Armies of Liberation

Its going to be a long day. Qahtan says if Saleh signs, the JMP will re-sign at the location of his choosing.

Saleh supporters are blocking many roads and baltagiyya swarming. One killed in Sanaa, 18 wounded in Taiz, 2 critical. US, EU ambassadors and GCC rep blocked from traveling to ceremony.

Dayum: Saleh supporters openly declaring they wont let him sign.

Saleh has to sign by 4 pm (9 am EST) or GCC rep is leaving. And all hell breaks loose. 3:50 now (8:50)

Internet getting very flaky in Sanaa, never a good sign. Deadline passed, no signature reported.

US ambassador still surrounded in a certain embassy, not ours, besieged by a mob of Saleh thugs. Zayani (GCC rep) also prevented from leaving country.

4:15 I think the transfer deal is dead. Its extremely worrisome.

Yemen Post: Yemen’s ruling party rejected the opposition Joint Meeting Parties, JMP, signing on the Gulf Cooperation Council, GCC, and demanded that is be signed again at the presidential palace with the presence of hundreds of officials and not behind closed doors.
Yemen’s ruling General People Congress, GPC, spokesperson Tareq Shami said that “President Saleh invited the JMP to sign the GCC proposal at the presidential palace at 3pm today. The JMP signed the GCC agreement in closed doors and this is not accepted.”
He added that It must be signed in a huge gathering and create an historical day of the GCC signing.
The JMP refused to resign the GCC proposal again and consider this as a tactic in running away from the GCC proposal signing.

The financial disclosure law was passed in 2007, and its a great concept, but it lacks enforcement mechanisms. Two of 301 MP’s submitted the required form to date. This is not a Parliament that’s going to take the tough position of standing against “the powers that be” for reform, transparency or equal rights. There’s a lot of mafia types. Parliament is an institutionalizaton of tribal authority structures. The Parliament is a tool of Saleh with little autonomy, but a lot of latitude. Crimes are rarely punished and flourish. The Parliament is somewhat more outspoken lately but is not even remotely a counter-balance to the executive. Yemen’s decision makers are a shadow government (Saleh and his family and cronies), and the public has no mechanism of acountability.

Update: Yemen Times “There are around 36,000 officials who are included in the public sector and are obliged by the financial disclosure law to admit their financial disclosures every two years,” she (Vice-Chairman of the Supreme National Authority for Combating Corruption Dr. Bilkis Abu Osba’) continued. “Since we created the financial disclosure sector, around 10,000 financial disclosures have been received.”

al Tagheer: Mohammed Al-Matari, head of the financial disclosure the Anti-corruption “Parliament” still ranks high on the list of backward and Late to provide financial disclosure statements. . . لافتا في تصريح لـ”الوحدوي ” إلى أن من بين 301 عضو هم عدد أعضاء البرلمان , تقدم فقط عضوان اثنان بإقرارات الذمة المالية . He noted in a statement to “unitary” to that of the 301 members are members of Parliament, the only two members of financial disclosure.

مبديا أسفه واستغرابه من عدم وجود تفاعل وتعاون من قبل البرلمان في هذا الشأن لما يمثله من سلطة دستورية وقانونية عليا في البلد . He expressed his regret and surprise at the lack of interaction and cooperation by the Parliament in this regard because it represents the authority of the constitutional and legal positions in the country. في حين لم تتلق الهيئة سوى 12 إقرارا بالذمة المالية من مجلس الشورى لعدد But it has not received the recognition of only 12 financial disclosure of the Shura Council of the number

أثنا عشر عضوا من أصل 111 عضوا هم عدد أعضاء مجلس الشورى .. Twelve members of the 111 members who are the number of members of the Shura Council ..

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 …)

Number four

al Sahwa

Aden, Sahwa Net- Son of a former parliamentarian and member of the Yemeni Social Party Wadah Saleh Harbi passed away on Sunday as a result of an unidentified bullet he was subjected to on Friday. (Read on …)

Another strange story, AKI

Sanaa, 26 June (AKI) – The authorities in Yemen have arrested 10 suspected al-Qaeda terrorists in two different police operations conducted in the capital Sanaa and in the desert area of Hadramawt, in the south of the country.

According to a report in London-based Arabic-language daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi, among those arrested was one of al-Qaeda in Yemen’s top leaders, Haytham Bin Saad.

Bin Saad was detained with four other extremists in Hadramawt on Wednesday, while five others were arrested in the capital.

Bin Saad was sent to the prison in Sayun pending his transfer to Sanaa.

Meanwhile also on Wednesday, leaflets containing Jihadi propaganda were distributed in the southern province of Ibb.

The leaflets accused the secretary of the Socialist Party, Yahya Mansour Abu Asba of being a “unbeliever” and a “Communist”.

Asba has been assigned a police escort as there is concern that al-Qaeda terrorists could try to kill him.

In recent months, the al-Qaeda organisation in Yemen has resurfaced, claiming responsibility for an the 18 March missile attack on the American embassy in Sanaa.

At a press conference on Tuesday, deputy prime minister Abdel Rabboh Mansur Hadi said the authorities in Yemen have over the past three years expelled 61,000 foreigners considered to be close to Islamic extremism.

Yemen Times

News about Saleh’s prospective meeting with exiled YSP leaders

Yemeni official sources refused to deny or confirm authenticity of news reports about a prospective meeting between President Ali Abdullah Saleh and exiled opposition leaders abroad among them the former Vice-President Ali Salem Al-Beedh, former Prime Minister Haidar Abu Bakr Al-Attas and former President of South Yemen Ali Nasser Mohammed, who is also a prominent Yemeni Socialist Party (YSP) leader, the weekly reported. It quoted a pro-government paper as reporting on Monday that communications were made via mediators between President Saleh and opposition leaders abroad with the aim of allowing the latter return home and reoccupy their posts in the government.

Some government sources refused to comment on the published reports, saying that “Any meeting will be announced at the time when it is being held.” The Ghad Newspaper, however, has reported that a meeting was held abroad between President Saleh and exiled opposition leaders. It quoted well-informed sources as saying that “The mediators reached positive results and such results due to constitute unexpected political surprise. The Yemeni people may view these results on the T.V. screens.”

According to the NUPO’s mouthpiece, the meeting is expected to take place in an Arab country, known for its strong relations with Yemen, if not in Aden, Sana’a or Mukalla. It went on to say that the purpose of forming the mediation team is to persuade the opposition leaders, residing abroad since 1994 Civil War, to return home and take part in a national coalition to meet any current challenges and prepare the country for a better future.

Yemen Times:

DHALE’, Jan. 2 — Hundreds of protestors gathered Sunday in front of government premises in Al-Dhale’ to demonstrate against illegally distributed jobs, a violation of employment policies adopted by the Ministry of Civil Service.

They also protested against favoritism practiced by office directors in the governorates, who employ their own sons and daughters, not yet high school graduates, while university students are deprived of positions.

The demonstrators chanted slogans against the secretary general of the local council and rampant corruption, describing corrupt individuals as “job thieves.”

Banners were also carried by protestors, demanded withdrawing trust in the secretary general, administrative staff, educational directors and civil service officers in the governorate. They further demanded the fulfillment of the president’s electoral pledges, specifically the thorough eradication of unemployment by 2008, and opening doors for Al-Dhale’s citizens to enroll in military and security colleges.

At the end of the protest, a statement released by the demonstrators called on all civil and political groups and personalities to participate in the Million-person reconciliation and tolerance rally which will be held on Jan 13 in the province of Aden.

The statement also recounted protestors’ demands for jobs allotted to Al-Dhale’ locals and for the government to cancel those distributed to outsiders.

They further demanded an end to what they deemed a war generated by the authority against locals both within and outside the governorate.

The spokesman of the “Middle Areas Locals” called on the General People Congress (GPC) last Monday to bring justice to those people disadvantaged due to conflicts that took place in their areas, and to grant them all rights and compensations, as well as remove the effects of armed political conflict between the republic in northern Yemen and southern Yemen’s National Democratic Front during the 1970s and 80s.

Among their demands, distributed to various media outlets, they said, “We don’t want to be dragged into side disputes, but we confirm that the meeting of Middle Areas Locals is a social nonpartisan and solidarity meeting, operating to meet the rights of disadvantaged, dislocated and forcibly retired people without bias to any party.

Their meeting, announced Dec. 23, was not to discriminate between areas, indicating that Al-Dhale’ governorate was an arena for political and military conflict with the ruling regime in the northern part of Yemen.

Official GPC media and other state-funded outlets responded to the leaders of the meeting and those associated with them, such as disabled veterans, with threats of death and torture.

Naba News website, which is funded by the ruling party, also clearly threatened those in charge of the forum by claiming, “the forum incites middle area locals to kill and torture” its leaders.

The ruling party claims that it wasn’t responsible for the armed conflict that took place in Yemen’s central areas, though, according to a socialist leader, participants affiliated with the GPC used state resources and firearms to badly defeat the other side, as well as those suspected of instigating the conflict.

Yemeni teacher protest in India

In a related issue, a group of Aden University teachers who were sent to India to obtain their Master and PhD degrees decided to march in a demonstration into the cultural attaché precinct in the Indian capital city of New Delhi to directly negotiate with Yemen’s cultural attaché to reach a final settlement to financial problems which have worsened their families’ living standards and academic performance.

The teachers demanded the timely payment of their study fees and periodic aid, and stipends to cover price hikes and the rising value of the rupee. They agreed to escalate all forms of expressing their demands, using any lawful means to voice the injustice they are suffering from, as well as ensuring accessibility of their voice to the appropriate parties in India and those that sent them to India.

The Aden University teachers who studied in India will start gathering from all the Indian states to India’s capital, New Delhi, beginning mid-January.

Jarallah commemoration rally in Damt

On Thursday, thousands of Damt and neighboring area locals commemorated in a popular rally the fifth anniversary of the death of Jarallah Omar, former secretary general of the Yemeni Socialist Party (YSP). He was assassinated on Dec. 28, 2002, while delivering a speech in the opening session of the Third Conference of the Yemeni Congregation for Reform.

The rally, staged in Qutaiba Complex in Damt, was attended by tens of prominent leaders in the Joint Meeting Parties (JMP), of whom former JMP presidential candidate Faisal Bin Shamlan, YSP Secretary General Dr. Yaseen Sa’eed No’man, JMP chairman Ali Saleh Obad were present, as well as JMP leaders from Aden, Hadramout, Dhale’, Ibb, Taiz, Amran and Dhamar.

Ali Saleh Obad delivered a speech in which he said that the sit-in movement in the southern governorates is a historic event, aiming at preserving unity and regaining national and democratic ideals. He added that the protests aim at restoring law, fighting corruption and strengthening the bonds of brotherhood between Yemenis, referring to restoring the May 22 unity and the removal of political, social and psychological impacts ensued by the 1994 war.

In turn, Mohammed Kahtan, an Islah party leader, said that what is happening in the southern governorates of Yemen is a popular motion to try the killers of Jarallah Omar. He claimed that “the killers wanted to eliminate the JMP, but instead the JMP has become stronger than it was. The authority is the source of secession due to practices of looting lands and dismissing qualified partners. If we don’t move to stop such practices, we will lose unity and the republic.”

Bin Shamlan, greeted with applause, stated, “those who thought that Jarallah Omar is dead, have to look at such sit-ins and protests occurring in most of the governorates where they all call for equal citizenship.” He added, “If the ruling party wants a unified country, equal citizenship must be established. This struggle will continue until this citizenship is met for the sake of this country and its future generations.”

Bassam, Jarallah’s youngest son, thanked all the attendees and organizers of the rally, considering it a suitable response for the killers behavior. He addressed the audience by proclaiming, “we request that you stand by us and demand a new case file to be opened to reveal the truth and discover the perpetrators.”

A number of speeches were delivered by JMP chairmen from Dhale’, Hadramout and Damt. Tawakul Kurman, chairwoman of Women Journalists without Chains, delivered a speech on behalf of civil society organizations, demanding to bring in an international committee to investigate the assassination of the late Jarallah. The perpetrators will stand before international justice because trust in the Yemeni judiciary has been lost, according to Kurman.

She further declared that the JMP should spearhead a peaceful uprising with its backers, acting on Jarallah’s saying: “peaceful struggle through sacrifice.”

Jarallah initiated his peaceful struggle from Damt district, which faithfully commemorated the anniversary of his death.

Yemen Times:

SANA’A, Dec. 26 — Five years have passed since the politically-motivated assassination of Jarallah Omar, Assistant Secretary General of the Yemeni Socialist Party (YSP). The Joint Meeting Parties (JMP) laments his loss, as he played the most vital role in forming the opposition bloc.

Had Omar escaped assassination, the opposition bloc’s popularity would not have declined over time, since the man proved vital in bringing all the opposition parties together and unifying their lines, according to Mohammed Al-Mekhlafi, defense-advocate of Jarallah Omar’s family.

Al-Mekhlafi said there were political reasons behind the assassination of the YSP leader; the authority predicted that he was bound to play a greater role in creating strong opposition to the ruling party in the country. “Had Jarallah Omar survived, all the Yemeni people would not have suffered such noticeable fragmentation and splits, as he used to do his best for the sake of restoring the spirit of solidarity among Yemeni people.” The lawyer added, “He surely would have worked hard on eliminating all the negative consequences of the 1994 civil war. He was able to improve and strengthen relations between citizens in the north and the south.”

Al-Mekhlafi went on to say. “Omar was a symbol for a nationwide movement toward creating national harmony in the political and social spheres. He represented YSP, a party that has advocated strong bonds between citizens in South and North Yemen since its formation.”

The human rights activist stressed that the Yemeni people currently live in a state of outrage, characterized by severe poverty, despair and fragmentation between community members. He is of the opinion that the country is gradually moving backwards due to government policies aimed at weakening the role of the opposition. (Read on …)