Armies of Liberation

The relationship between Yemen and China is quite strong and well established. Yemen balances its external relations in a similiar manner to its internal affairs. Yemen’s alliance with the US is offset by its relation with China, Russia, Iran, even Cuba. Yemen supports the Chinese position on Taiwan, and China never pressures Yemen on Human Rights issues, of course. First up, we have Yemen quite understanding of the Chinese crackdown on the Uighur’s and insisting its some conspiracy, which is the standard line for the Yemeni government regarding civil unrest in Yemen.

CNN: The July 5 riot in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is an internal affair of China, the Yemeni ambassador to China said on Wednesday. Yemen supports China’s efforts to defend its national sovereignty, to safeguard its social stability, and the people’s security and property, Abdulmalek Mualemi said in a written interview with Xinhua.

The riot in Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang region, left 197 people dead and more than 1,680 injured….

“Considering the grave loss of lives and property caused by the violence, we believe the incident did not happen spontaneously as some people have claimed, instead, it was premeditated and organized,” he said.

AQAP may target Chinese interests in Yemen- report.

Bloomberg: Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb said it will target the 50,000 Chinese workers in Algeria and Chinese nationals and projects across northwestern Africa, said Stirling Assynt, which has offices in London and Hong Kong….“Some of these individuals have been actively seeking information on China’s interests in the Muslim world which they could use for targeting purposes,” Stirling Assynt said, adding locations included North Africa, Sudan, Pakistan and Yemen. Other militant groups may make similar threats and al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula “could well target Chinese projects in Yemen,” according to the report.

More from Yemen Observer and al Sahwa.

Next: Chinese investment in Yemen, the overt kind. China needs to secure energy supplies and is one of Yemen’s main trading partners.

July 14 (Saba) – Yemen and the Chinese Commercial Vessel Building Company reviewed on Tuesday benefits and investment opportunities provided to investors in Aden Free Zone (AFZ).

Vice-chairman of the General Authority for Free Zones, and Head of the AFZ Abdul-Jalil al-Shuaibi re-invited, during his meeting with deputy general director of the company, Chinese investors to invest in Yemen, especially in establishing a factory for Chinese cars in the country.

Finally the Chinese massage parlors in Sana’a targeted by the Virtue and Vice Commission. The Chinese girls trafficked to Yemen as sex slaves were left crying on the street.

Al Arabyia: Yemeni religious police were out in force Tuesday in a major crackdown that saw many massage parlors and Chinese restaurants in the capital Sanaa shut down for allegedly promoting prostitution and vice.

The Yemeni religious police, modeled after Saudi Arabia’s Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, targeted popular tourist areas in Sanaa.

Authorities dragged Chinese women working in several spas and restaurants to the streets and sealed the businesses after posting a sign reading “closed by the authorities,” an eyewitness told Al Arabiya.

The number of Chinese restaurants and spas in the capital has increased significantly in the capital despite the fact that none of them have a legal work permits or Ministry of Health authorization, said an official who supervised the clampdown but spoke on condition of anonymity. (Read on …)

Yemen Post

Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Saleh Basurah called on dignitaries and social personalities not to exercise more pressure on state to establish new universities, hinting that any expansion in this respect does not serve the development.

Basurah hinted the existing universities have not yet set completely their infra-structure and buildings, adding that his ministry is working at the present time on the preparing higher education law draft which will be referred to the cabinet next month.

Likewise, the ministry is working on academic accreditation system and quality assurance which will be applied on both government and private universities, calling for the establishment of more community colleges instead of universities.

Meanwhile, Basurah threaten to disclose the practices of high-ranking officials and some members of parliament who exercise pressure on his ministry to distribute scholarships for those who do not deserve them and in a way that does not serve the country.

In a meeting involving the anti-corruption authority and Minister of Finance Noman Al-Suhaibi by the end of the last week, Basurah threatened to resign from his post in case he is sued for errors committed by others.

Sources pointed out that Basurah asked the anti-corruption authority to help him rid of the interferences of high-ranking officials in running his ministry’s affairs, or otherwise he would expose the secrets on any satellite channel.

For their part, the anti-corruption authority demanded Basurah to hand in the file of financial and cultural attaches abroad including the attaches of Jordan and Malaysia who failed to submit a financial disclosures.

By the end of the meeting, officials ordered withholding the allocations of all attaches who have not presented their financial disclosures. They also asked for take serious measures against those who delay the payment of students’ money together with starting payment right from the next year through the Ministry of Higher Education only.

Another hugely corrupt deal. Privatization is an important process for economic growth. It hasn’t gone very well at all. However, this report is very good actually in that the Parliament is investigating corruption and the media is reporting it. That’s the way it is supposed to work. Corruption is countered by transparency and accountability.

On this specific issue, the Ministry of Agriculture is an obstacle to the implementation of the water strategy, with about 90% of water used for agriculture and the vast bulk of that used in qat production. The ministries are not coordinating; some are profit centers for associated individuals while others are pushing to sustain Yemen’s viability into the future. Another example is the Health Ministry whose employees own many of the shops that sell the smuggled pharmaceuticals.

Yemen Post

A report by Agriculture, Irrigation and Fish Wealth Committee at Parliament revealed gross violations by the Supreme Committee for Privatization while selling the General Corporation for increasing genetically improved seeds as the real value was estimated at YR 1.8 billion while it was sold for YR 78.5 million with a difference of YR 1.3 billion.

The report demanded the Public Money Prosecution to act against some Ministry of Agriculture affiliates and Hadramout Deputy Governor for Wadi and Desert Affairs under corruption charges.

The corporation which was established in 1998 as a public company at a capital of YR 75 million and stretches over 6303 m2 was sold to Yemeni businessman Mohammed Al-Hadad.

In 2005, Hathramout members of parliament submitted a complaint to parliament demanding restoration of the corporation and abrogation of the selling operation; however, no action has been taken since then.

Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation is one of the ministries famous for rampant corruption especially in the Provinces Development Authority as is the case with Eastern Provinces Development Authority whose officials were accused of plundering YR 400 million together with $ 20 million under Desertification Fighting Program.

The officials of the authority now own villas and real estates in Sana’a whose total value reaches millions of dollars.

More from the Yemen Observer

The committee for agriculture, irrigation and fisheries in the Parliament has discovered a corrupt deal worth YR1,800,000,000 involving the General Company for Seed Production in Sayoun. (Read on …)

To follow is a good article on the arms trade in Yemen from Asharq Alawasat. Abu Al-Feda seems to be the go to guy whenever any journalist wants al-Qaeda’s take on things.

A former leader of the Al Qaeda network in Yemen, Rashad Mohamed Saeid, otherwise known as Abu al Fedaa, who lived in Afghanistan for a number of years, told Asharq Al Awsat, “America and its allies aim to disarm the Yemeni people not because of terrorists but to get rid of their means of protection and defending themselves, thus making them submissive.”

Abu Al Fedaa indicated that Al Qaeda is not interested in acquiring or possessing weapons such as AK-47s and the like as such weapons can be found “where the battles are going on right now. The Mujahideen in Iraq, Ansar al Islam or Tawheed did not even have AK-47s, however the battles erupted and they developed their own weapons and utilized their skills to develop missiles and other things. Furthermore, Jihad movements are not concerned about weapons such as the AK-47, as they now rely on weapons that are lighter in weight and more effective and harmful to the targeted opponent; it is not difficult to produce explosive material.”

Abu Al Fedaa stressed the difficulty of the government to achieve its targets in its campaign to limit the number of arms in the country. He says, “That which is prohibited is desired. Closing down arms markets in Yemen will not solve the problem but will rather advance the trade; there is an international mafia, who is it that exports arms to Somalia? The Yemeni coastline stretches far and so too do the borders and the country has many foes. Closing down the markets will never solve the problem but will increase the prosperity of the trade because it will become a valuable profitable commodity.”

Yes, who is it that exports arms to Somalia? Full article to follow:

Sanaa, Asharq Al-Awsat- Yemeni authorities are currently seeking to restrict the spread of arms in the country, in fear of weapons falling into the hands of terrorist networks such as Al Qaeda for example. Last year, Yemeni authorities discovered that weapons belonging to the Yemeni Ministry of Defense had reached members of Al Qaeda who attacked the American consulate in Jeddah in 2005. However there are many obstacles in the way of controlling the arms trade in Yemen, for example buying and selling weapons is deep-rooted within Yemeni tradition and linked to the concepts of revenge and settling tribal conflicts. There are approximately 18 legitimate markets for the arms trade all over Yemen, the most prominent of which are Jahana and Ataleh, north of Sadah near the Saudi/Yemeni borders.

Jahana, which lies 25 kilometers east of the Yemeni capital Sanaa is a small town and is famous firstly for its ancient history, and secondly for the arms trade. Here, one can ask any passerby, regardless of age, about the arms market and would easily be pointed in the correct direction. There are shops lined up on both sides of a wide unpaved street, and immediately upon arrival, young sellers and brokers will approach you to ask whether you are buying or selling.

Asharq Al Awsat visited the Jahana market where a wide range of weapons are on display including light arms of different brands, various hand guns, machine guns, AK-47s, modified weapons, old rifles (Abu Sahan/Thompson sub-machine gun), and Al Jarmal (a popular weapon in Yemen). There are even RPG (Rocket Propelled Grenades) available and various kinds of ammunition. (Read on …)

This is an atrocious theft.

YT: SANA’A, Dec. 16 — Three parliamentary blocs last week accused the Yemeni government of lacking transparency regarding estimated oil returns and further playing around with more than 25 millions barrels of exported oil.

Following passage of the budget project, the opposition blocs – the Yemeni Reform Party, the Yemeni Socialist Party and the Nasserite Unionist Party – released a mass media statement last Wednesday highlighting their views on the 2007 budget.

The release declared, “The 2007 budget project was approved while a majority of Yemenis live below the poverty line and are illiterate. They also lack basic services such as electricity, water and health care. Further, unemployment rates are more 45 percent and increasing daily to the point where we’re on the verge of a catastrophe at social, economic and political levels.”

The statement went on, “There’s agreement about economic and social priorities inside and outside Yemen. The recent London donors conference revealed the government’s failure to treat the deteriorating situation in Yemen.

“The budget should address the economic situation, including poverty and combating unemployment, improving education services, supplying clean water and electricity to all citizens and carrying out infrastructure projects, as well as increasing investment expenditures in such a way that revitalizes the nation’s economic situation and improves the investment environment.

It continued, “What is distinct about the 2007 budget is its great ambiguity regarding announced figures and policies. The government is attempting to mislead Parliament in the following ways:

1. The government’s financial statement policy is contradicted by figures shown in the budget. Despite advocating clarity and transparency, the figures contradict the financial statement. The estimated oil exports were fixed at 41 million barrels at $55 per barrel with total returns of YR 443 billion; however, actual figures for January-October 2006 reveal that the Yemeni government exported 55 million barrels. Thus, 2006 oil exports would be 66 million barrels, which means YR 270 billion wasn’t included in the budget.

2. The financial statement mentioned government’s tendency to develop non-oil revenues; however, this wasn’t reflected in the figures, as 70 percent of revenues were from oil. Additionally, the predicted increase in returns was nothing other than fixing the 2007 oil price at $55 per barrel instead of $40 in 2006 and exchanging the U.S. dollar at YR 196 instead of YR 185 in 2006, so the increase wasn’t due to actual economic activity.

3. Although the budget project was presented to Parliament after the London donors conference, wherein Yemen received $4.7 billion in easy loans and grants, the 2007 budget doesn’t reflect this number. Instead, loan returns decreased from YR 62 billion in 2006 to YR 58 billion in 2007.

4. The immense vagueness of the budget figures reflect the Yemeni government’s hidden intention to play around with the figures under names like “Unclassified Expenditures,” etc., which contradicts transparency and basic accounting principles. Figures under this classification were YR 269 billion, or approximately 16.5 percent of the total budget.

Further, bulk amounts were cut from centralized allocations, which were YR 736 billion or approximately 45.3 percent, clearly indicating that the government lacks vision. Further, there’s no avail to having a budget with numerous shortcomings.

5. The budget deficit is increasing annually, thus opposing government allegations that it is attempting to reduce the deficit, which was 5.18 percent of Gross Domestic Product in 2006 and 4.29 percent in 2005.

6. The government budget tends toward current expenditures at the cost of investment expenses, which amount to YR 301 billion of total GDP or an 18.5 percentage. This means more poverty, unemployment and economic recession.

7. Although they are sectors upon which development relies, there has been a noticeable setback in allocations for education and health. Education allocations decreased from 21.8 percent in 2005 to 15.6 percent in 2006 and 11.7 percent for 2007. The same is true for the health sector, whose allocations decreased from 5 percent in 2005 to 3.9 percent in 2006 and 3.3 percent for 2007.

Such decreases come at a time when the nation is witnessing increased illiteracy among citizens, deteriorating educational outputs and teachers not being paid enough. The health sector has deteriorated further regarding facilities and personnel, as well as medicine.

Such deterioration invites the Yemeni government to increase allocations for these two important sectors, but instead, the opposite occurred. Further, the rights of these sectors’ employees weren’t met according to Parliament’s salary strategy.

8. Opposition repeatedly warned about the risks of foreign and national loans upon Yemen’s economy, particularly when there’s no capable management to administer such loans. Thus, the negative effect of such a policy has surfaced, with huge amounts deducted from budget allocations to settle these loans, which are increasing annually.

Further, approximately YR 22.5 billion is deducted annually to settle foreign loan installments. Servicing such debt amounts to YR 118.7 billion, representing approximately 7.3 percent of budget expenditures.

9. Despite the budget’s immense shortcomings, another budget actually is implemented, according to Central Organization for Control and Auditing reports and final statements, because many projects were implemented outside the budget.

Member of Parliament Ali Ashal, a member of Parliament’s oil and development committee, accused the government of playing with 25 million barrels of oil exported (equaling $1.5 billion) and not including them in the 2007 budget.

He added, “The government’s 2007 budget presented to Parliament wasn’t transparent about estimated oil revenues. Setting oil prices between $50 and $55 is floating and is unworkable for deciding the oil portion of the budget, which is 75 percent.”

Ashal told Al-Nida newspaper that the report of the committee responsible for discussing the 2007 budget was one of the worst ever submitted to Parliament. “Unlike past reports that attempted to provide an objective and scientific criticism for budget projects, the most recent report contains a lot of flattery for the government and the 2007 budget, although it’s full of shortcomings,” he noted.

The opposition statement criticized increased 2006 expenditures on commodities, services and belongings, which reached YR 260,210,181. It also referred to hosting allocations amounting to YR 5,915,890, thus indicating that the Yemeni government wasn’t committed to rationalizing expenditures.

The statement also declared that the 2007 budget amount assigned for dams is YR 728,942 million, decreasing YR 210,618 million from last year’s estimates. Such a small amount doesn’t begin to cover the pressing needs for more dams and water barriers.

MEO:

Major donor countries, concerned that the reform process in Yemen has stalled, have stepped up pressure on the Sanaa regime by linking aid to tangible change.

“The donors have made it clear that there has to be change,” whether pertaining to public freedoms or the fight against corruption, a Sanaa-based diplomat said, requesting anonymity. President Ali Abdullah Saleh “has been pressured a lot by the international community on reform and good governance,” he said.

It seems a long time since Saleh was invited by US President George W. Bush to take part in a G8 summit in Sea Island, Georgia, in June 2004 in order to endorse Washington’s “Broader Middle East” initiative for democratization of the Arab-Islamic world. Two years later, Washington no longer sees Sanaa as one of its best pupils.

Ambassador Thomas Krajeski publicly aired US concern that Yemen had halted progress toward democracy in an interview with the private newspaper Al-Ayyam last October. Yemeni authorities deny dragging their feet on reform, but Krajeski said that his remarks were prompted by “an increasing harassment of journalists and closing of some independent newspapers, causing all of us concern about Yemen’s democratic commitment and the pace of democratic reforms”. “We remain concerned” by the situation in terms of liberties, chiefly press freedom, he said. Attacks against journalists have increased in recent months, and authorities have failed to arrest any suspects in the assaults.

A draft press law, which one diplomat described as “a law that protects the government against journalists,” is also under consideration just a few months before presidential elections scheduled for September. Another diplomat noted, however, that Yemen and Kuwait are the only two countries in the Arabian peninsula “where there is an opposition press that can go very far in its criticism” of government policies.

Information Minister Hassan Ahmad al-Lawzi insisted in remarks to AFP that the government “condemns” attacks against journalists and that press freedom will be “protected.” Another black spot in Yemen’s record is corruption, which both foreign diplomats and Yemenis see as spreading rather than decreasing.

Washington was not long in making its displeasure known. During a visit to the United States in November, Saleh was informed of its decision to deprive Yemen of financial assistance which would have made it eligible for the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA), an aid programme for impoverished nations launched by the Bush administration in 2002.

The development assistance programme was proposed for countries “ruling justly, investing in their people and encouraging economic freedom.” Some countries that did not meet the criteria required to qualify for MCA assistance were selected to receive “Threshold Programme Assistance.”

The MCA programme links aid to the performance of a country, gauged on the basis of 16 indicators, including one related to civil liberties and another to “control of corruption.” Yemen was picked as a “threshold” country in 2004 before being suspended last November. “Because of increasing concern over government corruption and a perceived decline in commitment to individual freedoms, they (Yemen) were suspended pending improvement,” one diplomat said.

The immediate loss for Yemen ranged between 20 and 30 million dollars. But in the longer term, it forfeited potential aid of hundreds of millions of dollars by losing its eligibility for MCA assistance. The following month, the World Bank announced a one-third reduction of its aid to Yemen – from 420 to 280 million dollars – for the same reasons.

In early February, Germany, the United States, Britain and the Netherlands – Yemen’s top donors — told the Sanaa government they wanted to see “change” and a quick implementation of concrete steps toward reform. All of which did not sit well with the Yemeni president. During a visit to Beijing last month, Saleh pointedly remarked that China does not meddle in the internal affairs of the countries it helps, and on his return to Sanaa, he rejected “dictates and conditional support.”

Deputy general, Dr. Abdullah Al-Ulfi, stated that reforms must be made to the law concerning corruption crimes to such a degree that large and small officials receive equal punishment.
Al-Whida reported that Al-Ulfi indicated the current law does not treat high ranking officials. Often, it is the smaller officials who commit the infractions, both monetary and administrative, under the pretext that their direct heads compelled them to do it. It is necessary to take another look at some of these laws so that all are equal before the law.
He went on further to state that there is cooperation between Yemen and Germany to develop the capabilities of the Yemeni financial and administrative cadres.
He stressed the necessity of full cooperation of the judiciary and oversight bodies to raise their readiness to deal with issues tied to money and corruption. In an official report it was made clear that the repeated nature of such violations is due to the absence of any punishments that are effective.
A report published by the monetary committee analyzed and studied the infractions mentioned in the reports by oversight and accounting. It confirmed there was a lack of cooperation among different administrative units with the oversight body. This was most often in delaying or not responding to their requests. This is what has hampered the body from being effective the most.
Thos who participated in the workshop for fighting corruption stressed the importance of finding a legal construct to fight corruption and to protect public monies and to strengthen ways to prevent such infractions. Over 180 people participated in the workshop from the judiciary and oversight bodies. They began their work on Wednesday.
They recommended the necessity of strengthening and activating internal oversight in all units and institutions of the state and to create a review administration in the management body of the state.

NY

In the US, when one company wants to take ownership of another company, they go and buy a lot of shares until they have a majority ownership stake; in Yemen when someone wants to takeover a company, they send armed men to the location while persuading the local officials not to intervene. This also the proceedure to gain possession of land and houses.

IBB, April 9 — The National Company for Mineral Water in Al-Siani, Ibb was attacked by armed individuals in a military car. Dressed in civilian clothes, five men threatened employees with death and blowing up the factory unless they left and wrote a document confirming the factory’s seizure.

According to Yahya Al-Siani, general manager of the factory’s external relations, the armed men first threatened to kill the guards unless they opened the gates, insulting them and calling them swine. They then stormed the factory and attacked employee Yousef Abdulqadir, the factory’s chief accountant.

The attackers alleged that they were doing this because the factory was theirs, as their sheikh, Ali Hizam Al-Buslani, had bought it from businessman Tawfeek Abdurahim Mutahar. They said they were sent to close the factory for an indefinite time.

Factory administration reported the incident to Al-Siani security headquarters, which sent an armed military vehicle with some soldiers. According to factory workers, the soldiers took the five attackers and some of factory employees for questioning.

Al-Siani said all factory employees were interrogated; however, security questioned only three of the attackers, who seemed to have outside intervention. They left Al-Siani area within a few hours of questioning, affirming that they will return with their whole tribe to seize the factory.

Al-Siani confirmed that the region’s security commander, Col. Ali Abu Ghanim, seems to be plotting with the men, as they are from his area of ‘Arhab.’ According to Al-Siani, Ghanim released them on a written pledge to return Saturday, but they did not. Al-Siani added that a petition was submitted to the governor and the governorate security administration, which directed Ghanim to take necessary measures. However, according to Al-Siani, he did nothing.

The mineral water company was established two years ago under the name “Biladi” in a partnership between Salahadeen Group of companies with 75 percent of shares, Mutahar with four percent and the remaining 21 percent for local area residents. According to the factory’s public relations, it is not confirmed yet whether Mutahar sold his shares.

Yemen Times