Armies of Liberation

Yemen Post

Water scarcity, population growth and internal conflicts are major reasons for food insecurity in Yemen, a recent report has said, warning if immediate action is not taken, food security will remain at extremely low levels until 2010 and the country will be vulnerable for external shocks and disasters.
The report issued by the Institute of Food Research (IFR) noted that food insecurity is higher in rural areas than in urban areas. (Read on …)

This is from the 8th but I need to get it into the archives.

Arab News: SANAA: A third power station in southern Yemen caught fire on Thursday after two others were engulfed in flames earlier in the week in what the government said were attacks by secessionists. (Read on …)

Paperwork too much to tackle.

Yemen Post: The Ministry of Electricity and Energy has not yet drawn down all donor funds estimated at more than $ 1 billion allocated before and during the 2006 London Donor Conference for the power sector in Yemen, an official who asked not to be named told the News Yemen on Thursday. (Read on …)

The story that has everything: influential people deploying the army for political purposes, tribal conflict over water, the state bombing a village and utterly incompetent management. Water is another corrupt enterprise in Yemen. Also the Political Security director in Aden died of his wounds sustained in a bombing- actually a police officer. France 24

AFP – Two Yemenis, including a police officer, were killed and seven others wounded in clashes between security forces and locals over digging a well in a village south of Sanaa, local tribesmen said Friday.

Clashes erupted on Wednesday between the army and police, on one side, and locals on the other, in the village of Mikhlaf, in the province of Taiz. Sultan al-Mikhlafi, a local tribal chief told AFP the fighting was a result of a “military expedition sent by local authorities to the area to prevent the digging of a well for potable water…which has already been authorised” and is intended for public use.

“The forces shelled more than six houses,” he said, adding that the civilian Abdul Qawi Ali Hamid was killed by a shell that hit his house on Thursday. Mikhlafi accused “powerful people in the area with links to the governor” of being behind the military campaign to stop the work on digging the well.

I didn’t realize Skype was illegal in Yemen. Previous reporting: 9/30/09, US owned VIOP smuggling phone calls. Arabic, SABA. The YObserver heavily redacted their original article, this is what’s left:

An international phone call trafficker was apprehended in his house in the south by the secretariat of the Criminal Investigative Department (CID). The detained, Ayman Ahmed al-Surmi, is being interrogated by the CID while the search for other suspects, including al-Surmi’s brother, continues…. The ease in using the Voice Over Internet Protocols (VoIP) tempted many local traffickers to cooperate with service providers outside Yemen to traffic calls. These outside providers traffic international phone calls through the internet without going through Yemen Telecommunication (TeleYemen) the local body responsible for regulating all international phone calls..International phone call trafficking goes through satellite connections or through broadband services, the traffickers receive it and then redistribute it through the local network by using local phone numbers (mobile and fixed phones) paying the tariff of local calls while receiving double this fee. (Read on …)

As I noted earlier, corruption triggers media repression in Yemen. Often when journalists are kidnapped, beaten, imprisoned or, as in this case, murdered, it comes back to their investigative reporting on crime or corruption. While the extent of dire and growing water shortage is becoming clear, less obvious is the extensive black market on water, tied to powerful officials, sheiks and businessmen that impedes the implementation of water regulations and reforms. Al Rabue was murdered for exposing the dangerous quality of water sold by the water barons in Hajja. His family was attacked and injured a week earlier. In the climate of impunity established by the Saleh regime, a fair trial is unlikely.

Yemen Times: HAJJA, Feb. 17 — Journalist Mohammad Al-Rabue’, who wrote for Al-Sahwa and Al-Qahira newspapers, was murdered on his way to work, on Sunday, February 13, in Bani Qais district, Hajja governorate. The journalist, who wrote about the violations committed in the governorate was said to be killed by Ahmad Awoni and his four sons. (Read on …)

WaPo LONDON — Britain suspended direct flights with Yemen on Wednesday and the prime minister said the U.K. will introduce new no-fly lists as it seeks to tighten airport security following the failed Detroit airliner attack.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown told the House of Commons the measures are in response to a growing threat from al-Qaida affiliated terrorists based in Yemen.

A government that operates so far above the law that it doesnt pay its own electric bills is going to have difficulty with reforms. Yemen Observer

YEMEN – The Ministry of Electricity, in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance and Justice, has a plan to reduce its debts, collecting more than YR20 billion from individuals and institutions, said Awad al-Socatri, Minister of Electricity and Power at a press conference in Sana’a Sunday evening. (Read on …)

After it lost YR40 million

News Yemen calls press freedom advocates to support it against attack
News Yemen website has set up an old webpage for limited usage after the web experienced a horrible piracy last November 28th. The webpage will be available temporary.

News Yemen apologizes for being unable to post more news stories but coverage of the consequences of the piracy and robbery against the web and efforts the web staff and its partners are exerting to solve technical and material problems.
On Saturday, the website Editor-in-Chief, Nabil al-Sofi, received a promise from the Minister of Telecommunication, Kamal al-Jebri, in a meeting on Saturday to provide all necessary information on the web hacker and to ask for assistance of international experts. Al-Jebri confirmed that anyone from the ministry proved involved in the attack on News Yemen would be punished.

According to the hosting company, based in the United States, the ID of the hacker was for Yaser al-Emad, the director of the Internet Department in the Ministry of Telecommunication, but the minister al-Jebri said the government respects the performance of newsyemen. (Read on …)

A nice article extolling the beauty and unique nature of Yemen, I’m quite happy to see it:

New York Times — It has been almost 800 years since Saleh Qaid Othaim’s house in the heart of the Old City was built from hand-cut stones and traditional alabaster decorations.

Yet on a recent morning, Mr. Othaim watched contentedly as a group of men renovated the place using exactly the same ancient methods and materials. Workers mixed the moist chocolate-brown masonry known as teen while a master builder supervised, a dagger hanging from his belt. There was no scaffolding, no helmets, no whine of machines: only the scraping of trowels and masonry, interrupted at last by the call to prayer in the high desert air.

“I don’t care how long it takes,” said Mr. Othaim, a government worker. “The most important thing is that it be done in a traditional way.” (Read on …)

Normal militaries have discipline, a chain of command and standard operating protocols. Its extremely difficult to believe that a French warship shot down a passenger airplane. The Yemeni military is fractured, chaotic, and makes it up as they go along, but not France, all joking aside. This scenario also implies a massive cover-up by France in the aftermath. Earlier the plane’s black box was described as containing no retrivable data. Its not beyond Yemen’s authorities to make up a wild lie, they do it all the time. This is the al Motamar article which quotes reliable sources stating the investigation concluded a French warship launched a missile at the Airbus, and says Yemen will ask for reimbursement of funds paid to victims families. Here is another article from Arab Monitor.

oh well thats handy…

Yemen Post

The Supreme National Anti-Corruption Commission has turned over to the Attorney General a fraud case involving millions of dollars through voice over the internet protocol VoIP. (Read on …)

There’s no water in Aden, there hasn’t been for several weeks.

Demonstrations for water are turning violent. There was one casualty today. Children and the elderly are most vulnerable to dehydration and are bearing the brunt of the “water shortage.” In the current highly charged political environment, residents believe turning off the water is a deliberate targeting of citizens there in retaliation for prior civil unrest.

aha, a link: ADEN, Yemen, Aug 24 (Reuters) – At least one Yemeni was shot dead and three wounded when protesters clashed with police on Sunday in Aden in southern Yemen where several districts have gone days without water, police and witnesses said. At least two of the wounded were police, the sources said.

and a detailed background at the Yemen Times:

ADEN, Aug, 23 — Hundreds of Aden city residents protested yesterday, demanding relief from the sharp water shortage that has left three districts without water.

Seventy-five percent of the Aden water supply was re-directed to cities of Zunjubar and Ja’ar three months ago because of water crises in those cities. Now, residents of Al-Muala, Khower Makser and Alqlw’a have no running water.

Masses of people from the southern governorates of Aden, Lahj and Abyan rallied last week, demanding water and that corrupt officials be held accountable for their actions. Security officials met demonstrators with teargas and arrests.

This is a very good report on Al Jawf. Similiarly, the Sa’ada War has roots in the overall failure by the central government to promote development due to massive corruption.

SABA Jawf, forgotten governorate 1-3

[20/August/2009] By: Faez al-Makhrafi, Translated by: Mahmoud Assamiee

JAWF, August 20- ( Saba)- A visitor of Jawf governorate, 170 kilometers northeast of the capital Sana’a, is surprised seeing women with a belt of bullets on their waists for the arms they carry. In this governorate you can see everybody, men, women and even children carry weapons on their backs.

Local officials say that Jawf is only a big building for the governorate affairs (without basic services and development) though 47 years have passed since realizing Yemeni revolution on 26 of September 1962. They said the governorate is only a “basket for concerns, and a tragic image of negligence.” (Read on …)

The water has been off in Zanjabar since July 27, and they are taking it personally. IRIN

SANAA, 16 August 2009 (IRIN) – Water and sanitation companies in Yemen are adopting unprecedented water rationing in major cities including the capital Sanaa, Taiz, Mukalla, al-Beidha, al-Dhalea and Lahj, local council officials said.

Urgent action is needed to halt depletion of the country’s water resources, Abdulqader Hanash, deputy minister for water affairs, told IRIN. Some 90 percent of available water is used for agriculture, leaving just 10 percent for industrial and household use, he said. Specialists have said before that 40 percent of Yemen’s agricultural water consumption can be attributed to the cultivation of Qat – a mild narcotic plant. (Read on …)

Yemen Post

Informed sources at the Ministry of Electricity revealed that the official launch of the gas-powered station in Mareb will be postponed for few days due to numerous problems. (Read on …)

Just shutting down all forms of communications with the outside world.

Yemen Times SANA’A, June 24 – In an attempt to safeguard the morality of Yemen’s youth, the Ministry of Culture will step up its campaign to search internet cafes and CD sellers without warning. (Read on …)

Must adhere to the party line or else… The French maintain the plane was banned; Yemeni authorities insist it never happened. The military aircraft have similar problems with upkeep on their fleet. The maintenance budget(s) are subject to embezzlement, there’s no oversight and the press is barred from reporting on the military. A journalist who did was kidnapped a few years ago.

al Motamar
Aviation Committee is to sue media instruments that offended Yemeni Airways reputation
Thursday, 02-July-2009
Almotamar.net – The Yemeni Higher Committee for follow-up Aviation Incidents has on Thursday on all different media instruments to the necessity of observing the facts about the crashed Yemeni Airbus plane A 310 that crashed offshore Comoros last Tuesday.

The Yemeni Transport Minister called, in a press conference he held at Sana’a International Airport a short while ago, on the media hat published wrong information to correct them , affirming their keeping the right to sue those media instruments that endeavour to target and offend the reputation of the Yemenia Airways Company via publishing wrong information.

The Minister also pointed out that the Committee has established an information centre at Sana’a International Airport for providing in formation and developments on the crashed plane and operations of rescue that would be reported by an official spokesman in the name of the Committee via continuous news conferences.

The Yemeni Transport Minister also confirmed that the crew of the Yemeni plane was of high skill and efficiency and that the Company would remain adhering to safety criteria.

As the government is shutting news sites and monitoring web cafes, it is also contracting for wireless internet in 4000 mosques.They want to attract youths. But I wonder why they didn’t start with the schools first? The Star

THE Yemen Government has engaged the services of a local company in Kulim, Kedah, to set up web portals and wireless lin-kage at 4,000 mosques in its country.

NFAB Holdings Services (M) Sdn Bhd’s proposal has been submitted to the Grand Mufti Council of Yemen and it has, in principle, agreed to implement it.

NFAB managing director Dr Nurul Faisal Abu Bakar said the programme could benefit the mosques in the northern African country as it could attract youths to participate in religious activities organised by its respective mosques. (Read on …)

Half of Yemen has no electricity and summer is here. There’s already some deaths reported. Black-outs are several times a day. It all goes back to corruption and mismanagement.

The National

Yemen’s total production of power is 650 megawatts, and the electricity ministry purchases about 200 megawatts from international companies to address part of the shortfall, according to the ministry. (Read on …)

If the Houthis are looking to build their own missiles, it indicates that they are not recieving significant funding or importing mass quantities of rockets from Iran, North Korea or Syria. The individual is also charged with looking at Google Maps and making a website. Radiant elements- never a good thing. Also on trial Fadi Baoum and the former ambassador- both on charges of opposing the dictatorship.

Man who provided rebels with information about missiles to be tried
SANA’A, June 12 (Saba) – A Yemeni national is due in court next week on charges of supporting the Houthi rebels. (Read on …)

How innovative! The impetus is coming through the tourism office of which Yahya Saleh is the national head.

Yemen Observer Yemen plans to establish the first hang-gliding club in Amran province 56 kilometers to the north of Sana’a. The general director of the tourism office of Amran province Mohammed al-Moafa said that his tourism office has been constructing the first gliding platform on top of Maswar mount after the province’s leaderships have approved the studies and technical designs of the first gliding platform in Yemen.

Al-Moafa said that two French glider flying teams had flown from Maswar mount two times and decided to launch gliding flights from Maswar mount annually. “The French gliding club members have flown from Maswar mount two times and have published tourism pictures and reportages about Maswar district in addition to pictures for the members of the French Gliding Club flying over Maswar mount,” said al-Moafa.

He added that Amran province leaderships have been planning to establish the first gliding club in Yemen and within this plan a number of the Yemeni youth are to be sent to France to have gliding training so as to be the first Yemeni gliding team.

Al-Moafaf added that his office is planning to organize international gliding competitions after finishing the gliding infrastructure.

Hang-gliding is a new sport in Yemen where only one Yemeni hang-glider has practiced this kind of sport. Mohammed al-Maqalih is Yemen’s sole hang-glider though he took part in several international hang-gliding activities.

What used to be the al Wasat website is here. Actually al Wasat moderated a lot since a few years ago when Jamal Amer got some pretty serious threats, and the paper was in no way promoting seperatism, just reporting the news of the unrest. But the Yemeni government can’t bear the truth, in any area.

The hackers wrote: “Unity is a Red Line.” It also says “Unity or Death”:

Idiots.

Its very, very good, and they all deserve commendation, but will anyone go to jail?

Inquiry into Cement Plants Frauds
SANA’A, May 31 (Saba) – A widening investigation into an enormous graft involving hundreds of billions of Riyals at the state-owned cement plant is underway, head of the Supreme National Anti-Corruption Commission has said. (Read on …)

OK lets get the deisel smuggling out of the way- daily shipments from Yemen to Africa of government subsidized diesel. (Related: Daily Star: US Navy rescues 52 stranded Somalis.)

The much bigger issue is the exploding fishing boat. Its unclear that any missile hit it at this point; its could have been laden with explosives or carrying an aged gas canister and blew up accidentally. Its important for the international fleet to remain vigilant about the danger of maritime terror attacks in the Gulf of Aden. There is good reason to assume a defensive position after the USS Cole bombing (and the later Limburg). The sailors on the Cole waved at the approaching boat; the Navy cannot repeat that mistake, especially now when its easy to be desensitized by having dealt with the Somali pirates for a year or more. The rules of engagement should not allow hapless lost Yemeni fishermen to approach military vessels, blame it on al Badawi.

A statement from al Qaeda Central called for naval jihad (May 26 2008), the October one by a Yemeni forecast a major event around Somalia. The links between AQAP in Yemen and al Shabab go back to the ICU and before. Its a predictable scenario that AQAP would attempt to outdo the Cole bombing when the waters are full of such tempting targets. And I don’t necessarily mean al Wahishi.

Why Yemeni fishermen are near the Sudan is another question. The Yemeni flight school for small planes that flies back and forth between Yemen and Sudan is something, what I don’t know. Its could be normal criminal smuggling activity, spotters for pirates or something entirely innocuous.
Yemen Post

Two Yemeni fishermen were killed and one was injured while the fate of a fourth one is still unknown after their boat came under an aggressive assault by one of the international naval ships patrolling the Red Sea near Sudan on Tuesday.

A source at the Coast Guard said Abdu Marwani and Muhammad Naj’e were killed immediately after their boat was totally destroyed by a missile which some suspect was an air strike. Sources at Yemen’s navy said it probably came from sea.

While the third fisherman made it to Sudanese coast and is now in critical condition. The fishermen came from the Midy area, Hajjah before their boat was hit near Sudan’s waters.

A coordinated investigation by Yemen and Sudan is underway to explore reasons for the attack.

Meanwhile, director of the Midy district Abdul Majeed Al-Himyari dismissed reports a Yemeni boat was attacked in Yemen’s territorial waters, saying the incident took place while the boat was in Sudan’s territorial waters. He told the media the survivor is being investigated by Sudan.

Tuesday’s attack comes in a series of attacks against Yemeni fishing boats by international forces patrolling the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean.

Early this year, two Yemeni sailors were killed as their boats came under separate attacks by international troops in the Indian Ocean. Few others were hurt, with troops saying they suspected the boats were for pirates and then hit them.

And this month, the Interior Ministry said a Yemeni boat was provoked, with NATO’s mission in the region intimidating its crew.

The area where the boat was hit on Tuesday is witnessing large fuel smuggling, with eyewitnesses affirming boats smuggle diesel to African Horn States daily.

One crisis exacerbates another: Yemen Observer:

Water supply for subscribers in the Capital Secretariat of Sana’a has decreased by 30-40 % as a result of a stop of more than 85 water pumps due to electric blackouts. Pumps stop working between 7-10 hours per day. If the situation were to continue, every neighborhood would get water once every 8-9 days, said a source at the Public Corporation for Water and Sanitation.

The Corporation is working hard to reduce this problem that represents more than 22 thousand cubic meter of water daily. The issue of water shortage in Sana’a in particular has worsened in the past few years due to several factors, the most important of which is groundwater depletion as a result of incorrect irrigation methods and qat growing.

Official statistics show that only 50 percent of Sana’a’s population, 2 million people, can be supplied with water. Just under 50 percent of people living in other Yemeni governorates can get clean drinking water. However, houses in many areas of Yemen are not originally provided with water supply service. In addition, some studies estimate that the stored water of Sana’a governorate will be exhausted in the next 10 to 15 years.

The World Health Organization (WHO) also highlights the health consequences of water scarcity, such as diarrheal diseases including cholera, typhoid fever and salmonellosis. Lack of potable water is also a common cause of food poisoning, other gastrointestinal viruses and dysentery.

This is amazing stuff right here and could change the Middle East quicker, more cheaply and with a better outcome than anything else going on.

Yemen Times

CAIRO, May 16 — A new tool to circumvent website censorship named “Alkasir” was released today in its BETA version 1.0 and is now in the public domain. The release comes after the software was publicly revealed for the first time in Cairo yesterday during the first day of the “Blogging the Future” summit organized by the Kamal Adham Center for Journalism Training and Research.

The software, whose name originates from the Arabic word ‘alkasir’, meaning ‘the circumventer’, is now accessible and according to its developer, Walid Al-Saqaf, an be downloaded directly from the web at http://alkasir.com/download. (Read on …)

This is really old, but I need it. al Motamar July 2007

NewsYemen – While the HitsUNiTEL company is preparing to launch the GSM service as the third operator in Yemen, under the sponsorship of Ministry of Telecommunications and Information Technology, the Yemeni UNiTEL company says such behavior is a belittlement of laws and judicial orders. (Read on …)

Yemen Post: Two Yemeni pilots died when a training airplane crashed in northwestern of the Sudanese city of Bur Sudan, Sudan’s Civil Aviation Authority reported. (Read on …)

Yemen agrees on three loan treaties
[12 May 2009]
SANA’A, May 12 (Saba) – A number of laws on Yemen’s agreement on loan treaties issued on Tuesday.

Law No. (18) for 2009 stipulated on Yemen’s acceptance the loan treaty signed between the government and Saudi Fund for Development on April 5 2009. The loan worth $ 106,666,667 is for financing the highway project of Amran, Sana’a, Sumar, Taiz, and Aden.

Law No. (19) for 2009 agreed on the loan treaty signed between the government of Yemen and the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development on April 15,2009. The loan worth $ 30 million is for financing main crossroads in Sana’a, the second phase.

Law No. (20) for 2009 approved the loan treaty singed between Yemen and the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development on April 15, 2009. The loan worth $ 26 million and assigned for funding Improving Taiz International Airport Project.

A funky little story about the Marib gas power station project, but not so odd following the scandal surrounding nuclear project and the later Latin Node. No mention of exactly where the 60 mill is at the moment.

Sahwa Net – An Iranian company ( the Persian ) have reimbursed the Yemeni Electricity and Energy Ministry $ 60 million for violating the agreement terms signed with Yemen’s ministry , according to well-informed sources. The sources said that the Iranian firm bought transformers with bad quality, violating the agreement of Marib Gas Power Station Project.

More at the Yemen Post: apparently it was well known that the Iranian firm substituted an Indian generator instead of the agreed upon Sieman’s. (Read on …)

Over a quarter of land is planted with Qat.

Yemen Post

A parliamentary report showed that the total agricultural land in Yemen increased to 490032 hectares in 2007, 13.8% more than in 2006. 141163 hectares of this land planted with khat, an increase of 3.9% compared to 2006. (Read on …)

LM

New Delhi: India’s largest power generation company, NTPC Ltd, says its plans to set up power projects and a training centre for local engineers in Yemen—from where it wants to source gas for its fuel-starved plants back home—have run into trouble following a dispute over the cost of maintaining existing facilities in that country. (Read on …)

Update: Now thats funny right there. The Telecommunication Ministry says that what the article actually means is that the fine (which is payable to the US government) is what was paid to the ministry’s officials in exchange for the favorable rates. Nothing to see, just move along…

Yemen Post: Informed sources from the Ministry of Telecommunications told news web site that such report by media outlets is groundless. “Latinode agreed to pay a $2 million fine during a three-year period to officials in Yemen in exchange for favorable interconnection rates,” the source said, calling on all media outlets to be accurate and objective when reporting news.

Al-Tagheer says a government official said in a phone interview that the information was “incorrect” and “false” and designed to harm the reputation of Yemen, and some symbols in the forefront of the son of the president.

Mareb Press: مصدر مسئول في الاتصالات ينفي تورط شخصيات رفيعة في عملية رشوة لشركة أمريكية An official source in communication denies involvement in the process of eminent persons to bribe a U.S. company
الخميس 09 إبريل-نيسان 2009 الساعة 02 صباحاً / مأرب برس – خاص Thursday, April 09 – April 2009 at 02 am / Marib Press – private

نفي مصدر مسئول في وزارة الاتصالات اليمنية ما ذكره موقع التغيير نت Denied official source at the Yemeni Ministry of Communications with the site change Net من تورط مسئول كبير في الوزارة ونجل الرئيس علي عبد الله صالح في عملية رشوة قيل انها قدمت من قبل شركة ” لاتين نود ” الأميركية والمتخصصة The involvement of a senior official in the Ministry and the son of President Ali Abdullah Saleh in the process it was a bribe offered by the company, “We wish to Latin American” and specialized في خدمات الاتصالات. Communications services.

وقال المصدر المسئول لـ” مأرب برس ” ان ما ورد عبارة عن تلفيقات من قبل جهات لها دوافعها الخاص ولا اساس له من الصحة، مؤكد ان الوزارة ستكلف عدد من القانونيين للرد على تلك الاتهامات الزائفة ومقاضاة من ويقف وراء تلك الإخبار الكيدية. The official source of the “Marib Press that” as a fabrication by the private actors motivated and unfounded, confirmed that the ministry will be a number of lawyers to respond to the accusations false and the prosecution of the stands behind the news that malicious.

Miami Internet phone firm pleads guilty to paying bribes
BY PATRICK DANNER
pdanner@MiamiHerald.com
A Miami-based Internet phone company has agreed to pay a $2 million fine after pleading guilty to paying bribes to officials in Honduras and Yemen in exchange for favorable interconnection rates.

Latin Node paid more than $2.2 million in bribes that company e-mails indicate were intended for, among others, the son of the Yemeni president and officials of the Yemeni Ministry of Telecommunications, court documents show. (Read on …)

I think its safe put to the attempts coming out of Yemen and Pakistan in the same basket, and China in another. Iran could be either.

MSNBC

Employees of Tiversa, a Cranberry Township, Pa.-based security company that specializes in peer-to-peer technology, reportedly found engineering and communications information about Marine One at an IP address in Tehran, Iran…

“What appears to be a defense contractor in Bethesda, Md., had a file-sharing program on one of their systems that also contained highly sensitive blueprints for Marine One,” Boback said…

“We’ve noticed it out of Pakistan, Yemen, Qatar and China. They are actively searching for information that is disclosed in this fashion because it is a great source of intelligence,” Boback said.

Clark told WPXI that he doesn’t know how sensitive this information is, but he said other military information has been found on the Internet in the past and should be monitored more closely.

Pirates are hiding in Yemen’s territorial waters, so the international task force moved the protected corridor further from Yemen.

a) the multi-national force doesnt have permission to go into Yemen’s waters?
b) if the Yemeni govt can wire the phones of journalists and activists, and cut off service to the entire region of Sa’ada, do you think they could intercept the pirates communications?
c) interestingly, Yemen’s “anti-piracy center” is almost built, the equipment will come later… I don’t think they were invited to the last meeting.

Lloyds: The protective corridor has been moved further away from Yemen’s coastline since it was first established. This was done partly to route vessels away from domestic fishing traffic but also to escape the reception area of Yemen’s mobile phone network, which UK naval officials suspect was being used to co-ordinate pirate attacks.

It has also been suggested that the pirate’s motherships are using Yemen’s territorial waters to hide from naval patrols in the region.

While pirate attacks in the Gulf have dropped off significantly this year, recent estimates suggest that piracy in the region has cost the shipping industry over $60m in the last 12 months. Lloyd’s Market Association senior executive Neil Roberts estimates that $30m has been paid in ransom demands but another $30m should be added to that figure as a conservative estimate of negotiation and delivery costs.

More from Lloyd’s

EUROPEAN Union legal teams are closing in on a deal that will allow naval forces operating in the Gulf of Aden to prosecute pirates in several regional states. Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Egypt have all been identified as potential jurisdictions. While bilateral agreements between states have allowed limited prosecutions to take place, no over-arching legal framework has yet been established…Despite a recent pledge by authorities in Yemen to strengthen anti-piracy efforts, it is understood that the country, which retains the death penalty, will not form part of the EU legal agreement. Bilateral discussions with US authorities are also understood to have stumbled over concerns regarding the strength of Yemen’s legal system and its ability to prosecute suspects.

SABA

Hyundai fines PEC $1 .7 million

SANA’A, Feb. 22 (Saba) – The Public Electricity Corporation PEC has paid a fine of $ 1.7 million for the Korean Hyundai Company which is currently implementing the Sana’a-Mareb electricity distribution network, a source at the corporation has confirmed. (Read on …)

To see the list of blocked news and opinion websites, visit Yemen Portal: Blocked. Some of these are internet sites associated with newspapers of mainstream political organizations, others are independents and many are opposition. So the regime clogs up and slows down the entire internet with all the blocking and tracking software, but leaves the jihaddist forums and file sharing sites unmolested. Anwar Awlaki has a very popular blog, but pro-democracy bloggers get harrassed, threatened. blocked and hacked.

According to one expert, Yemenis comprise upto 5% of total users on jihaddist forums over the last several years, although internet penetration is very low nationally. Clearly the first step in combatting al Qaeda on a social level is to unblock the dissemination of the competing ideas.

Oh and the fanatics are denying the Saudi surrendered. They say he was captured- by the Yemenis. They posted the audio referenced below on a forum closely connected to Egyptian Islamic Jihad and AQ. Another message holds al Wahishi and the brothers in Yemen responsible for the safety of the “migrants”.

YemenOnline. Feb 18, 2009 – Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula denied in an audio recording – published on Medad Al-soyoof Network – the news circulated by some agencies that the Field Commander of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula Mohammed Al-Awafi turned himself in to Yemeni security authorities.

The audio recording confirmed that Al-Awafi was in fact arrested by Yemeni authorities which in turn extradited him to Saudi Arabia.

Photo shop? They want to photoshop? Retards. They hacked the webiste and put a photo of a monkey after a report citing the national mafia (the government). This website,, Akbaralasr:

GVOL: Mohamed Al-Jabali, the editor of Akhbaralasr news website is the latest casualty in a wave of intimidations targeting bloggers and online journalists in Yemen. In a statement made yesterday, Al-Jabali appealed for protection after receiving death threats in the capital Sanaa from the regime’s security apparatus. This comes just after his website was also hacked. The hackers, whom Al-Jabali said are elements of the regime, published a sarcastic entry on the front page with a picture of a monkey and an insult on the owner of the website Al-Jabali.

Al-Jabali said the regime was angered by his online reports on peaceful anti-government political activities in the Tihama region in the West of the country. The website had articles critical of the regime’s handling of the economy and a recent article highlighted a call to end the ‘national investment mafias’ in the country. (Read on …)

The poor people. The state comes, knocks down your house and sells your land for a park, and there’s nothing to do about it because the authorities you would appeal to are the ones driving the backhoe.

The concentration of land “ownership” substantial and growing due to the daily confiscation of private property. Its not just political and commercial monopolies.

Yemen Post: Dozens of families in the western province of Hudaida have been left homeless after backhoes that were guarded by many troops destroyed their homes in a north area in the province. Websites said that the area was largely devastated as the backhoes eliminated everything; the people’s homes along with all properties at them.

The people in the area were shocked because they were not notified before that such measure would be taken.

As the backhoes were accompanied by many troops from the Central Security Forces, the appeals of the people were met by oppression.

Influential officials tried many times before to take over our lands in this area and displace us but they failed and now they came supported by government orders to do so, people in the area said. (Read on …)

Al-Motamar

Almotamar.net – A recent parliamentary report mentioned about a recession in services of sewage services by 53% and that has caused the emergence of a problem water pits of which the report said it is threatening the human, the environment and the groundwater basin.

A report by the parliamentary waters committee obtained by almotamar.net pointed out the sewage suffering network of the problem torrents that are not contained in designs of the sewage system, let alone flaws in the direct connection from the network and many factories’, institutions, hospitals, oil and car batteries shops and photography studios non-committing to safe riddance of their wastes before connection. (Read on …)

Corruption and the fractured nature of the government as well as bureaucratic inefficiency hinder progress on nearly every crisis the country is facing. The WB needs to stay on top of all funds in Yemen. And as the article notes, the strategy impacts the poor.

Bicusa

As Yemen suffers from water crisis, Bank support for water sector hinges on private sector solutions

8 December 2008

A recent meeting between the World Bank and the Yemeni Planning Minister focused on preliminary negotiations on a proposed water sector project. However, the central question remains whether the Bank is ensuring water access for the poor.

In October, the Yemeni news agency Saba reported on a meeting between the World Bank and the Government of Yemen that focused on discussions around a proposed $90 million grant to support Yemen’s national water strategy. Last week, the Bank disclosed documents that indicate new estimates on project approval and anticipated donor financing commitments, though they offer little in terms of substantive plans for the project.

Despite the large volume of money that is being committed for the project – with expected Dutch, British and German government contributions, the total is expected to surpass $380 million – it remains unclear what specifically will be financed. There is only scant information available from the World Bank, and the five-year national strategy on which the aid is based is not publicly accessible. According to World Bank documents, the Yemen Water Sector Support Project is expected to go to the Board for approval in February 2009.

At the same time, while the decision to finance Yemen’s water strategy as a Sector-Wide Approach (SWAp) lends to better donor coordination, it raises the possibility that the process is driven by and tailored to donors, whose expected contributions together account for nearly two-thirds of the cost of the project.

Yemen is the least developed country in the region, and one of the world’s most water poor countries in the world, where per capita availability of water is only 2% of the world average, according to the World Bank. Yemen’s water crisis has not only hindered the efforts to reduce poverty and stimulate economic growth but has also resulted in social disputes over water wells and land ownership, as demand for water outstrips supply.

Rainfall represents the main source of water needed for agriculture and households, and nearly all of the rainfall evaporates. Reports show that about 90% of the ground water in Yemen is used for irrigation, mostly to grow qat, which accounts for roughly 40% of cultivated land. Meanwhile, in order to keep up with the increasing demand on water, landlords and private companies have been drilling unauthorized wells that have depleted Yemen’s groundwater.

Considering the depth of Yemen’s water crisis, the World Bank has rightfully emphasized water provision in its portfolio, as well as in its Country Assistance Strategy (CAS). Since 2000, the Bank has committed $303 million for the water sector, or 27% of approvals.

However, while preliminary project documents indicate that the bulk of the proposed Bank grant will support irrigation infrastructure and urban water systems, the nature of the investment remains unclear, including what if any policy changes in the water sector will accompany the grant. Typically, World Bank grants entail much more stringent conditions than loans that need to be repaid. To date, the Bank’s support for the water sector in Yemen has been predicated on fostering private sector involvement, particularly in urban water services, and in granting private companies the responsibility to assess water and demand levels and to determine prices. The Bank has also advised the government to lift subsidies on diesel, a major expense in qat cultivation

Some observers have raised concerns about how effective the World Bank’s interventions have been in addressing Yemen’s water problems, and questioned the impact and rationale of the Bank-supported strategies such as introducing water tariffs, encouraging public-private partnerships, pushing for a greater private sector role, and lifting subsidies on maintenance, spate irrigation, and diesel. These advocates have suggested that the Bank’s approach to date has placed a disproportionate emphasis on private sector solutions to Yemen’s pressing water needs, and that these efforts have not been accompanied by adequate measures to mitigate adverse impacts on the poor and ensure equitable access.

Over 445000 containers unloaded at Aden seaport in 2008

[06 March 2009]

ADEN, March 06 (Saba) – The total number of containers which have been unloaded in the Aden seaport in 2008 were al last 445126 containers from different sizes.

According to statistics issued on Friday by Aden Port Corporation, the harbor of Aden received in 2008 more than 510 ships and supertankers coming from international ports.

The Free Zone Customs at the Aden seaport has achieved a record increase in the revenue in January 2009, through incomes, fees and other various returns, amounting to up YR 1 billion, an increase of YR 246 million over the revenues during the same month in 2008.

Yemeni exports through the Aden seaport during January reached more than YR 517 million, including fish, cotton, coffee, honey and other various national products.

The number of local consumption goods’ containers locally marketed during the month amounted to 4,626 containers, an increase of 854 containers over the number of such containers during the same month last year.

The increase in the volume of exports and revenues followed growth in maritime activity and cargo ship movement at the port.

Since ancient time, Aden has played an important role as an economic and commercial port in the southern part of Yemen and as a destination that serves as a meeting point in world trade.

I just can’t take it anymore.

Yemen Times

SANA’A, Nov. 9 — A seminar on the hazards of using sewage water to irrigate crops was held on Thursday in Taiz during the Al-Saeed Forum for Sciences and Culture.

Chaired by Professor Abdulrahman Al-Zubairi, chairman of the department of Microbiology in the Faculty of Sciences at Taiz University, the seminar stressed the importance of immediate attention to the fact that a shortage of water resources has prompted many Yemeni farmers to resort to use sewage water to irrigate their farms.

Al-Zubairi explains, “The shortage of water is the result of both the increasing rate of population growth and irresponsible irrigation. Only seven percent of underground water is consumed by the population, while 93 percent is used for irrigating crops, especially qat.”

The total amount of water used annually is 3.5 billion cubic meters of which 93 percent is used in agriculture, 6 percent in households and 1 percent by industry. According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, the renewed fresh water is 2.5 billion cubic meters per year creating a gap between used water and renewed fresh water of one billion cubic meters a year. (Read on …)

Meanwhile Port workers are on strike.

YahooDUBAI (AFP) – The Emirati DP World group said on Thursday it has officially taken over container operations at the Yemeni port of Aden in a joint venture partnership with the Yemen Gulf of Aden Port Corporation.

“The agreement includes the lease of both Aden Container Terminal and of nearby Ma’alla Container Terminal, and a commitment by the joint venture to invest around 220 million dollars in further developing the port,” it said in a statement. (Read on …)

Right after AQ calls for more maritime actions…

The global shipping community has called upon the world’s naval powers to deploy more warships to patrol the commercially strategic Gulf of Aden to counter rising levels of piracy off the coast of Somalia.

The call comes in the wake of frequent incidents of piracy in the region, the latest being the hijacking of two vessels off the coast of Somalia Thursday.

In a joint statement, leading ship associations and transport unions said the situation is “spiraling completely and irretrievably out of control.”

They have made urgent calls to the United Nations in New York and its maritime body in London seeking the deployment of effective naval forces.

It is said that some shipping firms were already refusing to transit the Gulf of Aden.

The vital sea route in the Arabian Sea between Yemen and Somalia connects the Gulf and Asia to Europe and beyond via the Suez Canal. It is critical to Gulf oil shipments.

Currently, Somali pirates are holding 13 vessels captive, along with more than 200 sailors. Most of the gangs are based in northern Somalia’s Puntland region, where security forces reportedly clashed with pirates on Thursday.

Yemen Times

SANA’A, Aug. 3 — A parliamentary report reveals corruption over the past two years at Aden Oil Refineries, a company belonging to the Yemeni government. Prepared by the Parliament-affiliated Oil and Minerals Development Committee, the report indicates that corruption at Aden Oil Refineries “consumed $200 million from public finances.” The committee prepared its report in light of its field visits to the refineries over the past four years.

Based on analysis of figures in the public budget and the Central Monitoring Apparatus, the results indicate that corruption was rampant within the administration of Aden Oil Refineries, one of the region’s oldest established energy companies. The oil refinery dismissed the report as “mere personal speculation.” (Read on …)

Yemen Post

A report by the Oil Committee at Parliament indicated that the private sector in Yemen failed to establish and build one refinery in Dhabah in Ras Isa area, despite the different privileges it was granted together with the time period lasting for eight years.

It also announced that some commercial houses seek to privatize Aden Port Refinery and accused them of playing with the numbers and distorting facts for achieving certain ends. (Read on …)

Yemen Times

(IRIN) – Hundreds of families (totalling about 2,000 people) in the southern governorate of Abyan have begun to leave their homes due to severe drought in their mountain villages, a senior official has said.

Sirar District, a mountainous area in Abyan, has been particularly badly affected since May.

Al-Khader Mohammed Saleh, director-general of Sirar District, told IRIN that over 300 families had left their villages over the past week as a result of the drought. (Read on …)

No wonder they banned text message news alerts, the good slice of the citizenry might have actually been informed.CN

Yemen’s vibrant cellular market will reach 10.5 million subscribers by end of 2012, a cellular penetration rate of 42.4%, fueled in part by the entrance of a 4th mobile operator at the end of last year, says a new report from the Arab Advisors Group.

The Government of Yemen also fully owns and directly oversees the operations of the monopoly fixed line operator, Public Telecommunications Corporation (PTC), and owns a controlling stake in the CDMA cellular operator, Yemen Mobile, through the PTC.

The Arab Advisors Group projects Yemen’s mainlines to reach 1.432 million lines by end of 2012 with a penetration rate of 5.76%. This corresponds to a CAGR of 7.1% between 2008 and 2012. This growth is expected to be mainly through the PTC’s efforts to provide fixed line services in the rural areas of Yemen.

“The Arab Advisors Group projects Yemen’s cellular lines to continue its healthy growth. With the entry of the fourth cellular operator in Yemen, the Arab Advisors Group projects Yemen’s cellular market to grow at a CAGR of 15.7% from 2008 to 2012, reaching 10.537 million subscribers (a cellular penetration rate of 42.4%) up from 4.437 million by end of 2007.” Mr. Hussam Barhoush, Arab Advisors senior research analyst of Arab Advisors Group wrote in the report.

IRIN

SANAA, 14 August 2008 (IRIN) – Water availability in Yemen has been worsening by the year and the government has no clear strategy on how to deal with the problem, experts have said.

They say water shortages, which affect about 80 percent of the country’s 21 million people, are exacerbated by the high fertility rate, rapid urbanisation, the cultivation of `qat’ (a mild narcotic), a lack of public awareness, and the arbitrary digging of wells.

The experts made the remarks at a symposium on 12 August in Sanaa city organised by the Sheba Centre for Strategic Studies (SCSS), a local think-tank. Entitled Water Security in Yemen: Challenges and Solutions, the symposium brought together dozens of local officials and experts on water.

Khalil al-Maqtari, an official at the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation and an expert of topography, said the water situation was worsening as there was no effective strategy to manage its use.
(Read on …)

SAMA first training aircraft arrives to Aden

ADEN, Aug. 10 (Saba)- The first training aircraft model SAMA (2020) operating by one engine arrived on Sunday at Aden International Airport.

Director General of the academy captain Ameen Ghanem said to Saba that this aircraft is one of four aircrafts to be sent to Aden after an agreement with Jordanian manufacturing plant Jordan Aerospace Industries (JAI).

Ghanem mentioned that in the upcoming days the air academy will be launched officially in Aden in the wake of completing all technical processes.

Turkish investors to market JAI’s Sama 2020 training and surveillance aircraft in Turkey

Jordan Times
AMMAN (JT) – Jordan Aerospace Industries (JAI) recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Turkish investors to market its Sama 2020 training and surveillance aircraft in Turkey. Following the marketing operations, the company will start a programme to manufacture the surveillance aircraft in Turkey where the aircraft will be equipped with Turkish-made communication and surveillance equipment. The MoU, signed by Turkish businessman Ahmet T. Ozal and JAI Director General and Chief Executive Officer Muayad Al Samaraee, was the outcome of business talks between the two sides, and a visit by Turkish business investors to the company’s plant, located at Queen Alia International Airport. Established in 2001, the JAI is still the only private certified light aircraft manufacturer in the Middle East. 4 August 2008

from The Economist:

A fantastic plan to span the Red Sea’s troubled waters is raising eyebrows

ONE OF Osama bin Laden’s many half-brothers, Tarek bin Laden, this week signed a deal with tiny Djibouti which may—or may not—mark the start of one of the world’s boldest engineering projects. Djibouti’s president, Ismael Omar Guelleh, promised Mr bin Laden 500 sq km (193 sq miles) of land to start building Noor City, the first of a hundred “Cities of Light” the vast Saudi Binladen Group plans around the world. “A hope for all humanity, the first environmental city of the 21st century,” gushed the promotional video at the signing. The audience, mostly American military contractors near retirement age, clapped enthusiastically. Engineers elsewhere say the scheme is a fantasy. (Read on …)

Yemen Post

In its report, the Local Authority and Services Committee at Shoura Council revealed that 43 percent of Yemen’s population are still deprived of electricity.

The average electricity consumption for a Yemeni person does not exceed 400 kilowatts per hour. In addition, half of major power plants lifespan have either ended or are about to end.

According to the report, the existing power stations, including private sector’s stations, working by oil derivatives cost 1,200 percent higher than the cost of generating with natural gas.

The committee disclosed that Ras Katheeb Steam Station has well passed its virtual work age, and is not able anymore to work in the future, adding that the Unit II in the station had completed 70,701 working hours on December 31, 2007. The third unit completed 81,036 of use during the same date; while both stations have not been maintained yet.

However, the report indicated that the quantity of gas available is 1.2 trillion cubic feet which is less than the required quantity demanded for the two power stations in Safer.

“Electricity power is one of the basic requirements for achieving economic and social development, revitalizing private investments and human development, industrial sector development and other economic services,” pointed out Parliament Member Naji Ahmed Ateeq.

“It provides people with an indirect role in creating employment and poverty alleviation. It also reduces burden on women, especially in rural areas,” he added.

According to the Local Authority and Services Committee, the capital Sana’a came in first place as for consumption with 250,000 homes linked. However, the committee pointed out the Electricity Corporation finds big difficulties in getting influential people and Sheikhs to pay their electricity bills, as some bills have reached over a half million YR. (Read on …)

Two generators in Saada to reinforce main station power
SABA

[28 July 2008]

SANA’A, July 28 (Saba) – Under the urgent solutions to reconstruct Saada governorate, two power generators amounting to $1.2 million arrived in Saada on Monday to reinforce the power of the main station of Qahzah.

The two generators that generate 3,000 KW of power would contribute to raise the station’s capacity that would activate the development process in the governorate, Saada governor Hassan Mana’a said during his visit to the station.

Mana’a expressed his gratitude to the station administration and staff as they kept on feeding the governorate with power in spite of the exceptional circumstances the governorate has witnessed.

The new generators will enter service in two weeks, the Deputy Minister of Electricity Adel Thamaran said, adding that they would cover 50 percent of the Station’s power deficit.

He said that the ministry has commenced several procedures to strengthen the power capacity in the province such as purchasing spare parts for generators at the station to be backed to service at a cost of $ 750,000 in a month.

The ministry has also put a tender for a project to establish another power station with a capacity of 15 MW at a cost of $ 20 Million, Thamaran said.

IRIN

SANAA, 28 July 2008 (IRIN) – Thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Saada Governorate, northern Yemen, have not been able to return home after their houses were destroyed in recent fighting between government forces and Shia rebels, local sources have said.

The long-running conflict, which started in 2004, has left hundreds dead and thousands displaced.

“There are still thousands displaced because their houses were destroyed,” Salem Mohammed, an IDP in Saada city, told IRIN. He said some IDPs were worried fighting could flare up again and preferred to stay in the six IDP camps which have been set up in and around Saada city, or with host families.

The destruction of farms and infrastructure during the recent fighting, which began in May and lasted 70 days, had also driven many farmworkers from the land, aid agencies said.

Most government officials in Saada were unwilling to comment, but Saada Governor Hassan Manna said 70 percent of the displaced families had returned to their homes over the past few days.

Sporadic clashes

Meanwhile, some people in Saada city told IRIN minor clashes had erupted between followers of Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, the Shia rebel leader, and government forces in the mountains.

Al-Houthi’s Information Office on 26 July said the army had opened fire on a pregnant woman and killed her as she tended sheep in Allaf Valley. In a separate statement on 24 July, it said the army had opened fire on displaced families returning to their homes, killing one person and injuring another. The army had also shot dead a child while he was tending sheep in Bani Moaath District, it said.

The Information Office has denied press reports that two Sunni mosques were destroyed by al-Houthi fighters in Dahyan District. According to local media, the two mosques were destroyed on 23 July by armed men. The authorities have not commented on the destruction of the mosques.

Cabinet forms committee

On 22 July the Cabinet formed a committee, chaired by Local Administration Minister Abdul-Qader Hilal, to assess the damage and reconstruction efforts in Saada Governorate.

At a meeting on 27 July the committee formed two teams – one to assess damage to private property, and the other to assess damage to public utilities.

Hilal said development projects, which had stalled since 2004, would start in areas not affected by the fighting, and that reconstruction was contingent on peace and stability.

News Yemen

DJIBOUTI, NewsYemen

Chairman of the Middle East Development Company, Tarek Mohammed Bin Laden, half-bother of Osama bin Laden, said that “competition on building a bridge across the Red Sea to link Africa with the Arabian Peninsula is going on”.

In a press conference held on Monday in Djibouti on launching the project and attended by Djibouti’s Prime Minister Deleita Mohammed Deleita, Bin Laden said the project, to be implemented in five years, will absorb one million Yemeni workers and 500,000 Djiboutian.

Bin Laden talked about contacts with international investors who will join the project and said the bridge would be “a historical engineering design that will help revive for economics in Africa and Middle East.”

Executive engineer in the Annor Holding Company Mohammed Ahmad al-Ahmad said the plan for establishing two cities, to be called Madinat An Nor, one in the Yemeni side and the other will be in the Djiboutian side, and linking them by the bridge was implemented.

“International investors used to invest in markets of Brazil, Russia, India and China, but now they have to know the emerging markets are in Middle East and Africa. The two cities to be linked with the bridge will support economic growth in such markets for the upcoming generations”, said al-Ahmad.

Djibouti Prime Minister Deleita said at the conference that the project of linking Djibouti to Yemen by a hanging bridge “will change traditional ways of traveling between Asia and Africa”. He said that million of Muslims in Africa will be able to get to the holy places easily through the bridge.

Known as “the bridge of the century”, the project will start in 2009.

It would include a motorway and rail links, and two luxury cities would be built on either side of the Red Sea.

Sheikh Tarek Mohammed bin Laden, 60, has so far won backing and pledges of land from the presidents of both countries after shuttling between the capitals in his private jet in recent weeks, outlining his plans.

In an interview posted on the project’s website, he talked of his vision, saying the city to be built on the Djibouti coast and called Madinat An Nor (City of Light) would create 100,000 jobs and stretch more than 970sqkm.

The bridge, spanning the strait of Bab el Mandeb (Gate of Tears), which owes its name to its perilous waters, would take nine years to build and cost $23.4billion.

Designs show a 3.2km viaduct from the Yemeni coast to the island of Perim, where it passes for another 3.2km before a final 21km stretch to Ras Siyyan in Djibouti. This will have as its centrepiece a 12.8km suspension bridge towering above the sea. Up to 100,000 cars and 50,000 train passengers a day would be able to cross one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.

More than 200 businessmen and 60 journalists from Yemen and other Arab countries attended the conference.

The war that al-Khaiwani wrote about, which got him imprisoned, is supposedly over. The Yemeni president called the rebel leader and its done. Hopefully, they will release al-Khaiwani now that everybody is friends again.

The Yemeni military’s extensive bombing campaign over the last four years has destoyed homes, villages, and infrastructure including schools and water facilities in Yemen’s northern Sa’ada province. The regime is currently calling for the nearly 100,000 people who were driven from their homes by the fighting to return. Quite tragically, many have no place to go anymore. But if it is safe for the people to return then it must be safe enough for the Yemeni government to finally allow access to international aid organizations. Both Doctors Without Borders and the ICRC have deemed the region a humanitarian disaster; however, they haven’t been able to get in to render medicine, food, water and shelter to the displaced families. From Yemen Online.

“End” of War in Yemen: Displaced Residents of Harf Sufian to Return Home
YemenOnline- July 20, 2008- The gubernatorial leaders of Amran met to discuss the return of those displaced by the war against between the government and the Houthi Rebels. Led by the deputy governor of Amran, Saleh Abu Uja, the meeting birthed a committee that would facilitate the return of the displaced citizens. The return of the residents, however, will not be possible without rebuilding the damaged town. The war had left Harf Sufian demolished, as described by many. It was a critical battle ground and an important location that was fought over repeatedly throughout the war. It was captured and recaptured by both sides on several incidents. President Ali Abdullah Saleh announced an end to hostilities on Thursday. However, even after the cease fire fighting still continued in Sadah, casting doubt on how long the peace would last. The rehabilitation of Harf Sufian has symbolic significance. This healing of the country’s war wounds is an important step forward in the peace process.

Flight Global

Yemen’s Felix Airways has ordered eight Bombardier CRJ700 aircraft, powered by CF34-8C engines. The engine order is valued at more than $90 million and delivery will begin in September 2008. Felix Airways is a new private airline based in Yemen and will operate domestic routes previously served by Yemen Airways together with additional regional routes.

Yemen’s fleet deal

Yemen’s eponymous national flag carrier has selected Pratt & Whitney global service partners for a 10-year, $90-million fleet management programme agreement. The deal covers all engine maintenance and engine health monitoring for the ‘owned’ Airbus A310 aircraft in Yemen Airways’ fleet powered by Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engines. Yemen Airways has three owned Airbus A310s in its long-haul fleet, operating from its main base in Sana’a and a hub in Aden. The airline flies to more than 30 destinations in Africa, the Middle East, Europe and Asia.

Yemen Observer

Qat chewers are on a steady rise in Yemen, especially amongst young people, where qat chewers constitute 70 percent of men and more than 30 percent of women, said Mansour al-Hawshabi, Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation.

Al-Hawshabi reported this rise during the opening of a workshop on policies for qat in Yemen, which took place in Sana’a on Sunday. “Qat occupies large areas of agricultural land at the expense of many crops, particularly important cereals,” he said.

The prevalence of qat is considered a significant obstacle to lifting the productivity of other crops. Qat plantations are expanding by 4-6 thousand hectares annually, which demand more than 30 percent of the total water resources allocated to agriculture.

Various surveys and studies show that 85 percent of qat cultivation is concentrated in five governorates: Amran, Dhamar, Sana’a, Hajja and Ibb. “Qat does not just pose agricultural and environmental problems, but it is a significant risk to the health of people especially when using pesticides indiscriminately,” said al-Hawshabi.

Qat has become a dilemma facing the expansion of food crops to provide food security, said Abdul-Karim al-Arhabi, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and Minister of Planning and International Cooperation. “It is draining more than 30 percent of the water devoted to agriculture.”

“The spending on qat plants is a priority to people who put it above necessary expenses such as food, education and other important needs,” he said. “The risk indicators of qat have become clear and specific to all and we must sharpen our determination and efforts to address the problem of qat as a major challenge facing agriculture in Yemen.”

The cultivation of qat in Yemen rose from 136,138 hectares in 2006 to 141,163 hectares last year, and its production rose from 147, 444 tons to 156, 290 tons during the same period.

Qat’s popularity in Yemen has led to its excessive cultivation, depleting the country’s agricultural resources. It is estimated that production increases by about 10 to 15 percent every year. Water consumption is so high that groundwater levels in the Sana’a basins are diminishing and are expected to dry out in just a little over 10 years from now.

Dijbouti is a very poor nation as well

Bin Laden Seeks $190 Billion for Yemen, Africa Cities (Update1)

By Will McSheehy and Matthew Brown

June 2 (Bloomberg) — Middle East Development LLC, the Dubai-based construction company controlled by a half-brother of Osama Bin Laden, will seek to raise about $190 billion to build two new cities in Djibouti and Yemen and a bridge linking them.

Tarek Mohammad Bin Laden will provide at least $10 billion of seed financing for the $200 billion project, Issam Halabi, Middle East Development’s vice president of technical affairs, told reporters at a conference organized by the Middle East Economic Digest in Dubai today.

“The Bin Ladens are originally from Yemen, and this is part of Sheikh Tarek’s desire to fight poverty and encourage trade,” Halabi said.

As oil earnings spur economic growth in the Persian Gulf, governments and investors are building new cities to create jobs for the region’s burgeoning population and attract inward investment. The $120 billion King Abdullah Economic City project in Saudi Arabia is the region’s biggest, followed by Kuwait’s $86 billion Silk City project, according to Dubai-based research company Proleads.

Yemen, the poorest Gulf state, faces Djibouti across the Red Sea and has attracted investment from neighbors including Qatar’s state-owned Qatari Diar Real Estate Co. and Dubai-owned port operator DP World Ltd. DP World also has a management contract for Djibouti’s sea port, and last year Dubai-owned investment company Istithmar PJSC bought a stake in the east African state’s Daallo Airlines in a bet on increasing trade and travel between the Gulf and east Africa.

Sea Bridge

Construction of a 28.5 kilometer bridge linking Yemen and Djibouti is due to begin next year and the project will take about 15 years to complete, Halabi said. The bridge is being designed to carry road vehicles, trains, and pipes for gas and water, he said.

The new cities in Yemen and Djibouti are intended to attract manufacturing, technology and leisure ventures, and companies including Bechtel Group Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co. and Ericsson AB have expressed interest in the project, according to Halabi.

Tarek Bin Laden shares the same father as Osama Bin Laden. Mohammed, their late Yemen-born father, emigrated to Saudi Arabia and founded the family’s Saudi Binladin Group construction empire.

Middle East Development has projects in Saudi Arabia, Dubai and Bahrain and a publicly-traded unit in Singapore, according to its Web site.

The power plant is just to run the steel mill.

Middle East Online

ISTANBUL – Saudi Arabia’s Al-Tuwairqi group confirmed on Tuesday it planned to invest $1 billion in Yemen to build steel and power plants.

Chairman Hilal Al-Tuwairqi said on the sidelines of a steel conference the Yemen steel plant would have a capacity of 5 million tonnes of liquid steel.

“In addition to that, we will build a rolling mill which will produce 1 million tonnes of rebar annually,” he said.

The investment would include installation of a power plant as Yemen lacked the necessary infrastructure, he said.

Yemen’s official news agency, Saba, reported the scale of the investment on March 31 but gave no details of the plants.

Al-Tuwairqi said he expected the plants to be operational by 2011.

April 23 (Bloomberg) — Nagy Ali Mohammed isn’t worried about a water shortage in Yemen. He says God will provide what’s needed for the craggy, volcanic land where he grows khat, a leaf chewed daily by most Yemeni men.

“There is Allah above,” the 50-year-old said as a red truck pumped water into his fields. “There always will be water.”

Yemen will need more than Nagy’s faith in the divine to avert a crisis. The Middle Eastern nation’s addiction to khat is sucking up scarce water resources. Cultivation of the mild stimulant has increased 13-fold in three decades and now uses 30 percent of the nation’s water, according to the World Bank.

Khat is consuming water needed to meet growing demands as the population increases by 3.5 percent annually and people desert the countryside for the city. The capital, Sanaa, won’t have enough water for its more than 2 million inhabitants within two decades, said Ramon Scoble, team leader for a water project run by German aid agency GTZ.

“It is not a matter of if it happens anymore, but a matter of when,” he said.

The water shortage risks exacerbating other challenges faced by the Arabian Peninsula’s poorest country, which doesn’t have the oil and gas resources of neighboring Saudi Arabia and Oman. A surge in al-Qaeda attacks is driving away tourists. On April 11, the U.S. State Department ordered non-essential embassy employees to leave Sanaa.

Rising commodity prices will accelerate the annual inflation rate to 15 percent this year, the highest in the region, according to an Economist Intelligence Unit report.

Arabia Felix

Called Arabia Felix, or happy Arabia, by the Romans for its abundant natural resources, Yemen now imports as much as 95 percent of its wheat.

“The water shortage is an acute problem,” said Selva Ramachandran of the United Nations Development Program in Sanaa.

The lack of water is likely to change the landscape of the Islamic nation of 19.3 million. Scoble estimated that as much 40 percent of Sanaa residents will have to relocate within 25 years.

Yemeni farmers pump five times more water than is returned to underground basins each year, according to the Ministry of Water and Environment.

Khat, which Yemenis say brings them clarity of thought and humor, is engrained in the local culture. More than 50 percent of Yemeni men chew the leaf every day, according to a World Bank report published last June. Some spend as much as 6 hours a day chewing baseball-sized wads jammed into their cheeks.

One in seven working Yemeni produce and distribute khat, making it the second-largest source of jobs in the country, the World Bank says. It employs more people than the public sector.

Subsidized Fuel

Khat farmer Nagy Ali Mohammed says he isn’t naive enough to say there’s no problem, though there’s little he can do but pray.

“We get our money from khat,” he said.

To irrigate khat, farmers have dug tube wells powered by state-subsidized fuel.

The government of President Ali Abdullah Saleh is in a bind. While cheap fuel encourages the over-use of water, reducing the subsidies would make it too expensive for farmers to irrigate their fields, said Mohammed Ibrahim al-Hamdi, deputy minister of water and environment.

“The government talks about conserving water, but indirectly the government subsidizes water extraction through fuel subsidies,” al-Hamdi said.

In the past, the government tried to prohibit khat use in public offices and excluded khat farmers from receiving loans for irrigation projects. While police are barred from chewing khat on duty, men in green uniforms smile with wads in their cheeks and guns slung over their shoulders as they search for al-Qaeda members on the roads around Sanaa.

“It is a losing battle,” al-Hamdi said, adding that the government doesn’t have the manpower, training or money to fight the drug.

Wells and Water Jars

In As-Sowdah, a village north of Sanaa that has no electricity, Hindia Ahmed treks 500 meters across the parched earth five or six times a day to reach the local well. When the well runs dry, she must descend into the Amran basin by foot or donkey to collect water trucked in by the government.

“It is difficult and hard work carrying water,” said the 50-year-old woman, with a metal pot balanced on her head. Her black headscarf and green-flowered skirt stand out against the barren landscape. “I always have a backache.”

Households of 8 to 15 people in villages such as As-Sowdah use as little as 40 to 100 liters a day for cooking, drinking and washing, Scoble said. The World Health Organization says each person should have access to 180 liters of water daily.

Inside Bab al-Yemen, the historical gateway to the Old City of Sanaa and along alleys bordered by stone and baked-brick houses, buying khat is a daily ritual. Men wearing pin-striped suit jackets and skirts, with ornate daggers strapped around their waists, haggle over price and quality.

“Khat is the whiskey of Yemen,” said Saleh Amid Qalan, a 32-year-old government employee, standing in a passage next to the seventh century Great Mosque, the country’s oldest.

Yemen Times

The internet was introduced to Yemen in 1990 and according to the latest figures from the Telecommunications Ministry, there are 146,000 internet subscribers nationwide, 822 internet cafés and more than 20 news web sites operating in Yemen.

Still not going to the highest bidder, wonder why?

Yemen Post

In a symposium organized by Al-Tagheer.net, economic experts stressed that government should bring the agreement relating to operating and developing Aden Container Terminal before parliament for discussion, and demanded it to act responsibly with this issue because the terminal is of vital economic importance to the country.

The participants also demanded the government to reconsider all agreements as to operating Aden Container Terminal, hinting all the previous agreements are not binding to the country because they harm its interest.

They further stressed that an international tender for operating Aden Terminal should be announced through which qualified and eligible companies can bid, maintaining that the bidding process should be conducted according to the tenders law, together with presenting it to parliament for approval.

Several papers have been presented during the symposium including one paper by Ayman Mohammed Nasser who pointed out that bidding or buying the government institutions should be referred to parliament for approval and later a republican decree should come next.

Political science professor Abdullah Al-Faqih warned against the new agreement signed with Dubai Ports Authority, stressing the agreement wastes Yemen’s financial rights. He also indicated that partnership of 50 percent of profits is not beneficial, and maintained this could lead other bidding companies to sue the Yemeni government.

Al-Faqih added that the bidding of the three companies was as follows:

1. Kuwaiti alliance with $462 million.

2. Philippines International Services with $451 million.

3. Dubai Ports with $297 million, hinting the best bid was offered by the Kuwaiti company and instead of declaring it as the successful bidder or having negotiations, Yemeni government decided to re-ask for new tenders.

In return, former Member of Parliament Salim bin Talib declared that the government withdrew the agreement from parliament in an effort to pass the agreement away from the parliament‘s control, adding that any agreement like that of Aden Terminal should not be signed only under the approval of parliament.

For his part, Mohamed Abdul Majeed Al-Qubati expressed his sorrow over the appalling situation of Aden Terminal, mainly because of the confused and unclear government policies.

Al-Qubati, however, indicated that Aden can be an international port and cited an American report speaking of the possibility of turning Aden Terminal into the most important free zone in the Middle East.

Economists and MPs demanded the formation of a civil coalition to defend Aden Terminal and maintained that it was a famous port in the past.

Yemeni businessman Saleh bin Fareed Al-Surimah pointed out the eligibility of his company Gulf and Kuwait Coalition Company (KGL) to operate and develop Aden Terminal and hinted that several parties cheated and beguiled in an effort to deprive KGL of it.

Al-Surimah emphasized the agreement with Dubai Ports is invalid and it abuses people’s right, hinting that if those people succeed in passing this dubious deal, this could help corrupted officials to pass the selling of other government institutions like Aden Refinery, etc. in the future.

He also requested President Saleh to act according to his constitutional responsibility to stop what he named as misuse and abuse in Aden Terminal because it does not serve the country’s interests.

I have a tee shirt that says, “Ali Saleh is scared of a blog.” And apparently he really is. In a rather Stalinist reaction to growing civil unrest, Yemen blocked 1126 Yemeni blogs.

Maktoobblog.com, one of the most popular Arab blogging platform, has been recently blocked in Yemen. The OpenNet Initiative testing has confirmed yesterday, through technical investigation, that the blog hosting service has been blocked by Yemennet ISP, a service of the government’s Public Telecommunication Corporation (PTC):

ONI technical investigation verified that the service has been blocked by Yemennet, Yemen’s government-run ISP. Access is blocked to the entire domain maktoobblog.com, effectively to every blog hosted by the service. Interestingly, users who attempt to access the site receive a network error message instead of the standard blockpage, which is served when users attempt to access sexual content.

This significant blocking is expected to hinder Internet users in Yemen from blogging and reading blogs because maktoobblog.com is home of one of the largest blogging communities in the Middle East and North Africa.

People get the network error message for this blog too. My article on internet censorship appeared at the Yemen Times earlier this month.

Almotamar.net, Saba – Yemen has refused Monday to sign an agreement with the United States of America over the installation of two radioactive surveillance stations at Aden and Hodeidah ports.

Well-informed sources were quoted by almotamar.net as saying that a ministerial committee, was formed to look into the matter with help of experts from Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Defense, Public Health and Population, Transportation, Higher Education and Scientific Research and Legal Affairs, asked the government not to sign the agreement with the U.S. for the establishment of the surveillance stations because of their bad consequences, affirming the terms of the agreement were in favor of the U.S.

The draft agreement provided that any cooperation between Yemen and any other country in this regard should be under the US observation.

Moreover, the draft agreement was considered as political obligation by Yemen.

In April 2007, the cabinet saw a memorandum submitted by Electricity and Energy Ministry over the installation of two US radioactive surveillance stations at the Aden and Hodeida ports and approved the formation of a committee to look into the matter.

Hasn’t this been under construction for like five years?

Iran, Yemen Discuss Power Cooperation

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian deputy power minister and his visiting Yemeni counterpart in a meeting here in Tehran explored avenues for implementing an agreement held earlier by the two sides on energy cooperation.

According to the agreement signed between the Iranian Transport Stations Company and Yemen Electricity Corporation, the Iranian company would provide assistance in supplying power to the Marib Gas Power Station project.

Also during the meeting, the Yemeni deputy minister handed over a letter from his country’s Electricity and Energy Minister Mustafa Bahran to Iran’s Power Minister Parviz Fattah underlining the need for mutual cooperation in the field of electricity.

The head of the airline is Saleh’s son-in-law.

Defence India

Bombardier Aerospace announced today that Felix Airways of Sana’a, Yemen has signed a firm order for eight Bombardier CRJ700 NextGen airliners, and has taken options on an additional three. Felix Airways is owned by Yemenia (Yemen Airways) and strategic investors. (Read on …)

Unsurprising in the wake of the mortar attack on the US embassy; however, it is another form of collective punishment.

Mareb Press

The 14 October police station disseminated today a circular to most of the internet cafes’ owners including closing the internet café at 12 am and banning use of internet by children during day or night with pretext of using the internet by suspicious people and children.

The director of police station stressed on the necessity of implementing and committing on this circular saying those will not implement it, they will have to hold the responsible for that.

“The customers should bring their identification cards with them in order to enter the internet café,” he said.

The officer of Rights and Liberties in Lawyers Syndicate, Mohammed al-Maswari, said in press released a copy of which was obtained by Mareb Press, this represent a clear restriction for the liberties and rights of citizens and businessmen.

He demanded for investigation about this. He wondered whether a police station can issued such circulars without any legal verdict.

Eyewitness said that a number of policemen started yesterday evening closing some internet cafes in Sana’a city at 1am.

Meanwhile Saleh declares March 19 as “Yemeni Media Day” and someone issues a statement on behalf of the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate (YSJ) praising the president; however it wasn’t the YSJ. The YSJ was busy having a rally in support of journalist Abdulkarim Al-Khaiwani who is falsely charged with terrorism, while as we know, the terrorists are nearly all free whether or not they were sentenced to jail.

Al-Khiwani has highly appreciated the support of his colleagues, but urged all who have concerns about freedom of opinion to not abandon their legal struggle to get more freedom and break through all restrictions the authorities want to impose on press. He confirmed he would continue fight for his liberty and opinion.

Yemen Post:

In his report submitted recently to parliament, Prime Minister Ali Mujawar assured that subsidies of oil and its derivatives take up two thirds of state budget while poor citizens’ benefit from its derivatives do not exceed 22 percent.

Though national economy achieved a 5.6 growth in 2005, Mujawar’s report mentioned that there was economic decline in 2006 and 2007 wherein the annual growth was just 3.2 percent.

Mujawar attributed this decline to the decrease of revenues of gas and oil estimated at 8.3 percent and 12.2 percent respectively, noting that Yemen’s produced quantity of crude oil dropped off during 2007 to reach 117 million barrels instead of 146 million in 2005.

Likewise, the growth of national investments saw a decline estimated at 3.6 percent in 2006 though it was 14.4 percent in 2005, namely because of decrease in the general investments. Similarly, foreign investments in Yemen decreased from 49.4 percent to 45 percent, dealing another blow to the country, as it tries to convince foreign investors to invest in Yemen.

Meanwhile, Mujawar pointed out that state’s reliance on oil and gas will have negative effects at the midterm, while the current and investment expenditures will increase.

He as well convinced parliament members to endorse numerous production sharing agreements without being studied adequately, hinting there is a necessity now to attract foreign capital to invest in gas and oil sectors including an agreement with Yemen General Corporation for Oil in bloc No. 39 at Al-Mahara province’s Damghot area.

Minister of Transport and Marine Affairs Khalid Ibrahim Al-Wazeer blamed the increase of oil prices, mainly plane fuels, for the losses of Yemeni Airways (Yemenia) over the years 2005 and 2006.

Al-Wazeer added that operational expenditures of Yemenia, which has 10 aircrafts of different sizes, mounted to YR 34 billion and the operational loss was YR 2.5 billion for the same year, while state subsidies for some internal destination like Al-Ghaidah and Socotra reached about YR 400 million and the loss calculated before taxation was YR 92 million.

In 2005, the operational expenditures rose to YR 43 billion and the operational loss YR 3.5. State subsidies for Al-Ghaidhah and Socotra reached YR 300 million and the losses of the same year before taxes are YR 2 billion.

Operational expenditures of 2006 mounted to YR 47 billion and the losses were YR 5 billion.

According to Al-Wazeer, the company made a small profit in 2004 and small losses in 2005 and 2006. He also mentioned that the increase of aircraft fuels and surplus employers are key reasons for loss, hinting that each aircraft has 350 employees.

He also added that there is a small profit in 2007 and these profits will appear as soon as the chartered accountant ends his revision.

Yemen’s share in Yemenia reaching 51 percent is distributed according to the company’s law as 35 percent is allocated for Tax Authority and the remaining percentage is allocated to Finance Ministry.

Agreement of setting up company to operate Aden Containers Port signed

[09 March 2008]

DUBAI, March 09 (Saba)- General Corporation for Aden Ports and Dubai Ports International (DPI) signed on Sunday an agreement of setting up a joint company to operate Aden Containers Port.

Chairman of the corporation Mohammed Mubarak and executive director of DPI Mohammed Sharaf signed the agreement.

Last December, the cabinet approved establishment of the company.

Dirty water claims more victims. this disease comes from dirty water. Other victims of dirty water include babies dying from diarrhea, girls who spend all day lugging water instead of being in school, people who spend their food money on water, and those infected with other diseases. 90% of tribal disputes and violence arise initially from water issues. There is a water plan but the ministries won’t coordinate.

Mareb Press

The Director of Tehama Development Authority, Abdul Rahman AlSaqaf, revealed that new animals have been affected by myiasis which is caused by screwworm fly, in Hudeidah province.

Al-Saqaf said, “Some new cases of screw-worm larvae infections appeared among the livestock in Dhaha district, south of Al-Hudiadh province.”

He made it clear that the office of agricultural ministry in the province and Tehama Development Authority sprayed parasiticides in an effort to prevent the disease from spreading.

The independent NewsYemen website quoted the head of the Epidemic Monitoring Center, Sultan al-Maqtary, as saying that there were infections among human beings. He stressed that the center has taken the necessary procedures for emergency.

The Ministry of Agriculture has warned that more than 8,000 livestock in three of the country’s provinces have been affected by myiasis.

The fatal disease has been found in 838 villages in Sa’ada and Hajjah provinces and at least five villages in Hudeidah province in north-west Yemen since it first appeared in the country in December 2007, the ministry added. (Read on …)

Its just going to get worse as oil revenue continues to decrease. From the Yemen Observer

News of a British company’s intention to cut off the electricity supply to some governorates was denied by Dr. Mustafa Buhran, Minister of Electricity and Energy. The Minister confirmed that the published news goes back to a previous dispute, and was obtained by a newspaper correspondent who either negligently published it, or published it with the intention of creating public unrest.

The Minister declined to speak about the agreement’s details, yet he mentioned that the agreement regarding electricity lease contracts was signed by the previous government, adding that the issue of debts had been dealt with.

Sources from the electricity corporation spoke of contracts with a temporary, off-shore electricity company for the sum of $3.5 million per month, to deal with current shortages.

Media news said that the British electricity-generating company had threatened the Yemeni electricity ministry with disconnecting the supply to six cities if they did not pay the outstanding amount owing of $7.5 million. Reports spoke of a British company by the name of Jericho, that has been supplying parts of Aden governorate, Hodeidah, Hadramout, Amran, Taiz and Sayoun with electricity according to a contract between the company and the ministry for the past year.

Sources attributed the company’s measures to the Yemeni corporation’s failure to pay the sum of YR1.5 billion ($7.5 million) for electricity supply for the months of December and January.

Some reports disclosed that the Yemeni Ministry of Electricity and Energy and its corporation are suffering hard times, as evidenced by their failure to pay the British company, which sells huge amounts of electricity used in lighting and operating industrial plants in the previously mentioned areas.

Critics of the electricity ministry said that it could have supplied these cities with power by building two generating stations at the cost of $60 million, instead of paying that same amount to the British company for a one year supply.

Yemen suffers a 30 percent deficit in electricity supply, due to the expansion of urban areas in addition to the demand for energy from rural areas and projects. It signed a contract with the British company in mid-2006 to supply the six areas with power.

Dr. Buhran told the Parliament that the Ministry’s revenues do not cover the cost of electricity production, because the revenue rate is less than 25 percent of the cost. “The government pays a subsidy to cover this deficit,” the Minister said.

Update: more than 3 million people (out of 20 million Yemenis) infected. Thank goodness for the WHO. It is caused by dirty water.

Yemen Times: SANA’A, Feb. 20 — In cooperation with international organizations, Yemen’s Ministry of Public Health and Population will conduct a four-year campaign to fight Bilharzia, Phase one of which will launch next month.

“Bilharzia is a forgotten disease that’s not a global issue,” WHO representative in Yemen Ghulam Rabbani stated Wednesday, indicating that Yemen and Sudan are the only Middle Eastern nations still suffering the disease. For this reason, WHO is conducting this campaign in Yemen.

“Bilharzia leads to incurable liver failure and, effectively, death,” Rabbani said, adding that several Middle Eastern countries like Egypt and Afghanistan that suffered from the disease have succeeded in eradicating it completely through such campaigns and distributing anti-Bilharzia medicine to those infected.

“Just like it has succeeded in eradicating smallpox and polio, Yemen also can succeed in eradicating Bilharzia,” Rabbani stated.

According to WHO statistics, more than three million people in Yemen are infected with the disease, which means significant humanitarian and economic losses. (Read on …)

Yemen Times

SANA’A, Feb. 11 —Abud Al-Rahman Fathl, Minister of Water & the Environment, said last week that the water treatment station in Sana’a district has undergone damages due to a hazardous waste leak into the sanitation facilities.

The minister, who spoke in a Parliament session about the procedures taken by the government to treat water waste in Sana’a, especially in the Bani Al-Hareth district, confirmed that the workers at the water treatment station faced many difficulties because a great amount of oil and waste from factories, slaughterhouses, and hospitals flows into the groundwater treated in the sanitation facilities. He claims the problem has existed for the last five years.

According to the minister, the contamination, which is in Sana’a’ Basin in the Bani Al-Hareth district, has consequences. For example, he stated that the water is often not fully treated because the station is not able to remove all of the harmful elements in it, and even after treatment, the quality of water is still poor, full of water-borne diseases and not suitable for drinking. (Read on …)

YEMEN: Sanitation services limited, sewage treatment plants poor 05 Mar 2008 16:29:11 GMT
Source: IRIN

SANAA, 5 March 2008 (IRIN) – Sanitation services in Yemen are limited. Almost all villages in rural areas, where 75 percent of Yemen’s 21 million people live, still use traditional means: Sewage is either dumped in watercourses or piped onto open ground.

According to the UN Development Programme (UNDP) Human Development Report 2007-8, 43 percent of the population used improved sanitation, implying connection to a public sewer, connection to a septic tank system, pour-flush latrines, simple pit latrines or ventilated improved pit latrines.

The UNDP figures indicate an improvement over recent years: The official 2004 population census showed that only 15.9 percent of Yemeni households had access to a sanitary network (implying piped sewage only). Of the houses not connected to sanitation networks, 26.8 percent had covered holes for gathering excreta, 16.6 percent had uncovered holes, and 37.1 percent had nothing.

Officials at the Ministry of Water and Environment said the government was striving to improve sanitation services, but lacked funds.

Saleh al-Hakimi, a senior adviser with the German Society for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) office in Yemen, said Yemen was unlikely to achieve the water and sanitation Millennium Development Goal (MDG – halving the proportion of people without access to safe water and sanitation by 2015) unless significant further efforts were made. “The government of Yemen is making efforts to provide sanitation services but these efforts are not sufficient,” he said, adding that the lack of adequate sewage treatment plants was leading to groundwater contamination.

The UN has also said Yemen is not on track to meet the sanitation MDG.

Rural areas

Ahmed al-Soufi, an information officer at the National Water and Sanitation Foundation (NWSF), a government body under the Ministry of Water and Environment, told IRIN that in rural areas, human waste was often collected in open places near people’s homes.

“Special tanks then carry the human waste to unpopulated areas,” he said, adding that the lack of sanitation services led to health problems like diarrhoeal diseases. He said these areas had no sewage treatment plants.

Mohammed Ibrahim al-Hamdi, deputy minister of water and environment, told IRIN that in rural areas sanitation services were also difficult to set up due to varied geographical and geological conditions.

“People in rural areas do not use as much water as in urban areas. It is difficult to set up sanitation services in mountainous areas. Most villages consist of a few houses and it is difficult to establish sewage treatment facilities in each village,” he explained.

Sewage treatment plants ineffective

Salem Mohammed, head of GAPE’s Epidemic Surveillance Department, told IRIN that in the 1990s there was bacterial pollution because of waste sewage being dumped outside cities. “But sewage treatment plants solved the problem only to some extent,” he said. Their location was often inappropriate as they were close to residential areas.

Ali Abdullah al-Dhabhani, head of the Toxins and Wastes Department at the General Authority for Protecting the Environment (GAPE), told IRIN that hospital and medical laboratory waste is treated at sewage works. This waste contains dangerous chemical substances, bacteria and viruses, he said, adding: “Unfortunately, sometimes farmers use such waste water to irrigate their crops.”

Al-Dhabhani warned that water treated at sewage works, which also often processed medical waste and waste from abattoirs, was not fit for irrigating crops owing to chemical contamination. The lack of water was also a problem as it meant the concentration of toxic chemicals remained high.

“Health risks include cholera, diarrhoeal diseases and typhoid,” GAPE’s Mohammed said, adding that sewage plants were “sub-standard”.

Sewage treatment plants are found only in the big cities, like Sanaa, Aden, Taiz, and al-Hudeidah. According to al-Dhabhani, Sanaa’s sewage works was designed in the 1980s and opened in 1999, but never designed to cater for a city of around 2.5 million people.

Bad cement?

Donor aid has limited impact in Yemen due to corruption and administrative incompetence.

SABA’A, Jan. 30 (Saba) – A delegation from the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD) has visited the project of Dhamar-al-Hhusainia road to get acquainted with the failure reasons of the project’s implementation.

The delegation accompanied by the deputy minister of public works Abdul-Wahab al-Hakem was briefed on the implementation progress of the project and reviewed the difficulties and the means of overcoming them.

The delegation and the contractor agreed on completing the project within a specified timetable ends in the mid of July 2009.

The 257 km-length road project from Dhamar to al-Husainia is implemented by the Yemeni Rehab company and the Turkish Norak company at a cost of $38 million, 88 percent of which financed by the AFESD.

Good factual article

Yemen-DPI partnership: where to now? By: Arafat Mudabish

Following several years of unresolved issues regarding the fate of Aden Port, Yemen’s government recently agreed with Dubai Ports International, or DPI, which operates the United Arab Emirate’s Jebel Ali Port in addition to several other ports in the area and around the world, to establish a 50-50 Yemen-UAE joint venture to run Aden Port.

This partnership comes three years after the Yemeni government twice invited international bidding to operate the port. According to the government announcement published at that time, the Tender Assessment Committee found that the bid from Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport Co., or KGL, was more feasible for the Yemeni government in the long run, whereas DPI’s bid was more feasible in the short term.

According to government documents, a consulting firm Yemen’s government appointed to manage the tender process recommended the short-term option – DPI’s bid – although expected revenues were no better than those expected from the Kuwaiti firm’s bid.

The issue stirred much public controversy at that time, with talk of a “suspicious” deal between the consulting firm and pro-DPI state officials involved in the tender. Some pointed to a conflict of interest between Aden Port and others DPI operates, i.e., Dubai’s Jebel Ali Port, Djibouti Port, Oman’s Salalah Port and Jeddah Port’s South Terminal. (Read on …)

Yemen Times

- Khab Forum in Jawf province denounces involvement of armed forces in political conflicts

The Khab Forum, made up of citizens from Al-Jawf governorate, urged the authority to review the administrative division of their district, which turned to have one local council instead of two in the past, the weekly reported. It went on to say that the forum released a statement, of which it obtained a copy, denouncing behavior of the employment committee in the governorate that sold their district’s share of job opportunities to other areas although the district has qualified applicants for such job vacancies.

The forum insisted that the governorate authorities must investigate the officials who sold their district’s share of job opportunities to other areas and give the district’s locals a top priority in recruitment, particularly as Khab is the largest and most populous district in the governorate. Participants also urged the government to provide their district with more projects and public services for its being the largest and most populous in the remote province.

According to Al-Sahwa weekly, locals of Khab and Shaghaf districts appealed to Al-Jawf governor to immediately finish implementation of Al-Buqe’- Hazm Road, as well as connect the district villages with the public highway and set up a deadline for finishing the work. The forum denounced involvement of government troops in political conflicts between locals and the government, urging the relevant authorities to do justice in the distribution of service and social insurance projects.

SABA

Plan to protect Yemen from radiations not to be implemented yet

[15 December 2007]

SANA’A, Dec. 15 (Saba) – The Customs Authority’s head Ali al-Zabidi has called on the National Atomic Energy Commission (NAEC) to implement its part in the agreement the two bodies signed at the beginning of 2007 on carrying out a plan to protect the country from the risks of radiation sources that may enter the Yemeni lands illegally.

He told Saba that the plan, which was scheduled to be implemented in collaboration with the NAEC, security authorities and coastguards, aimed at setting up updated apparatuses able to control strictly
land, marine and air outlets and to prevent any attempts of smuggling nuclear and radioactive materials.

Under the agreement, the NAEC should provide the authority with modern apparatuses and training the authority’s cadre on the use of them to thwart any smuggling of radioactive materials into the
Yemeni lands, but the agreement has not implemented yet, al-Zabidi said.

I was surprised to learn Russia is Yemen’s biggest creditor country.

How many years has it been that the regime is planning and publicizing another power station in Marib, four year?

Yemen Observer

The distinguished political relations between Yemen and Russia must be reflected at the level of economic relations and investment, said Sallah Mohamed Said al-Attar, Chairman of the General Authority for Investment. He called on Russian businessmen to invest in the energy field in Yemen, which is suffering from a large deficit.

“We must exploit the surge of financial power in Russia and due to the high prices of oil and gas invite Russian companies to work in Yemen,” said al-Attar during a meeting with a delegation of Russian businessmen.

Al-Attar said that the production of electrical power in Yemen would reach 1600 megawatts after a second electrical station in Marib has been opened which will produce 320-400 megawatts. Electricity gas stations will be established with a capacity of up to 800 megawatts, and there is a government direction to build five lines of liquefied gas from Marib to Ma’abar providing energy production. (Read on …)

Ecological disaster already, fish washing up on shore.

HODEIDAH, NewsYemen

Reliable sources in Hodeidah said that Yemeni Coast Guards have found, two miles off Al-Salif port, 26 bags contain poisonous materials threw out in the Yemeni territorial waters near Camaran island by an unknown trade ship last Wednesday.

The coast guards along with teams from the ministries of fisheries, environment and maritime science are looking for more bags might be thrown out and washed by wind to somewhere else, said the sources. They said that many fish and other sea livings were found dead on shores near Al-Salif port.

Official bodies do not talk about this fearing a horrible environmental crisis may happen due to such materials if searching teams could not find them and get them out, said the sources.

Sources pointed that each bag contains 400 gram of such dangerous materials.

This incident came few hours after Yemeni Coast Guards lifted up bodies of ten thousand livestock hurled by a ship coming from the African Horn to water off Hodeidah coasts, according to official sources that did not identify the ship.

Yemen Times

SANA’A, Dec. 16 — 10,000 livestock have sunk in the red see as a result of a U.A.E ship turned over. Likewise, another boat, belonging to Yemeni traders, carrying a huge quantity of pesticides made the same problem in the red see. Livestock and pesticides endangered the Red Sea resources, confirmed Yaha Al-kynaei, Chairman of the Yemen Authority for Developing Yemeni Islands. (Read on …)

There’s ten trillion cubic feet of confirmed natural gas reserves in Yemen of which Total pre-sold (to its own subsidiary and other corporate partners like South Korea) nine trillion cubic feet. The sale prices are below market levels according to South Korea.

Much of the gas was then resold by Total and the South Koreans to the US market for future delivery. Now we all know the money from the proceeds of the gas sales will probably be siphoned off, if you will excuse the pun, and never fund basic services for the Yemeni people.

But there still should be one trillion cubic feet of LNG for the domestic market in Yemen. (Although the domestic market needs much more for electricity, not to mention water desalinization.) So is Total doing some kind of favor to the people in Shabwa here with their “good idea”? Local electricity should have been a priority, not an afterthought. I think Total may be ripping off the gas at cheep prices, destroying the coral and fishing areas in Balhaf, and kicking back to everyone except the people who lost their livelihoods, homes, and ages.

SANA’A, NewsYemen

The Ministry of Oil and Minerals said that the French Total Company has adopted an idea to make use of gas at block 10 in Shabwa.

Total proposed that gas at block 10 in Shabwa might be used in generating electricity with capacity of 130 MW, in partnership with the ministry, said the undersecretary of the Ministry of Oil and Minerals Abdul-Malik Na’ama. He said that Total’s idea based on using 50 MW of such capacity to operate private institutions and selling other 80 MW for the Ministry of Electricity.

The Total also suggested to establish a gas station to produce cooking gas to reduce the current gas crisis and facing any future gas shortage, Na’ama told NewsYemen.

The project of gas station is underway and it may be ready after one month, he added.

Arabian Business

DPI back in the game

Yemen and DP World have reached a preliminary accord for the UAE company to run the Aden container terminal in the Arab state, Yemen’s transport minister was on Saturday quoted as saying.

Under a memorandum of understanding signed by the two parts, DP World and Aden’s port will set up an equally owned joint venture to develop and operate the container terminal, Yemen’s state news agency Saba quoted Khaled Al-Wazeer as telling a newspaper.

DP World officials could not be reached to comment.

In 2005, Yemen awarded Dubai Ports International (DPI), a DP World predecessor, a contract to develop and manage the Aden container terminal.

Yemen later suspended the contract after parliament deputies criticised it, Saba said. Industry sources said the objections were partially on the grounds that the Aden facility is in competition with Dubai’s Jebel Ali port, also run by DPI.

Joint Yemeni-UAE company to run ACT

Saba

[01 December 2007]
SANA’A, Dec. 01 (Saba) – Minister of Transport Khalid al-Wazir unveiled on Saturday that Yemen and International Dubai Seaport Company signed last Wednesday a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to establish a joint Yemeni-UAE Company to develop and operate Aden Container Terminal (ACT). (Read on …)

Syrian FM praises Yemeni regional stands

[30 November 2007]

DAMASCUS, Nov. 30 (Saba) – Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem expressed on Thursday his appreciation of the Yemeni regional stands on the Arab issues.

During his meeting here with Yemeni ambassador to Syria Salah al-Ansi, Muallem asserted the firmness of relations between the two brotherly countries and his country’s keenness on boosting them in the future.

Al-Ansi affirmed, for his part, willingness of the government to advance the Yemeni-Syrian ties to serve both peoples’ interests.

Loan form China to finance Chinese company that will build cement factory

Chinese deputy minister of foreign affairs to visit Yemen soon

[30 November 2007]

SANA’A, Nov. 30 (Saba)- Chinese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs is to visit Yemen by mid of next month, 26sep.net report on Friday.

According to official sources, the Chinese official would hold talks with the officials in the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation to sign a loan agreement at 40 million Yuan.

The sum will be used to develop Bajel Cement Factory that will be implemented by a Chinese company at amount of $115 million.

AH/AM

Saba

Al-Motamar: Russia to build trains.

almotamar.net – Yemen’s ambassador to Moscow Mohammed Saleh al-Hilali announced Friday that Yemen plans to build a railroad that will link Yemen to Saudi Arabia and Oman with the help of Russia.

Al-Hilali called on Russian businessmen for investing in this project and affirmed that the Yemeni government would offer facilities and guarantees t foreign investors.

In an interview with the Russian Novosty news agency the Yemeni ambassador announced that the Russian-Yemeni Business Council would, under a support from the Russian Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, the Russian Foreign Ministry, Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry would organise the Russian-Yemeni Forum in Sana’a on 8-12 of December , 2007.

The forum aims to develop relations between governmental industrial, financial and scientific circles in Yemen and Russia.

Yemen plans to build railway linking with Saudi Arabia, Oman

[01 December 2007]

SANA’A, Dec 01(Saba)- The Yemeni ambassador to Russia Mohammed Saleh al-Hilali has said to the Russian news and information agency “RIA Novosti” that Yemen plans to build railways linking Yemen with Saudi Arabia and Oman, the state-run 26sep.net reported on Saturday.

Al-Hilali urged Russian businessmen to invest in the project, affirming the government would offer special facilitations to the Russian investors.

Al-Hilali noted the Yemeni-Russian Businessmen’s Council would organize a forum to reinforce relations between industrial, financial, scientific and governmental bodies in the two countries.

The forum will be organized under an invitation from the Russian Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, Foreign Ministry and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation.

FR/YA

SANA’A, NewsYemen

Oil and gas have provoked protests amongst people in oil-rich Yemeni provinces of Marib and Shabwa as people there ask the government and oil companies for 10 percent of oil and gas revenues and more attention.

Hundreds of citizens in Marib gathered on Tuesday to complain environmental pollution, the need of farmers who depend upon diesel for the State support. They demanded employments in military and civil institutions and oil companies, scholarships of different specializations as well as increasing the number of beneficiaries from social security.

The protesters demanded in their statement compensations for farmers affected by oil and gas contamination.

The protesters formed a committee comprising 54 sheikhs, social figures and law specialists to follow up meeting the requests. (Read on …)

Cabinet discuses implementation of foreign supplied projects

[20 November 2007]

SANA’A, Nov. 20 (Saba)- Cabinet discussed in its meeting held on Tuesday a report of Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation over level of implementing projects supplied by foreign loans, aid, gifts and donations for the year 2006 and the first half of 2007.

The report shows that during 2006, Yemen has got soft loans for financing development programs and projects with a total value of $ 331 million and funding facilitations worth $ 1.1 billion have been allocated for a number of projects in fields of electricity, roads,agriculture and irrigation and other fields.

The report also pointed out that the total value of the loans Yemen has got during the first half of 2007 estimated at $ 295. 5 million has been allocated to sectors of technical and vocational education, social security, poverty alleviation, constructions, transport, health and agriculture.

It showed that the total value of current loans of different sources is $ 2.902 billion and the used of them are only $1.115 billion.

The cabinet stressed on concerned ministers to have necessary measures for gearing up carrying out hampered projects especially in fields of electricity, public works and roads, environment and water.

Update: Bombardier denies deal:

OTTAWA (AFP) – Canadian manufacturer Bombardier on Monday denied it had received a firm order for six aircraft from Yemen’s national carrier, contradicting the chairman of Yemenia Airways.

“This (order) is not confirmed,” Bombardier spokesman John Arnone told AFP.

On Sunday, Yemenia chairman Abdul Khaleq al-Qadi said the carrier was purchasing the planes for 156 million dollars (100 million euros) at list prices.

The new planes would be used on internal routes starting next year and would be funded through a loan extended by the Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank, he said.

Qadi said the firm, which operates a small fleet of Airbus and Boeing planes, might order three more Bombardier aircraft at the end of 2008.

Airlines often take out firm orders for planes while reserving options to buy others at a lateof impoverished Yemen owns 51 percent of Yemenia’s shares, while neighboring Sr date, depending on market conditions.

The government audi Arabia holds the rest.

Bombardier makes small- to medium-sized planes, typically for the business market and for domestic routes.

Delivery is eight years out.

Saba News

Yemenia buys modern planes for local transport

[17 November 2007]

SANA’A, Nov. 17 (Saba)- Chairman of the Board of Yemeni Airlines Company (Yemenia) captain Abdul-Khaleq al-Qadhi announced Saturday that the company has signed a contract with Canadian Bombardier Company for Plane Industries for buying six Planes Uford Handerd Q400 to be assigned for local transport.

“We have signed a contract for buying six planes as a first stage,” Al-Qadhi said in a press conference held on the occasion of inaugurating test voyage of one of the plane of the company between Sana’a and Taiz, adding that the purchase would increase to nine.

He said that Yemenia has recently singed with three Saudi investment companies partnership contracts. According the contracts, the Saudis side owns 75% of the company’s shares, while Yemenia shares with the Saudi side the rest of 25%.

He confirmed acceptance of Jeddah Islamic Bank to finance the purchase and that the agreement on this purpose would be signed between Yemenia and the bank, indicating that the cost of one of each of the plane valued at $ 26 million.

Earlier, Yemenia announced last Wednesday it had signed a contract for buying ten Airbus planes with the cost of $ 2,2 billion and that the purchase would by financed by European banks.

Al-Qadhi said that the company expects to receive the first plane in 2015.

Yemen Times

Yemen is still an agricultural based economy, employing almost half the workforce and providing livelihoods for over two-thirds of the population. However, the agricultural sector is facing enormous challenges that obstruct its development, ranging from policy issues, to trade, production, and water issues. This report sheds the light on the recent developments in the Agricultural sector and the outlook for upcoming Years.

Yemen’s Agricultural Economy is Shrinking. The contribution of Agricultural to the GDP is falling from 18 percent in 2004 with an expectation to drop to 13 percent in 2007, while production of crops in the country has been decreasing, along with the landmass allocated for agricultural activity, and therefore the Agricultural Sector is also employing less people, and in turn affecting the livelihoods of more than twelve million people. (Read on …)

Yemen Observer

Al-Anesi, the NSACA chairman, said that reacting in this way was beneath the dignity of the Electricity minister. “We sent a letter to the Cabinet telling them not to commit the country to anything in advance and we are not accusing Bahran of anything,” said al-Anesi. “The NSACA, like everybody else, read what was written in the papers about the deal and it attracted our attention. We called the stock market in the United States and asked for information on Powered Corp. and found that the company has never carried out any business in the field of building nuclear plants and its capital is only $500,000. The deal was supposed to be worth $15 billion,” he said.

According to al-Anesi, all of this information was sent to the Cabinet, which decided to cancel any deals with Powered Corp. He added that it was not in the best interest of the Minister of Electricity to further discuss the issue, as neither his post nor his name were mentioned to the Cabinet.

A very good idea on somebody’s part.

CCTV installed in Aden oil refinery [27 October 2007]

ADEN, (Saba) – The Romanian firm UTI Systems launched on Saturday the installation of Closed-circuit television (CCTV) at oil facilities of the Aden oil refinery after the firm got recently the
tender.

A source in the Aden refinery said to Saba that the cost of the tender was estimated to be $860,000, pointing out that the CCTV would be installed for the first time in the refinery since setting
up it in 1954.

The source noted that the daily production of the refinery reaches 100,000 barrels of petroleum. YA/AF
Saba

Shady Financial Dealings

Al-Sahwa: A parliament report revealed that the Aden Refinery was fined YR 2.343 billion it paid for foreign companies due to the delay of payment for the companies. According to the report, in contrary the refinery failed to get its debts by foreign companies estimated at YR 38.7 billion.

The report noted the refinery has not sticked to the stated regulations and legislations in relation to rationalizing expenses and due that and bad plans it has got much debts.

It bought cars for the company for YR 119.9 million and sold crude oil which should be refined locally for foreign companies, but didn’t meet all legal procedures regarding its purchases.

And the money goes where, to whom?

What should that number actually be, one million

YT

Water merchants and qat plantation owners are powerful interest groups.

Yemen Times:

SANA’A, Oct 10 — Halving agriculture consumption of water, reducing urban water waste by 50 percent, and treating wastewater are the main measures proposed to avert a water crisis in Yemen.

An action plan has been drawn up after a two-year study by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Working with the Gneral Authority for Rural Water Supply (GARWSP) and the National Water Authority (NWRA), they have warned that unless demand for water is reduced significantly, the water resources in the Sana’a Basin may disappear “in the very near future”. (Read on …)

Dar al-Hadith in Sa’ada, nefarious? The author references the Dammaj students’ shoot out with the Houthis during the fourth Sa’ada war that resulted in the deaths of two foreign students.

Proposed Yemen-Djibouti Bridge Threatens AFRICOM Security

By Chris Heffelfinger, Olivier Guitta

Two major developments to unfold in the coming years signal Africa’s growing strategic importance, especially the Horn of Africa (HoA). As of October 1, the African continent came under the auspices of a newly created U.S. military command, AFRICOM, establishing one staff responsible for affairs with the 53 African states (http://www.africom.mil). The second development, potentially far more troubling, is the newly announced project to build the world’s longest bridge—17 miles connecting Yemen and Djibouti—under Tarek bin Laden’s Middle East Development LLC. (Read on …)

The financial assests of the corporation are extremely limited:

Yemen Times:
It all started over a year during the publicity campaign of President Saleh for the Sept 2006 presidential elections, when he first declared that Yemen has a nuclear ambition; “we will generate electricity using nuclear technology” President Saleh said. Following that declaration, Mustapha Bahran –head of the Yemeni National Atomic Energy Agency, publicized the idea in his speeches and media events, articulating how the idea of nuclear power in Yemen is doable either through outsourcing the nuclear reactor or building one on-shore, the publicity campaign continued until Bahran got promoted to the post of the Minister of Electricity, and, eventually, inked an agreement with a U.S. based company to construct Yemen’s first nuclear reactors. (Read on …)

Lines restored after nine months of no communication, the last three of which have been under a cease fire. How is that not a punative action on the whole region?

almotamar.net – The official spokesman for the committee on implementing Saada agreement Yasser al-Awadhi said Sunday that all types of telephone lines, fixed, mobile, in all districts of Saada governorate have been operated again.

In a statement to almotamar.net al-Awadhi said the re-operation started from Saturday and that move comes within the framework of the state endeavour to restore situations in the governorate to their normal function in a way in harmony with creating atmospheres convenient for completing implementation the remaining articles of the agreement on ending the sedition.

Al-Awadhi also affirmed that the committee is continuing its work, pointing out it would go back to Saada to oversee the remaining points of the agreement after the holidays of Al-Fitr Eid.

Another story that fits in the communications catagory. Undoing the unexplained internet price hike from errrr August 2005 was it?

almotamar.net

– President Ali Abdullah Saleh on Saturday gave his directives for cutting the cost of subscription to internet services by 30% and 10% in cost of calls via Yemen mobile network.

In his inspection visit Saturday to the State Establishment for Cable and Wireless Communications President Saleh Emphasised the importance of the role played by communications and information technology sector in the economic development and increase of productivity and the necessity of providing the citizens with communications services for reduced price.

The president asked Yemen mobile company to search for alternatives to support services apparatuses and to make them available for the citizens with suitable price.

President Saleh got acquainted with the ministry’s leadership efforts for organising the communications sector and he instructed on speeding up completion of the executive measures on restructuring the ministry and development of the law of communications in Yemen in a way keeping pace with variables taking place in this impotent sector.

Yemen Times:

Wide areas of agricultural lands in Yemen are exposed to deterioration, said official report published last week.

According to the report, which was issued by the Centre of Natural Resources at the Ministry of Agriculture, 85 percent of the agricultural lands are subject to deterioration due to natural causes such as water shortage and desertification.

The report said that the percentage of deteriorating lands increases by 5 percent because of human expansion and 3 percent because of desertification annually.

These numbers are very significant especially that only 13.6 percent of Yemeni land (about 6.2 million hectares) is fertile. Moreover, only 1.2 to 1.6 hectares is actually used in agriculture. (Read on …)

A comprehensive article from ISN

Yemen nuke deal may not hold
As Yemen signs a reactor deal with a US company, doubts remain whether autonomous nuclear generation is feasible in this impoverished country racked with security problems.

by Dominic Moran in Tel Aviv for ISN Security Watch (26/09/07)

Yemen signed a five-reactor deal with a US nuclear company this week, but significant doubts remain concerning the future prospects for the nascent Yemeni atomic program.

The pact with Houston-based Powered Corporation envisages the establishment of a 1,000MW reactor by 2012, with four others to follow within a decade, bolstering Yemen’s total generation capacity by 5,000MW, according to Energy and Electricity Minister Mustafa Bahran.

A US$3 million feasibility study jointly funded by Powered Corporation and the government would be quickly followed by the initiation of work on the first reactor in early 2009, Bahran told Agence France Press. He added that all atomic activities would be conducted with full oversight from the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The agreement appears to fit into a previously announced atomic generation strategy involving the establishment of privately owned, for-profit reactors on Yemeni soil, with the state buying electricity from the generating company for an indeterminate period before purchasing the facilities. (Read on …)

Cereal production declined dramatically in the last decades. Agricultural land dedicated to qat and water allocation are relevent issues as well.

SANA’A, NewsYemen

Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation Mansour al-Hoshabi said that the food gap in Yemen is very wide and the rate of wheat imports is still high, 92.7 percent.

Dr. al-Hoshabi expected that Yemen could fill only 15 to 20 percent of the gap in the coming 10 or 15 years. (Read on …)

As they are holding a democracy conference, there’s a bill sent to Parliament that kills free speech. Maybe they’ll take 15 years to pass it like the gun bill.

In the absence of political will to reform, public pressure can sometimes be an effective catalyst, but not if the public is muzzled.

The regime smells a revolution coming and keeps doing all the things that are going to provoke it.

Yemeni Government Introduces Bill To Jail Critics Of President

SAN’A, Yemen (AP)–Critics of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh could receive up to 15 years in prison under a proposed law introduced by the government and sent to parliament on Sunday.

Under the draft law, ‘agitators’ could also face a death penalty if their anti-government incitement causes deaths during protests.

Yemeni newspapers said the draft law also imposes severe prison sentences on journalists, writers and rights advocates who ‘incite’ anti-government activities including protests. These acts, according to the draft law, undermine national security and are harmful to social peace.

Critics immediately blasted the law as a violation of freedom of expression.

“The government is retreating from its promises to expand the freedoms and halt restrictive measures,” said Sami Ghalib, head of the Freedoms Committee at the Yemeni Press Syndicate.

Thousands of Yemenis have taken to the streets in several cities around the country this month to protest government corruption and rising prices.

The demonstrations, organized by a coalition of five opposition parties, drew a sharp rebuke from authorities, who said the gatherings didn’t serve development and stability.

Saleh has said the planned protests intended to “prepare the streets for disorder, tension and create bottlenecks which do not serve the economy, stability and security.”

Yemen, a poor tribal country at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula has been struggling with poverty. The central bank reported revenue of $1.5 billion in oil sales in the first four months of 2007 but most is believed to have been spent on armaments and security.

Unemployment in Yemen is at 36.8%, according to government statistics.