Washington Post: NYC protest against Yemeni president gets heated when he appears as shoe is thrown

NEW YORK — A protest of the embattled president of Yemen outside the New York hotel where he’s staying got heated when demonstrators saw him leave the building.

The dozen protesters had been kept across the street from the Ritz-Carlton hotel Sunday afternoon. They had been waving flags and yelling in opposition to President Ali Abdullah Saleh. He is visiting the United States for medical treatment.

Saleh exited the hotel and waved and smiled sardonically toward the protesters. One of them attempted to charge across the street, but was restrained by authorities. Someone also threw a shoe in Saleh’s direction.

Saleh got into his car. His motorcade then left.

Certainly AQAP bears the responsibility for sheltering in populated areas in the first place but people in the al Qaeda occupied territories of Yemen want to know where the refugee camps are. Seriously, where are they supposed to go? And it is a US problem when an al Qaeda presence means the potential of US drone strikes. The 120,000 who fled Zinjibar last May are still in the schools of Aden. I know Yemenis’ rights are very low on Obama’s priority list, but there must be a part of the plan to increase US drone use that will deal with the public panic and mass displacement that will occur as US drones follow AQ from province to province threatening people’s lives and homes. Over 15,000 fled Raada within days of Tariq al Dhahab’s (and al Wahishi’s) appearance. They were escaping both the al Qaeda fanaticism and the threat of US drones.

While the Obama administration may try to maintain the myth in the US that they know exactly who they are hitting, and its always a precise targeting, the non-lethal impact on civilians must be considered as well. The US is playing right into al Qaedas hands with nearly every policy from the re-imposition of a dictatorship through the GCC deal to Saleh’s visit to increased drones. The US is focused on vulnerable land when it should be focused on vulnerable people.

Basically, the US is going to bomb Yemen in order to pull off an uncontested election that nobody wants (except the US, the GPC and Islah elites) in the interest of “stability.” If the expired parliament gave Saleh immunity, it can appoint Hadi. The bogus show election isn’t worth more Yemeni lives or the displacement of tens of thousands, and it certainly wont confer legitimacy when there’s only one candidate that was selected by the US. The most politically disenfranchised are going to boycott anyway: civil minded protesters, southerners and Houthis.

The National: Yemen will increasingly rely on US drone strikes to target Islamist militants threatening to disrupt a transfer of power this month, Yemeni government officials said.

The president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, is meant to hand over power to his vice president, Abdurabu Mansur Hadi, on February 22.

The run up to the transfer is being overshadowed by growing protests, including within the military, which have grounded Yemen’s air force across much of the country.

Two aides in Mr Hadi’s office said they expected a rise in drone attacks against Al Qaeda militants.

The strikes will be intensified only if necessary, to ensure that militant groups do not expand in vulnerable areas, said one of the aides. Both asked to remain anonymous.

An early indication of the escalation came on Monday, when at least 11 militants were killed in Yemen’s Abyan province by three separate strikes from drones, according to security officials in the province.

It was one of the biggest such strikes believed to have been carried out by the US in Yemen.

Yemeni officials and western diplomats fear suspected Al Qaeda militants, who control considerable territory in Abyan, may attempt to capitalise on the end of Mr Saleh’s rule.

Months of near civil war to topple Mr Saleh, along with lawlessness and tribal rebellions, have created a vacuum for the militants.

Three weeks ago, they took over the town of Radaa, 173 kilometres south-east of Sanaa, and declared it an Islamic state.

The militants pulled out a few days later after negotiations with tribal chiefs.

Yemen’s military capability to tackle the militants has been hampered by two weeks of protests against the air force chief, said General Mohammed Saleh Al Ahmar, the half-brother of the president.

Abdul Aziz Al Muhayya, the air force’s commander of operations, who joined the protests last week, told The National that air force runways are out of service in the provinces of Aden, Taiz, and partially Sanaa.

“The majority of the air force is out of [the] government’s hands now,” he said.

“Our bases are somewhat handicapped,” a senior Hadi aide said. “We cannot rule out using US drones if needed in an emergency situation when it comes to attacking Al Qaeda hideouts.”

Drone attacks by the US in Yemen require the approval of Washington, the US ambassador in Sanaa, the counterterror office in Yemen, and the green light from Mr Hadi, Yemeni officials said.

The US has repeatedly used drones in Yemen to attack militants from Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which the US has said was behind the December 2009 plot to blow up a US airliner as it approached Detroit.

In one of most successful attacks for Washington’s drone programme, a strike in Al Jawf province in September killed Anwar Al Awlaki, the American-born cleric who became a senior figure in Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

Mr Saleh was viewed by Washington as an important ally against AQAP and his government usually provided the intelligence for the targets, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal in December.

The US hopes the transfer of power will not affect Yemen’s cooperation in targeting AQAP.

A US embassy official in Sanaa was optimistic that Mr Hadi, as the next president, would be cooperative in the fight against militancy and help build the security relations between all ethnic, tribal and regional groups.

(Update: the 2009 law grants a two year extension until they elect a new parliament in 2011, ambiguous language at best.

Update 2: a handy link from Yemen Parliament Watch that indicates parliament is operating outside the scope of the law: “The report indicated that the constitutional period of the parliament ended in February 2011 where the parliament had finished its six years stipulated constitution as well as the additional two years.”

Update 3: there is also a stipulation in the constitution that parliament can be extended when facing war, natural disaster or unrest, but I’m assuming that had to have been done formally, and within the scope of the term, not by some GPC mind meld.

Update 4: the amnesty was issued while Parliament was legally on vacation or in recess.)

Original post continues: A political deadlock ensued following the 2006 presidential election wherein the GPC thwarted the implementation of a proportional representation system (as opposed to a “winner takes all” single district method) and other electoral reforms, prompting the opposition JMP to boycott parliament altogether. Without the implementation of the previously agreed upon reforms, the parliament voted itself a two year extension and rescheduled elections for 2011. (In order to thwart elections in 2011, the SCER also disqualified the voter rolls en mass.) There was no new parliamentary election in 2011 and no official law passed rescheduling the election and extending their terms as far as I know. Therefore there is no legitimate Yemeni parliament, just a bunch of old men stuck to their chairs for a decade.

So where is the legal foundation of this expired parliament’s vote to give the Sanaa regime immunity? More fundamentally, the people withdrew legitimacy from the Parliament, the Sanaa regime and dysfunctional political party system through a year of mass nationwide protests.

However, while many are working on the issue of Saleh’s immunity, I am much more concerned with the implementation of the proportional representative system in order to undermine the hegemony of both the GPC and Islah who were both artificially empowered by the GCC plan. Proportional representation will allow for the growth of new parties, minority representation and probably more women in political office. It appears that the only way to get the task done is through a public referendum, as the same illegitimate GPC dominated parliament that stalled on the issue for five years will likely continue to block it.

The proportional system has a national consensus, and it has been repeatedly been endorsed by a variety of Yemeni groups from the JMP in 2005 to the tribally based National Dialog Committee in 2009 to the Yemeni Youth Revolution that took to the streets in 2011.

Had the PR system been enacted as agreed upon in 2006, allowing for authentic political growth and representative parties to compete in 2009, the revolution might not have been necessary. So its important not to allow history to repeat itself, especially with this crucial and long overdue element of the overall package of electoral reform.

There is more on the other illegalities of the unprecedented and illegal amnesty plan below from Human Rights Watch and the YCTJ:

Press Release
By The Yemeni Center for Transitional Justice Concerning the Approval of the House of Representatives of the Immunity Law

The Yemeni Center for Transitional Justice reviewed the law approved by the House of Representatives (Parliament) of the Republic of Yemen concerning the award of immunity to the President of the Regime of Ali Abdullah Saleh and his supporters. As YCTJ confirms its previous position with respect to this law, that the law lacks the minimum principles of human justice, and is openly in violation of honorable Islamic Jurisprudence, international laws, and is in breach of the international human rights conventions/agreements to which Yemen is signatory, YCTJ now also calls for the application of real true transitional justice without any selectivity, forgery or deliquescent.

Only in this manner can the rights of the families of the victims for accountability and liability of perpetrators of violations of the foregoing crimes and infractions be protected, and to resort to international institutions to present the criminal perpetrators, participants or contributors to such crimes, or those who assisted the perpetrators from escaping from punishment, to face just trials in international judicial frameworks, as well as to judicially and legally pursue these perpetrators everywhere. Accordingly, there is no immunity or obstacle that stands in the way of this inalienable right, which is guaranteed by all heavenly scriptures, human statutes and legal systems, based on the principles of justice and equality, and in confirmation of the provisions of the relevant international conventions and agreements thereto, and as fulfillment of the minimal rights of safeguarding human beings, in terms of their blood (life and physical harm), their property and honor/dignity.
YCTJ urges all official local and international entities not to overlook the previously perpetrated crimes, also to work diligently to expose the truth of these crimes in full details and present and report them to the public. This should be considered as fundamental prerequisite to all calls for forgiveness, pardon and national reconciliation based on transitional justice, which aims to address the infractions of the past period and to avoid repetition thereof in the future.
YCTJ implores the members of the Yemeni Parliament, members of the Government of Reconciliation and the Temporary President to ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, previously approved by the House of Representatives in 2004, but remains without ratification to this date, and thus to also work to join most of the countries of the work that are under the Rome Statute, so as to insure that human rights violations of the past are not again repeated in Yemen in the future.

Dr. Yasin Al-Qubati
Chairman
Yemeni Center for Transitional Justice
Ta’ez on 21 January 2012

and HRW’s statement

New Immunity Law an Affront to Victims, Blow for Justice

Source: HRW

A new law granting amnesty to President Ali Abdullah Saleh and his aides violates Yemen’s international legal obligations, Human Rights Watch said today. The sweeping law provides domestic immunity from criminal prosecution for serious international crimes such as the deadly attacks on peaceful demonstrators in 2011.

The law enacted by Parliament on January 21, 2012 grants blanket immunity to Saleh from any prosecution during his 33-year rule. It also shields Saleh’s aides from prosecution for “political crimes,” as long as they are not terrorist acts. Last year’s attacks on protesters might be classified as political and therefore exempted from prosecution, Human Rights Watch said.

“This law sends the disgraceful message that there is no consequence for killing those who express dissent,” said Sarah Leah Whitson [3], Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “The Yemeni government should be investigating senior officials linked to serious crimes, not letting them get away with murder.”

An accord brokered by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), that Saleh signed in November 2011, instructed the parliament, which is dominated by the ruling party, to pass a law granting immunity to Saleh and his aides in exchange for the president ceding all power by February 21, 2012. Yemeni Vice President Abd-Rabbu Mansur Hadi, who is serving as acting head of state, was expected to sign the law immediately.

An article in the law says it may not be “annulled” or “appealed.” However, providing immunity from prosecution for genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, torture, and other gross violations of human rights violates international law, Human Rights Watch said. International treaties, including the Convention against Torture and the 1949 Geneva Conventions, require parties to ensure alleged perpetrators of serious crimes are prosecuted. As recently as January 6, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay reasserted that an amnesty cannot be granted for serious crimes under international law.

The Yemeni constitution authorizes the Supreme Court to rule on the constitutionality of laws in cases and pleas. Article 51 of the constitution of Yemen says citizens have the right of recourse to the courts to protect their rights and lawful interests. Article 153 of the constitution designates the Supreme Court as the highest judicial authority in the land and empowers it to strike down laws that are unconstitutional.

Yemen’s amnesty law does not prevent courts in other countries from prosecuting serious human rights crimes committed in Yemen under universal jurisdiction laws, Human Rights Watch said.

“Courts outside Yemen can and should ignore this amnesty and prosecute serious international crimes committed by the Saleh government,” Whitson said.

Yemen’s next government also could refer serious international human rights crimes committed during the protests against Saleh to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for possible prosecution, Human Rights Watch said. Although Yemen is not a party to the Rome Statute, the treaty establishing the ICC, it could accept that court’s jurisdiction over any eligible cases since 2002, when the Rome Statute went into effect. The UN Security Council also could refer crimes in Yemen to the ICC.

Human Rights Watch has confirmed the deaths of 270 protesters and bystanders during attacks by government security forces [4] and gangs on largely peaceful demonstrations against Saleh’s rule in 2011, most in the capital, Sanaa. Dozens more civilians were killed last year in apparently indiscriminate attacks [5] by security forces on populated areas during clashes with armed opposition fighters. Human Rights Watch also has documented a broad pattern of international human rights violations and laws-of-war violations by government security forces in previous years, including apparent indiscriminate shelling in the 2004-2010 civil war [6] with northern Huthi rebels and the use of unnecessary and lethal force since 2007 to quash a separatist movement [7] in the South.

The immunity law instructs Yemen’s government to submit draft legislation to parliament for national reconciliation and transitional justice and to “ensure the non-recurrence of violations of human rights and humanitarian law.” The concept of “transitional justice” as set out by the United Nations includes a range of judicial and non-judicial measures such as criminal prosecutions, truth commissions, and reparations to victims.

“Transitional justice without the justice is pretty hollow,” Whitson said. “Failing to prosecute will reinforce Yemen’s culture of impunity and signal to abusive leaders worldwide that there are no consequences for political murder

The latest news on Gitmo detainee Abd al Rahim al Nashiri, in US custody since 2002, is that the Military Commission can not confirmthat he will be released if found not guilty. Its not in the Military Commission’s jurisdiction to make those kind of pledges. Considering Nashiri was water boarded, its questionable if any of his statements will be allowed at trial, but prosecutors are confident that there is enough other evidence for a conviction.

Al Nashiri is charged with aiding the al Qaeda attack on the USS Cole in Aden port in 2000. The bombing killed 17 US service members and severely wounded dozens more. Al Nashiri selected the targets, the timing and coordinated the operatives. However, unexplored for a decade is the level of complicity by top Yemeni government officials and the failure of US intelligence to get a warning to the ship.

Prior to the attack on the USS Cole, Yemen’s then Interior Minister Hussain Arab issued al Nashiri a travel pass that enabled him to pass Yemen’s many internal checkpoints without search or question in the months preceding the terror attack. Al Nashiri also had a weapons permit issued by the Interior Ministry. These official documents were presented in Yemeni court during the 2005 trials of other conspirators.

In an interesting coincidence, Yemeni President Saleh ordered several top officials, including Interior Minister Arab, to travel from the capital Sana’a to Aden the night before the USS Cole was bombed there.

Saleh denied that Yemen was notified of the impending arrival of the warship. According to Centcom commander, General Zinni, in Congressional testimony, US naval officials followed the standard procedures for refueling including a two week advance notification to the host port.

It was also around two weeks prior to the attack that the military data mining group Able Danger and separately DOD analyst Kie Fallis picked up intel streams about an impending attack. Both made several attempts to obtain authorization to issue official warnings to no avail.

Kie Fallis quit the day of the Cole bombing. Able Danger’s Anthony Shaffer’s information never made it into the 9/11 report, although he tried. DOD later revoked Shaffer’s health insurance and forced him out over a “stolen” pen that he reported taking as a souvenir as a teen.

The NSA had the “Yemen hub” (a phone line in Yemen used by al Qaeda operatives for calls to and from bin Laden and others) under heavy surveillance for over a year prior to the Cole bombing, and for about a year after. There was a satellite trained on the house in Sanaa 24/7. Oddly, the NSA never learned of or reported on the USS Cole plot.

The CIA withheld information from the FBI about an al Qaeda summit, a high level meeting in Malaysia in January 2000, at which both the Cole and 9/11 were discussed. (See former federal investigator Ali Soufan’s excellent book, The Black Banners for more.)

Yemeni officials failed to cooperate with Soufan and other FBI agents in Yemen investigating the bombing. Some like the head of Yemen’s Political Security Organization in Aden, Hussain al Ansi, engaged in active misdirection and stonewalling.

Ten terrorists awaiting trial for the Cole attack escaped Yemeni prison in 2002 and after surrendering, their trials resulted in sentences of five to ten years. Most of escaped prison again in 2006. By 2008, all those convicted in the attack had their sentences commuted and were free. Al Nashiri, in US custody, was sentenced to death in Yemen in absencia in 2005.

The Jurist reports the Yemeni government sheltered (and lied for) al Nashiri after the bombing. The Congressional Research Service details the Cole bombers’ releases and notes that, according to the Washington Post, Al Nashiri had spent several months before his capture under “high-level protection” by the Yemeni government.

After the USS Cole attack, Interior Minister Arab was transferred, appointed by Yemeni President Saleh to the Shura Council. Arab resigned and joined the Pro-Revolutionary Military Council in March 2011.

Previous: (2007) The USS Cole Bombing in Yemen: What We Know Today

Related: Defense argues US was not at war in 2000, thus the Military Commission does not have jurisdiction.

Clearly for FOX News, news worthiness depends on who is doing the killing; one person killed by al Qaeda vastly outweighs the hundred killed by the Yemeni government in the last week. For a day, CNN ran the headline: Yemeni women burn veils, wow, interesting, at least they mentioned “Yemen,” as the state was simultaneously pounding residences in Taiz with artillery and shelling villages in Arhab with missiles.

And neither one can find for five seconds for this from today, (if its not working try this direct link.)

Fox News: Car Bomb Kills Anti-Terror Chief in South Yemen.

VS.

- Airstrikes on Arhab leave 120 civilians killed, 340 wounded

- Nationwide slaughter since UN SC council resolution 2014

- One million demand regime change

- Yemen Post: Several Million of Yemeni gathered nationwide in the streets of Yemen yesterday, demanding the fall of the regime and Ali Abdullah Saleh’s trial as they say the president is continuing to murder his people.

Protesters had spell out “butcher” across their chest in red ink in denunciation of president Saleh’s many crimes. “He’s using snipers to gun down women and children, Sana’a and Taiz are under shelling attacks everyday…Saleh is killing Yemeni and the World stands silent…We will not,” said Mohamed Hassan Said a defected officer.

In Sana’a, the capital, a funeral march was organized to bury the bodies of the victims of the revolution amongst whom was 4 year-old little Waffa. While carrying the coffins the crowd was chorusing anti-regime slogan, asking the international community to bear witness of the crimes committed against peaceful Yemeni people.

And in spite of the anger and the sorrow which is crushing hearts, Yemen went on chanting: “Peaceful, peaceful”.

As the day advanced in “Change Square”, the sounds of explosions could be heard in the background, coming from Hasaba and other northern districts of the capital, as Sofan, al Dari and al Sahwan have become the new targets of choice of the government forces.

In Hayel Street, protesters reported that a woman, Kafaya al-Hamoodi was killed by a sniper as she was walking pass. Her body was taken to the University’s makeshift hospital for protection and identification as protesters fear further body-abduction from the regime, for they say Saleh is trying to pass their victims for his.

In Taiz, the other main flashpoint of the revolution, tens of thousands of protesters defied the regime and its shelling and killing campaign as they descended upon the streets of the city, screaming their anger.
Despite the presence in Sana’a, of diplomats from the UN and the GCC, the regime attacked n broad day light its citizens, launching its forces against peaceful protesters.

As a result a reported 10 people were wounded, 5 in critical conditions. Dozens more were severely beaten up by thugs loyal to the regime.
In Ibb and Hodeidah, unprecedented numbers were recorded said the marches’ organizers as Imams loyal to the revolution are continuing to call on Yemeni to join “their brothers”.

Safe copy at Jihadology has link to original post: al-Malāḥim Media presents new statement from al-Qā’idah in the Arabian Peninsula: “Blood of the Martyr, Light and Fire: Statement on the Martyrdom of Shaykh Anwar al-’Awlaqī and his Colleagues”

No mention of al Assiri per @Inteltweet but Sami confirmed dead as well.

“The blood of the sheik (al-Awlaki) and his brothers will not go in vain; there are heroes behind him who do not sleep under oppression, and they will retaliate soon,” the group said. “We and the Americans are at war: we get them and they get us, and the end is for those who are patient – they are the ones who will be victorious.” FOX

The full statement at Flashpoint here has a little different translation; also includes AQAP’s trashing the Yemeni opposition parties.

* Says cash for training and equipment cut, intelligence aid same,

* Says civil war unlikely despite “revolution of children and thieves”

* Calls potential U.N. resolution on transfer plan foreign interference

By Erika Solomon

SANAA, Oct 5 (Reuters) – The United States and other Western donors have cut counter-terrorism aid to Yemen’s army during eight months of mass protests against President Ali Abdullah Saleh, his nephew and leader of a key paramilitary unit said on Wednesday, in effect supporting anti-Saleh groups.

Brigadier General Yahya Mohammed Abdullah Saleh, an important power broker in the country as the head of the Central Security Forces, said U.S. President Barack Obama was influenced by political players who oppose President Saleh.

Protests against his 33-year rule are sweeping Yemen and armed groups backing the opposition are fighting government troops, threatening to drag the impoverished Arabian Peninsula state into civil war on the border of oil giant Saudi Arabia.

“With recent events, some of the aid has lessened. The intelligence aid continues but in terms of training and equipment it has decreased,” Yahya told Reuters in an interview, but he declined to give a specific figure.

The United States is believed to spend over $150 million a year in Yemen counter-terrorism aid to forces including Yahya’s Central Security Forces.

A joint Yemeni-American operation last Friday killed U.S.-born preacher Anwar al-Awlaki, al Qaeda’s English language propagandist, and that same day the White House called on Saleh to step down.

“What’s happening now is a conspiracy against democracy because they (the West) are supporting coup d’etat forces,” he said.

Sanaa was rocked by bloody battles and heavy shelling last month when an anti-Saleh march sparked days of clashes between rebel general Ali Mohsen’s troops and forces belonging to Yahya as well as Saleh’s son Ahmed. Over 100 protesters were killed.

Clashes still flare sporadically between the troops as both sides carve Sanaa into spheres of influence, digging trenches and manning checkpoints backed by armoured vehicles.

But Yahya said civil war was still unlikely: “The peaceful option is open until the last second. It all depends on the outlaw forces… They act like teenagers in politics.”

The general, dressed in a green camouflage uniform and a blue beret, brought Reuters journalists to his forces’ base inside the capital to watch his troops perform military drills as he shouted orders to soldiers not marching in unison.

He refuted Western diplomats’ accusation that Saleh and his family are resisting a Gulf-brokered transition plan, arguing that Yahya and Ahmed are afraid of losing their positions of power.

“Unfortunately the (American) president is influenced by reports without checking what the reality is. Maybe he was lied to,” Yahya said. “This is all lies … We do not have political ambitions and are not clinging to power.”

YEMEN CRISIS “INTERNAL MATTER”

The United States and Saudi Arabia are wary of rising turmoil in Yemen that has emboldened al Qaeda, which has taken control of several cities in the south in recent months, and they have pressed for Saleh to sign the Gulf deal, which he has backed out of signing three times.

Several near-deals with the opposition have been missed because the opposition wants Saleh to transfer his powers to the vice president before an election, while the government says he should only step down after a presidential poll.

The general said he was surprised by reports that Western diplomats may seek a resolution from the United Nations Security Council to press Yemen to reach a power transition deal, calling it foreign interference on behalf of the opposition.

“The Gulf initiative to transfer power is an internal matter — it’s not an American or a European affair. It (the deal) cannot be forced on us because the other side has a relationship with foreign governments to bring it to power.”

Yahya also showed Reuters journalists around armoured vehicles used by his riot control forces, to show pock marks in the heavy metal, camouflage exteriors and shattered windows –signs, he said, that his forces had been attacked by Mohsen’s men when they went to stop protests last month.

“Does this look like a peaceful protest to you?” he asked. He would not say whether his troops fired in response, saying only that the involvement of Mohsen’s forces confused his men.

He called the protests a “revolution of children and thieves”.

“We want to leave power democratically, through elections … the opposition needs to return to its senses, they shouldn’t be over ambitious, or they will end up with nothing.”

NYT

A senior American official made it clear on Saturday that Mr. Saleh’s immediate departure remained a goal of American policy, and that Yemen’s government was under no “significant illusion” that the United States had changed its position.

“Sustaining military to military cooperation is in our best interest,” the official added, speaking on condition of anonymity. “We don’t want to undermine that cooperation.”

A Yemeni government spokesman, however, said Mr. Saleh deserved credit for helping the Americans.

“After this big victory in catching Awlaki, the White House calls on the president to leave power immediately?” Deputy Information Minister Abdu al-Janadi said to Reuters. “The Americans don’t even respect those who cooperate with them.”

The spokesman for Yemen’s opposition coalition, Mohammed Qahtan, rejected the idea that Mr. Awlaki’s killing cast the government in a favorable light. Instead, it shows “the regime’s failure and weakness to perform its duty to arrest and try Awlaki in accordance with the Constitution,” Mr. Qahtan said. “And it’s that that forced America to go after him using their own means.”

Original: White House and many US officials confirming. I wonder if Samir Khan was with him? If its true, can the US withdraw support for the Sanaa regime now? Who else do we need before we can go to a normal posture toward the country?

Marib Press says witnesses confirm. And “Tribal sources said told AFP that Awlaki was killed early Friday in an air strike on two cars in the province of Marib, east of the country, a stronghold of Al Qaeda in Yemen.” Also News Yemen has independent tribal sources on the scene saying Anwar escaped wounded in the first strike and hit again by a second, the third strike took out the second car and there was another American (Samir). The tribe in the area does not support al Qaeda, and buried the bodies. They found four rifles but are unsure of the number of fatlities. al Masdar A local witness confirms a car was hit and no reports at all of any random civilians, another good thing. But the bodies are so burnt etc that its impossible to identify the remains.

Local (AQ?) sources in Shabwa tell al Watan Awlaki is dead and was turned in by the defected pro-rev general Ali Mohsen al Ahmar who historically is close to al Qaeda to prove to the US that he is strong on CT: al Watan. Obama confirms he’s dead. Awlaki. was seen prior to his death with seven companions.

Update No. Just no.: SANAA, Sep. 30 (Xinhua) –The most-wanted U.S.-born Yemeni al- Qaida cleric, Anwar al-Awlaki, is alive and was not in the targeted convoy hit by a unmanned U.S. drone Friday, one of his brothers told Xinhua by phone. Also Nass Mobile in Yemen just said that Awlaqi was injured but not killed.

Update 2: Report of a report by Yemeni defense ministry Samir Khan was also killed.

Update 3: US reports they were working on a poison gas attack, there were the earlier reports of the poison perfume plot on Saudis and the accumulation of castor beans.

the National: A tribal leader who requested anonymity gave an account of the strike based on information from Khamis Arfaaj, the owner of the house in which Al Awlaki was staying. Mr Khamis, who gave a higher death toll than official sources, said Al Awlaki and six others took their breakfast and moved about 600 metres away from the house.

Once they had their food ready, they noticed aircraft overhead. They moved to their car but a missile hit it. It killed Al Alwaki, Salem bin Arfaaj, Mohammed al Naaj and Khan. Mr Khamis said two others thought to be from the Gulf and a seventh person who remains unknown were also killed. He said the bodies were collected into four sacks and buried in the village of Al Khasf.

He said Al Awlaki was in transit to neighbouring Marib province.

Residents of the area said at least seven US drones were seen patrolling the skies during the last three weeks

AJE: Yemen’s defence ministry has reported that Anwar al-Awlaki, a well-known and controversial cleric with ties to al-Qaeda, was killed along with four companions.

A government statement released to the media on Friday said the dual US-Yemeni citizen was hunted down by Yemeni forces, but did not elaborate on the circumstances of his death. Awlaki was wanted by both the US and Yemen.

“The terrorist Anwar al-Awlaki has been killed along with some of his companions,” said the statement sent by text message to journalists.

Tribal sources told the AFP news agency that Awlaki was killed early on Friday in an air strike that hit two vehicles in Marib province, an al-Qaeda stronghold in central Yemen.

But government officials say he was targeted 8km from the town of Khashef in the province of al-Jawf, just 140km from Sanaa.

Previous claim

The airplane that carried out the strike was likely to be American, according to tribal sources, who added that US aircraft had been patrolling the skies over Marib for the past several days.

Tribal sources also said Awlaki had relocated from the Shabwa region around three weeks ago.

A US drone aircraft targeted but missed Alwaki in May, and the Yemeni defence ministry had previously announced Awlaki’s death late last year.

On December 24, the Yemeni government said he had been killed in an air strike only to admit later that he was still alive.

“He has been a target of US drones at least three times,”Hakim al-Masmari, editor-in-chief of the Yemeni Post, told Al Jazeera.

“The Yemeni government will face a lot of criticism, especially in the south, for allowing US drones to attack Yemeni civilians. But it will not be a blow to Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula from any perspective. We don’t feel they will suffer, because [Awlaki] did not have any real role in [AQAP].”

Footnote 12 of Yemen: Background and U.S. Relations prepared by the Congressional Research Service 6/8/11: According to one recent report, the NSB was established to “provide Western intelligence agencies with a more palatable local partner than the Political Security Organization (PSO). The NSB is now responsible for dispensing $3.4 million of U.S.-provided tribal engagement funds to support the campaign against AQAP. See, Michael Knights.

Related: A minor Saleh family tree from the Washington Institute