Armies of Liberation

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.

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 …)

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.”