Untrue: dont make me dig up dates. I dont mean the 2002 scuds either.
WSJ A diplomat at the Yemeni Embassy in Washington said Yemen’s former government purchased Scud missiles from North Korea in the 1990s, but said there is no more military cooperation with Pyongyang.
A compilation post, a bit more detail on this in an article I wrote for the Yemen Times in December. The VOA article is very good:
VOA: UN Warns of Ties Between Lawless Groups in Somalia and Yemen
For years, criminals have used ports in the Arab world’s poorest country, Yemen, as staging areas for trafficking humans, drugs, and weapons. There are growing fears that criminal groups in Yemen and pirate gangs in Somalia are moving closer together, further complicating international efforts to stabilize the region.
A finger in every pot. The Israelis have been saying for years that weapons from Yemen, smuggled with the awareness of authorities, are a source of weapons for Hamas. Yemen is also the major supplier of weapons to Somalia including Shabab and other jihaddi groups in the region.
JP: The latest reports of an alleged IAF strike on a Hamas arms convoy in Sudan draw attention to an arms network running from Iran, via the Persian Gulf and Yemen to Sudan, Egypt, and Hamas-ruled Gaza. The existence of this network has been noted by analysts in the past. It forms part of a larger, overt, close relationship maintained by both Iran and Hamas with the regime of Omar al-Bashir in Khartoum.
Sahwa Net - Israeli security sources have said that Mossad could have intelligences that the arms recently destroyed in Sudan were transferred from Iran to Yemen and from Yemen to Sudan later , according to al-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper .
A convoy of trucks in Sudan which were believed to be carrying arms were bombed by Israeli warplanes in January
Russia is Yemen’s biggest creditor by far.
President Saleh’s recent visit to Russia raised a great deal of media fuss and this fuss was associated with the nature of the visit. The official media mentioned that Saleh’s visit was meant for canceling Yemen’s debts as well as the economic cooperation, while the international media revealed that Yemen signed weapons deals at billions of US Dollars. This was later affirmed by the official media as they revealed that the country signed a four-billion dollar weapons deal, the biggest deal ever.
Again? Did this happen last month or is it a new confrontation between the Coast Guard and the Border Guard? Its a current article, so maybe its a second occurence.
Sahwa Net – Confrontations have erupted between border guards and coast guards in Lohia district ,Hodaida, as coast guards conducted check campaign on boats suspected that they were carried with smuggled commodities.
Local sources said clashes broke out when border guards prevented coast guards from checking fishing boats in Lohia .
The source explained that border guards harbored smugglers , pointing out that trafficking is carried out regularly as border guards protect smugglers.
Yemen Post has more: (Read on …)
The US and counter-piracy coalition noticed the substantial support for Somalia piracy coming from Yemen. And it is substantial, including weapons, diesel, use of territorial waters, phone service, ship coordinates etc. Earlier the UN monitoring group noted the nexus of piracy, human smuggling from Somalia to Yemen and the weapons smuggling from Yemen to Somalia on the return trip. The US Admiral is careful to make the point that the support is coming from private individuals, when actually all substantial criminal networks in Yemen are tied to the highest levels of the Yemeni regime. The US hopes for Yemeni governmental support in diminishing logistical aid to the pirates.
The Economist notes the enmeshing of criminal gangs and Mukallah’s importance in particular: It is said that pirates from Somalia and Yemen have now teamed up with smuggling gangs elsewhere in Africa to conduct illicit trade through Yemeni ports such as Mukalla and Belhaf with coalition force having only occasional success, piracy is plainly spreading more widely across the Indian Ocean.
Good. We noted that Mukallah port was an important entry point for drugs and exit point for weapons in 2005: One regionally destabilizing regime activity is drug smuggling. A variety of illegal drugs are smuggled via the Indian Ocean into the southern Yemeni governate of Hadramawt. The drugs are then transported inland to Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States under the supervision of a close relative of the president who is also responsible for the governmental security apparatus, a well informed former regime official reported.
The 10 tons of hashish was coming in through Mukallah. I noted in the Yemen Times that Makallah is not under the authority of the Coast Guard yet:
Increased activity by the Yemeni Coast Guard between Aden and al Mukalla impacted arms shipments from ports in the patrolled areas. However, the monitoring group found that the lack of regular patrols in al Mukalla “means that arms traffic continues unabated.” The group recommended capacity building programs for the Coast Guard and direct naval interdiction.
Yemen’s coast line extends 1906 km. The Coast Guard, created in 2003, is working towards taking control of Mocha and al Mukalla from the military. The Republican Guard and Central Security forces have authority at ports where the Coast Guard has limited presence.
The Republican Guard is under the direction of Prince Ahmed and the Central Security is under Yahya Saleh, the “close presidential relative” referenced in the 2005 article above. The US says the logistical support for the pirates is undertaken by private individuals. ,
Reuters The international community should work with Yemen to stop its people supplying Somali pirates who are disrupting lucrative international shipping routes, a senior U.S. admiral said on Monday. Somali pirates, who have disrupted lucrative international shipping trade, are getting fuel and engine parts from individuals in Yemen, Admiral Mark Fitzgerald, a Nato commander and the top U.S naval officer for Africa, told Reuters….”The fuel for instance, is coming from Yemen, a lot of the logistic supplies, things like motor boat engines (too)… And so we just need work with the government there to start tightening up controls,” Fitzgerald said.
“Its (support) not from the Yemen government, its from people in Yemen,” Fitzgerald said on the sidelines of an African naval conference in Cape Town, without giving further details.
JPost: The Grad-model Katyusha rockets that were fired into Beersheba on Wednesday were manufactured in China and smuggled into Gaza after the Sinai border wall was blown up by Hamas in January, defense officials said…
The four rockets that hit Beersheba this week were filled with metal balls that can scatter up to 100 meters from the impact site, officials said. These rockets have also been fired into Ashkelon and Ashdod.
The three countries that manufacture Grad-model Katyushas are China, Russia and Bulgaria. Defense officials told The Jerusalem Post the rockets were smuggled into Gaza in the 12 days after Hamas blew a hole in the border wall between Gaza and Egypt on January 23.
“Huge quantities of weaponry were smuggled into Gaza then from above ground, including the Grad rockets,” an official said, adding that even after the border wall was sealed, Hamas continued to smuggle the long-range rockets into Gaza via tunnels under the Philadelphi Corridor.
From China, the rockets make several stops before reaching Gaza. In many cases, officials said, they are bought by Iran or Hizbullah and then transferred to Sinai.
In some instances, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) has learned of weapons that came from Yemen and Eritrea, were moved to Sudan, then north to Egypt, and finally smuggled into Gaza.
Yemen, US discuss ports security
Minister of Transport Khalid al-Wazir discussed here on Monday with Deputy Chief of U.S. Mission to Yemen Angie Bryan coordinating efforts between the two countries in field of ports’ security.The meeting dealt with exchanging visits between the two friendly countries and how the Yemeni part could availing from the American experiences in fields of maritime transport and ports security.
Good! After they finish discussing weapons smuggling to Somalia, maybe they can ask Saleh’s nephew to shut down that dock that recieves the drugs.
What the article says is that a governmental field team monitoring prices discovered nine gun shops, and notified authorities. There’s probably a lot more than nine in the capital. (And it is not certain they will be closed.) The markets are still open around the country because many (most?) of the large gun shops are partially owned by the “influential people”.
Its hard to say what exactly happened to the 200,000 weapons confiscated by the regime since July 2007. We know repetitive explosions at ammo dumps supposedly took thousands off the market, but its an incredible story. The main problem with the gun ban is that is does not control the supply of weapons into the country, which is managed by major dealers partnered with high regime officials. Like Faris Manna who is reported to be partners with Field Marshal Saleh. Other weapons “drop off” from military stocks. Gun smuggling to both Somalia and Saudi Arabia is widespread and regionally destabilizing.
That being said, the gun ban has reduced deaths and injuries substantially.
9 stores found selling weapons and munitions in Sana’a
SABA
SANA’A, Jan. 07 (Saba) - Governmental field committees entrusted with monitoring prices have found 9 stores in Sana’a selling weapons and ammunitions.A report by the committees noted that while on a mission to monitor prices at stores throughout the capital, they found nine shops in the Arhab district selling light rifles, pistols and grenades as
well as munitions.The committees urged security authorities to immediately take necessary measures and close the stores as the trade of weapons affect national security.
Yemen the main source of illegal arms to Somalia: UN
———————————————-
Jane Novak for the Yemen Times
SANA’A, Dec. 27— A UN investigation found Yemen is the primary source of arms and ammunition to Somalia which has been under an arms embargo since 1992. The panel of independent experts monitoring the embargo also reported arms smuggling from Yemen intersects with acts of piracy and human trafficking. The findings were presented in a December 10 report to the UN Security Council.
The report notes commercial weapons imports from Yemen supply Somali retail markets as well as opposition and criminal groups. The Yemeni government’s inability to stem the large scale arms trafficking is “a key obstacle to the restoration of peace and security to Somalia,” the panel found. The UN Security Council extended the monitoring group’s mandate for another year.
Yemen plans to refute the charges. SABA news agency dubbed the report “misleading” and noted that “smuggling weapons is sometimes associated with the arriving of displaced Somalis.” A Foreign Ministry statement said that one million Somali refugees in Yemen create an economic burden that “sometimes leads to social, security and health repercussions.” Nearly 50,000 Somali refugees made the maritime crossing to Yemen in 2008, authorities reported.
In prior years, about 30,000 Somalis migrated annually.
The UN report ties together weapons smuggling, human trafficking and piracy, noting some small boats used in acts of piracy also “move refugees and economic migrants from Somalia to Yemen, bringing arms and ammunition on the return journey,” Piracy in the waters between Yemen and Somalia spiked dramatically with over 100 pirate attacks and over 40 vessels captured by pirates this year. The authorities in Puntland and Somaliland told the UN monitoring group that “maritime traffic from Yemen, across the Gulf of Aden, remains their largest single source of arms.” Weapons purchased in Yemen are also smuggled to insurgent groups in Ethiopia, the investigation found. One intercepted shipment included 101 anti-tank mines, 100 hand grenades, 170 rocket-propelled grenade-7 rounds, and 170 boxes of 7.62 mm ammunition.
Increased activity by the Yemeni Coast Guard between Aden and al Mukalla impacted arms shipments from ports in the patrolled areas. However, the monitoring group found that the lack of regular patrols in al Mukalla “means that arms traffic continues unabated.” The group recommended capacity building programs for the Coast Guard and direct naval interdiction.
Yemen’s coast line extends 1906 km. The Coast Guard, created in 2003, is working towards taking control of Mocha and al Mukalla from the military. The Republican Guard and Central Security forces have authority at ports where the Coast Guard has limited presence. The Coast Guard has nine operational ships in a fleet of 15, and only two with deep water capacity.
Inadequate funding is an obstacle to increased capacity, Coast Guard Commander Ali Ahmed Ras’ee said in May.
The US provides some operational and training support and in 2004 donated seven patrol boats. With Italian financing, the Italian firm SELEX is implementing a coastal radar system that will eventually cover 450km of coast line including hot spots for piracy and smuggling.
Responding to the UN report, the Foreign Ministry said, “Yemen reiterates its readiness to cooperate with the UN and all regional concerned parties to fight piracy and all forms of weapon smuggling, the issues resulted due to the situation in Somalia where there is not a central government.”
Yemen has the second most heavily armed citizenry per capita after the United States. In August 2007, authorities implemented a ban against carrying weapons in cities and have confiscated over 150,000 weapons since the program began. Over 200 weapons shops were also closed.
Weapons smuggling from Yemen to Saudi Arabia is also a concern. In July, Saudi Arabia announced that in a three month period, border guards confiscated over a ton of explosives and a large number of arms including 13 rocket-propelled grenades, 99 sticks of dynamite, 100 fuses, 12 detonators, more than 100 guns and 15,000 cartridges.
The UN monitoring group on the 1992 arms embargo on Somalia finds “Yemen remains the most important source of commercial arms transfers to Somalia.”
One shipment for the ONLF in Ethiopia contained 101 anti-tank mines, 100 hand grenades, 170 rocket-propelled grenade-7 rounds, and 170 boxes of 7.62 mm ammunition, each containing 440 rounds. The mines were packed in rice sacks from a company in Sana’a. The same boats that bring the migrants bring back weapons and are involved in piracy.
143. Not surprisingly, there appears to be an intersection between piracy and other
criminal activities, such as arms trafficking and human trafficking, both of which
involve the movement of small craft across the Gulf of Aden. One sub-group of the
Puntland network, based in the Bari region, allegedly uses the same boats employed
for piracy to move refugees and economic migrants from Somalia to Yemen,
bringing arms and ammunition on the return journey.
Of course, commercial weapons trafficing in Yemen is often sponsored by those in official positions. The purported largest weapons dealers (for example, Faris Manna, Regent Street, Sana’a) are said to be partners with some very top officials (Salah & family). This is part of the reason the military budget is so high. Not only is this hooked in with piracy and refugee smuggling but also drug and oil smuggling. Its John Gotti with an air force.
Report text below the fold: (Read on …)
March 09, WI
Beyond small arms, Israeli intelligence estimates that some 250 tons of explosives, 80 tons of fertilizer, 4000 rocket-propelled grenades, and 1800 rockets were transported from Egypt to Gaza from September 2005 to December 2008…According to Israeli assessments, the arms-smuggling network is directed by Hamas offices in Damascus and aided by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which provides the majority of the weaponry. The arms travel overland to Egypt, through a variety of routes that cross Yemen, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and South Africa and eventually meet in Sudan, where they are moved to Egypt’s Sinai desert. After the materiel enters the Sinai, it is transferred into Gaza via tunnels underneath the “Philadelphia Corridor,” the Gaza-Egypt border that runs through the city of Rafah. Less frequently, arms are moved to Gaza via the Mediterranean Sea: the weapons are deposited in waterproof barrels submerged below the surface and tied to buoys eventually retrieved by fishermen.
That’s hysterical! Kim Jung Il says Yemen’s example of the domination of South Yemen is the one he wants to follow in the re-unification of North and South Korea. When the one of the most totalitarian regimes on earth praises you as an example, things aren’t going well. But probably the Yemeni delegation is just buying more missiles.
Yemen’s unity an example to follow: WPK
Monday, 01-December-2008
Almotamar.net - Talks have been held in the Korean capital Pyong Yang on Sunday between the General People’s Congress GPC, the ruling party in Yemen and the Workers Party of Korea in which the two parties discussed different issues related to developing relation between the two parties, exchange of viewpoints in political aspects and stands towards international issues in the way guaranteeing peace and security for all world peoples.The visiting delegation of the GPC, led by Abdullah Ahmed Ghanim, reviewed in the meeting the political and developmental life in Yemen and conveyed greetings of President Ali Abdullah Saleh and the GPC leadership to the Korean President Kim Jung Il and the Korean people, confirming Yemen’s support for the efforts exerted for unification of the Korean nation.
The Korean party expressed their appreciation of Yemen’s support, government and people, for efforts aimed at realisation of reunification of Korea, considering Yemen’s unity an example to follow suite.
The GPC delegation chaired by Head of the Political Office , the member of the General Committee Abdullah Ghanim and membership of the Head of the Information Office Tareq al-Shamy and Mujib al-Anisi , Deputy Head of the Political Office had left for the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea last Tuesday.
Do they really have money for more weapons purchases? The rationalization of the government budget is not going well I see. Its about 7% of GDP on military and less than 2% on health care. (And even what is spent on health care is largely stolen and sold. )
Yemen, China discuss security cooperation
[11 November 2008]
SANA’A, Nov.11 (Saba) - Yemen and China held Tuesday talks on the aspects of security cooperation between the Interior Ministry and the Chinese company Chin Shida specialized in the exportation of military and security products.
Deputy Interior Minister Saleh al-Zawari affirmed here with assistant director of the Chinese company the importance of developing the bilateral cooperation between the two countries in areas of security cooperation.
Update: from the Yemen Times:
In Yemen, the Chinese firms started their businesses in 1956 with the construction of Sana’a-Hodeida Highway. And, during the time period (1979 – 1995), nearly 12 Chinese construction contractors implemented projects in Yemen. In the final days of 1995, China signed contracts with Yemeni firms for a total value of $ 800 million, and currently there are more than 16 giant firms in Yemen.
from Russia, Yemen Post
Yemen announced that it will postpone the regional summit for fighting piracy, which was planned to be held in Sana’a next week. Participating countries were expected to sign a memorandum of understanding for mutual cooperation between them in fighting piracy.
From his part, Minster of Transportation, Khalid Al-Wazir, told media outlets that the postponing came in response to the Regional Center for Combating Piracy request, adding that the summit will be held later this year.
Al-Wazir assured that Yemen will establish a center in Sana’a for monitoring ships in collaboration with 20 countries and International Maritime Organization.
In the meantime, seven military ships from six different countries have headed to Bab Al-Mandab Strait and Gulf of Aden in a mission to fight Somali pirates, and to protect trade ships and fisheries from pirates operations, whose attacks have risen over the last few months, especially in the international waters between Yemen and Somalia.
This comes within the country’s efforts to restrict piracy activities targeting ships off Yemen’s coasts, especially in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean.
Piracy activities have long been a headache for international navigation in the Gulf of Aden, which is one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes and connects Asia and Europe.
A Yemeni official who preferred not to reveal himself, told a Chinese agency that president Saleh’s visit to regional countries came as the result of the Yemeni government’s worry for business ships that pass by the Gulf of Aden.
The sudden movement by regional countries came after pirate’s hijacked a Ukrainian ship that was believed to be carrying seven tankers. Further, pirates warned that they would explode the ship if procedures were taken against them.
Sources who asked to be left anonymous mentioned to the Yemen Post that the tanks that were on the Ukrainian ship were on their way to Yemen, and were part of the military agreement signed between Russia and Yemen.
Chairman of the Russian Federation Council Mrs. Sergey Meronof said last Friday while visiting Yemen that her country intends to send more military ships soon to free the Ukrainian ship if needed.
Increased Russian Naval Presence, Increased Use of Yemen’s Ports for Military and other Goals
Russia could resume naval presence in Yemen
SANA, October 16 (RIA Novosti) - The speaker of Russia’s upper house of parliament said on Thursday that Russia could resume a naval presence in Yemen.
Authorities in the Middle East country are calling on Moscow to help fight piracy and possible terrorist threats. The U.S.S.R. had a major naval base in the former socialist state of South Yemen, which merged with North Yemen in 1990 to form the present-day Yemen.
Speaking to journalists in Sana, the capital of Yemen, Federation Council Speaker Sergei Mironov said the new direction of Russia’s foreign and defense policies and an increase in its naval missions would be taken into consideration when making a decision on the request.
“It’s possible that the aspects of using Yemen ports not only for visits by Russian warships, but also for more strategic goals will be considered,” he said.
Most of the arms dealers were released after signing a pledge
Almotamar.net - Interior Minister General Mutahar Rashad al-Misri revealed that security authorities on Tuesday seized 3 million and 700 thousand intoxicating pills and managed during the first half of this year 18 tons of drugs, saying it was a quantity enough to destroy the entire youth of the Arab homeland.
Minister al-Misri also said the security authorities also managed to capture the terrorist cell that was sending threatening messages to some embassies in Yemen. In addition, security authorities were able to carry out the campaign of prohibiting weapons and the closure of 230 shops for selling arms and munitions. They detained 270 arms dealers in a number of governorates.
RIYADH (AFP) — Saudi border guards have seized almost a tonne of explosives and large quantities of arms and drugs on Yemen’s border over the past three months, making hundreds of arrests, Okaz newspaper said on Saturday.
The paper, quoting the guards, said 13 hand- and rocket-propelled grenades, 99 sticks of dynamite, 100 fuses, 12 detonators, more than 100 guns and 15,000 cartridges figured in the seizures.
Okaz praised security guards for their vigilance which had prevented the weapons and drugs from falling into the hands of “terrorists and other elements seeking to destabilise” the Saudi kingdom.
As many as 800 suspected arms and drugs dealers were arrested over the same period, along with 83 illegal immigrants, the report said.
Some 1,600 kilograms (2,640 pounds) of hashish, two million amphetamine pills and 280 bottles of alcohol, which is banned in the ultra-conservative Muslim country, were also seized.
Interior Ministry releases detained weapon dealers
Saturday, 12-July-2008
Almotamar.net - Yemen’s Ministry of Interior on Saturday released all merchants of weapon it has arrested in its campaign carried out by security authorities for closing own shops trading with weapons. The shops included in the campaign amounted to 234 until the end of last week.
Security sources said instructions of the Interior Ministry decided to keep weapons shops closed and continue the seizure of the weapons it captured in the campaign that covered all governorates of Yemen until to decide what to do about them later.The Security Information Centre at the Ministry of interior sad that Ministry released weapons merchants after they submitted written pledges of not practicing again this type of activity that is violating the law and their pledge to report to security authorities whenever they are requested.
Capture of 11 persons wanted by security, foiling a shipment of weapons for rebels
Saturday, 14-June-2008
Almotamar.net - It has been learned on Saturday that security authorities arrested Friday four persons of those on a list of wanted by security in the capital and the governorate of Sana’a. Meanwhile, security authorities were able to abort transportation of quantities of arms to the insurgents before reaching them. Thus the number of the caught persons wanted by security rose to eleven. Security men announced Friday they had 7 other wanted persons for security cases, among them two of the most dangerous elements of insurgent al-Houthi arrested in Marib governorate.Information centre of the Interior Ministry mentioned that security authorities in Sabeen district, in the capital have captured Mohammed Ahmed al-Dailami, 24, who is on the wanted list and caught in Bani Hushaish area, Sana’a governorate, Abdullah Mohammed al-Qaili, Ahmed Yahya Uthman al-Wazir and Abdullah Ali Saleh al-Bahr on charge of their affiliation to insurgency and sabotage and all of them were sent to for facing security measures.
Security authorities on Thursday caught vehicle carrying ammunition consisting of different calibers of bullets and arrested the three persons who were in the vehicle. Primary investigations disclosed that the amount of ammunition was bound to elements of insurgency.
In Shabwa governorate security men caught another vehicle carrying three persons and in their possession one-hundred cases machine-gun ammunition in addition to 10 pieces of weapons of which they claimed they had bought at he black-market in Albaidha governorate.
Of course Saleh was in on it.
Possible Yemeni Breaches of UN Sanctions
2001: Government of Yemen Offers to supply Military Goods to Iraq
Recovered documents refer to the Yemen Ambassador meeting with the Iraqi military to discuss a list of guaranteed military materials. According to the documents, the President of Yemen gave his blessing to support the effort to supply military goods to Iraq.A letter from the Iraqi Defense Minister Sultan Hashem Ahmed dated 23 March 2001 speaks of a meeting with the Republic of Yemen’s Ambassador, Mr. Abid Al-Malek Saeed. The letter states that Yemen had been helping the Iraqi Armed forces through a Yemeni business-man named Mr. Shaher Abid Al Haqq.
Reference is given to a meeting held 19 February 2001, were the Yemeni side was ready to export military materials from Yemen and Ethiopia to Iraq. The letter indicates the President of Yemen, Ali Abid Allah Salah, gave his blessing to the deal and that the Iraqis were given guarantees for the spare parts. These parts were specifically drawn from the stocks of the Yemeni armed forces, air force, army aviation and included armor, trucks, and weapons.
A follow-up meeting was held on 22 March 2001, which included the Yemeni Ambassador and Mr. Al-Haqq. Al-Haqq and the Ambassador provided the Iraqi military with a list of guaranteed available military materials and prices. Al-Haqq also revealed that he had met with the President Salah who had given his blessing for these efforts and support. The letter indicates that the President Salah, “believes that the support of Iraq with the proposed exports is necessary” and he had made calls to his brother, an Air Force Commander, asking him to present everything possible to Iraq, even if he has to take supplies from the Yemeni Air Force and ask Russia and others for replacement material.
Arab billionaire’s son: ‘I didn’t kill party girl’
Source: Metro
Tuesday, March 25, 2008- The son of an Arab billionaire businessman who left Britain hours before a Norwegian friend was found dead has denied killing her.
Yemen, Syria discuss preparations for joint committee meetings
SANA’A, March 23 (Saba) - Prime Minister Ali Mujawar and Syrian ambassador to Yemen Abdul Ghafor Sabouni discussed on Sunday topics related to the upcoming meetings of the Yemeni-Syrian committee to be held here in May co-chairing by the two countries’ premiers.
Mujawar underlined importance of the good preparation for the meetings by the two sides.
The upcoming meetings should focus on the activation of mechanisms of following up what have been realized by the two sides regularly, Mujawar said.
He also stressed necessity of finalizing the procedures pertaining to the joint maritime transport project due to its importance to promote the trade exchange between the two brotherly countries.
For his part, Sabouni said the arrangements for the meetings are going well, pointing out the meetings would deal with several topics topped by the issue of promoting the trade exchange and investment between both countries.
40 year old guy teaching three teen-agers how to use a hand grenade in Sana’a blows himself up, killing one of the teen agrers and wounding two others.
Saba describes it as a friendly Qat session.
26 September Net
SANA’A, (26 September Net0 - A hand grenade exploded in Sana’a on Friday, killing at least two people and wound two others.
Security sources in the capital Sana’a said to 26 September Net that the first victim Foa’ad Saleh Al-Bahloli, the bomb’s owner, aged 40, had taught Ibrahim Hasan Al-Masmari, the second victim, aged 18, how to separate, install and use the bomb in one of Qaa Al-Alifi’s maqi’ils (divan for qat chewing) in the capital Sana’a.
The sources added that the two injured others, Salah Hasan Abdullah, aged 20, and Yousif Hamoud, aged 15, who were among the attendees in the maqi’il, had been wounded on the left shoulders as a result of the bomb’s shatters and be hospitalized to Al-Jumhori hospital.
????
(Excuse me if I think something may be up here. The recent weapons to Somalia were delivered by government aircraft. I get a little skeptical at claims of outright altruism.)
26 Sept
Yemeni plane have been arrived to Chad before last hours carrying aids and relief materials, while another plane will head to Sudan during coming few hours carrying relief materials and aids for the affected by the current events as a result of war erupted between the two countries.The two planes included foodstuff, medical materials, clothes, etc. as expression of Yemeni people’s feelings towards the refugees in those areas to mitigate their suffers as a result of armed clashes sparked between the two countries.
Just missing the antiquities Yemen Observer:
Yemen and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s (KSA) security forces seized a large amount of drugs at the Arabian Sea on its way to be smuggled to the KSA on a boat coming from Pakistan last Tuesday, said security sources.
Security sources said that the joint security operations in the two countries resulted after numerous sailors were apprehended in possession of contraband.
In the beginning of February, Yemen and Saudi joint forces arrested a major international gang involved in producing counterfeit money, and drug dealing. Sources told the Sep 26 website that the members of the gang are from Yemen, Saudi, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Kenya, and that members of the gang were arrested In Sana’a, Aden, and Jeddah, possessing large amounts of drugs and counterfeit money. They were able to phish approximately million Saudi Rial into banks.
SANA’A, March 2 — Two men, Abdi Othman Soli, 28, a Danish citizen of Somali origin, and Abdullah Awadh Al-Masri, 37, a Yemeni national, were found not guilty this week of smuggling weapons to Somalia in 2006. However, the court gave Al-Masri a three-year prison sentence for other charges such as working with and providing shelter for Al-Qaeda operatives and illegal weapons trading.
Among other accusations, the two suspects were tried for smuggling anti-aircraft weapons and sniper rifles into Somalia for the Islamic Court, which was waging a coup at the time. Although Soli confessed to the charges, the court ignored his confession, according to the office of the Attorney General.
Besides Soli and Al-Masri, 12 other men, including four Yemenis and eight Western nationals, were arrested at the same time.
At the time of their arrest, Rashad Al-Alimi, Yemen’s Interior Minister, refused to transfer the men to the Guantanamo Bay prison facility and insisted on keeping the suspects in Yemen for trial.
Since the arrest, a German national was released in November 2007 after Yemeni interrogators said he had not been involved in any illegal activities. The other suspects, including three Australians, one British national, one Danish national and one Somali national, stayed in Yemen until they were extradited to their respective countries.
Yes the weapons are still coming in. To tamp down on weapons prevalence requires control of the importation of the weapons and second, an effective police force.
The sale of guns in Yemen continues despite government efforts to close down weapons markets. There are an estimated 60 million guns in the country, which has a population of 18 million. It is traditional for Yemenis to keep a gun at home.
Everything from pistols and rifles to rocket-propelled grenades can be found at the Sanaa arms market. The most popular weapon is the “Russian Ali”. Most of the arms come from Russia and China, according to gun shop owners.
There are no records of who is buying weapons in Yemen as no license is required to own one. Guns are part of the tribal culture and are commonly used to resolve disputes, often causing injury and death. Statistics show that more than 23,000 people were injured or killed by guns between 2004 and 2006 in Yemen.
This video short looks at the effect guns are having on the local population as well as the deaths and injuries caused by them.
I think this is the sixth depot that exploded in the last several years, maybe the fifth. At least three held arms caches.
Sunday, 27-January-2008
almotamar.net - Seven persons got injured in explosion of explosives depot at Souq al-Rabou area in Thamar, three of them seriously injured. Director of criminal investigations in the governorate said security authorities are investigating into causes of the incident.The explosion happened at 11 o’clock before noon of Sunday in a depot using explosives for breaking rocks.
Hodaida’s security operations chief subjected to assassination attempt
January 2, 2008- Security sources told Alsahwa.net that the Hodaida’s security operations chief Bashir Hadad was subjected Wednesday to an assassination attempt in his office.
Furthermore, he was harshly beaten with rifle butts and weapons by a security official along with four soldiers, according to the sources.
“The chief of security operations is currently lying at the Military Hospital to which he was transferred.” they added.
The sources explained that those who carried out the attack today on the security operations chief are the same persons who were charged with attempting to assassinate deputy of the Criminal Investigation last month.
It is noteworthy that this is the second attempt that targeted security leaders within four weeks after smuggled modern weapons which were seized last month were disappeared by security officials.
– Security sources in Hodaida province have said that 25 gunmen from Amran province stormed Hodiada’s security building on Thursday and closed down its gate in new updates of trafficked weapons case .
Officers of Hodaida security expressed surprise as the security authorities have not yet captured the suspects who had tried to assassinate the Hodaida’s security operations chief, Bashir Hadad .
Hodaida’s security operations chief Bashir Hadad was subjected Wednesday to an assassination attempt in his office. He was harshly beaten with rifle butts and weapons by a security official along with four soldiers, according to the sources.
Hadad is currently lying at the Military Hospital to which he was transferred.” they added.
Those who carried out the attack on the security operations chief are the same persons who were charged with attempting to assassinate deputy of the Criminal Investigation, Mohammad al-Maqaleh tasked with investigating of the disappearance of automatic and sophisticated weapons were in way to Saada rebels last month.
The disappearance of automatic and sophisticated weapons had taken considerable attention from the President who authorized the Interior Ministry to form a committee to investigate this serious security issue.
Sana’a, Yemen - At least four people were killed and nine others injured after a powerful explosion rocked an arms market in the northern Yemeni region of Saada Thursday, witnesses said.
Witnesses said the explosion was caused by a cannon shell mishandled by a man trying to sell it at the al-Talh arms market in Saada, some 230 kilometres north of the capital Sana’a.
Al-Talh is the largest arms market in this poor country located at the south-western tip of the Arabian peninsula. Weapons are bought and sold openly in 12 markets and about 300 light weapon shops across the country.
Arms-related crimes have decreased by 60 percent and arms in Yemen have decreased by 80 percent in the past two months due to the campaign to ban the carrying of arms that began on August 23, said Deputy Minister of Interior, Brigadier Mohammed Abdullah al-Qusi last week.
Al-Qusi renewed his call to all citizens to cooperate with security forces and report on any violations of this ban in all governorate capitals. He also praised other groups that are helping to enforce the ban such as the military police and other units.
“According to statistics, we see that the number of arms carried in major cities is decreasing week by week which reflects the level of awareness that citizens have reached in realizing the importance of the ban,” said al-Qusi.
Since the inception of the ban until November 1st, the number of arms confiscated has been more that 45,000.
SANA’A, NewsYemen
The officer Mohammed Ameen al-Maqaleh, head of a committee formed by the Ministry of Interior to investigate smuggling weapons to Africa escaped an assassination attempt on Wednesday official source said.
Security sources accuse an officer involved in smuggling 77 pieces of guns and Kalashnikovs of planning for the assassination attempt.
Sources said that officers and security forces could spoil the attempt, but did not give details.
Security forces spoiled smuggling weapons to an African country days ago and arrested two persons. The African country was not identified.
The assassination attempt came one day after the government ordered to refer all involved in weapons smuggling operations through coasts and land borders to the Public Prosecution and military justice.
They forgot to list the Sa’ada Wars as another instance of land mine use.
74,000 still on hand.
SANA’A, Dec. 2 — An international report complained about a data clash between the number of victims and survivals from mines and explosives left behind from wars in Yemen. The ninth report concluded from the recording sector and land survey for mines that in 2000 there was a total of 4,904 victims because of mines and explosives: 2,560 dead and 2,344 injured.
“The new international report for the assembly in charge of watching over and taking care of mines and explosives, gave its appreciation to authorities in charge of removing mines, and Yemen’s commitment to clearing and dismantling hidden mines. These are the remains of the 1962-1975 war between the Royalists and Republicans, the Sept. 26th revolution against British Occupation in 1963-1967, a war known as the Armed National Battlefront from 1970-1983, and finally the Summer War in 1994.” The report noted.
The report recommended that Yemen commit to dismantling the mines by applying the fourth item, ‘the Mine Ban Treaty’ on the destruction of its stockpile of stored mines in Yemen, which amount to 74,000, recommending that Yemen destroy them by the end of March 2009. (Read on …)
By Adel Al-Malki at the Saudi Gazette
JEDDAH - Some 40 percent of the 208 terror suspects whose arrests were announced by the Ministry of Interior Wednesday were non-Saudis, a security source told the Saudi Gazette Thursday. The source also disclosed that the leader of a group of 18 people planning to smuggle eight missiles into the Kingdom to carry out terrorist operations was a Yemeni national. The Yemeni rocket expert had sneaked into the Kingdom across its southern frontier with Yemen.
Ministry of Interior spokesman Mansour Al-Turki told the Saudi Gazette that the six terror cells busted over a period of time were not linked to each other.
Chinese missles?
RIYADH: A Saudi Arabian newspaper said yesterday that suspected Al-Qaeda terrorists were allegedly able to smuggle eight Chinese-made missiles into the kingdom before they were arrested as part of a terror sweep. The daily Okaz, which is deemed close to the government, quoting unnamed officials as saying militants wanted to use the missiles to allegedly target hotels and other buildings in the kingdom.
The newspaper did not further describe the missiles. The Saudi Interior Ministry last week announced that it made its largest terror sweep to date, arresting 208 Al-Qaeda-linked militants in six separate arrests in recent months. One of the alleged terror cells was led by a non-Saudi missile expert, the ministry said. The ministry said members of that cell were planning to smuggle eight missiles into the kingdom to carry out terrorist operations, but it did not say what kind of missiles or what the targe
ts were.Okaz reported yesterday that the missiles were already inside Saudi Arabia. The newspaper also quoted Interior Ministry spokesman Mansour Al-Turki as saying the leadership of another one of the alleged terror cells was based in another country. Al-Turki did not name the country. Last week, the Interior Ministry said authorities arrested 112 alleged members of that cell during the terror sweep. The ministry said the cell was trying to smuggle men to Iraq and Afghanistan for training, after which they woul
d be brought back to Saudi Arabia to try to carry out attacks in the kingdom. - AP
The report also described the break-up of a second militant cell led by a 37-year-old Yemeni missile experts who had trained fighters in Afghanistan’s famed Al Qaeda affiliated al-Farouq training camp. “The ringleader planned to carry out operations targeting vital institutions in the kingdom and train members of his cell to launch missiles,” said the paper, adding that he planned to leave the country ahead of the operations.
In their initial announcement of the sweeps last week, the Interior Ministry said the attacks were aimed at oil installations in the country’s petroleum-rich east. ap
(CNN) — More than 200 Saudi and foreign militants have been arrested over their alleged involvement in plots that included assassinations and an attack on an oil facility, Saudi officials say.
The arrests took place over the past few months but were kept secret so as not to jeopardize ongoing investigations, a Ministry of the Interior official said Wednesday.
The 208 militants were alleged to be plotting an attack on an oil facility in the Eastern Province, where much of the nation’s oil industry is based, and had set a date for the attack.
Another militant cell is alleged to have planned to assassinate Saudi religious figures and security officials, while a separate cell allegedly planned to smuggle eight shoulder-fired rockets into the kingdom from Yemen for terrorist operations.
The official said 112 of those arrested were “linked in with elements stationed abroad who facilitate the exit and travel of those to conflict zones” such as Iraq.
U.S. military officials have said that Saudis make up the largest contingent of foreign fighters in Iraq, while a Saudi counterterrorism official noted that fighters returning from Iraq to Saudi Arabia represent a “troubling” phenomenon.
Thirty-two individuals — Saudis and non-Saudis — were arrested for allegedly providing financial support to other militants; 16 others were arrested for alleged involvement in the publication of a militant newsletter called Sada Alrafidain.
According to the Saudi counter-terrorism official, the number of arrests is the largest ever announced by the ministry.
The Saudi official said the Saudi government released the information before the Hajj pilgrimage season, when 2 million pilgrims travel to the holy sites of Mecca and Medina, in order “to alert the public of the ongoing threat to security in the kingdom.”
Its time to go high tech.
Now Saudi Arabia, like India, is building not one, but two separate border fences on different fronts. The first is on its southern border and is intended to try and get its illegal immigration of 400,000 people a year from neighboring Yemen under control. The second, far more ambitious one, is along the Saudi border with Iraq and is an attempt to prevent Islamist extremists in Iraq, both Sunni and Shiite, from exporting their violence and doctrines back into Saudi Arabia.
However, modern barriers are not just about orders for barbed wire and concrete: They are also about night-vision enhancers and sensors, and every kind of high-tech electronic gadgetry to detect explosives, weapons, drugs and whatever else terrorist organizations and drug gangs try to get across closely monitored borders.
Thats good news.
7000 pieces of weapons seized and prevented in 20 days
Friday, 14-September-2007
almotamar.net - A security source at the interior ministry of Yemen affirmed Friday that the ongoing campaign on weapons in the capital Sana’a and provincial capitals had led to curb the acts of land illegal seizure by 80% since the beginning of the interior ministry application of its decision of preventing entrance of weapons to Sana’a and provincial capitals on 23 of last August.
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