Armies of Liberation

Aden News Agency:

Armed clashes renewed in the southwestern outskirts of the town of Lauder, between unidentified gunmen and military units belonging to the occupation forces. Local residents, in Lauder said to “Aden news agency that” armed clashes took place at the dawn at 2.00am on Sunday in the vicinity of the power station and army post near Zara town, west of the town of Lauder.

At the time of writing the news, the clashes are still ongoing and it did not know whether they have resulted in casualties. The clash came at dawn today after days of relative calm in the city, despite a state of siege imposed by the occupation authorities in the town since more than two weeks.

al Masdar Online: شن القيادي البارز في الحراك الجنوبي العميد ناصر النوبة هجوماً لاذعاً على السلطة. Launched a leading figure in the southern movement Brigadier Nasser Al Nuba a scathing attack on power. ورداً على اتهام وزارة الداخلية للحراك بالتحالف مع تنظيم القاعدة لاستهداف شخصيات أمنية وعسكرية وزعزعة الأمن والاستقرار في المحافظات الجنوبية، اتهم النوبــة السلطة بـ”صناعة الإرهاب”. In response to the charge of the Ministry of Internal mobility in alliance with al-Qaeda to target the security and military figures and to undermine security and stability in the southern provinces, the Nuba accused the Authority of “terrorism industry”.

وقال إن “الإرهاب جزء لا يتجزأ من المنظومة السياسية الحاكمة التي تستغله كورقة سياسية لتلقي الدعم المالي الخارجي ولإسكات الصوت الجنوبي المنادي بالاستقلال” حسبما قال. He said that “terrorism is part and parcel of the political system exploited by the ruling as a political card to receive external financial support and to silence the sound southern pro-independence,” he said.
وأضاف العميد النوبة الذي كا يتحدث في أمسية رمضانية للحراك أقيمت مس الجمعة بمدينة يشبم محافظة شبوة (جنوب شرق اليمن) “إننا في الحراك الجنوبي نستنكر وندين بشدة الأعمال العسكرية الإجرامية التي تقوم بها قوات نظام صنعاء تجاه إخواننا المدنيين في مدينة لودر تحت ذريعة الحرب على الإرهاب والتي أدت حتى الآن إلى قتل وجرح عدد من المدنيين بينهم شيوخ وأطفال ونساء والى تهجير مئات من الأسر من منازلهم قسرا بسبب القصف العسكري العشوائي”. Brigadier-General Nuba Ka speaking at an evening Ramadan mobility held mass Friday in Icbm Shabwa province (south-east Yemen) “We are in the southern movement deplore and strongly condemn the military actions criminal by the forces of the Sanaa regime against our civilians in the town of Lauder, under the pretext of the war on terror which have so far been killed and several wounded civilians, including elderly, children and women and to displace hundreds of families forced from their homes because of the indiscriminate bombing military. ” حد قولــه. He said. (Read on …)

A ten year old has no capacity to consent.

al Jazeera: The International Centre for Research on Women (ICRW) found that just under half of all girls in Yemen are married before they are 18 – classified as underage by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Yemen is a signatory.

With no legal minimum age for marriage, a study by Sanaa University found that in some of Yemen’s regions half of all girls are married before the age of 15.

“The greatest problem facing Yemeni women today is child marriages,” said Wafa Ali of the Yemeni Women’s Union. “These early marriages rob the girl of the right to a normal childhood and education. The girls are forced to have children before their bodies are fully grown.”

Many girls suffer repeated miscarriages or end up with complications brought on by the trauma of forced sex, said Dr Arwa Elrabee, a leading gynaecologist.

In April a local women’s rights group reported that 12-year-old bride Elham Shuee had died three days after marrying a man in his 20s. The girl suffered a rupture of the womb caused by sex, said Majed al-Mathhaji, a spokesman for the Sisters Arab Forum.

Last September, another 12-year-old, Fawziya Abdullah Youssef, bled to death during three days of child birth – her body, doctors said afterwards, was simply too small to cope. (Read on …)

According to local reports 8 people killed (2 of citizens and 6 of the army + 6 wounded with minor injuries) and the continued shelling in Alhabaylin. There’s no excuse of al Qaeda in Habalyean, although Im sure the regime will fabricate one.

Yemen Post Two were killed, one soldier, and seven others injured in the clashes that erupted early today between the security forces and armed people, believed to be separatists, in Yemen’s Southern Lahj Province.
(Read on …)

I’m dubious and I hope its an inaccurate assessment.

Al Qaeda-trained Americans Washington Times: The FBI is working to track down several hundred American Muslims who traveled to Yemen in recent months and received training there at the hands of the al Qaeda terrorist group, according to U.S. government officials.

Intelligence reports from Yemen indicated that as many as 300 of the U.S. Islamist trainees had been given terrorist training and that many had converted to Islam while in U.S. prisons. It is not known specifically when the American al Qaeda trainees made the journey to Yemen, or — more significantly — how many of them returned to the United States, said officials familiar with U.S. counterterrorism intelligence and operations. (Read on …)

Al Estraki

مر أكثر من عام منذ اعتقال ثلاثة من نشطاء حقوق الإنسان. Over more than a year since the arrest of three human rights activists. عرفتهم مشاركين في اعتصامات ومواقف تضامنية مع معتقلين أو مخفيين أو أي قضية انتهاك لحق إنسان. Knew the participants in the protests and the positions of solidarity with the detainees or hidden, or any case of violation of the right people. (Read on …)

Click this: Kamal Art for Kamal Sharef’s website. He was arrested because he is a friend of Abdulelah Shaea, who has access to AQAP. Sharef’s work includes a lot of social commentary diametrically opposed to the Al Qaeda ideology including opposition of child marriages and support of w omen’s rights.

The pdf of the report is here. 114 pages

And this is what Centcom wants to fund. I’m happy to hear the State Department and Seche were arguing against it.

Human Rights Ministry: “Do producers of the report see that it is fair protecting terrorist and saboteurs and endangering people’s rights ,freedoms, blood and honor to non-humanitarian tampering?”, the ministry wondered.

Saleh never keeps his promises to anyone. He’s a compulsive liar or has some pathology where he’s unable to keep his word. But this mechanism of negotiation with al Qaeda really isn’t working and hasn’t worked for quite some time. If all the jihaddists Saleh made a deal with band together, its going to get ugly. Al Zaidi surrendered in June after being released from jail in 2006. ( Click here for an interview with al Zaidi in 2009 in which he discusses his imprisonment and prior dealings with Saleh. Al Zaidi says he was never a member of al Qaeda and was imprisoned because he was a personal friend of Mohammed bin Mohammed al Ahdel. )

News Yemen: A leading member of al-Qaeda in Yemen has renounced an agreement with the government to stop violence and terrorist activities in the country, independent source reported on Wednesday.

In an exclusive interview with the Yemeni independent weekly Al-Wasat, Khalid al-Zaidi, a leading member of al-Qaeda in the northern province of Mareb, said that his agreement with the government not to cause any instability in the country has been renounced.

Al-Zaidi said he met with President Ali Abdullah Saleh last June and wrote a pledge not to carry out any sabotage acts in the country on condition that the government releases al-Qaeda prisoners and cancel all convictions against him. He said that “the agreement has failed as the government has not fulfilled what we have agreed upon.” (Read on …)

al Motamar A security source has told Almotamar.net that security forces arrested on Thursday one of al-Qaeda elements in Luder district, Abyan province.

The source added that the terrorist that was arrested is Salah Ali Abdullah al-Dammani and considered one of the dangerous elements active among al-Qaeda ranks in Abyan. (Read on …)

Its the same type of charges they brought against al Khaiwani but the world objected. They lie so often that its difficult to believe anything. Shaea is BFF with Anwar Awlaki and interviewed Fahd al Quso and Nassir al Wahishi, by itself, not a crime. We’ll have to see what the next magazine looks like.

Security source said that the case of the journalist Abdualah Shai’a will soon be referred to public prosecutor in preparation for his trial, pending the completion of investigations. The Security authority has accused Shai’a as being an active affiliate of al-Qaeda offering logistical support to the leadership and its members.

According to the security Shai’a offered cassettes from al-Qaeada operations in Yemen to the media and received money which he used to support the organization. The security authorities also concern Shai’a as one of the most enthusiastic defenders and promoters of al-Qaeda and its operations through the satellite channels where he presents himself as an expert on al-Qaeda. (Read on …)

UPI: (Yemeni) Authorities claimed they killed 27-year-old Adel Saleh Hardaba in Lawdar, who was described by authorities as the second-in-command of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, al-Jazeera reports.

In an earlier statement, TAJ identified the bystanders wounded as:
 Bassam Saleh Hardabah
 Mohamed Saleh Nasser
 Maged Mohammed Marzouki
 Abdurabbo Ahmed Dhmah
 Bassam Albilali
 Maged Saleh Hardabah
 Abdulla Almanssoury

Adel Saleh Hardaba, according to locals, was 18 years and unemployed. He was not wounded (its not name confusion). The story is he was arrested by the Yemeni regime in Lauder. Apparently he was killed after the arrest.

Some were targeted killings like Wadhah and others were killed in jail or when police opened fire on organizers preparing for the demonstration the next day. Missing from the list is Mohsen Wakaz and the two year old boy Chavez shot to death in March 2009. What happened at the podium in al Habalyn is organizers were setting up for a demonstration the next day when they were strafed by security forces and killed. The demonstration the next day was even larger than originally expected.

Names of the martyrs of peaceful struggle m / m Hajj 2007-2010 ===

Name the type of injury Directorate place of martyrdom martyrdom date
1 Abdel Nasser Kassem Hamadi Radfan gunshot abdominal Alhabaylin podium 13/10/2007
2 Shafiq Haitham Hassan Radfan gunshot abdominal Alhabaylin podium 13/10/2007
3 Fahmi Mohammed Hussein al-Jaafari Radfan gunshot heart Alhabaylin podium 13/10/2007
4 Mohammed Nasser Haitham age Radfan gunshot abdominal Alhabaylin podium 13/10/2007 (Read on …)

As the state runs out of money, this is the latest in a series of clashes with soldiers and tribal fighters prompted by overdue salaries.

News Yemen: Security forces have clashed with some fifty protesters, who supported the army in the war against Houthi rebels in northern Sa’ada and wounded during the conflict, near the 1st Armored Division in the capital Sana’a.

Protesters demand the government to pay YR120,000 (almost $600) for each as compensation for injury. Protesters said the government promised to pay them the money but it did not fulfill the promise.

Eyewitnesses said protesters blocked the highway against the 1st Armored Division with iron barriers and big stones and threw stones at security forces. Protesters have also attacked a police car and assaulted a security officer.

Security have opened fire in air to disperse protesters and unblocked the highway, eyewitnesses said. But they said that three soldiers were seen laying on the ground and ambulances were seen rushing to the scene. Sixth war in Sa’ada came to end last February, but many people still suffer post-war consequences.

We all remember abu Jabarah in Saada, where the al Qaeda training camp is, under the direction and protection of Ali Mohsen al Ahmar, who was also seeking to negotiate in Lauder. The al Tais family pop up regularly as hard core jihaddists with close connections to Ali Mohsen. The Yemen Observer notes: The Sa’dah Deputy security director (Ali Abdulhusam) was kidnapped by armed gunmen after being spraying him with an anesthetic and taken to an unknown place..This case is similar to that of the kidnapping of the German doctors who were found dead in one of the Governorate’s directorates.

Earlier on Abu Jubarah and the German hostages.

Saada Online – Special
Friday, August 27th, 2010 م

Revealed local sources in Saada province for “Saada Online” for important information about the kidnapping of Deputy Director of Political Security in Sa’ada, “Ali Hussam,” saying that the armed elements had abducted Thursday from his home in the neighborhood of “officers” in the center of Sa’ada, and signs that fingers point to the family of “Al-Tais” known by their affiliations to the extreme and of being officers in the Northern Command Bank and living in the valley of “The Abu Jabara,” said a local resident that the kidnapping may have been due to demand, “Al-Tais,” the release of a relative with detainees at the political security.

It is noteworthy that the abduction “Ali Hussam,” is very similar to the details of the abduction of German doctors and indications are that and also their views of “The Abu Jabara,” especially since the kidnapping was the center of the city of Saada, where there are military units, military and security services intensively , reported media sources confirmed that two men stood in a jeep, Morocco, on Thursday in front of the home of Colonel Hussam, and roads door and when he went out to them they fired on his face spray anesthesia and he fainted and they carried him to the back of the jeep, which was brought down the curtain on the rear to block the vision of her own Customs . Sadah Online

In our Regional this address the issue of five young detainees from the Dali in the central prison in Mansoura Aden in the capital are:
1-Sayyaf Saleh Nasser Almoaker
2 – Alaa Seif al-jaoof
3 – Mohmmad Ali al-Obeidi
4 – Ali Mohsen Ali al-Hassani
5 – Nadhm Alobjar‬
Had been held nearly seven months in the city of Dalia, then deported to the capital of Aden, kept in the central prison was supposed to have been all of the various kinds of torture and forced many of them to sign the papers and records of achievement fake was referred for investigation to the prosecution and the charges of maliciously false, ensuring that a number of lawyers members of the Yemeni Observatory for Human Rights to defend them, lawyers Salam Jehafi Yahya Alsaglde, two lawyers, who remain seized of the case, said lawyer Abdul Salam Ahudaani for “Forum Juhav” earlier that the case file is available from the Attorney General in Aden, and that they (ie lawyers) seeking to launch the release of five detainees without trial by the decision of the presidential pardon and promises of release may be obtained. We contacted them where they live behind prison walls, and find them waiting for the moment of departure and return to their families and relatives

The Australian wonders what the heck is going on in Lauder and its a good question. How can we know when all the journalists are in jail? There’s difficulty even identifying the sides in the conflict, as there was in Ja’ar in 09 when the state’s jihaddists including al Nabi and Sami Dayhan were fighting another group intent on establishing an Islamic emirate in the city. Things went so far that several suspected homosexuals were killed and other Taliban style gross brutality occurred.

via al SahwaFAR from Afghanistan, Iraq and the flood plains of Pakistan, a bitter siege played out this week between al-Qa’ida and an American ally. Or did it?

The first reports from the siege of Lodar, in southern Yemen, told of 80,000 people fleeing as government forces encircled the town, dropping leaflets instructing residents to flee before a big offensive against al-Qa’ida militants hunkered there.

The next report revised the number of residents fleeing down to 3000, with 200 al-Qa’ida militants and 200 fighters from the secessionist Southern Movement holding the town. Yesterday the Yemeni government hailed its conquest of Lodar, having “stormed the dens of the terrorists”. Its count of al-Qa’ida fighters killed came in at 12. (Read on …)

Several international correspondents were also assaulted. The cartoonist Kamal and the SABA news “al Qaeda expert” Haider are still imprisoned without charges. Amnesty International noted: Under pressure from the United States and others to confront threats from al-Qaeda, along with Zaidi Shi’a rebels in the north and growing demands for secession in the South, the Yemini government is using national security as a pretext to stifle criticism and reject human rights in a campaign of unlawful killings, torture, arbitrary arrests and unfair trials.

Yemen Times SANA’A, August 25 — Yemen Times journalist Khaled Al-Hilaly was assaulted by two men from political security wearing civilian clothes after he covered a sit-in organized by the Journalists Without Chains organization condemning the abduction of journalists Abdulelah Shae’ and Kamal Sharaf.

Al-Hilaly was cornered as he was returning home after the event by two security men with wireless walkie-talkies. They demanded that he hand over his camera, which is worth more than USD 600, or else he would be arrested. When the journalist tried to verify their identity or give them the memory card instead of the camera the security men hit him on the head and violently snatched the camera. (Read on …)

Ali Saleh played his game so well, that the blowback is coming to haunt him. The deliberate conflation of state jihaddists with the AQAP nucleus got a lot of people confused. There’s no doubt that AQAP has global ambitions but its the subverted members of the security and other social figures that enable their capacity and legitimize their message. Update: AP: gee al Qaeda is now the main threat, Saleh says. The guy can turn on a dime.

Yemen says US exaggerates Al Qa’eda threat The national: SAN’A // Yemen said today that US officials have exaggerated the size and danger of al Qa’eda in Yemen, and insisted that fighting the jihadist network’s local branch remains San’a’s job.

A Yemeni official has denied what he called “press leaks published in US and Western media that exaggerate the size of al Qa’eda and the danger that it poses to Yemen’s stability and security,” according to Saba, the state news agency. (Read on …)

SANA’A, Aug 30 (Bernama) — Some 1.4 million Yemeni children is unable to attend schools in Yemen, a governmental report revealed, Yemen News Agency (Saba) said.

The report, issued recently by the Supreme Council for Education Planning indicated that this makes these children live under the threat of illiteracy and represent a major tributary to double the number of illiterates in the country. (Read on …)

The anti Al-Qaeda narrative in Yemen is quite strong and asserts that AQAP is a regime stooge and the threat is manipulated to gain international support. But many in Yemen don’t actually see the danger to Yemen if those lunatic fanatics manage to pull off an attack in the US.

al Teef: Network spectrum – in particular: اعتبرت الناشطة الحقوقية توكل عبدالسلام كرمان ، رئيسة منظمة صحفيات بلاقيود ، إن الحرب الذي تشنه قوات الجيش والأمن اليمنية على مايسمى بتنظيم القاعدة في أغلب محافظات الجنوب .. Considered human rights activist Abdul Salam assigned Kerman, head of the journalists Blagiwd, the war being waged by the military and security forces on Yemen’s so-called Al Qaeda in most provinces of the south .. أسطورة اخترعها النظام لتبرير حربها على الحراك الجنوبي السلمي” . Myth concocted to justify the war on the peaceful southern movement. ”

هذا وكانت قناة الجزيرة قد استضافت الناشطة والإعلامية توكل كرمان للتعليق على تقرير منظمة العفو الدولية الذي اتهمت فيه المنظمة السلطات اليمنية بقتل وتصفية شخصيات في الحراك الجنوبي وجماعة الحوثي وأعضاء بالقاعدة دون مبررات قانونية ، كما اتهم التقرير اليمن بانتهاك حريات وحقوق الإنسان في كثير من المجالات . The Al-Jazeera hosted the activist and media trust Kerman to comment on the Amnesty International report that accused the organization Yemeni authorities of killing and the liquidation of the characters in the southern movement Houthi’s group and al Qaeda members without legal justification report also accused Yemen of violating the freedoms and human rights in many areas.

يذكر أن كرمان كانت قد استقالت في وقت سابق من اللجنة التحضيرية لتهيئة الحوار الوطني بين السلطة وأحزاب اللقاء المشترك إضافة إلى عضوين آخرين استقالا من اللجنة هما نقيب الصحفيين اليميين الأسبق عبدالباري طاهر والنائب أحمد سيف حاشد . The Kerman had resigned earlier in the Preparatory Committee to create a national dialogue between the Authority and the Joint Meeting Parties in addition to two other members resigned from the Committee are former chairman of journalists Alimyin Bari Taher, MP Ahmed Saif rally.

The current casualty count is about 30. The death toll tripled in the last few hours.

Important and urgent about the brutal shelling of the occupation forces in the Directorate of the Yemeni province of Abyan Lauder

It has been informed that yesterday and the day before that of the month of Ramadan, and without regard to the place and the privacy of the Holy month of Ramadan by the forces of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, the war criminal, killer of women and children, and continue to heinous crimes against the right of our people.
And proceeded with occupation forces broking into the Yemeni market Lauder, and randomly shooting people present in the market and landed a number of martyrs and wounded, including a woman and a child.
Names of some of the Martyrs:

 Riadh Mohammad Nasser Nasroh was pronounced dead while he was exercising the buying and selling in his shop.
 Adham Mohamed Hydra vegetable seller

The wounded were:
 Bassam Saleh Hardabah
 Mohamed Saleh Nasser
 Maged Mohammed Marzouki
 Abdurabbo Ahmed Dhmah
 Bassam Albilali
 Maged Saleh Hardabah
 Abdulla Almanssoury

And still the heavy artillery of the army of occupation until the moment the Yemeni shelling the town of Lauder, and some villages in the Department of Lauder central southern province of Abyan Centre South Arabia.

And certainly there will be others killed and wounded because of it. In a desperate attempt and frowned upon, the Yemeni occupation regime claims it will do in its brutal but to fight the terrorism. Will those who engage in their daily lives in the market and killed in their stores and pedestrians whom are women and children in the kindergarten, be from Al-Qaeda?

And all research centers and the ongoing anti-terrorism authorities in the region and the whole world knows very well that Al-Qaeda Organization in the Arabian Peninsula and the forces of terrorism is a product par excellence presidential Yemen. We the Southern Democratic Assembly (TAJ) call our people together, with adherence to project independence as an option is irreversible and stay away from both sides of the Yemeni occupation regime authority and the opposition.

At the same time call upon the international community and international human rights organizations to provide international protection for our people and bring the murderers and the perpetrators of these massacres led by the criminal Ali Abdullah Saleh to international courts to receive the punishment for what they did.
Issued by:
Southern Democratic Assembly (TAJ)
Secretariat of Human Rights
Date 20-8-2010 -London

And then called them al-Qaeda. The local story seems to be the Yemeni security forces attempted to arrest some activists in the southern movement in Loder City, Abyan who argued and refused to go. The soldiers opened fire randomly, provoking clashes. Then they began shelling the city. Three civilians killed and five wounded. Shelling continues. The RPG attack came after the civilian deaths in this version.

The official version: M&C The sources told the German Press Agency dpa that the (al Qaeda) militants fired rocket-propelled grenades at an armoured personnel carrier in the Loudar district of Abyan province, killing eight policemen on the spot.

Update: What a disaster. Now 21 dead. Clashes lasted three hours.

This seems reliable: By AHMED AL-HAJ (AP) –: A Yemeni security official says a clash between troops and civilians at a market in the country’s restive south has left 13 people dead — including 10 soldiers. The official says the clash erupted after military vehicles drove into a market in the town of Lawdar in Abyan province, setting off a quarrel with the townspeople that eventually escalated into an exchange of gunfire…He says three of the townspeople died in Friday’s clash and one military vehicle was set ablaze.

Aden News Agency: استشهد مالايقل عن ثلاثة أشخاص وأصيب خمس آخرون بجراح خطيرة جراء قصف مدفعي نفذته وحدات عسكرية تابعة لقوات الاحتلال اليمنية بمدينة لودر كبرى مدن المنطقة الوسطى عصر اليوم الجمعة Cited at least three people and wounded five others were seriously injured due to artillery shelling was carried out by military units of the occupying forces the Yemeni town of Lauder, the largest city in the central region on Friday afternoon
وقالت مصادر محلية بمدينة لودر كبرى مدن المنطقة الوسطى بمحافظة أبين لـ”وكالة أنباء عدن” ان قوات الجيش اليمنية نفذت قبيل دقائق من الان حملة قصف بالمدفعية استهدفت وسط المدينة وان عدد من قذائف المدفعية سقطت في محيط روضة الأطفال بالقرب من سوق السمك رافقها إطلاق نار من أسلحة متوسطة وخفيفة مسفرة عن سقوط ضحايا . Local sources said the City of Lauder, the largest city in the central province of Abyan of “the news agency of Eden” that the army of Yemen carried out, such as minutes from now campaign artillery shelling targeted the city center and the number of artillery shells in the vicinity of the kindergarten near the fish market was accompanied by fire from Medium and light weapons, thus giving casualties.
وتحصلت “وكالة أنباء عدن” على أسماء عدد من الشهداء بينهم رياض محمد ناصر ناصروه وهو مالك متجر صغير كان بداخله لحظة القصف وادهم الشيابي قتل أثناء مروره وسط السوق العام في المدينة. And social development, “news agency of Aden,” the names of a number of martyrs, including Nasroh Riaz Mohammad Nasser, a shop owner was inside a small moment of the bombing and Adham Alhiappi killed while passing through the center of the public market in the city.
وقال شهود عيان لـ”وكالة أنباء عدن” ان عشرات الشباب من أبناء المدينة هاجموا مدرعة تابعة للجيش ردا على القصف وشوهدوا وهم يقومون بإحراقها بعد هروب الجنود من عليها . Witnesses said the “news agency of Eden” that dozens of young people of the city attacked an armored military response to the bombing and burning were observed after the escape of soldiers from them.

OK they admit bombing the city and it is still going on. MOI is certain its al Qaeda; other officials say maybe members of the Southern Movement. Southerner spokesmen deny.

(AFP) ADEN, Yemen — Eleven soldiers were killed on Friday as the Yemeni army fought gunmen in the southern city of Loder, the interior ministry said, and medics said three civilians also died. The soldiers were killed “in an ambush set up by Al-Qaeda terrorists and outlaws cooperating with them,” the ministry said. (Read on …)

Yemen Times

HODEIDA, August 18 — Dialysis patients in Hodeida have been waiting since last Sunday without treatment due to lack of materials in the governmental Center for Nephrology and Urology in the city.

On Sunday, women and men waited outside the center for treatment, although the materials required for dialysis had run out. (Read on …)

This is lovely news, and the organization certainly deserves to be honored after their tireless work on behalf of protecting children in Yemen.

Press Release: Child rights institution (IDE) in Switzerland has chosen SEYAJ organization for childhood protection as a typical organization of the month for August 2010 to honor it for its distinct role in protecting, monitoring, supporting and advocating the rights of the child in Yemen.

(See their page in English here: Introduction about SEYAJ, its role in protecting childhood in Yemen and its main activities & programs will be displayed in English, French and Germany on one of the main pages of IDE web site that dedicated to highlight on the selected institutions. (Read on …)

At the same time journalist for the state propaganda agency SABA and “al Qaeda expert” Abdulelah Haider Shaer was arrested, political cartoonist Kamal Sharef’s house was raided and he was dragged off to an unknown location and is currently held incommunicado. Topics covered by Sharef include womens’ rights, corruption, bigotry,and child brides and other progressive commentary on social issues.

News Yemen: Security authorities arrested on Monday cartoonist Kamal honor of his home in the capital Sana’a, and confiscated his personal belongings including a laptop computer ..
وقال شقيق شرف لـ(نيوزيمن) أن مسلحين بلباس مدني وعسكري قاموا وقت الإفطار باقتحام منزلهم واعتقال شقيقه، وآخرين قاموا بمحاصرة منزلهم ، ومن ثم قاموا بتكتيف شقيقه ، اقتادوه إلى جهة مجهولة، بناءً على مذكرة حد قولهم باعتقاله. The brother’s honor (NewsYemen) Gunmen in civilian clothing and military as they break into their home breakfast and the arrest of his brother, and others who surrounded their house, and then they Petktev his brother, took him to an unknown destination, according to a warrant for his arrest they said. (Read on …)

Walid Sharafuddin is a political prisoner in Yemen whose wife was beaten during a peaceful protest in his favor, story here with photos. The following is a plea for the release of Walid in the spirit of Ramadan.

They were hoping for some dates and sweets but there’s no food deliveries since June due to various conflicts and road closures. The widows and children are begging for food.

AMRAN, 17 August 2010 (IRIN) – Thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the northern Yemeni governorate of Amran, including 1,800 in the governorate’s only IDP camp, Khaiwan, have been hit by food aid delivery delays, according to aid workers. (Read on …)

Hassan Baoum, a leader of one of the factions of the southern movement, was abroad receiving medical treatment for many months. He was previously jailed (and denied medical treatment in prison) and the fact that he returned to Yemen upon his recovery says a lot. Now it would be nice if they let Al-Ayyam’s Mr. Bashraheel go abroad for urgently needed treatment. More on Baoum’s return at Mukalla Online. Update: Bashraheel is currently in KSA receiving treatment, one good piece of news anyway.

Yermen Times: SANA’A, August 11 — About 395,000 Yemenis seeking jobs opportunities failed to infiltrate the Saudi border over the last two years, according to report published in Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper last week.

The report, that was written by Saudi journalist Turki Al-Saheel, stated that “at least one Yemeni infiltrator is arrested every ‘five minutes’ in the border region.” The report said that there are dozens of would-be Yemeni infiltrators camped out along the border waiting for chance to enter into Saudi Arabia. (Read on …)

This is the same issue that brought the 2009 Parliamentary elections to a stand still. The SCER oversees the elections and election monitors and the electoral list (which in 2006 contained more male voters than men). The JMP asserted the positions on the SCER should be split between the JMP and GPC, but the regime said judges were good candidates for the positions and nominated its list, rubber stamped by parliament. The JMP is getting hemmed in the issue of the proportional list, which it favors, by international pressure just to do something that looks like an election. YObserver:

The Supreme Commission For Elections and Referendum (SCER) endorsed on Monday the schedule for the upcoming parliamentary elections set in April, which the Yemeni opposition considered “contrary” to the agreements of the “national dialogue” that began last Saturday. (Read on …)

Really tragic numbers here.

Daily Times: A study carried out in 2010 by the US-based aid group CHF International revealed that out of Yemen’s 11 million children, five million are currently employed. Three-fifths of those do not receive an education while the remaining two million both study and work at the same time.
CHF said that 40 percent of Yemeni children are drawn into the labour market between the ages of seven and 13. (Read on …)

Hopefully the statement indicates a real consensus, not some earlier statements, if only for the ability to move things forward. There’s no one to talk to when there’s eight groups and leaderships in the SMM. The July 17 JMP/ GPC agreement on dialog (which is stalled again) even if it reaches consensus, does nothing to address the southern issue. Some southerners consider the agreement a northern plot. The EU observers determination of the 2006 election as mostly free and fair (with massive reforms needed) neglected the boycotting southerners entirely.

Signatories of the current agreement include:
Supreme National Authority for the independence of the South:
Supreme National Council for the Liberation of South
Southern Democratic Assembly (TAJ)
Youth Union South (Ashajj)

An important statement of the components of independence

The latest developments in the political arena southern confirm beyond a shadow of
Doubt on the strength of the SPLM and the effectiveness of South peaceful struggle vital
Awareness of the project and the return of the South goes to accomplish the tasks ahead in
Forefront of independence and nation-building and the restoration of the Arab identity of the South
Based on the popular will, which has become dogma in the minds of our people
And the road to the ultimate salvation of the Yemeni occupation, despite our awareness of the seriousness of the conspiracies

Hatched against the draft independence.

The forces of South Independence Declaring its firm and principled position on the issue of
Our people in the south and the right to freedom and independence it is not concerned with any agreements
And conducted by the JMP with the occupation authority since the wake of the Yemeni
The war of summer 1994 through an agreement in February 2009 and the end of the agreement of July 17, 2010 (Read on …)

Its really a fascinating article at Naba news about the dangers of state sponsorship of Salafism and its penetration into society, but Yahya Saleh is more a liberal or perhaps modernist than Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar.

Aden Gulf: نبأ نيوز ( موقع الامن القومي اليمني ) يصف السلفيين بالفئة الضاله ويتهمهم بالإنتماء لإيدلوجية تنظيم القاعدة ويحذر من خطورة تحالف علي صالح معهم News News (site of the Yemeni National Security) describes the Salafi deviant group and accuses them of belonging to the ideology of al Qaeda, warns of the danger of a coalition in favor of them (Read on …)

Taiz the sleeping giant… What is it with the stun grenades lately? Somebody from one of the CT units sold a crate onto the black market?

Yemen Post: Several technicians were injured when an adaptor exploded due to a technical fault during its maintenance in Taiz Province…On the other hand, an explosion was heard at the market in the area, with reports saying it was a sound grenade that hurt some people. (Read on …)

hip hip cheerio

LONDON, Aug. 11 (Saba) – President Ali Abdullah Saleh arrived on Wednesday in Britain’s capital, London, on a visit during which he is meeting Prime Minister David Cameron and other senior UK officials. The talks will focus on the bilateral relationship and ways to boost cooperation in all areas. (Read on …)

There are good plans to address many urgent issues in Yemen but they are not implemented fully. Power centers within the government thwart reforms to protect their profits. In other cases, coordination among semi-autonomous ministries is nearly impossible to achieve.
IRIN

SANAA, 10 August 2010 (IRIN) – Despite record rainfall in the Yemeni capital Sanaa and other areas this summer, very little is being done to harvest this water to mitigate water shortages, experts say. In May at least seven people were killed in what officials described as the worst flooding to hit Sanaa in a decade. Flooding has brought large parts of the city to a standstill on a number of occasions. Attempts by the government to harvest rainwater are very limited, according to Ramon Scoble, a consultant for Germany’s Technical Cooperation Committee (GTZ). (Read on …)

The regime is getting lazy lately and running over journalists instead of going through the motions of a bogus trial.

Sahwa Net- The Yemeni Journalists Syndicate has denounced repeated violations and abused practiced against journalist Khalid Dhala’. In a statement, it said that these violations increased and became targeting openly his life as he was subjected to a car crash on 13 July 2010. The statement demanded security forces to protect Dala’a, immediately arrest the criminals and bring them to justice

Press release

Jurist information center condemns abuses against journalists, the latest of which was a journalist Khaled Mohsen Dlaq from the threat of his life and he was run over a car driven by unknown persons in the center of the capital Sanaa, which led to suffering a serious injury in parts of his body and was evacuated to hospital in time, which condemns the information center have been exposed jurist journalist Khaled Dlaq it at the same time demanding the Interior Ministry quickly prosecution of offenders and finding them and bring them to justice to receive their just punishment

Issued by the Information Centre jurist Sana
7-8-20010

UNICEF and Government of Yemen jointly launch the First Inter-Agency Comprehensive Child Protection Assessment Report in Conflict Affected Areas in the north of Yemen:

Key Findings:
* 68% of children interviewed have been subjected to domestic violence
* 8% of all abused children have admitted exposure to sexual exploitation perpetrated by host communities, aid workers and others
* 7.9% of IDPs and affected families have had one child killed as a result of the conflict
* 10.3% of children of these families have been injured as a direct result of the fighting from both sides of the conflict
* 21% of children reported that they saw someone being injured or wounded
* 7.1% had witnessed someone being killed
* 10.2% of families reported that their children had been subjected to detention by both sides of the conflict
* More than 15% of the fighters from Al-Houthi and tribal militias are Children below 18 yrs.
* 2.1% of displaced and affected families have indicated that at least one of their children is still missing
* High illiteracy levels amongst care givers in displaced and affected regions, 73% of fathers and 85% of mothers are illiterate without appropriate learning or educational opportunities

Apparently they widened the scope of the discussions beyond electoral reforms to include other national issues.

Yemen Observer: Yemeni political parties started Saturday their first meeting for national dialogue over political and electoral reforms before the coming parliamentary elections scheduled in April 2011. (Read on …)

The issue of non-iodized salt has come up before and its a change that could positively impact the nation.

Yemen Post: 70 per cent of salt at the Yemeni markets is non-iodized, a study by the UNICEF Nutrition Program has said. (Read on …)

Yemen is the only nation that signed onto the UN convention granting refugees status to those fleeing war. Since then the lack of international support, and corruption and inefficiency within the UN offices, meant that Somalis in Yemen are trapped in a life of poverty and hunger with few options but to illegally migrate to Saudi Arabia and beyond. The refugees strain the government’s meager resources and many have no access to education, medical services and jobs, but then neither do many Yemenis.

IRIN: SANAA, 9 August 2010 (IRIN) – Straining to cope with the number of Somalis arriving by boat, Yemen is seeking to end the prima facie refugee status (automatic asylum) it has been giving them for the past 20 years. The government says some are economic migrants and should not be granted automatic refugee status, while others are militants seeking to join al-Qaeda groups to destabilize the country. (Read on …)

Fares Manna is the president’s partner and was released from National Security jail after two months (following the incident of the shipload of Chinese weapons). He was recently sanctioned by the UN for selling weapons in Somalia despite an international ban. In an interview at al-Masdar, Manna makes some interesting claims:
- all the Houthis weapons were purchased from the Yemeni Military and systematic leakage occurs by a particular method due to the collusion by some aspect of the military
- the National Security Agency in particular is corrupt and no reform in Yemen is possible without the cancellation of the National Security
- he says he legally brokers deals with Russian, Ukranian and Eastern European countries (as I said in 2005) to purchase arms for the state and he also resells and ships arms all over the Middle East and Africa (which would include Somalia)
- all his transactions are legal according to Yemeni law
- the merchants of war reject peace with the Houthis and instigate new conflicts
- he himself lost over $100 million when his houses were bombed, they were will stocked with weapons as directed by the state, he was storing the arms so they didnt fall into the hands of the Houthis, but the National Security failed to supply the correct intelligence to the state.
- Manna is launching a peace initiative in Sa’ada, more at the Yemen Times.

For more on Fares Manna and weapons smuggling, see our category “Proliferation”.

The interview from al Masdar:

أطلق تاجر السلاح اليمني فارس مناع نداء استغاثة باسم اهالي صعدة وطالب الدول الخليجية عامة والمملكة العربية السعودية وقطر خاصة بالتدخل وتقديم الدعم والمساهمة في إعادة إعمار المحافظة. Yemeni arms dealer called Knight Manna distress call on behalf of the people of Saada and called the Gulf States in general and Saudi Arabia and Qatar in particular to intervene and provide support and contribute to the reconstruction of the province. وفيما حمّل الدولة مسؤولية انتشار السلاح في الاسواق اكد ان السلاح الذي يحمله الحوثيون يعود اصلا الى الجيش اليمني. The state took responsibility for the proliferation of arms in the market confirmed that the weapons carried by Houthis back originally to the Yemeni army. (Read on …)

CNN:
Washington (CNN) — Federal authorities Wednesday granted two civil liberties groups a license they need in challenging the government’s authority to use lethal force against U.S. citizens designated as terrorists. (Read on …)

One Yemeni observer notes, “The ministry of interior identified the bomber as a 36 years old Hadi Ahmed Saleh from Kohlan district province of Sanaa. He was a soldier in the 35th brigade based in the city of Dhala.Some of his colleagues suggested that he was unaware that his motorcycle was rigged with explosives. When you have a regime that uses terror to blackmail the international community , the prospect of Yemeni intelligence role in such attacks is not far fetched .”

SaadaAden: Aden news agency suggested that the soldier was a “victim of a conspiracy carried out by malicious military officials in coordination with the intelligence of Yemen, where witnesses confirmed that the soldier came out of the leadership of the camp and started down the road towards the Public Security Department and did not know the mission objective.”

And a truly gruesome video of the deceased at Youtube. A less hysterical rundown from the YT:

Yemen Times: SANA’A, August 4 — Nine soldiers were injured when a soldier blew himself up in front of the Al-Dhale’ General Security Office last Tuesday.

Of the nine injured soldiers, two are said to have been seriously injured. A 15-year-old child was also injured as he was passing near the office.

It was reported on the army website 26th September that the deputy of Al-Dhale’ governorate, Abdulla Husain Al-Haddi, had accused Al-Qaeda of organizing the attack.

According to local sources, the soldier committed this suicide bombing because his salary had been suspended for months and he had not been treated well by his commanding officer.

According to reliable sources, Al-Qaeda cannot be behind this suicide bombing because the group is not present in the governorate, and some even think that the soldier himself may have unknowingly been rigged with explosives. (Read on …)

Its the same wave continuing non-stop since 2004. The May 22nd announcement by President Saleh of a general amnesty was all propaganda, partially because governmental fiefdoms are autonomous from the central government. Investigative reporting on corruption draws the attacks and reform efforts are stymied at every level.

Al-Sahwa Reporters Without Borders is alarmed by a new wave of threats and acts of intimidation against journalists in Yemen. The political class seems to have no qualms about using violence against journalists who write about corruption or embezzlement. Utterly illegal and arbitrary arrests are becoming commonplace.

“The situation is becoming more and more worrying again after the encouraging signs in May when the authorities dropped proceedings against 33 journalists on the 20th anniversary of Yemen’s reunification,” Reporters Without Borders said. “We fear that Yemen is now entering a few phase of violence against media that dare to criticise the policies imposed by the government.” (Read on …)

If its an agreement between two political parties on behalf of their members, then the details should have been public from the get-go. Yemen Post

A source in the Supreme Council for the Joint Meeting Parties (JMP) told Yemen Post that the JMP decided in its meeting to form a panel of the Supreme Council in order to do to Sa’ada and inform the Houthis of the main points and details of the agreement of February 2009, signed between them and the General People’s Congress. (Read on …)

With the oil revenues down, pretty soon they wont be able to cover the state’s payroll of bribes and salaries. Bloomberg

The International Monetary Fund approved a $370 million loan for Yemen to support a three-year plan aimed at cutting the budget deficit and reducing poverty. The Washington-based lender made an initial disbursement of $53 million available immediately, according to a statement posted on its website yesterday. (Read on …)

CBY already injected 20% of its reserves as purchasing power shrinks amid continued public insecurity. A Yemeni economist earlier postulated that excessive money laundering has had a negative impact on the value of the riyal.

Yemen Observer Yemeni riyal fell further against the US dollar as the central bank pumped $57 million into the exchange market, the latest of a series of cash injections to support the tumbling currency which hit a record low this week. (Read on …)

The state reinforces tribal law at the expense of civil law.

Bikyamasr: Amnesty International has urged the Yemeni authorities to launch an immediate independent investigation into the extrajudicial execution of a man accused of murdering a tribal sheikh.

‘Ali ‘Abdullah Muhsin al-Rajhi had been accused of murdering the sheikh, but instead of being arrested and brought to trial by the authorities, he was handed over to the victim’s family and summarily killed.

He is reported to have been shot dead by a relative of the murdered sheikh on 18 July 2010 in front of a crowd outside a mosque in the village of al-Hajfa, south-east of the capital Sana’a. (Read on …)

The head of the bipartisan and inclusive National Dialog Committee withdrew from the National Dialog announced by the ruling GPC and opposition JMP where each submitted a list of 100 representatives. Bassandawa is urging dialog to be held under international auspices and address the full range of Yemen’s national crisis including consideration of a federal system. He seems to think the opposition caved to regime and international pressures which prioritize agreement on the (already postponed) Parliamentary elections in 2011 ahead of comprehensive national reform. Bassandawa is “convinced of the futility” of any discussions where the ruling party seeks only agreement on electoral reforms not the fundamental crises that face the nation. He also urges inclusion of all national forces including the southerners and opposition abroad. The Houthis for their part have said their participation is conditional on approving the terms and scope of the dialog, which they have yet to see.

Al Masdar The Chairman announced that preparations for national dialogue Mohamed Salem Bassandawa boycott of the dialogue sessions with the Authority and the ruling party, on condition to participate in the dialogue to be sponsored by regional, Arab and international.

وكان حزب المؤتمر الشعبي الحاكم وتكتل اللقاء المشترك وقعا أمس الخميس على محضر تبادل أسماء ممثلي الطرفين في اللجنة المشتركة للإعداد والتهيئة للحوار الوطني، وتضم القائمتان مائة عضو لكل طرف، وبين قائمة المشترك باسندوة. The Popular Congress Party, the ruling bloc, signed a joint meeting on Thursday to record the exchange of names of representatives of the parties in the Joint Commission for the preparation and configuration of the national dialogue, and lists, which contain a hundred members of each party, and the list of common Basendwah.

وفي تصريحات لـ”المصدر أونلاين” من العاصمة الأردنية عمان التي يتواجد فيها حالياً قال باسندوة ان “الانتخابات تحتل المرتبة الأولى في اهتمام الحزب الحاكم وليس إيجاد حل للأزمات التي تعصف بالبلاد”. In statements to “online source” of the Jordanian capital Amman, where there are currently Bassandawa said that “the elections is ranked first in the interest of the ruling party and not find a solution to crises that racked country.” (Read on …)

Brandon Sun SAN’A, Yemen – A Yemeni opposition member shot in the head after returning from 32 years in exile died Wednesday from his wounds, his son said. Abdel-Raqib al-Qershi fled from Yemen in 1978 after he and his family were accused of leading a rebellion against the government and killing tribal leaders…Al-Qershi’s son, Awad, said his father had returned to San’a in May following an offer of amnesty from the country’s president. A month later, he was shot in the head as he walked out of a local mosque with his sons. The authorities named three suspects in the assassination attempt, but none have been arrested. After an emergency operation in Yemen, Al-Qershi was flown to Syria for further medical treatment where he died.

Original Post: President Saleh invited Abdalrguib Qurashi who was in exile in Syria for 30 years, to return to Yemen under his protection. Last month, Qurashi was shot in the head after returning from prayers in Sana’a, fell into a coma, was transferred to Syria for medical treatment and died today. Qurashi was a leader in the Nasserite party involved in a 1978 assassination attempt on Saleh. Many were killed and periodically the party asks for the location of the graves. (Read on …)

Oh yes, that’s what Yemenis need is another foreigner inciting bloodshed. The lunatic Egyptian wants Yemeni clerics to declare jihad on the US. Certainly strengthens Saleh’s position with the US though, how handy.

Reuters: Zawahri, in his second message this month released on Islamist websites, also ridiculed Yemeni clerics, who he said promised jihad, or holy war, against the United States if it interfered in Yemen, but who he said ignored signs that the government was cooperating with U.S. forces.

Noting that Amnesty International had called on Washington to explain its role in Yemen, Zawahri asked: “Is Amnesty International more concerned about defending the Yemeni people than they (the clerics) are?”

Amnesty International released a report in June suggesting that the United States may be playing a role in Yemen after releasing photographs that showed remnants of alleged U.S. missiles and cluster bombs used in an attack in south Yemen.

“What more are they waiting for to call for jihad? … are they waiting for the U.S. soldiers to appear on the streets of Sanaa in their tanks?”

Mr. President Barack Hussein Obama:

We the people of Aden in the south are suffering humiliation and oppression, murder and torture by the regime of the State of North Yemen, Sanaa

We also know we have an independent state and we have entered into unsuccessful unity with North Yemen, Sanaa, a country with a tribal, military and Baathist structure, that is usually backward for us and takes us back a century.

Today, the Arab people in Aden struggle to disengage from the North Yemen, Sanaa, and his re-Arab and to re-establish a southern capital of Aden, known as a free state on their national soil, known to the May 21, 1990

We want your support and your support and you with the free world in order to restore our nation and peaceful coexistence among the nations of the earth

Thanks
يافعي حضرمي متواجد حالياً with my regards
journalist from south yemen

alkhader alhasani
sana a 25/7/2010

A letter to Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch from southern Yemenis in the US:

The South Yemen community in U.S.A sincere regards, and thank you for your efforts for the past years and your positive interaction, whether by descending on the ground in the south and especially the governorate Aden, and some nearby provinces, Your meeting with some of the families of the martyrs and prisoners, or through your reports on the bitter reality and the serious daily violations of human rights in under the occupation of Yemen, and heinous practices against the people of South Arabia are engaged in struggle for independence.

We appreciate these efforts and urge you to exert more pressure on the occupying government in Sana’a to stop all methods of repression, torture and killing, siege and arrests, and pursuits, committed against peacefully protesters and activists, and move quickly to rescue the Political prisoners of Sana’a regime, and the rest of the detainees from daily torture of those who are still in detention including minors.

First the Political Security prison in Sana’a

Ahmed Alkuwma – correspondent

Maged Althammah – Age 14 years (Read on …)

In 2005, Yemen made several repeated announcements that it was going to cut its bloated diplomatic corps in order to reduce expenses. I think it was around the time they were angling for Millennium Challenge Funds. But of course it was all propaganda and the only embassy closed was in Romania. Ambassadorships are quite lucrative, and often used as rewards or to get outspoken people out of the country. The embassies abroad are frequently centers of corruption and sometimes crime and often have networks that spy on Yemeni expatriate communities.

Republican Decrees appointing ambassadors issued
[25/يوليو/2010] SANA’A, July 25 (Saba) – Six Republic Decrees issued on Sunday appointing Yemeni ambassadors to a number of countries:

1- Decree No. 143 for 2010 appoints Yahya al-Sayaghi as an ambassador of Yemen to Cuba.

2- Decree No. 144 for 2010 appoints Abdul-Qawi al-Eryani as an ambassador of Yemen to Turkey.

3- Decree No. 145 for 2010 appoints Shaiy al-Zandani as an ambassador of Yemen to Jordan.

4- Decree No. 146 for 2010 appoints Jamal Nasir as ambassador of Yemen to Algeria.

5- Decree No. 147 appoints Zaid al-Wareeth as an ambassador of Yemen to Iraq.

6- Decree No. 148 appoints Mustafa Numan as an ambassador of Yemen to Spain.

Technical assistance is good and Yemeni security lacks training in investigative procedures. The problems are 1) the UN in Yemen is also plagued by corruption and 2) much of the criminal networks including the drug smuggling are in the hands of top regime officials and presidential relatives who will thwart sincere efforts at crime fighting. The most functional part of the Yemeni economy is the black market and smuggling rings. Nonetheless at least its a step in the right direction. Yemen Gazette:

SANAA, 12 Jul — The United Nations is planning to open an office in Yemen to fight terrorism, crime, human trafficking and drugs, the government official daily, al-Thawra said on Monday. Interior Minister Brig Gen Rashad al-Masri welcomed the move during a meeting with a UN delegation headed by the coordinator of the UN programs in the middle east and north Africa, Life Vilatson saying “the opening of the office will have positive results for Yemen and neighboring countries,” and voiced his ministry’s “willingness to provide all necessary facilitations to establish the office and facilitate its mission.” The UN delegation hailed “the successes made by Yemen in combating terrorism and drugs,” and expressed gratitude for “Yemen’s complete cooperation and facilitations for the success of UN programmes in the field of battling crime and drugs.”

In a cringe-inducing remark, Mr. Gerald M. Feierstein, Ambassador-Designate to the Republic of Yemen, said to the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, July 19, 2010: “Yemen faces many challenges and threats, the chief of which is terrorism, a global threat that requires a global response.” No. The main threat to Yemen is President Saleh. Could the US State Department possibly believe that Yemen’s main threat is terrorism or are they deliberately spinning a load of hogwash? There’s two US advisers that have a clear view, the rest have been in love with Saleh for a long time.

Well they are trapped in the Embassy and only talk to pro-regime Yemenis: Sen. Lugar expressed his concern over the U.S. embassy team’ being unable to travel outside of Sana’a to monitor key projects on the ground. I guess Obama like Bush prefers a dream world to reality, especially when the reality is the US is allied with an al-Qaeda supporting mass-murderer.

This is a little more realistic Jerry: Regarding how U.S. can measure the effectiveness of U.S. financial aid, Feierstein explained that “We are less confident that we can assure the Congress in particular that this money is being well-spent,” Feierstein concluded.

Ungoverned Yemen: Al-Ja’ashin civilians launch hunger strike demanding state action

A press release from HOOD
By Nisreen Shadad, edited by Jane Novak

Residents of the beleaguered Al-Ja’ashin district in Ibb began a hunger strike on July 25, 2010 to demand the state assert its authority in their district. The villagers have been camped out in Sana’a for months after being ejected from their village by Sheikh Ahmed Mansour.

In some areas of rural Yemen, often called “ungoverned regions,” the state abdicated its authority to tribal proxies. Al-Ja’ashin residents struggled for years against tyrannical practices including illegal taxes, seizure of personal property, physical assaults and imprisonment in Sheik Mansour’s private prison.

“We will never eat until we die and go to a world without oppression and fear or to go to our homes and live safely under the law,” according to the al-Ja’ashin statement. The Al-Ja’ashin civilians began their hunger strike in front of the Parliamentary Council, as they had been unable to gain redress through any other means.

“For eight months we have been displaced and suffering in the streets of Sana’a. The public authority didn’t respond to our needs. Hunger, disease, rain and heat are exhausting us, while we are waiting for fair acts towards our case and the kind touch of people who are after all Yemenis and Muslims like you,” said the statement. The villagers demanded security and compensation for what was stolen by Sheikh Mansour and his followers.

“We want to live with dignity as human beings in Allah’s land. Islamic Sharea’a and Yemeni law should protect us from Sheikh Mansour and his soldiers and provide all weak people a life with dignity and peace,” the statement declared.

Parliament ordered a new committee to consider the issue of al-Ja’ashin and scheduled discussions for next Monday. A Parliamentary report issued in March said that while the nearly one hundred villagers were camped out in the capital, Mansour’s militia “looted their cows, ships, gold and all their home furnishings.”

“Mansour has unauthorized private prisons in which he punishes citizens, indicating a lack of the state sovereignty in the district,” Parliament found.The findings echo a 2007 Parliamentary report that concluded that Parliament must “compel the Government to impose the authority of the State in Al-Jasheen area as part of the territory of the Republic of Yemen.”

Many parliamentarians, journalists and human rights activists joined the hunger strike in solidarity with the al-Ja’ashin civilians including MP Ahmed Saif Hashid, MP Sahwqi al-Qadhi, Tawakul Karman, the head of Women Journalist Without Chains and Mohammed Naji Allaow, the General Coordinator of the National Organization for Defending Rights and Freedoms (HOOD).

“As Muslims and Yemenis, we have the rights of citizenship, equity and advocacy. We are oppressed, however, for eight months. We have been humiliated from you, the police officers and others who may relate to you or not, until we are disappointed and willing to die. Your negligence and humiliation make us feel we are unseen insects,” said the villagers’ statement.

HOOD called on all free people to declare their solidarity with Al-Ja’ashin and their demand to live under the protection of the law. For their courage, the al Jasheen villagers won HOOD’s 2009 Human Rights Award. In presenting the award, HOOD’s director, Khalid al Ansi said that the villagers overcame “historical inherited fear” in challenging the Sheik’s tyranny.

Bingo. Yemen Post

Government Hoping for more Qaeda Attacks in South

The more attacks in the south means that the international community will support Yemen’s unity, fearing that if separation takes place, the south could be an Al-Qaeda safe haven.
Every Al-Qaeda attack in the south comes with great relief for the government and more pain for those who call for separation. The government gains even more financial support from the international community as it is funding Yemen’s fight against extremism.
So, it seems like President Saleh is finally getting something his way.
The last three Al-Qaeda claimed attacks took place in less than a month, and in three different provinces in the south, first in Aden, then in Abyan and Shabwa. It seems to me as if the government is linked to the Al-Qaeda attacks as it is the only one benefiting from the attacks and losing nothing.
Yemen is trying to picture to the world that the south is the backbone of Al-Qaeda, as it is also the homeland for its leader Osama bin Laden.
We also need to remember that Anwar Awlaqi, a Yemeni American preacher is from the south of Yemen. He is now internationally wanted for terrorism related claims.
Yemen is receiving almost $500 million dollars annually from western countries to fight extremism.
So, from the south comes oil, gas, cement, international support to fight Al-Qaeda, a 2000 kilometer coastal line, and 2/3 the size of the current Yemen, which proves that the northern part would do anything in its power to keep Yemen united.
We do not believe any attacks will take place in northern Yemen anytime soon, while on the other hand, we will see another attack in a different part of the south, maybe Mukalla or Seiyun. Such attacks will convince the west that southern Yemen could never be an independent state if it’s goal is to fight Al-Qaeda.

I had thought the peace convoy from Taiz had more of a lasting effect. Also its the anniversary of the clashes in Zanzibar which killed 17 and wounded more than 20 “because they raised their voices demanding the restoration of the state and still the occupation regime committed massacres and crimes against our brothers in the south, but today Dali is surrounded and encircled from all sides that the area of the city of Dali five square kilometers There are five military brigades and more than twenty military barracks to prevent food and medicine from our brothers in Dali.”

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 …)

A nice solid report from the Yemen Times.

SANA’A, July 20 — The population of Yemen has multiplied five times in the last 54 years, and is predicted to triple again by 2035, according to the Health and Population Committee of the Yemeni Parliament.

The committee produced a report which was discussed earlier this month on the occasion of World Population Day, July 11, highlighting the dangers of rapid population growth in Yemen.

The report predicts that by year 2035 the country’s current 23 million inhabitants will have increased to at least 61 million, almost triple the size today. Yemen’s population growth rate is 3.7 while its fertility rate which is the average number of children for every Yemeni woman during her life time is 6.1.

Moreover, the infant mortality rate in the country is also considered one of the highest in the world at 53 deaths per every 1000 live births according to UNICEF’s 2008 statistics. Child mortality for children below five is also high at 69 deaths for every 1000 live births. The report also indicated that maternal mortality is quite high in Yemen as 365 mothers die while giving birth in every 100 thousand live births. (Read on …)

CPJ, By Mohamed Abdel Dayem/CPJ Middle East and North Africa Program Coordinator

One opinion was relayed to me repeatedly by numerous journalists, lawyers, and human rights defenders during the week I just spent in Yemen: The crackdown against independent and opposition media in the country has not been this concerted at any time since the reunification of the southern and northern halves of the country in 1990. (Read on …)

That’s the number the Saudis caught.

Arab News: JEDDAH: Immigration authorities in Jazan said on Wednesday that 2,454 Yemeni infiltrators, illegal residents and beggars were caught in the past one month.

“Infiltration of Yemenis into Saudi Arabia from the southern border is still continuing despite the heavy presence of border guards,” said a written statement from the local Passport Department, pointing out that border officials have increased their vigilance since the conflict with Yemeni rebels earlier this year.

“Border guards have cut new passages in (mountainous) areas that were not accessible in the past in order to be able to patrol the area and prevent infiltration and smuggling,” said the statement.

Saudi Arabia’s long and porous border with Yemen is one of highest concern for the authorities. Last year, officials responded to more than 130,000 smuggling attempts, including weapons and humans, compared with about 140,000 such incidents in the rest of the Kingdom.

AFP SANAA — Officially, slavery was abolished back in 1962 but a judge’s decision to pass on the title deed of a “slave” from one master to another has blown the lid off the hidden bondage of hundreds of Yemenis. The judge in the town of Hajja, which is home to some 300 slaves, according to residents, said he had certified the transfer only because the new owner planned to free the slave. But his decision has triggered a campaign by local human right activists. (Read on …)

Ali Nasser Mohammed President of the PDRY “vehemently denied published allegations that he and other opposition leaders in exile were consulted before signing of the Framework agreement between the GPC and the JMP, Naba News reported. Nasser described the claims as “a slander with only one goal, to smear, with no basis in reality, adding that he would love it so much if the ruling party as well as the opposition parties could start solving the big problems rather than get trapped in small ones.” Southern leaders within Yemen are unanimous in their denunciation of the accord, calling it a conspiracy. More on the agreement below the fold.

Daily Star: SANAA: Shiite rebels Monday came out in support of an agreement between the ruling party and the opposition to embark on a national dialogue between Yemen’s numerous rivals. “We express our satisfaction and support for the agreement between the Common Forum and the [ruling] General People’s Congress,” the rebels said in a statement. (Read on …)

Its a powder keg waiting to go off. Its unclear if its a tribal clash or a military one since the Houthis are fighting with “Army backed tribes.”

SANAA — Fighting in mountainous north Yemen between Shiite rebels and army-backed tribes over the past four days have left at least 49 people dead, threatening a fragile truce, tribal and rebel sources said on Wednesday.
(Read on …)

Two entirely unrelated stories, 1) US freezes Anwar Awlaki’s assets and criminalizes providing material support to him; 2) After February truce agreement and May’s amnesty announcement, there’s still over 400 rebels in jail and dozens of southerners. In theory, Saleh agreed to release them but we’ve heard it dozens of times before. He uses the prisoners as a bargaining chip against the opposition and the general public.

Gulf Times: Yemen’s government has agreed to free more than 400 people, mostly northern rebels, as the Arab state tries to launch a dialogue with opposition groups, an opposition leader said yesterday.

An opposition coalition and the ruling General People’s Congress (GPC) party signed an agreement yesterday to set up a joint body for a national dialogue, state media reported.

The government is trying to halt conflict in the northern province of Saada with Shia rebels as well as with secessionists in the south.

“As demanded by the opposition in order to sign the agreement, President Ali Abdullah Saleh has issued a directive to free 27 from the southern movement and 400 with links to the fighting in Saada,” the opposition figure, who declined to be named, told Reuters. (Read on …)

Mareb Press quotes Interior Minister Rashid al Masiri that “rallies witnessed by the southern provinces since 2009 and until mid-year 2010 amounted to 445 process in addition to 87 cuts and looting.” ( Yemen Observer has English.)

Yemen Post

Head of the Association for Rehabilitation and Care of Yemeni Disabled Ali Ahmed Al-Wajih said on Thursday that 10 per cent of the Yemeni population is disabled. Roughly two million of the total population estimated at more than 20 million people are disabled, he said.

Hundreds of Yemeni people become physically and mentally disabled a day due to conflicts, tribal disputes and road and work-related accidents, he made clear. (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 …)

Isria

Yemen – Saleh: My visit to Russia to discuss military deals’ debts

President Ali Abdullah said he discussed with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin Yemen’s debt of military purchases which exceeded USD 2 billion. (Read on …)

Doha agreement reactivated and Qatar will attempt to mediate in the south, but with who? I hope it works out but during the Doha ceasefire, the regime could not manage to uphold its end of the agreement.

Earthtimes: Sana’a, Yemen – Qatar is initiating efforts to mediate between the Yemeni government and its southern opponents amid escalating separatist violence in the south of the Arab country, the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani said on Tuesday.

“We will be happy to participate in finding any solution that helps preserve the Yemeni unity,” the Qatari Emir told reporters after talks with Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh in Sana’a. “We are always with our brothers in Yemen to help in there problems,” he said…. The Qatari government will also resume its mediation efforts to cement a fragile truce between Shiite rebels and the government in northern Yemen, the Yemeni president said.

Saleh said the Qatari efforts would be based on a 2007 Qatari-brokered peace agreement signed by representatives of the Yemeni government and the rebels in Doha.

“We agreed to reactivate the Doha agreement,” Saleh told reporters after the meeting at the Presidential Palace in Sana’a. Yemeni officials declared the collapse of the Qatari mediation in August 2009, accusing the rebels were unwilling to abide by its terms.

Mr. Bashraheel who I believe needs to see his doctor in Saudi Arabia for follow-up to heart surgery is being denied permission to leave Yemen. The following notice references his diabetes and that he is unable to walk due to severe circulation problem in his feet. This is slow murder, nothing less.

Health situation deteriorated to the editor of the days suspended suspended since mid last year, according to media sources the validity of Mr. Hisham Bashrahil have increased as a result of his ill with chronic diseases such as diabetes, pressure and swelling of the feet. (Read on …)

A statement from TAJ regarding al-Ayyam’s guard:

To: Amnesty International
To: The Arabic Human Rights Organisation
To: World Human Rights Organisation

We urgently write to you to condemn the death sentence issued from one of Sana’a courts in the Republic of Yemen on Sunday 11 July 2010 against the political activist Ahmed Omer Alobady who has been in prison since 14th February 2008.

Mr Alobady was wrongly arrested by the occupation Yemeni forces for his politics views towards the Southern Arabia crisis, NOT for any crime that he has committed, in order to intimidate other political activists joining this peaceful movement.

Despite the Yemeni General Attorney’s failure to find any proof against Mr Alobady, he was sentenced to death.

This method is widely used by the Yemeni Government against all Southern Arabia political activists.

As a matter of urgency we would like you and ALL other organisations around the world to act quickly to overturn this unfair judgment.

Southern Democratic Assembly ( TAJ )

12 July 2010

مناشده عاجله
الى منظمة العفو الدوليه الى المنظمه العربيه لحقوق الانسان الى المنظمه الدوليه لحقوق الانسان
نتوجه بهذا النداء العاجل اليكم لادانة الحكم الصادر من احدى المحاكم اليمنيه في صنعاء صباح يوم الاحد 11-7-2010م بحق الناشط السياسي احمد عمر العبادي السجين منذ14 فبراير 2008م الذي كان متواجداً اثناء حادثة الاعتداء على منزل رئيس تحرير صحيفة الأيام الجنوبي هشام باشراحيل في صنعاءوالذي كان حادثاً مدبراً يستهدف نشاطهما السياسي بدرجه أولى ومواقف الرجلين ودورهما المتميز في الحراك الجنوبي لاسكاتهما ومعاقبتهما على مواقفهما الثابته من القضيه العادله للشعب الجنوبي , وتم تدبير هذه ا لمكيده ا لجنائيه حتى يتسنى لحكومة الاحتلال اليمني إلباس القضيه ثوباً جنائياً كما تعود نظام صنعاء اليمني في التعامل مع خصومه السياسيين في العاده وعلى الرغم من ان النيابه العامه اليمنيه لم تتمكن من اثبات التهمه الجنائيه بالقتل لاحمد عمر العبادي . ولم تكتف سلطات صنعاء اليمنيه بالاعتداء على منزل باشراحيل في صنعاء بل قامت قوات الأمن اليمنيه بالاعتداء مرة أخرى على منزل باشراحيل في عدن مما أدى الى قتل حارس منزله وشخصين آخرين . أن كل هذه دلائل بأن هناك استهداف شخصي للرجلين احمد عمر العبادي وهشام باشراحيل .

اننا نطالب منظماتكم وكافة المنظمات الدوليه والانسانيه المهتمه بحقوق الانسان للقيام بحمله دوليه وسرعة التحرك وإدانة هذا الحكم الجائر وايقافه .

التجمع الديمقراطي الجنوبي (تاج ) لندن بتاريخ 11-7-2010م

Via al Teef

Update: Two dead.

Personally I find Hamid al Ahmar, son of the late Sheik Abdullah al Ahmar, quite a bit better option than Ahmed Saleh, the president’s son, but its not my call. General Nuba is responding to the National Preparatory Committee’s attempts to form a national coalition for a just and unified Yemen. Some have charged the NPC is undermining the party system and not doing much else of anything besides holding meetings and issuing statements. Still any initiative that attempts to find a peaceful way out of the hell hole that Yemen has become is a good thing. Statement from General Nasser al Nuba who initiated the Southern protests in 2007.

Today is 07/07/2010 the third anniversary of the start of peaceful movement southern On this day of the year in 2007 Ostfti representatives of the people of the South in Liberty Square Incense breaker in the southern capital of Aden and decided to representatives of the people of the south, which is numbered tens of thousands of peaceful struggle until independence unfinished option strategic refusing any other options, which surveyed the illegal independence. (Read on …)

Horrendous. The funeral march of Ahmed Mohammed Darwish, who was tortured to death in prison:

There were a flurry of statement by various southern movement leaders regarding the Day of Rage. Some called for wide ranging protests including Aden, others disputed the call and asked the public to turn out in designated areas. A third said the protest in Aden was to be a funeral march only. Most of these leaders are pathetic, sorry, but they are, when their differences and power plays get people killed. They are so ready to call the masses for an insult to al Fahdli or for al Beidh to make a point, and the blood is never ending. Meanwhile no progress has been made on establishing a unified movement based on democratic practices.

SANAA, July 7 (Reuters) – Yemeni police shot dead a protester in Aden on Wednesday in clashes that broke out during a “Day of Rage” called by southern secessionists, police and separatists said.

The protester died after police fired on demonstrators who had wanted to hold a public funeral procession for a southerner whose death in police custody last month stoked tensions in the port city. Police said some of demonstrators were armed. (Read on …)

The end is near when soldiers begin rioting for back pay. Recently tribesmen who fought in the Sa’ada war also held protests for back pay. Clearly Saleh wont be able to meet his payroll of salaries and bribes with oil revenue down 75% from last year. Maybe that’s the plan, let the chips fall where they may, but its going to get messy. The most obnoxious thing, maybe one of the most obnoxious things, about the current economic disaster is that the warnings for the last five years were all dismissed as opposition propaganda from people wearing dark glasses, a Crusader plot by the World Bank and/or totally misguided with no relation to reality as Yemen’s oil reserves are fine, just fine.

Yemen Post: More than 30 central security personnel are besieging the house of Mahweet Governor Ahmed Ali Muhsen and the governmental building in the province as well as closing the highway in protest at halting their salaries.

The protesting security came from the south and are determined to get their rights.

A security source said that the personnel received their salaries but when they were absent the salary of this month was halted.

‘They tried to break into the governmental building after they had detonated a bomb in front of it but their attempt was repelled by the guards.’

They also besieged security patrols and all efforts made to convince them to leave the site failed.

Unrest in southern governorates Yemen Times

Published:05-07-2010

ADEN, July 4 – Last week security forces released 23 of the 24 men who were arrested in Aden after being suspected of executing the attack against the political security building two weeks ago. The suspect who was not released is Ahmad Al-Darweesh, who died of his injuries the following day to his arrest. A funeral tent was erected by Al-Darweesh’s family to allow people to console them. (Read on …)

TAJ sent the following letter to the UN and a variety of Yemen’s donors and international organizations highlighting the war crimes and destruction the Yemeni government wrought on its own citizens in the last week. The document includes the names of the homeowners whose property was destroyed, giving us some kind of estimate on the newly displaced in South Yemen. With 78 homes destroyed and an average of ten to twenty living in each dwelling, Yemenis are big on extended family, then there are between 700 to 1500 citizens homeless, displaced, as a result of the latest assault. As we recall from the state’s campaigns in Sa’ada, Yemen has a tendency toward collective punishment of the civilian population in areas of conflict including the withholding of food as a tactic of war, random bombing of residential areas and the denial of access to medical services to injured persons. The US deems the whole bloody mess an internal affair, giving Sana’a the green light to crush various sectors of the population, in the misguided hope that Saleh will turn his attention to al Qaeda once things get quiet again. But things may never get quiet again. Either way, the US narrative of civilian immunity loses all legitimacy and the al Qaeda narrative of a US double standard on human rights gains credibility.

Your Excellency,
We would like to put you in the form of what is happening from the painful events and sufferings that are happening to the people in Juhav directorate in the province of Lahj in the south (South Arabia), as consequences of the crimes committed by the Yemeni occupation forces in its military campaign since Monday 21/06/2010 until today.

The situation is getting worse because of the siege at the Directorate, where residents, pacifists and houses were bombed with various types of heavy and light weapons, tanks, rocket launchers, artillery guns and Huns, which led to the destruction of houses on the heads of women and children, the infirm, the destruction and ways of life and infrastructure, including electricity and water services and the imposition of a state of emergency on movement of people, hampering patients chronic diseases such as kidney failure and heart disease, diabetes and pregnant women from going to the hospitals and stopping the students from going to perform their yearly exams, paralyzing life, making the citizen’s life hell for unendurable as was the case of violation of human rights and we have provided an example of the citizen Mohammed Mohsen who was kidnapped from (Ibb hospital) by the Yemeni forces who tortured him to death and thrown his body on the side of the road near his village in Sweida and found many traces of torture on his body and neck due to hanging.

On the other hand, there are many private properties and premises that were demolished and destroyed particularly in the following town ; AlQarna; Aluzla; Alsuaida; Aaniem; Alnujid; Blass; shaggo; Taqmur; Aladania and Alquraiat .

The names of owners of these destroyed houses in appendix no. 1 (Read on …)

Al Jazeera

At least 30 people have been arrested in the Yemeni port city of Aden during a two-day hunt for suspected al-Qaeda operatives behind an attack on an intelligence building. More operations will continue in Saada province for suspected fighters, Yemen’s defence ministry said in a statement on Saturday. (Read on …)

This appears to be the sequence of events: the storming of jail in Aden; round-up of suspected al-Qaida; protests; arrests; one dies in from an “asthma attack”; more protests. The people were not protesting the arrests of al-Qaeda suspects as the official media is suggesting. The southerners believe (true or not) the hunt for al-Qa’ida in Aden is a pretense in order to conduct security operations against secessionists. The assault on the jail may go back to some land theft scheme where al Qamish was cut out or that may just be an incidental side story. Its not al-Qaida’s first assault on the regime reflecting a new level of hostility as some suggest.

The National: Clashes renewed between the police and armed gangs after Friday prayers in Al-Saadah quarter in Yemen’s business capital of Aden, independent sources said.

Today’s confrontations were triggered by the death of a prisoner who was arrested when people took to streets on Thursday to protest mass arrests after Saturday’s deadly terrorist attack on the political security office in the province.

The cause of the death remained unclear.

Ahmed Al-Darwish was among about 9 people arrested in connection with the attack that the authorities said bore the hallmarks of Al-Qaeda.

Some reports noted that more than 20 arrests took place when police raided homes and carried out mass arrests in Al-Saadah and Alnasr quarters in Khour Maksar district known as hotbeds of armed outlaws and suspected terrorists.

Most of the arrested were suspected Al-Qaeda operatives, according to security sources. The raids triggered clashes between armed gangs and the police.

On Saturday, gunmen broke into the office in Al-Towahi city shooting bullets and detonating bombs at guards and civilians. Seven soldiers, three women and a child were killed and 15 others were injured.

A day later, the authorities said the mastermind of the attack had been arrested. He was identified as Ghawdal Muhammad Saleh Naji, who the authorities said was a terrorist.

Meanwhile, the Interior Ministry ordered the security forces to stay on heightened alert to face possible attacks and watch the southern coastline to prevent terrorists from infiltrating into the country.

So what happened? The Health Ministry stole the real vaccines for resale in private pharmacies or never bought them in first place? Its very hard to donate anything to Yemen; monetary donations disappear by the sixth journal entry and even well intentioned physical donations (like to the victims of the Hadramout flood) are diverted for resale. Corruption in the Heatlh Ministry has an immediate lethal impact, just ask anyone with diabetes.

Yemen Observer: The Supreme National Association for Combating Corruption (SNACC) council approved Tuesday the withdrawal of an amount of fraudulent vaccine. The vaccines, which were to help prevent children’s illness such as the flu and malaria, were tampered with and then distributed on May 31 in eight governorates. After receiving reports that the vaccines were not in presentable containers, the authority approved their withdrawal from the markets.

The decision came after the SNACC reviewed reports from field teams sent to a number of governorates in response to the shipment of 400,000 doses of vaccines sent to the Ministry of Health stores on May 5, 2010.

The reports assured that the amounts were distributed to the Capital Secretariat, Sana’a, Taiz, Hajjah, Ibb, Dhamar, Amran and al-Mahwait governorates, noting that some of amounts were closer to damage of the powder.

According to the documents, the amounts of the vaccines sent to Yemen are approximately 611 doses costing $1,847,260. Sources say that the Ministry of Health bears 40 percent of the cost of the shipment.

No wonder no body knows what the heck is actually going on, via News Yemen:

وزارة الإعلام ترفض منح الصحافة موافقة الدخول لليمن وتطلب من المراسلين التوقيع على تعهد The Ministry of Information press refuses to grant approval to enter Yemen and ask reporters to sign a pledge
22/06/2010 22/06/2010
خاص-نيوزيمن: Particular – NewsYemen:

علم نيوزيمن من مصادر مطلعة رفض وزارة الإعلام في الآونة الأخيرة منح عدد من القنوات الفضائية والصحفيين الأجانب موافقة دخول إلى اليمن لعمل تقارير صحافية. Learned from informed sources NewsYemen rejected the Ministry of Information recently granted a number of satellite channels and foreign journalists to enter the consent of Yemen to the work of media reports.
واشتكى العديد من الصحفيين الأجانب من تلكؤ الوزارة في منحهم الموافقة والتي على أساسها يحصلون على تأشيرة من السفارات اليمنية في الخارج. And many complained that foreign journalists from the reluctance of the ministry to give them the approval and on which get a visa from the embassies in Yemen and abroad. (Read on …)

Its not a cost but a write off.

Yemen Times interviews Dr. Mohammad Ali Jubran, financial analyst and professor of economics at the University of Sana’a:

Yemen is not in need of more donors’ conferences as it has its own natural resources, but its resources are in urgent need of good management. Oil, gas, public companies and taxes are the four pillars that the economy stands on.

But oil revenues do not all reach the budget. Up to USD 1 billion per year goes to a group of people in the name of ‘oil cost’ or ‘barrel cost.’

The highest barrel costs in the world are in Yemen, not because it is the most difficult, but because of corruption. In 2000 and 2001 the barrel cost in Yemen was USD 3, but now it is USD 17. In the agreement between the foreign oil companies and Yemen the barrel cost is fixed at USD 3, so where does the other USD 14 go? (Read on …)

Al Beidh still a no show. The Preparatory Dialog Committee is working to create an alliance for a reformed, unified Yemen and the Houthis have signed on, but the hard-core southerners think its a ploy to dilute authentic opposition and keep Saleh in power through stalling tactics. (Not that Al-Beidh has done anything worthwhile but issue statements calling for demosntrations…) Others see a Saudi hand. The PDC defines the root of the crisis in Yemen as family rule. Saleh Habra’s speech on behalf of Abdelmalik al Houthi is pasted below. WJWC’s Tawwakol Karaman and MP Ahmed Saif Hashid recently resigned because they say all the PDC does is issue statements and it is not transparent or democratic in structure, fair points that can be applied to many civil society organizations. Some opposition political and civil leaders hold seminars and pass papers back and forth diagnosing the main problem as the centralization of power in Yemen, but there is nothing stopping them from modeling democracy themselves and they don’t.

Yemen Observer: Yemeni Media sources said that a meeting of the internal opposition and external opposition was held in Cairo. The meeting came out with terms of dialogue on unification efforts. The internal opposition was represented by a number of JMP leaders including Abdulwahab al-Anisi, Yasin Saeed Norman, Sultan al-Atwani as well as leaders from the PDC including Aidros al-Naqib, Sakhr al-Wjih, Ali Abdo Rabo al-Qadi and on top of them Mohammed Salem Ba Sondwa. Sheikh Hamis al-Ahmar who has prepared and financed the meeting was absent from this meeting. (Read on …)

Yemen Post: There are roughly 423000 child laborers in Yemen aged between 6 to 14 years old, most of whom are working in the countryside, a recent official survey has said.

Also, most of the children are subjected to physical and psychological abuse, it said, pointing out that amid poverty many families send their children to work to support them. (Read on …)

Update: Apparently the security had no bullets. Yemen Times:

Last Saturday, armed people attacked the Political Security office in Al-Tawahi district, Aden governorate. They killed 13 people, including seven soldiers, four women and a child.

“What happened is a scandal,” private sources reported told the Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper. «Armed people attacked the Political Security office in Aden where the security guards could not stop them. They exceeded all the security barriers and entered the security office building without being shot at even once. In the end they departed the place chanting joyfully in a triumphant tone.”

The sources told the newspaper said that there are signs that the attackers were not confronted by the guards who had no guns. According to the locals in Al-Tawahi district, all people who were suspected to be working for political security secretly disappeared during the attack.

OP: That’s hysterical, al Gamish to investigate. Either al Gamish planned it or the arrests and subsequent jailbreak were the result of infighting like occurred with Hamza al Qaiti after all the mortars missed in 2008. There was quite a verbal sparring match between the two in which al Qaiti said he was betrayed by al Gamish. Then he got killed in a shoot-out (like al Fawaz al-Reibi and the Egyptian Dwieder). Head of the PSO, Al Gamish was promoted (or at least got a second position) after the 2006 jail break. He’s been around for decades. The PSO is largely subverted by al-Qaeda but then again, al-Qaeda is also largely subverted by the PSO and sometimes (some of them) act as mercenaries. It was Al-Gamish, along with Saleh who negotiated directly with Abu al Feida on behalf of al-Qa’ida back in 2006. Quite a favorable deal it was for both sides. Al Feida had nothing but praise for the way the Yemeni regime handles the brothers.

Yemen Post: Minister of information , Mr . Hasan Al-lowzi has conformed that Yemen is a partner for the international society in all plans and operations that aim to face terrorism and it is fighting its individuals , Al-thawranet reported.

He said also , responding the question of Al-arabia channel in terms of the armed attack of Al-Qaida in Yemen that aimed political security office in Aden , ” There is a supreme committee presided by General Ghaleb Alqamesh , chief of political security system and the deputy of interior minister , interrogating this event to know every thing about it” .

He clarified that this terroristic work was unexpected for a city that has settlement and security as Aden that he conformed it as a secured city and all its visitors recognize that .

He said ” Today we go to Aden and pass in its streets without escorts and arms , and what happened was unexpected for a city that really distinguished to have a strong security because it is totally forbidden to bear arms in Aden” .

And in terms of security situation in Yemen and efforts paid to face terrorism , Al-lowzi pointed out that there is a fight , country and people are fighting against terrorism works especially Al-Qaida , and war will not be ceased until the specific and marked purposes in security plans to be achieved .

Minister of information also said ” Yemen is fighting really against terrorism , and it is a partner for the international society at facing it and there are threats should be taken to consideration and to be on the alert in the all governorates .

The tribal paramilitary hasn’t been paid, violence ensues. I believe this happened in the last wars as well, likely the money got pocketed if it was paid at all.

Yemen Post: An army officer has been killed and three soldiers and unidentified number of tribesmen injured in the clashes that are still continuing between the army and tribes in Al-Ashah district in Amran Province. (Read on …)

Somebody is making big money from this. Some of these kids are very young four and five years old.

Trafficking in Persons Report 2010
YEMEN (Tier 2 Watch List)

Yemen is a country of origin and, to a much lesser extent, a transit and destination country for women and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced labor and forced prostitution. Yemeni children, mostly boys, migrate across the northern border with Saudi Arabia, to the Yemeni cities of Aden and Sana’a, or – to a lesser extent – to Oman, and are forced to work primarily as beggars, but also for domestic servitude or forced labor in small shops. Some of these children are subjected to commercial sexual exploitation in transit or once they arrive in Saudi Arabia by traffickers, border patrols, other security officials, and their employers. The government and local NGOs estimate that there are hundreds of thousands of children in forced labor in Yemen. (Read on …)

Really getting desperate, aren’t they? I guess the Saudi women didn’t come flocking to Yemen after al-Qa’ida’s last appeal to them for suicide bombers. Short of funds they are as well. Interesting how AQIY can distribute the CDs in such a systematic manner without drawing the attention of the state-funded Imams and security. Oh yes, it was actually the state funded Imams who first warned against US intervention in Yemen, threatening jihad in a statement. Yeah that was it. The AQIY zealots are hoping that US backing of the widely reviled dictator and his messy messy methods of counter-insurgency will create a backlash in their favor, not an improbable outcome even without the CDs, but there are a lot of other options for those with anti-government inclinations. Anti-US sentiments grew geometrically after the slaughter in Abyan (cluster bombs??!!) and the US’s extremely poor follow-up. (Nary a word. Even after the Yemeni government apologized, the US kept congratulating.) Inciting against US intervention incidentally and conveniently dovetails with Saleh’s position. This Abdulelah mentioned works for (gets a paycheck from) the state news agency SABA and is the brother-in-law of Abdulmajid al-Zindani, a long time Saleh loyalist. Abdulelah is the one who manages to interview all the top al-Qa’ida (including his bestest friend Anwar Awlaki, Nassir al Wahishi and Fahd “but I thought he was reformed” al-Quso) without a problem as we noted first in January 2009. We’ll file this about the CDs under the heading “flaky stuff”.

Yemen Post An unidentified group has distributed a CD at a number of mosques in Yemen’s capital of Sana’a that some people said contained interviews with Al-Qaeda leaders and videos about U.S. raids on terrorist targets in the country, independent sources said on Thursday.

Uthman Al-Ghamidi, Fahd Al-Qusa, Abu Musab Muhammad Saleh Umair and Saeed Al-Shari, all of the most wanted terrorist suspects by Yemeni and Saudi authorities, appeared in the CD speaking about U.S. crimes and calling for reviving Jihad, holy war.

They talked about terror raids that took place in late last year and early this year in Abyan, Shabwa and Sana’a with a focus on the raid in Almajalah district, Abyan, in which many were killed including civilians. Murdered terrorist Abu Umair was seen discussing Jihad with young Jihadists.

Abdul Elah Shaea, a local expert in terrorism issues, also appeared speaking about Al-Qaeda in Yemen including remarks he previously gave to Aljazeera Satellite Channel.

The CD was intended to incite the people against the U.S. intervention as concerns, mainly by the west, continued to grow about Al-Qaeda presence in the country and to praise the role of Al-Qaeda and its acts.

It also contained photos of some Arab leaders described as agents for the west including Egypt’s Mubarak and President Saleh.

The state’s failure to release the prisoners as required by the truce itself, not to mention the May 22 amnesty announcement, was predictable. It happened in every cease fire since 2005. Similarly, little reconstruction occurred over the last five years despite all the funds donated and numerous announcements. Of the 3000 political prisoners, the breakdown is roughly 1000 entirely innocent (arrested for suspected sympathy with the rebels), 1000 rebels and 1000 southerners arrested during protests or during night raids on activists’ homes. Also several journalists. There’s still about 2200 in jail and its a continuing source of friction and a bargaining chip against the larger populace, but as the RAND report correctly notes, the truces are a tactic of war, not a method of peace.

SANAA, 24 June 2010 (IRIN) – Abdulmalik al-Houthi, leader of the Shia rebels in the northern governorate of Saada, has accused the government of reneging on amnesty promises made by President Ali Abdullah Saleh on 22 May.

Saleh had announced an amnesty for all imprisoned southern separatists and Houthi rebels in the north during a speech to commemorate unification in 1990.

“Instead of releasing our fellow citizens in line with President Saleh’s amnesty, security authorities in the government are launching new arrest campaigns against our men,” al-Houthi said in a statement on 22 June.

According to local media reports, fewer than 800 of the more than 3,000 prisoners believed to be covered by the amnesty have been released.

Asked why the government had not released all of the prisoners under the amnesty, Interior Ministry official Lutfi Nisari said only: “This is a presidential affair.” (Read on …)

by Abdullah A. Qaid- for Armies of Liberation

23 June, Sana’a–Violent clashes between Yemeni troops and southern protesters are in their second day in al-Dhalia, southern Yemen. Three soldiers and a woman were reported killed. Eight were injured from both sides

Conflict erupted yesterday the army shelled Jahaf district with artillery fire accompanied by Katyusha rockets. The target zone extended to the city center of al-Dhalia, local sources said.

The Yemeni military authorities launched the campaign in order to break the siege on military camps imposed by armed locals. Military reinforcements of more than 20 units, several tanks and armored vehicles arrived in the area, witnesses said.

An armed faction loyal to the Southern Movement imposed the siege on the military camps four nights ago after the government reneged on a previous peace deal. Months ago, a presidential commission agreed to end the military blockade on al-Dhalia and withdraw from military outposts in the region in return for the activists’ pledge to open streets. However the military commander responsible for the agreement’s implementation refused to withdraw from the army’s quarters in the Jahaf section of al-Dhalia.

Protests began again in al-Dhalia when the army shelled residential areas on 8 June, killing five civilians and injuring about 20 others.

Lahj: Thousands in funeral procession

On Wednesday morning, thousands of supporters of the Southern Movement demonstrated in a funeral procession from Lahj to Radfan, southern of Yemen, to bury three activists killed by security forces days earlier during peaceful anti-government protests.

Sources said the participants raised the flags of the former South Yemen and green decals with pictures of the dead activists. They chanted slogans calling for the secession of the south from the north of Yemen.

The Southern Movement began in 2007 as a protest movement calling for equal rights for southerners and an end to perceived institutionalized discrimination against the region and its inhabitants since 1994’s civil war. The movement is a loose coalition of anti-government groups that largely remained peaceful in the face of repetitive state violence against protesters and widespread arbitrary arrests of demonstrators.

By Abdullah A. Qaid in Sana’a, Editing by Jane Novak

I wonder is Sadiq al Ahmar, head of the president’s Hashid tribe, will join the coalition?

Yemen Post Leader of Bakil tribe, the largest Yemeni tribe, Sheikh Naji Abdul-Aziz Al-Shayef expressed his intention to call on the formation of a tribal coalition, includes leaders and sheikhs of the Yemeni tribes to stand by the government in its fight against the so-called Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which is based in Yemen.

Al-Shayef told Okaz, Saudi media source that “the presence of Al-Qaeda in Yemen poses a real threat on Yemen human security and abilities of the people, so the fight against this organization and to renounce its elements remain people’s joint responsibility, however, tribes must have a role on this, because Al-Qaeda is a stray organization lurks in all the classes of people in Yemen”.

AQAP called on Friday the tribes in Yemen’s Marib Province, eastern Yemen to revolt against the government as the security campaigns against terrorist suspects have intensified in the area.

In a videotape by an unidentified spokesman for (AQAP), the group called the tribal leaders to distance themselves from “standing with Crusade”; stressing the need not to hand over any of its elements to the security authorities.

Sheikh Al-Shayef also warned of the negative consequences of covering up Al-Qaida and makes Yemen a safe haven to them. He added Yemen’s security and safety of its citizens is above all else.

Yemen Observer

The presidential committee for completing housing in Aden, Lahj and Abyan governorates disclosed a governmental approval on the geographical redefinition to the lands allocated to Aden Free Zone area activities.

The cabinet has recently agreed to correct its decision number 65 for the year 1993 for defining the lands allocated for the free zone activities, said News Yemen website. (Read on …)

Update 8/11 SABA: Around 9,065 suspected dengue fever cases were registered in several provinces in the country, according to a report discussed on Tuesday by the cabinet.The report of the health minister confirmed 1,798 affected cases with the fever, recommending to continue the routine check up on mosquito that transmits the diseases.

Original Post: The Health Ministry routinely ignores or denies outbreaks of disease, too busy stealing donated medicine for sale in private pharmacies, I guess. Al Sahwa

Sahwa Net- Saudi doctors told Sahwa Net the measured followed up in Yemen to combat Dengue Fever are unproductive and merely a waste of money. They said awareness campaigns should be intensified about mosquito breeding grounds and nessessary procedures to early diagnoses of Dengue Fever must be taken. A Yemeni official medical report has revealed on Monday the increase of Dengue Fever inflicted cases in Shabwa governorate, pointing out that the cases discovered mounted to 131 and that more that there are more than 1100 suspected cases of Dengue fever. (Read on …)

Ah yes there are advantages to being in business with the president, despite being on the list of violators of UN sanctions on Somalia. al Sahwa

Sahwa Net- Yemeni authorities released on Tuesday night Sheikh Faris Mana’a, a weapon dealer who was arrested on January by Yemeni authorities, sheiks from Saada governorate told Marib Press.

They said that the release of Mana’a was astonishing; pointing out that he was welcomed by masses of Saada sheiks and citizens. (Read on …)