Armies of Liberation

Not even to mention the fuel shortage in Yemen, the contracts with China explain a lot about China’s Security Council position regarding thwarting strong statements and actions against the Saleh regime. (The French Co Total owns 39% of YLNG and sold itself 1/3 of production. the contracts to South Korea are well under market price, as I wrote in 2005.) China of course makes no pretense to support democracy and works corrupt systems very well. Some of the original LNG contracts were renegotiated since the last time I checked them, and China is getting 11 cargos in 2011 and two other buyers have not been revealed. Nifty. In 2010, 10 were shipped to China. Production started in 2008 and have produced 100 shiploads by March 2010. China is Yemen’s main export partner, accounting for 23% of all exports. Chinese trade in January-November 2010 reached US$ 3,664,062,000, up 69.2 per cent year on year. Beyond buying oil, China ships weapons to Yemen. Now we know why the Chinese media is always shilling for Saleh.

China may receive a spot cargo of liquefied natural gas from Yemen today, according to ship- tracking data.

China National Offshore Oil Corp.’s Guangdong terminal may get the fuel from Balhaf, Yemen, on the Maersk Arwa on Aug. 10, according to ship transmissions captured today by AISLive on Bloomberg. It received a cargo on Aug. 8 on the LNG River Orashi, possibly from Bonny LNG in Nigeria, the data show.

ah, article from Feb, 24 2011 a nd more below the fold:

ICIS Yemen LNG expects to ship 57 cargoes to Asia in 2011 in a combination of spot, mid-term and long-term sales, Jean-Pierre Cave, commercial and shipping manager with the company, said during a presentation of LNG Summit in Seoul on Thursday. (Read on …)

Just reprint Yemeni government propaganda why doncha? China was a main impediment to the UN SC resolution and one reason for its weakness. More below the fold on an upcoming report by Jamal Benomar, the UN”s Special Advisor on Yemen.

Yemen not in power vacuum as President Saleh in Riyadh for treatment: minister
English.news.cn 2011-08-05

SANAA, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) — The Yemeni Minister of Legal Affairs Rashad al-Rassas said on Friday that President Ali Abdullah Saleh is in Saudi Arabia for treatment and there will be no power vacuum in the country.

“The allegations circulated by the opposition that Saleh’s presidential term has constitutionally expired and the country is in power vacuum after Saleh has been treated abroad for two months are baseless and has no constitutional context,” al-Rassas was quoted by the official Saba news agency as saying. (Read on …)

Update: Saleh refuses GCC initiative to mediate a peaceful exit, says its unconstitutional, this coming from a war criminal who hasn’t obeyed a law in…ever.

The GCC Saudi Initiative

1) President Saleh to announce to step down and transfer his powers to his deputy.

2) emphasis on ensuring safety and the lack of any prosecution of him and all his relatives and the Elements of the system.

3) to form a government of national unity to have the mission operation and running of the country for a limited period and to prepare for a referendum on the constitution and parliamentary and presidential elections and may also form committees as it deems necessary.

4) If this initiative to be approved by all parties then all are invited to Riyadh to sign it and begin its implementation immediately.

In the same context, the GCC sources said that the GCC mediation recognizes and understands the importance of the need to contain the aspirations of the initiative of all parties of Yemen, led by young people, which Saleh leave/Departure is their main demands.
(Read on …)

Just as al Ailami predicted, the shipload of Chinese weapons imported by the Defense Ministry for the Houthi rebels moved next to Sudan, in theory not offloaded in Yemen. Yemen Gazette:

HODEIDA, 30 Oct — The Chinese vessel laden with weapons that was imported by tribal chieftain and arms dealer, Sheik Hadi Mothana has left the port of Hodeida back to China without off loading its cargo, the independent website, Marib Press said on Friday, adding “the Chinese ship arrived in Sudan where it off loaded oil drilling equipment it was carrying and has started sailing back to China.” Other conflicting reports said President Saleh had met with Sheik Hadi Mothana and agreed to allow the ministry of defense to buy the shipment. The ministry of defense has denied any ties to the shipment and Mothana said he has “solid evidence the government has asked for the cargo.

They’re all swooning in shock that the Yemeni Defense Ministry is selling arms to the Houthi rebels, its hysterical. Arming the rebel force for profit is a good example of a) how the extreme criminalization of the Yemeni government leads to irrational outcomes, b) the war economy perpetuating the war and c) increasing factionalization of the Yemeni government.

Yemen Today: Meanwhile, Brigadier General Ali Muhsen al-Ahmar called for investigations into the Chinese arms shipment seized in the port city of Hodeida two weeks ago. The government had said the shipment entered the country using forged documents and published a black list of arms dealers but the agent of the Chinese company in Yemen, Sheik Hadi Mothana Monday told reporters the “papers of the shipment are not forged and I have a solid proof.”

In related news, the independent website, Marib Press Monday talked about a “second black list of arms dealers,” adding “the Chinese arms shipment could expose many senior officials in the government who are involved in arming the Shiite rebels if an investigation was opened,” and quoted security officials as saying “the Shiite insurgents get their weapons from the arms depots of the ministry of defense.”

More details at the Yemen Observer: (Read on …)

Update: Parliament questions al Alimi who says maybe the ship went to Somalia and the weapons will be smuggled to Yemen from there.

Original Post: Actually it makes as much sense one way or the other, whether the shipment from Faris Manna (and the Defense Ministry) ultimately goes to the rebels or al Qaeda. I wrote in 2005 that Yemen was a primary weapons supplier to jihaddi groups all over the region- from Saudi to Gaza and lots of places in Africa. Later the Yemeni government promised (!!) to stop using brokers to buy and sell weapons. It was a big announcement, warmly welcomed by the US. But like nearly every and all announcements by the Yemeni regime, it lacked substance.

Following up on our earlier post, about Sa’ada mediator Faris Manna importing a shipload of Chinese weapons with forged documements from Yemen’s Defense Ministry: they can’t find the ship. Its in the port, left the port or never entered the port, one of those.

Yemen Post The debate over a suspected ship carrying Chinese-made weapons anchored in the port of Hodeida province in western Yemen heated up on Wednesday, with Parliament setting a deadline of next Monday for the government to submit a comprehensive report on the ship. (Read on …)

And its a darned good question. Follow up to the story: Yemen appoints weapons smuggler as governmental peace negotiator and gets mad when he sells the rebels a ship load of Chinese arms using “forged” documents from the Defense Ministry.

Sahwa Net – Over 29 MPs demanded in a parliamentary session held on Sunday to summon the defense minister Mohamad Nasser Mohammad to ask him about a Chinese ship loaded with weapons held in Hodeida airport. (ed- Earlier reports said it sailed away but apparently its still there.)

A Russian TV channel said that the ship belongs to Faris Mana’a, brother of Saada governor. (Read on …)

A ship seized in Yemen’s port of Hodeidah was importing weapons from China for the Houthi rebels with “false documents” from the Defense Ministry. Are things really that lax that any yo-yo can show up and buy a shipload of weapons with a forged document? Perhaps all weapon sales to Yemen should be scrutinized for similar fraud.

Is the Yemeni administration so corrupt that aspects of the military are selling weapons to their adversaries in the midst of a war? Undoubtedly. The military is so corrupt that sometimes al Qaeda trains inside military camps (less obvious from the air) and military commanders oversee logistics for would be jihaddists. There’s an al Qaeda safe house in President Saleh’s village with a bus that runs to a nearby training camp.

The cargo was not confiscated, and the ship left the port likely bound for buyers in Somalia. The sequence of events led MP’s to wonder who was behind the shipment (hidden hands behind the state is the phrase) and if it was possible that the government appointed mediator was also the rebels’ supplier. Ya think?

The recent “blacklisting” of President Saleh’s ally, weapons dealer and government mediator, Faris Manna makes a little more sense now as a fit of pique, but the war economy is well entrenched. The perpetrators of organized criminal activity in Yemen often operate under official cover. For more on Yemen’s weapons smuggling, see my category proliferation.

YO: Security authorities sabotaged an attempt by arms dealers to enter a large amount of ammunition imported from China, through forged official documents. The dealers are being investigated in preparation for trial. The deal was done through forged documents on behalf of the Yemeni Ministry of Defense and it included a large amount of old manufactured ammunition, said security sources.

The GPC’s al Motamar reports: Official sources last Monday affirmed that concerned authorities in Yemen foiled an attempt of entering a shipment of munitions some weapon merchants to import from China with forged official documents , pointing out that security investigations were conducted with eh involved persons prior to stand trial.

(Read on …)