Armies of Liberation

Almotamar.net - The General People’s Congress Party GPC media men have on Wednesday denounced strongly open accusation of infidelity and ideological terror against the writer and thinker Najib Ghalab that would expose his life to danger , calling on the Yemeni Journalists syndicate , The Writers Union , Unions of Teaching Staffs at universities and al organisations concerned with press freedoms for solidarity with Ghalab and all persons of opinion against those accusing of infidelity and those who attempt to politicize religion in order to physically liquidate those who disagree with their visions , opinions and orientations.

In a statement in this regard obtained by almotamar.net journalists working at the GPC’s newspapers and news websites called on writers to commit to dialogue and respect values of difference in opinion far from blind fanaticism

oh goody, doe this mean that Christians in Yemen might get equal rights?

Yemen calls for legislations banning insulting religious figures

NEW YORK, Sep. 29 (Saba)- Yemen called on Monday the UN General Assembly to adopt decisions to protect religious figures and to criminalize attacks on sacred properties.

That was mentioned in Yemen speech delivered by Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Qirbi in the 63rd round of the UN General Assembly which is currently held in New York.

Al-Qirbi talked about Yemen’s efforts in confronting terrorism and thwarting a number of terrorist acts such the last terror attack that targeted the US embassy in Sana’a.

He expressed hope that international condemnations of that attack is translated on reality in the form of support to help Yemen accelerate human development and confront poverty challenges.

Bahairi Rights

At-Tagammu, a Yemeni newspaper published by the Yemeni Unitary Congregation party, recently reported on the threats facing Yemen’s small Baha’i community following the arrest of 6 Baha’is in June. The newspaper highlighted the propagandist attempts inciting hatred against the community and accused extremist fundamentalists for the oppression. Below is our translation of the article.

After Yemen’s security authorities informed several Baha’i families that their breadwinners will be deported, the lives of 250 Baha’is in Yemen has been fraught with the risks of deportation, exclusion and cancellation, to a level that makes the country the scene of a major case of religious persecution.

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Not Zaidis, Hashemites actuallly, but the report is getting much better. There’s also the Bahai arrested and facing deportation.

The US International Religious Freedom Report 2008,released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, said that neither Yemeni constitution nor other laws protect or inhibit freedom of religion.

“Neither Yemeni constitution nor other laws protect or inhibit freedom of religion; however, government policies contributed to the generally free practice of religion.”

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or the growth of Salafi extremism, whatever

Guardian

The Egyptian crooner Ehab Tawfiq has bedroom eyes, smouldering good looks and a voice that enchants Arab audiences. Sadly he won’t be perfoming any time soon in Yemen, where he has been blocked by a controversial new Saudi-style “religious police” charged with enforcing austere standards of public morality.

Tawfiq sings catchily about love and relationships. But a concert he was due to give in Sana’a was postponed and then cancelled last month after a campaign by the country’s newly-formed “virtue committee”, which distributed posters and leaflets — and, say some, encouraged death threats and intimidation — condemning the handsome Egyptian for promoting “sedition, immorality and nudity”.

For many Yemenis, and for women in particular, this was another alarming sign of the growth of Salafi extremism — an unwelcome import from neighbouring Saudi Arabia where the “mutaween” religious police are part of the scenery.

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There’s nine people in jail for either converting to Christianity or proselytizing.

Ethiopian, Philippine women converted to Islam in Aden

ADEN, Sep.13 (Saba)- Ferot Taklik, Ethiopian women and Liza Nightah from Philippine converted to Islam on Saturday here. They declared themselves as Moslems before a committee from endowment and guidance office.

Director General of Aden Endowment and Guidance Office Fuad al-Buraihi told Saba that the Ethiopian woman changed her name as Fatima while the Philippine women named herself Mariam. The two women were given documents of converting to Islam and two books of Holly Koran.

Good article from the CSM that captures the dispute about summer camps. I dont think the Believing Youth have youth summer camps, but the regime’s campaign tends to spread far beyonbd the Houthis. The government sponsored camps do push a version of Islam that is not espoused by the entirety of the diverse population in Yemen. For their part, the rebels talk about a governemnt tactic of forced conversion implemented through schools and mosques.

Opposition party leaders claim that new schools to stem extremism prevent minority sects from recruiting new members.

Sanaa, Yemen - Every morning, 300 children – mostly boys, ages 7 to 15 – gathered at the Great Mosque in Sanaa to memorize the Koran during the summer months. For centuries, different sects have run private religious summer schools in mosques throughout Yemen. Some of these are now threatened by closure.

In a speech last month announcing the end of a four-year war with the Al Houthi rebels in northern Yemen, President Ali Abdullah Saleh inaugurated new, government-sponsored religious summer schools serving up to 172,000 youth.

These new institutions are part of a campaign to create national unity and counteract what Mr. Saleh describes as the extremist ideology taught in unlicensed religious schools. But members of the sects deny extremist leanings and claim that the new summer program is an attempt to weaken opposition parties aligned with particular religious groups.

Yemen is increasingly perceived by the international community as a haven for Islamist jihadis. There have been 20 terrorist attacks in Yemen this year alone.

In a state dominated by tribes, some of which are connected to religious minority sects, government control over regions outside the capital is weak. Saleh has described his relationship with tribes as “a dance with snakes.” The summer programs, then, are an attempt to improve Yemen’s counterterrorism record.

Under Yemen’s education laws, the government began shutting down sectarian schools as early as 1991.

“Extremist groups could be responsible for some summer camps which encourage terrorism,” says Hamoud Ubad, minister of youth and sports. “We do not want to give permission to any extremists who would like to plant undesirable ideas … in the minds of our youth.” In response, the government began a program of summer camps three years ago, which this year doubled in number.

Four sects are considered extremist in Yemen, explains Saif al-Asaly, professor of economics at Sanaa University: Sufi, Salafi, the Shiite Al Houthi, and the Islamic Brotherhood, represented by factions within the Islah Party. Although the majority of Yemenis do not formally belong to one of these four sects, Mr. Asaly says, “Yemenis are being affected by their ideas through the sermons they hear at mosques, lectures, and [in] books.”

Members of these sects deny any affiliation with extremism. “There are extremists in Yemen, but not from the Islah Party,” asserts Amat al-Salaam Rajaa, a party leader. She adds that the summer program is a political maneuver by the president’s party to weaken the ability for opposition parties to recruit new members.

The conservative Islah Party, an opposition party, holds 15 percent of seats in parliament. According to political analyst Hani Zainulbhaii, the Al Houthi and Islah Party use summer schools to recruit members. Over the past four years, 50 to 60 camps run by the Al Houthi rebels have been shut down, says Hamoud al-Hittar, minister of endowments and religious guidance. Ten to 15 of these were closed in the past month. The Yemeni press, meanwhile, has reported the closure of 1,000 religious summer camps this year.

Analysts suggest that the president previously allowed religious sects greater freedom because they were willing to fight in the conflict against Al Houthi rebels. Now that there is a break in warfare, the president is bringing these sects back under his secular party’s control through antiextremism measures.

SAN’A, Yemen (AP) - A Yemeni security official says police are cracking down on Muslims who have converted to Christianity.
The official says at least nine people have been detained in recent months. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Rights activists and a family member
of one of those detained say they fear those arrested could be tortured or abused in prison.
Conversion from Islam to any other religion is illegal in Yemen.
Separately, the official says police also have arrested six Iranians in Yemen who are followers of the Baha’i faith for allegedly belonging to a rebel group. Though not officially banned in Yemen, the Baha’i religion is considered by some Muslims as heresy.

Yemen Observer

The newly established vice and virtue committee elected Sheikh Abdulmajid al-Zindani as a president of the committee, Sheikh Sadiq Bin Abdullah Bin Hussein al-Ahmar vice president and Sheikh Hamoud al-Tharihi as a Secretary General, said Sheikh Hamoud al-Tharihi.

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Is the The Islamic Liberation Party the translation of Hizb Ut-Tahir? Its the same ideology. The discrepancy between the regime’s treatment of the pro-Caliphate ideologs and the pro-Imamate ideologs is striking, yet both advocate a theocracy.

And of course, the problems in Yemen have all to do with the NDI trying to expand political participation and nothing to do with ubiquitous Khat usage which takes hours daily for 85% of the workforce, diminishing national productivity greatly, or perhaps exclusion of half of society (women) from the workforce and society in general or perhaps the prevalence of child marriage which only increases the spiral of poverty and illiteracy. No, of course the disaster that is Yemen is all the US’s fault for trying to help the twisted political system come to any sort of functionality.

Yemen Post

The Islamic Liberation Party, Yemen branch, demanded shutting down the National Democratic Institute (NDI), the Danish Institute and other foreign organizations because they pose great risk on the Yemeni society’s culture and its sons.

The party also warned Yemeni civil society organizations against establishing relations with the foreign embassies, describing them as the biggest devil.

It further accused the NDI of fueling the Summer War of 1994 that left behind thousands of people dead and injured, together with immense material losses. It also left wild scars on the Yemeni national unity.

In its symposium themed “The International Conflict over Yemen under the Absence of Islamic Caliphate” organized last Thursday in Sana’a, the party called for restoring the Islamic Caliphate.

It also demanded an entire and radical solution for Sa’ada issue and not to use the war for settling scores, recommending as well setting solutions for what it called lifting the injustice against the South Yemen’s sons.

The party came into existence in 1997 and it got several facilities by influential personalities. It held its first Caliphate conference in 2002, shortly after security forces arrested some of the party’s leaders on what is known as the ‘war on terror’.

Having played the terrorism card to exhaustion, Saleh plays the religion card with some trick to divide the Islah party, something to bolster his political capital at a time of weakness. Whatever it is, its a furtherance of the growing Talabanization of Yemen. This is an interesting post by a Yemeni woman entitled “Yemen, Sexual Harassment and Women”, who writes:

The problem in Yemen and Saudi in my opinion stems from the sexual objectification of women and a culture that views them as inferior, not only are they physically weaker but intellectually and morally inferior….The strict segregation is part of the cause as well, it creates lack of interaction and familiarity between the sexes. I consider it unhealthy that relatives for example cannot mingle with each other, instead females retreat hastily in another room if a man is approaching without even a greeting. Curtains are used to separate the sexes when talking to each other, those situations sexualise a perfectly normal environment. Any interaction between the sexes is deemed to be sexual.

The above author concludes , “It’s important that we strike a middle and balanced ground in order to have a healthy society and when pursuing virtue not achieve the opposite.”

An article from the Yemen Oserver notes the attendees of the conference were mostly al-Iman students, so the whole thing is looking like an al-Zindani creation, including the declaration that any women in the work force will lead to chaos in society and sex in the streets. Meanwhile the vice in Yemeni society is concentrated among its elite and leaders who steal food daily from the mouths of starving children. They are the ones who need moral guardians on an hourly basis. As the Italians say, a fish rots from its head. And of course and predictably, the conference focused on villifying journalists in particular.

The Yemen Observer: An alliance of Yemeni religious scholars and tribal leaders has decided to watch and safeguard the morals and values of the society through holding annual meetings rather than permanent committees, which were strongly criticized before being established.

Under the slogan “It’s the guards of virtue who will protect the ship from drowning,” the clerics and tribesmen – the self-appointed guardians of virtue – decided to hold a yearly conference, called “The meeting of promoting virtue and combating vice.” They backed down from a previous proposal submitted to President Ali Abdullah Saleh last May, for establishing virtue committees (religious police) and for monitoring the activities of individuals and institutions by banning any vice-related activity such as selling alcoholic drinks, night clubs, hotels, restaurants, or massage centers.

The clerics and tribesmen retracted from establishing their committees of promoting virtue and combating vice after strong criticisms from journalists, writers and politicians, who viewed the job of such committees as the responsibility of the state.

No single woman attended the one-day meeting held on Tuesday July 15 by the tribesmen and the Sunni religious scholars. The meeting was chaired by the tribal leader, Sadeq Abdullah al-Ahmar – sheikh of Yemen’s most influential tribe, the Hashed – and cleric Abdul Majeed al-Zandani, who is accused by the United States of supporting terrorism.

Most of the nearly two thousands male attendees were students of Al-Eyman University, a religious university run and owned by al-Zandani. The rest of the attendees were Salafi clerics and tribesmen. No prominent politicians from the Islamist party Islah attended the meeting except Sheikh al-Zandani, who has his own Salafi current inside the party. The politicians of Islah refused the demand of establishing committees for virtue, saying that it was only a political trick from the president Saleh to divide the Islah party, the largest opposition party on the one hand, and divide the opposition alliance which includes the Islah Islamists, Socialists and Nasserites on the other.

“Talking about committees for virtue has political reasons behind, aiming to mix the cards and confuse political life in an official attempt to divert the attention from its helplessness and corruption of the government, and thus holding others responsible for its faults including weakening the effectiveness of the official bodies and working outside the constitution and law,” said the alliance of the three parties in a statement issued three days before the meeting of the clerics and tribesmen.

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ISA:

Text of report by London-based independent newspaper Al-Quds al- Arabi website on 17 July
[Report by Khalid al-Hammadi in Sanaa: "Analysts consider the formation of the Virtue Commission in Yemen as a sign of the weakness of the state or intended to divert the attention of the public away from its suffering prior to the parliamentary elections; the Commission for the Propagation of Virtue or the 'Yemeni Al- Mutawa'ah' declares war on prostitution, alcoholic beverages, drugs, and child trade"]

The commission to protect virtue in Yemen held its first conference in Sanaa yesterday. The conference -that was held with official backing -was attended by a large gathering of senior religious scholars and intellectuals from various parts of Yemen with a noticeable absence of the leaders of the opposition parties, including the Islamist Reform Party. The conferees decided to change the name of the commission from the Virtue Commission to the Commission for the Propagation of Virtue thus becoming identical in character and tasks to the Saudi Commission for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice that is popularly known as the “Al- Mutawa’ah”.

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Beautiful women who work outside the house will drive society to chaos. What does that mean? Men and woman have no self-restraint and are consumed only with thinking about sex? Are we talking about animals or humans here? How insulting to everybody.

Mareb Press:

The Yemeni Women Union condemned today the religious decree issued by the religious scholars about quota system.

The YWU accused the religious scholars who issued that decree of defaming the women and offending their honor, dignity and decency.

The YWU mentioned some Quranic verses in support of their viewpoint. Allah says “Those who persecute or draw into temptation, the believers men and women, and do not turn in repentance, will have the penalty of hell”.

The YWU said the statement of the religious scholars is reducing the value and importance of the great role of women in building the society.

The statement added that everything in this booklet is contradicting with Islam which gives women absolute equality with men, said the statement denying any superiority for men over women citing from Quran “Mankind, we created you from a single (pair) of a male and female, and made you into nations and tribes that you may know each other, verily the most honoured of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you and Allah has full knowledge and is well-acquainted.”

“The women quota contradicts with our religion,” said the fatwa in the booklet. “Women racing to get out of the houses and be mixed with men in the places of work showing their beauty for all men, will lead to non-marriage relations, relations of lovers, and continuation of these relations will make the society drop to sexual chaos, loss of the decency, spread of adultery and illegal kids,” the booklet said. “We are with the equality of religious responsibilities of men and women, but we are not with the equality of employment of the roles of men and women,” said the scholars.

There was a two day lull. From the Yemen Times:

Alleged human rights abuses in Bani Hushaish

The Yemeni Socialist Party-affiliated Aleshtaraki.net reports that the Yemeni army has committed human rights abuses against several residents of Bani Hushaish, located east of Sana’a. It quoted local sources as saying that the army attacked Beit Al-Aghrabi village with heavy weaponry, although Houthi gunmen withdrew from the village and stopped fighting, according to a tribal mediation.

“The army destroyed residents’ homes and property before raiding the village. [Army personnel] evicted residents, including women and children, to a nearby school,” Bani Hushaish sources say, adding that the soldiers beat, badmouthed and insulted citizens.

According to the same sources, female soldiers from counterterrorism units deployed in the area arrested numerous women from Beit Al-Aghrabi village on suspicion of supporting Houthi gunmen. They further noted that the Yemeni army has arrested the majority of the village’s male residents under age 50.

In a statement published by state-run Al-Thawrah daily newspaper on Wednesday, an official government source in Bani Hushaish denied the authenticity of the report by Aleshteraki.net, clarifying that the Yemeni army is searching for wanted fugitives and that no human rights abuses have been committed.

Various sources allege that several army commanders, tribal leaders and regional forces have intervened to foil the mediation efforts that played a notable role in ending the war, unblocking the Sana’a-Sa’ada Highway, releasing besieged troops and transporting food supplies to the war-affected governorate.

Regarding the proposed “Popular Army” to be comprised of 27,000 recruits under the command of the Hashid tribe to fight Houthis, tribal sources affirm that the establishment of this army is underway.

In its most recent issue, Al-Ahale independent weekly newspaper blamed the Saudi Special Committee, chaired by Emir Sultan Bin Abdulaziz, for establishing and funding what it described as the “Janjawid Army,” hinting at the prospective popular army.

The weekly continued, reporting that an unnamed Saudi committee member recently visited Yemen to meet with tribal leaders, encouraging them to back the government in its war against Houthis.

Worries over potential sectarian conflict

A religious forum including Salafi members and tribesmen was held Tuesday, chaired by Sheikh Abdulmajid Al-Zindani, rector of Al-Iman Islamist University and also on the U.S. terror list. At the forum, participants agreed to contribute to the gathering of tribesmen under the name of a “Popular Army” to fight against Houthis, who belong to the Zaidi Islamic sect.

Reliable sources report that Salafi leaders promised to gather thousands of well-trained jihadists, most of whom are called “Yemeni Afghans,” to back the Yemeni army in its fight against Zaidi Houthis in Sa’ada and other areas.

The Yemeni government’s intent to form a religious committee in collaboration with Salafis to fight against Zaidi Houthis has raised sharp controversy among all of those concerned, who predict that doing so will create a new crisis, as well as sectarian and political conflicts that may harm Yemen’s social fabric.

Various social figures believe that establishing such a committee with religious powers constitutes a threat to personal and civil freedoms, noting that it also creates obstacles to Yemen’s emergency democracy.

Yemen Post

The Committee of Islamic Sharia revealed that they refused to make any amendments presented by the government to the decree No. 12 of 1994 on crimes and punishments, adding that the government calls for new amendments to the decree advocating legal equality between men and women in blood money.

The committee’s refusal is justified by the consensus of Muslims over the subject since the era of Prophet Mohammed (PBUH).

It also added a new text stating one-year imprisonment for an adult man seen in private with a female who is not his close relative. Further, the text stipulated that the woman shall be punished by the same term in case she goes out with that man at her will.

The committee did not change the texts relating to slandering the head of state where the punishment shall be a two-year term. The same applies when defaming a king or president of a foreign country.

In addition to the capital punishment, the committee asked for an imprisonment term (between 5-15 years) for a person who causes harm to war preparations meant for defending the country. Further, the committee did not change the text that punishes a rapist whether male or female with a term of seven years.

Likewise, the committee did not change the text that punishes a person who commits the crime of adultery with a three-year term.

The term stretches to 15 years once the victim is under 18. The same term is applied when the criminal action leads the victim to commit suicide.

V&V

Yemen Online

Yemen: Vice and virtues body to organize its first meeting in Sana’a
YemenOnline-July 14,2008- Preparatory Committee of vice and virtue in Sana’a announced that the their first meeting is going to organize tomorrow morning at Apollo Hall in Sanaa. Sheikh Abdel Maguid Al-Zidani member of supreme body of the Yemeni Islah Party said that attending of people to the meeting is a support of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.Through pressure from Abdul-Majeed al-Zindani and his close supporters, the government entertained the idea of a Vice and Virtues police force that would crack down on un-Islamic behavior.The Vice and Virtues police were briefly in operation, but they were quickly taken out of practice by the government. Cities as Aden ,Al-houdieda are known to have a more powerful fundamentalist influence. The fact that the Islamic police have now appeared in Sana’a shows the rise in conservative power, even though the Islamic police force is not yet legitimate.

The Talibanization of Yemen

Vice and Virtues Police Asserts their Unofficial Power in Yemen

YemenOnline- July 04, 2008- An Islamic police force has raided and shut down many restaurants around Sana’a. On July 3, China Town restaurant was stormed by armed soldiers and bearded religious zealots. Eyewitnesses say that the restaurant owners and patrons were forced on the street while the soldiers destroyed alcohol bottles inside. The gates of the restaurant were shut and the establishment was closed down. Now, there is a sign spray painted on the wall, saying “closed by the authority of the District Attorney and the Hadda Police.” Our legal expert tells us that not only does the district attorney have no authority to shut down the restaurant, but that the Hadda police had no right to even search the place.

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The regime refuses to keep even convicted terrorists in jail and al-Hitar’s dialog only requires a promise not to launch attacks within Yemen.

YemenOnline-July 2,2008- Judge. Hamoud Al-Hitar, Minister of Endowment and Guidance, confirmed to YemenOnline that Yemen intends to provide appropriate circumstances to receive the 106 Yemeni prisoners of Guantanamo who are expected to come back home soon.

He declared that Yemen Government, aiming at incorporating those prisoners into the community, plans to intellectually rehabilitate them and eliminate the extremist concepts influenced by Al-Qaeda.The British and American Governments intend to have Mr. Al-Hitar’s assistance in this regard as he had had previous successful experiences of intellectually rehabilitating over 420 persons influenced by the extremist ideas of Al-Qaeda during the period 2001 to 2005.

SANA’A, NewsYemen

The United States said it would not like to keep detainees in the US Guantanamo Bay, including Yemenis, anymore.

The official of Detainees File at the US Department of State Tony Rech, who is on a special visit to Yemen for the issue of Yemeni detainees in Gitmo along with other delegates, said in an interview with the independent al-Nida weekly published on Wednesday that detainees in Gitmo are being assessed individually as “some detainees are more dangerous than some others”.

We are serious about closing Guantanamo Bay, but what we are looking forward is to get warrantees that limit the danger some detainees may represent, said the US officials.

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A humanitarian truce, a good idea.

Peacekeepers to disengage the warring sides is another one, but that won’t get any traction.

Sahwa Net- The United States has expressed its concern over human consequences caused by the conflict in Saada . American officials in Sana’a urged infighting sides, Houthi rebels and the government to let food, fuel and other necessities arrive to civilians.

An American official affirmed the authenticity of reports saying that the U.S. refused to designate al-Houthis among terrorist movements, pointing out that the designating is a complicated process based on strong evidence that an individual or a group is involved in terrorist acts.

As for the Yemen-U.S. relations crisis, the U.S. official said that U.S. believes that Jmal al-Badawi , the mastermind of the 2000 bombing of USS Cole bombing that killed 17 American sailors and has t Jaber Elbaneh , a Yemeni-American convicted of planning attacks on oil installations in Yemen, have to be extradited to U.S.

Update: Like Christian Bibles, apparently 12er books are illegal in Yemen: (Ithna Ashari is the official religion of Iran that Saleh recently desribed as racist . Twelvers constitute ninety percent of the modern population of Iran and fifty-five to sixty percent of the population of Iraq. Twelver Shiites are the majority in Iran, Iraq, Azerbaijan and also have substantial populations in Turkey, Pakistan, Lebanon, Syria, India, Afghanistan and Bahrain.)

Yemen Observer:
A group of 8 Yemeni men accused of supporting the al-Huthi tribe’s armed rebellion against the Yemeni Government has been held in the southern harbor of Aden, official sources said on Thursday.

“The 8-member cell was running a printing press for printing and distributing leaflets promoting the dark, backward, and terrorist ideas of al-Huthi,” A spokesman for the ministry of interior said in a statement. The printing press was seized by the authorities, the spokesman added.

The men were running the printing press with the purpose of distributing publications promoting extreme, marginal Shiite ideology called Ethna Ashari, which says rulers of Islamic nations must be decedents of the prophet Mohammed.

The 8 men were among those wanted by the security authorities, whose pictures and names were given out to security checkpoints on charges of supporting the al-Huthi armed rebellion in Sa’adah.

Late last June, also 8 leading rebellion supporters were arrested in Al-Jawaf, Sana’a, and Amran provinces as part of the crack-down by the government on supporters of rebel leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi.

Meanwhile, the US embassy in Sana’a refused to classify the al-Houthi rebels as terrorists, saying that classification of terrorist groups is a very complicated process which needs to based on hard evidence. “Until now, such evidence does not exist in this issue,” said an embassy statement published in Al-Sahwa newspaper on Thursday.

The embassy also expressed in that statement its concerns over the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Sa’adah because of the armed conflict between rebels and government troops. It urged the two warring parties to secure the food, water, and fuel necessary for the civilians being affected by the war.

Several recent articles discuss the Sa’ada war and bring up religious demographics and explore if there is a sectarian dimension to the war. First of all, lets note that there are several sects of Zaidism and the residents of Sa’ada are largely Jarudis, to distinguish them from other Zaydis (the Batriya, the Salihiya and Sulaymaniya).

As Global Security notes, Zaidis are “moderate” in that “The Zaidis do not believe in the infallibility of the Imams, nor that they receive divine guidance. Zaidis…believe it can be held by any descendant of Ali. They also reject the Twelver notion of a hidden Imam, and like the Ismailis believe in a living imam, or even imams. In matters of law or fiqh, the Zaidis are actually closest to the Sunni Shafie school.”

It is my impression, and Im sure someone in Yemen will correct me if Im wrong, for which I am quite appreciative, that within the moderate Zaidi school, the Jarudis are the most inclined to require a Hashimi leader, within the broader acceptability of a “just” leader.

Two recent articles define Hashimis in relation to the Saada War. First is an article about the Sa’ada War in the Middle East Times that critiques an earlier Washington Post article. The MET article correctly states that the war is a political conflict with both sides using external bogey men to gain international support. However, that article describes Yemen’s leadership as Zaidi, not entirely true, as Ali Mohsen who is leading the war effort is a convert to Wahabbism and surrounds himself with hard core Salafis. And the Yemeni regime itself gave the war sectarian overtones, for example by calling the rebels and sympathizers “Satanic”, issuing Fatwas, burning religious books, banning mainstream religous ceremonies (al-Ghadir day) and harassing Hashimites based on their religion. The regime’s Houthi paranoia has reached new heights and anyone with a grudge can get their enemy arrested by leveling a charge of Houthism.

The most significant fact of the Sa’ada war is, was and remains the regime’s collective punishment of the civilian population, including random bombardment, arbitrary arrests and the withholding of food, medicine and international aid. The withholding of food and medicine to 700,000 civilians in Sa’ada is a practice the regime sometimes openly defends, othertimes obscures as required by “security concerns”. Yemen’s donors have made statements about the humanitarian disaster in Sa’ada, calling for a resolution that allows aid to the region, however aid organizations are still stymied.

The EU called on the Yemeni government to do “all it can to ensure that innocent civilians are not caught up in the conflict”….Based on the assessment of needs and access to victims, the EU remains ready to consider urgent humanitarian assistance to victims, including the worrying number of internally displaced people.

The EU voiced the belief that only a political solution can achieve lasting peace, and called on all parties to show restraint and to work actively towards a negotiated settlement along the lines of the February 2008 agreement. “The stability of Yemen is crucial for the people of Yemen and for the region as a whole,” the presidency said.

Mareb Press: “The US embassy in Sana’a said in the first comment about what is happening in Saada that resuming dialogue is the best solution for restoring peace in the government. The human and economic losses are great in Saada and the US thinks that dialogue is the best alternative choice, the independent al-Share’e Newspaper quoted the source as saying.”

Now to the second article, which notes the Houthis are 5′ers not 12′ers like Iranian Shia and, like the WaPo article, highlights both the media blackout and the humanitarian crisis. The region is under seige, the author correctly states, and the civilians have recieved very little attention internationally, which is partially due to the media black-out.

Yemeni Daggers Unsheathed
By RANNIE AMIRI

“If a cat dies in Lebanon, the world knows about it. Here in Yemen, we are forgotten.”

- Zaidi scholar Sayyid Mourtada al-Muhatwari

The jambiya or ceremonial curved, double-edged dagger worn under the belt of Yemeni men after age 14 conveys both the status and clan of the person wearing it. It may be harmlessly drawn during traditional dances but only in rare and exceptional circumstances would it ever be used as a weapon against another. Sadly, this is essentially what is happening in the fratricidal war taking place in Yemen, one of the Arab world’s poorest countries. It is a war that has gone largely unnoticed yet one that clearly exposes the political and sectarian fault lines emblematic of similar conflicts in Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine.

The uprising in Saada, a governorate located in the mountainous highlands of northwest Yemen along the border with Saudi Arabia, began exactly four years ago. It was initially led by Zaidi cleric Hussein Badr al-Din al-Houthi and his Shabab al-Momineen (Believing Youth) movement against the government of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

To better understand this rebellion, a cursory knowledge of Zaidi and Yemeni history is helpful.

The Zaidiyyah school in Islam is considered an early offshoot of Shia Islam. Whereas the majority of Shiites believe that a finite line of 12 Imams succeeded the Prophet Muhammad, Zaidis assert that Zaid ibn Ali, after whom they are named, should have rightfully been recognized as the 5th Imam instead of his brother. More importantly, they contend the line of imams is ongoing and continues to this day. Any male who can trace their lineage back to the Prophet qualifies for the position (reports differ as to whether Hussein al-Houthi designated himself as imam). These Arab descendents of the Prophet are known as Hashimites.

(Read on …)

Sahwa Net- Yemeni security sources in Hodiada province has arrested a missionary cell including 7 people on charges of promoting to Christianity and distributing the Bible.

Sources told Sahwa Net that the Political Security of Hodaida arrested a so-called Hadni Dohni accused of converting to Christianity and other 6 aides.

The sources said that the suspects were transferred to Sana’a in order to investigate them to know who support them.

Yemen to establish religious police and Jihad TV channel, further undermining reformers and democracy advocates.

The Media Line

[‘Sana, Yemen] Educated and liberal, Ghaida Farouq likes to hang out with her family and friends in places like the Coffee Trader, a Starbucks-style coffee shop in ‘Sana, capital of Yemen, and in the new variety of restaurants offering quality services and food.

Smiling, happy faces can be seen in such places, where men and women, locals and foreigners can enjoy drink or food. A first-time visitor might ask: “Is this really Yemen?”

People who hang out in these places spend on a cup of coffee more than the average pay slip of a regular citizen in Yemen. And the ambience provides a romantic venue for couples to enjoy being together without any kind of harassment.

However, this Western-like environment is deemed by some religious scholars in Yemen as a center of immorality. They believe that “international Zionism” and “materialism” of the owners will damage the morality of the Muslim nation.

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The National

SANA’A // Civil society organisations have condemned calls by clerics for the establishment of a religious police, or “authority to promote virtue and curb vice”, as an attack on civil rights and freedom of expression.

Around 50 representatives of a variety of organisations who gathered at the al Jawi Forum in Sana’a last week said establishing a “religious police” is unconstitutional and contravenes the state’s duty to protect individual rights. They subsequently pledged to organise campaigns against it.

“Such an authority under the pretext of countering vice is only another façade for political oppression through the use of religion,” read a joint press release issued by nine of the organisations.

“It is just an outcome of the coalition between the political and religious institutions and is meant to harass and intimidate political activists critical of government policies.”

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Talking to women in public: haram. It leads to sex in the street according to the fanatics.

Student attacked for walking with women
Friday 06 June 2008 / Mareb Press

A 23-year-old university student said he was beaten up for walking with a female friend in Aden in May.

“A bearded man attacked and slapped me while I was walking with my girl colleague, saying it’s haram to talk to women in the street,” said the student.

The student was going home from the Aden law college along with two boys and three girls when a group of religious men intercepted them and had a fight with them over “walking and talking” with girls in the street.

In an interview with Gulf News this week, the student, who asked not to be named, said: “When I asked the men why are you doing this, one of them rudely said, ‘Do you want us to wait until you have sex with her in the street?’”

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and as we discussed frequently, arrested Zaidi preachers are often replaced by Salafi preachers and this occurs in Sann’a as well as Sa’ada.

SANA’A, NewsYemen

The Yemeni Organization for Defending Rights and Democratic Freedoms denounced the arrest of a Zaidi preacher on Tuesday in the wake of war in Sa’ada between the government and rebels.

The organization warned that the arrest of Yaser al-Wazeer, the preacher of Al-Shareefa Mosque in Sana’a, “is extremely dangerous and legally baseless measure”.

This campaign of random arrests that mainly targets the Zaidi sect affiliates, clerics, students and rights activists will deepen the danger against social peace, said the organization.

The organization demanded that the security authorities reveal the detention of al-Wazeer and immediately release him. It also urged local and international rights organizations to standby al-Wazeer and to intervene to stop violations, arrests and involuntary disappearances that followed war in Sa’ada.

Land Dispute: Officials

(CNN) — A man opened fire at a Shiite mosque Friday in northern Yemen, killing six and wounding 12, state-run news agency SABA said. Three are in critical condition, the report said.

The shooter, now in police custody, was identified as Abdullah Saleh Al Qahhali, 24, according to SABA.

It was the second attack this month against Shiites in Yemen.

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The jihadization of Yemen. If I call it the Talibanization of Yemen, will more people recognize the trend? (Interesting, but not unsurprising, the Minister of Tourism is in there…) Danged good Yemen Times oped:

Gracious are the Yemeni people. They will soon have guards to promote virtue and curb vice. A group of clerics led by Sheikh Abdulmajid Al-Zindani, rector of the Islamic Al-Iman University, recently spoke to President Ali Abdullah Saleh about setting up a national committee for promotion of virtue and prevention of vice. This information was announced recently by Hamud Hashim Al-Tharhi, a leading figure in the Islah party.

Al-Zindani and his fellows alleged that vice and debauchery has dominated the country. According to Al-Tharhi, the committee will involve the Ministers of Culture, Tourism and Information among others.

It has the same orientation as the anti-vice organization operating in Saudi Arabia for decades. While the Saudis are now trying to curb the activities of this organization as a part of their fight against terrorism and religious fanaticism, Yemen is just starting to allow it.

This is the latest invention of Al-Zindani following his allegations of his successful invention of a cure for HIV/AIDS. This man who has been once a cleric in the presidential council representing the Islah party in the then-coalition government is mad for publicity and seeing himself on camera. Following his ousting from the position as head of the Islah party’s Shura Council, he has been frantically trying to keep himself on camera in his effort to remain a public figure. He has been leading protests against the Israeli attacks on Palestinians and protests against the Danish cartoons.

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Nifty, UN specially designated terrorist Abdulmajid al-Zindani gets his own TV station. The jihadization of Yemen is just rolling along. News websites blocked; jihaddi websites open. Terrorists free; journalists in jail. The US Treasury Department notes al-Zindani as a mentor to bin Laden and a financier of terrorism. Zindani runs al-Iman University that teaches hard core Salifism, and the US has charged that it provides terror training or indoctrination. Alum include John Walker Lind and that French guy, Brigette, among others. Meanwhile the regular journalists are under assault and the broadcast media is monopolized by the state.

SANA’A, NewsYemenMinister of Information Hassan al-Lawzi has issued a decision to establish a religious TV satellite channel called El-Eman according to instructions of president Saleh.

The decision stipulates that the new channel will be run by the Yemeni Corporation for Radio and TV and monitored by a group of scholars from Yemeni Scholars Association, Ministry of Information and Ministry of Endowments and Religious Guidance.

The decision has also determined that the channel’s focus will be the holy Quaran and its sciences; health awareness according to Islamic Sharia; promoting Islamic virtues like justice, equity, cooperation, tolerance and solidarity; and Islamic view towards extremism, terrorism, revenge, disputes and corruption . The channel will also broadcast programs on Islamic civilization and debates on contemporary Islamic issues. Official news agency said the channel will start a trial period of broadcast via Arabsat’s Badr 4 in the coming few weeks.

YO

Hamoud al-Hitar
Judge Hamoud al-Hitar, Endowment Minister, said that he will resign if he fails in protecting the endowment lands and property against those who commit transgressions against them. He also said that he enjoys the president’s support at facing the endowment trespassers, whatever influence or authority they have.

Al- Hitar added that none are superior to the law, considering the parliament’s approval of the endowment law and the formation of the supreme endowment council as a big support for the endowment property protection.

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SANA’A, NewsYemen :

The International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) said in a new report on situation in Sa’ada during the period from September 2007 to March 2008 that many parts of Sa’ada governorate in Northern Yemen have not yet recovered from four years of conflict between the Yemeni armed forces and the “Believing Youth” fighters.

“More than 60′000 persons are still affected and enduring the consequences of the conflict,” it said. “They are in critical need of humanitarian assistance.”

The ICRC said it maintains its presence in the governorate and it continues to operate in affected areas in cooperation with the Yemen Red Crescent Society (YRCS).

ICRC activities are currently operated by the Sub Delegation in Sa’ada governorate where 11 international and 30 national staff are based. They are working in close cooperation with the Yemen Red Crescent Society (YRCS),” it said.

The ICRC is progressively expanding its activities and boosting its response capacity in different fields in Sa’ada governorate to help meet the acute humanitarian needs of the affected population; the displaced, returnees and vulnerable residents who are giving shelter to the displaced, it said.

It said that from September 2007 to March 2008, the ICRC, in cooperation with YRCS branch in Sa’ada, assisted over 80′000 persons with emergency aids like clean drinking water and health care for people in affected population.

Mareb Press

Fighting in Saada displaced 50 thousand people, report
Topic: Local News

A local report reveals that more than 50 thousand people are homeless, epidemic and infectious disease are spread and many schools are closed as a result of the last war between Houthi rebels and the army in Saada province.

The Human Rights Report for 2007 issued by the Yemeni Observatory for Human Rights says more than 114 buildings including 4 mosques and health centers were transferred to military barracks.

“79 houses were completely destroyed and 74 houses partially destroyed. Also, 5 mosques and 8 schools were partially damaged,” the report added.

According to the report, many members of Zaidi sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam, and al-Houthi supporters were arrested or disappeared.

The report says some 286 people have been lost since the conflict began in 2004 and about 2000 people were arrested in the last war.

The report adds that the detentions were taken place in Sa’ada, Sana’a, Amran, Hajja, Dhammar and Hudeidah. Some 370 people are put in prison for illegal justifications, the report adds.

Some detainees were exposed to psychological and physical torture and humiliating and inhuman treatment. A lot of detainees were put in small and poorly-ventilated prison cells, the report says.

The report points out that Hesham Hajr is one of the victims of violations because the detention bodies refused to transfer him to hospital.

A program of forced conversion:

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Government blames Zaidi rebels. Rebels deny and demand investigation. The rebels have not targeted civilians since war broke out in 2004.

Yemen Online
Sana’a, May 2, 2008 (yemenonline) - A car bomb has killed or wounded dozens of worshippers at a mosque in Sa’ada governorate.

Most of the victims were filing out of the Bin Salman mosque after Friday prayers in the city of Sa’ada.

There were conflicting reports about the cause of the explosion but sources said that the attack targeted a military commander when he was coming out of the mosque.

Sources said that 15 worshipers including two children were killed and that over 40 others were wounded.

Rebels’ leader, Abdulmalik al-Houthi denied that his followers carried out the attack and demanded a nuetral probe to be launched into the attack.

Others said the blast was caused by a booby-trapped motorcycle.

Al-Houthis suspected to be behind mosque blast in Saada, says security official

[02 May 2008]
SANA’A, May 02 (Saba)- Saada Security director brigadier Mohammed al-Qahm affirmed that fingerprints of al-Houthis are evident in the explosion that hit Bin Salman Mosque just after Jummah Prayer.

“The mosque’s preacher is against al-Houthis beliefs,” al-Qahm said to Saba, adding that “the incident was carried out by a booby-trapped motorbike resulting with 9 people killed, out of them a soldier, a child and a woman, and 38 others injured who were taken to a nearby hospital”.

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