Armies of Liberation

The seven AQAP killed in Azzam, Shabwa included Egyptian Ibrahim al Banna who was among 28 arrested in Hadramout in 2008. The group was put on trial in 2010 for forming an armed gang; seven of the 28 were tried in absentia and its unclear whether al Banna still was in custody or not. An article written at the time of the trial ties him to Iraqi al Qaeda. Also killed in the strike were Anwar al Awlaki’s son and cousin, the ABC article notes. A June drone strike in the same area killed Abu al Harithy Jr. of the Zarchawi cell that admitted fighting in Iraq and was tried in 2006; the court accepted their defense argument that jihad is a duty in occupied Muslim lands. Update: Tribal leaders said that Farhan al Quso also was killed in the attack. He is the brother of Fahd Mohammed al-Quso, a particularly elusive Al Qaeda fugitive who helped plan the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole attack.

WaPo: Yemeni officials familiar with the U.S. military drive against al-Qaida in Yemen said a shift of strategy by the Americans was finally yielding results, with human assets on the ground directly providing actionable intelligence to U.S. commanders rather than relying entirely on Yemen’s security agencies the Americans had long considered inefficient or even suspected of leaking word on planned operations. They said there were as many as 3,000 informers on the U.S. payroll around the country — some without even knowing it.

The terrorists targeted a pipeline in Shabwa carrying LNG from Marib to Balhaf in retaliation.

ABC The head of the media department of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has been killed in a trio of US air strikes on militant outposts in Yemen, and gunmen retaliated by blowing up a gas export pipeline.

The death of Ibrahim al-Banna, an Egyptian described by Yemeni officials as high on their wanted list, is a fresh blow to the Islamist group regarded by Washington as the most serious threat to the United States, following the killing of Anwar al-Awlaki last month…The ministry confirmed al-Banna was among seven suspected Al Qaeda militants killed, adding that he was wanted “internationally” for “planning attacks both inside and outside Yemen.”

Al-Banna was “in charge of the media arm of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula” and was one of the group’s “most dangerous operatives,” it added….

Residents and officials said the 322-kilometre pipeline, which links gas fields in Maarib, east of Sanaa, to a $US4.5 billion Total-led liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant, was blown up soon after the raids.

Sources at Total told Reuters the pipeline was blown up in two places, stopping the gas supplies that feed the Belhaf LNG plant. Witnesses said the flames were visible from several kilometres away.

Early Saturday, a local security official told Xinhua that a pipeline carrying gas from Marib to liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in Balhaf port was blown up in Shabwa province.”The targeted gas pipeline located in Rodhoum area, a few miles away from the location of the French giant TOTAL-led Yemeni LNG Company in Balhaf port in southeast province of Shabwa,” the official told Xinhua by phone.
“The bombing took place on Saturday at about 1:30 a.m. local time, just a few hours after Yemeni warplanes hit hideouts of al- Qaida militants in neighboring towns of Azzan and Rawda,” he said on condition of anonymity. The official blamed al-Qaida for the attack.

An engineer of TOTAL-led Yemeni LNG company confirmed to Xinhua the bombing of the company’s gas pipeline. “Huge fire at the hit pipeline can be seen from miles away and the company already suspended gas production,” he said.

Handy for them that the French amb is out of town, either expelled or on vacation, and RG commander and presidential son, Ahmed Saleh has open hostility to all French visitors since French officials issued statements of support for the rev. YLNG is the biggest money maker in Yemen, and TOTAL owns 39%.

If one more person tells me that AQAP will disappear when Saleh is gone, I think my head will explode. While there certainly is substantial overlap and facilitation between the two, it doesn’t matter in the outcome or for the victims.

Al Qaeda takes over new town close to huge gas project
Source : Xinhua,07/09/2011 via Nasser Arrabye

SANAA,-Al-Qaida militants Tuesday seized Rowda town in Yemen’s southeast province of Shabwa, a few miles away from the location of TOTAL-led Yemeni Liquefied Natural Gas ( LNG) Company, a provincial security official told Xinhua.

“The militants of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) took over Rowda town following fierce battles with government forces backed by the Yemeni air force,” the official said on condition of anonymity. (Read on …)

The southern military commander, Maj.Gen. Mahdi Maqualah, Supreme Commander of Southern Region, has been accused many times in directly aiding the AQAP forces in Abyan, as a political tactic to support Saleh. In this case, residents (fishermen and gas station employees) in Shakra, the third Abyan city to fall to al Qaeda, are surprised at the large quantities of oil that AQAP moves repetitively through checkpoints since the beginning of hostilities. There is some collusion by the director of the Aden refinery (again nothing new, the refinery has been a source of AQ funding for a decade). The rest of the Yemen is experiencing severe fuel shortages.

via Yemen Portal blocked sites;

08-22-2011 08:03 www.algnoubal-hur.com: Involvement of the military zone in the southern Abyan events .. The forces transferred Abyan get fuel from plants is facilitated by the government Madawa Elahwal

A number in the city of Saedua, Shakra in Abyan province are extremely surprised by the facilities obtained by the al-Qaeda forces and transferred in the show (Abyan), particularly in obtaining large quantities of oil derivatives on a daily basis in order to facilitate the movement and control of the city .. the quantities of up to more than (five thousand liters) per day on average. (Read on …)

Not even to mention the fuel shortage in Yemen, the contracts with China explain a lot about China’s Security Council position regarding thwarting strong statements and actions against the Saleh regime. (The French Co Total owns 39% of YLNG and sold itself 1/3 of production. the contracts to South Korea are well under market price, as I wrote in 2005.) China of course makes no pretense to support democracy and works corrupt systems very well. Some of the original LNG contracts were renegotiated since the last time I checked them, and China is getting 11 cargos in 2011 and two other buyers have not been revealed. Nifty. In 2010, 10 were shipped to China. Production started in 2008 and have produced 100 shiploads by March 2010. China is Yemen’s main export partner, accounting for 23% of all exports. Chinese trade in January-November 2010 reached US$ 3,664,062,000, up 69.2 per cent year on year. Beyond buying oil, China ships weapons to Yemen. Now we know why the Chinese media is always shilling for Saleh.

China may receive a spot cargo of liquefied natural gas from Yemen today, according to ship- tracking data.

China National Offshore Oil Corp.’s Guangdong terminal may get the fuel from Balhaf, Yemen, on the Maersk Arwa on Aug. 10, according to ship transmissions captured today by AISLive on Bloomberg. It received a cargo on Aug. 8 on the LNG River Orashi, possibly from Bonny LNG in Nigeria, the data show.

ah, article from Feb, 24 2011 a nd more below the fold:

ICIS Yemen LNG expects to ship 57 cargoes to Asia in 2011 in a combination of spot, mid-term and long-term sales, Jean-Pierre Cave, commercial and shipping manager with the company, said during a presentation of LNG Summit in Seoul on Thursday. (Read on …)

Many residents believe its a pressure tactic. the JMP is also blaming the regime. Collective punishment is a usual characteristic of Saleh’s response to unrest. Others note increased rates of smuggling but this article points to a cut pipeline and roads blocked by tribesmen. It may be a lingering effect from the missile strike that killed Sheikh al Shabwani.

Gulf Times: Though Yemen’s oil exports are a modest 105,000 barrels per day, its cash-strapped government depends on the revenue to pay civil servants, its army and fund most state operations. (Read on …)

People’s Daily: Al-Qaida militants on Tuesday gunned down a security colonel working at the Yemen LNG company in southern Shabwa province, local official said.

“Gunmen of al-Qaida in Shabwa’s provincial capital city of Ataq intercepted the car of Colonel Ali Thwaba, who is also the security director of foreign oil and gas companies in Yemen LNG company in Balhaf city port, and shot him dead,” the official told Xinhua by phone on condition of anonymity.

TOTAL is selling one third of the gas for a profit to its subsidiary TotalGas which resells it for a profit to various customers. In this case shipments are being diverted from the US to Asia for higher prices, but no US companies have contracts with TOTAL itself.

26 Sept: Sana’a: Yemen LNG Co, partly owned by France’s Total, plans to increase liquefied natural gas output by 30 per cent next year, the managing director said. (Read on …)

Aaron notes its a South Korean pipeline. South Korea divested some of its holding in the LNG project after the lethal terror attack on the South Koran tourists in March 09. And France’s TOTAL is the developer of the LNG project and a major stake holder. France was recently warned by the Saudis about an AQAP plot and is on alert. Just a coincidence I’m sure.

Korean Times:
Tuesday’s explosion at a South Korean oil pipeline in southern Yemen was apparently a bomb attack, raising concerns about the safety of Koreans abroad. There is no confirmation about who was behind the blast and what prompted it, although al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has claimed responsibility for the bombing….Yemen has already emerged as a breeding ground for al-Qaida terrorists. Four South Korean tourists were killed in a bomb attack in the historic city of Shibam, 90 kilometers east of the Yemeni capital Sanaa on March 15, 2009. About three months later, a Korean female aid worker was killed by rebels.

(Read on …)