Armies of Liberation

The pillaging of the economy continues:

From Chatham House, the full ( PDF report is here):
The recent political crisis in Yemen has created a cycle of hyperinflation, currency depreciation and disruption to the supply of basic goods. This is already having a serious impact on the 10.3 million Yemenis living in poverty, with the prospect of worse conditions to come.

Yemen’s economy is in thrall to a complex, intertwined network of elites that control the oil industry, imports, processing, and packaging and distribution of goods. Many members of these elite groups are key actors in the current crisis. (Read on …)

The shipment of weapons is par for the course. Yemeni weapons shipments to Somalia are a leading cause of its instability and have been ongoing for years. The last shipment doesn’t necessarily show that AQAP and al Shabab are linked up in a new level of coordination; what it likely shows is that UN sanctioned weapons dealer Fares Manna is back in business. Its a very complicated relationship, check my category “Proliferation” or search “Fares Manna” for the chapter of the story about the shipload of Chinese weapons brought into Yemen with forged documents from the Defense Ministry. See Evaluating relations between Al-Shabab and Al-Qaeda for a review of the rhetorical and physical support between al Shabab and AQAP, including the arrest of Warsame. For earlier, see the 2006 arrest of eight westerners in Yemen (all later released) who were smuggling weapons to the fanatics in Somalia and the connection of Awlaki to those persons, who are hopefully all under the microscope now. Rahm’s report below seems to be from Sun Times: U.S intercepts ship suspected of carrying weapons for Al-Shabaab

Terror Free Somalia: The U.S Navy has intercepted a Somalia bound Yemeni cargo ship carrying weapons suspected to be for Somalia’s Al Qaeda linked Al-Shabaab militia.Somalia consulate in Yemen said the cargo ship en route from Yemen to Somalia coastline ended up in the hands of U.S Navy at the Gulf of Aden.The Somali consul Hussein Hajji Ahmed said U.S navy opened fire on the ship after the ship captain defied Navy orders to stop the vessel but later surrender to the United States navy.

He added that the ship is suspected of carrying military supplies for the Al-Shabaab militia in Somalia, a clear indication that Yemeni Al-Qaeda supports the militia in terms of weaponry.Ahmed said investigations into the issue are currently underway.He urged the Somali government to boost security along the country’s coastlines and seek supports from the neighbouring countries in making sure that no arms are illegally smuggled into the country through the coastal areas.The U.S has recently received critical information suggesting that Yemeni based Al-Qaeda network provides weapons and other military necessities to Somalia’s Al-Shabaab insurgents fighting the Somali government.

The following is a detailed and comprehensive analysis of the inner workings of the criminalized elements of the Yemeni regime written by my sometimes guest-poster Abu Yemen whom I find entirely credible and in a position to know these details. It needs to be read in full as the information is both specific and accurate.

Yemen, A Kidnapped Country

Southern Grievances:
Over the past 3 years Southern Yemen has slipped further and further into discontent with some rural areas in full rebellion notably in Dalla, Radfan, Yafee, and Abyan.

President Ali Abdullah Saleh has tried without success to buy out loyalties in the Southern Movement “Al Hirak” and used heavy handed tactics to no avail, according to Rt. Brigadier Ali Alsaddi (from Abyan). Alsaddi is considered to be an active leader in the Southern Movement in which 263 young, unarmed civilians have been killed by the Central Security Forces (CSF) during peaceful demonstrations or in jails under torture. The last two to die in Aden prisons were Firas Alessai who was interrogated by drunken officers who electrocuted his testicles and ended his life with a bullet to his head according to inmates who witnessed the event. The second was Al Darwish who was arrested during a demonstration in Aden and was beaten to death in a Criminal Investigative Department (CID) prison by Colonel Nasser Al-Sanabani (Northern Yemeni officer under the direct command of the Police commissioner).

The Press:
Freedom of expression has deteriorated steadily in Yemen since 1998, however the use of violence and kidnapping escalated during the past 4 years climaxing in May 2009 when the largest newspaper in the country “Al-Ayyam Newspaper” and 7 other independent newspapers were banned. These 7 papers have since resumed publication except “Al-Ayyam”. The Editor-in-Chief of “Al-Nidaa Newspaper” went as far as to say that the suspension of his paper and the 6 others was a smokescreen to detract attention from the real target which was “Al-Ayyam”.

“Al-Ayyam’s” headquarters in Aden were also brutally attacked by the CSF and the Counter Terrorism Unit (CTU) on May 12th, 2009 and January 5th, 2010 when the building was bombarded with rocket propelled grenades and an assortment of heavy machine guns. The Front-Bay area of the city of Aden was blockaded for several days as the Editor-in-Chief, Mr. Hisham Bashraheel, was arrested with several of his staff and family members.

The regime attempted to publicize the notion that the newspaper violated publication laws without providing any evidence to support these allegations. The accusation levied against the newspaper was then changed whereby it was claimed that the paper formed an armed gang. The newspaper owners have since provided evidence to the American Embassy that the weapons were licensed by the Yemeni government (an exercise not undertaken by many in Yemen which is awash with weapons) for use by security guards protecting “Al-Ayyam’s” premises.

Currently, President Saleh’s government is attempting to pass new laws aimed at curbing freedom of the press. These newly proposed legislations have been heavily criticized by the Committee to Protect Journalists in New York and other freedom of speech organizations. These new laws are the product of the Minister of Information, Mr. Hasson Al-Lawzi, who is coined by many journalists as “The Nazi” as his proposed laws resemble in many ways the propaganda law in Nazi occupied France.

The environment for free press is now described as the worst in 20 years, and if these new laws are passed, it will spell the end of independent media in Yemen.

Corruption in Yemen:
On the issue of corruption it is now clear that the Yemeni Agency to combat corruption is no more than a front to cover up even larger corruption. The Agency ignored several tips from the Central Bank of Yemen relating to activities in which the bank purchased insolvent or bankrupt assets and stocks belonging to President Saleh or members of the ruling family in the Dubai market at their book values. This was one method by which the ruling family recuperated their losses from the financial meltdown in Dubai during 2009 and 2010. The result of these buyouts was a marked deterioration in the Yemeni currency which sustained heavy losses during 2010, and the Central Bank was forced to inject additional foreign currency into the local market at more frequent intervals than in previous years.

Saleh’s ruling elite are also undergoing change, whereby his previously favored clique including the likes of Ali Mohsen Al Ahmer (President Saleh’s half brother and Commander of the 1st Armored Brigade) and Al-Qadi family elders have now been replaced with his son Ahmed and his nephews Yahya, Amar, and Tariq Mohammed Abdullah Saleh. The four are young (in their late 30s to early 40s) and have no experience, but are ruthless and deeply corrupt. They have been nicknamed “The Four Thugs” or in Arabic “Al-Balatega Al-Arbaa” in political circles.

The Four thugs have different and varying interests although they protect each other. Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh, Commander of the Republican Guard, has shares in the oil production sector and received $1.2 for every barrel of oil refined at the Aden refinery. He also owns hotels in Yemen and outside. He was reported to have bought a luxury hotel in Paris late August 2010 worth $275 million.

Yahya Mohammed Abdulla Saleh, Commander of the CSF and CTU, has cotton production farms in the Abyan governorate which yield handsome returns through export.

Amar Mohammed Abdullah Saleh, effectively the Head of the National Security Agency, has an infamous reputation for ruthlessness and for his connections with the AQAP operatives network. Furthermore, he was knighted by the French government for his role in securing Mayoun island as a French Naval Base under the guise of building a base for the Yemeni coast guard.

It is of particular interest that the four thugs are the major facilitators and partners for companies such as the oil services company Schlumbergur. An employee of the company has disclosed an account of how Schlumberger paid up to $2.6 million on gifts and ran five brothels in the upscale Hadda district of the capital Sana’a in order to secure contracts in upwards of $12 million. The said employee described how an accountant form one of the company’s European offices arrived in Sana’a in mid-2010 for a 2 day visit, after which all the discrepancies caused by these gifts in the accounting system vanished.

Arms, Drugs, and Counterfeit Currency Trafficking in Yemen:
The Four Thugs also share in arms and drugs trafficking through Aden sea port and the cost lines of Shabwa, Hadramout, and Mahra. They run a vast network of smugglers with police commissioners in these cities making up the backbone of this network.

The main route for drugs and counterfeit currency (Saudi Riyals and American dollars) trafficking is firmly in the hands of Brigadier Gen. Abdullah Quairan who is the Police Commissioner in Aden. He oversees drugs and counterfeit currency trafficking through Aden Seaport, and plays a huge role in all aspects of corruption, torture, threatening judges in their homes, and embezzlement from investors. He is, without doubt, the most powerful man in Aden and is the Four Thugs’ man on the ground.

Abdullah Quairan has a very close relationship with Ahmed Ali Saleh and Yahya Mohammed Saleh. In February 2010, the head of the CID in Aden complained of the Commissioner’s constant interference in his department including, as he mentioned, interference in a huge drug bust at the Aden seaport in which an officer reporting to the Commissioner was involved in clearing the shipment from customs at the port. When the CID arrested the officer, he was released by the Commissioner personally who sighted the instance as a covert operation by the Commissioner. The following day, agents from the National Security Agency (NSA) arrived at the CID requesting samples of the drug shipment. When a bag containing 10 capsules was provided, the agents insisted on confiscating the entire shipment. The CID refused to hand over the shipment sighting procedures and laws requiring the shipment to be released only to a court Agents. The NSA agents subsequently produced a written order by Amar Mohammed Saleh ordering the CID to hand over the shipment to his agents. The shipment left for Sana’a never to be heard of again.

The head of the CID has also affirmed that he has amassed evidence implicating the Police Commissioner in Aden with distribution of counterfeit currency especially Saudi Riyals and Dollars. In one case, he claimed that a witness who came to the Commissioner to provide information on a counterfeit currency shipment that was being processed at the Aden seaport, was arrested on the spot. He was later tried and executed for trafficking counterfeit currency.

The network in Aden includes the Deputy Governor Mr. Abdul Karim Shaif who has become considerably wealthier along with the commissioner over the past 4 years.

In June 2010 a passenger travelling on the Damascus-Sana’a-Mukalla line arrived at Mukalla Airport (AL-RAYAN) with a carry-on bag containing automotive spare parts. The passenger was arrested upon arrival after a tip-off from the Syrians to the customs officers in Mukalla. What were believed to be spare parts in his luggage, turned out to be professionally hidden narcotics with the aluminum cast over the drugs in the shape of various spare parts.

During the initial investigation in the airport the passenger admitted to being only the carrier of the narcotics from Damascus to Mukalla. He refused to divulge the names of his accomplices but he insisted his role was only to bring the shipment into Mukalla where it was to be delivered to Saudi Arabia the next day.

After 5 hours in detention, a group of soldiers from the Republican Guard arrived at the airport and ordered the customs officials to hand over both the detained man and the shipment for their transfer to Sana’a. The man was subsequently released beyond the airport gates and the shipment has not been heard of since.
The Second rout for Drugs and Arms smuggling into Saudi Arabia Starts form the coastline in Shabwa-Hadramout-Mahra. Smugglers await small skiffs and dhows on the beach in three major locations in order to receive drugs shipments (AArqa in Shabwa, Muqra in Hadramout, and Khater in Mahra). Handover at the beach is done in broad daylight with several witnesses and fishermen observing the handover and the drug lords waiting in their luxury cars. The shipments are then loaded on to military transport vehicles or in the case of Hadramout and Shabwa, military camp ambulances which are used for transport from the beach to the sorting location. Other military convoys then transport the shipments to the Saudi boarders. The most prominent officers involved in this trade are General Mojahed of the Cost Guard, and General Awadh Bin Shuhna in the Hadramout Valley.

In this regard, local residents in the Mahra province have noticed the construction of a new military camp in an area known as Haat which is 70 kilometers north of the governorate capital Al-Gaidah and 150 kilometers east of the port of Shahn. The residents describe this camp as the central location for arms and drugs smuggling into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Secretary Clinton’s Visit to Yemen:
Before the Secretary left Sana’a the Ministry of interior issued an order effectively banning any Yemeni from entering any foreign embassy without the prior approval of the Ministry. This came as a response to the meeting between Secretary Clinton and the JMP (opposition) leadership at the American Ambassador’s residence. President Saleh is said to be fuming at the meeting, and in this connection, the video being circulated on the internet showing Secretary Clinton falling at her aircraft doorstep was released by the Deputy News Manager of the Channel 1 TV station in Sana’a. According to colleagues of his, he was ordered to leak the video to opposition websites by Abdo Bourgi, the Yemeni President’s Press Secretary. However, most opposition websites refused to use it.

Furthermore, several parliamentarians met the day after meeting Secretary Clinton at the Movenpick Hotel in Sana’a along with civil society NGOs. The main theme of the discussion was disappointment at the absence of a statement by Secretary Clinton condemning the use of excessive force against unarmed demonstrators and arbitrary arrests which should have been protested as a matter of principal.

Conclusion:
We appeal to the forthcoming meetings of the Yemen Forum and Friends of Yemen to seek immediate intervention to redress the situation prevailing in Yemen. To this effect, the removal of a tyrant along with his junta in Yemen is the sole and only solution to overcoming the long lasting miseries borne by the Yemeni people. The emergence of a new, democratic Yemen on fresh grounds and on the basis of 2 states connected through federal or confederal links, might be a better arrangement once the tyrant and his junta are removed from power and forced out of the country in a peaceful method similar to that which took place recently in Tunisia.

January 20, 2011

Its not hidden, its just that no body talks about it.

JPost: According to Dr. Hisham Al-Nabhani, a psychiatrist at Al Amal psychiatric hospital, about six cases like Samir’s cross his door every month seeking treatment for alcohol abuse.

“They usually come after drinking for three or four years,” Al-Nabhani told The Media Line. “Most of them have high economic status, are the sons of military officers or businessmen who have money and therefore access to alcohol.”

Al-Nabhani said most of them had lived in Saudi Arabia for extended periods. (Read on …)

Several years ago the Central Bank began stamping the bills as counterfeit to prevent General Ali Mohsen from putting them back in circulation, as told by a bank employees present at the time. As often occurs, the counterfeiting rings are often simultaneously engaged in other criminal activity such as drug smuggling etc.

Counterfeit Saudi riyals sees upsurge in Yemen, ARAB NEWS Published: Jan 5, 2011

SANAA: Yemen has seen a recent upsurge in the number of currency counterfeit crimes and police reports show that the scale of the problem in the country is grave. A day hardly goes by without a new case involving fake currencies being disclosed. (Read on …)

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

Amnesty International statement issued today:
JUVENILE OFFENDERS SENTENCED TO DEATH
Amnesty International has received information that the President of Yemen has signed the death sentences of two alleged juvenile offenders. One of them has been scheduled for execution on 19 December. They are both at imminent risk of execution. (Read on …)

Five women were taken into custody after a spot check of passing traffic uncovered narcotics and TNT in the vehicle. Its unclear if the components were assembled. The story highlights both the effectiveness of random vehicle searches and the AQAP push to recruit women. Update: we have the story today in English and learn the drugs are pills. Keptagon is a pill smuggled in large quantities.

EPD: Yemeni police have captured a highly explosive TNT device in a car in Sanaa, the country’s Interior Ministry said Tuesday. The explosive device were found along with drug pills concealed inside a handbag of a 40-year-old woman, who was driving a car carrying another four women aging between 20 to 60 years old, who are Yemeni nationals, the ministry said in a statement on its website. The car was caught during a routine search in a main street in the old city of Sanaa, the statement said without giving the date. The five women were under investigation to probe links behind them and the TNT bomb, the ministry added. However, the ministry didn’t label the women to any terrorist group.

(Read on …)

The black market is one of the most robust elements of the Yemeni economy, and the drug trade is well established. Yemen has become like Syria in this regard. In addition to Keptagon from Eastern Europe, there’s oodles of hashish from Pakistan. It is encouraging that the US embassy is setting up a section to focus on the issue of drug smuggling, which is often closely tied to counterfeit currency and a range of criminal activity.

Yemen Arrests Notorious Interpol-Hunted Drug Dealer
Yemen Post Staff Police in Amran Province have arrested a drug dealer wanted by Yemen and Saudi Arabia, who was being hunted by the Interpol, the News Yemen reported on Saturday. The website quoted the province security director, Abdullah Dabwan, as saying that the dealer had been arrested in Amran and would remain in custody as a prelude to handing him to the specialized authorities.

The dealer’s name was circulated by the criminal police four years ago on charges of smuggling drugs to Yemen and Saudi Arabia, it said. He was a notorious dealer and his arrest represented a blow to the trade and trafficking of drugs that have flourished in Yemen in the last years.

Yemeni-Syrian committee discusses marine navigation company
[21/October/2010] DAMASCUS, Oct. 21 (Saba) – The Yemeni-Syrian Follow-up Committee discussed on Thursday the possibility to sep up a joint marine navigation company and direct marine line between the two countries ports.

The committee was co-chaired by Yemen Minister of Transport Khalid al-Wazir and the Syrian Minister of Transport Yarub Suleiman.

Al-Wazir affirmed that holding these talks comes as an implementation of directives of the Yemeni-Syrian High Committee, noting that this company will represent a big leap in the national economy contributing to economic cooperation between the two countries.

For his part, the Syrian minister pointed out to concern of Yemen to upgrade the bilateral relations.

The meeting also dealt with the related issues of transport to boost the level of commercial exchange between the two countries.

I’m just curious if the new ambassador is aware that the drug smuggling business is controlled from the top by one of the president’s close relatives, as I noted in 2005 when I pointed out the private docks. Focus on the issue is very good, regionally and for Yemen. There is also a lot of cross over of the AQ footprint and the criminal enterprises, but we need to be clear on what it is and who it is.

U.S. embassy in Sanaa develop a section of the security aid to combat drug
[10/أكتوبر/2010] صنعاء ـ سبـأنت: [10 / October 2010] Sana Saba:
أعلن السفير الامريكي الجديد بصنعاء جيرالد فيرستين اليوم الاحد ان السفارة الامريكية استحدثت قسما لتقديم المساعدات لاجهزة الامن اليمنية في مجال مكافحة المخدرات . Announced the new U.S. ambassador in Sana’a Gerald Verstin Sunday that the U.S. embassy introduced a section to provide assistance to the Yemeni security services in the fight against drugs. (Read on …)

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 …)

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 …)

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.”

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.

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 …)

Just more total garbage from Reuters, linking the attack trying to free Fares Manna to the Houthi rebels. Meanwhile Reuters fails to mention a) Manna is president Saleh’s long time partner b) Manna was Saleh’s representative to the mediation with the rebels c) it was his relatives, tribal allies who assaulted the convoy d) all his arms deals were legal e) the government agreed to buy his weapons stockpile. Almost every story carried by Reuters spins the news to the position of the Yemeni government.

Reuters Ambush on security convoy in Yemen capital kills one

SANAA, May 11 (Reuters) – Yemeni gunmen trying to free an accused arms dealer with links to Shi’ite rebels fired on a convoy ferrying him from jail to court in Sanaa on Tuesday, killing a bystander, security officials and witnesses said. (Read on …)

Provided that all his weapons stocks are sold to the authorities, tribal guarantee by Sadiq al Ahmar: Marib Press: These sources revealed that the release of Manna came recognizance by Sheikh Sadiq Bin Abdullah al-Ahmar. Authorities required security to a dealer Manna sale of all weapons owned to the Yemeni government.

Seyaj’s contact info and the Arabic version below the fold. Related Saba news article here.

Press Release: A letter to the Minister of Interior about the trafficking of kidneys

Seyaj organization for childhood protection demanded the Minister of Interior to bring a number of detainees including citizens from Arab nationalities to the prosecution and justice on the charge of trafficking in human organs of Yemeni citizens including children. (Read on …)

What is that, about 400K US? And the story is the Health and Education Ministries withdrew the 400K for salaries from a bank in Zanzibar, Abyan and were driving back when they were highjacked and robbed, and no one could call the nearby military camp because the phone lines were cut by the state earlier in the month. There was an earlier bank robbery in Aden.

Yemen Observer Unknown gunmen seized a car carrying the salaries of the Education and Health Ministries in Loder District in Abyan on Wednesday in the biggest armed robbery operation. (Read on …)