PSO officer with foreknowledge of 9/11, phoned home from Gitmo and accused Saleh of using the detainees as bargaining chips, and then al Hilal’s two young sons were killed (playing with a hand grenade?) while home alone.

Speaking of money, the Miami Herald reports the Defense Department’s request for $83.4 billion in supplemental funds included $81 million to fund President Barack Obama’s order to move or release the 240 or so detainees by Jan. 22. Here’s theNYT article about the problem of returning Yemenis from Gitmo to Yemen where support for “resistance” is governmental policy, prisons have a revolving door and jihaddists are defined by their willingness to negotiate with the government (and we see how well thats working out in Swat). The Yemeni govt puts the price tag at about a mil per detainee to take them back but notes the Obama administration appears to have rejected its offer.

(Then there’s Yemen’s role in piracy and instability in Somalia, the collective punishment of its civilians n Sa’ada, the institutionalized looting of the South, and Yemen’s substantial role in smuggling drugs, weapons and persons all over the region.)

The Obama administration’s effort to return the largest group of Guantánamo Bay detainees to Yemen, their home country, has stalled, creating a major new hurdle for the president’s plan to close the prison camp in Cuba by next January, American and Yemeni officials say. (Read on …)

Weekly Standard, Yemenat:

في اليوم الثاني والعشرين من يناير 2009، وبعد يومين من أداء باراك أوباما يمين تولي المنصب،أصدر الرئيس الجديد أمرا تنفيذيا يقضي بإغلاق مركز الاعتقال في خليج غوانتانامو بكوبا خلال عام واحد.
ومن خلال كاميرات رصدت الرئيس وهو يمضي توقيعه على الوثيقة، قال أوباما أن التغيير سيعيد للولايات المتحدة “الأساس الأخلاقي السامي” و “استعادة المعايير عبر إجراءات القيم الدستورية التي قد رفعت من شأن هذا البلد حتى في أثناء الحرب، والتعامل مع الإرهاب “.
وفي طلب تنفيذي مستقل، أنشأ الرئيس الجديد لجنة عمل تقود لمراجعة شاملة في سياسة الاعتقال الأمريكية ولتزويده “بمعلومات من حيث الكيفية التي نتمكن من خلالها معالجة التخلص من بعض المعتقلين الذين من الممكن أن يكونوا حالياً في غوانتانامو،ولا يمكننا نقلهم إلى بلدان أخرى،والذين يمكن أن يشكلوا خطرا جديا على الولايات المتحدة”.
وفي حين كان أوباما قد تعمد الغموض بشأن ما قد يحدث لحوالي 248 محتجزاً في خليج غوانتانامو حالياً، فإن سياسة إدارته بدأت تتبلور سريعاً في منتصف الطريق في جميع أنحاء العالم. فهناك حوالي 100 ممن تبقى من معتقلي غوانتنامو هم من اليمن، موطن أجداد أسامة بن لادن.
وفي تصريحات نشرت يوم إصدار أوباما أوامره التنفيذية، قال السفير الأميركي في اليمن انه يأمل أن يسمح لـ: “غالبية” اليمنيين المحتجزين بالعودة إلى ديارهم لـ:”يصنعون لأنفسهم مستقبلا هنا”.
وذكر السفير ستيفن سيش لموقع الخارجية الإلكتروني التابع للحكومة الأمريكية: “نود بالتأكيد أن نتمكن من إعادتهم لليمن وأن نساعدهم على إعادة دمج أنفسهم في مجتمعهم وعائلاتهم “. ورغم أنه أقر ببعض “المخاطر المؤكدة” في عودة الإرهابيين المشتبه بهم إلى الوسط السكاني، رأى سيش أن عددا قليلا فقط من المحتجزين يشكلون مشاكل حقيقية. وأضاف قائلاً: ” ربما باستثناء حالة بعض عناصر متشددة جدا، نعتقد أن غالبية هؤلاء المعتقلين يمكن وضعهم في برنامج إعادة الاندماج بما يعود بالفائدة بهدف تمكينهم مع مرور الوقت من العثور على طريق العودة إلى المجتمع اليمني دون تشكيل خطر أمني “.
وذهب الرئيس اليمني علي عبد الله صالح بعد يومين أبعد من ذلك. ففي ظهور له في مؤتمر أمني بصنعاء، أعلن صالح أن اليمن قد وضعت برنامجا لإعادة التأهيل، وأنه سيتم فعلياً إرسال كافة المعتقلين اليمنيين إلى بلادهم في غضون ثلاثة أشهر. كما أعلن: “الآن وفي حدود 60-90 يوما، سيكون 94 معتقلا يمنياً هنا بيننا”. (Read on …)

A good analysis from the Weekly Standard on the issue of the difficulties of repatriating Yemeni detainees from Guantanamo Bay detention facility: There are two obvious problems with releasing the Yemeni detainees from Guantánamo: the detainees and Yemen.

I like the section on Hilal because its important that more people understand that a top member of the Yemeni government, close to President Saleh, seemingly had foreknowledge of 9/11. Tom and Steve’s write up:

Al Hilal worked for the Political Security Organization (PSO), which is an intelligence agency that reports directly to President Saleh. The PSO operated an official government “deportation” operation, in which veteran mujahedeen were relocated. The U.S. government says al Hilal has admitted that he was tasked with keeping tabs on al Qaeda operatives for Saleh’s government. The U.S. government also charges, however, that al Hilal was really an al Qaeda member who used his position of authority to assist his fellow terrorists. (Read on …)

Maybe this, “It is extremely difficult to have confidence in the regime’s commitment to security issues,” she said.

For the record my full answer did express concerns about the Gitmo detainees reintergration into society, possible torture and arbitrary arrest. However there were several people interviewed for the article who expressed similiar concerns, so the author took that part of my answer which is good because someone has to say it.

Yemen Times: Vague plans for Gitmo returnees’ rehabilitation center

SANA’A, Jan. 28 — President Ali Abdullah Saleh confirmed last week the government’s eight-month old announcement to set up a rehabilitation center for Yemeni returnees from Guantanamo. The center will be operational within three months from now.

“Ninety-four Yemeni detainees will be here among us” stated President Saleh during the security conference last week. He also mentioned that the former US administration had suggested sending the Yemeni detainees to Saudi Arabia rather than Yemen because of the lack of a rehabilitation environment in the country. (Read on …)

Its amazing what a few articles can do for people’s spirits, especially in the midst of a media black-out. But for the record I didnt write the article entitled, The Winds of Change, it was a guest post. The two news type articles were me. Technically I haven’t expressed my opinion yet, just reported the developments as they happened. And there’s another interesting one coming actually. This is the wrong link for this article, I know. Ah this is the right one. Jin I say to them.

I say to you, Jane

Ms. Jane Novak great .. يا جين قولي لهم .. Jin you say to them .. يطلق أسم الجنوب العربي سياسيآ على المنطقة الممتدة من باب المندب وخليج عدن غربآ حتى حدود عمان شرقآ ويحدها من الشمال اليمن والمملكة العربية السعودية ، ومن الجنوب بحر العرب ، وهي تشمل منطقة عدن العبدلية ، والمحمية الشرقية ، والمحمية الغربية ، وكل الجزر التابعة لها ، ومن ضمنها سلطنة البيضاء ، و جزيرة كمران ، التي قامت سلطات الجمهورية العربية اليمنية بالإستيلاء عليها بالقوة ، وطوال 128 سنة كانت قوة من البوليس المسلح العدني تحكم الجزيرة ، وكان قائد قوة بوليس عدن ، هو الحاكم العسكري للجزيرة ، وتوجد في عدن كثي من العائلات الكمرانية المعروفة التي أستوطنت عدن ، وسكنوا في حارة حسين وحارة القاضي .. Name of the south called the Arab region politically from the Bab and the Gulf of Aden west to the borders of Oman is bounded on the east and north Yemen and Saudi Arabia, the Arabian Sea from the south, including the Aden held in El Abdellia Palace, and protected the East, West and protected, and all of its islands, including Sultanate of white, and Kamran Island, which authorities have overrun the Yemen Arab Republic by force, and for 128 years was a force of armed police Aladeni governing island, and the Force Commander of Police Aden, is the military governor of the island, and there in Aden Kthi families settled known Alkamranip Aden, and lived in Haret Hussein and the judge warm .. كريتر – عدن .. Crater – Aden .. عاصمة الجنوب العربي . Arab capital of the south. (Read on …)