Armies of Liberation

According to Mareb Press, Saudi Arabia withdrew its objection to sending Ali Abdullah Saleh to the UN’s ICC, and King Abdullah called for Saleh’s departure, an excellent development. But there’s nothing in the western media about the call.

Diplomatic sources said that the Saudi monarch King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz told Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh in a telephone conversation with him yesterday he ’should be giving up’ for power after a bloody confrontation with all the Al Ahmar in Sana’a during the last few days…The sources added that the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council yesterday decided to take a complete file of Yemen to the UN Security Council to take decisive action shifting to Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh on the authority immediately after the GCC states has made strenuous efforts to persuade him to do so during the last period.

I have the documentation and a timeline of Saleh’s violations of international law. The year 2005 alone is enough to convict Saleh of crimes against humanity. 2009 was another doozy between crimes against the southerners and in Saada. Bringing Saleh to the ICC is an important development that will foster national cohesion, as it is the Southerners’ long standing demand and will broaden national understanding of crimes in the south as well as Saada. The hundreds killed in recent protests and financial crimes are additional topics.

A trial balloon? Pressure tactic? al Masdar reports the information came from a Saudi TV talk show and has not been announced in the official Saudi media. Al Arabyia is reporting it now as well.

(Read on …)

Saleh was never going to honor the GCC plan anyway, and his balking at leaving the country is reasonable (there very well could be a coup) and another tactic to encourage yet more concessions and reset the clock.

CNN: Yemen’s president says he won’t leave the country to sign a hard-fought political deal because he fears his departure could spark a coup, a senior ruling party official told CNN on Saturday.

The stance threatens to collapse an agreement brokered by the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council to end the violent political standoff across Yemen, still reeling this week from one of the deadliest days in months of protests that have pitted demonstrators against President Ali Abdullah Saleh. (Read on …)

They decline to attend talks in Riyadh. Saleh and Ali Mohsen accept the proposal for dialog, the US and EU support the idea, the JMP and the protesters reject it. If the JMP had gone to Riyadh, they would have lost all credibility with the protesters. Its unclear what the JMP are going to do after the two weeks when Saleh is still in power. Whatever promises the GCC extracts from Saleh will be broken. Furthermore the exclusion of the southern mobility from the whole process is a big mistake.

AJE Yemen’s opposition has set a two-week deadline for President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step aside, rejecting a Saudi-brokered, Gulf-backed initiative to end the country’s political turmoil.

“We have renewed our emphasis on the need for speeding the process of (Saleh) standing down within two weeks. Therefore we will not go to Riyadh,” Mohammed al-Mutawakkil, a prominent opposition leader, said on Thursday, referring to the proposed talks in the Saudi capital.

This comes a day after five people were killed in the Yemeni capital Sanaa as forces loyal to a defected army general and pro-government fighters clashed, Al Jazeera’s correspondents said. (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 …)

The Yemeni DOD’s 26 Sept website is down, and mine and the dozens of Yemeni news sites blocked for years (including the newly blocked al Masdar) are accessible again from within Yemen. In 2008 everything was unblocked for a week while they upgraded and expanded the censorship software. I thought this was the precursor to the regime taking down twitter and facebook, as opposed to, you know, Saleh allowing more political space. Odd 26 Sept is down when the independent sites are are. But its lovely what ever it is, for as long as it lasts. Update: 26 Sept back up and I’ll probably be re-blocked soon. But Yemen has strong traditional communications methods as a result of the lack of electricity, roads and internet, so I don’t think it will impact the protest movement even if they cut the net entirely. Update 2: The www.26sep,net is wobbling as I’m reading it, losing parts and coming up again. Really bizarre. Also the sites that were open are now closing in Yemen. Gotta be an upgrade.

Regional: Syria is waking up a tad but there’s still a lot of understandable fear. The Omani protests seem to have petered out. Libya is not looking good with the murderous lunatic Qaddafi retaking many towns. The no-fly zone is not established. Hamas harassed protesters in Gaza and confiscated cameras. With Saudi sending a thousand troops into Bahrain, and the imposition of martial law there, the democracy dominoes are shifting in the other direction. It will be up to Yemeni protesters to keep going as external momentum diminishes if thats what it comes to. But they are taking down chunks of the regime daily.

This is a follow up to our earlier post regarding Yemeni political prisoners in Saudi Arabia: YCFHR: Saudi Arabia imprisons Yemenis since Saada War # 6

Name: Muhammad Qasim Kibsi
Nationality: Yemeni
Age: 23 years
Place of Arrest: Investigation Riyadh – Saudi Arabia.
Date of Arrest: 2010
Accusation: political – sympathy with the rebels in Saada Houthis.
(traveled from Sanaa to deal with his sick mother with cancer in the blood in hospitals in Riyadh – Saudi Arabia, was arrested by a hoax from the Yemeni authorities to the authorities in Saudi Arabia).

The point to note with regard to the following article is the two AQ were killed during a mourning ceremony for another who was killed in Marib. For the readers convenience, I am re-posting my article, Large al Qaeda camp in North Yemen dims peace prospects, politician says to illuminate the al Taiz clan. Saada, as you will note, is where Ammar al Waeli (see the 2002 FBI alert) was, as I heard it, standing on a roof exhorting the residents. In the same ruling last week that released Badr al Hassani, Al Waeli was recently sentenced to fifteen years in jail, in absentia I am assuming. The hostilities between the al Tais and the state began after the Houthis captured their commander, Hussain al Tais, and turned him over to the state. Then AQ captured Col Hosam in Saada and issued an ultimatum. According to local reports, Col Hosam was not killed despite the AQ vid announcing his death (see below). The point is the linkage between the well established al Qaeda presence in Saada and the better understood al Qaeda in Marib and what is currently known as AQAP.

Two al-Qaeda elements killed in Saada north Yemen al Motamar: Wednesday, 09-March-2011
- Local sources in Saada province in north Yemen have confirmed the killing of two elements from al-Qaeda organisation and injury of a third in exchange of fire with gunmen from Al Tais in Kitaf district. The sources clarified that the clashes resulted in the killing of two of al-Qaeda elements; Ali Nasser al-Tais and Abdullah Hassan al-Tais in addition to the wounding of Arif Saleh Rashid. The sources pointed out that the clashes erupted during mourning on the death of al-Qaeda element called Abdullah Hadi al-Tais killed by security men in clashes in Mareb last week.

My article from March 2010: (Read on …)

The Houthis returned the Saudi soldiers they had captured as a condition of the cease fire. The continued incarceration of Yemenis in Saudi Arabia is a sore spot, especially as the PR notes, there’s been videos leaked of beatings. Saudi Arabia refouled, refused entry to, civilians seeking safety from the bombing, a violation of international law. The Saudi bombing of Saada was indiscriminate, and the arbitrary arrests and continued detention of hundreds of Yemenis without charge are also illegal under international law. You’d think the Saudi Arabia would just return the prisoners and be done with the issue but apparently they are busy outlawing protests of their own. YOHR contact information below. I also have the list of names in Arabic.

The Yemen Center for Human Rights requests from King of Saudi Arabia to direct and order to reveal the names of all the Yemeni prisoners and work to release them promptly (Read on …)

ABC

An Arab intelligence agent has told the ABC’s Foreign Correspondent program that Australian citizens have been seen in Al Qaeda terrorist training camps in Yemen.

Yemen is fast earning a reputation as a launching pad for Jihadi-inspired terrorism.

The Arabian Peninsula nation is also the refuge of American-born radical cleric Anwar Al Awlaki, who recently became the first US citizen to be placed on the CIA’s official assassination list.

The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) has listed 20 Australian citizens as persons of interest because they seem to have disappeared from the radar after travelling to Yemen.

Now there is new evidence young Australian men have indeed been recruited to Al Qaeda training camps.

For several months Foreign Correspondent has been in touch with an Arab intelligence agent who says he visited Al Qaeda camps and observed several Australians there.

“They have all kinds [of training]. They have Islamic studies; they have training in weapons; they have training in explosives,” he said.

“They also have a classroom with computers for training on the internet.”

The intelligence operative claims the camps are directed by Anwar Al Awlaki, a man whose other devotees have included the so-called underpants bomber – a young Al Qaeda-trained Nigerian man who tried to blow up an airliner over Detroit on Christmas Day in 2009.

“Their leader is Anwar Al Awlaki; he is their spiritual guiding father; he is second only to Osama bin Laden,” he said.

“He knows that the internet is more powerful than the gun.”

In a desperately poor country with little oil or water, Al Qaeda has taken root in small desert villages in Yemen’s south.

There are sporadic clashes with government troops, but in some places Al Qaeda is the law. Its fighters have the run of communities.

One escapes. Why don’t the drug dealers or tribesmen ever escape prison?

YP An Al-Qaeda suspect escaped from an Aden hospital, with reports suggesting an unknown group could have infiltrated into the hospital and helped him escape. Amin Al-Sayed was arrested along with four other terrorist suspects last week, and was hospitalized at the BaSuhaib military hospital. Last week, the authorities announced the arrest of almost ten Al-Qaeda suspects in Abyan and Hadramout, amid the continuous hunt for and large-scale operations against AQAP militants, mainly in southern, southeastern and eastern regions.

Yemen Post: A Yemeni court specialized in the cases of terrorism in Hadramout sentenced four suspected Al-Qaeda militants between three to five years in prison. (Read on …)

Riyadh police round up 109 in clampdown on beggary
ARAB NEWS: Jan 21, 2011, RIYADH: Riyadh police rounded up 109 beggars in the capital city during the past week as part of an intensive campaign against beggary, authorities announced on Friday. A police official said most of those caught were foreign nationals….A survey conducted by UNICEF in 2007 found that up to half of child beggars in the Kingdom entered the country with their parents.

It is reported that Saudi authorities arrest each month around 3,500 Yemeni children who are smuggled into the country to work or beg.

16 in Yemen they say, names below

Kingdom seeks Interpol help to arrest 47 terror suspects ARAB NEWS Published: Jan 10, 2011

JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia on Sunday published a list of 47 wanted terror suspects abroad who are believed to be planning attacks in the country. The Kingdom has asked for Interpol’s help to track them down. (Read on …)

Several years ago the Central Bank began stamping the bills as counterfeit to prevent General Ali Mohsen from putting them back in circulation, as told by a bank employees present at the time. As often occurs, the counterfeiting rings are often simultaneously engaged in other criminal activity such as drug smuggling etc.

Counterfeit Saudi riyals sees upsurge in Yemen, ARAB NEWS Published: Jan 5, 2011

SANAA: Yemen has seen a recent upsurge in the number of currency counterfeit crimes and police reports show that the scale of the problem in the country is grave. A day hardly goes by without a new case involving fake currencies being disclosed. (Read on …)

Apparently Abdulelah was correct when he declared Naif dead the same week the US sanctioned him. People’s Daily

The Yemen-based al-Qaida wing announced the founder of its Arabic-language media arm was killed in one of the clashes with Yemeni troops over the past few months in a statement posted on jihadist forums on Tuesday.

Nayefbin Mohammed bin Saeed al-Kudari al-Qahtani, a 24-year-old Saudi national who is the founder of the official media arm of the al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) Al-Malahim Foundation, was killed in a gunfight with Yemeni security forces in the past few months. (Read on …)

Repent and change your evil ways you deviant Anwar!

via Intel wire

Stop bloodshed, Sheikh Oadah urges Qaeda’s Awlaki
Friday, 17 December 2010

Al Arabiya: The General Supervisor of IslamToday Sheikh Salman al-Oadah made a TV appeal on Friday to Anwar al-Awlaki, one of the top al-Qaeda leaders in Yemen, to refrain from bloodshed and to fear Allah (God) for all the spilled blood that he will have to answer for on the Day of Judgment. (Read on …)

Yemen Post: At least 30 people, deported from Saudi Arabia to the Yemeni border area of Haradh, died in the last four weeks after being stranded without food or water. (Read on …)

Its a good idea to beware of al Qaeda bearing perfume, or any gifts. One indication of terror financing success is that they are planning to rob banks. Several financiers and networks were disrupted by the Saudis.

Yemen Online: Al Qaeda militants now in detention planned to kill Saudi government and security officials and media workers by sending poisoned gifts to their offices, an interior ministry official told Reuters on Saturday. The group “planned to rob banks and companies to finance their operations,” said the official, who declined to be named. (Read on …)

Generally, the smart money is always on not dead. Click here for earlier on Qatani in Saada and his association with Ammar al Waeli and the (confirmed) deceased Hamza al Qaiti. Qatani was reported killed in Saudi Arabia last May by journalist Abdulelah al Shaea, the same week Qatani was included on the US sanctions listing. The Saudis have no confirmation yet and are keeping him on the MTW list.

Al Riyadh: كشفت معلومات مهمة حصلت عليها “الرياض” عن أدوار محورية ئيسية خطيرة للمطلوب رقم 81 على قائمة المطلوبين ال85 التي سبق أن
أعلنت عنها “الداخلية السعودية” المدعو (نايف محمد القحطاني) في تنسيق التواصل بين خلايا القاعدة في اليمن والخلايا الإرهابية التي فككتها وزارة الداخلية في عدد من مناطق المملكة. Revealed important information obtained by the “Riyadh” on the roles of central and major serious Required No. 81 on the wanted list of the 85 previously announced by the “interior” named (Naif Mohammed al-Qahtani) in the coordination of communications between al-Qaeda cells in Yemen and the terrorist cells that dismantled the Ministry of Interior number of regions of the Kingdom. (Read on …)

Well one would assume if you go infiltrate al Qaeda, thwart a plot of mass murder and then make it back alive, you would get a few perks like performing Hajj and getting your name dropped off the MWT list.

Shamar Press – Nasser Hagbani

بين المليونين الذين أدوا الركن الخامس من أركان الإسلام، حاج يحتفظ بأسرار تنظيم إرهابي يعمل على استهداف أمن المملكة ويتخذ اليمن مقراً. Among the two million who performed the fifth pillar of Islam, the pilgrim keeps the secrets of a terrorist organization works to target the security of Saudi Arabia and Yemen to take home. فقد مكّنت السلطات السعودية التائب جابر الفيفي من أداء مناسك الحج هذا العام. Saudi authorities have allowed the penitent Jaber Alfaifi of performing Hajj this year. وكان سلّم نفسه إلى السلطات السعودية بعد التنسيق مع نظيرتها اليمنية في محافظة لودر في أيلول (سبتمبر) الماضي، وأسقط اسمه من قائمة المطلوبين من عناصر تنظيم «القاعدة». He surrendered to Saudi authorities in coordination with counterparts in the Yemeni province of Lauder in September (September) the past, dropped his name from the list of most wanted members of the organization «base». (Read on …)

Intelligence officers take the youth to remote areas to train for suicide attacks. The use of al Qaeda mercenaries in false flag attacks and for political ends is a concept familiar in Yemen. Accused terrorist Badr al Hassani said in court that the PSO paid him to train jihaddists in Marib. Ah, maybe al Awfi’s debriefing is why the Saudis suddenly took a hard line against al Qamish. This interview was published by the Saudi media, so it has its own spin but other terrorists in Yemen have made the same charge.

Saudi ex-Qaeda militant urges group to renounce violence
RIYADH, Dec 01, 2010 (AFP) – A Saudi ex-Guantanamo detainee has urged Al-Qaeda militants in Yemen to renounce violence, saying they are tools of intelligence services of unnamed regional countries, Saudi media reported on Wednesday.

“I have seen things which others present now in Yemen have not seen,” former militant Mohammed al-Awfi told Saudi television Tuesday, according to a transcript on the Sabq.org news website.

“I have found there are those who … use the mujahid (holy fighter) as a political tool. We are, without doubt, targetted by countries in the region,” said Awfi. (Read on …)