Armies of Liberation

Yemenis are fleeing (not joining) al Qaeda where ever they appear. However the vast majority of civilians lack the funds to rent an apartment or to buy food once they leave their farms and possessions behind to be looted by AQAP. But if they stay, they are subject to both al Qaeda dictatorship and US drones. The US may label those who don’t flee as collateral damage or as providing material support (as the Bedouins were in the Dec 2009 US strike in Abyan that killed 43 women and children when General Patraeus implied they were acceptable deaths because they selling vegetable to AQAP, despite the fact the villagers had appealed twice to local authorities to expel the group.)

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. (Read on …)

Shoe throwing at the presidents relatives is always a good sign however the arrested show throwing air force officer is probably in pretty poor shape right now.

Yemen Post: Hundreds of officers and soldiers protested inside the International Sana’a Airport on Sunday, demanding to sack commander of the Air Forces, Mohammad Saleh Al-Ahmar, half-brother of the outgoing President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

One officer told Yemen Post on condition of anonymity that five tanks and many military vehicles belonging to the Central Security and Special Guard Forces rushed to the airport with the aim of dispersing the protesting soldiers.

“However, Major General Ahmed Ali Al-Ashwal, Chief of General Staff, immediately headed to the airport and ordered the forces not to assault approximately 500 protesters.” he added.\

He further said that negotiations are being continuing between Al-Ashwal and some officers of the Air Forces, indicating that they insist on the resignation of Al-Ahmar and meet all other demands.

Sources said that Guards of Al-Ahmar arrested an officer, Omar Al-Hatimi, who loudly criticized Al-Ahmar and threw his shoes at him inside a meeting hall of the Air Forces. (Read on …)

Like there’s not enough headaches, al Qaeda is mandating (by violence) what type of health care people can have. I don’t know anything about the type of traditional medicine practiced in al Baydah, or even what a witch doctor is, although some traditional and herbal remedies have been shown to have medicinal value in other parts of the world. However people have the right to choose who they talk to about their illnesses without some wild eyed fanatic subjecting them to physical punishment. Then there’s more blah blah about the regime loyalists facilitating the al Qaeda take over and other article below the fold about the failure of negotiations.

Yemen Post: Three tribesmen were killed and several others were wounded on Saturday as Al-Qaeda militants attacked the house of a well-known witch-doctor in Rada’a of Baidha governorate. (Read on …)

Update: Tariq al Dhahab responds as al Masdar.

YPost: Tribal chieftains in the southeast province of Al-Baytha, some 260km southeast of the Yemeni capital of Sana’a, gave on Wednesday 24 hours for al-Qaeda militants to leave their town of Rada.

Earlier the day, local tribal dignitaries accused outgoing President Ali Abdullah Saleh of conniving with the terrorists and letting Rada falls into their control, as the army looked on militants with simple weapons take control of an entire town.

The militants took control of al-Baytaha’s main town of Rada on Monday, with the army looking on. (Read on …)

But its not a problem for the US, UN and GCC which all strongly endorse an immunity package for the Saleh regime and consider the Yemeni public a nuisance.

Yemen Post: The Yemeni Human Rights Organization, HOOD, has affirmed that hundreds of officers, troops and protesters are being detained and brutally tortured inside military camps affiliated to the outgoing President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
The body said that these soldiers were detained due their support to anti-regime protests.

Hood indicated that the Yemeni authorities have recently released 44 detainees from the Central Prison in Sana’a.

Yemen security and army services have arbitrarily detained hundreds of peaceful protesters across the country, subjecting them to torture and ill-treatment, since anti-government demonstrations began in February 2011.

“A military court has recently released four officers and troops of the Special Forces Service led by son of Saleh, Ahmed,” Hood said.”They were arrested on charges of taking part in anti-regime demonstrations.”

One of the released persons revealed that 75 protesters and 70 soldiers of the defected First Armored Division are being held inside a custody in Alsama’a military camp located in Arhab district of Sana’a governorate.

The protester told Yemeni activists that he was kidnapped from the capital in December, 2011, pointing out that he was immediately transferred to this camp.

He said he was subject to brutal forms of tortures, including electro-shock devices and beating with cables and whips, as he was blindfolded and handcuffed.

Yemenis have been demonstrating across the country demanding the release of hundreds of detainees held by Security services which are still controlled by people loyal to Saleh.

Yemeni activists had urged all international human rights organizations to press on the Yemeni regime to release all detainees who are subject to brutal torture.

The exact number of detainees being held by the authorities is unknown, but activists say that it could be as high as 1,400.

The US continues to freeze out the most democracy minded of the Yemeni population (as the unity government and GCC plan re-establishes the status quo and empowers traditionalist elements of society) in order to retain its CT investment and permissions, as the Sana’a regime mobilizes its terrorist paramilitary in order to prove the need. Its a very dangerous game. I thought Def Sec Gates was being dramatic when he said the US had “no post Saleh planning” in March 2011, but apparently not. Why we are continuing to support a regime that overtly enables terrorists at the expense and against the will of 22 million people is beyond me.

The US always insists the National Security is the cleanest of the intel services. It may be but its not saying much when we are comparing it to the PSO. There’s such a long list of double crosses involving the National Security specifically, and they are doing it again in the AQAP takeover of al Beydah.

Alsahwah.net- Yemen opposition has accused the outgoing President Ali Abdullah Saleh of supporting Al-Qaeda and help it control Yemeni towns and areas.

It said Saleh tries to persuade the global world that he is the only who can fight Al-Qaeda.

The Assistant Secretary General of the Yemeni Socialist Party, Yahya Abu Asboa, told an Emirati newspaper, Albyan, that he has information that Yemeni army and security forces loyal to Saleh facilitate the expansion of Al-Qaea.

” Saleh supports Al-Qaeda to disrupt the National Consensus government led by the opposition and make foreign states believe that Saleh’s ouster would strengthen Al-Qaeda” added he.

Al-Qaeda militants extensively expanded in Zinjbar of Abayn governorate, and nearly 5,000 Al-Qaeda militants and recruiters are currently existed at Azan of Shabow governorate.

It further said the main road linking between Shabwa and Abyan is completely controlled by the militants.

Political leaders of Al-Baidha governorate accused leaders of the General People Congress party headed by Saleh of complicity with the militants to capture the town of Rada’a.

A Yemeni journalist, Aref Al-Omari, affirmed that tribal leaders loyal to Saleh cooperated and coordinated with Al-Qaeda to take over Rada’a in attempt to shuffle the cards and hinder the holding of the early presidential election to be held on February 21.

He cited that the militants are led by Tareq Al-Dahab and Abdul-Salam Al-Nosairy, tribal leaders who are known as members of GPC.

Local sources told Alsahwah.net that Rada’a is not a fertile ground for Al-Qaeda, pointing out that the regime of Saleh previously attempted to bring militants to Rada’a, but they were faced and expelled by local residents.

The sources held military commanders of the Republican Guard existed in Rada’a responsible for allowing the militants to capture the town without any resistance.

So we have Mohammed al Nosairi in one article and Abd al Rhaman al Nosairi in another, and they could be the same person or related but GPC member Tariq al Dhahab is described as leading the al Qaeda forces in both.

More from the Yemen Post:

Armed groups affiliated to Al-Qaeda calling itself as “the Islamic Jihad Group” took over on Saturday night a archaeological town of Rada’a and captured the famous castle of Alamiria and its mosque, local sources affirmed.

Local sources said that armed clashes between the militants and residents are still going, pointing out that the number of casualties are unknown.
Flocks of militants flow to the town, some 150 km southeast of the capital, Sana’a, amid fears of residents who worry of turning their town to a conflict battlefield, added the sources.

Yemeni analysts said Al-Qaeda attempts to expand its control on Yemeni areas, pointing out that the capture on Rada’a will help Al-Qaeda reach other Yemeni strategic areas

Yemeni news reports said local residents led by the tribal leader, Mohmmad Al-Nosairi, are strongly fighting Al-Qaeda militants near the castle of Alamria.
They said that the militants are led by Tariq Al-Dahab, a relative of Anwar Al-Walaki, a Yemeni-American cleric who was killed in a American drone strike last fall.

A Yemeni senior opposition leader of the Yemeni Socialist Party, Yahya Abu Asboa, said Yemen’s security forces did not exert enough efforts to prevent Al-Qaeda militants from entering Rada’a.

He further cautioned against plans of Al-Qaeda to attack the oil-rich city of Marib located close to Sana’a.

Critics of the outgoing Ali Abdullah Saleh accused him of turning a blind eye to the expansion of Al-Qaeda to prove to the global world that his existence is vital to face terrorism and other Jihadi groups inside the state.

They also alleged that he used Al-Qaeda as a card to cling to power, use force against anti-regime porters and have American financial assistances.

Gold accused Sheikh Khalid, his brother, Tariq, who leads the gold jihadist groups affiliated with al Qaeda, the city of white Radaa province, in coordination with the National Security Agency, and with points of high and close to the presidential house in Sana’a, such as control of the city Radaa order declaring an Islamic emirate.

Gold said in a statement to «Marib Press» Tariq Hqih that gold is backed regime of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, said that his brother with the coordinator and former interior minister, Rashad al-Masri disinfectant, and with the National Security Agency.

With denounced the gold entering the jihadist groups to Radaa, under the silence of the camps located in the vicinity of Radaa, said that security forces handed over his brother Tariq gold castle and the city, pointing out that if the cessation of a soldier and a one-stop machine gun rounds fiftieth is able of these groups to take control of the castle and the city.

Gold revealed that his brother met the elements of the national security apparatus, such as control of the Radaa days, and said that he had spoken with his brother and told him that he coordinated with the government.

Mareb Press

I wonder if these are some of the `16 al Qaeda escapees that Saleh was hiding in one of his palaces near Sanaa, as Sadiq al Ahmar told France 24 . Everyday in Yemen is a carbon copy of the last and after a while, its just absurd.

And yet another a jail break:

Al-Qaida free 250 prisoners in Yemen

16-01-12

Hundreds of al-Qaida militants broke into a central jail in Yemen’s southeastern province of al-Bayda on Monday, setting free about 250 prisoners, a provincial security official said, a day after the terrorist group seized the province’s Radda town.

“Hundreds of al-Qaida bearded men wearing security uniform onboard pickup trucks stormed the central prison in Radda this morning, killing several security soldiers and releasing 250 prisoners,” the official told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

The militants also took over all security checkpoints around and inside the city, as well as several government facilities, including the post office and the telecommunications center, the official said, adding that the militants were surrounding the building of the Central Bank of Yemen.

“More militants were still flooding into Radda from nearby provinces of Marib, Abyan, Shabwa, Hadramout, Aden, Lahj and Saada,” said the official.

On Sunday,the militants seized Radda town of al-Bayda province, which borders the restive province of Abyan, a key stronghold of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

The AQAP group has seized several cities and towns across the restive southern provinces, as the Yemeni government forces engaged in fierce clashes with militants over past months, leaving hundreds of people killed.

(Xinhua)

Maybe they are trying to weaken the Houthis by opening another front

Yemen Times: 20 or 80?

SANA’A, Jan. 15 — At least 80 militants believed to be from Al-Qaeda entered Rada’, the capital of Al-Baidah, 170 km south-east the capital Sana’a, on Saturday, according to Yahiya Al-Nusairi, head of the governorate’s Architecture Office.

Al-Nusairi told the Yemen Times that they first entered the Al-Ameria Mosque at 3 p.m., and proceeded to perform the afternoon prayer.

“They performed two prayers there and then delivered a lecture. After that, they seized Al-Ameria Castle,” said Al-Nusairi. He added that people cannot stop anyone who wishes to pray in a mosque. He said, however, that he does not “really know how they passed the checkpoints with their weapons and rocket propelled grenades”.

Al-Nusairi continued: “After we asked them not to do any harm to the mosque, nor to break the branch of a single tree, their leader, Tariq Al-Dhahab, promised to comply.”

However, according to the district-based RDA Press website, the militants’ number didn’t exceed 20 and that they left the mosque to stay at an old fort overlooking the district.

The Al-Ameria Mosque and school was built 500 years ago in the Islamic architectural style. Al-Nusairi said that it is currently open only for prayer, but that use of the bathrooms has been suspended because of financial difficulties. People in groups have not prayed together there for 15 years, as it has been under renovation.

Al-Nusairi said that the militants may have been urged on by Islah Party followers from Rada’. Members of the conservative opposition party, he continued, may have pushed the militants to help them open the mosque.

“We do not know what their intention is,” he concluded.

According to Majed Karrod, a reporter from Marib Press, the militants passed through checkpoints and “soldiers might have even greeted them.” He said that Tariq Al-Dhahab was accused a couple of months ago of killing seven government soldiers.

“Al-Dhahab was among the militants who seized Zinjibar, the capital of Abyan governorate, in May. He has a battalion of 400 to 500 warriors,” said Karrod.

Thousands of bare foot, bare chested Yemeni youth terrify the barbaric Sana’a regime and the international community with their bleeding feet: Livestream.

The Life March from Taiz was attacked by Central Security forces in Sanaa with live fire and tear gas. Nine wounded marchers were transported to the field hospital in Sana’a Change Square. One fatality has been reported, Abeer AlFaten, murdered for walking. As is standard practice for a decade, security forces are preventing ambulances from reaching the wounded pedestrians. NYR

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. By re-branding the Sana’a dictatorship and shoving down the citizenry’s throat. the UN, US, EU and SA are publicly treating the entire Yemeni population like petulant children who don’t know what good for them.

The UN SC statement fails to acknowledge, much less take into account, the demand for political empowerment by both the revolutionaries and the southerners. Ironically, while the international community seeks to secure its own goals, these nations are in fact damaging their own mid-term security and national interests, at a time of opportunity, in facilitating the continued imprisonment of a millions determined for freedom.

From my article: The Obama administration’s insistence in retaining elements of the Saleh administration and security forces has thwarted the regime change demanded by millions and allowed al Qaeda to flourish in southern towns. Although US counter-terror efforts have had more latitude to operate since protests began, the Saleh regime and al Qaeda have long had a symbiotic relationship.

Read Noon’s article at Global Voices here: “These GCC states are not at all competent to deal with popular requests for liberty and freedom, not to mention democratic government, because they themselves are mostly despotic regimes,” observed Yemen’s Coordinating Council of the Youth Revolution of Change (CCYRC). “They themselves would never welcome such requests from their own people, let alone be ready to accommodate such demands by people in neighboring states.”

Thousands of Taizians have embarked on a 240 km (170 mile) march from Taiz to Yemen’s capital Sana’a to underscore public rejection of a UN mediated transition plan. The plan devised by the Gulf Cooperation Council (and strong armed into existence by the Obama administration and Saudi Arabia) was overtly and repeatedly rejected by the vast majority in Yemen since its proposal in April.

So far Yemen has a) an appointed unity government including reshuffled, corrupt elites that excludes the pro-democracy youth, b) a presidential election scheduled for 60 days that has already been officially conceded by the opposition political parties, c) an honorary president, the long reigning corrupt tyrant Saleh, in addition to a temporary president and d) immunity for President Saleh and other government officials guilty of murdering and wounding thousands of Yemeni citizens since February as well as looting the government budget and resources for decades. The UN’s endorsement of immunity for mass human rights violations is unprecedented.

The Life March, estimated to take five days, is growing in number as citizens are joining from every town and village along the way. The procession includes a kitchen and medical unit. Women in Dhamar baked 100,000 cookies in preparation for the marchers’ arrival.

Vid updates: marchers arrive in Dhamar, traditionally a Saleh stronghold. And another video with a long shot of the crowd (Link here) :

Saleh and the GPC are threatening to renege for the 7th (8th?) time since April. The GPC accuses the JMP of sabotaging the transition by storming the capital when much of the public’s wrath is directed at the JMP itself. The national uprising in February was triggered in large part by the failure of the political party system in its entirety to function in the public interest. Yemenis say, the JMP is the other face of the regime.

Many more details in my article at Examiner.com.

(Read on …)