Armies of Liberation

I was shocked to learn many years ago that Taiz routinely only got public water every 45 days. In 2007, a Japanese concern came up with a comprehensive water strategy for Yemen, after a two year study, that included some very basic and logical recommendations. However institutional dis-coordination and competing interests, including those of qat barons and water merchants within the government, prevented its implementation. Over the years, the water issue evoked protests in Taiz, including one where people held up bread and empty water jugs to demand basic services including water. Clearly one of the issues going forward on all levels will be dislodging those with vested financial interests in corruption and dysfunction that inhibit reform. The medical sector is another example with similarly dire consequences. The following YT article is a broad overview of “Concerns over armed presence in Taiz,” and tensions regarding water are just one triggering factor.

Yemen Times, Taiz: “We ask the security committee to deal with these problems promptly. They keep giving the armed men 48 hours to put down their guns…but after these periods, nothing changes.”

Hawdh Al-Ashraf’s main road was closed when local residents protested after not receiving water from the government for more than two months.

“We are a big family and we cannot afford to pay YR 12,000 monthly for water tanks. We will keep the road closed until the state fulfills its promise to provide us with water,” said Nabeel Ahmad of Hawdh Al-Ashraf.

Fekra Mahmoud, a writer from Taiz, said that life in Taiz has been worrying as some young people “are immature and might be pushed by the regime or revolution supporters to do things such as fire gunshots in the air and close roads. We should all work to return life to normalcy in Taiz.”

According to a source that asked not to be named, there are people who want rampant insecurity in the city and who pretend that water and electricity problems are the motives behind closing roads. According to well-informed sources from the Republican Guards, representatives of the military committee withdrew from Taiz as they were called on by higher-ups in Sana’a.

This occurred simultaneously with the arrival of the military commission headed by Major General Nasser Al-Tahiri in Taiz. The major came to solve issues regarding checkpoints, the removal of armed figures and the release of prisoners.

An official source from the military commission denied that the withdrawal of Republican Guard from Taiz took place. He said that all the Republican Guard units in Taiz are committed, are under the guidance of the military committee and that they returned to their camps. He added that the commission is living up to its responsibility to restore security and stability to Taiz.

The Air Force wants to overthrow the president’s brother.

Al Shawa: The (pro-rev) army (led by Ali Mohsen al Ahmar) said in a statement yesterday that Mohammed Saleh al Ahmar left in a Russian cargo plane yesterday that took off from Sanaa airport, in “the process of smuggling money abroad after the protests plaguing the rest of the pillars of the family and the most recent sit-air forces to demand the dismissal of Mohamed Saleh al Ahmar, who is about to catch up with his brother Ali, God’s favor, as a result of these protests.”

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black; Ali Mohsen is another big thief and murderer.

Actually Wednesday was the fifth day but details in English:

Yemen troops demand dismissal of Air Force chief (AFP)

SANAA — Thousands of soldiers continued sit-ins Tuesday for a second day in Yemen demanding the “official” ouster of the Air Force commander they accuse of corruption, AFP correspondents and military officials said.

They are demanding the dismissal of General Mohammed Saleh al-Ahmar, a half brother of President Ali Abdullah Saleh who left Yemen on Sunday for the United States following a year-long uprising against his 33 years in power. (Read on …)

The Arhab thing takes a twist…

Damage not caused by shelling, four jets damaged and possible inside job, airport receiving.

National

Another military official, who also requested anonymity, said the blast on Sunday night inside the military base could be a signal of division in the air force led by Mohammed Saleh Al Ahmar, the half brother of President Ali Abdullah Saleh. (Read on …)

The electricity returned with the ever irrational Saleh as he prepares to make a televised speech to the nation.

The butcher Saleh calls for a cease fire to the violence that his loyalist forces began and are perpetuating. Well over a hundred unarmed demonstrators were killed across Yemen this week by sniper fire and shelling on the protest squares. ( The NYT and some diplos seem to blame the protesters for marching out of the square, the blood is on the hands of those with the guns, not the murder victims.) There was ample evidence to bring Saleh to the Hague on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity by 2009.

AJE : Pro-Saleh forces Friday shelled buildings in Taiz, Yemen’s second-biggest city. Heavy clashes and thuds of mortars were also heard throughout the night in Sanaa into morning Friday. One person was killed overnight after mortars hit the square in central Sanaa where protesters demanding Sale’s ouster have been camped out for months, a medical official said on condition of anonymity.

Be prepared for the coming propaganda onslaught where black is white. I guess Im going to have to fully fix the website.

The best news this week before the toxic reappearance of the revenant Saleh was new political party organization in the squares, late but important and yet another reason why the GCC plan and Obama’s call for speedy elections are counter-productive and will only re-entrench the regime. This is a related article and overview from a Yemeni perspective: Yemen’s young people are the country’s brightest hope.

In the following video, young Marib Sheikhs pledge not to attack the electricity infrastructure and deny the regime’s allegations that their attacks casued the blackouts. A delegation from Change Square went to talk to them about the issue and the state’s propaganda. Note the temple of Bilqis in the background. The structure shows inscriptions and construction from the 7th to 2nd Century BC. Yemen is among the most continually settled places in the world.

What a sad story. Power cuts resumed after the UN envoy left Yemen. Read the full story at Yemen Rights Monitor: Four children died and a fifth child was injured on Monday evening due to a fire breaking out in a house in Safya district in Sana’a casued by a candle that was used by the family as a result of the continuous power cuts in the various cities of Yemen.

You cant reach Sabaphone subscribers from a land line or via overseas calling.

Many residents believe its a pressure tactic. the JMP is also blaming the regime. Collective punishment is a usual characteristic of Saleh’s response to unrest. Others note increased rates of smuggling but this article points to a cut pipeline and roads blocked by tribesmen. It may be a lingering effect from the missile strike that killed Sheikh al Shabwani.

Gulf Times: Though Yemen’s oil exports are a modest 105,000 barrels per day, its cash-strapped government depends on the revenue to pay civil servants, its army and fund most state operations. (Read on …)

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

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

The internet is having technical difficulties authorities say in response to widespread reports of outages. Report via Al Masdar which was blocked inside Yemen last week, for spreading too much accurate information: http://bit.ly/f8oiAA (ar)

Update: Good thing there is a plan in place. al Sahwa

Facebook strictly tightened in Yemen, 7/3/2011 – Sahwa Net

Sahwa Net- While Many of Internet subscribers in Yemen have expressed sorrow as the Tel-Yemen Company in Yemen imposes restrictions on Facebook users, a number of Yemeni civil society organizations condemned the attempts of the Yemeni Parliament tries to approve communication laws which could violate freedoms and allow surveillance on citizens.

Facebook groups which witnesses hot discussions abut Yemen’s political situations nowadays face difficulties on communication, particularly those groups which belong to opposition parties.

On Sunday and Monday, Internet service was blocked in Sana’a and some other Yemen governorates for several hours.

Many of these are internet cafes with multiple users. The population of Yemen is 24 million with half of those under 20 years old. Due to very high birthrates, the population is expected to double by 2034.

Yemen Post: The number of the internet subscribers increased in Yemen last year to 563299 people, up 107870 subscribers from 2009, a report by the Public Corporation for Wire and Wireless Telecommunication said. (Read on …)

The reason Yemen blocked al Masdar Online this week is because the news site was providing Yemenis with the facts about events occurring inside Yemen; its the same reason they blocked me in 2007. There are few quick fixes for the region’s myriad of issues, but free satellite internet access would be one. Luckily for humanity, Walid al Saqqaf devised a work around for governmental censorship of the internet, connecting Yemenis to each other, the world and reality. An article about Yemen Portal and Alkasir from Fast Co:

Yemeni Journalist Offers Facebook and Twitter Access, Piercing Government Blocks

Alkasir makes access to Facebook and Twitter possible in the face of oppressive regimes’ attempts to block them.

Walid Al-Saqaf’s Alkasir is an unsung hero in the recent political overhaul in Egypt and the Arab world. Alkasir–meaning “circumventor”–is what has allowed many ordinary citizens to access Facebook and Twitter and share vital information despite government blocks. (Read on …)

Nice round-up of Sanaa, Aden, Taiz and judges protests, also Feb 24 group.

Daily caller: SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Authorities flooded the streets of Yemen’s capital with 2,000 police Wednesday to try to halt six days of Egypt-style demonstrations against the president of 32 years, a key U.S. ally in battling al-Qaida. One person was killed when police and protesters clashed in the southern port of Aden in the first known death during Yemen’s political unrest.

The police, including plainclothes officers, fired in the air and blocked thousands of students at Sanaa University from joining thousands of other protesters in the capital of the Arab world’s most impoverished nation.

A call spread via Facebook and Twitter urging Yemenis to join a series of “One Million People” rallies on a so-called “Friday of Rage” in all Yemeni cities, seeking the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh. (Read on …)

ABC

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2/2/2011

http://yemenonline.info/news-1880.html

Al-Basha computer company has issued a new product which is linked to a wireless service in cooperation with Yemen Mobile company to surf the Internet on line anywhere..any time in Yemen. The estimated speed of the new internet service is Mbps 2.4 using a small device (Flash desk) with a program that installs automatically to your computer which makes you ready to start a great online speed service for the first time in Yemen.

Yemen Post: Late last year, I met with the Minister of Water and he clearly said that it is impossible to end qat plantation in Yemen. He himself is known to have massive qat farms in Ibb region, while he admits that he would not stop qat plantation in his farms until the government gives him other options. The minister is saying that he wants options from the government in order to stop qat plantation, as if he is not in the government and responsible for this tragic file. He forgets that it is his duty to save Yemen from water depletion.

Yemen Chewers Spend $ 7 Million on Khat a Day: Yemeni people spend about $ 7 million a day on khat, a stimulus tree chewed by 75 per cent of males, compared to 33 per cent of women, an official has said.
(Read on …)

In plea documents, LatiNode admitted that from about March 2004 through June 2007, it paid $1.1 million to third parties, knowing that some or all of those funds would be passed on as bribes to officials of Hondutel. In addition, from about July 2005 to April 2006, the court records show LatiNode paid $1.2 million to a third-party consultant, knowing some or all of the money would be passed on to Yemeni officials in exchange for favorable interconnection rates in Yemen: Miami Herald

a google translation obviously

al Hadath: Attorney General released on Monday Secretary General of the National Commission for Atomic Energy to ensure the presence and charged after his arrest yesterday on the back of his expulsion of the Group of the Public Authority for the fight against corruption and close the doors of the building .. (Read on …)

One important issue that is not well understood regarding southern Yemen is the difference between loosely organized clans and cohesive tribes, a factor of rainfall levels. This article however discusses urban migration resulting from water shortages and the resulting impact on agricultural output.

Reuters: Farmers, 70 percent of the population, can no longer subsist on their own crops. Youths are flocking from the countryside to the cities in search of jobs to provide for their families. (Read on …)

Control of the airports was transferred from the Political Security to the National Security several years ago when many jihaddists were overtly traveling to Iraq to target American troops. Since then the National Security has done a great job in prohibiting activists, journalists and opposition politicians from leaving the country.

SCD: The US Government is committed to improving airport security at home and abroad. The Transportation Security Administration announced today that a new security program will be established in Yemen, where an Al-Qaeda affiliate is believed to be based. The affiliate, which goes by the name, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has claimed responsibility for a cargo bomb plot in October, which deployed printer cartridges rigged as bombs. (Read on …)