CNN: Yemeni Prime Minister Ali Mujawar was back in Sanaa Tuesday for the first time since he was seriously injured in the presidential palace bombing last June, according to sources at the airport in the capital.

Thousands of pro-government supporters welcomed him back.

Mujawar was being treated in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He’s the first senior official to come back to Sanaa from Riyadh since more than 35 senior officials were taken to the Saudi capital for medical treatment more than two months ago.

Regarding the heightened and unusual effects of the tear gas on the protesters, it says in document that the smoke bombs are expired and cause long term health problems, addressed to the interior minister Rashad Al-Masri.

I wrote about a mass grave in Aden in February and as well as later reports of security forces kidnapping wounded protesters to artificially reduce the number of fatalities.

Hood also spoke of its possession of official documents reveal the crimes committed by official orders and official complicity to conceal, other crimes committed, related to some political backgrounds.
Hood confirmed that it received information and testimonies written and documented about the central security forces and gunmen in civilian clothes attacking the demonstrators with live bullets, sharp weapons and poison gas on Saturday night 04/09/2011 in Zubairy Street and Ring Road, which led to the downfall of a number of dead and wounded. Hood quoted witnesses saying that “Nearly 20 people were pulled to some personnel carriers and government vehicles transferred to an unknown destination and their injuries were at the head, neck, chest, abdomen and some of them had died.” Also, confirmed that it had received “certificates for a mass graves in the area of “ Bait Boss , body parts were found in trash barrels in that area, it is believed it belong to protesters who were arrested during the massacre of Kentucky Round in Sana’a. Attorney General has received a notification of this.”
Below is the doctors’ report on the body parts found in Beit Bous.

Yemeni officials deny press report on distributing weapons
Saturday 07 May 2011 202011000000Sat, 07 May 2011 20:32:12 +0300 08 PM / 26 September Net

Deputy Prime Minister for Defense Affairs Rashad al-Alimi and Minister of State for Parliamentary and Shura Council Affairs Ahmed al-Kuhlani have expressed regret about a forged document spread by Marebpress website that they were involved in distributing weapons to pro-government people.

In a joint press release, al-Alimi and al-Kuhlani said that the Ministry of Interior had denied the validity of the document.

They considered the dissemination of this forged document targets them due to their strict positions in the Cabinet and Parliament towards a draft of law that prevents carrying and possessing weapons, which they said some parties rejected.

“We are against carrying weapons”, they confirmed.

Al-Alimi and al-Kuhlani said that they have the right to file a law suit against Marebpress for harming them by publishing that false document.

Earlier, the Interior Ministry has denied the existence of a memorandum from the Interior Minister to the Special Guards commander asking him to form a committee to distribute weapons to some people under the leadership of al-Alimi and al-Kuhlani.saba

News Yemen: Former minister of endowment Hamoud al-Hittar, who also headed a committee for dialogue with militants in Yemen for years, said President Saleh is not committed to fighting al-Qaeda in the country.

Al-Hittar said that President Saleh uses al-Qaeda threat to blackmail Arab and foreign countries to get more assistance. He said that al-Qaeda in Yemen is only 10 percent of what was reported by official media.

In his speech to almost one million anti-regime protesters in Change Square outside Sana’a University on “Friday of Steadiness”, al-Hittar assured Arab and foreign countries that Yemen will be able to put end to terrorism after the popular revolution succeeds and President Saleh stands down. He also said that Yemen will remain an active partner of the international community in counterterrorism in accordance with Yemen’s constitution, law and international legislation.

Al-Hittar urged Gulf countries to support the popular revolution and could confirm that Yemen will respect relationships with Gulf countries.

A clear overview of the whole picture from: Walid al Saqqaf.

Update: al Qirby denies the Reuters report, saying it was an inaccurate quote. The blame game now settles on the GPC That’s why Saleh reversed his decision not to run in 2006, the GPC begged him to be their candidate as there was no one else in the entire party with the capacity to run Yemen. Imagine how much better off Yemen would be now if Saleh had kept his word, but I guess you cant think like that, Saleh never keeps his word. I really hope he doesn’t set fire to Yemen on the way out. The longer this takes, the more nervous its making me.

SANAA (Reuters) – A deal on a peaceful transition of power in Yemen could come as early as Saturday and would be based on an offer by President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down by year-end, Foreign Minister Abubakr al-Qirbi said…”I hope it will be today, before tomorrow,” Qirbi, who is serving as caretaker foreign minister, told Reuters in an interview, adding that the time frame of a transfer of power by Saleh could be negotiated.

Saleh, who oversaw the 1990 unification of north and south Yemen and emerged victorious from a civil war four years later, told tribes in Sanaa on Saturday that he would “work to avoid bloodshed using all possible means.”

He said on Friday he was ready to relinquish power to forestall more bloodshed but only to what he called “safe hands” after weeks of street demonstrations demanding his departure.

“President Saleh is willing to look at all possibilities, as long as there are really serious commitments by the JMP (opposition) to come and initiate a serious dialogue between them and the ruling party,” Qirbi said.

Talks have been under way on two tracks to hash out the details of a deal on a peaceful transition of power in the Arabian Peninsula state that is home to a resurgent arm of al Qaeda, Yemeni political sources have said.

Qirbi said Yemen’s main opposition party would be holding talks with the ruling party on Saturday. Discussions were centring on the time frame of a transition, among other issues.

“I think the time period is something that can be negotiated. It shouldn’t be really an obstacle to reach an agreement,” he said…

Yemeni political sources said talks to resolve the crisis have been taking place with help from Western mediators. They included a meeting between the president and Mohsen in which they discussed the future of both men.

A source close to Mohsen, who has thrown his weight behind protesters, said he and Saleh had weighed a deal in which both would leave the country, taking their sons and relatives with them to pave the way for a civilian transitional government.

Update: National Security forces break into al Jazeera offices in Sanaa and steal equipment, a possible foreshadowing of dire events to follow. Minister of Water and Environment Abdulrahman Al-Iryani wrote a letter apologizing to the protesters. If the entire government resigns and joins the protesters, then the protests didn’t drive the elite out of power. CNN: Ali Mohsen negotiating with Saleh for a transition by the end of the year. This is just more maneuvering to keep the powerful in power, they are going out the front door and in the back. Ali Mohsen has to go on the same plane as Saleh

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh and a top military general are discussing a deal for a peaceful transition of power that would allow Saleh to stay in place for the rest of the year, a Yemeni official and senior U.S. official said Monday. The discussions come amid cracks in support for Saleh’s 32-year rule after weeks of anti-government protests.

Three top generals declared their support for the protests Monday, including Maj. Gen. Ali Mohsen Al-Ahmar, the man now discussing the deal with Saleh. Al-Ahmar, who belongs to an important tribe whose backing is significant for Saleh, also said he will order his troops to protect civilians demonstrating against the president….

According to the Yemeni official who confirmed the talks between Saleh and the general, the president has officially accepted five points demanded by the opposition and is now waiting for a response from the opposition and the generals who defected.

The five points are that Saleh step down by the end of the year; that Yemenis be allowed to protest without fear of violence; that a committee be formed to investigate attacks against protesters; that families of all protesters killed or wounded be compensated by the state; and that the government implement constitutional and electoral reforms, including the removal of Saleh’s family members from the armed services.

Update: Mass resignations continue from all levels of government. Yemen TV is showing old videos of crowds chanting for Saleh as live, but they were shot during the day while it is night time in Yemen now.

The former GPC members (the ruling GPC party has apparently dissolved after mass resignations) are forming a new coalition to come in through the back door. So far no violence but they like to do these things in the middle of the night.

Update: Defense minister says military will remain loyal to President Saleh. On TV, Saleh swears in new members of Shura Council. Al Jazeera: Yemen’s army says it backs the president against any coup attempt. Just go Ali, another blood bath won’t save you. France announced via their Foreign Minister Alain Juppe that “Saleh must step down.” Any chance Obama will get ahead of the curve for once? Wow! Update, Al Jazeera: the White House informed the Yemeni govt that violence against protesters is unacceptable.

Houthis call on Ali Mohsen to apologize and he is a war criminal for sure. The Houthis are what will prevent a new dictatorship by al Ahmar:

Urgent / call Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar to apologize to the people from the past Black
injured by Saada on Monday, March 21, 2011 at 6:11 am

Call Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar to prove its credibility to join the people’s choice, to submit an apology for the past Black, who was a hand in criminal and unjust to Ali Abdullah Saleh, and committed the most heinous crimes in the northern governorates, and declare its willingness to arbitrate the people to see his opinion about it.

And did not apologize to the people, the position will be calculated that circumvent the revolution and ride to the prompt, and exploit the revolution to achieve a personal ambition in the succession of Ali Abdullah Saleh. Information Office to Mr. / Abdul-Malik Badr Eddin al

Original: Lots of defections today including NW zone commander Ali Mohsen Al Ahmar, eastern zone commander Mohammed Ali Mohsen, and the 301st armored division, Hameed Al-Qushaibi. The Aden governor Ahmed Qaatabi and the Yemeni ambassador in Amman, Jordan Shaia Muhsen defected, as well as the Yemeni ambassador in Damascus , Syria Abdul-Wahab Tawwaf, and deputy parliament speaker, Hemyar al-Ahmar. Tribal leaders joined the protesters as well as opposition party leaders. These defections followed the blood bath in Sanaa on Friday when 53 were killed by sniper fire and another 250 were wounded by gunshots. Half the government had resigned before that and Saleh declared a state of emergency Friday and dissolved the government Sunday.

Lets see if Saleh has the brains to leave quietly without another blood bath. Ali Mohsen al Ahmar is himself a war criminal and smuggler and many of these defectors are presidential relatives and will have to be politically neutralized, but all Saleh has left from the military are (his son’s commands) the Republican Guard and the Special Forces who are guarding the palace in Sanaa. It is the beginning of the post-Saleh era whether he recognizes it or not.

Yes there is a transition plan for a caretaker government etc.

Guardian: Three Yemen army commanders, including a top general, have defected to the opposition calling for President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down, as tanks were deployed in the streets of the capital. The most senior of the three officers is Major General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, a long-time confidant of Saleh and commander of the army’s powerful 1st Armoured Division…The two others are Mohammed Ali Mohsen and Hameed al-Qusaibi, both brigadiers…(AMA) is a veteran of the 1994 civil war in which Saleh’s army suppressed an attempt by southern Yemen to secede four years after the two parts of the impoverished Arab nation united. The south had until then been a separate nation. Ahmar also fought in recent years against Shia rebels in the north.

The governor of Yemen’s southern province of Aden resigned on Monday to protest the violent suppression of anti-government demonstrations, an official in his office said. Ahmed Qaatabi resigned “to protest what is happening in the county,” amid a slew of defections to the opposition by Yemeni military and civilian leaders, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. -AFP

Saleh fired his government ministers and asked them to continue to work as the wave of protests grows against him. Saleh has reshuffled the cabinet several times over the years, usually it is a way to divert blame and/or undercut reformers. This time he may be firing them before they all resign. After the slaughter in Sanaa Friday, Faisel abu Rais, who resigned from parliament in 2007, resigned as Yemen’s ambassador to Lebanon. Human Rights Minster Huda al Ban resigned, and (**** I’m being nice. Don’t test me.) Clerics urged the military not to fire on protesters. “Dr. Hassan Salami, Shura Council member resigned from the membership of the Standing Committee of the ruling National Congress Party to protest the lack of respect for the Constitution and the law, and the appalling violation of human rights including the massacre of peaceful protestors long before the University of Sana’a.” Sadiq al Ahmar head of the Hashid demanded Saleh resign but Saleh retains significant support from his tribe.

Saleh remains delusional, says to nation that the protesters are a small percentage of Yemenis, only he can rule and the JMP has bad intentions. The state announced 19 snipers had been arrested. To the European ambassadors, he said he is committed to democratic values. Anyone who believes anything Saleh says is delusional as well.

The Central Security Forces withdrew from al Tagheer Sqyare in Sanaa, and General Ali Mohsen al Ahmar’s 1st Armored Brigade took over duties around the protesters in Sanaa/ There have been no incidents yet.

US policy on the middle east as outlined by William J. Burns, Under Secretary for Political Affairs in a statement before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on March 17 doesn’t mention Yemen at all.

There was a mass funeral march today in Sanaa, although many of the fatalities will be buried in their hometowns: Taiz, Arhab and Amran. Several injuries were reported after protests yesterday in Makallah.

ah a handy summary:

Sahwa Net- Yemen U.N. envoy Abdullah Alsaidi and the Minister of Human Rights Huda Alban have declared his resignation in protest over violence against peaceful protestors in Sana’a on Friday.

On Saturday, many Yemeni ministers, officials, diplomats and members of parliament have resigned from the ruling party, the General People Congress, protesting the killing of peaceful protests on Friday.

Among the most prominent ministers and diplomats are the Minister of Tourism, Nabeel Al-Faqeeh , Minister of Endowment, Hahmoud Al-Hitar, former minister of culture, Abdul-Wahab Al-Rawhani, Yemen’s ambassador to Lebanon Faisal Amin Abu al-Ras, and Yemen’s ambassador to Swiss Ebraheem Al-Adofi.

Meantime, Chief of Yemen’s News Agency Nasar Taha Mustafa, chief-in-editor of Al-Jomohoria newspaper, Sameer Alyosoif, head of the Foreign Releations Dept. of GPC Mohmmad Al-Qobati and many other officials and MPs. On Friday, forces loyal to Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh shot and killed 52 anti-government protesters in the capital, sparking the resignation of Tourism Minister Nabil Hasan al-Faqih and the head of the party’s foreign affairs committee. Hundreds of others were injured in the unrest

This is a brilliant comment from a Yemeni friend: “Despite regime’s repression (or perhaps because of it) protests are witnessing, day by day, increasing growth and momentum in numbers and kind and expanding from urban to rural areas. It is going to be a long process during which the ancient regime’s informal institutions are deconstructed and a new system evolves from grassroots to formal institutions.”

Saleh falling back on standard practices, deports four western journos, had stopped issuing journalistic visas weeks ago.

More lunacy: EU urges dialog

Marib governor Ahmed al Zaidi stabbed in neck outside govt building : BBC. Attack came after al Zaidi led an assault by pro-govt thus on anti-regime protesters which injured 35 al Sahwa

Small Wars Journal 5 page pdf re Saleh, AQAP and US: urges no US direct military involvement but extending government throughout nation. (A process that will only, can only, work once Saleh is gone, I might add.)

The Bakil tribe join the protests, a very big development, al Sahwa Chief of the Bakeel Ameen Al-Aokaime reached Monday the entrance of Sana’a University where hundreds of thousands of protestors demonstrate, insisting that he and his followers would not leave until the fall of Yemen’s regime. (Sheikh’s name often spelled Okaime or like that, is in Marib I believe.)

Yemen GONGO (gov’t NGO or clone) Women’s Union says unrest due to conspiracy against state, stooge site: Hour News

Yemeni Ambassador to Switzerland Abdullah al Noaman resigns his post to join the protesters, the first ambassador I believe. We’ve had judges, military men and telecasters resign but this is first ambassador etc.

Parliament confirms bullets not rubber bullets used in Aden. I would think the bullet wounds would have been enough. Nine killed, 30 wounded al Sahwa

47 killed in last four weeks of protests, News Yemen, including 31 in Aden and 6 among other provinces, a much more accurate count than 9.

SANAA, Yemen — Yemen’s president has fired a government minister for failing to persuade an expanding protest movement to end its monthlong challenge to his 32-year rule over one of the most impoverished and volatile corners of the Arab world.

With no sign his opponents will accept anything less than his ouster, President Ali Abdullah Saleh has filled the streets with armed supporters in an increasingly violent crackdown. The opposition gained its own support Monday from striking workers, as well as from university professors and a growing number of powerful tribal chiefs turning against Saleh….In a sign of his frustration, Saleh on Sunday fired the government minister in charge of trying to engage his opponents in dialogue, Hamoud al-Hattar, and replaced him with another Cabinet minister…

The protesters are gaining support from tribal chiefs, senior officials and university professors. About 50 professors from the universities in the cities of Aden, Sanaa and Taiz have resigned from President Saleh’s ruling Congress Party.

Amin al-Ukeimi, a leader of the powerful Bakeel tribe, announced Monday that he is joining the protesters in Sanaa, the capital, and supported their demand to bring down the regime. Mohammed al-Houri, an undersecretary at the Planning Ministry, also announced his resignation from the party.

The western part of the capital was paralyzed Monday by a strike called by trade unions to protest the government’s harsh handling of the demonstrators and to demand higher wages.

Clashes with protesters also broke out beyond the capital Monday in the southern provinces of Aden, Hadramawt, Taiz and Hudaydah, and in Jawf in the northeast, where at least 20 people were injured.

To the east, the governor of Marib province was injured and flown by helicopter to a military hospital in the capital, security officials said, though it was not clear how he was hurt.

There was a large demonstration in front of the local government building there, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to brief the media.

In Taiz, police tried to disperse demonstrators with gunfire and tear gas, injuring three people.

New Age: Yemen’s ambassador to Egypt was robbed by gunmen, who stole about 594,000 dollars in cash, security sources told the German Press Agency dpa on Wednesday.

Ambassador Abdel-Walay al-Shemiri was on his way to the southern city of Assiut in Egypt when three gunmen robbed him, said Egyptian security sources, who did not give further details.

Al-Shemiri told authorities he had the lofty sum of 3.5 million Egyptian pounds (594,000 dollars), in cash to distribute to the University of Assiut, where a number of Yemeni students were studying on scholarship. -Sapa-dpa

Students had no idea he was coming: Marib Press, students studying at the University of Assiut, were not aware in advance of the visit referred to or the program scheduled, and that some of the students happily came to see the Ambassador at his request after his arrival in the city.

Read Write Web: After launching DDoS attacks on companies that denied service to Wikileaks, hacker collective Anonymous turned its attention to oppressive regimes, including Zimbabwe, Tunisia and Egypt, shutting down some government websites in those countries.

Now, someone seems to have targeted Yemen in advance of February 3rd’s “day of rage.” Whether it was Anonymous or not – we are not finding anyone claiming responsibility – the sites are indisputably down.

Among the websites targeted are the Yemeni Ministry of Information, the tax office and that of Yemen’s long-serving president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, all of which are down.

In fact, many of the official Yemeni government sites, those based on gov.ye, seem down right now, including:

* aden.gov.ye
* legalaffairs.gov.ye
* natec.gov.ye
* parliament.gov.ye

Many others, however, such as the customs and agricultural sites, are still accessible