Armies of Liberation

errrrr… Arbitrary detiontion are a problem for everybody in Yemen but we can’t take anything at face value. Wasn’t the last statement to al-Wasat discredited? Is this from Jund al-Yemen or al-Qaeda in Yemen? There’s always more questions than answers.

Al Qaida threatens to turn Yemen into ’second Iraq’
, 03 Jul 2008 12:55:28 +0300 12 PM / Mareb Press–By Nasser Arrabyee, Correspondent

An alleged Al Qaida leader threatened on Wednesday to make Yemen like Iraq if the Yemeni government did not release Al Qaida men and stop hunting them down.

The Yemeni government arrested about 50 young men, including students from Quran memorisation schools, during last June, said an official in the alleged military wing of Al Qaida in Yemen.

“If you want to make Abu Ghraib in the prison of the political security [intelligence], then we will make Yemen second Iraq,” threatened the man, who was identified as Abu Yahya, in a statement published by the interdependent Al Wasat weekly.

Abu Yahya said that the military wing of Al Qaida in Yemen will reply in the appropriate time to such “irresponsible actions and arbitrary detentions”.

The threatening statement came after a failed attack claimed by Al Qaida on oil installations in Mareb, east of the country in the lats week of June, 2008.

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.

(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.

This doesn’t make sense. I dont think the Houthis are connected to Lebanese Hezbollah, and if Saleh wants to end the fighting, all he has to do is implement his end of the peace accord.

CBS News

President Saleh sent a message to the Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary general of the militant Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah, urging him to intervene to put an end to the fighting with the rebel Huthi followers in Saada in northern Yemen, according to a report posted on a Yemeni Internet forum by the Yemeni Shiiter group Ansar al Haq. The group also posted several videos that showed aftermath pictures of an airstrike by Yemeni warplanes on a village in Saada. One video showed what the group said were parachute drops of food and supplies for Yemeni forces stranded in the Meran area.

Arresting people who are printing books? It could be the normal mainstream Zaidi teachings, its unclear.

Sahwa Net – Yemeni security forces could seize on Thursday a cell in Aden relating to Houthi rebels which printed books of the Imamate rule.

A source told 26 September newspaper that the cell includes 8 persons that promoted to Houthi ideologies. On the other hand, confrontations are still underway in Saada governorate between rebels headed by Abdul-Malik al-Houthi and Yemen’s army.

A logical article from the IHT,

Al Qaeda made its name in blood and pixels, with deadly attacks and an avalanche of electronic news media.

Recent news articles depict an online terrorist juggernaut that has defied the best efforts by the United States government to counter it. While these articles are themselves a testimony to Al Qaeda’s media savvy, they don’t tell the whole story.

When it comes to user-generated content and interactivity, Al Qaeda is now behind the curve. And the United States can help to keep it there by encouraging the growth of freer, more empowered online communities, especially in the Arab-Islamic world.

The genius of Al Qaeda was to combine real-world mayhem with virtual marketing. The group’s guerrilla media network supports a family of brands, from Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (in Algeria and Morocco) to the Islamic State of Iraq, through a daily stream of online media products that would make any corporation jealous.

A recent report I wrote for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty details this flow. In July 2007, for example, Al Qaeda released more than 450 statements, books, articles, magazines, audio recordings, short videos of attacks and longer films. These products reach the world through a network of quasi-official online production and distribution entities, like Al Sahab, which releases statements by Osama bin Laden.

But the Qaeda media nexus, as advanced as it is, is old hat. If Web 1.0 was about creating the snazziest official Web resources and Web 2.0 is about letting users run wild with self-created content and interactivity, Al Qaeda and its affiliates are stuck in 1.0.

In late 2006, with YouTube and Facebook growing rapidly, a position paper by a Qaeda-affiliated institute discouraged media jihadists from overly “exuberant” efforts on behalf of the group for fear of diluting its message.

This is probably sound advice, considering how Al Qaeda fares on YouTube. A recent list of the most viewed YouTube videos in Arabic about Al Qaeda included a rehash of an Islamic State of Iraq clip with sardonic commentary added and satirical verses about Al Qaeda by an Iraqi poet.

Statements by bin Laden and his chief deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, that are posted to YouTube do draw comments aplenty. But the reactions, which range from praise to blanket condemnation, are a far cry from the invariably positive feedback Al Qaeda gets on moderated jihadist forums. And even Al Qaeda’s biggest YouTube hits attract at most a small fraction of the millions of views that clips of Arab pop stars rack up routinely.

(Read on …)

so says the judge…

SANAA: A Yemeni court yesterday sent back to prison a convicted top Al Qaeda militant with a $5mn US bounty on his head, rejecting his appeal to be released on bail.
The appeal court in Sanaa turned down the bail application by Jaber al-Banna, one of 36 convicted militants who are appealing prison sentences of between two and 15 years.
Banna was sentenced to 10 years in jail last year while he was still on the run after being convicted of plotting a suicide bomb attack on oil facilities in Yemen in September 2006 that was foiled by police. He was ordered yesterday to return to court on October 11 when the verdict on his appeal would be delivered.

(Read on …)

Forgot to pos tthis earlier, I think… “Come to Yemen,” Al-Qaeda in Yemen appeals to “Saudi Brothers”

8 May, 2008

Nicole Stracke
Researcher
Security and Terrorism Department

“Come to Yemen…” This is an appeal by Nayef bin Mohamed Al-Khatany (Abu Humam), a Saudi member of Al-Qaeda who is wanted by Saudi security forces and is believed to be hiding in Yemen. Al-Khatany was recently accused by the Yemen authorities of being the main financier of the two major attacks on Yemen’s oil installations in Marib and Hadramaut carried out by Al-Qaeda in Yemen in September 2006. The ‘call’ appeared in the March edition of Sada al-Malahim, the organization’s magazine that surfaced for the first time on Jihad websites early this year. The magazine published a two-part interview with Al-Khatany. Asked why he, as a Saudi, decided to come to Yemen instead of fighting in Iraq or Afghanistan, Al-Khatany said that Saudi Arabia remains the main battlefield for two reasons: its symbolic value as the home of Islam and its strategic value as the major oil producer and supplier. The Khatany statement admits that the Al-Qaeda branch in Saudi Arabia has lost its battle in the Kingdom as most of its members have been either killed or are in prison. He calls upon the remaining members of the Saudi branch to migrate to Yemen without delay “in order to escape sure arrest by Saudi authorities.” In his statement he invites his “brother mujahideen in the land of the two holy places” (Saudi Arabia) to join him and his colleagues who have already moved to Yemen, asserting that the “liberation” of the land of the two holy places “starts from here.” Al-Khatany calls for united efforts, and urges that the “life and the money of the Saudi mujahideen” be combined with the “land, life and the experiences of the Yemeni brothers.”

(Read on …)

The fifth missed mortar attack. Time to give Saleh more money….

AFP

SANAA (AFP) — The Yemen branch of Al-Qaeda said on Monday it had fired three rockets against an oil refinery east of Sanaa, but witnesses said the attack was abortive.

Al-Qaeda said in a statement posted on an Islamist website that its Jund al-Yemen (Soldiers of Yemen) group launched three Katyusha rockets against the Safir refinery in the Maarib province.

Wednesday’s attack was aimed at “drying up the supply of fuel of the Zionist and Crusader (regime of President President Ali Abdallah Saleh),” it said.

Yemen has not announced any attack but witnesses in the area, some 200 kilometres (125 miles) from the capital Sanaa, told AFP that two rockets had been found intact and not been fired, while the third missed its target.

Besides the refinery, the area has around 40 oil wells.

Al-Qaeda in Yemen has claimed numerous attacks against oil installations, the latest being early this months against the Aden refinery in the south of the country. The authorities say they have not caused any damage.

But never fear: the Yemeni government talked to his guarantors.

Fahd al-Quso, convicted USS Cole bomber freed by Yemeni authorities, was involved in recent terror attacks and is supposedly being hunted. His family warned the Shabwa governor in a letter not to take action and expressed willingness to disclose the source of international financial transfers recieved by al-Quso.

Yemen Post

In a letter directed to Interior Minister, Political Security and Shabwa Governor, the family of Fahd Al-Qas’e, one of those accused of attacking USS Cole, warned against any assault or taking any measure against him.

Al-Qus’e was convicted in 2004 by the State Specialized Penal Court of being trained at the hands of Jamal Al-Badawi for using the camera to make footages of the USS Cole bombing in 2000 off Aden’s coasts.

According to the indictment, Al-Qus’e got the keys of the building from which he took footages of bombing after receiving signals on pager with the code 1010.

He also traveled to Afghanistan where he was trained on how to make explosives, anti-aircrafts missiles and other weapons.

Though he was sentenced for 10 years, Al-Qas’e was released after serving a short term in prison. He is now hunted by security forces following a series of terrorist acts that targeted oil facilities and foreign interests.

Further, security authorities also summoned his guarantors after they tracked money transfers from foreign parties outside the country.

However, the family asserted that these transfers come from relatives and sons who are living abroad, hinting that none can hold them on account for that only when these sums are exploited for acts that undermine security and stability.

They also expressed their readiness to talk with security over the source of these transfers, maintaining they reject any measure that runs counter to law.

In related news, the Sana’a-based U.S. Embassy renewed its request for extraditing Jabr Al-Bana, a Yemeni-American citizen to face the accusations raised against him in the United States.

The Embassy spokesman stated on Saturday that talks are underway in order to secure extraditing Jabr Al-Bana and Jamal Al-Badawi accused of plotting the attack that targeted USS Cole in 2000. The operation left 17 American Marines dead and dozens others injured.

US Embassy pursues extradiction or at least imprisonment in Yemen:

News Yemen The U.S. Embassy in Sana’a said the United States believes that Jamal al-Badawi and Jabr al-Banna, wanted by US, should be extradited to the United Sates to be tried before a US court.

(Read on …)

Consistently good reporting from the Buffalo News

Area terror cell numbered 8, agent says
By Dan Herbeck
Updated: 06/22/08 7:57 AM

Although they were known as the “Lackawanna Six,” the group of Buffalo- area men who trained at Osama bin Laden’s terrorist camp in Afghanistan actually numbered eight — and could have grown to 12, according to the former FBI agent who headed the investigation.

The seventh man was Kamal Derwish, killed by a CIA missile attack in Yemen in 2002.

The eighth is Jaber A. Elbaneh, now facing charges in Yemen.

He’s the one that retired FBI agent Peter J. Ahearn is especially interested in, because he considers Elbaneh to be a “dangerous, hardened” terrorist who should have been sent back to America by Yemen’s government years ago. In fact, the U. S. government continues to offer a $5 million reward for his capture and return to Buffalo.

“The government of Yemen is our partner in the war on terrorism, but only when they want to be,” said Ahearn, former special agent in charge of the Buffalo FBI office. “I can’t see [Elbaneh] ever being brought back to Buffalo . . . even though he’s supposedly being held in a Yemen jail right now.”

(Read on …)

Express India

June 21 A joint operation by the Military Intelligence (MI) and the Bangalore city police culminated in the arrest of six Manipuri extremists of the People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK) on Thursday. Officials from the MI unit at Southern Command Headquarters, Pune, co-coordinated the operation.

Those arrested are Ibungo Singh alias Chulamba (29), a self-styled lieutenant who had to discharge the duties of an officer, Sergeant Major Laikhu Ram Jiten Singh alias Dada (30) who was the project officer in charge of collecting money and Joney alias Nanao (26), all of them Manipuri nationals who are wanted in many cases of bomb blasts, extortion and other terror activities. The other three arrested are Megan Chander (29), Vikas Pradhan (24) and a foreign national from Yemen, Almer Mohammed (23).

The MI was tracking the extremists for the past one month and after enough evidence against them was gathered, decided to zero in and make the arrests….While Jiten Singh is suspected to have links with the ISI, sources said the foreign national was suspected to have Al Qaeda connections, which are yet to be conclusively proved.

The last time we heard about JI in Yemen was the Ayyoub brothers.

Yemen Observer

The source was quoted as saying that the arrested suspect is a high-profile al-Qaeda militant and has provided important information during interrogations.
An informed source revealed to the Yemen Observer that the arrested person was an Indonesian citizen.
Prior to this event the Yemeni authorities announced the arrest of 11 suspected al-Qaeda militants in the capital Sana’a.
The security apparatuses also detained some persons suspected of protecting and sheltering escaped al-Qaeda fugitives in Marib province
In the last few weeks the security forces have launched many raids against al-Qaeda in Yemen, particularly after al-Qaeda militants carried out several attacks against facilities and residential buildings in the country.

Update: Elbaneh is being held in the same jail he escaped from previously, I believe. My question today is, did they ever close up the tunnel?

Original post: Who was it who pretended to be in jail? Oh yes, it was convicted Limburgh bomber Abu Bakr al-Raibee who the security forces used to dress up in prison clothes to bring him from his home to court. According to his father, Abu Bakr never spent a day in jail despite a ten year sentence because he had a deal with President Saleh, just as Elbaneh claims to. And maybe Elbaneh is behind bars, but after so much duplicity on the part of the Yemeni regime, its difficult to have any real faith in their assurances. Jaber Elbaneh is an American citizen who attended the al-Farouk training camp in Afghanistan along with six of his friends from Lackawanna, New York. The six eventually all pled guilty to terror related charges upon their return to the US. Elbaneh went to Yemen.

Local News: Al-Bana’s trial postponed Tuesday 03 June 2008 / Mareb Press

A Yemeni appealing court postponed today the trial of the 36 men accused of carrying out terrorist attacks against Yemeni-western interests and trying to bomb oil installations in Hadramout and Marib in September 2006.

In the session, the lawyer of Jabr al-Bana, one of the defendants, demanded the court to acquit al-Bana and release him on bail.

“The Yemeni constitution gives al-Bana the right to continue his trial outside the prison because he has provided the court with the necessary guarantee,” the lawyer said.

(Read on …)

Alternate title: 33 Al-Qaeda Terrorists in Sana’a

Al-Neda obtained a circular issued by security forces to real estate agents in Sana’a warning them not to rent to (convicted USS Cole terror attack mastermind) Jamal al-Badawi or 32 other “wanted” terrorists. The Yemeni authorities are apparently maintaining the stance that al-Badawi is in jail. (I thought this Newsweek article and this WaPo article laid that assertion to rest.)

So the regime released al-Badawi but doesn’t want him in Sana’a, so it pressures real estate agents not to rent to him? This is the way one criminal gang deals with another, not the way an allied state deals with the convicted murder of 17 US sailors.

Meanwhile a journalist (al-Khaiwani), a comedian (Fahd al-Qarni) and an opposition party leader (Hassan Baoum) all face the death penalty for exercising their civil rights. Al-Khaiwani wrote something, al-Qarni sang something and Baoum said something. They are all on trial, each charged with attempting to overthrow the regime, and may be executed for expressing their opinions.

al-Nedda: Headed by Jamal Badawi, Security circular prohibits real estate offices in the capital to deal with the 33 wanted - Mr. Bashir

Jamal Badawi, one of the most wanted of the United States of America, is on top of a list of 33 names distributed by the security to real estate offices prohibiting them from giving service in the capital to any of the “wanted” al-Qaeda operatives.

The list includes Badawi, who the authorities of security emphasize his presence in jail. The list was circulated two weeks ago (Al Neda got a copy of it). The list includes three detainees who escaped from the Political Security early February 2006: Hamza Alkaaiti, Qasem Al-Riyami, Ibrahim Hwaidi as well as 9 of Arab nationalities: 7 Egyptians a Saudi, and a Jordanian. The private sources to “Al Nedal» said that the security forces informed real estate workers in the capital, not to deal with the names appearing on the list, and to report them when they recognize one of them.

The source explained that the security forces met with real estates owners in each directorate separately. According to the same sources, security service men are carrying out a sudden control campaigns on the offices of real estate services to ensure the commitment of its owners, including imposed by the security organs also they issue new leases since the circular. U.S. officials had doubted the existence of Jamal al-Badawi in custody and demanded the Yemeni authorities to conduct surprise inspections of prisons.

Its weird. Al-Qaeda convention in Sana’a or more regime propaganda, counter-terror efforts at last (the Saudis gave them the list) or none of the above?

(Read on …)

ERIGAVO, Somalia June 8
(Garowe Online) - Police authorities in Somalia’s breakaway region of Somaliland are questioning two foreigners who were arrested in the region of Sanaag on Saturday, sources said.

The two men – one from Yemen, the other from China – were arrested alongside four Somalis in the port town of Las Korey. The two foreigners were transported to a police station near Erigavo, the provincial capital of Sanaag, Somaliland Defense Minister Abdullahi Ali Ibrahim told reporters.

(Read on …)

Update: “Near” the pipeline, missed again according to al-Motamar

Mareb Press

The oil pipelines in al-Buriqa zone, Aden, were hit by three missiles by unknown people.

Aden refinement is located in al-Buriqa Zone.

A security source told Mareb Press that there are no casualties. The source added tha the missiles targeted the oil pipelines.

The security authorities are still investigating the incident, the source added.

Some sources said that AlQaeda organization may be behind the attack.

(Read on …)

AQI urges large attacks on US interests. The missing mortars have become embarrassing.

Yemen Online

Sana’a, May 26, 2008 (YemenOnile) - Al-Qaeda organization called its followers in Yemen to initiate “tough and painful” strikes against foreign interests mainly those of the U.S.

“We hope from our brothers in Yemen to get us back to the old days of attacking USS Cole and French Limburg as such operations influence the people nowadays,” said a statement posted in a website run by al-Qaeda.

(Read on …)

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.

(Read on …)

Well good for al-Eryany! Public takfirism (especially in the official media) does indeed feed terror and legitimates fanatical thinking.

Ergo, fatwas are not necessary to justify the Saada war if it is a justified action, as the state does have the right to a monopoly on the use of force. (It would be nice if the state stopped bombing civilians though and got some food in there.) And there is no need to call the Southerners unbelievers or godless. The state’s authority is derived from the people and their consent, in theory.

When the state fatwas the opposition, it adds a cultural legitimacy to the fanatical notion that one Muslim can declare another un-Muslim and deserving of death. Like al-Qaeda does. Its an important topic to be addressed. Pluralism and tolerance are characteristics of Yemeni society, however the state is undermining these characteristics whenever it brings religion into political discourse.

Politician’s taking advantage of religion feeds terror

Almotamar.net - The symposium on religious and political indulgence has on Monday recommended the work for disconnection between what is political and religions or the politician taking advantage of religion, holding the forces that employ the religious dimension the major part of responsibility for antagonism and arousing and feeding hostile tendencies in addition to pushing the intellectual phenomenon of extremism towards the practical phenomenon of terror.

The closing statement of the symposium organized by the Bridges of Cultures Forum, Chaired by Dr Abdulkarim al-Eryany and held over two days, also recommended the reconsideration of some concepts and policies and criteria, that proved their contribution to expansion of the sphere of extremism and driving its parties to terror.

While the participants affirmed that extremism and terror have no religion and no homeland and not to blame a certain homeland and religion for the act of some who are affiliate of them and are in fact faced with rejection by their societies, those participants also called fro revival of dialogue between religions provided that it should take a different title of dialogue among religious references.

Participants in the symposium called on all religious, political, cultural media institutions as well as political parties and civil society organisations, directly and indirectly concerned with the creation of public opinion and owner of the national, regional and international decision, for the necessity of making the values of tolerance and coexistence as the reference for first care in whatever it is planned for and they implement in service of the goals of social peace and human coexistence.

Yahya al-Houthi, Member of Parliament (in exile in Germany) and brother of rebel leader, Abdulmalik al-Houthi, responds to an article at Strategy Page (here) discussing the Houthi rebellion and Sa’ada War. He refutes the assertion that the rebels bombed the mosque:

Dear Sir,

I am grateful to Jane Novak and Gudrun for their comments, and would like to add mine. Let me note that the knowledge presented in this article is not entirely correct. First of all, the Zaydis make up about 45% of the Yemeni population. (According to the US foreign ministry, they make up 33%.) Regarding the claim that we seek to return imamate rule, I submit that the issue is neither imamate nor republican rule. What concerns us is that over the past thirty years, there has been a dictatorship in Yemen. During that period, there have been six US presidents who cannot rule for more than eight years. In Yemen, one president has been ruling for thirty years: Do you call this republican rule?

With respect to the bombing of the bin Salman mosque in Sa`dah, the writer’s conclusions are not backed up by evidence. Firstly, the city of Sa`dah is under government control. There are no fighters associated with the Huthi family stationed in the city. Anyone who is suspected of being affiliated with us is immediately arrested. The city resembles an army barrack. The motorcycle was the property of the Ministry of Agriculture. The bomb exploded at the gate to the courtyard of the mosque. The motorcycle was parked at the gate. It could not have been parked there if its owner was unknown because army commanders and soldiers predominantly use the mosque. As far as we are concerned, we are completely opposed to attacks on civilians. I would have appreciated it if the writer also talked about the army’s attacks on Zaydi mosques in the area.

The writer does not provide any evidence that “al Houthi supporters keep breaking” the truces between them and the government. It should be the mediator, in the case the government of Qatar, making claims as to whether we have broken the truce, but they have failed to do so. The writer’s accusations rest entirely on government propaganda.

Regarding the writer’s claim that we consider Saleh a traitor for dealing with the Sunni majority, this is incorrect. Traditionally the Sunnis in Yemen have been Shafi’is, and Zaydis and Shafi’is have always respected each other’s schools of thought. Our problem is that the president has become a Wahhabi and has been trying to implant by force the Wahhabi school of thought in Zaydi areas, aided by finances provided by Wahhabi-based institutions.

It is a distortion of Yemeni history to argue that the battles with Shia tribesmen have been going on since 1962. The leaders of the 1962 revolution were almost all Zaydi-Shi`is, and Zaydis fought on both sides during the ensuing civil war. While it is true that many government officials are Sunnis, the reigns of power are all in the hands of those hailing from Zaydi areas, whether or not they embrace Zaydi beliefs.

We are not anti-American per se. Rest assured that we do not have any issues with the American people, but we disapprove of some of their government’s foreign policy in the Middle East. Like many people in the Middle East of all faiths, we were opposed to the US led invasion of Iraq and the subsequent killing of civilians. Generally, we hate the use of force in order to solve problems because of the loss of life and the destruction it causes. If the writer has ever been listening to mosque speeches in Yemen, he would be aware that both Zaydi and Sunni imams curse America. The Saleh government itself opposed the invasion of Iraq.

It would have been helpful if the writer had based his research on government sources as well as on information provided by our own spokesmen.

Now if I was in Yemen, I’d be subject to the death penalty for publishing this letter.

IHT

Yemen puts Qaeda operative back in jail

Reuters
Monday, May 19, 2008
SANA, Yemen: A Yemeni-American on the FBI’s most-wanted list of terror suspects was jailed in Yemen after an appeals court upheld his 10-year prison sentence, officials said Monday.

(Read on …)

FBI Most Wanted Jaber Elbaneh was jailed after losing his appeal. Evidence against the Yemeni-American in the 2006 pre-election attack on oil facilities was weak, Interior Minister Rashad al-Alimi had said in defending Elbaneh’s prior release on bail after surrendering to President Saleh. However its possible that Elbaneh is innocent in the “thwarted attack” case and the whole thing is a temporary ploy to take some pressure off Saleh after the news about the USS Cole bombers being effectively pardoned.

Wasn’t al-Badawi also charged in the oil facilities case? Saleh’s cousin, the bin Shamlan bodyguard was acquited earlier, and is still rather peeved about the whole thing.

YO: The political security personnel arrested al- Elbaneh immediately and took him from the court hall to the political security prison.

The order came during the Appeal Court’s session for trying 36 al-Qaeda suspects accused of committing terrorist acts in Yemen, including the bombing of some oil facilities in Marib and al-Dhabah of Hadramout in 2006. They are also accused of planning to attack several foreign interests and governmental institutions, as well as public places, including main hotels.

The court also ordered the general prosecution to publish the photos of the suspect Fahd Saleh al-Hawani who is still at large and also for the prosecution to respond to the requests presented by the suspects that demanded they be released.

Update: Appeal still on going

He resurfaced on February 23, when he walked unannounced into a courtroom at the state security court in Sana’a, escorted by two bodyguards. He left the court after the court hearing.

His appearance before the court’s judge was to appeal against a 10-year absentia jail sentence handed to him by a lower court last November.

Since then, he has attended five court hearings without being arrested, prompting US officials to object to the Yemeni government’s leniency with him and renew demands for his extradition to face trial in the United States.

In the sixth hearing on Sunday, prosecutors demanded al-Banna be arrested pending the verdict by the appeal court. The court’s presiding judge Muhammad al-Hakemi responded to the demand and ordered al-Banna to be jailed.

Al-Banna is on trial at the state security court of appeals in Sana’a along with 31 other men convicted by the first instance state security court in Sana’a on November 7, 2007 of plotting terror attacks, including two car bombs attacks at oil facilities in eastern Yemen in 2006.

When he first appeared at the court on February 23, al-Banna, 41, told judges that his conviction was “unfair” and he said he hadn’t plotted any attacks in Yemen or the United States.

“I have not committed any act, neither in this country nor in America,” al-Banna told the court’s panel. “I was sentenced to 10 years in prison for doing no offence. This is not fair,” he said.

Elbaneh was convicted in a Yemeni court and his appearances in court over the last few months relate to the appeal process. So is the Interior Minister saying Elbaneh was framed? I would believe that.

Washington Post He resurfaced nearly three months ago, on Feb. 23, when he walked unannounced into a cramped Sanaa courtroom, escorted by four bodyguards.

Interrupting a trial of other al-Qaeda suspects, he told the judge his name and declared that all charges against him were bogus. “I haven’t committed any crimes in this country or in the United States,” he said.

He dropped another bombshell by saying he had personally surrendered to Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh and was under his protection. Then he walked out of the courtroom. Stunned court officials did nothing.

U.S. officials objected and renewed demands for his extradition to face trial in Buffalo. Yemen has refused, and senior officials in Sanaa have downplayed the seriousness of the U.S. charges.

Although Elbaneh faces charges in Yemen for his alleged involvement in attacks on foreign oil workers and in another plot, Interior Minister Rashad al-Alimi said the case against him was weak. Alimi said that Elbaneh was cooperating in other investigations and that the government was inclined to treat him leniently.

“One of our tactics is if these terrorist suspects have no blood on their hands and if they are moving in the right direction, let’s help him move in that direction,” Alimi said. “Long imprisonment sometimes makes people angry and makes them vicious, so that they want revenge. That’s their nature — Yemenis are like that.”

Abdel-Karim al-Iryani, a former prime minister and adviser to Saleh, confirmed that Elbaneh had surrendered to the Yemeni president in exchange for a guarantee of protection.

“It’s a very traditional thing in Yemen,” Iryani said. “You surrender yourself to a high-ranking official. His surrender was accepted on the basis that he would cooperate.”

Meanwhile, Elbaneh is allowed to remain free as long as he promises to appear in court when summoned.

What a bunch of elitist imperialist lunatics these al-Qaeda are: they annointed themselves as gatekeeper for the entire nation and magically endowed themselves with the right to murder anyone they please. Somehow these fanatics think they know better than all the other 20 million Yemenis what is right.

Osama gets the final say on who lives and dies in Yemen? Ok so we can start the list of who’s safe.

Thankfully they haven’t learned yet to shoot a mortar. Maybe the regime got a bad shipment from Kim Jung Ear. Maybe not.

(AKI) - An al-Qaeda cell in Yemen has issued a threat against non-Muslim foreign tourists, particularly those from the West, who visit the Arabian Peninsula.

“We warn all the unbelievers who enter the Arabian Peninsula that [targeting] their money and their blood are religiously right for us,” said al-Qaeda of the Jihad in the South of the Arabian Peninsula in a statement that was published in its e-magazine entitled “Epic Echo”.

“We want to tell you that if you enter the Arabian Peninsula under any name or cover, whether as tourists, diplomats, university professors or journalists, know that we are justified in targeting you,” said the statement.

“We do not respect any of the agreements signed by the Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh and various governments.”

The terrorists also mentioned the al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and accused Europeans of not having accepted his offer of peace offered to European governments in April 2004.

“No-one will be safe without an explicit permission from Sheikh Osama,” said the statement.

The group also said that it would also target Yemeni security forces.

In recent weeks, Yemen has been hit by a series of attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against government targets.

Related: US Embassy Attacker Sentence Reduced

2008-05-12 SAN’A, Yemen (AP) - An appeals court in Yemen has reduced the prison sentence for a man convicted of shooting at the U.S. Embassy there. The 2006 shooting caused slight damage to the building in the Yemeni capital of San’a, but no one was hurt. Saleh Alawi al-Ammari was initially sentenced to five years in prison. But a judge on Monday reduced the penalty to three years.

Prosecutors have said al-Ammari went on a shooting spree after listening to videotapes calling on Muslims to wage jihad, or holy war, against the United States because of the Iraq war and American support for Israel.

Naval jihad, to go along with the civil jihad, the e-had, legal challenges, beheadings and suicide bombers, yada yada. Hat tip Eaglespeak, perhaps the most informed maritime themed blogs around.

Memri:

Al-Qaeda Affiliated E-Journal: “The Sea is The Next Strategic Step Towards Controlling The World And Restoring The Islamic Caliphate”

On April 26, 2008, the Islamist website Al-Ikhlas posted an article from Jihad Press, an e-journal reportedly linked to Al-Qaeda, which urges the mujahideen to establish naval terror cells. The article argues that gaining control over the seas and sea passages – especially around the Arabian Peninsula – is a vital step towards renewing the global Islamic caliphate.

It points out that such operations are feasible, because Yemeni groups have already carried out successful attacks against oil tankers, tourist vessels, and commercial vessels in the Gulf of Aden; and other jihad fighters have carried out “two successful attacks on Zionist-Crusader targets in the [territorial] waters of Yemen: …the attack on the American destroyer [USS] Cole in October 2000, and the [attack on the] French oil tanker Limburg in 2002.”

The article adds: “As we draw near to the [crucial] hour when the leadership of the Zionist-Crusader campaign will be dragged to the [negotiation] table to accept the [mujahideen's] terms… it is necessary to [extend] the battle to the seas. The mujahideen have successfully established units of martyrdom-seekers on land; the sea is the next strategic step towards controlling the world and restoring the Islamic caliphate.”

Finally, the article stresses that the seas off the coast of Yemen, namely the Gulf of Aden, the Bab Al-Mandeb strait and the Red Sea are of supreme strategic importance in the campaign to expel the enemy from key locations. If the enemy loses these key areas, it explains, “he will not be able to defend himself on land and [to protect] his naval bases from the mujahideens’ attack.”

Syrian tried on charge of smuggling narcotics into Yemen
Saturday, 10-May-2008

al-Motamar
Almotamar.net - Specialised Yemeni First Instance Criminal Court on Saturday decided to postpone till next Saturday trial of a Syrian national accused of bringing into Yemen more than 450 thousand narcotic tablets Keptagon. The court decision was for allowing the defendant’s lawyer time to study the file of the case.

At the beginning of the court sitting statement of indictment was read out and it included that the defendant Faez Mustafa Dureid, 31, a Syrian nationality working as a tradesman, accused of bringing and possessing more than 450 thousand tablets of narcotic drug Keptagon captured at Sana’a Airport and hidden in sacks of sweets.

During the session held under chairmanship of Judge Muhsin Alwan the prosecution presented evidence of the case and confessions of the defendant in the reports. The charge mentioned the defendant brought sweets from Syria sent for him by a person called Mohammed Ali al-Khalidi living in an area of Madhaya situated between Syria and Lebanon. On his part the defendant is supposed to distribute the drugs to narcotics agents who are Abu Ali Shas, Yemeni and Abu Saleh, a Saudi.

Investigations revealed that the quantity of narcotics brought into Yemen since the beginning of January 2006 amounted to 26000 tablets. The defendant receives the amounts of drugs sent from Syria in the form of desserts and drug tablets are hidden inside.

In his response to the charge the defendant denied the accusation and the defence lawyer asked for photocopying the case file to be able to prepare his defence in the next sitting.

yeah yeah, its safe in Yemen

Khaleej Times

Local News: Why Al Qaeda in Yemen is wooing the Saudis
Saturday 10 May 2008 / Mareb Press

“Come to Yemen… “ This is an appeal by Nayef bin Mohamed Al-Khatany (Abu Humam), a Saudi member of Al Qaeda who is wanted by Saudi security forces and is believed to be hiding in Yemen. Al-Khatany was recently accused by the Yemen authorities of being the main financier of the two major attacks on Yemen’s oil installations in Marib and Hadramaut carried out by Al Qaeda in Yemen in September 2006. The ‘call’ appeared in the March edition of Sada al-Malahim, the organisation’s magazine that surfaced for the first time on Jihad websites early this year.

The magazine published a two-part interview with Al-Khatany. Asked why he, as a Saudi, decided to come to Yemen instead of fighting in Iraq or Afghanistan, Al-Khatany said that Saudi Arabia remains the main battlefield for two reasons: its symbolic value as the home of Islam and its strategic value as the major oil producer and supplier.

The Khatany statement admits that the Al Qaeda branch in Saudi Arabia has lost its battle in the Kingdom as most of its members have been either killed or are in prison. He calls upon the remaining members of the Saudi branch to migrate to Yemen without delay “in order to escape sure arrest by Saudi authorities.”

(Read on …)

TML

Dell L. Dailey, coordinator of the Office for Counterterrorism in the State Department, said on the release of the report last week, that Yemen continued to implement a “surrender” program with terrorists.

Dailey added that the Yemeni courts had released, pending their appeals, several subjects wanted by the United States for acts of terrorism.

“Most notably on October 15, the mastermind of the USS Cole bombing and February 2006 prison escapee, Jamal Al-Badawi, surrendered to Yemeni authorities. He was released to house arrest on October 17, 2007 under the terms of this surrender program. Following substantial U.S. pressure, he was back in jail by October 29,” says the report.

The report also says the government’s capacity for stemming terrorism financing remains limited.

So far, there has been no official reaction to the report from the Yemeni government.

‘Abd Al-Bari Tahir, a political analyst, said that while Yemen suffered from terrorism like any other country, details in the report indicated there were deficiencies in Yemen’s security procedures and in its fight against terrorism.

“Terrorism needs a whole package of solutions, including cultural, educational, and moderate mosque sermons,” Tahir told The Media Line.

“The government fights terrorism either by confrontation or by conspiring with terrorists to achieve political gains, or using them against other parties. This is not enough in a poor country with a deteriorating economy and high rate of unemployment,” he said.

Al-Qa’ida Changing Tactics

A recent statement by Al-Qa’ida instructs its members to control the marine passages, mainly these surrounding the Arabian Peninsula, and particularly those in Yemen. The statement, entitled, “Marine Terrorism: A Strategic Necessity,” appeared on The Ekhlas Islamic Network,a website promoting Al-Qa’ida views and news.

“It has become very crucial to develop the battlefield to reach the sea,” the statement urges the Jihadists. “The sea remains the strategic step forward to dominate the world and reinstate the Islamic Caliphate.”

Generational Conflict

The former chief of the personal guards of the Al-Qa’ida leader said there was a huge conflict between the younger and older generations of the network.

Na’sir Al-Bahri, a taxi driver in ‘Sana, who is the subject of a security-monitoring program, said: “The new generation is very enthusiastic about Jihad. They want to just to fight, and they accuse the older generation of falling apart and getting weaker to continue the Jihad mission.”

“The context of the recent attacks discloses the background of the attackers,” Nabil Al-Sufi, a political and security writer told The Media Line. “It is the A-Zarqawi generation of Al-Qa’ida.

“This is clear from the immature operations, weaker attacks and easy and public targets. Most important is that these attacks have a security nature with no political agenda, which is the main objective of the older generation of Al-Qa’ida,” he said.

Reuters

DUBAI, May 15 (Reuters) - An al Qaeda Yemeni wing threatened attacks on Thursday across the Arabian Peninsula against non-Muslim foreigners including tourists and journalists.

“We warn you not to enter the Arabian Peninsula under any name or cover be it as tourists, diplomats, scientists, experts or journalists; you will be a primary target for the mujahideen,” al Qaeda in the South of the Arabian Peninsula said in the editorial of its e-magazine.

(Read on …)

National

SANA’A // Authorities in Yemen, concerned about charges of supporting terrorism, yesterday ordered the arrest of Jaber Elbaneh, who is on the FBI’s most wanted terrorist list.

Saeed al Akil, the prosecutor, asked that Mohammed al Hakimi, the judge, take Elbaneh, who is also named Jabr al Banna, into custody.

(Read on …)

So if he’s really in jail, then its not a problem is it? The fact that the story doesn’t say Saleh agreed to it indicates he’s not. And furthermore, there would be a lot less tension about Yemen’s refusal to extradicte al-Badawi if he was in jail, where he should be. The US never asked for him until recently.

U.S. “uncertain” about USS Cole bomber’s incarceration

Sana’a, May 10, 2008 (yemenonline) – The U.S. State Department asked the Yemeni authorities to allow some of its embassy officials in Sana’a to visit USS Cole bomber Jamal al-Badawi without a prior permission.

A State Department source said that this request comes as U.S. doubts regarding al-Badawi’s incarceration are growing.

Source: Radio SAWA