Armies of Liberation

As the title indicates, this is a guest post by Nedhal Moqbel

The South and the Northern Government: A Persistently Troubled Dialogue
By Nedhal Moqbel

A recent episode of “Agenda Maftouha” (Open Agenda) program, broadcast by BBC Arabic TV, discussed Yemen’s security situation. Among the program’s guests were the Southern activist Saleh Al-Jabwani and Colonel Abdullah Al-Hadri who represented President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s opposition. Mr. Al-Hadri dilated on Saleh’s crimes against protesters in Sanaa and Taiz squares and the destruction he left behind. However, Mr. Al-Hadri obviously got nervous and impatient when the issue of Southern secession was raised. As he responded to Mr. Al-Jabwani’s comments, Colonel Al-Hadri used an emotional speech and a sharp tone, contending that the current situation is the cause of the entire “Yemeni nation.”

“Our cause is one . . . why do you want to divide us amidst this continuous uprising?” added Mr. Al-Hadri. Wait a minute! Wasn’t it a “one Yemeni nation” when Southerners began their own uprising after 1994, demanding their right to a merely dignified life? Wasn’t it a “one Yemeni nation” when you and your boss (Saleh) brutally persecuted them? Weren’t those protesters your fellow citizens and, therefore, part of this “Yemeni nation”? Moreover, Mr. Al-Hadri stated that General Ali Mohsen Al-Ahmar was an honest military man who refused to stand by a dictator, and so did Colonel Al-Hadri and many others in the military. He said, “Yes, we used to be Saleh’s partners before. But when he stained his hands with blood and began to distort the country and foster Al-Qaeda, we decided to stay away and choose the homeland and the nation.” How devious! How provocative!

In a sympathetic tone, Mr. Al-Hadri spoke of Saleh’s crimes during the recent protests in North Yemen, stressing that this bloodshed was the reason he (Al-Hadri) and others like General Al-Ahmar seceded from Saleh. As if Saleh’s hands were clean until before these protests! What about the blood he has shed in the South since 1994? What about the thousands of Southerners whom he and his allies killed and wounded in that short-term civil war with military tanks and rockets? What about many extra thousands of Southerners whom they have killed, detained, tortured, and wounded since the outset of the Southern Peaceful Hirak? Why did Mr. Al-Hadri and his fellow military men not distance themselves from Saleh while he was shedding those bloods in the South? Why did they continue to support him, to represent his iron fist over the South? Why did they turn against Saleh only when his victims were Northern citizens?

Of course, my intention is not to attack anyone. I simply reject the twisted language Mr. Al-Hadri used to obscure the Southern cause. He went on, using the same emotional appeal: “It’s shameful to talk about South and North now . . . our cause now is that of a homeland and a nation.” Well! What is really shameful is that Colonel Al-Hadri does not consider the Southern issue itself a cause of an entire homeland whose lands and natural resources and jobs have been robbed, an entire people that used to exist independently but now is under a real occupation. What is really shameful is that Mr. Al-Hadri’s words echoed Saleh’s attitudes toward the South even though the former was presented in the program as an anti-Saleh figure. The same old regime being reproduced! No wonder that most of the oppositional figures affiliated with the “new” government participated in various ways in the 1994 war against the South. No wonder that they still unjustly and irrationally compare the Southern cause (a cause of a homeland) with the Huthi issue (a cause of a sectarian group).

Northern military figures like Colonel Al-Hadri know well the many injustices from which Southerners have suffered too long. Therefore, it is unacceptable that he accuse them of having “ruptured the country.” The country has been torn apart since the 1994 civil war. I wonder if Mr. Al-Hadri still remembers when his citizens in the North celebrated their “victory’ over the South on 7/7/1994; the Sanaa official TV then displayed Northern women uttering trilling cries of joy and Northern men chanting on streets, “Allah Akbar! Long live our leader Ali Abdullah Saleh!” On the other side of the country, Southerners were collecting the dead bodies of their loved ones in order to bury them. This black day, with all the sad memories it carries to Southerners, was made an official holiday and a national day to celebrate annually. Technically, unification ended in 1994 and was replaced by an occupation of the South and a robbery of its natural resource revenues, history, culture, and dignity. Who, then, tore up the previously unified Yemen?

The General People’s Congress and the Joint Meeting Parties are two faces of the same coin. The talk about having given Saleh immunity from prosecution is only half the truth. This “new” government has, in fact, given immunity to itself, too, since the majority of its officials were yesterday’s strong allies of Saleh’s. What we see now in the Sanaa government is the same old regime, and what we hear is the same old language, especially when it comes to the Southern problem. This government’s officials may undergo internal conflicts, but the Southern issue is always the thing that eventually brings them together due to their shared fear of losing the South with all its many treasures. Until Southerners achieve their goal of liberation, we will continue to hear the same rhetoric from Northern officials (and from Northern ordinary citizens) who often argue fearfully and impatiently, “there’s only one Yemen . . . unity is a red line . . . we’re ready to die for it . . . we’ll protect it with our own blood . . . unity or death.”

Comment by Jane: It is true that the atrocities toward the southern protesters (2007-2010) provoked little if any outrage in other parts of Yemen. During the Saada War, civil groups aligned themselves with the concept of civilian immunity without taking a stand on either side of conflict itself. Conversely during the southern protests, the arrests, torture and cold blooded killings elicited little sympathy. Beyond the absence of media attention, some in Sanaa expressed the opinion that southern protesters deserved it. In 2007/8, Southerners were really expecting that their counterparts in the north would join their uprising against the regime.

The lack of domestic solidarity against the state’s systematic attacks on unarmed southern protesters that in part caused the shift in demands from equal civil rights to independence. Remarkably, some of the current revolutionaries (who are seeking to overthrow the regime) deny that southerners have the right to seek independence although both movements deny the legitimacy of the state. From the outset of the current revolution, few efforts were made to reach out to the southern secessionists. And many southerners viewed the year long protests in Sanaa and other parts of the country in a disconnected way, not wholly unsympathetic, but as if the bloody events were occurring in another county. As I’ve said before, many view the unity government as an re-branding of northern power. some also view all northerners as privileged and part of the oppressive structure, when in fact disenfranchised northerners are very poverty stricken and thoroughly without basic services.

In terms of raw numbers, Saleh’s trail of blood, more southern protesters were killed than “northern” protester fatalities over the last year of the rev, and it occurred week after week in an atmosphere of domestic and international silence.

Free homicide through global decisions

written by
Amr Mohammed Al Raishi

Since the beginning of the Arab spring revolutions, different visions of political powers are found in the international community; toward every revolution is a different reaction from the other, according to criteria of interests that will result from this revolution or not.Theoretical and practically it is well known in the political world, what are the roots of the political double standards?

Have been seen strong international support to the revolutionaries in Libya, also international political support for the revolutionaries in Egypt, Syria and Tunisia also, Yemenis had eagerly awaited to see a Security Council resolution that would be be a real step to remove the cover of international legitimacy from SALEH as president.

Actually, Security Council resolution provoked outrage in Yemen for many main reasons .Regrettably, the Security Council resolution did not confess Yemeni revolution plus It was not compulsory for SALEH to step down. All that was so extremely clear through terms of resolution. Security Council resolution had portrayed a current situation in Yemen as a “Political Crisis,” not a popular revolution & this is shown visibly by the Security Council resolution statement which states: “and calls on all parties to refrain immediately from using violence to achieve political goals.”.

Resolution was not fair as it equated the executioner and the victim.

Yemenis after spending more than nine months of violence and struggle against the SALEH regime who caused the killing of civilians & peaceful demonstrators, plus using excessive force against innocent people even women & child ,just to intimidate Yemenis and create chaos inside Yemen , to put Yemenis revolution under blame and placed it under suspicion and conspiracy theories from Yemen` enemy, and that resulting instability on the social peace in Yemen .

These dirty tactics, unfortunately, succeeded increasing some sort of lack of clarity in the international community. Using (Al Qaeda) terrorism, give permission to central security & republic guard forces kill innocent people in civilian clothing to mislead world who is the real murderer? Therefore and it will Be based on the vision like as a conflict between opposition and supporters of the governor.

Resolution let Yemenis feel unsatisfactory & disappointing after their sacrifices and aspirations to achieve dignity and freedom to them self. Frankly Security Council resolution is toothless along with variation in the terms of the resolution, If we focus al little bit when Security Council resolution says:
(Read on …)

The Yemeni nation among evasion and revolution
by Amr Mohammed Al Raishi

Ali Saleh president is known throughout the period of his rule as a devious & unpredictable leader. He had caused Yemeni lives to be filled with misery and all kinds of humiliation and who let Yemen become a failed state, despite the availability of resources in Yemen which are capable to make the Yemeni economic growth and social stability.

But President Saleh took advantage of the wealth and resources of Yemen to transfer to his own person and his family to achieve one goal, which is building up an empire of oppression and corruption to continue his dictatorship.

The question that presents itself … What is the secret of survival of President Saleh throughout these long years?

Simply Saleh excelled in creating internal crises and dissemination of regional and sectarian strife> He even keep going to create a dispute between major tribes in Yemen. Most of Yemen people know very well how Saleh facilitates sale of weapons to fighting tribes from the army stores.

Saleh regime had mislead Yemenis through use of dirty tactics such as occurrence of separation in the south and that Yemen will be invaded by Islamists in the case of Saleh leaving ruling of Yemen.

Unfortunately he also succeeded in misleading international community under pretext of fighting terrorism.

And on the other side, he is supporting and make a lot of facilities to Al Qaeda in order to continue in reaping to himself the benefits from international support against terrorism.

Saleh president has invested in Al Qaeda terrorism and promoted it overseas, in order to achieve some political and financial benefits

the repressive rule of president Saleh never paid attention that will cause a negative influence regarding the reputation of the Yemeni people .

The ultimate proof against Saleh and his deceitful by the use of terrorism is why was Al Qaeda not confined in spite of international support, especially U.S. Aid ?

Yemeni people’s patience is over. It is time to eradicate this nightmare that has been 33 years.

The time has come that the entire international community, especially America, in relation to political initiatives to transfer power peacefully to understand that these will not never work with Saleh

Many times he has promised to sign an agreement to transfer power to vice president Mr. Hadi as per the Gulf initiative , but he always backed out at last moments for unreasonable reasons.

Saleh’s evasion drives Yemen to military conflict which leads the country to more killings and bath of blood. Most of Yemenis have determined to continue their revolution till they achieve victory .

Finally, the Yemeni revolution emerged from the womb of Yemenis’ suffering from oppression, humiliation, injustice and inequality in rights and duties, which has been practiced by Saleh intentionally.

Revolutionaries in Yemen have been convinced and there is an exorbitant price will pay for getting freedom and dignity.

Yemeni is in urgent need from countries of the world’s great powers, especially USA , to contribute effectively to remove the cover of international legitimacy from President Saleh’s regime and to be on the side of the oppressed people of Yemen.

Along with standing firmly against those who support President Saleh, just For keeping the revolution in Yemen away from victory, in order to prevent winds of change from entering their countries.

Amr Mohammed Al Raishi

The following article by a southern activist is a good snapshot of the southern viewpoint and distrust of the revolution and Hamid al Ahmar in particular. It makes the point, which seems accurate in my view, that southerners have been sitting out the rev, and few have changed their goal of independence. Many view it as a mechanism to retain the proceeds from natural resources which are found mostly in the south.

From the inception of the revolution, there have been no formal overtures to the southerners and it was assumed they would come around or that there really wasn’t strong support for the two state solution. Part of the huge disconnect between north and south is a function of the regime’s censorship and poor infrastructure.

Many northerners were quite shocked when southern protests broke out in 2007, and apparently shocked again that the 23 southern leaders resigned the national council last week. Southerners were shocked the north did not rise up with them years ago, and that the atrocities committed by the Saleh regime were largely met with silence in Sanaa and elsewhere. Some leaders in the national council were active against the south in the 1994 civil war.

The Yemen’s Southern Movement and the Saleh-Hamid Game
By Nedhal Moqbel

Amidst the growing political crisis in Yemen , the Southern cause remains South Yemenis’ top priority. The injured president, who is being treated in Saudi Arabia , left behind unresolved political conflicts, and multiple parties and individuals are now competing for power. President Saleh’s return is becoming more possible as the state seems to be falling apart. Moreover, violence is escalating, and the Islamic extremists are gaining more strength. While the country’s future is unknown, the well known fact now is that most Southerners are maintaining their goal of secession.

As the backstage facts of the anti-Saleh protests are gradually revealed, the Southern struggle is standing out with its spontaneous outset and clear goal. According to an article by Jumana Farahat of the Lebanese Al-Akhbar newspaper (dated April 9, 2011), the current protests against Saleh were basically a plot by the powerful political and tribal figure Hamid Al-Ahmar, a scenario he began to prepare for in 2009. Citing several Wikileaks cables, Farahat assures that Hamid has been in contact with the American embassy in Sana’a since 2009, providing officials there with some details of his plot to overthrow the president, which they did not take seriously. His plan centered on weakening Saleh by opening up multiple communication avenues with the latter’s enemies in Sa’ada and the South, urging them to escalate their pressures. Regardless of the responses he received from them, Hamid did not give the green light for the anti-Saleh protests until he was sure the time was right.

Additionally, a Reuters article published on June 1st this year reveals one reason why yesterday’s friends (Saleh and Hamid) are now today’s enemies. The article refers to a “confidential State Department cable” that confirms a “long-standing monopoly” by Hamid Al-Ahmar and Arcadia Petroleum, an oil trading firm owned by Norway’s billionaire John Fredriksen, of Yemen’s oil exports. Because he was the firm’s undeclared agent in Yemen , Hamid used his powerful connections to let Arcadia win most oil export tenders at below market prices, earning in return a big fortune from the firm. However, Saleh managed in 2009 to break this monopoly, handing the case to an oil council under the control of his own son.

This verifies that hidden internal disputes upon Yemen ’s rich resources – most of which exist in the South – were behind the recent protests. Hamid first pushed for “organized chaos,” using Farahat’s words, through increasing the pressures upon Saleh by his North and South opponents. After that, he set the stage for the protest movement that demanded the president’s departure. However, loyalists of Saleh responded with massive demonstrations in support of their president, which caused riots on North Yemen ’s streets to be significantly divided.

On the other hand, one sees a different picture when it comes to the Southern Movement. This struggle did not spring from “organized chaos,” but from shared discrimination at the hands of the Northern government. The long-standing persecution of Southerners that particularly began in 1994 was translated in 2007 into an organized entity called the Southern Peaceful Movement that represents all South Yemenis. Its goal is the restoration of the occupied South, with its immense natural resources over which Hamid and Saleh have been fighting.

Unlike the divided protest movements in Sana’a and Taiz (pro-Saleh and anti-Saleh demonstrations), the Southern protests have always chanted the same slogans, raised the same flag (that of the pre-unification South Yemen ), and demanded one thing: the liberation of their land from the Northern troops that invaded the South in 1994. This peaceful struggle is continuous despite the government’s violent and suppressive response to it.

Saleh fought the Southern cause brutally, Hamid Al-Ahmar made use of it in his battle with Saleh, and those standing today on the Yemeni political stage are in disagreement about it. While Hamid now is more powerful than before, Yemen is still run by Saleh’s sons, relatives, and allies who still control the security authorities and a significant chunk of the military. The scene is foggy, and the game is not over. However, whoever wins this power game will have to eventually confront the persistent Southern struggle for secession.

Guest post: Will the U.S Support the Southern Movement to Combat Terrorism? written by Ayad al-Shaibi

Talks about “terrorism and Al Qaeda” in Yemen or what has become known as “Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula” is still closely linked with the regime of the Yemeni president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, from the perspective of many observers, analysts and Arab and Western intelligence departments. This link is not reinforced by the “loose” concept promoted by the media of the exhausted Yemeni regime’s forces under the banner of “fighting terrorism.” (Read on …)

A Yemeni activist thanks the UN for sending an envoy. While it is a satirical note, the tribal Saleh regime employs collective punishment as a pressure point against its enemies on a regular basis.

Your Excellency, Mr. Ban-ki Moon,

In the name of the Yemeni people, we would like to express our appreciation to you in person for closely and regularly following up the situation in Yemen through visits made by the different UN missions. We are particularly grateful to the relatively long visits such as the one currently taking place by your envoy, and the one by the UN human rights mission earlier this month. These visits bring along significant improvement in the quality of the livelihoods of the average people. We suddenly have electricity for 12-15 hours per day ( instead of 2 hours only), the piles of garbage mounting for weeks in the different streets are cleaned up, the long lines of cars waiting for gas are cleared up (though the need left unfulfilled), and the gun fire in each city is silenced!

For that we are urging Your Excellency to give orders to your missions to remain longer if not forever! Of course, we would still be left with problems of gas availability, food prices rocketing to the sky complicating the malnutrition crisis in the country, and the rise of a hunger epidemic. In this regard, you may as well include us in the current Horn of Africa Crisis! Our “drought”, however, is not caused by an indirect intervention of man in nature, but rather a very direct and intentional one. The Saleh regime, intends to starve us in an attempt to have us give up our dream of freedom. They refuse to understand that we have chosen to live free or to die with our human dignity; the same dignity that UN charters and declarations have often spoken of. We shall compromise no more Sir, and we invite your envoys to come and witness that.

In peace (salam)

guest post

أبين… بين فكي النظام والموت القادم من الشمال؟!

كفى الهاشلي

أبين المدينة التي يقف على عتبات أبواب منازلها غول يدعى الإرهاب وقطعت أوصال جسدها المتهالك الضربات على قرى بلداتها فخرج أهاليها على ذوي الإنفجارات وصوت الرصاص المتناثر هنا وهناك فارين إلى عدن التي لم تضمد جراحها بعد؟!

النظام اليمني – الذي أسقط الشعب شرعيته – يبرر توجيه ضرباته وقصفه بأنه استهدف مجموعات مسلحة إرهابية بسطت على مقار حكومية لكن الشاهد على ما يحدث يقول أن القصف تجاوز حدوده المكانية إلى الكود وبئر الشيخ والمسيمير وجعار وزنجبار والمخزن .

يحكي الإعلام الرسمي عبر قنواته بأن نظامه يحقق انتصارات على تلك المجاميع المسلحة ويقول تارة أخرى أنه يحقق انتصارات على مطلوبين يصفهم بأنهم من تنظيم القاعدة ؟!!!
(Read on …)

SANAA, July 15, 2011

Saleh and Al-Qaeda: Who Empowered Who? BY: Nedhal Moqbel

The current Yemeni scene is full of question marks regarding the country’s present and future. Opponents are still protesting in the North, Southerners are maintaining their call for secession, and violent conflicts dominate the situation of this fragile country. Amidst this dilemma, Al-Qaeda has strongly reemerged and taken over Zinjibar, the capital city of the Southern governorate of Abyan, simultaneously extending its control throughout the entire governorate.

President Saleh did send his intended message to prove right his previous warning. “If I quit, Al-Qaeda could take over,” he once said in response to the mass protests in Taiz and Sanaa. There is no doubt that Saleh is replaying the terrorism card in an attempt to protect his reign. Logically, how could a small number of Al-Qaeda fighters, who came down some Abyan mountains, besiege and defeat two prominent brigades in Abyan (25th Mechanized and Al-Amaliqa)? How could they quickly capture Zinjibar and gain control of the government facilities? How can one believe that an entire government, with huge government troops, could fall into the hands of a few hundred fighters?

On the other hand, one wonders how Southern fighters in Radfan, whose number is much larger that of Al-Qaeda militias, have not been able to defeat only two battalions of government troops there. For several months, these fighters, who came from multiple areas to defend Radfan, could not put an end to their fierce battles with the government forces. These troops have besieged the area, frequently shelled it, and fought with all kinds of weapons.

Therefore, what happened in Abyan was not a real battle but an obvious collusion whose outcome was the handing of the governorate to an armed terrorist group. This collusion reveals close ties and mutual benefits between Saleh’s government and Al-Qaeda, which goes back to the 1990s. Several times, Saleh’s government allowed and eased the escape of a countless number of Al-Qaeda inmates from Yemeni prisons. In 2003, for example, eight of those prisoners involved in the Al-Qaeda Cole operation in Aden escaped, and about twenty-two others followed them later. In 2006, twenty-three Al-Qaeda prisoners fled a Sanaa jail, and much more (around sixty-three inmates) escaped last month from a prison in Mukalla.

Plausibly, Saleh and Al-Qaeda have empowered each other for decades. This group sprang from Saleh’s own Republican Palace to be his fundamental card through which he got more Western support and fought his internal enemies. When the world is angry at him, Saleh would imprison his Al-Qaeda men to calm it down. But when he needs them, the world would wake up to news of their escapes.

A guest post on the transition council that suggests representation by geographic region. The author urges the international community work toward the formation of a credible transitional council. (Currently the US is focusing all efforts on obstructing the formation of such a council and retaining elements the illegitimate, al Qaeda appeasing Saleh regime. The protesters have consistently demanded a transitional council and utterly rejected the ill advised GCC plan. The US has just as consistently ignored, disparaged and undermined these democratic aspirations.)

A Solution For The Yemeni Crises

The current crises in Yemen is growing more and more complicated and heading towards a political and security abyss that is extremely dangerous. Intelligentsia within the parties involved in the current events will face aspirations of both the reasonable and the irresponsibly rash.

The absence of clarity and decisiveness in a Gulf-American stance which is being imposed by Saudi Arabia leaves the door open in Yemen for a storm to sweep through the country. (Read on …)

The orchestrated violence…
Support of criminals is eroding US influence in Yemen
By: Abdullah Alasnag – Ex. Minister of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Yemen
===============

“A roller coaster to hell” was the description of current affairs in Yemen given by a government official. With the Yemeni dictator Ali Abdullah Saleh hospitalized in the Saudi capital Riyadh, the four thugs are continuing the destructive path they laid for their almost dethroned “god father” president.

Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh, the president’s eldest son and commander of the Republican Guard forces, is convinced and adamant that he and he alone is the rightful successor to his father at the top of the Yemeni regime, according to presidential sources.

The three other thugs Yahya, Amar, and Tareq Mohammed Abdullah Saleh the nephews of Saleh and leaders of Central Security Forces (CSF), National Security Agency, and Elite Presidential Guard respectively, are supporting their cousin in order to preserve their own financial interests and gains.

There seems to be yet another round of violence looming over the Yemeni capital Sana’a as eye witnesses continued to report that the Republican Guard is fortifying its positions and a new wave of arms is flowing into Sana’a especially to the military camp south of the presidential palace in “Bait Boos” including but not limited to BM-21 rocket launchers and an unspecified number of FROG-7 surface-surface missiles which were moved on the nights of June 11th and 13th, 2011.

Tribesmen loyal to the Hashid tribe leader Sheikh Sadeq Al-Ahmar continued to stockpile weapons in rented buildings along Siteen Road in the capital Sana’a.

It is widely believed amongst the political elite and intelligentsia in Sana’a that this renewed and anticipated confrontation will be the most violent and will wipe out most, if not all of the current powerful leaders. One political analyst warned that Saleh violated the most sacred tribal law of not attacking one’s home when he bombarded Shiekh Sadeq Al-Ahmar house in the Hasaba district of Sana’a. Similarly, the attack on Saleh himself in the presidential palace violated another sacred tribal law in Yemeni society by attacking a mosque which almost contained the top tier of the ruling class in its entirety.

The same analyst warned that the next round of violent clashes will see a different kind of savageness and brutality by all parts who will seek to wipe each other out.

Concurrently, a large war is raging in the governorate of Abyan in the south of Yemen with hundreds reported killed during the first two weeks of June 2011. Although the government has declared the dead as terrorists, a substantial number of these supposed terrorists have turned out to be on the payroll of the National Security Agency (headed by Amar Saleh). Many families of the deceased and supposed terrorists, have reported that their sons were employed by the National Security Agency and some families even presented NSA ID Cards belonging to the deceased. It is therefore readily apparent that the war in Abyan is a desperate attempt by the regime to convince the western world of a fabricated risk of terrorism, a ploy used every time the regime has faced political turmoil.

Continuing to play with time, one of the four thugs and commander of the CSF, Yahya Mohammed Abdullah Saleh told the BBC on June 11th 2011, that the GCC initiative will not be discussed until Saleh has returned from Saudi Arabia after completing his treatment. This same game was played by Saleh before his injury, only this time the actor is a different one.

With the EU and the US apparently terrified of these four thugs, the public in Yemen has started to raise many questions as to why the west hasn’t condemned the brutality and savageness the thugs have used against peaceful demonstrators in Aden, Taiz, Hodaidah, and Sana’a. A mild statement issued through the US embassy in Sana’a on the 30th of May 2011 has been the only denunciation made to date. On the other hand, the US was quick to condemn the attack on the president “in the strongest terms” by president Obama himself through his press secretary on June 3rd, 2011.

The tone of Obama’s statement convinced many of the Yemeni youth that the Obama administration is still supporting this tyrant and betrayed their own values of freedom and justice. One of the youth at the Change square in Sana’a said “When the US talks of freedom and human rights they only mean their citizens, they look upon us Yemenis as animals not humans deserving these rights.”

What is more puzzling is the leak in Sana’a and Riyadh of secret negotiations between the four thugs, the GCC, and the west for immunity from prosecution and a U.S.$ 2 billion (two billion US dollars) payout for them to leave power. Politicians from JMP are furious that this arrangement not only shields them from prosecution but also rewards them for the killing and massacres they have carried out throughout the country.

If true, this new proposal will usher the beginning of the end for US interests in Yemen over the long term, as Yemenis will always remember with dismay such a betrayal of democratic principles and values.

Indeed the latest statement by Secretary Clinton on the “strong Yemeni Constitution” was the subject of intense ridicule in Yemen as power should have been transferred to the vice president according to the constitution. Instead it has remained firmly in the hands of the four thugs who have completely sealed off the capital Sana’a as of 5pm June 8th, 2011.

In another display of complete disregard for the Yemeni citizens, the four thugs celebrated the discharge of the Yemeni president from the intensive care unit of the military hospital in Riyadh, with horrific shooting of cannons and heavy machine guns late at night and in several Yemeni cities. For about an hour, the shots lit up the Sana’a night sky and local residents terrified of the ferocity of the bombardment said good bye to their friends through Twitter, Facebook, and mobiles phones. One message on Twitter read “Forgive me the shooting is everywhere around me I might be killed now goodbye.” in Aden the Republican Guard fired cannons and heavy machineguns from the presidential palace in Maasheek in the Crater district, sending residents into a panic. A frantic lady in Aden cried out during a phone call and proclaimed, “They decided to kill us!” State television later announced that the bombardment was a celebration of the president’s good health. In the morning it was revealed that the “celebration” had left 3 dead and over 80 seriously injured.

It’s clear that the four thugs are the driving force behind President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s destructive mismanagement and corrupt rule. Accordingly, it is critical that they are removed from the picture if there is any hope of salvaging the country, especially taking the following events into perspective:
1. Use of the Counter Terrorism Unit (CTU) against protestors and in local wars against political opponents happened with the full complicity of Yahya Mohammed Abdullah Saleh the commander of the unit and the Central Security Forces (CSF). Three such cases are well documented:
a. The Huthi war in Saada where several members of the CTU were killed in action and constituted a grave loss to the CTU in 2009.
b. The bombardment of Al-Ayyam Newspaper headquarters in Aden on the 5th of January 2010.
c. Clashes in Sana’a between Saleh’s forces and tribesmen loyal to Sheikh Sadeq Al-Ahmar during June 2011.

2. Misleading intelligence which was provided by Amar Mohammed Abdullah Saleh, the head of the National Security Agency, and resulted in disastrous consequences on secret US military operations in Yemen. Examples are:
a. Al Majalla strike (17th December 2009) where not a single target of value was killed in the strike and the fiasco culminated in the Deputy Prime Minister apologizing to the Yemeni parliament and “Amnesty international” while publishing photographs of U.S. ammunition debris found at the site.
b. Mareb strike which killed the Deputy Governor of Mareb Mr. Jabber Al-Shabwani (25th May 2010). In this case in particular, the president informed the father of the slain Deputy Governor that the “Americans killed your son,” pushing further anti-American sentiment in the tribal area. The president’s comments also resulted in wrecking former American Ambassador Edmond Hull’s efforts over the course of 4 years to foster good relationships with the entire tribe.

3. Atrocities committed against activists and political opponents was ordered and commanded by Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh who used his Republican Guard troops as well as the CSF to carry them out.

In an interview published Saturday 12th June 2011 by Al-Hayat newspaper, Major General Ali Mohsen Al-Ahmar clearly accused Saleh of manipulating the western world with threats of Al-Qaeda, and pointed to terrorist elements in Saleh’s presidential guard who have appeared with him repeatedly during public events in published photographs. The general also singled out Amar and Tareq Mohammed Abdullah Saleh as the overseers of Al-Qaeda operations in Yemen.

What is quite noteworthy is the complete and sudden cessation of piracy in the Gulf of Aden since the start of the youth revolution which further enforces earlier reports linking Saleh’s regime with piracy in the region. As Saleh became more and more engaged with the explosive situation in Sana’a, the threat of piracy in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea diminished.
In this connection, I have also elaborated in a previous report on the two private security companies owned (through fronts) by Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh, and Yahya Saleh which use American military aid and resources funnelled to the Yemeni Coast Guard for private profiteering. According to officials and clients, the two companies are “Lotus Maritime Security Services,” which is based in Sana’a and the Channel Islands-based company called “Gulf of Aden Group Transits Ltd.”

The Coast Guard was also involved in smuggling diesel to Somali pirates in the area, whereby the American Embassy in Sana’a was involved in the removal of the previous Yemeni Coast Guard commander in 2007. Smuggling operations have continued however up to early 2011 and have expanded to include sales of arms, GPS, and radar equipment.

It is clear that post-Saleh Yemen will see legal action brought against all involved in these crimes. Legal action will also be pursued with respect to the criminal use of the CTU against civilians which has been and continues to be well-documented by Yemeni NGO’s in photographs and videos, especially during the last clashes in Sana’a between the Saleh’s regime and the tribal leader Sadeq Al-Ahmar.

The extension of legal ramifications of this regime’s actions to other countries especially the US therefore cannot be avoided. Moreover, under the immunity proposal which is currently being pushed by the American administration as a way out of the crisis in Yemen, only Saleh and his minions are immune, and lawyers are already finding ways of holding other countries liable for Saleh’s crimes.

Contacts with Yemeni, American, British, and French lawyers are currently underway to sue the government, Saleh, his relatives, and all who are involved in crimes against Yemeni citizens. By removing immunity from the GCC initiative however, Saleh and his family will ultimately face the brunt of the foreseen and necessary legal action. It may therefore prove to be a blessing in disguise that Saleh chose not to sign the GCC initiative.

Finally, I should pay tribute to the brave peaceful freedom fighters in all southern governorates as well as the courageous youth gatherings in Sana’a, Taiz, Hudeidah, and Ibb who have made great sacrifices to achieve total national aspirations and bringing to an end an era of corruption, tyranny, and abuse of power. I wish to conclude by stressing the fact that there is no interest for Yemen and its friends in continuing any efforts to secure a conditional return for the dictator on the basis of let bygones be bygones. The dictator of Yemen is a unique example, being a first class liar, merciless, and deceitful ally of governments and individuals who have invested their confidence in his promises and undertakings over the last 33 years.

Today, let us remember the words of the poet Alfred Lord Tennyson, “The old order changes, giving place to the new.” Yemen is entering a new era of stability and development, and I hope that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, other Gulf states, and all other friends of Yemen will offer their understanding and support to an emerging nation.

After three months of bloody protests, millions of Yemenis remain steadfast—and on the streets—throughout the nation. They want Saleh and his entire regime gone. In Sanaa, skirmishes have broken out between opposing tribes and military factions. President Saleh initiated the hostilities after locking down one set of mediators, including the US Ambassador, and shelling another. Saleh’s refusal to accept the golden parachute provided by the GCC is no surprise. He will fight to the bitter end and use any tactic necessary to remain in power. The protesters understood this from day one.

The Yemeni people will succeed in overthrowing Saleh. The day after Saleh, this generation of Yemeni revolutionaries must begin the arduous work of building the civil democratic Yemen of their demands. Once the revolution has succeeded, it must be protected. One way is to disperse power at the local level.

The following is a twelve month timetable for the period following the removal of President Saleh from power. This proposal aims at creating mechanism that fulfill the demands of the Yemeni revolutionary youth. This structural proposal is guided by the principle of equal rights for all Yemenis. The proposal assumes that the structure of the interim government must be built from the ground up with constant focus on the needs of individual Yemenis. The re-balancing of power that is required is not among various groups and power players, but between the people and all their institutions.Self-determination on the national level can only be accomplished by empowerment on the local level.

Community Organizing
The estimated cost of this Interim Transition Mechanism (ITM) over three years is $2.4 billion dollars, drawn from donor funds pledged at the 2006 donors’ conference. The ITM requires a nationwide biometric census. The census will be one stop procedure for families and individuals that includes issuing birth certificates, voter registration cards, school registration including adult literacy programs, and receiving job applications. Perhaps the most essential requirement in post-revolutionary Yemen is credible elections. Early parliamentary and presidential elections must be built on accurate voter rolls. Equally important, President Saleh has sucked the nation dry and many citizens are on the verge of starvation. The census will also identify the most vulnerable Yemenis and urgent community needs.

The ITM requires Yemeni activists and residents to establish Community Centers (CC) in every district and village. The CC will also accept work applications from adult Yemenis, male and female, willing to reconstruct the nation at low pay following the disaster of Saleh’s tenure. The Community Centers will also process applications for micro loans and community grants.

Micro-loans are small loans to individuals to start their own businesses. Micro loans are the most practical way to kick-start the economy. Grants for community reconstruction should become available after local communities assess the most urgent needs in each village and district. Mass corruption is systemic at all levels of the Saleh administration and pervades the norms of business and civil society. Micro-reconstruction limits the potential of mass theft by disbursing donor funds in small increments. All community reconstruction projects must publish their budgets and maintain a high level of transparency. Thus the ITM also requires nationwide internet broadband service and standardized national accounting practices as well as a help center in each community.

The CC will establish Community Medical Centers (CMS) to assess immediate and long term medical needs. CMS will provide oversight on the distribution international medical aid and provide medical education programs. An emphasis will be placed on establishing clinics, dialysis centers and providing reproductive services. As a further check on corruption, a Community Media Center will be established to aid in the formation of news outlets for local and national news and independent broadcast ventures and newspapers.

Provincial and regional organization
The ITM places a moratorium on all political activity for three months, including the southern independence movement. The ITM is not an effort to undercut the Southern Movement or deny the legitimate right of southerners to seek independence. The ITM is a party-neutral, apolitical structure that seeks to provide basic services to all Yemenis before political activity resumes. The GPC will be disbanded for two years, after which it may reorganize. The JMP and other established parties may resume activity after three months; however, the development of new political parties is strongly encouraged, should be facilitated at the CCC and may begin immediately after Saleh’s departure. Female quotas are required for the first two election cycles.

Six months after Saleh’s departure, governors and local council elections will be held based on accurate voter rolls. Elections will operate on a proportional basis (the list system). The “winner takes all” or “first past the post” system discriminates heavily against small parties and independents and will be discarded. Judges and citizen-run School Boards will also be elected in each district at this time. Recall petitions for elected officials including judges can be filed by any citizen at the Community Center. Local elections will be held every two years to encourage representatives accountability to the communities they serve. Monthly town hall style meetings are a way to encourage governmental transparency and the free flow of information that is in keeping with local norms.

Governors will each nominate an individual of high integrity that will act in the national, not provincial, interest to form the Supreme Commission on Elections and Referendums (SCER) that will oversee parliamentary and presidential elections. Nominees can be rejected by 75% of the governors.

The elected local councils (LC) will partner with the Community Centers and Community Medical Centers. Local Councils administrative role will include oversight of the police, local finances and elections. Parliamentary and presidential elections will be held six month after local council elections, -ie, one year after the fall of Saleh and the GPC will be ineligible for the first election. A referendum on southern independence will be held at the same time, with the options of independence, unity or a vote again at the next election. The referendum will be part of every election until such time as 75% of southerners have reached a consensus.

Security and counter-terror
The Yemen Revolutionaries demand the “rebuilding of the National and Political Security apparatuses and the Intelligence Agency to merge all of them into a single national security apparatus.” Counter-terror concerns are a high priority of the international community. The US designated and then froze a multi-million dollar security package for Yemen. These funds should be released and directed toward the development of a new intelligence service, restructuring military and training local police.

The southern army shall be recalled under their existing rank to fill the counter-terror void in the interim period as well as aid in restructuring the Yemeni military services. The Retired Southern Military organization has Russian military training and is disconnected from the corrupt ventures of the current military including the trafficking of oil, persons and weapons. The RTM has demonstrated a greater respect for civil rights and civilian immunity than the existing security services. The RSM is also familiar with the terrain the al Qaeda is using to plan mass murder of civilians abroad. Abdelmalidk al Houthi is encouraged to designate liaisons, at a minimum, to the military and counter-terror units. The insertion of the RSM and the Houthi commanders will act as a double- check against al Qaeda penetration which is quite substantial in the existing forces.

Reconciliation
All tribal wars will be deemed to have an honorable resolution and will end. Tribesmen will endeavor to utilize the court system to resolve disputes. The ITM relies on tribesmen and all citizens to create Community Centers according to local norms and within national parameters.

Reconciliation between the GPC and the revolutionary youth is a high priority. While iit is important to establish a war crimes tribunal regarding crimes against Yemeni citizens, quick trials and death sentences should be avoided, except perhaps for those with the highest levels of guilt who may also be prosecuted by the International Criminal Court. Those tried and found guilty of low level corruption should perform community service instead of prison time.

Southern demands for equal rights, respect for southern identity and history, and a referendum shall be fulfilled. Southern independence representatives have a duty to their local constituents including non-supporters to place medical needs ahead of political demands in the interim period.

Special efforts will be made locally and nationally toward marginalized groups and vulnerable minorities such as the Akhdaam, Somalis, Bahais, Jews and Christians. With a foundation of equal rights for all Yemenis, the ITM requires equal protections for all races and religions without institutionalized or normative discrimination by the majority.

The Day after Saleh
The Yemeni Revolutionary Youth demand a nine person interim trustee council of virtuous persons to oversee the interim period until parliamentary and presidential elections are held. As the protesters state, major interest groups must sign off on the members, but the council should be apolitical and act in the best interest of the nation not individual groups or identity. Large constituencies of Yemenis are already organized through the JMP. National Dialog Committee, Southern Movement, Houthis and tribal coalitions. Each of these organizations is required to approve credible candidates within 48 hours of Saleh’s departure and to support, not undermine, the Interim National Council’s efforts.

The trustees will immediately establish nationwide standards and procedures for the Community Centers. Upon receipt of community assessments, trustees will designate areas of rehabilitation including health, electricity, economic development, civil rights and prisons. They will select the most qualified managers to oversee the work force identified through the applications received at the Community Centers during the census period. While different provinces and communities have varying needs, all procedures must be applied uniformly until such point that the Community Medical Center in Dhamar is identically equipped to that in Taiz, for example.

The National Trustees will organize and oversee many important tasks like an audit of the government budget. A review of the constitution should be performed to identify and suspend discriminatory and dangerous articles, like those pertaining to the media, but constitutional revisions should be undertaken by a duly elected parliament. However, the primary function of the National Trustees should be to retain focus on building and empowering bureaucratic, administrative and representative structures at the most local level. This work cannot be done without the participation of millions of Yemenis. And it is this participation precisely that will prevent a new tyranny from emerging in Yemen. -Jane Novak

feedback- (Read on …)

International efforts are not sufficient to avoid a humanitarian disaster.

A Busy Sunday for Yemen
By: Abdullah Alasnag

The Gulf Arab states have extended an invitation on Sunday the 4th of April to the Yemeni government and opposition representatives for talks in the Saudi capital Riyadh in a bid to end the most dangerous and escalating crisis President Ali Abdullah Saleh has faced over his 33 year reign.

The offer was extended after a meeting of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) foreign ministers in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on Sunday, but no date has been set so far for the meeting.

On Sunday Yemeni security forces killed 17 protestors in Taiz through sniper fire and wounded over 500 in the same city. Witnesses say snipers opened fire from rooftops when protesters reached the governor’s offices in the southern city of Taiz. (Read on …)

Why Saleh Must Go
Written By Abdullah Alasnag

Yemen is slipping further into the unknown, and a controlled outcome to the current political crisis is now unlikely.

It has become clear over the past week that the negotiations held at the Vice President’s house in Sana’a between President Saleh, the opposition, and Marshal Ali Mohsen have come to failure four times in a row. At the heart of the failures is Saleh’s insistence on immunity from prosecution and a monthly stipend to be paid to him by neighboring Gulf States after relinquishing power.

According to sources who have attended the meetings, the President seemed adamant and unwavering on these two conditions. The Americans on the other hand insisted that key figures including Ahmed Ali Saleh, the President’s son, as well as Yahya Mohammed Saleh and Amar Mohammed Saleh, his nephews who are currently heading the CSF/CTU and the National security agency respectively, are not relieved of duty.

This American insistence seemed bewildering to the attendees, specially considering that the record of these commanders and Saleh in fighting terrorism is full of failures, corruption, and misleading intelligence which has yielded little if any results to show for compared to the aid Saleh has received over the years.

In this regard, there has been no approach by the west towards the opposition or the youth with respect to security matters which is wrong since it seems that Saleh is well on his way out of power.

U.S.S. Cole:
When the USS Cole was attacked in October 2000, Saleh initially refused to accept that the destroyer was attacked by terrorists and made a statement that the explosion happened inside the ship through miss handling of explosive materials. Throughout the ensuing investigation, Saleh hampered the efforts of the FBI even after admitting it was a terrorist attack. (Read on …)

Letter to the American People (For Immediate release)

”Watan” calls the American People to demand their government to stop supporting the dictatorship and Al-Qaeda in Yemen

Yemen, March 30.2011

Last Monday, at least 120 civilians, including children and women have been killed in the explosion of ammunition factory in the town of Ja’ar, Abyan Governorate, southern Yemen. The blast occurred as a result of mining the place by al-Qaeda who had taken over the factory and looted a day after the regime army battalion, which was in charged of guard the factory, pulled out. The withdrawal of the military forces and the emergence of al Qaeda in Jaar, coincided with the withdrawal of security forces and the emergence of al Qaeda in several areas.

Moreover, the incident came after one day of the statement by U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates, in ABC channel, in which he said: ””We have had a lot of counterterrorism co-operation from President Saleh and Yemeni security services.. So if that government collapses or is replaced by one that is dramatically weaker, then I think we’ll face some additional challenges out of Yemen”

Watan Coalition: Women for Social Peace, condemns the crimes committed by al Qaeda against the Yemenis, at the same time, it condemns the recent U.S. attitude expressed by Mr. Gates. We consider such attitude as encouragement to the President Selah to use al-Qaeda card to suppress the peaceful revolution that calls overthrow the regime.

Our stance depends on evidences proved that Selah is using ”al-Qaeda, and the American war against terrorism” to receive generous financial support, and intensive training for the Special Forces, Central Security, and National Security, which all headed by his son and his nephews and use to suppress the Yemeni for more than a decade. (Read on …)

The Yemeni Crisis

Comments on recent developments in Yemen by Abdullah Alasnag:

The crisis in Yemen is becoming more and more complicated. Time is running out while the Yemeni dictator is stalling in an attempt to buy more time using misleading justifications for his irresponsible measures against the peaceful masses. Consequently, with every minute gone by, bloodshed is becoming inevitable.

• The initial terms of the political settlement to contain the crisis in Yemen as informally relayed, is the best possible way out of the current perplexity and in order to prevent a bloodbath. Even these efforts however are being hampered by Saleh’s swings as he has agreed and subsequently recanted on agreements made within the span of six hours as witnessed by US, UK, and EU representatives in Sana’a during meetings held at the Vice President’s house in the Yemeni capital Sana’a this last week.
• The ruling party, the People’s Congress is run by power hungry, corrupt, and untrustworthy elements.
• Internally, the major opposition forces are represented by tribal chieftains, army, and security commanders loyal to the main tribe in Yemen – Hashed – to which President Ali Saleh, his brothers, next of kin, and his rival Marshal Ali Mohsin belong. Last but not least, the opposition parties Al-Islah and YSP, are secondary players whose role serves to market fake democracy in Yemen in order to cultivate foreign financial and political support for the beleaguered regime.
• The entire opposition block is functioning under the umbrella of Yemeni Youth for Change in Sana’a, supported by mass assemblies in Taiz, Aden, and many other northern and southern governorates.
• For at least two decades, the U.S. has invested unlimited commitments in order to defend a failing Yemeni government under a most corrupt President.
• Turning to Al Qaeda growth in Yemen, it is no idle fact to reaffirm that its elements in Yemen were hosted, assisted, and recruited in order to infiltrate Yemeni security and army units with the approval and knowledge of the President.
• American support of the Counter Terrorism Unit over the past few years appears to have failed to produce any meaningful results. Moreover, U.S. airstrikes in Yemen proved to be disastrous after discovering that the strikes were ordered on the back of unreliable ground intelligence at best.
• The current anticipated political reform in Yemen, similar to Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and Syria, is mainly influenced by Islamists not, repeat not, Al Qaeda extremists. This new leading force is worth considering serious dialogue with.
• Time is very important to observe. The Middle East peace process has reached a dead-end because of unlimited Israeli ambitions exposing moderate Arab governments to uncalculated risks. Therefore, the question in Yemen remains on how to communicate and deal with the new situation? Showing hostile or “could care less” attitude is extremely counterproductive and/or wrong. This is free advice for the U.S., E.U., U.K., and Arab Gulf states. I hope it is appreciated by all.

A guest post by Abu Yemen, this is certainly true: “It is clear that US foreign policy is out of touch with the political intrigues in Yemen…” Well worth a close read.

Saleh… The Calculated Scheme to an American Debacle.
On the 12th of March 2011 Republican Guard units, under the command of Brigadier General Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh and Central Security Forces (CSF) under the command of Brigadier General Yahya Mohammed Abdullah Saleh attacked peaceful demonstrators in Al-Tagheer square which has been the scene of continued demonstrations which began on February 8th, 2011 with 30 students demanding President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s removal after 33 years in power.

The bold, unexpected, and voracious attack was attributed by demonstrators on Al-Jazeera TV, and through various discussions in the country, to a statement issued by the White House a day earlier calling on the opposition to heed the President’s call for dialogue. The statement was seen as an endorsement for use of brute force against the demonstrators. (Read on …)

A day in Sana’a sit-in

Urged by the liberty revolutions in the Arab World; Tunisia and Egypt particularly, hundreds of thousands of Yemeni youth took the initiative to go on the streets not only demanding the ouster of the president but they called for toppling the whole regime. In the first day in Sana’a, about three hundred protesters gathered in front of Sana’a university chanting the popular slogan of ” people want to overthrow the regime” using small microphones. The number of people started to gradually increase as the news of the sit-in broke out.
(Read on …)

بيان الثورة الطلابية الشبابية السلمية

انتصاراً لنهج ومبادئ الثورة الطلابية الشبابية السلمية والتي ما زالت تسير في طريق الحرية وهي واثقة الخطى بإرادة أبطالها الأحرار (Read on …)

بلاغ صحفي من عائلات المعتقلين في سجن الأمن السياسي بصنعاء إلى الإخوة/ الصحفيين ومندوبي وسائل الإعلام والقنوات الفضائية وممثلي المنظمات الحقوقية والمدنية المحلية والدولية.. تحية طيبة، وبعد: نود إحاطتكم بأن أبناءنا معتقلون تعسفياً في سجن الأمن السياسي لف…ترات تتراوح بين سنة وست سنوات، من دون أن يعرضوا على القضاء، وبمعزل عن أي حماية قانونية، خلافاً لكل القوانين والأعراف، وإنما أُلبسوا ظلماً وزوراً قميص عثمان، أو معتقلون كرهائن على ذمة أشخاص آخرين مشتبه بهم.. وقد ظلّ هؤلاء الضحايا يتعرضون طيلة مدة احتجازهم إلى صنوف شتى من الاضطهاد والإهانات والتعذيب الجسدي والنفسي، ووصل الأمر في الأسبوع الماضي إلى الاعتداء الوحشي عليهم بالضرب المبرح وصعقهم بالعصي الكهربائية حتى دخل عدد منهم في غيبوبة وأسعف بعضهم إلى المستشفيات في حالة صحية حرجة للغاية.. وعليه: فإننا نهيب بكم الحضور غدا الاثنين 13 فبراير 2011، لتغطية وقفتنا الاحتجاجية السلمية أمام البوابة الشرقية للأمن السياسي “بوابة الإدارة”، خلف شميلة هاري شارع حدة.. و.. حيث سنصدر بياناً بهذا الشأن.. شاكرين حضوركم والله الموفق،،، أهالي المعتقلين تعسفياً في سجون الأمن السياسي للتواصل أوا

The following is a detailed and comprehensive analysis of the inner workings of the criminalized elements of the Yemeni regime written by my sometimes guest-poster Abu Yemen whom I find entirely credible and in a position to know these details. It needs to be read in full as the information is both specific and accurate.

Yemen, A Kidnapped Country

Southern Grievances:
Over the past 3 years Southern Yemen has slipped further and further into discontent with some rural areas in full rebellion notably in Dalla, Radfan, Yafee, and Abyan.

President Ali Abdullah Saleh has tried without success to buy out loyalties in the Southern Movement “Al Hirak” and used heavy handed tactics to no avail, according to Rt. Brigadier Ali Alsaddi (from Abyan). Alsaddi is considered to be an active leader in the Southern Movement in which 263 young, unarmed civilians have been killed by the Central Security Forces (CSF) during peaceful demonstrations or in jails under torture. The last two to die in Aden prisons were Firas Alessai who was interrogated by drunken officers who electrocuted his testicles and ended his life with a bullet to his head according to inmates who witnessed the event. The second was Al Darwish who was arrested during a demonstration in Aden and was beaten to death in a Criminal Investigative Department (CID) prison by Colonel Nasser Al-Sanabani (Northern Yemeni officer under the direct command of the Police commissioner).

The Press:
Freedom of expression has deteriorated steadily in Yemen since 1998, however the use of violence and kidnapping escalated during the past 4 years climaxing in May 2009 when the largest newspaper in the country “Al-Ayyam Newspaper” and 7 other independent newspapers were banned. These 7 papers have since resumed publication except “Al-Ayyam”. The Editor-in-Chief of “Al-Nidaa Newspaper” went as far as to say that the suspension of his paper and the 6 others was a smokescreen to detract attention from the real target which was “Al-Ayyam”.

“Al-Ayyam’s” headquarters in Aden were also brutally attacked by the CSF and the Counter Terrorism Unit (CTU) on May 12th, 2009 and January 5th, 2010 when the building was bombarded with rocket propelled grenades and an assortment of heavy machine guns. The Front-Bay area of the city of Aden was blockaded for several days as the Editor-in-Chief, Mr. Hisham Bashraheel, was arrested with several of his staff and family members.

The regime attempted to publicize the notion that the newspaper violated publication laws without providing any evidence to support these allegations. The accusation levied against the newspaper was then changed whereby it was claimed that the paper formed an armed gang. The newspaper owners have since provided evidence to the American Embassy that the weapons were licensed by the Yemeni government (an exercise not undertaken by many in Yemen which is awash with weapons) for use by security guards protecting “Al-Ayyam’s” premises.

Currently, President Saleh’s government is attempting to pass new laws aimed at curbing freedom of the press. These newly proposed legislations have been heavily criticized by the Committee to Protect Journalists in New York and other freedom of speech organizations. These new laws are the product of the Minister of Information, Mr. Hasson Al-Lawzi, who is coined by many journalists as “The Nazi” as his proposed laws resemble in many ways the propaganda law in Nazi occupied France.

The environment for free press is now described as the worst in 20 years, and if these new laws are passed, it will spell the end of independent media in Yemen.

Corruption in Yemen:
On the issue of corruption it is now clear that the Yemeni Agency to combat corruption is no more than a front to cover up even larger corruption. The Agency ignored several tips from the Central Bank of Yemen relating to activities in which the bank purchased insolvent or bankrupt assets and stocks belonging to President Saleh or members of the ruling family in the Dubai market at their book values. This was one method by which the ruling family recuperated their losses from the financial meltdown in Dubai during 2009 and 2010. The result of these buyouts was a marked deterioration in the Yemeni currency which sustained heavy losses during 2010, and the Central Bank was forced to inject additional foreign currency into the local market at more frequent intervals than in previous years.

Saleh’s ruling elite are also undergoing change, whereby his previously favored clique including the likes of Ali Mohsen Al Ahmer (President Saleh’s half brother and Commander of the 1st Armored Brigade) and Al-Qadi family elders have now been replaced with his son Ahmed and his nephews Yahya, Amar, and Tariq Mohammed Abdullah Saleh. The four are young (in their late 30s to early 40s) and have no experience, but are ruthless and deeply corrupt. They have been nicknamed “The Four Thugs” or in Arabic “Al-Balatega Al-Arbaa” in political circles.

The Four thugs have different and varying interests although they protect each other. Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh, Commander of the Republican Guard, has shares in the oil production sector and received $1.2 for every barrel of oil refined at the Aden refinery. He also owns hotels in Yemen and outside. He was reported to have bought a luxury hotel in Paris late August 2010 worth $275 million.

Yahya Mohammed Abdulla Saleh, Commander of the CSF and CTU, has cotton production farms in the Abyan governorate which yield handsome returns through export.

Amar Mohammed Abdullah Saleh, effectively the Head of the National Security Agency, has an infamous reputation for ruthlessness and for his connections with the AQAP operatives network. Furthermore, he was knighted by the French government for his role in securing Mayoun island as a French Naval Base under the guise of building a base for the Yemeni coast guard.

It is of particular interest that the four thugs are the major facilitators and partners for companies such as the oil services company Schlumbergur. An employee of the company has disclosed an account of how Schlumberger paid up to $2.6 million on gifts and ran five brothels in the upscale Hadda district of the capital Sana’a in order to secure contracts in upwards of $12 million. The said employee described how an accountant form one of the company’s European offices arrived in Sana’a in mid-2010 for a 2 day visit, after which all the discrepancies caused by these gifts in the accounting system vanished.

Arms, Drugs, and Counterfeit Currency Trafficking in Yemen:
The Four Thugs also share in arms and drugs trafficking through Aden sea port and the cost lines of Shabwa, Hadramout, and Mahra. They run a vast network of smugglers with police commissioners in these cities making up the backbone of this network.

The main route for drugs and counterfeit currency (Saudi Riyals and American dollars) trafficking is firmly in the hands of Brigadier Gen. Abdullah Quairan who is the Police Commissioner in Aden. He oversees drugs and counterfeit currency trafficking through Aden Seaport, and plays a huge role in all aspects of corruption, torture, threatening judges in their homes, and embezzlement from investors. He is, without doubt, the most powerful man in Aden and is the Four Thugs’ man on the ground.

Abdullah Quairan has a very close relationship with Ahmed Ali Saleh and Yahya Mohammed Saleh. In February 2010, the head of the CID in Aden complained of the Commissioner’s constant interference in his department including, as he mentioned, interference in a huge drug bust at the Aden seaport in which an officer reporting to the Commissioner was involved in clearing the shipment from customs at the port. When the CID arrested the officer, he was released by the Commissioner personally who sighted the instance as a covert operation by the Commissioner. The following day, agents from the National Security Agency (NSA) arrived at the CID requesting samples of the drug shipment. When a bag containing 10 capsules was provided, the agents insisted on confiscating the entire shipment. The CID refused to hand over the shipment sighting procedures and laws requiring the shipment to be released only to a court Agents. The NSA agents subsequently produced a written order by Amar Mohammed Saleh ordering the CID to hand over the shipment to his agents. The shipment left for Sana’a never to be heard of again.

The head of the CID has also affirmed that he has amassed evidence implicating the Police Commissioner in Aden with distribution of counterfeit currency especially Saudi Riyals and Dollars. In one case, he claimed that a witness who came to the Commissioner to provide information on a counterfeit currency shipment that was being processed at the Aden seaport, was arrested on the spot. He was later tried and executed for trafficking counterfeit currency.

The network in Aden includes the Deputy Governor Mr. Abdul Karim Shaif who has become considerably wealthier along with the commissioner over the past 4 years.

In June 2010 a passenger travelling on the Damascus-Sana’a-Mukalla line arrived at Mukalla Airport (AL-RAYAN) with a carry-on bag containing automotive spare parts. The passenger was arrested upon arrival after a tip-off from the Syrians to the customs officers in Mukalla. What were believed to be spare parts in his luggage, turned out to be professionally hidden narcotics with the aluminum cast over the drugs in the shape of various spare parts.

During the initial investigation in the airport the passenger admitted to being only the carrier of the narcotics from Damascus to Mukalla. He refused to divulge the names of his accomplices but he insisted his role was only to bring the shipment into Mukalla where it was to be delivered to Saudi Arabia the next day.

After 5 hours in detention, a group of soldiers from the Republican Guard arrived at the airport and ordered the customs officials to hand over both the detained man and the shipment for their transfer to Sana’a. The man was subsequently released beyond the airport gates and the shipment has not been heard of since.
The Second rout for Drugs and Arms smuggling into Saudi Arabia Starts form the coastline in Shabwa-Hadramout-Mahra. Smugglers await small skiffs and dhows on the beach in three major locations in order to receive drugs shipments (AArqa in Shabwa, Muqra in Hadramout, and Khater in Mahra). Handover at the beach is done in broad daylight with several witnesses and fishermen observing the handover and the drug lords waiting in their luxury cars. The shipments are then loaded on to military transport vehicles or in the case of Hadramout and Shabwa, military camp ambulances which are used for transport from the beach to the sorting location. Other military convoys then transport the shipments to the Saudi boarders. The most prominent officers involved in this trade are General Mojahed of the Cost Guard, and General Awadh Bin Shuhna in the Hadramout Valley.

In this regard, local residents in the Mahra province have noticed the construction of a new military camp in an area known as Haat which is 70 kilometers north of the governorate capital Al-Gaidah and 150 kilometers east of the port of Shahn. The residents describe this camp as the central location for arms and drugs smuggling into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Secretary Clinton’s Visit to Yemen:
Before the Secretary left Sana’a the Ministry of interior issued an order effectively banning any Yemeni from entering any foreign embassy without the prior approval of the Ministry. This came as a response to the meeting between Secretary Clinton and the JMP (opposition) leadership at the American Ambassador’s residence. President Saleh is said to be fuming at the meeting, and in this connection, the video being circulated on the internet showing Secretary Clinton falling at her aircraft doorstep was released by the Deputy News Manager of the Channel 1 TV station in Sana’a. According to colleagues of his, he was ordered to leak the video to opposition websites by Abdo Bourgi, the Yemeni President’s Press Secretary. However, most opposition websites refused to use it.

Furthermore, several parliamentarians met the day after meeting Secretary Clinton at the Movenpick Hotel in Sana’a along with civil society NGOs. The main theme of the discussion was disappointment at the absence of a statement by Secretary Clinton condemning the use of excessive force against unarmed demonstrators and arbitrary arrests which should have been protested as a matter of principal.

Conclusion:
We appeal to the forthcoming meetings of the Yemen Forum and Friends of Yemen to seek immediate intervention to redress the situation prevailing in Yemen. To this effect, the removal of a tyrant along with his junta in Yemen is the sole and only solution to overcoming the long lasting miseries borne by the Yemeni people. The emergence of a new, democratic Yemen on fresh grounds and on the basis of 2 states connected through federal or confederal links, might be a better arrangement once the tyrant and his junta are removed from power and forced out of the country in a peaceful method similar to that which took place recently in Tunisia.

January 20, 2011