Armies of Liberation

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 …)

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.

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 …)

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.”

We covered this story before but we’re doing it again as it includes the reports of the drones over Marib. Yemen Observer, English language government paper…

YEMEN – Al-Qaeda affiliated terrorists were behind the assassination of Colonel Tarboush, the head of the investigative office in Marib, according to a Ministry of Interior security authority. (Read on …)

The Yemen Post has a write up of the attack on the three security officers. AFP reports AQAP said the attack which was “in support of our brothers in the prisons of Hadramut, Sanaa and others and in revenge for anyone who has the intention of harming the mujahedeen.” But like the kidnapping of the foreign medical workers, theres an overlay of a substantial criminal drug syndicate in the landscape. Who benefits financially from the murders is a legitmate question. To follow is a bad google translation of an article from Aden Press, a Yemen southern opposition publication.

Aden Press
Hadramout – London “Aden Press” special: 4 – 11 – 2009
في الوقت الذي أعلنت وسائل الاعلام في صنعاء عن بدء فريق الادلة الجنائية بإجراء تحقيقا واسعا وجمع الاستدلالات عن منفذي الهجوم الارهابي الذي نفذته مجموعة من المهربين تنتمي للمحافظات الشمالية واستهدف حياة مسئولين أمنيين للامن العام والسياسي وإصابة (3) أخرين في العملية التي لم تعلن أي جهة مسئوليتها عن الحادث وسط معلومات ترجح أن تنظيم القاعدة في اليمن وراء العملية While the media announced in Sanaa, the start of forensic team to conduct an investigation and a wide collection of evidence and for the perpetrators of the terrorist attack carried out by a group of smugglers belonged to the northern governorates and the attempt on the life of the security officials of public security, political and injury (3) others in the process that no one has claimed responsibility about the incident, amid suggest that al-Qaeda in Yemen was behind the operation ، غير أن مصادر خاصة في حضرموت أكدت لـ” عدن برس ” بأن المنفذين للعملية جماعة تنتمي لمهربين من كبار قادة الاجهزة الامنية المحافظات الشمالية . , But private sources in Hadramout confirmed for “Eden Press” that the perpetrators of the process group belonging to smugglers top security chiefs to the northern governorates. (Read on …)