Armies of Liberation

Yemeni Political Leader exposed to drive by assassination attempt
by Abdullah A. Qaid, for Armies of Liberation

Sana’a, 14 June- Mr. Hassan Mohammed Zeid, the Secretary-General of Al-Haq, a Yemeni opposition party, said today he escaped an assassination attempt by 4 persons. The drive-by shooing occurred in the al-Jooraf quarter of Sana’a.

Zeid was targeted by a hail of bullets from two cars with official license plates. One was numbered 4760-Army and the other 212-Government, Zeid stated in a press release.

Earlier political violence against Mr. Zeid included an assault on his land in al-Jooraf. Police were forbidden from intervening in an attempt to prevent the abuse, the release added.

Zeid accused the Yemeni authorities of being responsible for the assassination attempt.

The al-Haq Party denounced the assassination attempt on its Secretary-General, confirmed the authorities’ responsibility for protecting Zeid’s life and demanded that perpetrators to be brought to the justice.

President Saleh has a lot of in-laws from his four wives. Many of these are also major land “owners” having confiscated public and private land. My 2006 list is of presidential relatives is here and includes economic holdings and stakes in corporations. For example, the head of Yemenia airlines is President Saleh’s son-in-law. Aden Press:

Below is a list of some of Saleh’s relatives that control key positions in the Republic of Yemen:

1. Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh – President’s son, Commander of the Republican Guard and Special Forces.
2. Yahya Mohammed Abdullah Saleh – nephew of President, Staff of the Central Security as a successor to his father.
3. Tareq Mohammed Abdullah Saleh – nephew of President, Saleh’s personal Guard Commander.
4. Ammar Mohammed Abdullah Saleh – nephew of President, the official in charge of national security. (Read on …)

Note the thieves are not going to jail (they never do), and the 300 landowners are not getting their property back. This announcement is very late and propaganda in advance of some hokey show about dialog that’s upcoming. Maybe Saleh is trying to split the opposition. The Yemeni government itself listed the government recipients of stolen land and exactly which plots of land, we published the document a few times already since it was issued in 2007. Then there’s unresolved land theft in other areas besides Aden and the personal appropriation of government owned land like that of the Ministry of Endowments. There are no real efforts to reform or diminish tensions through accountability.

Saleh order to compensate 300 southerners for lands
ADEN, Dec. 16 (Saba) – President Ali Abdullah Saleh has given orders to compensate 300 people in Aden for confiscating their plots of land, a move which comes amid solutions to the standing dilemma of properties in the south, an official said on Wednesday.

Director General of the Land and Survey Authority in Yemen’s business capital Sheikh Salim Ba Nafa’a said the president is very concerned with the 17-year standing issue of lands at the Hiswa area, ordering now to compensate those whose lands were confiscated under public urgency or due to other reasons.

The years-long problem is now resolved, he said, urging the compensated people to attend to the authority’s compound to finalize compensation procedures.

The Sa’ada War didn’t start as a sectarian conflict but a political one. The concern here is the clashes were in Al Jawf. There’s infiltration into Hajjah and Amran also, the Yemen Post points out in a detailed article.

SANA’A, Yemen (AFP) –Ten people have been killed in clashes over control of a north Yemen mosque between Shiite Zaidi rebels and militants from the country’s main Sunni opposition party, both groups said Monday. (Read on …)

In honor of President Saleh’s announcement that he will resolve land issues in Aden, I would like to re-publish my 1/1/08 post that reproduces an official list of Yemeni government officials guilty of land theft, according to the Yemeni government.

I invite President Ali Abdullah Saleh, as his first step of national reform, to throw all these people in jail along with his son Ahmed, another big crook:

Posted here Jan. 01, 2008:

A Yemeni Parliamentary committee issued a report in 2006 naming 26 persons who illegally profited from land confiscated in Aden following Yemen’s 1994 civil war. The list includes Members of Parliament and the Shoura Council, military and security force commanders, current and former judges and ministers. The Parliamentary committee recommended that the land owners receive compensation for their losses, however none has been paid.

The following is a translation of the document that includes a description of the individual’s position in brackets for the readers’ benefit:

LIST OF THE NAMES AND AREAS OF INDIVIDUALS WHO RECIEVED CONTRACTS FROM THE GOVERNORATE LEADERSHIP AND PREVIOUS MANAGER OF INTERIOR TRADING CORPORATION (HUSSEIN NASER OMAYER), ACCORDING TO THE (PARLIAMENTARY) FIELD SURVEY.

NAME (CURRENT POSITION) AREA DISPOSITION

1 NASER MANSOOR HADI
(The brother of Yemeni Vice President, Abdo Rabo Mansour Hadi, and Agent of Political Security Forces of Aden,Lahj and Abyan governorates)
received 4.6 ACRES,
sold to ALI SOLAIMAN DAHSH 2 ACRES, and ALAWADHI 3 ACRES

2 HUSIEN NASER OMAYER
(Previous general manager of Interior Trading Company in south)
received 20 ACRES
SOLD TO Gamal Qasem 7 acres, Salem Balfaqeh 2 acres, Abdul baset 1 acre

3 MUHAMMED SALEH AL-MOHAMMADI
received 3.0 ACRES
SOLD TO SADEQ ABDO MOHAMMED 3.0 ACRES

4 MOHAMMED SALEH TUREIQ
(General Manager of Sa’ada Security Forces, former GM of Aden Security.)
received 5.3 ACRES (Read on …)

Land dispute, maybe disgruntled businessmen, leads to soldier’s death at the ZincOx mine.
Yemen Post

A soldier from the Republican Guards forces, led by President Saleh’s son, was killed and an officer was injured in fresh clashes with Al Al-Dhahak tribe from Al-Jawf’s Nihm district. (Read on …)

(This is one of those out of sequence posts I referred to earlier.) The MAZ Corp is huge and is headed by Yahya Saleh, contrary to the law. But many large companies are headed by military personnel, and this fact is one of the fundamental distortions of the Yemeni economy. Yahya Saleh was also recently “elected” to head the Tourism Board. (Read on …)

There were 15 women, six children and a toddler in the compound when the assault began. Also a note: “Yemeni security forces are asking neighbours who live around Al-ayyam building (family home and office) to evacuate their houses as it seems a preparation for another attempt.”

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has condemned the shocking disregard for safety of journalists and media staff who were caught in the crossfire of a battle between security forces and armed guards at a publishing house in Yemen.

“This is an appalling event where journalists and media staff have been endangered by the reckless use of violence,” said Aidan White, IFJ General Secretary. “Troops should be withdrawn, all armed men stood down and all sides should respect the use of democratic means to resolve their differences.”

According to reports, one man was killed and a number of others injured when security forces opened fire on the offices of the newspaper Alayyam, whose editor and publisher, Hisham Basharaheel, is facing arrest in a police investigation over a killing which took place last year.

Basharaheel is a fierce critic of the authorities and there is confusion over the attack on his newspaper which was surrounded by security forces yesterday. The publisher brought in his own armed security guards and a firefight broke out with journalists and other media staff trapped inside the building.

The IFJ fully supports the Yemeni Syndicate of Journalists (YJS), an IFJ affiliate, which is calling for an end to threats of violence and for the safety of journalists and media staff at the paper to be guaranteed.

“It is unconscionable to deliberately turn journalists’ workplace into a battle ground,” added White. “But, such an indiscriminate assault on civilian premises without clear warning for occupants to leave the place is the height of irresponsibility.”

For more information contact the IFJ at +32 2 235 2207