Armies of Liberation

Hassan Baoum, a leader of one of the factions of the southern movement, was abroad receiving medical treatment for many months. He was previously jailed (and denied medical treatment in prison) and the fact that he returned to Yemen upon his recovery says a lot. Now it would be nice if they let Al-Ayyam’s Mr. Bashraheel go abroad for urgently needed treatment. More on Baoum’s return at Mukalla Online. Update: Bashraheel is currently in KSA receiving treatment, one good piece of news anyway.

Via al Teef

Update: Two dead.

Horrendous. The funeral march of Ahmed Mohammed Darwish, who was tortured to death in prison:

There were a flurry of statement by various southern movement leaders regarding the Day of Rage. Some called for wide ranging protests including Aden, others disputed the call and asked the public to turn out in designated areas. A third said the protest in Aden was to be a funeral march only. Most of these leaders are pathetic, sorry, but they are, when their differences and power plays get people killed. They are so ready to call the masses for an insult to al Fahdli or for al Beidh to make a point, and the blood is never ending. Meanwhile no progress has been made on establishing a unified movement based on democratic practices.

SANAA, July 7 (Reuters) – Yemeni police shot dead a protester in Aden on Wednesday in clashes that broke out during a “Day of Rage” called by southern secessionists, police and separatists said.

The protester died after police fired on demonstrators who had wanted to hold a public funeral procession for a southerner whose death in police custody last month stoked tensions in the port city. Police said some of demonstrators were armed. (Read on …)

Everything you need to know about the reality of Yemen but were afraid to ask:

I think calcified is a good word to describe “governance” in Yemen. Beyond the lack of transition of executive power for thirty years, the entire ruling class has also been in place for decades. At most, they trade positions now and then in an extremely profitable and deadly game of musical chairs.

A PSA from your friendly neighborhood dictator: Unity or Death!

The following is really an incredible interview. Saleh is quite delusional. Murdering your own citizens in “normal” and a regular democratic practice, he says. Everything is fine in the south, and there’s no cause for concern but the idea of federalism is aposty! Saleh also retracts prior accusations of Iranian support of the Houthi rebels.

He who calls for secession has no place among sons of the Yemeni people: President
Monday, 05-April-2010 Almotamar.net – President Ali Abdullah Saleh has emphasized that the Yemeni unity was founded to stay and protected by the will of the people and there is not worry about it from any tempests or bubbles emerging every now and then.

In his response to a question on the situations in the southern and eastern provinces, President Saleh said, “The situation in the southern and eastern provinces is ordinary and some media outlets rage or magnify what happens in Yemen, as it is considered a democratic country, whether those were sits-in or demonstrations or protests, happen in Yemen as it happens in any country in the world.” (Read on …)

al Masdar has an outline in Arabic of the locations of al Qaeda in Yemen and a map:

Abu Dujana San’aani trashes Zindani in letter from Afghanistan for his support of Saleh, the oligarchy and elections. He says I was building a bomb when I heard you made a fatwa against the US… Nice photo of al Zindani and Azzaam below.

Yemen Today: That your students here and in Iraq are leading the mujahideen, who took him forensic science that you can, as well as military science that they had acquired in the fields of jihad…Mr. Sheikhi I was the processing of explosive devices to kill the enemies of God worshipers of the cross and their apostate from the radio when I heard that the renowned scholar / Abdul Majid al-declare that any entry in Yemen is a U.S. occupation in his sermons calling for jihad when it comes to Yemen U.S. force! Glory to God who you are I want you to tell us that you would arrange to science Takdhuh who do not want you like a chicken! — (Read on …)

The sign posts point to Southern cities, where the independence movement is.

Maybe this one will come through on the feeds, somehow the NBC widget isn’t doing it. And this one has no commercial!

Oh my! A comedy routine shown on the popular US TV show “Saturday Night Live” about US General Patraeus, Yemeni President Saleh and the editor of the Yemen Observer. Faris, that’s you!!! (There’s a commerical before the skit starts, just wait it out.)

In Yemen, you could go to jail for a decade for something like that. Insulting the President is a crime, you know. Does anyone remember comedian Fahd al Qarni, imprisoned for being too funny? But its all good hearted joshing, yes? President Saleh is the guy who had a whole issue of a magazine pulled because he found one of the photos of him to be unflattering. I think it was this one:

Best wishes and Merry Christmas to all and to all, a Good Night! Norad says Santa is in Maine!!!!

In a new piece at al Jazeera (Arabic), Yemeni expert on Islamic groups Abdul Elah Shayer interviews Anwar Awlaki, Yemeni-American al Qaeda propagandist.

In the interview Awlaki says Nidal Hassan inquired by email specifically about the Islamic legitimacy of killing US soldiers. Awlaki also seems to be trying to distance himself from a charge of material support. Excerpts from the Aljazeera.net interview with Awlaqi below the fold. (Read on …)

And Qasim al Reimi escaped. Not that it would be any better if they got him. Is this kid less worthy of life than American or European kids? The pictures of the dead Yemeni children are always hard to take, and theres so many, but these deaths could have been avoided with a little intelligent foresight. (Read on …)

Thanks to “I dont know” in the comments, a Youtube video of the 12/7 air raid, I think.

Related: Does white smoke equal white phosphorous? I haven’t a clue.

Al Mazraq Camp Nov. 2009

Are living in a court yard. At least the aid orgs can reach them; there’s tens of thousands others with no water, food or medicine.

Child Refugees in Amran

Sa'ada refugee in Amran lives in courtyard

Photos from an ICRC press release. Meanwhile the UN hasn’t gotten any of the 5 mil they need and the fighting rages around trapped civilians:

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported that heavy fighting between Al Houthi forces and Government troops in and around Sa’ada city continues with “utter disregard” for the safety of the civilian population. (Read on …)

In 2005, during the second mediated settlement, Saleh announced the order to release 843 Sa’ada detainees, and the news got picked up as if the detainees were actually released. But the families reported in the next days and weeks that they still had no notice of their family member. The release of the detainees has been an ongoing issue since then and a top issue in negotiations with the rebels. Yemeni govt document ordering the release and witness testimony from imprisoned children below the fold. (Read on …)

Sa'ada War August 2009

Yemeni Military Bombing August 2009

Press release by Abdelmalik al Houthi:

Planes launched air attacks in several different places (provinces of Sa’da, and Amran) focused on the villages and public housing, the new strategy seem to have the authority’s punishment and revenge against all those villages that are targeted by air.

(The village of Sudan) one of the destroyed the village’s where the water project of the village destroyed also,as well as the (camp Yasnem and Reghafa and Majz), and most residents of these areas displaced.

also targeted (market Al_Anad, Dahyan and villages Maran and the Directorate of Sageen and Harf Sufyan).

These are one type of ordinance that the Yemeni military was using to bomb cities and villages in northern Yemen during the last outbreak of the Sa’ada war. Nearly 200,000 fled the bombing and many are still in refugee camps with little support.

Residents reported the bombs used in the last war seemed bigger than the previous.

This short, effective video captures the voice on the streets of Southern Yemen, where since 2007 protests have been held nearly weekly despite the dozens of deaths that occurred when Yemeni security forces shot into the crowds over and over:

Rather a large crowd, I don’t recall the rebel areas having a march before, rallies on al Ghadir day but never a march. This is in a Houthi area, Dhayan City, not Sa’ada city, which is controlled by the Yemeni military.

According to one of the signs, the kidnappings were the work of the pro-American intelligence services and elements connected to Israel and the US (??!!). I really don’t think the US arranged to murder the three nurses. The deafening US silence on the government violence toward civilians in Sa’ada since 2004 enhances the Houthis conceptualizaton that the US supports the Sa’ada War.

New Statement from Abdelmalik al Houthis pledging to cooperate in the investigation:

To the Director of the Republican members of the hospital Saada

الهيئة الطبية الأجنبية العاملة بصعدة Of the foreign medical Saada

بعـــــــد التحيــــــة Sir

نؤكد مواساتنا وتعازينا لكم ولأسر الضحايا واستنكارنا للجريمة Assure you of our sympathy and condolences to the families of the victims and condemnation of the crime
التي ارتكبت بحق مجموعة منكم على أيدي بعض المجرمين الذين Committed against a group of you at the hands of some criminals who
تجردوا من كل القيم الإنسانية والدينية ونحمل مسؤولية Devoted themselves from all religious and human values, and we hold the responsibility

ما حدث أجهزة الأمن والقوات المسلحة ومن معهم من المشايخ كون الجريمة وقعت في What happened the security services and armed forces and their elders that the crime occurred in the
المنطقة الجغرافية التي يسيطرون عليها ، كما نؤكد لكم بأننا سنتعاون معكم في Geographical area under their control, and assure you that we will cooperate with you in
كشف بعض الخيوط التي من الممكن إن توصلكم إلى المجرمين ومن وراءهم إن طلبتم Revealed some leads that could be you from the criminals behind it is that you
منا ذلك وسنسعى لمنع ارتكاب مثل هذه الجرائم في المناطق التي تحت سيطرتنا ، Us and we will seek to prevent the commission of such crimes in areas under our control,
كما قد فعلنا ذلك في الماضي . And have done so in the past.

عبد الملك بدر الدين الحوثي Abdul-Malik al-Badr al-Din al-Houthi

SK: Undated picture released by the Immanuelgemeinde church parish and authorized by the families shows German nurses Rita Stumpp, left, and Anita Gruenwald, who were found murdered in Yemen.

News Yemen: The daily al-Shomoa newspaper on Tuesday quoted a source the Yemeni Intelligence Services as expecting to find the kidnappers and hostages within 24 hours.

Protests were held today in Sa’ada in the Houthi rebels’ stronghold of Dhayan (which the government carpet bombed during the last war). The protests were against the kidnapping of the German, British and South Korean aid workers and three small children. The bodies of three nurses have been found mutiliated. The where abouts of the remaining six are still unknown.

They are protesting the false accusations by the government that Houthi fighters kidnapped the nine, and consider the entire event an invitation for foreign interference in Sa’ada and Yemen as a whole:

The rebels have also said they consider the event a plot by the government to re-ignite the Sa’ada War into the sixth round of fighting.

And of course the obligatory “Death to America” and “Death to Jews”. Yahya al Houthi claims “The Death to America” is a foreign policy statement and has a nuanced meaning, and reaaaly they bear no malice against the American people, but do the 15 year old chanting recruits know that?

Un Young Sun, South Korean nurse murdered in Yemen. You can really see her beautiful spirit through the photo.

Source: Yemen Post, I put an asterick next to the three poor souls whose bodies were found stabbed and shot.

The family:
Johannes H. (36)
Sabine H. (36)
their kids Lydia (4), Anna (3) and Simon (1)

The nurses:
Anita G. (24)*
Rita S. (26)*
Anthony S. (british)
Young-Sun Ium (korean)*

So what we have still out there is two men, three children and their mother. It says a lot.

DBA: Sana’a/Berlin – Security forces in Yemen continued their search Tuesday for six of nine kidnapped Westerners, a day after the mutilated bodies of three of the hostages were found…Yemeni officials said the bodies of the South Korean and two German nurses were found in a dry river valley in Wadi Nushur, 12 kilometres north-east of the city of Saada in the north-west of the country. They had been killed with pistols and daggers. (Read on …)

Its has English subtitles!!! Watch, read, listen…

The six murdered in May and buried today:

The funeral march:

Southern Yemenis held a funeral march today to bury the bodies of the six killed by Yemeni security forces in demonstrations earlier in the month. Tens of thousands participated. The march went from Aden to Lahj. Four more people were killed when the marchers crossed the checkpoint al Anad Army bases. The regime is blaming “outlaw elements” for the deaths; the protesters say it was the security forces. These “outlaw elements” shot at the ambulances carrying the bodies of the six May fatalities enroute to burial.

The former president of South Yemen Ali Salem Beidh called in and spoke to the crowds; he said independence is coming and the killers in Sana’a will face justice for their crimes. The eight newspapers are still closed for convering the news, several news websites were hacked or shut and previously arrested protest organizers were moved from Aden to Sana’a.

NZ News: ANAA (Reuters) – Two people died and four were wounded in clashes on Monday between security forces and protesters in south Yemen, where secessionist sentiment is strong, a medical source said.

The deaths bring the toll to 11 civilians and 11 soldiers killed in such clashes in the south since early May, according to witnesses and an official government statement.

People in the south, home to most of Yemen’s oil facilities, have long complained that northerners abused a unity agreement to grab their resources and discriminate against them.

The clashes in Radfan in Lahej province, which took place as mourners gathered to bury six people who they say died in the recent clashes with security forces, were also reported by Qatar-based pan-Arab broadcaster Al Jazeera.

Photo of one of the murdered people below the fold. I guess they ran out of rubber bullets: (Read on …)

Habeleen, Lahj May 27, 2009: A protester is draped in the flag of the formerly independent South Yemen which merged with North Yemen in 1990.

On the heels of earlier bloody protests in Aden on May 21 that resulted in ten deaths and nearly a thousand arrests, last week saw continuing unrest in south Yemen in most provinces. New arrests and civilian injuries were reported in several cities. Several times when the Yemeni government forced pro-unity demonstrations, the crowds instead began chanting pro-independence slogans, and the gatherings turned into clashes. In some cases, the protests were in reaction to the earlier arbitrary arrests of protesters in south Yemen. The institutional media blackout continues in an attempt to limit national and international awareness of the southern independence movement.

May 25 There was a demonstration was in Abyan, reportedly attended by tens of thousands. Tareq al Fadhli addressed the crowds.

May 27 A large anti-government rally was held in Dahlie

May 27 Radfan, one of the hot spots of the protests since 2007, held another large protest.

May 27 Habeleen in Laehj saw demonstrations as well.

May 28 A protest in Al-Shehr in Hadhramaut resulted in many injuries and about 30 arrests when the police opened fire on protesters.

May 28 Several demonstrations were held in Lahj including a large gathering in the capital, al Houta. The regime had organized a forced pro-unity demonstration supporting President Saleh, but the people began repeating slogans for calling independence and a republic with its capital Aden. Hundreds were arrested in Lahj, among them dozens of students.

May 28, Also in Lahj, in Yafea, demonstrations were held in Al Maflehi and Alasadi cities.

Man its hot.
(Read on …)

I have to check the vids but there were no deaths or injuries, always a very good thing, and no arrests but some property damage. (Update: 25 arrests in Hadarmout). Aden, Hadramout and Dhalie protests were blocked by security but in Abyan, it went off (see vid below). There were expectations that the protest in Zanjibar would be huge, since al Fadhli called for it. The whole scenario is odd.

Saleh’s rhetoric is heated, as one would expect from him, and the attempt to extradite the former leaders from Saudi Arabia and Oman is a typical Saleh move. But where is (al Fadhli’s brother in law and Saleh’s half brother) Ali Mohsen al Ahmar standing amid all reallignment?

Sahwa Net – Security forces in Aden province dispersed on Monday dozens of protestors who demanded political rights at al-Hashimi square.

Confrontations between the security and protestors did not result in any injures , according to Sahwa Net correspondent . However, many sellers closed down their shops in the wake of security deployment at al-Hashimi square.

Meanwhile, strict security measures are still taken in the entrances of Aden and Abyan provinces in a bid to prevent comers who intend to take part in southern protesting rallies.

Update: The videos show good sized marches. Here’s one:

Update: Official source ridicules Tariq’s speech and calls him a terrorist, thug and thief, a plunderer of public property, a mentor of bin Laden, and fails to recall he was Saleh’s ally until last month:

al Tagheer: The source said in a statement to the Yemen News Agency (Saba), “It is strange and ridiculous to talk about Fadli invaders land and wealth, which I Alnhab of land and wealth through what he has done illegally on the territory of the vast territory of the State in the province of Abyan and other extended from the area of Zanzibar, and even science , and gave itself the right to own and dispose of them illegally with false documents and .. in addition to what he has done for the rape of some public property Balrdm and some private housing to citizens of all methods of using fraud and thuggery, terrorism and violence to seize those homes for himself and without any right to become as a result One of the rich and big land owners .. who returned home after the blessed unity in the 22 May 1990 and has maintained his dignity and his life after he had been living in exile sent Creda despoiled of everything, to suffer hardship and humiliation of homelessness, both in some Ooi Gulf cities or in the mountains of Afghanistan, where he is a hobby of terrorism and murder as well as mentor and leader in the terrorism of Osama bin Laden. “

Islah condemns rioting:

Sahwa Net – The Yemeni Congregation of Reform ( the Islah Party) in Abyan governorate has said the best way to have rights and freedoms is the peaceful struggle, condemning riots and sabotage acts occurred at Zongbar city of Abyan.

The Islah demanded to control security , protect citizens and their assets ,and bring the assaulters accountable.

Car and shops had been attacked in Mukla and Zongbar following a rallies to mark a civil war in 1994 . Yemeni police clashed with protesters on Monday , but no causalities were reported .

Asharq Alawsat “Say No to Sucession in Yemen”, Therefore, we must help Yemen eliminate the concept of secession; not in the sense of providing financial aid but by taking decisive stands against separatists and spurring the Yemeni state to find solutions to the unresolved issues between the people of one nation. Ah. Saleh just needs a good talking to…

A recent terror attack on South Korean tourists in Yemen killed four and was followed by an attempted attack days later on South Korean officials which only killed the bomber. The South Koreans are engaged in soul searching and wondering why. The answer probably has more to do with Yemen’s natural gas project (South Korea is a major investor) than with the South Korean position on Iraq or Palestine.

Cracking the wall of silence, both opposition and majority Members of Parliament in Yemen denounced the Yemeni government’s support of terror activities in Yemen for political ends. It is not as some suggest a passive relationship, an incorporation of Islamists into the political system or turning a blind eye; the Yemeni government is directly involved in some “terror attacks” and provides material support for jihaddist groups.

Yemen Post: As the government announced a massive hunt, even with helicopters, for fugitives it says have planned to carry further terrorist attacks in Yemen, MPs said on Monday the government had provided aid for terrorist groups to carry out attacks.

During a closed parliament session to which Deputy Premier for Security and Defense Affairs Rashad Al-Alimi was invited along with the ministers of Culture, Tourism and Guidance and Deputy Minister of Interior, MPs said the government’s support for Jihadist and terrorist networks in the country was politically-motivated.

During the sitting, which was dedicated to discussing the issues of insecurity and soaring terrorist acts, independent MP Sakhr Al-Wajih said the government has been found involved in many terrorist acts which took place in the past years.

In the sitting, which was supposed to be closed and not to be attended by media, MPs urged a transparent dealing with security issues in the country as they reaffirmed previous accusations, by MPs from the ruling party and opposition, that the government had provided aid for terrorists.

In previous sessions, MPs from the ruling party and opposition called on the government to determine the nature of its relationship with terrorist networks and reconsider its policies on the relationship, saying all government acts in this regard are negatively affecting the country.

One more time: (Read on …)

When I established this website five years ago today, I never expected things to take the incredible path they did. Its been rather fun. For this year’s anniversary, I decided to go with the Anteater theme.

Anteater loves America this much.

Anteater was first.

Anteater doesn’t like Ruby.

Anteater is a geek.

(Read on …)

This is bad news: al-Tagheer:

Four tourists in Shibam Hadramout killed this evening in a car bomb by a suicide bomber.

He said the correspondent of the “change” in a procession to Shibam for a group of tourists traveling in a vehicle belonging to one of the travel and tourism, one of the persons intercepted a car bomb has exploded cars and a number of dead and wounded.

The correspondent added that the operation took place near a mountain, “Bp” in the Sale of Shibam Hadramout and during the procession of tourists stopped to take pictures of the sunset from the top of the mountain.

The correspondent pointed out that he is still writing, even ambulances transported the injured to more bad in the hospital did not have definitive statistics on the victims of the accident, which, according to preliminary data, which left four tourists from the Korean nationality.

He stressed that the security forces in the region imposed a security cordon at the scene of the incident and prevented from approaching it.

South Korean tourists. This is very sad. Another article says it was remote a controlled device, which if true may indicate prior experience in Iraq or an unwillingness to martyrdom, like the ambush of the Belgians in January 2008.

Updated casualty figures: Four South Koreans, three Yemenis killed, brought to the morgue in Sayoon, four South Koreans wounded.

The second man of Al-Qaeda terror network Ayman Al-Zawahiri has been seen for the first time Habar Gidir stronghold Marka town 90km south of Somalia capital as quoted from officials of unnamed money transfer companies and aid agencies on Thursday.

“Here in Marka, I have seen an Arab man who was heavily guarded as he was walking inside the town, with his sides we could see foreign armed men. I glimpsed him and he was Terrorist Ayman Al-Zawihiri, the man we often see on the world televisions,” one of the remittance companies said in condition of anonymity.He said all the movements in the town were halted as some of the senior officials of Al-Shabab group confirmed that the man they are hosting is Ayman Al-Zawahiri.

“I could not exactly say he was himself but most of out spoken issue was that the man seen is Al-Qaeda’s second man,” he added.“The presence of Ayman Al-Zawahiri in Marka is widely known, many people saw him but they fear for their security.

Our friends over at Terror Free Somalia got information from Waaga’s Club, but it’s in Somali. He describes the source as, “terror sympathizer HABAR-GIDIR ..news from Somalia waagacusub.own by harar-gidir own.. Shabelle media.. we call shabaab media.” The site was suspended shortly after. He believes there’s possibly some validity. It could be a high level AQ rep, not Zawahiri, considering the difficulty Zawahiri would have traveling. It could be a lot of things. I can’t find anything on Shabelle about it in English, but since Shabelle and Wagacusub tend to work hand in hand, thats not surprising. Also Shabelle regularly puts out misinformation in English.

At this point, its a rumor, but given the recent deal making between the government of Yemen and al-Qaeda, the prospect of Zawahiri visiting nearby Somalia is not as far fetched as it may initially seem. Yemen is the primary supplier of weapons to Somalia (in violation of the UN arms embargo); weapons are shipped from Yemen across the narrow Bab al Mendab Strait and the same boats bring Somali refugees to Yemen on the return trip.

After the September attack on the US embassy in Yemen, the US intercepted a communication between Ayman Zawahiri and the Iranian al Quds force leadership that referenced a deal between Yemeni President Saleh and Zawahiri. The deal was Zawahiri would send more fighters to Saleh to use in the northern Sa’ada war (against the Zaidi Shiite rebels) and in return Saleh would release imprisoned al-Qaeda operatives.

In a second deal in January, Saleh met with the contingent of Yemeni old generation co-opted al Qaeda under the leadership of Tariq al Fahdli and made a deal to use them to undermine the southern separatist movement in exchange for the release of prisoners. Saleh also gave the jihaddists funds and a free hand in the southern province of Abyan. New jihaddist training camps were also established. Then President Saleh released 102 jihaddists, of which about a third were actual al-Qaeda, the rest were local militants, thereby upholding his end of both deals.

Current news reports from Yemen indicate hundreds of jihaddists are amassing in the north in Sa’ada, Yemenis and non-Yemenis including Arabs and non-Arabs. The influx of foreign jihaddists to Sa’ada as well as the structure, training and hierarchy being imposed on them, indicates this possibly is an outcome of the communication between President Saleh and Ayman Zawahiri. Maybe Ayman will pop over from Somalia for a quick pow-pow with Ali.

Update: considering the site’s down, I posted the original below: (Read on …)

If Saleh ordered the Sa’ada prisoners released on 12/08 and they are still in jail, then its either a ploy or he can’t get his own directives implemented.

The order: (Read on …)

WOMEN JOURNALISTS WITHOUT CHAINS EXPRESS IT’S SOLIDARITY WITH STUDENTS MOVEMENT ACTIVISTS AND CONDEMNS VIOLENT AGGRESSION ON JOURNALISTS AND CITIZENS EXERTING THEIR RIGHTS OF PEACEFUL ASSEMBLING AND MOVEMENT EXPRESSION.

Women Journalists Without Chains ( WJWC) pursue the frightening degradation of rights and freedoms in Yemen, on its frontage students freedoms and opinion and expression freedoms in its twins press freedoms and freedom of assembly and movement expression.

While WJWC condemns what is facing the students movement in the universities of Sana’a, Aden and Taiz, such illegal arresting and aggressions by security institutions due to political working, WJWC also detest security systems surrounding students the settled students in collogues of Aden University today 29-11-2008 for participating the anniversary of 30th of November and pointing fire guns at their faces. (Read on …)

Yemen Post: Many demonstrations were held in various districts of Ibb province in protest against what protestors claim is the election expropriation and the coup against democracy.

Thousands of people rallied in the Thi Sufal district, Al-Qaeda city, denouncing the government’s measures to tackle the economic and political crises the country is experiencing. At the rally, Abdul Salam al-Khadiri delivered the speech of the Opposition’s Party Coalition, Joint Meeting Parties JMP, in which he said the gathering came as a result of the state’s deteriorating conditions in the country and that it was evidence for the sense of national responsibility.

He called on what he labeled as the ruling party wise men to put the country’s interests ahead of their own and narrow party interests. However, the gathering’s communiqué affirmed the importance of the public alignment to pull the country out of devastating policies created by the current government and the ruling party. The statement said standing differences will not be tackled except by a peaceful transition of power as well as fair, transparent and free elections.

I love a good gif, these courtsey of Eagelspeak. Apparently this is the normal route for these size ships which are staying closer to the maritime security zone. But I had no idea that it was all pretty much off the coast of Yemen, not Somalia:

And another, UN free content:

This (UNOSAT) 3D perspective map illustrates the relative spatial density of reported pirate incidents in the Gulf of Aden for 2008 (current as of 21 November). Incidents that have occurred within 5km of the Maritime Security Patrol Area (MSPA) following implementation on 26 August 2008 are identified.

It was my impression that Saleh paid for this out of his own pocket from his stash, where is it Germany? The articles seem to imply its state money. But then again, Saleh’s money is state money.

In suffering Yemen, a brand-new mosque

SAN’A, Yemen: The inauguration of an enormous new mosque named after the authoritarian president of Yemen has bewildered the people of this impoverished Arab country – especially when they learned it cost a staggering $60 million.

It is a massive sum in a country that ranks as the poorest in the Arab world and is beset by internal armed conflict, terrorism and severe malnutrition.

“We need schools and hospitals,” said Salem Ahmed, a government employee. “Many Yemenis have to travel abroad for medical treatment. This is hypocrisy.” (Read on …)

Wow, I had no idea. “What are the BOBs? The BOBs are the world’s largest international Weblog awards for Weblogs, podcasts and videoblogs. The awards are given out in 11 different languages.” (I think Im the only American in the finals.)

Vote for Armies of Liberation as world’s best press freedom blogger: click here!

This is their description: A blog written by New Jersey housewife Jane Novak, about internal affairs in Yemen, mostly. She is fighting for the freedom of renowned journalist Abdulkarim al-Khaiwani, one of Yemen’s most prominent democracy advocates, who was arrested in 2007. The site has since been banned in Yemen and Novak has become a sort of celebrity in the country.

Actually he was arrested in 2004 and that was the first petition. And 2007 was the second time. I have a whole category for Abdulkarim Al-Khaiwani and my “media” category where I put all the stories about journalists in Yemen has hundreds of entries.

Online voting runs until November 26
Over 8,500 blogs, videoblogs and podcasts were nominated in 16 categories for the BOBs this year – a new record for the BOBs. We would like to thank all of our users who participated.

Those long lists have been narrowed down by our jury members to the top eleven and now it’s your turn to take part..

I went to see who the finalists were and the only blog I recognized was mine.

Nifty gif yes? I love blog bling.

Yemeni Child Bride Honored At “Glamour” Gala
Reported by: RNS
Tuesday, Nov 11, 2008 @10:10am CST

(New York, NY) — A ten-year-old child bride from Yemen has been honored as one of “Glamour” magazine’s women of the year Monday night.

The “New York Daily News” is reporting that pint-sized Nujood Ali broke with tradition by demanding a divorce.

The girl was given up for marriage by her impoverished parents.

Although her 30-year-old groom had promised to wait until Ali was older before becoming intimate, he reportedly raped and beat her on their wedding night. When no one would take Ali to the courthouse to seek a divorce, she went on her own and sat there until a judge took notice.

Human rights lawyer Shada Nasser shared the “Glamour” award for helping Ali become the first child bride in Yemeni history to be granted a divorce. The two flew in for the posh Carnegie Hall gala. Among the other honorees were Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Senator Hillary Clinton.

How nice, think I’ll post another:

(I have that same necklace.)

Yemeni child bride honored among Women of the Year
Mon Nov 10, 2008 9:54pm EST Email | Print | Share| Reprints | Single Page | Recommend (0) [-] Text [+] NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) – A Yemeni child bride, who gained international renown after refusing to accept a forced marriage to a man nearly three times her age, on Monday received an award as a “Woman of the Year” alongside nine others.

The annual Women of the Year Awards, published by Glamour Magazine for the past 19 years and sponsored by L’Oreal, pay tribute to women who have made major contributions to entertainment, business, sport, fashion, science and politics.

Nujood Ali, who is now 10, was chosen for the award after her unusual story of rebellion against an arranged marriage made her an international celebrity, with her story highlighted by various magazines and TV networks.

Like many young girls in Yemen, where the majority are Muslim, Ali was pulled out of second-grade from her school in the capital Sanaa by her impoverished father and married to a man in his 30s. He beat and sexually assaulted her.

Under Yemeni law the minimum age of marriage is 15, according to the U.S. Department of State, but tribal customs and interpretations of Islam often override this and girls are married much earlier with bride-price payments widespread.

But rather than accept traditional custom, Ali went to court, got the help of a human rights lawyer and successfully filed for divorce in April this year.

“With the help of human rights lawyer Shada Nasser… Yemeni child bride Nujood Ali took the stand against her husband in court, and was granted a historic divorce,” said a statement about her award, presented at a ceremony in New York.

“Together Nasser and Ali are committed to saving other little girls from early marriage.”

Ali was also picked for the Women of the Year Fund Initiative, where one of the awardees is chosen as the basis for fund-raising for their project.

Other women to make the annual list were TV personality Tyra Banks for her charity that supports young women, Hillary Clinton for inspiring generations of women, and Chanel Chief Executive Maureen Chiquet for her role in international business.

Jane Goodall, best known for her ground-breaking work with chimpanzees, was awarded a lifetime achievement award for her humanitarian and environmental work while Australian actress Nicole Kidman was praised for her work with the United Nations Development Fund for Women.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, beach volleyball duo Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh, and artist Kara Walker also featured in the 2008 list.

The winners, featured in the December issue of Glamour magazine on the newsstands on Tuesday, were picked by an advisory board made up of past honorees ranging from Diane von Furstenberg to Nora Ephron to Queen Latifah.

Escaped al Qaeda operative Hamza al Quayti was killed in a shootout along with four other al-Qaeda operatives as well as two policemen. President Saleh said the group was planning attacks in Saudi Arabia and Yemen. A published report indicated elements within Yemeni security forces directed al Qauyti in March to launch a failed mortar attack on the US embassy and cleared the roads for his escape after the attack. The coordinates were off deliberately, the report says. The official regime meme is the current raid is proof Yemen is cooperating in the WOT, and deserves “greater international support and understanding” The group is supposedly responsible for all three car bombings (election, tourists, police station).

Daily Times: Yemen’s leading Al Qaeda fugitive killed in shootout

SANAA: Yemen said on Tuesday that a prominent fugitive member of the local branch of Al Qaeda was killed in a shootout when police stormed a house in the eastern province of Hadramaut.

Hamza al-Quayti, one of 23 Al Qaeda militants who broke out of jail in February 2006, was killed along with four other fighters in Monday’s clash in the town of Tarim, the defence ministry website September 26 said. Two policemen were killed and three others wounded, while two militants were wounded and captured, it added. The ministry said the militants who were hiding in a house stormed by security forces had formed a cell which “planned to execute terror attacks and bombings in Yemen and abroad”. It said police found explosives and documents including Arab passports, including two belonging to Saudis. It claimed the cell was behind attacks including a suicide car bombing that killed eight Spanish tourists and two Yemeni guides at a historic site in Marib, east of Sanaa, in July 2007 (07/02.07). (Read on …)

Yemen Observer
The investigations showed that they used internal and external journalists’ e-mails, and provide them with false news about the conflicts in order to raise the insurgents’ morals.

The security source said that the captured elements’ confessions disclosed that they used to write reports about public opinion trends and sent them together with some photographs to Abdulmalik al-Huthi and external journalists, particularly to the American journalist Jane Novak using certain links.

The Yemeni government doesn’t dispute the authenticity of the photos in question. The crime is sending them out of the country, “especially” to me.

Update: Not that the truth matters in Yemeni courts, but Howie reminds me he found the photos at a public forum and sent them to me. I’ll dig for the link where they were posted online way before I ever published them.

Announced by the 26 Septemper (sic), website of the Yemeni military, the charge is distributing information (probably photos of civilians killed by government bombing in Saada.) No mention of progress in tracking down the al-Qaeda in Yemen webmaster though…

From al-Motamar,

the ruling party’s website: The source also pointed out that elements of the network were writing leaflets and sending some information on trends of the public opinion and then sending them to terrorist Abdulmalik al-Houthi in addition to sending some film shots to journalists and newspapers abroad , among them American press especially to the American journalist Jane Novak. They were also writing daily bulletins of the so-called the information office of the rebels. The source added that elements of the network confessed of receiving funds from families of Hamidudin living in one of the neighbouring countries. He explained that after completing investigations with the network elements they would be sent to concerned authorities to be given just punishment for the acts they have committed.

Did they mean photos like these? The ones that show the Yemeni government’s war crimes? These photos were actually published by a Yemeni newspaper . They show Yemenis digging out the bodies of women and children killed by government bombing. In Sa’ada, the Yemeni government is waging an intensive and random bombing campaign against its own citizens as well as starving them with a food blockade. Very Sudan-like.

Warning: Horrible pictures below the fold of the Yemen women and children killed by their own government in Saada Yemen. (Read on …)

This is a short interview with Abdulkarim al-Khaiwani’s little daughter, Eeba, via Hub. She says the thugs were pounding his head into the street and he motioned to her to go back inside.

I hope the regime takes advantage of the temporary lull in publicity to free al-Khaiwani before we have to go into phase two of the campaign.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt: December 24, 1943

“And today we salute our unseen allies in occupied countries, the underground resistance groups and the Armies of Liberation. They will provide potent forces against our enemies……

There have always been cheerful idiots in this country who believed that there would be no more war for us if everybody in America would only return into their homes and lock their front doors behind them.”

Happy Memorial Day Everybody, Enjoy Freedom

Despair Inc.

How Vain! Does Ali Abdullah Saleh think he’s pretty when he’s not biting his lip?

IHT: SAN’A, Yemen: Yemen banned a new magazine Sunday for publishing a picture of the nation’s president deemed “inappropriate” by authorities, the paper’s editor said. Nabil al-Soufi, editor of Abwab, said the security authorities banned the first issue of the magazine because they believed the picture of President Ali Abdellah on the cover made him look dour. The editor said the picture was a reprint.

News Yemen: The chief editor and publisher of Abwab magazine, printed in Dubai, Nabeel al-Sufi said the security at the Sana’a International Airport had prevented 10,000 copies of his magazine’s first edition from entering the country because of a cover picture of president Saleh… in case security authorities refuse to release the 10,000 copies of the magazine, the magazine might be completely terminated.

This photo is from an article in the Yemen Times about a cholera outbreak, probably caused by contaminated water; officials have done nothing.

Half of Yemen’s ten million kids are stunted by malnutrition. It doesn’t mean they are a tad short. The picture is of a ten year old, Younis.

This is the third most hungry child population in world.

On the 21 Anniversary of 13 January events
Yemeni Security Forces Kill Two Persons and Wound Thirteen in Aden

Two persons were killed and fifteen wounded in Aden when Regular Forces opened fire on crowds of southerners protesters who came from all southern governorates in a gesture of reconciliation and tolerance.

The protesters crowded in al-Hashimi station in al-Sheikh Othman district starting in the early morning in commemoration of the 21 anniversary of 13 January 1986 events which occurred in South Yemen between the different wings in socialist party (Y.S.P) who led the south before unity.

A responsible source in the Joint Meeting Parties (J.M.P) in Aden governorate said to Armies of Liberation that the ruling party never ask for peace and what happened in al-Hashimi station this morning is a proof for that, and he added, “We will continue in our adjusted demanded until achieving equal citizenship and get back all our legal rights.”

Exclusive photos:

Yemen Times has more.

There’s one on Youtube. NSFW: violence.

Its eight minutes of sporadic shooting and the crowd rescuing the wounded, but no one goes home.

For those of you on the email subscription, this is link: click here if you can’t see the embedded version.

A Yemeni Parliamentary committee issued a report in 2006 naming 26 persons who illegally profited from land confiscated in Aden following Yemen’s 1994 civil war. The list includes Members of Parliament and the Shoura Council, military and security force commanders, current and former judges and ministers. The Parliamentary committee recommended that the land owners receive compensation for their losses, however none has been paid.

The following is a translation of the document that includes a description of the individual’s position in brackets for the readers’ benefit:

LIST OF THE NAMES AND AREAS OF INDIVIDUALS WHO RECIEVED CONTRACTS FROM THE GOVERNORATE LEADERSHIP AND PREVIOUS MANAGER OF INTERIOR TRADING CORPORATION (HUSSEIN NASER OMAYER), ACCORDING TO THE (PARLIAMENTARY) FIELD SURVEY.

NAME (CURRENT POSITION) AREA DISPOSITION

1 NASER MANSOOR HADI
(The brother of Yemeni Vice President, Abdo Rabo Mansour Hadi, and Agent of Political Security Forces of Aden,Lahj and Abyan governorates)
received 4.6 ACRES,
sold to ALI SOLAIMAN DAHSH 2 ACRES, and ALAWADHI 3 ACRES

2 HUSIEN NASER OMAYER
(Previous general manager of Interior Trading Company in south)
received 20 ACRES
SOLD TO Gamal Qasem 7 acres, Salem Balfaqeh 2 acres, Abdul baset 1 acre

3 MUHAMMED SALEH AL-MOHAMMADI
received 3.0 ACRES
SOLD TO SADEQ ABDO MOHAMMED 3.0 ACRES

4 MOHAMMED SALEH TUREIQ
(General Manager of Sa’ada Security Forces, former GM of Aden Security.)
received 5.3 ACRES
SOLD TO GAMAL QASEM 5.0 ACRES

5 BELAL ALI MOHSEN
received 4.8 ACRES

6 MOAAD TAHA GHANEM
(Son of the former governor of Aden) Taha Ghanem
received 3.7 ACRES SOLD TO ALI AL-YAMANI

7 ABDULLA AHMED GHANEM
(Member of al-Shoura Council, formerly Minister of Legal Affairs)
received 8.3 ACRES
SOLD TO ALI AL-YAMANI

8 TAHA HUSEIN NASER OMAYER
(Son of Hussain Naser Omayer )
received 2.1 ACRES
SOLD TO ALI AL-YAMANI

9 WALEED AL-FADHLI
received 3.0 ACRES
SOLD TO ALI AL-HAG AHMED AND HIS PARTNER

10 ALI SHEIKH OMER
received 2.8 ACRES
SOLD TO AL-QERN TRADING CORPORATION

11 MOHAMED ALI SALEM AL-SHADDADI
(Member of Parliament)
received 3.3 ACRES

12 HUSEIN MOHAMMED ARAB
(Member of al-Shoura Council, previously the Minister of Interior Affairs)
received 2.7 ACRES
SOLD TO ALI SALEH AL-AWADHI

13 FAISAL RAGAB
(High ranking military commander)
1.0 ACRE SOAM + WALL

14 ABDUL-QAREEM SHAEF
(General Secretary of conference party in Aden governorate)
offered 1.0 ACRE SOAM + WALL
REFUSED

15 FAHEEM ABDULLA MOHSEN
(Chief Justice of Sana’a Commercial Court, previously Chief Justice of Aden Commercial Court)
1.0 ACRE SOAM + WALL SOLD TO NOR AL-DIN FAKHRI

16 RASHEED HOWAIDI
(Justice serving on the Republic High court, previously Chief Justice of Aden Appeal court, )
received 1.2 ACRES SOAM + WALL
SOLD TO ALI GAMAL QASEM

17 SALEH AL-AMMARI
(former judge in Aden Appeals Court)
received 1.1 ACRES SOAM + WALL
SOLD TO MOHAMMED BA-HASHWAN

18 NOR AL-DEEN FAKHRI
(former General Manager of Yemeni Port Authority)
received 0.9 ACRE WALL + VILLA

19 MOHAMED AHMED ALKHAILA
received 0.86 ACRE WHITE LAND

20 MOHAMED ABDULLA AL-BATANI
(Member of al-Shoura Council, previously Minister of Interior)
received 0.86 ACRE WHITE LAND

21 AHMED ABOBAKER AL-SOMAHI
received 0.86 ACRE WHITE LAND

22 ALI AHMED AL-SEIAGHI
(Vice minister of trade)
received 0.86 ACRE WHITE LAND

23 FARID MOGAWAR
(previous General Manager of Fish Wealth)
received 0.86 ACRE WHITE LAND

24 MAHDI ABD AL-SALAM
(General Manager of Taiz Education, previously General Manager of Aden Education)
received 0.86 ACRE WHITE LAND

25 MOHAMMED GOMEA AL KHADHER
(previous General Manager of Aden International Airport, dismissed)
received 0.86 ACRE WHITE LAND

26 MANSOOR SALEH BASORRA
received 0.86 ACRE WHITE LAND

27 SHADWAN AL-MOHAMADI
received 2 ACRES WALL

TOTAL 80.4 ACRES

ADDITIONAL REMARKS ABOUT LIST OF 26:
1. ADDED NAME OF SHADWAN AL- MOHAMMADI IN AREA (2) ACRES TO LIST OF (26).
2. THE TOTAL AREAS ACCORDING TO FIELD SURVEYING (ON FIELD = 80.4 ACRES).
3. THE AREAS ACCORDING TO THE LIST OF INSTRUCTION = 102.0 ACRES.
4. THE DIFFERENT BETWEEN FIELD SURVEYING AND INSTRUCTION

***Exclusive Interview***

Colonel Naser Saleh Abdul Qawi is the secretary general of Aden Military Retirees Society. Col. Abdul Qawi was a member of the southern Air Force, and was stationed at the al-Anad military base before it fell to Sanaa’s forces in Yemen’s 1994 civil war. Abdul Qawi is one of hundreds of military retirees who were reinstated to the Yemeni military in response to months of protests that have rocked the southern Yemeni governorates.

In a statement, Abdul Qawi described to A.O.L. what he and other reinstated southern military officers experienced during their return to Sana’a. He explained how they were treated and the solution from his view:

“Let me draw your attention to what happened to us in both the military and civilian sectors after the summer war 1994 that resulted in the south’s occupation by the Sana’a regime, and how the victorious side practiced all forms of hegemony against us in a retarded mentality. The Yemeni regime stopped us, the military, from working. It got rid of all southern leaders. It deprived us of our rights and confiscated our freedom, lands, and also houses which were specialized for the southern military. The regime then illegally distributed the (seized) property, including the lands and houses which are situated in al-Anad military base, Salah al-Din camp, Al-Rayan airport, and al-Ghaidha airport, among others.

The civilian side was subjected to similar arbitrary measures. I can describe what happened generally as the following: The Yemeni regime transferred all the government controlled sectors in the PDRY such as factories, firms and companies to the private sector under many names and excuses. This public sector was source of hundreds families’ livelihood, and all of them were forced into the street without any consideration for brotherhood or even humanity.

About what we experienced during our recent return to Sana’a, We were dealt with as recruits. We were assigned in groups without any posts, rights or compensation. The ranks and promotions were computed to me from 3.November 2007 in spite of desiring (retroactive compensation) from more than 10 years. This happened not to me only but to all who returned. The matter was not restricted to that.

They demanded from us to fill and sign a document that included many conditions which obliged the signer to never practice any peaceful (political) activity. Because of that clause, all of us refused this document and considered that an illegal condition that furthers complications.

The solution from my view goes back to the unity agreement which was signed in 1990 by both the leaderships of the Peoples Democratic Republic of Yemen (P. D. R.Y.) and Yemeni Arab Republic (Y.A.R.), and requires the application of the whole obligations in Amman document (the agreement of pledge and accord) which held between both presidents, Ali Salem Al-beedh from the south and Ali Abdullah Saleh from the north. The solution also requires the application of U.N. resolutions no. 924 and 931 which were issued during 1994 war. And I can say without the application of these agreements and decisions, no peace will be on the land and no dignity or honor.”

Almotamar.net – Yemeni Human Rights Ministry dispatched Wednesday a memorandum to the general prosecutor demanding the release of 40 prisoners from the Central Prison in Sana’a. Those prisoners have been detained as hostages under orders of sheiks and influential personalities.

A source at the ministry told almotamar.net that disclosure of hostage prisoners came during a visit to the Central Prison last week made by the Minister for Human Rights Huda Al-Ban and jurists from the ministry for the purpose of seeing conditions of prisoners, the source pointed out that the visit disclosed the presence of 40 prisoners retained as hostages by sheikhs and 30 of them have been detained under requests by sheikh in Yemen over their relatives’ commitment of killing crimes, vengeance and other cases.

The source clarified that some prisoners have been held for more than ten years and have not been tried until now. He said the Human Rights Ministry asked last week to meet the general prosecutor to discuss cases of prison inmates imprisoned by illegal ways and to release them in addition to solving problems of insolvent prisoners. But the meeting was postponed to this week, the source said.

for one welcomes our new insect overlords.

Lt. Cmdr. Charles Swift, lawyer for Salim Hamden, who sucessfully won a U.S. Supreme Court challenge of the Bush administration’s military tribunals for Guantanamo detainees is facing early retirement as a result of the Navy’s up or out policy. The Navy is refusing to promote him up, so he’ll be out. Commander Kirk Lippold, former USS Cole Commander is facing early retirement through this tactic as well.

Tony Shaffer, of the Able Danger crew, is another guy who is getting shafted for doing his job. DIA says he stole a pencil and then revoked his security clearence and health coverage. Seriously.

Meanwhile if Shaffer’s two warnings on the port of Aden had reached Lippold, the USS Cole would have been on a higher threat level or it would have refueled elsewhere. I know this because I have a hard copy of the Congressional inquiry. Kie Fallis, who was at DIA, tried independently to get a warning issued, and quit in disgust the day after. General Zinni testified there was no specific threat warnings regarding Yemen. Not to mention the debacle that followed with State vs. the FBI.

This is excellent news. Excellent.

from the Yemen Observer

SANA’A – The Yemen Observer can continue printing hard copies of its newspaper, after a decision to suspend its license to operate was overturned on Tuesday by Prime Minister Abdul-Qader Bajammal.
One day prior to world celebration of the UN World Press Freedom Day, the decision of the Yemeni government has been made. Two other newspapers who also had their licenses suspended for charges connected to republishing the Danish cartoons, the Al-Rai Al-A’am and Al-Hurriyah,, were also given the go-ahead to continue to print.
The move follows a series of demands by the Yemen Journalists Syndicate (YJS). Bajammal has instructed the Ministry of Information to activate the revoked licenses of the three newspapers after a meeting with members of the YJS.
The Ministry of Information revoked the license of the Observer and Al-Rai Al-A’am on February 8, and Al-Hurriyah’s on February 4.
For the past three months, Observer journalists have been able to only print articles on its website.
“It was a fruitful meeting with the Prime Minister,” Saeed Thabet, Acting Chairman of the YJS told the Observer.
“We have been demanding the release of the licenses of the newspapers for past three months. The response of the government came late but was encouraging.”
Staff at the Yemen Observer welcomed the news. Faris Sanabani, the publisher, welcomed the prime minister decision saying: “It is time for the Yemeni government to move to responsibility of press freedom to the journalists themselves, who should play a vital role in transparency, fighting corruption and development.”
“It was a good decision by the government, even if it was perhaps a late one,” said Mohammed Al-Asadi, Editor-in-Chief of the Yemen Observer. “We hope that the charges will also be dropped.”
The trials of those accused in connection with the reprinting of the cartoons continues.
Hafez Al-Bukari, Secretary General of the YJS expressed his satisfaction of the meeting with the Prime Minister. The discussion also includes various issues concerning press freedoms, the draft law and access to information in addition the administrative arrangement of the general assembly meeting of the YJS to elect a new chairman.
“I am impressed with the meeting,” Al-Bukari said. “We really wish that all promises made by the Prime Minister will be fulfilled including the establishment of an Information Center in the cabinet to supply journalists with necessary information and statistics.”

Also some movement on the draft press law. More from the YO.

Very sadly over 100 people are reportedly killed and wounded. For updates, stay tuned to the Big Pharaoh: I am alive. I’m far away from Dahab but the security situation is very tight where I am. I had plans to go to Dahab though. I called a friend who went back to Cairo from Dahab yesterday and he told me that two of his friends, who remained in Dahab, were injured in the attack. This is very very shocking. The third terrorist attack in Sinai after Taba and Sharm el Sheikh.

Condi: The United States condemns the vicious terrorist bombing in Dahab, Egypt,
today. We extend our deepest sympathies to those injured by this attack and to
the families and loved ones of those killed. There can be no justification for
this barbaric act of terrorism. Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of
Egypt in this time of grief.

YO: Yemen has strongly denounced the terrorist bombing in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Dahab on Monday, which resulted in a large number of casualties. At least 23 people were killed and 62 wounded when three bombs exploded at the beach resort on the Sinai peninsula. In a telephone conversation with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, President Saleh repeated Yemen’ call for a stronger international stance to prevent terrorist acts.

(No similiar statement to the Iraqis for the 20 killed and 90 wounded yesterday.)

Update: Egypt’s intelligence chief, Omar Suleiman, flew to Yemen on Wednesday for talks on the Dahab bombings, according to intelligence officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the information. They said Egypt wants to know if al-Qaida activists who escaped from a prison in Yemen might be connected to Sinai terror cells.

News Yemen:

The Journalists’ Syndicate expressed its concern towards the proceedings of the court cases against Al-Rai Al-Am, Al-Hurriya, and Yemen Observer. It also indicated that there could be serious repercussions stemming from these trials. Charges could include heresy and treason and exposes the editors in chief to substantial risk.
A statement made by the syndicate disapproved of the call for heresy which was made by those inside the court chambers and was counter to the opinion of both judges and ulema. They urged the executive and legislative powers to act quickly so that charges of unbelief and terrorism could not be lobbed against the editors in chief.
The ulema and judges also criticized the arbitrary application of law which goes against the spirit of the law. The way has been opened up for Sheikh Al-Zandani to intervene in the case and play the role of civil prosecutor before the decision concerning the charge of unbelief is made.

Allegations by the official media against Yemeni journalists of being foreign agents:

Again al-Mithaq Weekly of the ruling party last Monday accused our colleagues Jamal Amer and Hafiz al-Bukari of being agents for foreign forces. The two guys were invited to take part in some media activities in the US which were described as suspicious trips. Amer is visiting the US under the International Visitors Program which is sponsored by the State Department. I visited the US under this program in 2002 and I found it a very excellent study, meeting journalists from different countries and getting to know very closely the media in the US and how it functions. The Program is meant for different target groups including parliamentarians, businessmen, legalists, journalists, teachers, academicians…etc. I remember after I came back, one of my colleagues asked me “how was your CIA training workshop?”

This is the totalitarian culture that always feels afraid from the outsider culture and explains everything in the context of conspiracy. They think themselves we are the target of the West which is working hard to destroy us. This is complete nonsense and hallucination.

More from a translated article from Annas in the Yemen Times:

Writer Ali Al-Faqeeh tackles in an article the question of the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate developments saying assailment has lately escalated against the journalists syndicate by the official media and that attack was intensified after the journalists chairman announcement of tendering his resignation for health reasons. Official newspapers published articles and news stories about journalists demands for holding a conference to re-elect a new council for the syndicate and the call for saving the syndicate fro deterioration. The official newspapers attack have gone further to accuse some members of the journalists syndicate of hanging around the gates of foreign embassies and involvement in projects financed by foreign parties, citing the Danish project for support for Yemeni press.

Although newspapers affiliate of the ruling party have devoted pages to talk abut the situation of the journalists syndicate and its future if there was not an urgent call to holding a syndicate’s general conference and election of a new council , it is not surprising especially that those newspapers have been used to file charges against whoever differs with the authority orientations and its desire to nationalize civil society organizations so that their tasks will be praising gains of the ruling party.

This is awful.

The Egyptian car ferry that sank in the Red Sea with up to 1,500 people on board may not have had enough lifeboats to carry the passengers and crew, a presidential spokesman suggested tonight.
Over 1,000 people are missing after the Salam Boccaccio 98 sank overnight some 40 miles off the Egyptian port of Hurghada.

An Egyptian official said “dozens of bodies” had been pulled from the water and the Egyptian transport minister, Mohammed Lufti Mansour, said 203 survivors had been rescued. Fears were rising for the rest of the 1,300-1,500 people said to have been on board.

Its been almost a day already and there’s still a thousand people in the water.

If anyone is interested in the Ethiopia/ Eritrea dispute, this article from the Arab News lays it out pretty well.

Then again, for another view, there’s this.

This guy turns out to have very clear vision on many issues, not just Yemen: Ahmed Al-Rabei:

No sooner had we finished from Abdul Halim Khaddam’s interview than we watched the Syrian people’s assembly convene on air, on al Arabiya. Members of parliament follow one another in a session of heavy insults directed at the Syrian vice president of forty years.

The representatives described Khaddam in a variety of sorts, some of which we will not mention, out of respect for our readers. During the session, Khaddam was variously described as “a thief, a pervert, an animal, a traitor and a servant to the enemies”.

According to members of the Syrian people’s assembly, Khaddam was one of the pillars of corruption in Syria. He and his son were guilty of smuggling nuclear waste in an infamous scandal. His son used to smuggle dollars and Khaddam had to plead with the late president Hafez Assad for his release. He was also said to own 500 cars.

Syrian MPs put forward a logical question. Why did Abdul Halim Khaddam remain silent about corruption during his years in power? In his interview, he said the country was corrupt so much so that one official embezzled three billion dollars while the people of Syria were eating from garbage piles. He also claimed that repressive security services controlled the country. Where was Abdul Halim Khaddam in the past forty years? Why did not intervene to halt this corruption?

The question posed above is indeed reasonable but it is accompanied by another, equally rational, question. If these representatives are aware of all these scandals about Abdul Halim Khaddam, to the extent that they accuse him of smuggling nuclear waste, where were the members of the Syrian people’s assembly when these practices were taking places throughout the last forty years? Why didn’t they intervene when they were allegedly elected by the people to legislate and supervise the conduct of the state? If Khaddam is guilty to this degree, then what about other officials, part of the old guard, and their sons who remain in power?

I estimate that most of what the Syrian MPs spoke about Khaddam is true and most of what Khaddam said about corruption and corrupt officials in also true. But the problem lies in the nature of totalitarian regimes and that fact that parliament is powerless and unable to tackle corruption. The problem is one of monopoly of the press and an absence of freedom. In an environment such as this, people witness corruption and remain silent. The very corrupt officials disregard smaller cases, as well as, bribery and the theft electricity and fuel of tanks and military trucks. The thief remains silent on the activities of other thieves given the absence of accountability and transparency.

The impartial observer ought to view Khaddam’s interview and the Syrian parliament’s session together. He will then discover enough material for a series of scandals. Damascus has to intervene in order to reform what can be saved!

The rest of his articles are very good too. And its true the press is the foremost mechanism of accountability.

Dang. I take my eye off Bangladesh for a few months….

IFEX In Bangladesh, widely considered one of the most dangerous countries in the world for the press, 2005 was a year in which Islamic militants increasingly targeted journalists, say Media Watch, Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF), the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ).

According to RSF, more than 50 journalists and 10 publications have been threatened by the banned Islamist organisation Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) since September 2005 for publishing allegedly anti-Islamic articles. The threats began in the northern Rajshahi region where JMB founder Bangla Bai has launched an armed struggle to impose Islamic law.

At least 12 journalists were threatened in September for writing about the activities of Islamist groups like JMB. In October, JMB militants threatened journalists at seven news media outlets. Most journalists in Rajshahi now censor themselves for fear of becoming targeted again, says RSF. (Read on …)

Just because it annoys me so:

ALERTS ISSUED BY THE IFEX CLEARING HOUSE DURING THE PAST THREE WEEKS

19 DECEMBER 2005
Indonesia – Radio station closure a threat to democracy, access to information (IFJ) – alert

http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/71172/

Mexico – Senate postpones debate on much-criticised radio and television law amendments (AMARC) – alert update

http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/71173/

Afghanistan – Journalist dead after beating, death threats; another journalist caught in bomb blast (IFJ) – alert

http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/71175/

Poland – IPI concerned about legal actions aimed at intimidating “Polityka”’s staff (IPI) – alert update

http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/71176/

Greece – Two journalists assaulted (IPI) – alert

http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/71177/

Albania – Journalist assaulted (IPI) – alert

http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/71178/

Colombia – Journalist threatened again for reporting on the annulment of elections (FLIP) – alert update

http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/71179/

The Gambia – Outcry for justice persists one year after journalist Deyda Hydara’s murder (RSF) – alert update

http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/71181/

The Gambia – Journalists barred from site of editor’s murder on 1st anniversary (CPJ) – alert update
http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/71183/ (Read on …)

The broader picture to this is very complex.

SANAA (Reuters) – Yemeni tribesmen released five Italians on Friday almost a week after seizing them to pressure the government to release jailed relatives.

Elated but exhausted, the hostages arrived in the capital Sanaa a few hours after leaving a hideout in a remote area of the mountainous, and largely lawless, Marib province.

“We lived in danger, they had guns aimed at our backs,” hostage Enzo Bottillo told Reuters through a translator. The kidnappers, from the Zaidi tribe, had threatened to kill the Italians if the government tried to release them by force.

“The situation was very difficult, it’s a difficult thing for anyone to go through,” added another female hostage.

They Italians are due to fly home Friday evening.

The kidnapping on Sunday was the fourth of Westerners in less than two months, and stoked fears of a return to the wave of abductions that swept Yemen several years ago.

Yemeni officials said the kidnappers had surrendered to the authorities after five days of negotiations backed by a huge security siege. A security source said counter-terrorism units were used in the operation and the police said they were still hunting two tribesmen linked to the kidnapping.

It was not clear if the government had agreed to some of the kidnappers’ demands, but previous negotiations with hostage takers in Yemen have often been resolved through compromise.

“We thought we were going to die. The last night was very tense. We were ordered at gunpoint to stay on the floor and remain silent,” hostage Piergiorgio Gamba, 51, was quoted by Italian news agency ANSA as saying.

Bottillo said the kidnappers had kept them in a small room with no toilet facilities. “We lived in isolation from the world,” he added.

Scores of tourists and foreigners working in Yemen have been kidnapped over the last decade by tribesmen demanding better schools, roads and services, or the release of jailed relatives but most hostages have been released unharmed.

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh has vowed to crack down on abductions, and vowed kidnappers will be prosecuted.

Yemen has put to death two convicted hostage-takers since Tuesday and a state-run Web site said the country had decided to execute all kidnappers of Westerners on death row to serve as a deterrent.

Impoverished Yemen hopes to boost its tourism, but attacks by al Qaeda-linked militants and kidnappings by disgruntled tribesmen have scared off many travellers.

The Italians were seized just a day after five German hostages were freed unharmed. In 2000 a Norwegian diplomat was killed in crossfire, and in 1998 four Westerners died during a botched army attempt to free them from Islamic militants.

Starting the New Year off with a bang:

(YT) Opposition MPs released a statement accusing government of playing with public spending and recording large sums of money, included in 2006 budget items, amounting to 320 billion Yemeni Riyals that went to the unknown. The statement also blamed government for the spread of corruption, lack of human development and failure to improve citizens’ living standards….

The committee’s remarks exposed that spending on some services like education and health is not encouraging, emphasizing that education expenditures decreased from 21.2 percent in the 2005 budget to 15.5 percent in the 2006 budget.

How do you decrease educational spending in a country with an illiteracy rate of over 50% and over a million kids not in school, while increasing the military budget? Easily if the parliament is packed with GCP party members. I read a book that called the GPC “the party of government employees.” And that’s a fair assessment, because if you want a government job in Yemen, its best to belong to the GPC. And if you want to keep that job, its best not to make waves.

David at Medien Kritik characterizes the kidnapping of the former German ambassador thus: Arab extremists kidnapped another German.

In reality, the kidnappers are disenfranchised tribesmen, who are effectively excluded from the political system (because they comprise the greatest potential check on Saleh’s authority). Lacking a functional judiciary, many kidnappings occur to effect the release of family members held without trial, often as hostages, by the regime.

From the Yemen Times:

He said the kidnappers’ sole demand was to release five tribesmen arrested more than a month ago in relation to tribal vengeance incidents…

They were supposed to be tried in the court of law for involvement in successive vengeance battles since 1993. The kidnappers say the authorities did not fulfill their promises and hence the tribe decided to kidnap the tourists to plea their case….

They were outraged by news that the security officer, who killed their relatives was promoted to a higher rank by the government after the murder.

They said authorities did not bring the officer and the other culprits to justice despite many appeals, forcing Aal Abdullah to take the matter ‘into their own hands’.

This is a good description of their motivation, even if its possible Faris wrote it. In general,

They aim to extract concessions from the government, pledges to build facilities, roads, free prisoners or, in the worst cases, claim a ransom.

This last demand, however reprehensible, is a reflection of the fact that the kidnappers are often living in abject poverty, desperate for food, clothes, or even medicine for their children or elderly relatives.

These are not “Arab extremists.” These are not terrorists, they are terrorized instead by the regime’s biased use of power. These are extremely poor people without any legitimate means to impact the highly authoritarian and rampantly corrupt regime.

Kidnapping is *not* a good way to voice their grievances or gain bargaining power with the regime. But this kidnapping, as the one before it, does not belong in some handy dandy little box of “Arab extremism.”

Peace on Earth, Good Will Toward Men

Joy to the World

I have lots o’ links but I had no time to post them with all the Christmas preparations, but I have to mention these now that dinner is in the oven and we are home from church.

My Present From Saleh: Hope

In an interview with Ahmed Jaralleh (who BTW is an editor for whom I have great respect,) President Saleh said:

Q: You have said you won’t compete for the presidency of Yemen again. Is this to measure your popularity or are you really tired and want to bow out?

A: Some politicians may think I am using this issue to measure my popularity and find out whether people still want my leadership. However, I assure you there is no need for such speculations because Yemen is full of intellectuals, smart politicians and highly educated people. I have taken this decision because I want to encourage my citizens to prepare themselves to replace Ali Abdullah Saleh. Although I am not old and still capable of handling this huge responsibility, I want to see my people take over the authority in a democratic manner.

Is he really this smart? I know Saleh is smart but is he smart enough to see that he will be world renowned and acclaimed if he really does step down?

Also on such a holy day, I hate to argue with the Pope but…

He singled out the Darfur conflict in Africa in urging strength for all those who are working for peace, development and the prevention of conflicts. He urged protection “of the most elementary rights of those experiencing tragic humanitarian crises, such as those in Darfur and in other regions of central Africa.”

And thats very good, and some of the older readers will remember when I asked everybody to email Kofi Annan before the Darfur situation hit the media. Come to think of it, that was the first blogger alliance I made, way before Yemen, and all the bloggers were very good then to post about Darfur when I asked them. And Darfur is truely a tragic humanitarian crisis, and there are others in Africa. But lets note that the bottom three most malnourished children in the world are Sudanese, Yemeni and Malawi in that order.

ADNKI: Yemen pushes for entry into the GCC.

At the Gulf summit in Muscat, Oman, in 2001, Yemen was admitted to the council of ministers of education, health and social affairs and to the Gulf Football Cup. Yemen now hopes to join the economic groups and other institutions of the GCC, and offers its recent World Bank-backed economic reforms as proof that it deserves to get full membership, the Yemen Observer reports.

Was this the same soccer league that recently suspended the team because of governmental interference? Economic reforms, where-decreasing the oil subsidies while increasing military spending 50%?

World Bank statistics put Yemen’s Gross National Income (GNI) at 570 US dollars per capita. The GNI of the other GCC members ranges from Oman at 7,890 dollars to Kuwait at 17,970 dollars and the United Arab Emirates at around 20,000 dollars. Life expectancy in Yemen is also significantly lower than that of the Gulf countries.

Child mortality is significantly higher.

are corrupt themselves and will be our first target.

Seriously, he said that:

“The corruption must be uprooted through referring corrupt people to the courts. Some accuse others of corruption as they are themselves corrupted,” said Saleh.

He said that to fight corruption state has first to fight those corrupted who raise anti-corruption slogan, in the opposition parties
or in the GPC party.

YO

Yemen ranked 43 out of 196 countries in the under-five mortality rate in the report of two years ago, an estimated 111 out of 1000. The following government expenditure statistics from the 2004 report reveal the depth of the problem: Health 4%; Education 22%; Defense 19%;

The last figure I had for child mortality was 8% which is terrible. 11% is worse. The birth rate is high. We’re talking about a lot of child deaths here.

This is the best reporting I’ve ever seen on Yemen, and I’ve seen it all, literally.

Highlights from part three of his series.

Long sanguine about Yemen, Burrowes has become so pessimistic about its future because of corruption that instead of describing Yemen as a democracy, as he used to do to the point of being considered an apologist for Saleh, he now calls it a “kleptocracy — a government of, by and for thieves.” As for the kind of leader Saleh has grown into, Burrowes said, “He has become a very good dictator.”

Yes a very good dictator, also the king of spin.

“We have values. We have ethics. We wish for order. We wish for stability. We wish for democracy. We wish for all good things,” M’Fareh went on about the tribes, and then said of Saleh’s government, “They live on divide and rule. When they see us having relations with internationals, it makes them very angry.”

Wishing for democracy is a common thing in Yemen.

But on the far side of such rhetoric was its reality: a teetering program in a teetering place where the question of democracy’s meaning turned out to be a decision about whom to ignore.

A president who is vital to the U.S. war on terrorism?

Or a sheik who represents a country’s most-forgotten people and was now saying so earnestly as to be heartbreaking, “We are citizens. We are Yemenis. The problem is they don’t want to reach out to us because we will speak openly about all of the problems. And they don’t want that to happen.”

Speaking openly about problems is *strongly* discouraged by the regime.

Peaceful civil protests are a good thing, especially when you haven’t been paid in two months.

Al-Sahwa.net- (12/11) Tens of workers in the Textile Factory
in Sana’a made an open sit-in protesting the delay of
paying them salaries for last October and November.

The strikers ask for their payments and the extra
wages according to the new strategy of wages and
salaries.

Meanwhile, 700 workers at the electricity stations in
Mocha and Katheeb carried out a strike on Saturday for
an hour protesting the ignorance of the Public
Corporation for Electricity to pay them the extra
sages in accordance with the new wages strategy.

Source in Mocha and al-Katheeb Stations stated that
the one-hour sit-in was just a warning before a
general strike to be achieved this week.”

“The strike will continue till the corporation pays
our financial rights. We started last Monday issuing
statements requesting the ministry of electricity to
pay our rights but the concerned body did not respond
to our request,” source told al-Sahwa.net.

“The administrations of the two stations tried to
pressure us to stop asking for our legal rights like
employees in other state bodies,” the source added.

Statements called the concerned bodies to immediately
apply the new wages and salaries strategy to them like
other colleagues, otherwise they will continue the
strike.

On the other hand, tens of motorcyclists rallied in on
Saturday before the premise of the Capital Secretariat
condemning the decision of the secretariat to
confiscate all motorcycles in the capital Sana’a to
prevent them work in the capital.

and apparently accepts.

The seventh assembly of the General People Congress (GPC) announced few minutes ago that President Ali Abdullah Saleh is the party’s candidate for presidency in next year elections….

However, President Saleh thanked the thousands people gathering for the GPC seventh assembly conference for the confidence in him. He also accepted the nomination under one condition.

He postponed his decision on the nomination. “It should be made in a democratic way in an exceptional conference,” the president addressed the GPC assembly tonight.

Saleh has announced earlier in July that he will not run for a second term in the September 2006 presidential elections.

So this is unclear. He accepted or he postponed? He’s nominated but accepts only on the condition of a “vote”? At another blowout conference? They spent millions on this one.

Related: (Saleh) said there was no corruption committed by GPC leaders in governmental establishments and rejected claims that the GPC abused public wealth.

Meanwhile, Saleh issued orders to secure positions for some members in new local permanent committees regardless of the results of the elections, through which members of the new local permanent committees should be selected.

Also Saleh re-elected as head of the GPC.

More: The GPC also condemned opposition parties that have been calling for Saleh, who has been ruling Yemen for 27 years, to honor his pledge not to run again and to allow the peaceful transfer of power in 2006. Yes, how dare they expect him to be truthful. What an outrage.

Update: Cute. Pick off the leadership of the oppostion parties and reward them with high ranking positions in the GPC, bypassing the party’s electoral process.

However, some members were handpicked to be members of the party’s PC and did not need to go through the election process.

Upon the request of President Saleh, Mohamed Abuluhum was chosen to be a member of the PC without the need to be voted for as tribute to him for leaving his Republican Party and joining GPC.

Abdullah Mujeidi was also selected in reward for leaving his senior post in the opposition Yemeni Socialist Party to join the ruling party.

from GULF STATES NEWSLETTER • VOL 29 • NO 771 • 9 DECEMBER 2005
(page 8 )

As Ali Abdullah Saleh faces security threats from Salafyist
Sunnis, the Zaydi rebellion and a range of criminalised
sub-state factions, the apparently outgoing president has
begun the slow-process of reorganising Yemen’s main internal
security organisations (GSN 770/8).

There have been years of criticism and whispers about the
security establishment’s lack of financial probity, but this is not
the cause of security sector reform: the reorganisation is
primarily driven by a recognition that many elements of the
system are seeded with militant Salafyist or Baathist elements,
and they are now working against the security policy of
Yemen and its major ally, the United States.

Considering Yemen’s recent history, the presence of
embedded Baathists and Salafyists should not come as a
surprise. Yemen remained a strong backer of Saddam Hussein
– a personal mentor to Saleh – throughout the 1990-91 Gulf
crisis and for some time thereafter. Senior Saddam-era Iraqi
advisors are seeded throughout the military. Advisors to a
number of Yemeni army battalion and company commanders
previously served in the Iraqi army; indeed have seen heavy
service since the beginning of the twin Al-Houthi rebellions
in 2004-05 (GSN 760/7, 741/6). Their presence was shown
when three Iraqi personnel were injured in a Zaydi grenade
attack against the Yemeni Air Force’s Air Defence Academy in
Sanaa on 7 May.

Within the Yemeni military, sympathy for the insurgency in
Iraq is high. The country has also been fertile ground for the
Wahhabi indoctrination that flowed in during the anti-Soviet
jihad in Afghanistan and during the early1990s, when figures
such as Osama Bin Laden and Ayman Al-Zawahiri invested
resources and time to embed militant Salafyist thinking
throughout Yemen. Saleh actively welcomed returning Afghan
Arabs and used them as a paramilitary militia at the violent
edge of politics during the unification period (1990-94) and
subsequently as military forces in the 1994 civil war.

There are indications that some irregular units of former
jihadists have been used against Zaydi militants in the Sadah
area, indicating a return to Yemen’s predilection for the use of
Salafyist proxies. Salafyist tribesmen appear to be being used
against the Zaydi by North West Region commander and
presidential half-brother Ali Mohsin Al-Ahmar – a powerful
figure, married into an influential southern family, who is seen
by some Yemenis as a potential future president.

This would not go down well in Washington, where
unconfirmed rumours abound that Al-Ahmar worked with
Saudi Salafyists, including Bin Laden, in the effort to recruit
Yemenis to fight in Afghanistan. After his May 2005 defection
to the United Kingdom, former Yemeni ambassador to Syria
Ahmed Abdullah Al-Hasani alleged that Al-Ahmar was
complicit in the December 1998 kidnapping of 16 Western
tourists; two days before the botched rescue resulted in the
deaths of four tourists, Al-Hasani alleged that members of the
terrorist group were in Al-Ahmar’s house in Sanaa.
Such allegations cannot be verified – and might simply
reflect the tangled web of tribal contacts that any Yemeni
securocrat needs to maintain – but with the USA looking hard
at the government’s connections to terrorism, controversial
figures like Al-Ahmar are increasingly finding that mud sticks
in Washington.

PSO’s ambiguous role

Perhaps most significantly, considerable elements of Yemen’s
oldest internal security arm, the Political Security Organisation,
are seeded with Salafyists, recruited when Saleh was using
them as deniable political paramilitaries in the early 1990s.
Headed by General Ghaleb Al-Qimch, the PSO is
independent of the Ministry of Interior and its leaders are all
military officers. The PSO is theoretically an intelligence-gathering
arm reporting directly to the president, but, it has
long carried out direct actions, including the harassment of
journalists and political opponents.

The rumour mill continued to turn with lively conjecture
about an alleged PSO role in the December 2002 assassination
of Yemeni Socialist Party assistant general secretary Jarallah
Omar. Defence lawyers for alleged assassin Ali Al-Saawani
have suggested that a state ‘organisation’ manipulated Al-Saawani
into killing Omar, the architect of the Islah/YSP
alliance that now looks so threatening to the Saleh’s ruling
General People’s Congress faction (GSN 769/4).
With Washington breathing down Saleh’s neck about
political reform, such activities are no longer a mainstay of
government practice, but critics say the PSO is slow to change
its violent ways and has increasingly become a liability to the
president. These critics say the PSO is responsible for much of
the “revolving door” strategy that has seen militants escape or
be released to engage in recidivist militancy.

Should Saleh really shuffle off the political stage in 2006 as he
has threatened, the PSO would constitute a power base within
the GPC that could threaten the accession of a designated Saleh
ally – such as presidential son Ahmed Ali Saleh – as surely as
Syria’s old guard have weakened President Bashar Al-Assad’s
rule.

Just what I love, good hard numbers, the allocation (or not) of the budget on infrastructure.

[12/12/2005] (NewsYemen ) Dec 12, Sanaa – The 2006 budget proposed by the government allocates much more for defense and security compared to developmental sectors such as education, health, and electricity, said Yemeni parliamentarian Abdulkarim Shaiban.

The education sector was allocated YR 184 billion with an increase of YR 7 billion and health increased by 10% to become YR 46 billion. Electricity got YR 27 billion, which constitutes a decrease of almost 60% from last year’s budget.

Meanwhile, defense and security were the biggest winners in the proposed budget as they gained an unprecedented increase of YR 100 billion, totaling YR 274 billion. This is greater than all the aforementioned three developmental sectors put together.

Shaiban, who is a member of the parliament’s financial committee added that “increase of allocated amount for the education sector could barely cover the extra expenses for the new students who would enroll in 2006. This is the case despite the statistics that confirm that one million children are in the schooling age but are not enrolled.”

He added that among the biggest disappointments was the “electricity sector, which was reduced by YR 38 billion as it was YR 65 billion in 2006.”

Shaiban noted that the government admitted a decrease in investments, which he said would continue to decline if the government continues to ignore vital infrastructure services such as electricity.

He said there is a ‘mystery’ in the way the government is dealing with the oil sector. “While allocating YR 176 billion to support petroleum derivatives for 2005, which resembles an increase of %85, we all know that subsidies for those products were partially lifted in July 2005.” Shaiban said.

“The citizen is going to be the ultimate victim.”

Concerning the government’s pledges to fight corruption, Shaiban is convinced it is merely ‘empty rhetoric’ and that the financial statement of 2005 demonstrates that the government continued to overlook corruption and ignore taking serious efforts to curb it.

“Corruption requires clear and courageous steps and not general moves.” he said, adding that corruption will flourish if the government does not channel funds to the sectors in need such as local councils, which will continue to suffer from fund shortage. He noted that despite planned yearly increases of YR 25 billion for local councils, the budget for 2006 approved an increase of just YR 8 billion. (Read on …)

Child Labor: http://www.yobserver.com/news_8692.php

Malaria: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/e43bbc5a7a4433d09eaacf058236ce31.htm

Women: http://www.yobserver.com/news_8640.php

central bank: http://yementimes.com/newsarticle.shtml?a=20_2005_11_17_7000

drug smuggling: http://www.yobserver.com/news_8546.php

qat: http://yementimes.com/article.shtml?i=874&p=report&a=1

qat and agricultrual stats: http://www.newsyemen.net/en/view_news.asp?sub_no=6_2005_11_26_5618

girls education: http://www.sciencedaily.com/upi/?feed=TopNews&article=UPI-1-20050802-09171000-bc-yemen-women.xml

literacy and education: http://yementimes.com/article.shtml?i=898&p=report&a=1

journalists: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/02bcaa94b83d74dca0eb73c312e86545.htm

child trafficking: http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=31207

AIDS: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50445

Internet usage: http://www.yobserver.com/news_8770.php (Read on …)

KT: Lawyer Jamal Al Jaabi told Reuters the court ordered Jamal Al Adeenee, editor-in-chief of the independent weekly Al Osboo, to pay a fine of 30,000 rials ($154) for accusing an Education Ministry official of administrative and financial violations. His newspaper was suspended for three months.

He said Abdul-Wadood Al Mattari, editor-in-chief of the weekly Al Rassid, received a two-month suspended jail sentence for accusing the stores of selling sub-standard goods, and his newspaper was banned for one month.

What is the bigger story here:

YT/NY: Al-Jazeera’s Yemen correspondent Ahmed Al-Shalafi and cameraman Ali Al-Baidhani were detained today by security forces while filming a protest in Sanaa and were released more than an hour later after ‘high-level’ instructions were given….

Al-Shalafi explained that while they were filming a protest by employees of a public textile company, they were confronted by armed police forces who arrested and took them to a police station. They were kept in detention for more than ninety minutes waiting to be released.

He added that the film that was recorded at the scene of the protest was confiscated and destroyed at the police station. Both journalists could have been held longer in the station if it were not for the intense calls that they made to high-ranking officials to interfere and set them free.

Al-Shalafi told NewsYemen that the forces that arrested them said they had ‘high-level orders’ to prevent any journalists from covering the protest and to destroy any recorded material, including video footage or regular photographs.

It is worth noting that a brutal attack against journalists working for another prominent Arab news channel, Al-Arabiya, took place in the same location last month. The government said it would investigate that incident

The incident at the time led to severe injury of one of the beaten journalists, who later suffered from internal bleeding.

However, no one was held accountable since then, and journalists still feel insecure when covering events near that area.

and Press Freedom

The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the beating and intimidation of Mohammad Sadiq al-Odaini, head of a Yemeni independent press freedom group. Al-Odaini, secretary-general of the Center for Training and Protecting Journalist Freedom, told CPJ that earlier this week he was threatened at gunpoint by a man he recognized as a member of the security forces. A few days later the same man assaulted him along with two other attackers.

Al-Odaini said he believed he was targeted because of his organization’s annual report published last month that accused the authorities of failing to investigate attacks on the press.

On December 5, a man who al-Odaini identified as security officer Asaad Ali Hezam al-Aayawi, pointed a pistol at al-Odaini’s head and accused him of being a traitor, the journalist said. The officer, who showed al-Odaini his badge, is a well-known figure in the area, the journalist said. On December 8, the same man along with two masked men dragged al-Odaini from his house in the capital Sana’a around 9:30 p.m. and beat him. They tried to enter the house but left after neighbors intervened. The attackers returned later and stayed outside his home until 2 a.m. Al-Odaini called the police but they did not arrive until after daybreak.

More at News Yemen.

What a good organization:

Several opposition figures currently living abroad have also announced that they plan to run for president. In July, President Ali Abdullah Saleh said in a speech that he will not run in the next elections, saying he wanted to give young people the opportunity to run the country.

In 1999 he won the country’s first ever direct presidential elections with 96 per cent of the vote, but the main opposition party says it was banned from fielding a candidate and the Washington-based National Democratic Institute said the election was flawed by political intimidation, underage voting, inappropriate behaviour by the security forces and vote-buying.

In 2001 the country’s constitution was amended to allow the presidential term to be extended from five years to seven, and Saleh had been widely expected to run in the next elections. He is Yemen’s longest serving leader since the republican system was proclaimed in North Yemen in 1962 and in South Yemen in 1967. Saleh is backed by the two main powers in Yemeni society; the army and the tribe.

However, in the parliamentary elections in 2003, despite reportedly exerting intense pressure on the electorate, Saleh’s party, the General People’s Congress, only secured 58 percent of the vote.

The Organization of Islamic Unity in Mecca: Among attending heads of state is Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who included in his delegation Sheikh Abdel Majid Zandani, who is wanted by the U.S. administration on suspicion of financing terrorism.

Zandani, head of the Islamic Iman (faith) University, traveled out of Yemen for the first time since he was included in an international list of terrorism financiers by the U.N. Security Council last February.

Also the 4th annual al-Quds Conference was recently held in Sanaa.

7/12/2005 al Sahwa:
The leaders of resistance in Palestine
and Iraq renewed their intent to continue their legal
struggle against the occupation forces.

Khaled Mashal, chair of the political office of Hamas,
…renewed his pledge to continue resistance as a
strategic choice to conquer occupation. He reviewed
challenges that Arab and Islamic Umah faces at all
levels and the pressure that America practices on Arab
and Islamic nations and leaders to impose its
dominance in the region and to support Zionist entity….

Hussein Hadrooj, member of the political office of the
Lebanese Hezbullah, called upon resistance movements
to carry their responsibility towards people and to
consider the dangers around….

Chairman of the Muslim Scholars Association in Iraq
Hareth al-Dhari…also confirmed before the students
rally the adherence to the constructive resistance
choice in order to thoroughly crush occupation forces
that constantly kill and oppress Iraqi people.

al-Qaradawi also in attendence per Saba:
The Chief of Trustless Council of al-Quds foundation Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi said that the Sana’a conference of the foundationwas fruitful and came out with positive results. Upon his departure, Sheikh al-Qaradawi said that the donations reached about $ 4 millions for supporting the activities of the foundation.

Qaradawi (Aug 2005): “It is a duty. All scholars say that defending an occupied homeland is an individual duty applying to every Muslim. Reducing this duty to a ‘right,’ which can be relinquished, is a kind of depreciation….

“This has nothing to do with suicide. This man does not want to commit suicide, but rather to cause great damage to the enemy, and this is the only method he can use to cause such damage…The truth is that we should refrain from raising this issue, because doubting it is like joining the Zionists and Americans in condemning our brothers in Hamas, the Jihad, the Islamic factions, and the resistance factions in Iraq. It is as if we are joining them.”

So to discuss even the legitimacy of suicide bombing is traitorous.

at al-Motamar, Full text to follow, but here is an exerpt:

Q: what about your none nomination in 2006 presidency elections? Was it just for propoganda as opposition says, or was it aerial intention, as had been declared?
A: when we announced that we were and still mean it, the target was to push others for nomination, so that every one in our country get used to democracy and peaceful transition of power.
Q: Fine, but what about the alternative?
A: the alternative is the person whom would be elected by people through ballots.
Q: do you think that the opposition through its figures is capable to fill the gap, if you insist on your position.
A: this question must be directed to the opposition, but we call it develop leader ship that can hold responsibility.
Q: Openly, why did you declare that, though you were not obliged to do so? I mean was there a political necessity behind that announcement?
A: In order every one in our homeland learns principles of democracy and the peaceful transition of power, and in order to stabilize and develop multiple choices in democratic practice.

I will personally give him a legacy as a great leader if he actually steps down without bringing in Ahmed.

Of course a free and fair election does require equal access to the broadcast media, some fiddling with the election law (including the issue of proportional representation), equal rights for oppostion journalists and equal financing (and maybe their buildings back) for the opposition parties. ™

(Read on …)

YT: President Musharaf raised several points during the bilateral discussions such as the military training and supply however no final agreement was concluded. The security cooperation agreement also contained the exchange of information in the war against terrorism, organized crime and drugs manufacturing and trafficking.

However, the agreement signed was confined to security and intelligence issues, considering that there are sensitive elements of fundamentalist and terrorists who work clandestinely and are believed to receive funds from unidentified sources. Yet, it was not disclosed whether such funds are being provided from, or through, Yemen. President Musharaf only said that the two countries should coordinate their intelligence efforts to face this threat….

According to Altjamo’ weekly, the Pakistani people are troubled by the continuous recruitment of Arabs including Yemenis to join or support Al-Qaeda. It is worth mentioning that over 32 thousand Afghan-Arabs had returned to Yemen in 1992-1994, with the consent of the Yemeni authorities, in order to support President Saleh in the 1994 civil war in Yemen.

However, more recently these groups started spreading back to Chechnya, Afghanistan, Iraq and selected locations. While other groups remained in the protection of Yemeni tribes until the 9/11 events, However, Yemen is trying to expel these groups out of the country as a part of its war against terror commitments.

The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by an apparent government attempt to intimidate journalists from the independent daily Al-Ayyam by sending elite Yemeni Republican Guards to its Aden office.

Around 1 a.m. on December 5, five soldiers in a gray-blue Mercedes circled Al-Ayyam’s headquarters several times before asking to meet with editor-in-chief, Hisham Bashraheel. The soldiers gave no reason for the request. They were told the editor was not available. Al-Ayyam said the soldiers, armed with rifles and machine guns, belonged to the Republican Guard based on the numeric configuration of the car’s license plate that read 3/24944. The same soldiers returned the following day at around 7 a.m. and parked next to the office. They waited there for two hours causing alarm among staff. The newspaper told CPJ that the Mercedes was later seen by an Al-Ayyam employee entering the presidential compound in Aden.

Staff at Al-Ayyam told CPJ they suspected that the show of force by the Republican Guard was an attempt to intimidate the newspaper in retaliation for its recent coverage, which included stories about the political opposition to President Ali Abdullah Saleh, the deteriorating human rights situation in the country, and strained relations with the United States over rights abuses.

When the newspaper’s editors complained to the local governor’s office about the harassment they were told the Republican Guard were in the area to “eradicate crows” in the city. (Read on …)

Ambassador Krajeski’s Interview with Nabil al-Sofi of News Yemen.

Maybe if I read it twenty or thirty times, I’ll start to get some clue.

I used to complain the US never said anything, and now when they do, Im not quite sure what they are saying. I agree with this:

We are prepared to help, in any way that we can, to encourage Yemenis to build democracy. It is a big election next year. We will help with the election, as will many outsiders, but it will be for the Yemenis to decide how open, how free, how successful that election is. And here the role of the press, the role of newspapers, the media, the role of non-government groups is very important.

You can put much more pressure on the government, or on the political parties, or on anyone – the Yemeni press can put more pressure than we can. Much more. You are the guarantee of a free election and a democracy. We can help you, but you are much stronger than we are.

The rest of it with the terrorism, I have to review.

Daily Star:

Saleh lashed out at the Islamist network whose leader Osama bin Laden counts Yemen as his ancestral homeland.

“These terrorists are causing their country great misfortune; they’re damaging the economy and tourism,” the president said.

“They chant: ‘Death to America,’ ‘Death to Israel,’ but these slogans are misplaced, because they are really chanting: ‘Death to the Homeland.’” – AFP

Someone should tell APF that Saleh wasn’t talking about the Islamist network lead by Osama bin Laden but rather the Houthis and he was justifying bombing civilians in Saada.

This is the same speech where Saleh said there were eight US ships off the Yemeni coast ready to invade Aden after the Cole bombing. Yet on page 36 of the transcript of the Hearings before the Senate Armed Services Committee, General Zinni says, “I did not have an adequate number (of refuelers) to use for this purpose, a single ship coming down to the Suez, to have an oiler out there to meet those requirements.”

Let’s start off with the easy stuff:

1-They can appropriate it, but they cant run it.

YO: Engineers and managers in the sector the confirmed that drilling, exploration and production operations have stopped in Mareb as the government-owned Safir Company, which took over the sector from Yemen Hunt Oil Company, is lacking legal and operational requirements necessary for routine operations.

2-YT: “MP Mohammed Saleh Ali questions education minister on embezzlement of YR 99 million.” (about US $450,000)

3-Who gets the other 5%?: (NY) “In an interview to the Economy and Markets Magazine, Al-Wajeeh said that the way the sales tax is calculated and collected constitutes a law violation that the government has been practicing for some time….The Presidential decree approved 5% for the sales tax, but the actual tax obtained on the ground is 10% Al-Wajeeh said.”

4-NY: The Yemeni cabinet approved in its extraordinary meeting yesterday the 2006 draft budget with an unprecedented amount of YR one trillion and 180 billion rials, which resembles a 41% increase to last year’s budget.

5- Genocide in Yemen: The London based Yemeni Organization for Human Rights Watch (YOHRW), which is headed by Lutfi Shatara, requested all international humanitarian organizations to pressure the Yemeni government to stop what it labeled as the genocide of Saada.

In a communiqué which the organization distributed last week, it said that the army carries out arbitrary bombardments on civilian homes with the intention of chasing Alhothi followers out of the houses either to fight back or surrender. It said that they use all sorts of heavy weapons such as air missiles, artillery, and Katychas. The organization expressed concern over massacres being committed against opponents in Saada governorate, amid a media ban to prevent leakage of information of photos and videos.

6- Related Yahya al-Dailimi death sentence upheld. (He criticized the genocide in Saada.)

7- The execution of al-Shahari was ordered by a commerical court.

YT : Soon after his arrest, Fuad al-Shahari declared that he was tortured and forced to confess of the killing, an act which he said he had not committed. However, the court failed to investigate these allegations of torture and prospective defense witnesses were said to have been prevented from testifying before the court.

Al-Shahari, who was tried in a commercial court, presented the case of his charge to the Amnesty International and complained that he was subjected to abuse and torture in order to confess to the crime: He was deprived of the right to a fair trial.

In his letter to the Amnesty International, he said: “I am sure that I am innocent and there are many witnesses who testified in my favor. I never expected that I will be tortured, witnesses will be threatened and the documents will be forged.”

He was executed a few days ago.

In response to the JPM proposal of a parliamentary system and other needed reforms, the GPC objects and calls names but Saleh says he welcomes it:

YT: In an unprecedented development, a clash seems to have emerged between the General People’s Congress and its chairman President Saleh when the later, according to opposition, has welcomed the reform initiative of the Joint Meeting Parties.

A source close to the President also confirmed Saleh’s satisfaction with the ideas that were presented in the JMP’s initiative noting that “earlier discussions of the initiative within the regime and ruling party were not unified and showed divisions.

This comes as Al-Thowra Daily continued to accuse the opposition of plotting to harm the image of President Saleh and betray the nation.

The dialog between the leadership of the ruling party and leadership of the opposition parties (JMP) and the president is productive, but who is talking and listening to the people? Democratic power and brilliance is exercised from the ground up, not the top down. Most analyses note that the people are disenfranchised from the parties which are not democratic in structure and don’t facilitate consensus building through dialog with their own party members.

Update: Death sentence of cleric Dailami upheld by the “court.”

The two defendants failed to appeal the rulings, commenting that the trial was politically motivated and directed against freedom and the partisans of liberties.

They stressed their rejection of violence and terrorism and refusal of sectarian war, accusing the authorities of having tried them on a sectarian (religious) basis.

Original Post

-What is the extent of targeting of civilians?
-Who is instigating the attacks? and why?
-Why the prohibition on journalists entering the area?

Together, the articles below seem to say that the Yemeni military bombed a village, and they deserved it according to Saleh who said the villagers attacked the planes thinking they were American and they are traitors anyway. MP Yahya al-Huthi says the ongoing clashes are provoked by the Yemeni military as an effort to divert attention and promote approval from Western nations as an effort in the WOT. (Isn’t the WOT supposed to be against groups with a global reach not home grown anti-authoritiarians?) al-Houthi also predicts that any attacks on Western interests will be blamed on the Houthis but not perpetrated by them but rather by the regime. The whole thing is very bizarre.

JT: Renewed fighting in Saada, 16 killed: More than 500 soldiers and policemen, tanks and armoured vehicles sealed off parts of the province and prevented journalists from entering.

YT: Government spokesman denies clashes and deaths. Meanwhile,

According to Al-Jazeera, eyewitnesses from tribesmen in the region said that several men were killed after military combat units bombarded the area, causing panic and disarray in that area.

Meanwhile, President Saleh attacked those who are responsible for the Saadah rebellion and said that their leader Hussein Al-Houthi had misled the naïve villagers and persuaded them to attack governmental forces after they were told that they were American air jets attacking from the Red Sea….

The President then praised the efforts of the army in combating forces that want to bring back the imamate regime to power, noting that those who attempt to do so are traitors who need to be fought against.

Yahya al-Houthi says the battles are a propaganda tool, instigated by the regime to feign cooperation in the WOT.

Yahya Badraddin al-Houthi, brother of slain Hussein Badraddin al-Houthi, warned that al-Houthi supporters announced that the authorities will be responsible for any attack against foreign interests and offices in the country. He warned, for the first time, that one of the aims machinated by the authorities is implementing the plot of attacking foreign interests and offices in Yemen and then to accuse al-Houthi followers of doing so. He spoke of provocations against citizens by the army and security troops in the area and urged the authorities to abide by the reconciliation items and tackle the issue through the peaceful dialogue.

“The regime tries to create a unreal battle in the area in an attempt to show the powerful cjountries that Yemen fulfilled its promises to eliminate terrorists in the area,” an opposition leader, who asked not to be identified, said in a statement about the new crisis in Sa’ada….

The group’s demand is that authorities have to stop hunting for al-Houthi supporters and the Faithful Youth members and compensate for the damage left by the war on the houses of locals in the area.

That was the terms of the amnesty which was not actually implemented.

This is an article from Rolling Stone magazine about a Yemeni jihaddi, and it traces his life story from Yemen to Afghansitan to Kosovo and Britian back to Yemen. I have to read the article again, but this was interesting:

By this time, however, the nature of the insurgency had changed. Al-Zarqawi had succeeded, for the moment, in taking over the homegrown resistance. Many of Saddam’s former secret police and Republican Guard were now integrated into cells with jihadists like Khalid. The leadership of Al Qaeda had financial resources and strategic expertise that the Iraqis lacked, and the foreign fighters were more willing to die than the local Sunnis — and more willing to kill civilians.

Disturbed by the killings, Khalid began to rethink the role of jihad in his life. Would his faith really justify killing his British neighbors in their own country? Would he ever be able to live a normal life? Hearing about Yemenis he knew who had disappeared into the gulag at Guantanamo, he feared he could end up in prison for life, a fate he considered worse than death.

The doubts intensified after he returned home to Yemen and was arrested earlier this year. “Enough is enough,” his father implored. “It’s time to settle down and stop this stuff.” After Khalid was released from prison, he and a group of other Afghan Arabs — the blanket term for those who fought or trained in Afghanistan — were summoned to a meeting with Ali Abdullah Salih, the president of Yemen, who was trying to contain the jihadists. In private, Salih called them “my sons” and said he had been pressured by the Bush administration to crack down on them. He also did something seldom acknowledged in the war on terror: He offered to pay them off to stop fighting.

“We will help you get jobs, get married,” Salih told the men. “Write down your name and what you want.”

For the benefit of Yassen who has been coming around and harassing me for months and apparently hasn’t figured this out yet.

IN terms of the format here and at most other blogs from the US, and I think internationally, in general,

If you see something indented in a box like this, it means I’m quoting someone else. Anything in a box is a quote from another person, and the symbol is called a block-quote.

If you see some words red, like this, it is the hyperlink to take you directly to the source of the quote.

From the Carnegie Endowment:

Even after the setback at the Forum for the Future in Bahrain, US officials were muted in their criticism of the rulers they finance. For the sake of stability in the region, the US is willing to pursue a dichotomous policy. It keeps on defining democratisation as its priority but refuses to condemn those that obstruct its democratisation agenda, namely the Muslim potentates Washington trusts with ensuring stability.

The US government repeatedly makes the mistake of defining as “moderate” those authoritarian Muslim rulers who fulfill America’s foreign policy goals. These strategic American allies are not the force for ideological moderation that would change the Muslim world’ s longer term direction. Authoritarian governments in the Muslim world do not want democracy as that would amount to the potentates giving up their power. It is the democratic movements opposed to governments in the Muslim world who are likely to be the real engines of social and political change in the Middle East and South Asia.

American officials must recognise the contradiction in their simultaneous support for democracy and dictatorial Muslim regimes. For example, Mali is the only Muslim country described by Freedom House as “free” based on its adherence to all criteria for freedom, democracy and respect for human rights. But Mali is not a major recipient of western aid whereas Egypt and Pakistan , characterised by Freedom House as “not free” or “partly free”, are.

While the governments drag their feet on reform, ordinary Muslims continue to take brave steps to prove that despite all odds civil society in the Muslim world has both vision and the potential to initiate real change.

Read the Rest.

Good Article in the AP. This is the same guy that wrote the last good article in the AP.

Yemen Press Now Takes Repeated Beatings

By PAUL GARWOOD
The Associated Press

SAN’A, Yemen (AP) – The masked attackers pushed reporter Nabil Sabaie to the ground on a main thoroughfare, stabbing him in both arms and firing warning shots to keep onlookers away.

Yemeni journalists once were some of the Arab world’s freest. But recently they have faced a rash of mysterious beatings, arrests and other forms of intimidation as the government cracks down on the media ahead of next year’s presidential elections.

The campaign includes plans to introduce tougher press laws that leave the door open for reporters to be sentenced to death.

Yemeni officials complain that many of the country’s journalists are unprofessional and recklessly report on issues based on hearsay and rumor.

“The press have been writing anything they want,” said Social Affairs Minister Abdulkarim Al-Arhabi recently. “The arrests of journalists is not good at all and shouldn’t happen, but the press and the entire country is much better off if they reach a level of professionalism.”

But government critics say the crackdown is aimed at stopping critical reporting, including on the issue of whether President Ali Abdullah Saleh will honor his pledge to step down next year after 27 years in power.

Newspapers in recent months have stepped up reports on Yemen’s rampant corruption, identifying ministers and other officials allegedly involved in stealing state money. They also have increasingly scrutinized Saleh, his family and the country’s powerful military.

According to one local press watchdog, at least 100 journalists have faced various forms of harassment this year, ranging from beatings and arrests to kidnappings and a letter-bombing that wounded a newspaper editor who wrote about a tribal leader’s alleged private prison.

“There has been a 90 percent increase in various attacks against journalists this year compared to 2004,” said Mohammed Saada al-Odaimi, president of Yemen’s Center of Training and Press Freedoms Protection. He said the government reduced press freedoms “after being angered by the work of journalists.” (Read on …)

Arab News: A Yemeni preacher convicted of murdering a top opposition politician in December 2002 was executed in Sanaa yesterday, prison officials said.

Ali Ahmad Jarallah, 28, was executed by firing squad at the central prison in the capital Sanaa, they told Arab News. “A police officer shot four fatal shots from a Kalashnikov rifle into Jarallah’s back,” one official said.

A Yemeni court sentenced Jarallah in September 2003 to death for shooting dead Jarallah Omar, the assistant secretary-general of the Yemeni Socialist Party. The sentence was upheld by an appeals court and President Ali Abdullah Saleh affirmed the verdict last week.

Jarallah, a prayer leader at a mosque in the city, shot Omar several times at close range during a congress for Al-Islah party in Sanaa on Dec. 28, 2002. He was arrested on the spot.

Jarallah told the primary court that he killed Omar because of his stance against the Shariah. “I killed a man who fought against God’s law,” he shouted after the verdict was announced on Sept. 14, 2003.

In a statement last week, the lawyer for the murder victim’s family objected to the sentence being carried out until further investigations were made into his accomplices. Amnesty International has objected to the narrow scope of the investigation saying a broader investigation should be carried out to exclude the possibility of collaboration with some leading figures. But now that the main perpetrator is dead, it will be a little more difficult.

NY: Al-Mikhlafi, who also heads the legal department of the YSP, Said the Supreme Court’s decision comes in agreement with the approach of the authorities, right from the moment of Omar’s assassination. “This was a move to hide the truth and conceal the real political motives behind the crime, which everyone knows is a political assassination. It is clear that this resembles a deliberate attempt to protect the organization that is behind this crime.” He added.

I was just digging around and found one more for the little brothers list.

AI, 2004: Fourteen-year-old Mohammad Sa’id al-Zaidi was allegedly subjected to psychological torture after he was detained by security officers outside his home in Sana’a on 5 August. He was held with adult prisoners in an underground location until his release on 2 September. Mohammad al-Zaidi was reportedly arrested to try and force his brother, Hassan al-Zaidi, to hand himself in to the authorities. Hassan al-Zaidi, a journalist with the Yemen Times newspaper, had written articles criticizing the government.

How sleezy, really the Yemeni people and any people deserve better than this: retribution by targeting the youngest in the family, intimidating others by showing the heartache available as punishment for writing (writing) about the government. A child in an underground prison for a month, because his brother is a journalist? This is a pattern. And it is deplorable.

Update on Ibrahim al-Saiani (14) rounded up during a raid targeting other family members, he is very ill and disabled, has been branded a terrorist, and is held without medical treatment. AI: The health of 14-year-old Ibrahim al-Saiani is reported to have deteriorated in custody: he has begun to lose his memory, his hands tremble and he is unable to speak clearly. He was physically incapacitated when arrested and is just withering away in jail.