Armies of Liberation

Oh the Houthis “stole” 20 truckloads of weapons, and Faris failed to report it until they were well away. Lets see what happens now. No one ever goes to jail in Yemen. I had thought Faris Manna was Saleh’s partner, just like the oil smuggler Tawfiq Abdel Rahman Tawfiq Abdel Rahim. I wonder if the theft occured before or after the Defense Ministry imported a shipload of Chinese weapons destined for the rebels with forged documents. The reason Yemen keeps accusing Iran of supplying the Houthis is because without that red herring, it become clear that Yemeni officials are themselves selling weapons to the rebels. Its not just fall off, small deals and captured weapons going from the government side to the rebels. Hey, lets increase in military aid

al Arabiya: Yemen on Sunday arrested the second biggest arms dealer in the country just days after the capture of another top dealer, whose weapons depot was stolen by rebels fighting the government in the north, Al Arabiya TV reported. (Read on …)

Faris is also the brother of the governor of Sa’ada. Faris Manna was one of Yemen’s primary weapons traders for some years before he was appointed to the government mediation committee tasked with negotiating with the Houthi rebels. Apparently what he negotiated was a weapons deal.

When some aspect of the Defense Ministry imported a ship load of Chinese weapons, destined for the Houthi rebels, Faris was placed on a black list of arms dealers. Does the arrest demonstrate Western pressure having an effect or is it another ploy by the Saleh regime? I have never yet seen a high ranking Yemeni official held accountable for any crimes.

al Masdar Online: After surrounding his home in Sana’a
الأمن يعتقل رئيس لجنة الوساطة بصعدة الشيخ فارس مناع Security arrested the Chairman of the Mediation Committee Saada Sheikh Faris Manna
المصدر أونلاين- خاص Source Online – Special

علم “المصدر أونلاين” من مصادر مؤكدة إن الشيخ فارس مناع شقيق محافظ صعدة ورئيس لجنة الوساطة السابق بين السلطة والحوثيين قد اعتقل اليوم الخميس من منزلـه في أمانة العاصمـة. Aware of “online source” from confirmed sources that Sheikh Faris Manna brother of the governor of Saada, Chairman of the Mediation Committee between the Authority and the former Huthi was arrested on Thursday from his home in the capital. (Read on …)

Nigerian student studying in the UK flying from the Netherlands to Detroit tries to detonate explosive device he says he obtained from Yemen. BBC:

A Nigerian reported to have links to al-Qaeda is being questioned after an attempted act of terrorism on a plane arriving in the US, officials say.

They say the 23-year-old man was trying to ignite an explosive device as the jet approached Detroit from Amsterdam. (Read on …)

The problem with the diesel subsidies is the vast majority of the money dedicated to supporting the low oil price actually helps the smugglers not the poor. About a third of the entire government budget is spent on subsidies.

SABA FM: Govt supported oil derivatives with $ 3.5 billion in 2008

SANA’A, Nov. 15 (Saba)- Government supported oil derivatives with $ 3.5 billion last year, Minister of Finance said on Sunday.

In a meeting for the technical committee of ministerial office for priorities, the minister Noman al- Sohibi said that such support made a big burden on the general state budget, adding that the government also supported the sector of electricity with $ 1.1 billion in 2008.

He affirmed importance of decrease the support of the government for oil derivatives in order to insure continuing funds of the state.

For years, the fishing statistics never added up for me, and finally we have an official recognition of the issue. The figure is 40,000 tons annually or about 20% of total production, but its a rough number. That the statement was made by the Fisheries Minister and published by SABA is encouraging but only to the extent that the corruption is countered in an effective way. There has been public disclosure of many organized criminal activities, but little meaningful efforts to disrupt them after. There are a few potential non-oil industries that could be developed to replace the rapidly depleting oil economy and one of the most important is the fisheries.

SABA 40000 Tons of Yemen Fish Trafficked Annually, Minister Reveals
(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 …)

The story that just keeps on giving… The arms dealers, including an MP and Shoura Council Member, who imported the mystery ship of Chinese weapons blocked the road in Marib to pressure the authorities to release the contents of the ship, which is missing.

Nearly all organized crime in Yemen is perpetuated by, or in conjunction with, top government officials, whether drug smuggling, currency counterfeiting, deisel smuggling, weapons as in this case, human or organs trafficing. It all leads back to the top of the regime which both formally and informally is populated by loyalist Sheiks and presidential relatives.

Yemen Post: The threads of the suspected ships carrying Chinese-made weapons which was said to have anchored in western Yemen have started to appear after gunmen blocked a road in Mareb province in northeast Yemen.

The gunmen, believed to be gangs employed by arms dealer in the country, in the road linking Mareb city to Safer area where one of Yemen’s important oil fields is located in Mareb province, have demanded the Defense Ministry to release the ship carrying weapons they had imported from China. (Read on …)

Continuing our previous discussion of the huge explosion on Midi Island, news from Al Motamar

On the other hand Yemeni security apparatuses arrested 107 African migrants in the island of Midi holding Nigerian, Chadian and Sudanese nationalities. The security men also said 2 of the African migrants; one Nigerian youth and a woman in her 6th decade have died and doctors said the death was natural.

The rest of the African migrants were transported to the Centre Al-Jazeera Leadership for investigation and then they were detained in Hudeida province. It is to be noted that this is the third rime African migrants to attempt to infiltrate into Yemeni territories via the island of Midi. On most occasions investigations proved that the African migrants, mostly Sudanese, were intending to infiltrate into Saudi territories across Yemeni territories.

This is the third fishing boat to explode since May. Are they smuggling explosives, fishing with explosives? It is described as a massive explosion. The location is Maydi in Hajjah, near the Saudi border, south of Sa’ada. We earlier noted Maydi (Medi) Island is a new way station for human smuggling from Sudan.

Also note the the port is under the direction of the Border Guards which fall under the Defense Ministry, not the Coast Guard. As earlier noted regarding weapons trafficking, the ports with the highest rates of arms smuggling are those under military control, not the Coast Guard. The Border Guard and the Coast Guard have been involved in several scuffles when the BG interferes in CG efforts to combat smuggling. To the extent that the US is interested in border control, the facilitation of smuggling by aspects of the Yemeni security forces is an important consideration.

al Tagheer: أفادت مصادر مطلعة عن دوي انفجار شديد في ميناء الصيد بمديرية ميدي التابعة لمحافظة حجة صباح الاثنين في حوالي الساعة الرابعة فجرا تضرر فيه ثلاثة قوارب صيد احدهم يتبع ضباط بالجيش ويدعى محمد حنيش. Informed sources said a loud blast in the fishing port MIDI Directorate in the province of argument on Monday morning at about four o’clock am the damaged fishing boats, one of three military officers followed, Mohammed Hanish. (Read on …)

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 …)

Wow. What are the Iranians going to be delivering? All the Yemeni accusations that Iran was supporting the Shiite rebellion must be resolved. I’m joking, that was posturing.

PressTV Tehran and Sana’a have agreed to confront piracy off the coast of Yemen and the Gulf of Aden, says the Iranian foreign minister.

“Yemen has agreed to permit Iranian warships to dock at Yemen’s port (of Aden) to provide security to Iranian commercial ships in the region,” IRINN quoted Manouchehr Mottaki as saying.

The deal was reached during a meeting between Mottaki and Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh in Sana’a. The agreement came a month after Iran announced that six Iranian vessels were joining the international efforts against piracy off the coast of Somalia.

“Six warships and support vessels have been dispatched to the Gulf of Aden region and international waters,” said commander of the Iranian Navy Real-Admiral Habibollah Sayyari…Iran’s first deployment came after Somali pirates hijacked the Hong Kong-flagged cargo ship, Delight, operated by the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) in the Gulf of Aden in November, 2008.

The latest incident involving an Iranian ship came in March when pirates attacked an Iranian vessel for what they called “illegal fishing” in the northern semi-autonomous region of Puntland.

Related: Prime Minister flies to Syria to firm up transportation agreements

SANA’A, June 27 (Saba) – Prime Minister Ali Muhammad Mujawar will leave today for Syria on an official visit during which he will head the Yemeni side in the 9th meeting of the Yemeni-Syrian Supreme Committee.

The two-day session, which will start on Sunday, would be held in Syrian capital, Damascus. Syrian Prime Minister Mohammed Naji Etri will head his country’s side.

The meeting will focus on finding ways to strengthen Yemeni-Syrian economic cooperation and deal with six documents including one on transport cooperation between the two countries.

Yemen Post

Yemeni economists considered raising the prices of oil derivatives a political suicide, emphasizing that there are no realistic justifications for such a critical decision by the government.
Dr. Mohammad Jubran, Professor of Economics at Sana’a University, said that the 2009 general budget included an increase in some materials’ prices among which were petroleum products.
Jubran pointed out that, raising prices of oil derivatives in such circumstances might lead the citizens’ living conditions even worse.
He stressed that, any justifications for increasing oil prices would seem to be pointless as oil prices are within safe limits, for the time being.

Moreover, Jubran warned that taking such a step would create many problems and unrest for the country. Confirming that not more than 50%of oil derivatives are consumed locally while the rest 50% is smuggled abroad, Jubran said that Yemeni government is not obliged to support foreigners while Yemenis are deprived of their country’s wealth.

Subsidies exceed USD 4 billion, Yemen Post:

Head of Foreign Affairs Circle at the ruling General People Congress (GPC) Mohammed Al-Qubati revealed the government has no plans to increase the prices of oil derivatives on what it known among locals to be a new Jur’ah (dose).

In an interview aired by Al-Saeeda Satellite Channel, Al-Qubati stated that Yemen spends about $4 billion in supporting oil derivatives, stressing this huge sum does overburden the country’s state budget.

The governmental subsidy on oil is a huge structural problem; the subsidies are supposed to be reduced a little at a time and in conjunction with increased social support so the poor is not unduly burdened. Equally important steps include a reduction in military spending and firm anti-corruption measures. Two billion a year of public funds is diverted into the blackmarket with the subsidies, and thats just one vein of corruption in a vast web.

HADRAMOUT, June 19 (Saba) – Yemen says it had seized two fishing boats carrying a huge stash of drugs hidden in 162 bags.

The two boats were apprehended 13 nautical miles off the port of Sher city in the western Hadramout province. Two Africans were seized on one of the boat and five Yemenis were seized on the second boat.

The Africans were a Tanzanian and a Kenyan, ages 35-36, while the five Yemenis were aged 19-52. In May, the Public Prosecution destroyed four tonnes of hashish and six million pills of amphetamines. The drugs quantities were said could sell for over $ 83 million.

About 75 suspects including 47 Yemenis, 12 Pakistanis, 10 Iranians, 2 Syrians, 2 Saudis and a Eritrean and Ethiopian, have faced drugs trafficking and trade charges in the country in recent months.

The trials of some of the suspected drugs traffickers and dealers have been completed with some sentenced to death and others to years in prison. Other trials are still under process.

US State Department

YEMEN (Tier 2 Watch List)

Yemen is a country of origin and, to a much lesser extent, transit and destination country for women and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation. (Read on …)

Very interesting, I’ve been waiting for more Sudan/Yemen news after the Yemeni fishing boat exploded in Sudanese waters and the Yemeni small plane crashed after take-off in the Sudan.

Cars waiting to take them to the Saudi border is well coordinated, indicates good communication and, for human trafficking to Yemen, elaborate. Landing is not the norm. Often the poor refugees get dumped from the boat and swim to shore; no one is waiting. Landing on the islands I think is new also. I wonder what the boats are taking back? Drugs, guns, diesel? Article is from the Yemen Observer:

Yemen’s Medi Island of Hajjah province close to the Saudi borders has become a new passing point for African refugees to the Gulf countries. The past few days witnessed the arrival of large groups said that an anonymous groups of African refugees from different nationalities-Nigerians, Sudanese, Chadian.

The Red Sea has become also the new passing through point for African refugees after it was only confined to Somalis and their fatal trips in the Gulf of Aden.

Yemen’s Coastguards have captured more than 500 Africans while attempting to sneak into the lands of Saudi Arabia. The coastguards also have captured 110 African refugees in the Medi Island after thie arrival on a smuggling boat. Sources at the coastguards said that there were several cars that were waiting for them to carry them to Hardh district located at the Saudi borders to smuggle them into Saudi Arabia. (Read on …)

OK lets get the deisel smuggling out of the way- daily shipments from Yemen to Africa of government subsidized diesel. (Related: Daily Star: US Navy rescues 52 stranded Somalis.)

The much bigger issue is the exploding fishing boat. Its unclear that any missile hit it at this point; its could have been laden with explosives or carrying an aged gas canister and blew up accidentally. Its important for the international fleet to remain vigilant about the danger of maritime terror attacks in the Gulf of Aden. There is good reason to assume a defensive position after the USS Cole bombing (and the later Limburg). The sailors on the Cole waved at the approaching boat; the Navy cannot repeat that mistake, especially now when its easy to be desensitized by having dealt with the Somali pirates for a year or more. The rules of engagement should not allow hapless lost Yemeni fishermen to approach military vessels, blame it on al Badawi.

A statement from al Qaeda Central called for naval jihad (May 26 2008), the October one by a Yemeni forecast a major event around Somalia. The links between AQAP in Yemen and al Shabab go back to the ICU and before. Its a predictable scenario that AQAP would attempt to outdo the Cole bombing when the waters are full of such tempting targets. And I don’t necessarily mean al Wahishi.

Why Yemeni fishermen are near the Sudan is another question. The Yemeni flight school for small planes that flies back and forth between Yemen and Sudan is something, what I don’t know. Its could be normal criminal smuggling activity, spotters for pirates or something entirely innocuous.
Yemen Post

Two Yemeni fishermen were killed and one was injured while the fate of a fourth one is still unknown after their boat came under an aggressive assault by one of the international naval ships patrolling the Red Sea near Sudan on Tuesday.

A source at the Coast Guard said Abdu Marwani and Muhammad Naj’e were killed immediately after their boat was totally destroyed by a missile which some suspect was an air strike. Sources at Yemen’s navy said it probably came from sea.

While the third fisherman made it to Sudanese coast and is now in critical condition. The fishermen came from the Midy area, Hajjah before their boat was hit near Sudan’s waters.

A coordinated investigation by Yemen and Sudan is underway to explore reasons for the attack.

Meanwhile, director of the Midy district Abdul Majeed Al-Himyari dismissed reports a Yemeni boat was attacked in Yemen’s territorial waters, saying the incident took place while the boat was in Sudan’s territorial waters. He told the media the survivor is being investigated by Sudan.

Tuesday’s attack comes in a series of attacks against Yemeni fishing boats by international forces patrolling the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean.

Early this year, two Yemeni sailors were killed as their boats came under separate attacks by international troops in the Indian Ocean. Few others were hurt, with troops saying they suspected the boats were for pirates and then hit them.

And this month, the Interior Ministry said a Yemeni boat was provoked, with NATO’s mission in the region intimidating its crew.

The area where the boat was hit on Tuesday is witnessing large fuel smuggling, with eyewitnesses affirming boats smuggle diesel to African Horn States daily.

A compilation post, a bit more detail on this in an article I wrote for the Yemen Times in December. The VOA article is very good:

VOA: UN Warns of Ties Between Lawless Groups in Somalia and Yemen

For years, criminals have used ports in the Arab world’s poorest country, Yemen, as staging areas for trafficking humans, drugs, and weapons. There are growing fears that criminal groups in Yemen and pirate gangs in Somalia are moving closer together, further complicating international efforts to stabilize the region. (Read on …)

A good idea. Gen. Turki says AQAP are the greatest threat to Saudi Arabia. We knew that was their focus way back when the nine shoulder fired missles were smuggled from Yemen to SA. Also Saudis are planning an electronic fence to go with the berms and metal fencing. If its an effective fence, then it will cut into Yemen’s substantial black market economy- smuggling drugs, people and weapons into SA and the Gulf. That would prompt an economic crisis of different proportions.

al-Watan

خاص ( الوطن ) – Special (home) –
بحث نائب رئيس الوزراء لشئون الدفاع والأمن وزير الإدارة المحلية اللواء رشاد العليمي مع الجانب السعودي آليات عمل جديدة لمواجهة البلدين لحضر تنظيم القاعدة في الدولتين. Deputy Prime Minister for Defense, Security, Local Administration Minister Rashad Al-Alimi Brigade with the Saudi side of new mechanisms of action to address the two countries attended the al-Qaeda in the two countries. (Read on …)

The first time I heard this years ago, I didn’t beleive it. Its horrific.

CAIRO, April 21 (Saba) – The Egyptian authorities have deported nine Yemeni children to their homeland after the police in association with the Yemeni community broke up an international human trafficking ring accused of trading in human organs.

Almotamar.net quoted a Yemeni diplomat in Egypt as saying the Egyptian authorities had found ten Yemeni children early last month in Cairo. The children were trafficked by the ring and expected to undergo surgeries to remove their organs to trade in them. (Read on …)

Part Two, Yemen Times, Courtesy of the investigative reports department SABA News Agency Translated by Yemen Times Staff

About 1,000 people – according to the official institutions in Yemen- were involved in drug crime in the past 8 years. During the past 4 years, more than 800 people involved in drug smuggling have been arrested, 150 of them foreigners, mainly from Pakistan, Iran, Syria, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. (Read on …)

A collection of articles on the topic of the illegal drug trade in Yemen. Primary sources are Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran, some Syrian. First up, a bust of two tons of Iranian drugs. al Motamar

Almotamar.net – Yemen’s Specialised Criminal court o Monday condemned a Yemeni person and another Jordanian on charge of smuggling 2 tons of drugs from Iran. (Read on …)

Russia is Yemen’s biggest creditor by far.

Yemen Post

President Saleh’s recent visit to Russia raised a great deal of media fuss and this fuss was associated with the nature of the visit. The official media mentioned that Saleh’s visit was meant for canceling Yemen’s debts as well as the economic cooperation, while the international media revealed that Yemen signed weapons deals at billions of US Dollars. This was later affirmed by the official media as they revealed that the country signed a four-billion dollar weapons deal, the biggest deal ever. (Read on …)

Again? Did this happen last month or is it a new confrontation between the Coast Guard and the Border Guard? Its a current article, so maybe its a second occurence.

Sahwa Net – Confrontations have erupted between border guards and coast guards in Lohia district ,Hodaida, as coast guards conducted check campaign on boats suspected that they were carried with smuggled commodities.

Local sources said clashes broke out when border guards prevented coast guards from checking fishing boats in Lohia .

The source explained that border guards harbored smugglers , pointing out that trafficking is carried out regularly as border guards protect smugglers.

Yemen Post has more: (Read on …)

The US and counter-piracy coalition noticed the substantial support for Somalia piracy coming from Yemen. And it is substantial, including weapons, diesel, use of territorial waters, phone service, ship coordinates etc. Earlier the UN monitoring group noted the nexus of piracy, human smuggling from Somalia to Yemen and the weapons smuggling from Yemen to Somalia on the return trip. The US Admiral is careful to make the point that the support is coming from private individuals, when actually all substantial criminal networks in Yemen are tied to the highest levels of the Yemeni regime. The US hopes for Yemeni governmental support in diminishing logistical aid to the pirates.

The Economist notes the enmeshing of criminal gangs and Mukallah’s importance in particular: It is said that pirates from Somalia and Yemen have now teamed up with smuggling gangs elsewhere in Africa to conduct illicit trade through Yemeni ports such as Mukalla and Belhaf with coalition force having only occasional success, piracy is plainly spreading more widely across the Indian Ocean.

Good. We noted that Mukallah port was an important entry point for drugs and exit point for weapons in 2005: One regionally destabilizing regime activity is drug smuggling. A variety of illegal drugs are smuggled via the Indian Ocean into the southern Yemeni governate of Hadramawt. The drugs are then transported inland to Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States under the supervision of a close relative of the president who is also responsible for the governmental security apparatus, a well informed former regime official reported.

The 10 tons of hashish was coming in through Mukallah. I noted in the Yemen Times that Makallah is not under the authority of the Coast Guard yet:

Increased activity by the Yemeni Coast Guard between Aden and al Mukalla impacted arms shipments from ports in the patrolled areas. However, the monitoring group found that the lack of regular patrols in al Mukalla “means that arms traffic continues unabated.” The group recommended capacity building programs for the Coast Guard and direct naval interdiction.

Yemen’s coast line extends 1906 km. The Coast Guard, created in 2003, is working towards taking control of Mocha and al Mukalla from the military. The Republican Guard and Central Security forces have authority at ports where the Coast Guard has limited presence.

The Republican Guard is under the direction of Prince Ahmed and the Central Security is under Yahya Saleh, the “close presidential relative” referenced in the 2005 article above. The US says the logistical support for the pirates is undertaken by private individuals. ,

Reuters The international community should work with Yemen to stop its people supplying Somali pirates who are disrupting lucrative international shipping routes, a senior U.S. admiral said on Monday. Somali pirates, who have disrupted lucrative international shipping trade, are getting fuel and engine parts from individuals in Yemen, Admiral Mark Fitzgerald, a Nato commander and the top U.S naval officer for Africa, told Reuters….”The fuel for instance, is coming from Yemen, a lot of the logistic supplies, things like motor boat engines (too)… And so we just need work with the government there to start tightening up controls,” Fitzgerald said.

“Its (support) not from the Yemen government, its from people in Yemen,” Fitzgerald said on the sidelines of an African naval conference in Cape Town, without giving further details.

Says a lot, Yemen Online

Yemeni Sheikh closed “Ilb” Yemen-Saudi border crossing in Sa’ada governorate, calling for the implementation of the agreement terms between his grandfather and Saudi Arabia.
YemenOnline. March 01 – Armed elements believed to be followers to Sheikh Ahmed Mohamed Moqait, Baqim district, Sa’ada governorate closed on Saturday morning “Ilb” Yemen-Saudi border crossing, denying entry and exit of people and vehicles to and from Saudi Arabia, learned tribal sources reported to Al-Ishteraki Net. According to the sources, hundreds of cars and trucks piling up on both sides of the border of Yemen Saudi Arabia since the early hours of Saturday morning To reopen the border crossing, Sheikh Moqait , a senior Baqim sheikh, demanded that both Saudi Arabia and Yemen authorities implement his terms, in particular allowing the people of his tribe to enter to Saudi Arabia and work there without having to obtain what is known as the Saudi “sponsor”.
According to Sheikh Moqait , Saudi Arabia is obligated to implement the agreement terms between “AL Saud” and his grandfather in particular allowing Yemeni-Saudi border tribes, including Baqim and Monabbih tribes, to work in Saudi Arabia without having to obtain work permits or a Saudi sponsor.

Notably, Ilb border crossing is one of the most important crossings between Yemen and Saudi Arabia.

This was a huge bust, tens of millions in street value. As usual, it was with a bit of help: On Thursday, a source indicated that Yemeni Coast Guard forces in collaboration with military ships belonging to coalition forces positioned in the Arab Sea managed to seize a Pakistani ship (Makran) boarding 10 ton of drugs. It was seized near Mukallah, where lots of guns exit en route for Somalia.

al Motamar

Almotamar.net – The Specialised First Instance Criminal Court in Yemen passed its sentence Monday against Pakistanis condemned of bringing drugs into Yemen. It has sentenced execution penalty against one of the Pakistanis and gave other 15 Pakistanis 25 years in jail for each. They have been convicted of bringing and transporting a quantity of 10 thousand kg of drugs to Yemen.

In the court sitting on Monday chaired by Judge Muhsin Mohammed Alwan the Judge read out reasons and findings of the ruling that also stipulated the destruction of drugs materials and confiscation the boat on board of which the drugs were seized.

After reading the verdict, the defendants began shouting and called names against the Judge and the sentence that they described as unjust. They resisted security men inside the court and attacked some of them.

The prosecution had charged the accused with bringing 10 thousand kg of drugs on board of a boat coming from the Pakistani port of Qawadir and entering in it into the Yemeni regional waters.

The convicted were caught in the Indian Ocean during their entering the Yemeni territorial waters and in their possession the quantity of the hashish drug.

Yemen offers its Perim island for NATO-led anti-piracy fleet
Sanaa, 21 February – As NATO is expanding into the Red Sea and towards the Horn of Africa, the improvised naval and military base in Djibuti is perceived to be insufficient. French sources now revealed that French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner and Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh agreed to build an artificial port on Yemen’s Perim island, to harbour the international NATO-led naval forces that have been tasked by the United Nations Security Council with future large-scale and enduring anti-piracy missions. The Yemeni Perim island has been chosen for its strategic location at the entrance to the Red Sea between Yemen and Djibouti. Bernard Kouchner is expected to arrive in Djibouti tomorrow for talks with the local government and that of Somalia about a future coordination between their executive forces and the newly to be allocated international anti-piracy mission

(Read on …)

Yes they do.

The footprint of criminal gangs and al Qaeda overlap all over the world, and this is another nexus between Ali Abdullah Saleh and his family and the terrorist networks. One reason the regime is so reticent to crackdown is these networks are their business partners and facilitators.

Yemen Observer In a battle which seems to mark the decisive struggle between Yemen and terrorism, a well-informed source has said anti-terrorism forces were moved last Thursday towards the hideouts of terrorists to begin a crucial battle. Military forces are being led by general Rashad al-Masri, the Interior Minister, in coordination with the other branches of the armed forces.

Sources have said the campaign will attack terrorist hideouts, as well as narcotic and weapons trafficking camps, both of which are thought to have strong links with terrorist networks. The campaign is targeting Mareb, al-Jawf, Shabwa and Hadramout. (Read on …)

10,000 bottles of wine, if one of those bottles…misses its mark, there’ll be 9,999 bottles of wine in a shark.

Yemen Authorities discovers over 10 thousand bottles of liquor smuggled inside the guts of sharks.
YemenOnline. Feb 09, 2009 – Yemeni security forces discovered in Bajil city, Hodeidah governorate 10260 bottles of liquor in the guts of sharks loaded on trucks that were heading to the capital Sana’a, official said. The source added that this fish load was smuggled into Yemen through one of the African countries

How big of a boat would it take to smuggle a load of that size? And related, two million Keptagon tabs found, it is implied, on a tip. Its always Keptagon. The shipment was pre-cleared with on a Yellow Route not subject to inspection. Y Observer:

Security authorities in the Aden Free-Zone port have prevented the importation of over 2.6 million narcotic tablets hidden in ovens being shipped from Egypt. The authorities said they seized 2,610,000 keptagon pills in five bags. Authorities stated that new measures in place ensured they had few problems seizing and finding the narcotics. (Read on …)

From last wek, a conclusion, the 11 Iranian durg smugglers’ trial is over and they will be deported, Yemen is impounding the hash and the boat. These are the ones who tried the OJ defense, the marines planted the hash…

The hashish of course will be properly disposed of by government authorities.

SABA
Yemen expels 11 Iranians and one Pakistan linked alleged drug trafficking

[26 January 2009]

SANA’A, Jan. 26 (Saba)- The state security court has decided to expel 11 Iranians and a Pakistani accused of alleged drug trafficking to their home due to they were being arrested in international waters.

At a hearing of the court presided by Judge Radwan al-Namer, the court listened to a report of lawyers of the defendants about the non-jurisdiction of the Yemeni judiciary to deal with their case where the defendants were caught in international waters and not in Yemen’s water.

The court decided to depart immediately the defendants and impair about 3560 Kg of hashish as well as confiscating their boat.

The defendants were seized last February in the international waters by German troops which handed over them to the Yemeni Coastguard Authorities.

ISRIA

Yemen, US discuss ports security
Minister of Transport Khalid al-Wazir discussed here on Monday with Deputy Chief of U.S. Mission to Yemen Angie Bryan coordinating efforts between the two countries in field of ports’ security.

The meeting dealt with exchanging visits between the two friendly countries and how the Yemeni part could availing from the American experiences in fields of maritime transport and ports security.

Good! After they finish discussing weapons smuggling to Somalia, maybe they can ask Saleh’s nephew to shut down that dock that recieves the drugs.

I’m joking of course.

Syrian drug smuggling into Lebanon is a major source of funding, and drug smuggling through Yemen into the Gulf is a well-established route for all those keptagon tablets, kilos of hash etc.

Yemeni-Syrian security committee holds 1st mission

[06 January 2009]

SANA’A , Jan. 06 (Saba) – The first talks session of the Yemen-Syrian security committee started on Tuesday in Sana’a.

The session was chaired by Undersecretary of Interior Minster for General Security Major General Mohammed al-Qawsi and Assistant of Syrian Interior Minister for Organizing and Training Affairs Major General Ibrahim Salman Ali .

The two dealt with the bilateral security cooperation, particularly coordinating aspects in fighting terrorism, organized crime, and drugs as well as the areas of training and qualification, discussing the special procedures for facilitating the entering and departing process and residence of people between the two brotherly countries.

After the first session, the Syrian delegation paid a visit to the Counter-Terrorism Unit in the Central Security Forces and got acquainted with its tasks, achievements and establishing phases, praising the unit’s role in fighting terrorism and expressing their admiration in the advanced level to which the unit reached in its training and combating terrorist crimes .

Yemen Online

Coast Guard Forces and Border Guards integrated.
YemenOnline. Sunday 25, 2009 – The President of the Republic, H.E. Ali Salih, declared yesterday that the Coast Guard Forces and Border Guards are intended to be combined into one authority reporting to the Ministry of Interior.In his speech delivered at the opening ceremony of the Ministry of Interior Leadership’s 19th Conference under the motto “Homeland’s security is a national and collective responsibility”, he said” We have recruited 1000 soldiers to enhance security capacities of Coast Guard Forces (CGFs) in particular after the recent increase of marine piracy.” In addition, these forces are to be provided with the necessary arms and equipments.

Yemen the main source of illegal arms to Somalia: UN
———————————————-

Jane Novak for the Yemen Times

SANA’A, Dec. 27— A UN investigation found Yemen is the primary source of arms and ammunition to Somalia which has been under an arms embargo since 1992. The panel of independent experts monitoring the embargo also reported arms smuggling from Yemen intersects with acts of piracy and human trafficking. The findings were presented in a December 10 report to the UN Security Council.

The report notes commercial weapons imports from Yemen supply Somali retail markets as well as opposition and criminal groups. The Yemeni government’s inability to stem the large scale arms trafficking is “a key obstacle to the restoration of peace and security to Somalia,” the panel found. The UN Security Council extended the monitoring group’s mandate for another year.

Yemen plans to refute the charges. SABA news agency dubbed the report “misleading” and noted that “smuggling weapons is sometimes associated with the arriving of displaced Somalis.” A Foreign Ministry statement said that one million Somali refugees in Yemen create an economic burden that “sometimes leads to social, security and health repercussions.” Nearly 50,000 Somali refugees made the maritime crossing to Yemen in 2008, authorities reported.

In prior years, about 30,000 Somalis migrated annually.

The UN report ties together weapons smuggling, human trafficking and piracy, noting some small boats used in acts of piracy also “move refugees and economic migrants from Somalia to Yemen, bringing arms and ammunition on the return journey,” Piracy in the waters between Yemen and Somalia spiked dramatically with over 100 pirate attacks and over 40 vessels captured by pirates this year. The authorities in Puntland and Somaliland told the UN monitoring group that “maritime traffic from Yemen, across the Gulf of Aden, remains their largest single source of arms.” Weapons purchased in Yemen are also smuggled to insurgent groups in Ethiopia, the investigation found. One intercepted shipment included 101 anti-tank mines, 100 hand grenades, 170 rocket-propelled grenade-7 rounds, and 170 boxes of 7.62 mm ammunition.

Increased activity by the Yemeni Coast Guard between Aden and al Mukalla impacted arms shipments from ports in the patrolled areas. However, the monitoring group found that the lack of regular patrols in al Mukalla “means that arms traffic continues unabated.” The group recommended capacity building programs for the Coast Guard and direct naval interdiction.

Yemen’s coast line extends 1906 km. The Coast Guard, created in 2003, is working towards taking control of Mocha and al Mukalla from the military. The Republican Guard and Central Security forces have authority at ports where the Coast Guard has limited presence. The Coast Guard has nine operational ships in a fleet of 15, and only two with deep water capacity.

Inadequate funding is an obstacle to increased capacity, Coast Guard Commander Ali Ahmed Ras’ee said in May.

The US provides some operational and training support and in 2004 donated seven patrol boats. With Italian financing, the Italian firm SELEX is implementing a coastal radar system that will eventually cover 450km of coast line including hot spots for piracy and smuggling.

Responding to the UN report, the Foreign Ministry said, “Yemen reiterates its readiness to cooperate with the UN and all regional concerned parties to fight piracy and all forms of weapon smuggling, the issues resulted due to the situation in Somalia where there is not a central government.”

Yemen has the second most heavily armed citizenry per capita after the United States. In August 2007, authorities implemented a ban against carrying weapons in cities and have confiscated over 150,000 weapons since the program began. Over 200 weapons shops were also closed.

Weapons smuggling from Yemen to Saudi Arabia is also a concern. In July, Saudi Arabia announced that in a three month period, border guards confiscated over a ton of explosives and a large number of arms including 13 rocket-propelled grenades, 99 sticks of dynamite, 100 fuses, 12 detonators, more than 100 guns and 15,000 cartridges.

The UN monitoring group on the 1992 arms embargo on Somalia finds “Yemen remains the most important source of commercial arms transfers to Somalia.”

One shipment for the ONLF in Ethiopia contained 101 anti-tank mines, 100 hand grenades, 170 rocket-propelled grenade-7 rounds, and 170 boxes of 7.62 mm ammunition, each containing 440 rounds. The mines were packed in rice sacks from a company in Sana’a. The same boats that bring the migrants bring back weapons and are involved in piracy.

143. Not surprisingly, there appears to be an intersection between piracy and other
criminal activities, such as arms trafficking and human trafficking, both of which
involve the movement of small craft across the Gulf of Aden. One sub-group of the
Puntland network, based in the Bari region, allegedly uses the same boats employed
for piracy to move refugees and economic migrants from Somalia to Yemen,
bringing arms and ammunition on the return journey.

Of course, commercial weapons trafficing in Yemen is often sponsored by those in official positions. The purported largest weapons dealers (for example, Faris Manna, Regent Street, Sana’a) are said to be partners with some very top officials (Salah & family). This is part of the reason the military budget is so high. Not only is this hooked in with piracy and refugee smuggling but also drug and oil smuggling. Its John Gotti with an air force.

Report text below the fold: (Read on …)

SABA

Yemen hands over Syria involved-drug trafficking companies list

DAMASCUS, Jan. 12 09 (Saba) – Yemen handed over on Monday to Syria a list of the Syrian companies involved in trafficking drugs to Yemen.

The list was delivered by the Yemeni ambassador to Damascus Abdul Wahab Tawaf to the Syrian Industry Minister Fouad Issa Juni.

The Ambassador told the minister that the companies facilitate hiding drugs within their goods exported to Yemen, demanding Syria to take deterrent measures against the companies and including them in the blacklist.

During the meeting, both sides discussed activating the cooperation protocols signed between the two countries to increase the trade exchange volume.

www.alghadyem.net

Received an official note tomorrow to complain about the Coast Guard and the Customs Directorate of the coastal province of Hodeidah beard that their employees are threatened by the border guards prevented from carrying out their duties in the seizure and prosecution of smugglers of petroleum products, sheep from Africa across the coast of the Directorate.
وأوضح مصدر محلي مسؤول في المديرية، فضل عدم الكشف عن هويته، بأنه قد تم إبلاغ الجهات المعنية بالمحافظة والعاصمة بالقضية، إلا أنه لم يتم اتخاذ الإجراءات القانونية لوقف عمليات التهريب، ومحاسبة حرس الحدود المرابطين في المنطقة ممن يقومون بحماية المهربين بالتعاون مع مجموعة من مشائخ المنطقة المتنفذين. The source said a local official in the Directorate, on condition of anonymity, that he had been informed stakeholders and to maintain the capital case, however, are not taken legal action to stop the smuggling operations, and to hold the border guards stationed in the region who were protecting the smugglers in collaboration with a group of the region Mchaik powerful.
وأكد المصدر بأن ظاهرة تهريب الأغنام والمشتقات النفطية إلى بلادنا من إفريقيا تسير بوتيرة عالية وبصورة علنية عبر سواحل المديرية، وخاصة في خور المديرية ومرسى العلوي دون أي حسيب أو رقيب، وبحماية من حرس الحدود المتواجدين في المنطقة، والذين يقومون بمنع أفراد خفر السواحل والجمارك بالمديرية من مزاولة أعمالهم في مكافحة التهريب وضبط المهربين وهم في حالة تلبس، كما يمنعونهم من ترقيم القوارب اليمنية والأجنبية والكشف عليها أو تفتيشها. The source added that the smuggling of sheep and oil derivatives in the country of Africa is moving quickly across the public and the coast of the Directorate, particularly in the Directorate and the creek without any upper berth total impunity, and to protect the border guards who are in the area, who are members of the prevention of the Coast Guard and the Customs Directorate of the to operate in the fight against smuggling and smugglers who are controlling in the case of flagrante delicto, and prevented the boats from the numbering of the Yemeni and foreign disclosure or inspection.

March 09, WI

Beyond small arms, Israeli intelligence estimates that some 250 tons of explosives, 80 tons of fertilizer, 4000 rocket-propelled grenades, and 1800 rockets were transported from Egypt to Gaza from September 2005 to December 2008…According to Israeli assessments, the arms-smuggling network is directed by Hamas offices in Damascus and aided by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which provides the majority of the weaponry. The arms travel overland to Egypt, through a variety of routes that cross Yemen, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and South Africa and eventually meet in Sudan, where they are moved to Egypt’s Sinai desert. After the materiel enters the Sinai, it is transferred into Gaza via tunnels underneath the “Philadelphia Corridor,” the Gaza-Egypt border that runs through the city of Rafah. Less frequently, arms are moved to Gaza via the Mediterranean Sea: the weapons are deposited in waterproof barrels submerged below the surface and tied to buoys eventually retrieved by fishermen.

Yemeni confesses at court of phone contact with Iranian intelligence
Tuesday, 11-November-2008
Almotamar.net – The Yemeni Specialised criminal First Instance Court continued Tuesday listening to evidence presented by the prosecution against one of three persons accused of holding phone communication with Iran.

At the court sitting chaired by Judge Muhsin Alwan the prosecution continued presentation of statements of the first defendant Abdulkarim Ali Abdulkarim Laji in reports of the prosecution investigations containing what he provided to staffers in the Iranian embassy of information on the Yemeni Coast Guard and movements of American citizens in Yemen.

On the court question to the defendant on the statements attributed to him he confessed they were his but deeds were not his.

The court then decided to postpone the sitting to Wednesday to continue presenting statements of the second defendant Hani Ahmed Shin. The prosecution accused three persons of conducting phone calls and illegitimate communication with a foreign country and work for its interest and providing it with news and information in addition to documents and photos on the political and security situations in Yemen in the way that harmed the political, economic and war status of the Republic of Yemen

The prosecution said in the court sitting that Abdulkarim Ali Abdulkarim Laji, 33, Hani Ahmed Shin 31, secretary of the director general of Coast Guard
Of Hadramout and Iskandar Abdullah Yusuf, 57 had in the year 1997-2008 held contacts with Iran and that they were holding meetings foreigners and provided them with news and information on Yemen. The prosecution pointed out that the defendants were exchanging information via CDs and telephone memories.

Most of the arms dealers were released after signing a pledge

Almotamar.net – Interior Minister General Mutahar Rashad al-Misri revealed that security authorities on Tuesday seized 3 million and 700 thousand intoxicating pills and managed during the first half of this year 18 tons of drugs, saying it was a quantity enough to destroy the entire youth of the Arab homeland.

Minister al-Misri also said the security authorities also managed to capture the terrorist cell that was sending threatening messages to some embassies in Yemen. In addition, security authorities were able to carry out the campaign of prohibiting weapons and the closure of 230 shops for selling arms and munitions. They detained 270 arms dealers in a number of governorates.

The Americans planted the drugs on the boat, they say.

13 Iranians stand trial on charges of smuggling drugs
Sunday, 12-October-2008
Almotamar.net – Yemen Specialised Criminal Court has on Sunday begun its first sittings for the trial of thirteen Iranian defendants on charge of bringing in and promoting drugs as well s entering the Yemeni regional waters in an illegal way.

In the sitting chaired by Judge Muhsin Alwan the prosecution accused the defendants of bringing drugs from Iran to Yemen via the Iranian port of kanar on board of a boat and entering the Yemeni regional waters illegally.

The attorney added that 20kg of hashish were caught in possession of the defendants. The prosecution related causes of the accusation and a list of evidence containing confessions of the defendants of being arrested by American forces and in their possession the narcotics on board of the launch they were boarding and then they were handed over to Yemeni forces and that they had no permission for entering the Yemeni regional waters an had signed the minutes of their capture, but they accused the Americans of putting drugs in the boat though they do not possess the evidence that the Americans were the ones that put the drugs on the boat. That cohesion was made by most of the defendants whereas some confessed of possessing o drugs.

The court decided postponement of the trial to next Sunday to enable the prosecution present evidence and address the lawyers union to retain lawyers to defend the defendants.

American international forces had caught the boat al-Hussein in the regional waters and on its board 13 Iranians and 3 tons of hashish which was destroyed by the international forces there and kept a sample of 20 kg in addition to capturing 22 empty sacks which were hashish package. The captured things were also 3 Thoraya telephone sets, a wireless set a set for spotting locations and a sum of 830 Iranian riyals and 10200 Pakistani rupees.

Penal court tries Iranians on charges of drugs trafficking

[12 October 2008]
SANA’A, Oct. 12 (Saba)- The specialized primary penal court started on Sunday trying a new group of thirteen Iranians accused of bringing drugs from Iran to Yemeni regional waters.

In the first session presided over by Judge Mohsen Alwan, the court conducted judicial investigations with accused for knowing their identities, their business and their personalities as well as it heard the accusation decision made by the prosecution against them.

The decision clarified that the accused brought last March 3100 pound of drugs of Hashish kind from Iran port of Kiran into Yemeni regional waters.

The prosecution showed the court that the international forces that arrested the boat, carrying Iranian banner and 13 Iranians on board, in the Indian Ocean had spoiled the quantities of Hashish and kept 20 kilos, then handed them over to Yemeni authorities with other plastic sacks.

The court then presented the case directed by the prosecution against the accused who denied knowledge of the drugs seized in their boat. They accused the American forces who arrested them of banding their eyes and laying down the drugs in their boat after they unloaded the fish they hunted into the sea.

The court asked the prosecution to provide the evidences for discussing them during the session to come and directed memo to Lawyers Syndicate for authorizing advocate for defending the accused Iranian.

Yemen Times

Yemen seizes ten million drugs capsules in 8 months

Security sources said on Sunday that Interior Ministry seized about 1400000 capsules of drugs since the beginning of 2008. The sources added that the latest operation of capturing drugs was done in the Aden harbor, where about 3500000 capsules of drugs were found inside water heaters imported from a neighbor country. The source pointed out that investigations are underway with the smugglers.

Last week, the security forces in Hodeidah province held a Syrian citizen charged with smuggling 1.212 million captagon pills into the country. The seizure comes after the security forces seized a large amount of captagon pills concealed in water heaters shipped in a container and after they found large quantities of hashish on two cars.

UN Office on Drugs and Crime

Due to its technological development under communism,
Bulgarian criminals have had an advantage in synthetic
drugs production. They are best known for production
of Kaptagon (fenethylline), a synthetic stimulant prized
in the Middle East for its alleged aphrodisiacal qualities.
Today, most pills sold as Kaptagon are, in fact, forms
of amphetamine that are easier to produce, but large
quantities of these counterfeits are regularly seized.
There have also been reports of false Kaptagon being
produced in Turkey, destined largely for markets in the
Middle East. According to Europol:
… amphetamine tableted with the ‘captagon’ logo is produced
on a substantial scale in Bulgaria for the domestic
market as well as for the export to Turkey and Middle
East countries such as Saudi Arabia. More than 900 kg
of amphetamine were seized in Bulgaria in 2006, the
majority on its way to Turkey. Moreover, Turkey reported
the seizure of nine amphetamine production, storage
and tableting sites detected in its territory plus more than
fourteen million amphetamine / ‘captagon’ tablets as well
as 65 kg of BMK. According to Bulgarian information this
production is controlled by Bulgarian organised crime.189
But the potential for synthetic drug production exists in
other countries as well, such as Serbia.

but lets just call them all terrorists:

Yemen Observer

220 out of 1045 terrorist suspects were arrested by the Yemeni police in the year of 2007, according to a recent report issued by the Yemeni Ministry of Interior.

According to the report the 220 detainees were arrested under accusations of being involved in terrorist cases or in other organized and drug crimes. The report also revealed that other thousands of criminals were detained in 2007 for being involved in other different crimes.

The report stated that the security authorities could handle 34,386 crimes out of 36,894 at a rate of 63.2 percent.

According to the same report the number of premeditated crimes dropped by 96 percent compared to the year 2006 due to the firm implementation of the law that banned weapon-carrying in the main cities.

The report also revealed that 812 stolen cars out of 1,173 were brought back to their owners.

In 2007 the Yemeni authorities deported 1,390 Arabs and foreigners living illegally in the country, while more than 27,900 illegal immigrants were caught by the coastguard. The coastguard also registered more than 1,418 cases of smuggling refugees and water pollution cases in 2007. The report also stated that Yemeni authorities have given more than 32,000 residence identity cards for refugees from Africa and other Arab and Asian countries.

The United Nations granted the Yemeni Ministry of Interior its shield for the year 2008 in recognition for the great success it achieved in fighting drugs.

AFP

RIYADH (AFP) — Saudi border guards have seized almost a tonne of explosives and large quantities of arms and drugs on Yemen’s border over the past three months, making hundreds of arrests, Okaz newspaper said on Saturday.

The paper, quoting the guards, said 13 hand- and rocket-propelled grenades, 99 sticks of dynamite, 100 fuses, 12 detonators, more than 100 guns and 15,000 cartridges figured in the seizures.

Okaz praised security guards for their vigilance which had prevented the weapons and drugs from falling into the hands of “terrorists and other elements seeking to destabilise” the Saudi kingdom.

As many as 800 suspected arms and drugs dealers were arrested over the same period, along with 83 illegal immigrants, the report said.

Some 1,600 kilograms (2,640 pounds) of hashish, two million amphetamine pills and 280 bottles of alcohol, which is banned in the ultra-conservative Muslim country, were also seized.

Interior Ministry releases detained weapon dealers
Saturday, 12-July-2008
Almotamar.net – Yemen’s Ministry of Interior on Saturday released all merchants of weapon it has arrested in its campaign carried out by security authorities for closing own shops trading with weapons. The shops included in the campaign amounted to 234 until the end of last week.
Security sources said instructions of the Interior Ministry decided to keep weapons shops closed and continue the seizure of the weapons it captured in the campaign that covered all governorates of Yemen until to decide what to do about them later.

The Security Information Centre at the Ministry of interior sad that Ministry released weapons merchants after they submitted written pledges of not practicing again this type of activity that is violating the law and their pledge to report to security authorities whenever they are requested.

Good topic. FYI I didn’t write this article and Jane’s is not me. Jane’s Intelligence Digest is published by Janes Information Group, which produces independent publications on the defense, security, transport and law enforcement sectors. Jane’s Information Group and associated publications like Janes Defense Weekly are in no way associated with the British military or the US Pentagon and are not published by any government. (D’oh, the regime idjits misunderstooded.)

An important point raised by this article is the collusion between criminal elements in Iraq and in Yemen, and the extent to which the smuggling pipelines of all sorts are within the domain of officials in the Yemeni adminstration. There are well established transportation routes between Yemen and Iraq upon which persons and contraband pass both ways.

In the last three years, Yemen has become a centre for trafficking Iraqi women.

In Yemen, this has focused on transhipment; the women are brought to Yemen and then sold to clients in other countries, mainly the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) countries.

A number of factors have contributed to Yemen’s development as a centre for human trafficking. Yemen is relatively close to the GCC countries and the Yemeni police are either unwilling or unable to stop or impede the traffickers.

Trafficking not only exacts a terrible cost in human terms but also contributes to the continued instability of Iraq. The amount of money being generated through the sale of these women is substantial. While most of the money generated through the trafficking operation remains in Yemen, some of the money is returned to Iraq where it helps fund additional criminal activity.

Given the continued instability in Iraq and the lack of enforcement in Yemen, it seems certain that even more women will be sold into sexual slavery this year.

The last bust had a street value of about 50 million dollars. And this one, like that one, comes in the context of regional security agreements. But the Yemeni Coast Guard is doing well for itself despite being under funded and under equipped:

Yemen seizes 1700 km of drugs

SANA’A, June 04 (Saba) – Yemeni coastguard forces have seized 1700 km of drugs while they were attempted to smuggle into some neighboring states, the state-run 26sep.net.

An official source was quoted as saying that the coastguard forces in the cooperation with UAE security services seized a Pakistani ship carrying on board 1700 km of the drugs off Yemeni coasts.

al-Motamar

Almotamar.net – On charges of bringing, exporting and transporting quantities of narcotics and hashish as well as money laundering, the Yemeni Specialised Criminal Court began Tuesday the trial of 16 defendants among them a Kuwaiti army captain and his son, at large, in addition to another defendant. (Read on …)

Of course Saleh was in on it.

CIA website

Possible Yemeni Breaches of UN Sanctions

2001: Government of Yemen Offers to supply Military Goods to Iraq
Recovered documents refer to the Yemen Ambassador meeting with the Iraqi military to discuss a list of guaranteed military materials. According to the documents, the President of Yemen gave his blessing to support the effort to supply military goods to Iraq.

A letter from the Iraqi Defense Minister Sultan Hashem Ahmed dated 23 March 2001 speaks of a meeting with the Republic of Yemen’s Ambassador, Mr. Abid Al-Malek Saeed. The letter states that Yemen had been helping the Iraqi Armed forces through a Yemeni business-man named Mr. Shaher Abid Al Haqq.

Reference is given to a meeting held 19 February 2001, were the Yemeni side was ready to export military materials from Yemen and Ethiopia to Iraq. The letter indicates the President of Yemen, Ali Abid Allah Salah, gave his blessing to the deal and that the Iraqis were given guarantees for the spare parts. These parts were specifically drawn from the stocks of the Yemeni armed forces, air force, army aviation and included armor, trucks, and weapons.

A follow-up meeting was held on 22 March 2001, which included the Yemeni Ambassador and Mr. Al-Haqq. Al-Haqq and the Ambassador provided the Iraqi military with a list of guaranteed available military materials and prices. Al-Haqq also revealed that he had met with the President Salah who had given his blessing for these efforts and support. The letter indicates that the President Salah, “believes that the support of Iraq with the proposed exports is necessary” and he had made calls to his brother, an Air Force Commander, asking him to present everything possible to Iraq, even if he has to take supplies from the Yemeni Air Force and ask Russia and others for replacement material.

Arab billionaire’s son: ‘I didn’t kill party girl’

Source: Metro

Tuesday, March 25, 2008- The son of an Arab billionaire businessman who left Britain hours before a Norwegian friend was found dead has denied killing her. (Read on …)

Al-Motamar

Almotamar.net – Judicial sources told almotamar.net on Thursday that the specialised criminal prosecution in Yemen began on Wednesday interrogating 11 Iranian persons on charge of entering the Yemeni territorial waters illegally and the possession of around 200kg of narcotics and smuggling them to Saudi Arabia as aborted.

The sources mentioned that the prosecution began Wednesday investigation with the accused persons via a Yemeni translator.

Yemeni security arrested the accused in mid of last February on board a motorboat offshore Al-Mahara governorate, east of Yemen and were in possession of 203kg of drugs carefully packed to prevent water effect in case of attempting to hide the quantity in the sea. The quantity was put inside 20 bags on deck of the boat to pretend it were an ordinary goods.

CA chairman: Blacklist for violators of customs law due to be issued soon

SANA’A- March 07 (Saba)- Chairman of the Customs Authority (CA) Ali al-Zabidi has revealed that the authority is preparing a blacklist for traders who breach customs law.

In an interview with Saba, al-Zabidi said that solutions to tackle issues of customs need safe measures and care for employee of the authority.

Saba: what are the key reforms taken in Customs Authority during two years ago?

Al-Zabidi: The reforms focused on two domains, one on legislation and the second on administration. The authority worked to review laws associated with customs tariff and correct some customs measures.

Regarding the administrative reforms, the authority has conducted a study over
restructuring the authority, held several training courses for employees, appointed skilled personnel and rehabilitated certain customs outlets in some regions like in Mukalla, and Taiz airport as well as set up new customs centers after agreement with neighboring countries within joint cooperation.

The authority also has supplied these centers with up-to-date customs systems. (Read on …)

Almost always there’s the forged currency as well

Almotamar.net – The specialised criminal prosecution in Yemen began Saturday investigation with a Syrian national accused of attempting to bring drugs into Yemen.

Judicial sources told almotamar.net Saturday the accused called Faez Mustafa Duraid was arrested in the capital Sana’a with his wife who was handed over to the Syrian consulate in Yemen at a later time after the arrest. The sources added that security men had captured in the accused person’s flat a factory for manufacturing narcotic tablets, pointing out that the investigation held with him led to the seizure of 465000 narcotic tablets at the Sana’a International Airport the accused Syrian was trying to bring them into Yemen. The accused person will be sent the Specialised Criminal Court after finishing investigation with him.

On the other hand the prosecution began investigation with 14 persons accused of drug trafficking and currency forgery, among them 12 Yemenis, one Saudi and one Kuwaiti.
Judicial sources told almotamar.net that the accused who were arrested at the end of last January were in possession of 889 thousand forged Saudi riyals and a small quantity of drugs.

The sources added that interrogation with the accused led to the seizure of 1000 kg of drugs in the city of Aden they were intending to smuggle to Saudi Arabia. The accused will be sent to court soon.

Saturday, March 08, 2008

RIYADH: Saudi police have foiled an attempt to smuggle 140 kilograms of hashish from neighboring Yemen, SPA state news agency reported on Friday. A border patrol in the southwestern region of Najran clashed on Thursday with a group of smugglers after spotting them trying to infiltrate into the kingdom through rough terrain, SPA said. The smugglers, who were trying to cross the borders on foot, fired at the patrol before they retreated, leaving behind the drugs and a number of machine-guns and ammunition, it added. In October, Saudi authorities announced foiling an attempt to smuggle 1,050 kilograms of hashish through the same area, along the borders with impoverished Yemen. Saudi Arabia imposes death penalties on people convicted of drug trafficking. In January, two men convicted of drug smuggling were beheaded by the sword. – AFP

Oil subsidies at work.

SHABWA,NewsYemen

The director of security in Shabwa Hamoud al-Harithi said police arrested a group of people while they were attempting to smuggle a quantity of diesel abroad.

“The smugglers were trying to take away tanks containing 150,000 liter of diesel through the see,” said al-Harithi. He said owners of some fuel stations and some oil companies working in Yemen have offered assistance to smugglers.

Government officials are also involved in drug smuggling, gun running, child trafficking. Its not just plain old State Capture, the state has been captured by criminal gangs. And this is why the water plan never gets implemented.

Yemen Times

SANA’A, March 4 — The Committee of Agriculture and Irrigation in the Yemeni Parliament disclosed last week the implication that officials in the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation and Hodeidah governorate allowed banned pesticides to enter the country illegally through Hodeidah port.

The cargo consists of five 20 20-foot containers which contain 58,500 kiloliters of pesticides, going to Daghsan corporation warehouses in Sana’a city.

In its report, the committee said that the cargo of chemicals and poisons constitute a very dangerous risk to people’s lives, and can cause damage to the environment, plants and soil.

The committee asked for everyone who participated in letting the cargo enter Yemen to be handed over to the court for prosecution to be punished according to the Constitution and law. The report affirmed applying the punishments stipulated in law 25 for the year 1999 regarding the circulation of pesticides, on the importer Saleh Ahmed Daghsan.

The people involved in releasing the cargo of pesticides are Mohammed Ahmed Daghsan, the representative of Bin Daghsan corporation, Abdullah Shamlan, the head of the Oversight and Inspection Department in the General Department for Plants Protection. Ali Muhriz, the head of the registration department in the General Department for Plants Protection, Yassen Al-Naqeeb, the head of the Department of Oversight in the General Authority for Plants protection, and finally Omer Abdullah Al-Muqbli, a security officer for the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation.

According to a report issued by Parliament in June 2007, the pesticides were released from Hodeidah port’s customs department and moved to Daghsan Corporation warehouses. “However, the pesticides were supposed to be stored at Ministry of Agriculture warehouses, but they were fully packed with other goods,” the report added.

Parliament member (MP) Moqtar Sadeq Abu Rass, who is also on the Agriculture Committee, stated that the container locks were broken by Daghsan corporation. “Daghasn broke the locks and sold the pesticides, so when the Ministry of Agriculture went to claim the cargo, they found that half of it had been sold and distributed in Taiz and Al-Dhale’e governorates,” said Abu Rass.

The committee expressed its regret that the public prosecution hasn’t notified the committee about the steps it has taken concerning the matter, despite transferring the issue to the public prosecutor on February 14, 2007. “The prosecution refuses to inform us about what they have done about the issue so far. It never informs us about anything under the pretext that the judiciary is independent,” added Abu Rass.

On his part, Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation Mansour Al-Hawshabi confessed before Parliament the ministry’s inability to tackle pesticides smugglers, and requested the cooperation of all official authorities and people in restricting this dangerous epidemic.

During the February 26 Parliament session, Al-Hawshabi said that pesticides smuggling is ongoing and complained to the MPs that the prosecution hasn’t adjudicated in the smuggling cases that have been transferred to it from the ministry in the past. He mentioned that the ministry seized a 21-ton cargo of pesticides in Jabal Al-Nar in Taiz, and another 12 containers in Aden from an importer accused of importing a previous cargo of poisonous pesticides. He said that these issues have been transferred to the public prosecution, which hasn’t made any decision on them yet.

Al-Hawshabi added, “The problem isn’t in seizing these poisons; the stores of the ministry are full of them and using them will cause a catastrophe for the environment. What we need is to enforce the importers to get them back to their country of origin.”

Parliament neither advocated cooperating with nor to punishing the ministry. It didn’t excuse the ministry from responsibility, but suggested publishing a black list of smugglers’ names through the mass media. Moreover, the MPs asked that the officials who facilitated the passing of the banned cargo through Haradh strait be taken off the job and transferred to prosecution to be held accountable for their actions.

Two recent studies conducted at the University of Aden found that 118 kinds of pesticides are used in Yemen, mostly by qat farmers.

According to one study conducted by Abdul-Rahman Alawi bin Yehia, a researcher in the Environmental Studies and Sciences Center at the university, Yemen imports these pesticides under 555 trade names, and most of them are very dangerous.

Another study conducted by pharmacy students at the university stated that these pesticides cause chronic diseases such as cancer, behavioral changes, and liver and kidney diseases.

Just missing the antiquities Yemen Observer:

Yemen and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s (KSA) security forces seized a large amount of drugs at the Arabian Sea on its way to be smuggled to the KSA on a boat coming from Pakistan last Tuesday, said security sources.

Security sources said that the joint security operations in the two countries resulted after numerous sailors were apprehended in possession of contraband.

In the beginning of February, Yemen and Saudi joint forces arrested a major international gang involved in producing counterfeit money, and drug dealing. Sources told the Sep 26 website that the members of the gang are from Yemen, Saudi, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Kenya, and that members of the gang were arrested In Sana’a, Aden, and Jeddah, possessing large amounts of drugs and counterfeit money. They were able to phish approximately million Saudi Rial into banks. (Read on …)

Local News: Child trafficking attempts foiled:
Monday 03 March 2008 / Mareb Press

Security men thwarted an attempt of trafficking 34 childern one of them was an Egyptian nationality and arrested the smugglers in the operation which happened in Hajah province, security source said Monday.

Security source in the province told Almotamar net that there were attempts of trafficking 13 childern in Hajah province, 6 from Hudiedah and 6 from al-Mahouit province, 4 from Saada province and 4 from Dhamar and al-Beetha provinces. One of these children was an Egyptian nationality who came to Hajah from Sanaa province.

The source confirmed that the children trafficking rate decreased compared with the same period last year when 80 children were trafficked.

Memri

According to UN sources, young Yemeni boys are snatched from their poor villages and smuggled into in Saudi Arabia and other oil-rich Gulf countries to work as drivers of racing camels [a tourist attraction but dangerous undertaking for a young boy], shepherds, home servants or beggars [the use of children as beggars is particularly extensive during the pilgrimage season because of the concentration of millions of pilgrims in a small area and, because it is a season when people to likely to display a measure of generosity]. Organized gangs are involved in this illegal and degrading activity. Poor families in remote villages, which often cannot provide for their children, are tempted by promises of additional income to let their children go.

The Children’s Fund of the United Nations says that 1.2 million children are “traded” in the world annually.

Source: al-Quds al-Arabi, February 28, 2008

Local News: Saudi authorities deport 2000 Yemenis

Wednesday 27 February 2008 / marebpress

The Saudi authorities have deported 2000 Yemenis during two weeks on board of trade Saudi ships due to illegal immigration claims.

The independent Newsyemen website reported a source as saying that Hudeidah port has received today the Egyptian ship, Sarah, which carried on board 965 Yemenis coming from the Kingdom of Suadi Arabia.

The source said that the deportees were in bad psychological and physical status due the circumstance of detention in Saudia Arabia.

The Yemenis were detained in different Saudi cities and they have entered Saudi lands illegally through the borders and some them have entered Saudi with the pretext of performing Omra (visiting Kaba), the source said..

Before two weeks, the Saudi authorities deported 997 Yemeni illegal migrants.

The report issued by the coast guards in Hudeidah last year mentioned that Hudeidah port received 13 thousands Yemeni deportees including children, women and old people.

The report added that the Saudi authorities deported the Yemenis for illegal migrations, security cases, smuggling drugs, burglary etc.

Wow. I have to say its impressive Mujawar admitted the gross theft of Yemeni public money in the form of smuggling subsidized oil. The World Bank said it first though.

1) Why not end the smuggling first then do the reduction in subsidies?

2) Reduction in subsidies should be accompanied by a rational government budget not one where 25% of public funds goes to administrative maintenance and 25% goes to military spending. Subsidies are another 25% of the public budget.

3) Beyond misappropriation of funds, corruption control is another component of economic reform. It should be accomplished before raising prices on diesel.

Yemen Times

Following Prime Minister Mujawar’s presentation to the parliament regarding the economic achievements of his cabinet during 2007, parliament members expressed fury and anger at the poor performance of the government, given the record inflation experienced during the year. The prime minister started his presentation by highlighting the economic growth and developmental achievements during the last three years, but he also stated that economic growth has declined from 3.6 % in 2006 to 3.2 % in 2007. He also explained to the parliament that the government is suffering from immense pressures due to the decline in oil production and in turn revenue.

Removal of oil subsidies

The Prime Minister also added that the government will be forced to remove oil subsidies due to the cost of the subsidies on the government budget; he stated that in 2005 subsidies constituted 23.5 % of the budget, dropping to 21.2% in 2006. However, he added that in 2007 the subsidy will exceed 30 % due to the increases in international oil prices. He also added that the World Bank states that less than 23% of the subsidy benefits the population living under the poverty line, indicating that the other 75 % of the subsidy simply goes to smugglers of refined oil products to outside the country. The prime minister also added that the government of Yemen has failed in putting a stop to five oil and diesel smuggles who smuggle refined oil products out of the country.

“I am not saying that we will remove all oil subsidies immediately, but I wanted to inform you about the challenges the government faces including the fact that 6000 billion Riyals of oil subsidies isn’t going to the poor, but only 4 % of subsidies is” the prime minister stated, adding that the government needs the help of the parliament in making the decision to remove oil subsidies.

In response, parliament members strongly opposed the notion of removing oil subsidies stating that the increase in oil prices will be accompanies by a price hike in all other products, which will increase inflation and become an economic and social catastrophe. Head of Al-Ishah parliamentary block Dr. AbdulRahman bafadhl stated that the Yemeni public will not be able to tolerate any additional increase in retail prices. While the head of the socialist parliamentary block Dr. Aydarous Al-Naqib stated that removing the subsidies is the opposite of what the public is expecting from the government, adding that holds the government responsible for any consequences of removing the subsidies, demanding that the government holds the corrupt officials and those who misuse public resources accountable and punish them instead of punishing the Yemeni people. He concluded his remarks by saying “we, and the government, complain of corruption but we’ve never heard of holding any corrupt officials accountable”.

Even parliament members of the ruling party were disappointed at the prime minister’s justification for removing oil subsidies, saying that the smuggling of oil is done through tankers coming to Yemeni ports and sailing across the sea, not smuggled by donkeys which the government cannot trace. While other parliament members denounced the government’s inability to put a stop to organized oil smuggling, unless the smugglers are a part of the government itself.

Parliament members mistrust in government

Parliament members continued to attack the prime minister’s presentation and government economic polities, MP Abdullah Al-Badani stated that he always feels suspicious and horrified whenever the government visits the parliament to present its achievements. He stated that he cannot see the economic progress the government is referring to while the value of the Yemeni Riyal is collapsing as opposed to other currencies, stating that the government economic policies are similar to a missile attack that aims at the destruction of the country, calling on the government members to go to the street and see the thousand who eat out of the garbage.

MP Sakher Al-Wajeh inquired why does the government have a monopoly on a single entity in importing refined oil products, adding that the government’s reliance on treasury bills to control the supply of money is a sign of economic failure. He also demanded an explanation why the government has monopolized import of scrap metal to only two selected businessmen, in turn driving many others out of business. MP AbdulRazaj Al-Hajri also commented on the prime minister’s achievement in giving raises to seven thousand retired political security officers, and said that we need seven thousand bakeries to feed the people, and this achievement is no achievement at all and the government needs to reprioritize.

MP Abdulkarim Shaiban stated that the economic development mentioned in the prime minister’s presentation is simply a myth and un true numbers, adding that the government has failed in preparing a business environment that succeeds in attracting investments, as evident by the declining investments coming to Yemen. He also added that the privet sector has become tired of continued restrictions on business and additional taxes.

Several other parliament members criticized the government for providing inconclusive information relation to other issues including security issues and the unrest in the south which have a direct baring on the economy. MPs also demanded that the prime minister revises his report and includes detailed information on the price hikes, how the proposed subsidy funds are going to be used if the oil subsidy is removed. The prime minister promised to resubmit his report in mid April.

Al-Sahwa

Hodaida’s security operations chief subjected to assassination attempt

January 2, 2008- Security sources told Alsahwa.net that the Hodaida’s security operations chief Bashir Hadad was subjected Wednesday to an assassination attempt in his office.

Furthermore, he was harshly beaten with rifle butts and weapons by a security official along with four soldiers, according to the sources.

“The chief of security operations is currently lying at the Military Hospital to which he was transferred.” they added.

The sources explained that those who carried out the attack today on the security operations chief are the same persons who were charged with attempting to assassinate deputy of the Criminal Investigation last month.

It is noteworthy that this is the second attempt that targeted security leaders within four weeks after smuggled modern weapons which were seized last month were disappeared by security officials.

January 3, 2008

– Security sources in Hodaida province have said that 25 gunmen from Amran province stormed Hodiada’s security building on Thursday and closed down its gate in new updates of trafficked weapons case .

Officers of Hodaida security expressed surprise as the security authorities have not yet captured the suspects who had tried to assassinate the Hodaida’s security operations chief, Bashir Hadad .

Hodaida’s security operations chief Bashir Hadad was subjected Wednesday to an assassination attempt in his office. He was harshly beaten with rifle butts and weapons by a security official along with four soldiers, according to the sources.

Hadad is currently lying at the Military Hospital to which he was transferred.” they added.

Those who carried out the attack on the security operations chief are the same persons who were charged with attempting to assassinate deputy of the Criminal Investigation, Mohammad al-Maqaleh tasked with investigating of the disappearance of automatic and sophisticated weapons were in way to Saada rebels last month.

The disappearance of automatic and sophisticated weapons had taken considerable attention from the President who authorized the Interior Ministry to form a committee to investigate this serious security issue.

SABA

Plan to protect Yemen from radiations not to be implemented yet

[15 December 2007]

SANA’A, Dec. 15 (Saba) – The Customs Authority’s head Ali al-Zabidi has called on the National Atomic Energy Commission (NAEC) to implement its part in the agreement the two bodies signed at the beginning of 2007 on carrying out a plan to protect the country from the risks of radiation sources that may enter the Yemeni lands illegally.

He told Saba that the plan, which was scheduled to be implemented in collaboration with the NAEC, security authorities and coastguards, aimed at setting up updated apparatuses able to control strictly
land, marine and air outlets and to prevent any attempts of smuggling nuclear and radioactive materials.

Under the agreement, the NAEC should provide the authority with modern apparatuses and training the authority’s cadre on the use of them to thwart any smuggling of radioactive materials into the
Yemeni lands, but the agreement has not implemented yet, al-Zabidi said.

10% die generally in the crossing from Somalia. What is the answer: let them land? Set up a UN station in Bossasso?

GENEVA (Reuters) – More than 1,400 would-be migrants, mostly Somalis and Ethiopians, have drowned off Yemen this year trying to cross the Gulf of Aden on rickety boats run by brutal smugglers, the U.N. refugee agency said on Tuesday.

The toll includes nearly 200 people believed to have died last weekend after one vessel capsized off the coast of Yemen and another broke up after hitting a rock.

Desperate passengers have been beaten, pushed overboard and doused with acid on perilous journeys during 2007, according to aid workers who are trying to halt further loss of life.

“This has been a tragic year in the Gulf of Aden. As of now we have statistics that more than 1,400 people have died. These are the ones that we have recorded, and there might be more,” Astrid van Genderen Stort, spokeswoman of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told a news briefing. (Read on …)

Two words on narco-terrorism: private docks.

National Post
Terrorist groups may be funding their activities through khat, an illegal stimulant smuggled daily into Canada, says a newly released intelligence report.

The report by the Canadian government’s Integrated Threat Assessment Centre says “some part of the proceeds involved in the global khat trade possibly finances terrorism.”

Khat is an illicit drug that is wildly popular among Somali-Canadians. It originates in East Africa and the Middle East, regions that “are ‘of concern’ from a terrorism viewpoint,” the report says.

“Given that a number of terrorist organizations around the world finance their activities through the drug trade, and that much of the khat trade occurs in and emanates from a region of the world closely identified with terrorism, it is possible that some parts of the proceeds involved may end up in the hands of terrorists or their sympathizers.” (Read on …)

Ecological disaster already, fish washing up on shore.

HODEIDAH, NewsYemen

Reliable sources in Hodeidah said that Yemeni Coast Guards have found, two miles off Al-Salif port, 26 bags contain poisonous materials threw out in the Yemeni territorial waters near Camaran island by an unknown trade ship last Wednesday.

The coast guards along with teams from the ministries of fisheries, environment and maritime science are looking for more bags might be thrown out and washed by wind to somewhere else, said the sources. They said that many fish and other sea livings were found dead on shores near Al-Salif port.

Official bodies do not talk about this fearing a horrible environmental crisis may happen due to such materials if searching teams could not find them and get them out, said the sources.

Sources pointed that each bag contains 400 gram of such dangerous materials.

This incident came few hours after Yemeni Coast Guards lifted up bodies of ten thousand livestock hurled by a ship coming from the African Horn to water off Hodeidah coasts, according to official sources that did not identify the ship.

Yemen Times

SANA’A, Dec. 16 — 10,000 livestock have sunk in the red see as a result of a U.A.E ship turned over. Likewise, another boat, belonging to Yemeni traders, carrying a huge quantity of pesticides made the same problem in the red see. Livestock and pesticides endangered the Red Sea resources, confirmed Yaha Al-kynaei, Chairman of the Yemen Authority for Developing Yemeni Islands. (Read on …)

News Yemen

SANA’A, NewsYemen

The officer Mohammed Ameen al-Maqaleh, head of a committee formed by the Ministry of Interior to investigate smuggling weapons to Africa escaped an assassination attempt on Wednesday official source said.

Security sources accuse an officer involved in smuggling 77 pieces of guns and Kalashnikovs of planning for the assassination attempt.

Sources said that officers and security forces could spoil the attempt, but did not give details.

Security forces spoiled smuggling weapons to an African country days ago and arrested two persons. The African country was not identified.

The assassination attempt came one day after the government ordered to refer all involved in weapons smuggling operations through coasts and land borders to the Public Prosecution and military justice.

Yemen Times

In related news, Ba Jamal, a Presidential consultant, calls on countries bordering the Red Sea, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Eritrea, to form a security system for its protection, considering it an important artery between Africa and Asia.

In a statement to Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, Ba Jamal stated that these countries are best able to protect the Red Sea, and that Egypt and Yemen are the primary keys to keep it secure, located at the sea’s northern and southern borders, respectively.

Every six months, periodic meetings are held between Yemen and Egypt concerning Red Sea security. These meeting have not ceased despite events taking place in Iraq and Eritrea, he added.

He also confirmed that countries bordering the Red Sea must cooperate to reach mutual ends, emphasizing the importance of engaging Saudi Arabia to secure the Red Sea, as it is an oil exporting country. Eritrea is also involved in the process.

Jamal further stated that Yemen and Egypt can form a security system for the Red Sea, adding: “This will go against the strategy of the U.S. and Israel. Therefore the Red Sea countries, namely Yemen, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Djibouti, and Eritrea, have to think together to form a security system to protect the Red Sea,” indicating that this matter requires resolving Somalia’s crisis.

On the African side, Egypt, Sudan, Djibouti and Eritrea border the Red Sea, whereas Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Jordon are on its Asian border.

Cabinet instructs remitting smuggling matters to military judiciary
Tuesday, 11-December-2007 almotamar.net – In its Tuesday meeting chaired by Premier Ali Mohammed Mujawar, the Yemeni cabinet instructed remitting all smuggling activities cases carried out across sea coasts and land borders, and persons involved in those activities to general prosecution and military judiciary for interrogation and carrying out legal measures against them.

The cabined in this regard authorized the deputy premier, the minister of interior and the minister of defence the task of investigation into all kinds of smuggling into the country and to report that accurately to the general prosecution on parties and individuals who are accomplice in practicing smuggling or supporting them in order to complete the legal procedures.

On the other hand the cabinet approved changing Bakathir House in Hadramout to a State Establishment for Press, Printing and Publication.

The cabinet meeting also discussed a report presented by the minister of agriculture and irrigation on recent attempts to smuggle animals into the Yemeni territories across the sea and the precautionary measures taken by the ministry with regard to the ship carrying 10 thousand cattle that sank near Hunaish Island. The government meeting instructed strengthening preventative measures to avoid any health harms resulting from death of the cattle that was carried by the ship in coordination with relevant sides to study the environmental impact of those animals death.

The cabinet referred a project on countryside electricity strategy presented by the ministry of electricity to the higher committee of energy for more study.

That’s very good, and proposals to combat child smuggling. She’s going to run into conflict from the officials who are making the money from selling kids.

Al-Motamar

almotamar.net – The minister of social affairs and labour Dr Amat al-Razzaq Humd said Monday her ministry has deleted 40 thousand cases not deserving cases from statements of social security along with drawing up a new mechanism depending on differentiation between the deserving through the computer.

The announcement came while the minister was on Monday reviewing measures of her ministry taken for solving the problem of Yemeni children smuggling at meeting of the Children Parliament.

The minister referred to proposed legal amendments being considered by the parliament including incrimination of smuggling children from Yemen and rising the age of the juvenile to 18 years. She also talked about formation of joint committee grouping her ministry and the ministries of interior and defence and local authorities in the border governorates.

The minister of social affairs and labour also praised the UNICEF organisation role in bringing closer the Yemeni and Saudi viewpoints on children smuggling resulted in holding many meetings of Yemeni-Saudi committees that agreed on preparing a study including statistics by a neutral expert and two representatives from each of the two countries.

It is to be mentioned that the government ha taken some treatments for the problem of children smuggling among them the building of centres for the rehabilitation of the returning children and expansion in cases of social security in the border governorates, amounting to one million cases in various governorates of the country.

(CNN) — More than 200 Saudi and foreign militants have been arrested over their alleged involvement in plots that included assassinations and an attack on an oil facility, Saudi officials say.

The arrests took place over the past few months but were kept secret so as not to jeopardize ongoing investigations, a Ministry of the Interior official said Wednesday.

The 208 militants were alleged to be plotting an attack on an oil facility in the Eastern Province, where much of the nation’s oil industry is based, and had set a date for the attack.

Another militant cell is alleged to have planned to assassinate Saudi religious figures and security officials, while a separate cell allegedly planned to smuggle eight shoulder-fired rockets into the kingdom from Yemen for terrorist operations.

The official said 112 of those arrested were “linked in with elements stationed abroad who facilitate the exit and travel of those to conflict zones” such as Iraq.

U.S. military officials have said that Saudis make up the largest contingent of foreign fighters in Iraq, while a Saudi counterterrorism official noted that fighters returning from Iraq to Saudi Arabia represent a “troubling” phenomenon.

Thirty-two individuals — Saudis and non-Saudis — were arrested for allegedly providing financial support to other militants; 16 others were arrested for alleged involvement in the publication of a militant newsletter called Sada Alrafidain.

According to the Saudi counter-terrorism official, the number of arrests is the largest ever announced by the ministry.

The Saudi official said the Saudi government released the information before the Hajj pilgrimage season, when 2 million pilgrims travel to the holy sites of Mecca and Medina, in order “to alert the public of the ongoing threat to security in the kingdom.”

Kickbacks to Ministry officials. Parliament and military members involved in gun sales and smuggling, officials involved in child smuggling, etc.

News Yemen

SANA’A, NewsYemen

A newly released official report has revealed that owners of so many medicine stores across the country, who have high posts in the ministry of public health and population, practice medicines smuggling.

The report, released by the High Authority of Medicine, said those officials also help and protect medicines smugglers for some commissions in return.

The Yemeni Pharmacists Syndicate said that some 60% of medicines in Yemeni market are smuggled.

The High Authority of Medicine has announced in its report, NewsYemen got a copy of, it is preparing a new strategy to improve its performance to control imported and local medicines, in addition to developing human resources and technical measures.

It said that the strategy would deal with new mechanisms to prevent smuggling fake medicines into the country.

An official report, previously released by the Central Organization for Controlling and Auditing, has disclosed that Yemen loses five billion annually due to smuggled medicines. It said Yemen annually imports medicines from 50 Arab and foreign countries of as much as $ 117 million.

The report said the Yemeni private and mixed sectors import 86 percent of medicines of $101 million and that the local production is only 4.72 percent of almost $ 5 million.

26 Septemper News

79kg of Drugs seized in Sa’adah

Security apparatuses seized yesterday a quantity of drugs which weighs 79kg, security source said, he added that this quantiry of drugs is sorted as an Indian Hashish whish was being seized on board Toyota Hilux car on its way to be smuggled outside.

He noted that they released the quantity and start to investigate with the persons who are involved in this case.

Are they going to shut down the private docks that recieve the drugs? Somehow, I don’t think so considering who owns them.

Its time to go high tech.

UPI

Now Saudi Arabia, like India, is building not one, but two separate border fences on different fronts. The first is on its southern border and is intended to try and get its illegal immigration of 400,000 people a year from neighboring Yemen under control. The second, far more ambitious one, is along the Saudi border with Iraq and is an attempt to prevent Islamist extremists in Iraq, both Sunni and Shiite, from exporting their violence and doctrines back into Saudi Arabia.

However, modern barriers are not just about orders for barbed wire and concrete: They are also about night-vision enhancers and sensors, and every kind of high-tech electronic gadgetry to detect explosives, weapons, drugs and whatever else terrorist organizations and drug gangs try to get across closely monitored borders.

disrupting the profits of the slave trade

sometimes the threateners come in uniform

Yemen Observer Kirubel Belete Lemma, an Ethiopian man who is the project coordinator for the project of the United for the Improvement of Domestic Works, has reported receiving persistent threats from anonymous people demanding that he stop his work. The threats began one month ago, and continue to this day, said Lemma. “I have received phone calls from unknown people that advise me to stop working in these issues,” said Lemma. Lemma is working to defend the rights of domestic female workers of all nationalities. Many mysterious people have also come to his house to ask his guard about him, and then left.

“A female secretary working with those illegal agents has warned me that those illegal agents are angry,” he said. By illegal agents, he is referring to the men who bring immigrants to Yemen, promising them good jobs. Then, when the workers get here, they don’t get the jobs or salaries they are promised, and their passports are often confiscated. Lemma said that he reported the threats to the police. Lemma suspects that the threats against him are being made by the illegal agents.

“They are big like a mafia; they make lots of money out of this work,” he said. There were some people wearing clothing like that of officers, who asked him to go with them.
“They did not show me their police IDs, and they told me when I refused to go that they know where I am.” Lemma also received many different phone calls from unknown people who told him to stop the working for the foreign maids. The police could not be reached for comment. The domestic workers, most of whom are Ethiopian, are used by the illegal agents who are not recognized by either the embassy or the government. (Read on …)

Missiles? Where does one get missiles for export?

YemenTimes al-Wahadi

- Border guards foil attempt to smuggle consignment of weapons from Yemen into Saudi Arabia

According to the weekly newspaper, Media reports said on Monday that Saudi border guards at the Najran region on the Saudi-Yemeni border foiled an attempt to smuggle a consignment of weapons to the Kingdom. “The would-be smugglers, along with the consignment of weapons, fled back to Yemen,” the weekly paper quoted a Saudi official as saying.

The Saudi Okadh paper reported that Assistant Commander of Border Guards positioned in Najran said the consignment contains 16 missiles, 16 armored covers, five anti-tank mines and 3,000 bullets of heavy machineguns. The military official added that the rear border guards and patrols recorded the suspicious movements of unidentified individuals and found quantities of explosives and ammunition hidden beneath rocks. The official went on to say that the traffickers fled the scene toward Yemen after they were prevented from trafficking the consignment into the Saudi territory.

Some brave person appears to be fighting alone to implement the law on bringing in banned pesticides, and of course the persons bringing them in are powerful merchants and importers:

Almotamar.net – Official sources issued warning Tuesday that there are attempts of fraud by some importers and merchants of pesticides regarding the list of prohibited insecticides representing 349 active substances containing more than 800 trade marks of dangerous pesticides and most of them cause cancer.

A source close to the committee registering pesticides at the ministry of agriculture said some importers and merchants of insecticides were trying to enter large quantities of them, which are prohibited from circulation, on the list of allowed types of pesticides.

The source appealed to all concerned government institutions for activation of the list of banned materials and toehold accountable anyone who tries to trade with those pesticides with only aim of profit at the expense of the public health of the citizens, soil and plants.

Al-Sahwa

June 23, 2007 –The Yemeni authorities have arrested 4 soldiers in al-Safra district, Saada, under charges of smuggling weapons from a military camp in Saion, Hadramout province.

They said that the security officials followed up the suspects to Marib governorate and found that they had 4 vehicles carrying weapons.

The local sources also said that Saada province witnessed calmness in the wake of the agreements reached between the government and the al-Houthi rebels under a Qatri mediation.

Guardian

The infrastructure of smuggling was set up under Saddam in the late 1990s, during the UN sanctions, when illegal oil shipments became the main method of getting cash into the country. Smuggling was an officially condoned policy.

“We use the same methods we used during Saddam,” said Ismail, a veteran smuggler. “Instead of Ba’athists and generals, it is now Shia militias and their cronies who are doing the business.”

Several oil smugglers interviewed said the easiest and least profitable oil operations involved diesel and fuel oil. The oil is obtained from Iraqi refineries through official requests from politicians or by diverting fuel shipments for factories or fishing boats.

Another oil smuggler, Hussam, said these shipments were then emptied into small makeshift tanks in the Abu al-Khasib area, the deep river that leads to the Gulf. From there the oil is taken in small quantities to oil tankers at the mouth of the Gulf on al-Faw peninsula, which take it to refineries in Yemen, the United Arab Emirates or as far as India.

some kids are used to smuggle drugs

News Yemen The National Organization for Defending Rights and Freedoms, called HOOD, said that Yemeni laws that illegalize child trafficking and identify punishment against violators are not enacted and that some officials and MPs intervene not to be enacted.

The executive director of HOOD, Khalid al-Ansi, accused the government of encouraging people to join corruption in the country when it puts laws out of action and ignores violations.

“If the government wants to apply laws so it can do as it sends soldiers to people to pay taxes,” said al-Ansi.

Al-Ansi said as discussing a graduation research offered by student Imarat Sabra in a ceremony on the graduating of a new batch from the Media College, Public Relations Section, in Sana’a University that “some officials and members in the Parliament are involved in a mafia practicing child trafficking.” He did not give names.

But, the journalist Ahmad al-Qershi criticized media means that he said “circulate the so-called child trafficking”. He preferred to call it “illegal migration” or “escaping hunger to find decent life in somewhere else”.

Yemen does not suffer such horrible child trafficking like other countries, said al-Qershi. He said some media means do offer wrong numbers and refer information to unknown sources about the so-called child trafficking phenomenon.

The lawyer al-Ansi responded to al-Qershi as saying that taking a child by force, parents agree or not, is a crime and taking the child out of borders in illegal way is clearly human trafficking.

The number of children is not important, but the most important is that we face a phenomenon needs solutions, said al-Ansi.

The researcher Ali al-Buraihi also criticized al-Qershi and said the phenomenon exists and the solutions should be practical, not only sound bites.

I have conducted a field survey along with some colleagues to get facts about children trafficking and we have found that some parents had contracts with smugglers to take their children away to work outside the country, said al-Buraihi. He said that some children were used in drugs smuggling and other risky adventures.

Date: 04/27/2006
From: The Yemeni American Anti-terrorism center (YAATC)
To: The United Nations

Subject: persective of the (YAATC) on the international war on terror and how to dry its sources in Yemen .

Dear Honorable Mr. Ban Ki-Moon
General secretary of the United Nations.

Greetings,
We would like to thank the United Nations in the person of its former General Secretary Mr. Kofi Annan for all the relief efforts and assistance that he and his teams gave to the people of the world. This is especially true in the ease of the Republic of Yemen, where we have found real and serious action by the United Nations and other human service organizations, specifically on the problems of human trade and the problem of kidnapping and selling of Yemeni children to neighboring countries. We thank the United Nations for all the work being done to return these children safely to their parents, provide them with shelter, and to rehabilitate the psychologically, socially, educationally and health wise so that they become productive citizens. All thanks are due to the good people of the world who spend from their wealth and efforts toward achieving these noble goals.

Thanks are due to you Mr. General Secretary for all the concrete efforts that you done to serve humanity through the great role of United Nations by resolving conflicts through peaceful means; efforts to end wars, violence, terrorism and through helping the poor, children, refugees and the victims of dictatorial regimes.

Your Excellency, Mr. General Secretary….
We would like to present to you the perspective of the Yemeni American Anti-terrorism Center (YAATC) on terrorism for the following reasons:

First, we believe that these views are going to help all of us to get rid of terrorism or at the very least limit a major portion of it in Yemen for the coming years.

Second, we in the YAATC do accuse the current regime in Yemen of producing terrorism and exporting it to the world. We believe that dictatorship on one side and terrorism on the other are two faces of the same coin, they live together and die together.

Third, We in the YAATC, do believe that our views will help limit the wars that are based on the ideologies of hate, hostility, the physical elimination of the other, and the use of sacred religions to justify the killing of political opponents and civilians in general.

Fourth, the YAATC have had previously sent a letter to the United Nations on July 07, 2006 titled: The Seventh of July 1994: The day of victory for the powers extremism and terror against the forces of good and modernity in Yemen “. That letter pointed out events, facts and suggestions to the International body.

Fifth, the YAATC believes that it is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.

Dear honorable secretary…. We believe that terrorism finds in wars, bloodletting and the deliberate maintenance of poverty and ignorance its safe refuge. The Yemeni people have suffered from chronic wars, poverty, ignorance, and disease for more than fifty years and its suffering has increased in the past 30 years.

The YAATC views the dictatorial regime in Yemen as the main cause of the increase of wars, poverty, fear, ignorance, and disease in Yemen due to the mentality of the regime. The regime views itself as having a divine right to rule the land as representative of God; people count for little unless they show support to the regime. The regime sees that it is permissible to do anything to stay in power regardless of the possible results such as wars, plundering of public wealth, the formation of mafia groups and gangs that kills political opponents and kidnap children, smuggle weapons and launder money to outside the country, exporting problems to the neighbors for the purpose of extortion, running of prostitution rings (the crimes that are not in the public view are much worse). The regime tops all of that by violations of human rights.
All of these crimes and practices lead at the end to production of terrorism and its export to the outside world. As a result the world becomes less safe including our country, the United States of America (May God protect it from any harm).

Dear honorable Sir,

The best summary of the YAATC views on the war against terror is that knowing the disease will lead to the finding the cure.

Any objective analysis of the situation in Yemen and the events that Yemen went through will lead to one conclusion; that the ruling regime in Yemen is a dictatorial, racist , sectarian and oppressive regime. This regime wrestled power from the people by use of army and lead Yemen from one war to the next under flimsy excuses that has nothing to do with realities of people’s lives and their conditions. This regime has established an empire of corruption for the the corrupt in the country. As a consequence, this directly has led to the poverty, humiliation, ignorance and disease among ordinary people. Inevitably, this has led to the creation of one of focal points of terrorism. Silence for a long time in the face of such swamps of terror has led to numerous terrorist incidents; chief among them was the attack on the USS Cole in the port of Aden and culminating in the events of 9/11.

We believe that the world has to assume the responsibility of finding the cure for the disease of terrorism. The YAATC believes that pursuing the following will be part of the cure for terrorism:

1. Doing whatever it takes to compel the regime in Yemen to respect its citizens and achieve equity among them and integrating blacks and others who suffer from class differences in the Yemeni society. This way all citizens of Yemen will become equal in their rights and responsibilities regardless of color, race, sex, language, religious or political belief.

2. Doing whatever it takes to compel the regime in Yemen to distribute the national wealth among Yemenis in an equitable manner; and away from benefiting and enriching its own supporters and pillars.

3. Doing whatever it takes to compel the regime in Yemen to let freedom and democracy flourish and to stop arresting journalists and closing newspapers. The regime should let civil society organizations become more active and exercise their full power to defend human rights.

4. Doing whatever it takes to compel the regime in Yemen to arrest all terrorists including Abdulmajid Alzindani and extradite them to the US to be questioned in matters related to terrorism. Also the Eman University , which we consider as a factory for producing terrorists, should be closed. The fact that this University is attached to the camp of the First Armored Division, under the command of Brig. General Ali Mohsen Al-Ahmar [The President's brother] raises more than one question.

5. Doing whatever it takes to freeze the assets of Yemeni officials in Yemen and abroad since these assets were acquired illegally. These assets should be returned to the people of Yemen through the United Nations in well laid-out and transparent procedures. The regime also should be compelled to take corrupt officials to trial and in public.

6. Doing whatever it takes to compel the regime in Yemen to stop mixing religion with politics by encouraging Sheiks of religion to issue fatwas that legitimize the killing of political opponents. This is what happened in the last thirty years whether it is on the war of the mid-regions, the war of 1994, the occupation of the South or the current war in Saada.

7. Doing whatever it takes to compel the regime in Yemen to eliminate armed militias that are armed by the regime, which is known as the Army of Osaimat. These militias , when called by the regime, conducts killings, looting, rape and enslavement of women. These activities are done to assist the regime in its wars and in support of the official Army. The regime follows this method to instill terror and fear in the hearts of the people to insure loyalty and impose what the regime calls as legitimacy. What kind of legitimacy does this regime has that is based on killings, terror, pillage, looting and rape.

8. Doing whatever it takes to compel the regime in Yemen to put the national wealth in the service of better education, health, human services and development.

9. Doing whatever it takes to compel the regime in Yemen to respect the independence of the judiciary as an independent power. The regime should not interfere in the business of courts and obstruct justice.

10. Doing whatever it takes to compel the regime in Yemen to reveal the names of Yemeni officials who are involved the human trade scandal and arrange for their public trials.

11. Doing whatever it takes to compel the regime in Yemen to reveal the true terrorists behind the attack on the USS Cole and those behind the killings of the three American doctors in the city of Jibla as well as other terrorist operations in Yemen .

12. Doing whatever it takes to compel the regime in Yemen to control its borders and to stop facilitating the travel of Mujahedeen from and to Yemen which amounts to a policy of production and export of terrorism abroad.

Dear honorable Sir,

We hope that we have been successful in laying the truth with objectivity in front of you so that this may help you see a clearer picture of the war on terror drying its swamps in Yemen . This in turn will help the people’s of Yemen and the world move on toward a prosperous and terror-free future.

Thanks.

YAATC

who apparently was on his way to Iraq

From Al-Motamar (mouthpiece of the ruling GPC party):

The Specialized Penal Court began Tuesday consideration of the case of 10 persons, among them two Saudis accused of forging identity cards and passports with the intention to travel to Iraq.

The accusation against the two Saudi persons, one of them a wanted man, included that they have given incorrect statements about entering Yemen at the crossing of Hardh claiming they were deported of Saudi Arabia.

The prosecution accused 7 of the group members of agreement and obtaining forged identity cards and passports presented to official authorities while the tenth defendant is accused of giving false statements and obtaining of forged identity card and passport with which he traveled to India and getting a forged commercial record.

In the court session the attorney general Khalid al-Maweri read out the accusation and presented evidence including confessions of the defendants. The session was adjourned to the sitting to be held in a fortnight to enable the prosecution to present the rest of evidence and enable the defense to photocopy the case file of the Saudi defendant Fahd al-Utaibi announcement that he is an escapee from justice.

An escapee from justice, what does that mean, he’s wanted in SA?

Update: Fahd al-Utaibi a/k/a Naif Fahd Al Aseemi Al Utaibi arrived in Saudi Arabia May 18, 2006 from Guantanamo, along with 14 others released by the US. At the time, Human Rights Watch was concerned for his welfare once in Saudi custody.

From the website of Yemen’s Defense Ministry,

26 Septemper News:

Penal prosecution in Sana’a accused 10 suspects belonging to Al Qaeda, including two Saudis, one is fugitive from justice in charge of forgery.

According to the indictment read out by the secretary of the Court that two accused “the Saudis” came in Yemen in September 2006 and under the jurisdiction of the prosecution and penal court that illegally incorrect statements were recorded in the official records that they are Yemeni nationality and appeared Yemeni Identity card and forged passports for travel to Iraq for Jihad.

The court decided to emerge the second accused fled from the face of a justice and to read out proofs in the session scheduled on next Tuesday and to enable the defendants of the accused to copy the case file and the accused as follow : Sami Al-Otaibi 24 years, Saudi nationality “student ” and Fahd Al-Otaibi, Ziad Mohammed Sultan 25 years, “student”, Tarek al-Nadjdi 24 years “worker” Najib Abdelwasi Al-Sharabi 27 years, “teacher”, Basil Saleh Almerdouh 28 years “worker” Ali Hussein Al-babikiri 29 years “worker” Sadiq Abdullah Al-Ameri 25 years, “student”, Jamal Abdu Hassan Brugge 29 years “worker” and Sultan Abdul Bari Abu Bakr Al-Afifi 26 years worker from Jeddah city.

Dont tell me that fugitive from justice means that he is not in custody in Yemen. Will advise.

Yemen Times: The study shows that over 60% of the children sent abroad come from families with eight or more members. The majority of families live on less than $108 a month, and some that were interviewed or were involved in group discussions during the study said that there are very few opportunities for work in their hometowns. The study also pointed out that in some cases, children working abroad can increase the family income significantly, even as high as doubling what a family can live on. ..Over 25% of deported children that were interviewed said that they faced threats, such as hunger and getting lost, and it is reported that a large number of children were beaten and robbed while being trafficked. It was also found that nearly 65% of children trafficked had no place to stay and ended up living on the streets. The study was unable to carry out a complete assessment on sexual exploitation.