Armies of Liberation

Yemen Post reports the demands are money and the release of imprisoned terrorists, but the demands themselves and the timing of the kidnapping, following a French call for Saleh to step down, the odd video without any al Qaeda characteristics, the tension with (if not expulsion of) the French ambassador for his remarks, the bombing of TOTAL’s pipeline and the pending UN resolution may all indicate the statement is yet another attempt by the Sana’a regime to spin the media away from the slaughter in the capital.

The situation echos that of the German hostages, a crime thought committed by Saleh loyalists linked to drug smugglers and al Qaeda. As the recent West Point paper pointed out, many of the security officials murdered by al Qaeda were in fact counter-narcotics agents, and that’s another area where the footprints of al Qaeda and the Sana’a regime overlap.

Obama should grab that sleazy slimy mass murderer rat Saleh by the throat and throttle him until he gives up these and all the Yemeni hostages. Dozens more severely wounded Yemenis were kidnapped by security forces in the last days, including women, but likely the Yemenis will get much less publicity. The regime has got to go.

Yemen Post: French Hostages in Yemen Face New Challenges

On May 28th, 2011, 3 French aid workers were kidnapped in the eastern Yemeni province of Hadramaut as they were conducting a field trip near Sayyun. (Read on …)

Ammar wants new toys? There was never a legitimate ransom demand from al Qaeda in Yemen in the past. Its interesting the regime knows the hostages are in good health. But then again, Saleh’s network has many conduits to “al Qaeda.” The French workers were kidnapped after France made a statement urging Saleh to leave the throne immediately.

News 24: Sanaa – Three French aid workers who were kidnapped in southeastern Yemen are held by al-Qaeda members who are seeking a $12m ransom for their release, tribal sources said on Wednesday.
(Read on …)

Many foreigners, dozens, have been kidnapped in Yemen by tribes over the last decade and all have been returned without harm. The timing of this is off though. Some are saying that since the “AQAP take-over of Abyan” didn’t generate a US reversal, Saleh is continuing to play on AQ fears with this incident. Maybe his forces will find and rescue them into order to put Saleh in a good light.

BBC: Three French aid workers are feared kidnapped after going missing in southern Yemen, officials say. The three are reported to have gone missing in Hadramawt in the south-east.

They had been in Seyun since mid-April working for Triangle Generation Humanitaire, a French NGO working in Yemen since 1998. (Read on …)

The point to note with regard to the following article is the two AQ were killed during a mourning ceremony for another who was killed in Marib. For the readers convenience, I am re-posting my article, Large al Qaeda camp in North Yemen dims peace prospects, politician says to illuminate the al Taiz clan. Saada, as you will note, is where Ammar al Waeli (see the 2002 FBI alert) was, as I heard it, standing on a roof exhorting the residents. In the same ruling last week that released Badr al Hassani, Al Waeli was recently sentenced to fifteen years in jail, in absentia I am assuming. The hostilities between the al Tais and the state began after the Houthis captured their commander, Hussain al Tais, and turned him over to the state. Then AQ captured Col Hosam in Saada and issued an ultimatum. According to local reports, Col Hosam was not killed despite the AQ vid announcing his death (see below). The point is the linkage between the well established al Qaeda presence in Saada and the better understood al Qaeda in Marib and what is currently known as AQAP.

Two al-Qaeda elements killed in Saada north Yemen al Motamar: Wednesday, 09-March-2011
- Local sources in Saada province in north Yemen have confirmed the killing of two elements from al-Qaeda organisation and injury of a third in exchange of fire with gunmen from Al Tais in Kitaf district. The sources clarified that the clashes resulted in the killing of two of al-Qaeda elements; Ali Nasser al-Tais and Abdullah Hassan al-Tais in addition to the wounding of Arif Saleh Rashid. The sources pointed out that the clashes erupted during mourning on the death of al-Qaeda element called Abdullah Hadi al-Tais killed by security men in clashes in Mareb last week.

My article from March 2010: (Read on …)

That is really disgusting, and a sad ending to a complicated story. Col Hossam was kidnapped after the Houthis captured Hussain al Tais in Saada and turned him over to the state. Why didn’t the security forces launch some kind of raid on Abu Jubarah? There were pretty good odds that’s were a lQaeda was holding him, as I wrote at the time. Full details, click here. Update: Now in English:

Yemen Online The Yemen-based al-Qaida wing executed a top intelligence official after Sanaa government refused to swap two al-Qaida detainees for the senior official, a video tape posted by al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) on the internet on Tuesday said.

“Deputy Director of the Yemeni Political Security Service, Colonel Ali Mohammed Salah al-Husam, was executed, with bullets fired at the back of his head, after he admitted that he had spied on Mujahedeen in the previous years,” they said in the 17-minute videotape. The group said al-Husam was running a network of espionage in Saada for 20 years and had snatched many of al-Qaida-related ideology students and held them incommunicado in prisons.

“The execution of this officer is also a message to those intelligence officers who still work for Sanaa government and the U.S. intelligence agencies,” the group added. Last September, the AQAP set 48 hours for Sanaa government to swap two al-Qaida detainees for al-Husam.

“There will be no way to know the fate of this agent unless the government releases the two brothers, Hussain al-Tais and Mashhour al-Ahdal, within 48 hours,” according to their statement which posted on Sept. 21 website. (Read on …)

This is not a statement from Abdelmalik al Houthi directly but the analysis does give a good overview of the Houthis world view regarding al Qaeda in Yemen verses the real al Qaeda, and its relation to Saudi Arabia, the Saleh regime and the bombings last week. The thinking is much more sophisticated than “Al Qaeda is an American creation.” What they say is that the al Qaeda in Yemen is distinct from the al Qaeda of bin Laden because the genesis of the organization in Yemen was guided and exploited by both the Saleh regime and the Saudis. The continued presence of al Qaeda operatives and Afghan Arabs in the Yemeni military, intelligence, security forces and mosques and their participation in the Saada War demonstrates that it is a distinct and artificial organism. Other operatives, mercenaries, receive salaries from the state and even health insurance, the author states, and this cloned al Qaeda has carried out numerous plots (from the assassinations of the socialist leaders in the 1990’s to the 2009 kidnapping of the Germans) designed to relieve pressure from Saleh and bolster Saudi Arabia, and it paves the way for US intervention in Yemen. Much of this is historically correct and not a view unique to the Houthis, it overlaps in many places with the southerners and other Yemeni observers’ conceptualization of AQAP in what I call the Anti al-Qaeda narrative. Unfortunately I got the article in Arabic, and the following is a google translation, the original below:

Some still believe the existence of the so-called al-Qaeda in Yemen, as an organization sub-base I’m not den that is hostile to the intervention of the Americans and their allies in the region, and this is an illusion refuted by the reality of this organization and the reality of its operations, and ratings of his enemies, and the source of funding, and the goals established in Yemen for it,

That there is no confusion in Afghanistan organization called al Qaeda linked to bin Laden and Zawahiri, regardless of connections and its role and functions assigned to it hidden a lot of observers, including the relationship between the Americans and older since the wars in Afghanistan and the Soviet Union,

In Yemen, Al-Qaida real it can not be established here, (Read on …)

Summary: The Houthis captured AQAP operatives and Dammaj “students” -perhaps teachers- Hussain al-Tais and Mashhour al Ahdel in al Jawf in August. Al Tais, a former Gitmo detainee, was active in Saada, associated with General Ali Mohsen and Ammar al Waeli and thought to be involved with the kidnapping of the Germans in June 09. The rebels turned the two over to the security forces. AQAP then kidnapped the deputy director of the PSO in Saada, Ali Hosam, and issued a deadline for al Tais’s release. There was no further news on al Hosam. The two suicide attacks this week on the Houthis are thought to be in retaliation for al Tais’s capture. Yesterday AQAP kidnapped the head of the hospital in Saada to bargain for al-Tais’s release. They took him to the Wadi Abu Jubarah al Qaeda training camp. Ali Mohsen negotiated successfully with the AQAP kidnappers for the doctor’s release, based on a promise of the prisoners’ release, according to al Eshteraki and Yemen Online. Or possibly blacklisted weapons dealer Fares Manna did the negotiating, according to AFP via al Sahwa:

“Dhafer al-Shihri was freed after mediation led by a tribal chief, Sheikh Fares Mannaa,” the source told AFP, on condition of anonymity. He said the kidnappers who seized the doctor on Sunday had agreed to the release after a pledge that one of the jailed men, Abdullah al-Dibai, held for more than a year on charges of belonging to Al-Qaeda, would be freed…

“The kidnappers drove the hostage to the region of Wadi al-Ghabara,” 70 kilometres (40 miles) north of Saada, a local official who asked not to be identified told AFP. They had demanded the release of nine members of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) imprisoned in Yemen and Saudi Arabia.

“Among them are Saleh al-Tyss (ed- a/k/a Hussain al Tais) and Abdullah al-Ahdal (ed- a/k/a Mashhour al Ahdal per an earlier AQAP statement), two leaders of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula held in Yemen, and Saleh al-Shihri, another AQAP leader jailed in Saudi Arabia,” the local official added….

Tension has been rife between the Shiite rebels and AQAP in northern Yemen since the rebels detained five Al-Qaeda members whom they handed over to Yemeni authorities over the past two weeks.

Also the doctor in an interview after his release reports seeing three other kidnapped Yemenis, including a military officer, so that’s a hopeful indication of the fate of kidnapped PSO Commander Hosam.

(Read on …)

This must mean that Hussain al Taiz is still in custody. Earlier reporting here. If Ammar al Waeli is in Abu Jabarah, along with other top level terrorists, why doesn’t the military launch a raid on the training camp? Oh wait, the military subcontracts their services on a regular basis.

Al Tagheer: قال مصدر أمني بمحافظة صعدة اليمنية ، فضل عدم ذكر اسمه لـ ” التغيير ” ، اليوم الاثنين ، إنه قلق بشان تردد أنباء عن اعتزام عناصر القاعدة تنفيذ حكم الإعدام بحق العقيد علي محمد الحسام نائب مدير الأمن السياسي الذي يعاني من وضع صحي حرج ، خلال الـ 24 ساعة القادمة . A security source said the Yemeni province of Saada, who preferred anonymity for “change”, on Monday, he was concerned about the reports about Al-Qaeda’s intention to implement the death sentence against Colonel Ali Hussam Mohammed, deputy director of political security, who is suffering from critical health status, during the 24 the next hour. (Read on …)

Update: Houthis issue a statement that seems to indicate that the prior al Qaeda statement demanding Hussain al Tais’s release is bogus and a pretext to begin bombing markets under the guise of counter-terror. And while the Houthis do have quite a conspiratorial view of al Qaeda, the interesting thing about the several questionable al Qaeda attacks over the years, which were claimed in internet statements by al Qaeda, is that if they are false flag attacks, the “real” al Qaeda never disputed that the statements of responsibility. Original Arabic below but my formatting is messed up.

Subject: Houthi: prosecution of al-Qaeda “flimsy excuses”
‫ in a statement issued by the office of Abdul-Malik al-leader of the movement Alhotheip North Yemen, he said that in response to al Qaeda statement and explanation of events and facts were stated, “to the awareness and vision of society in general, shatter all the plots that target directly in order to stir up sectarian strife, sectarian and tarnish the image of the nation which adhered to approach the Holy Quran and the household of prophecy ”

He touched on the statement arrived in the crowd Net to the hijacking of the Deputy Director of Political Security in Ramadan, “In the month of Ramadan have been kidnapped, deputy director of political security of the central governorate of Saada hot Officers On Monday, 9/20/2010 issued a so-called al Qaeda in the island Arabs adopted a statement which the process of abduction, deputy director of political security that have occurred in the 08/26/2010 statement comes after the adoption process (24) days of the kidnapping incident .. ”

The statement added: “Here, put a lot of question marks that confirm that all the incidents that take place in the northern provinces aimed at opening the door of the bombings and killing people in mosques and markets of those flimsy arguments (the so-called pursuit of al-Qaeda members) …. (Read on …)

Update: Sahwa Net- Qawkban tribes of al-Mahweet province said it would retaliate al-Qaeda in case its fellow member Ali al-Hostam, the deputy head of intelligence in Saada is harmed by al-Qaeda, appealing President Ali Abdullah Saleh to save his life. (text below) Also, the German ambassador met yesterday with President Saleh. The state media reported the meeting was to praise Yemeni unity. Also see my earlier article on an interview with Hassan Zaid about the training camp in Abu Jubara dtd 3/29/10.

Original: The Chinese do very well reporting on Yemen, oddly enough. Al Ahdel, is this a relative of Mohammed Hamdi al Ahdel, the financier of the USS Cole bombing? Or his lesser cousins, Mohammed bin Mohammed al Ahdel and Mohammed Ahmed al Ahdel who, along with Cole bombers Fahd al Quso and Jamal al Badawi, escaped Aden jail in 2003? I think AQAP hung themselves with this one just by claiming Hussain al Tais, a long time known affiliate of General al Ahmar. Its funny the only actual al Qaeda in jail in Yemen was captured by the Houthis, except for the issue of the remaining German hostages.

People’s Daily: The Yemen-based al-Qaida wing set 48 hours for Sanaa government to swap two al-Qaida detainees for a senior intelligence official it captured late last month in the northern troubled province of Saada. (Read on …)

The al Tais al Qaeda group functions as General Ali Mohsen’s al Ahmar’s mercenaries in the Saada War. I have written about them extensively. They have official passports, transit the border with Saudi Arabia easily and many have military positions. They are big in the honey business. Al Qaeda has been active in the Sa’ada War since 2004. Everyone knows this, including the US, but they got a pass as “militants” not necessarily connected to the main Al Qaeda in Afghanistan. This was an entirely incorrect assessment. Additionally, the headquarters of the Dar al Hadieth network is in Dammaj, Sa’ada as well as the Abu Jabarah training camp, which houses about 500 jihaddists on a rotating basis. Last I checked on Abu Jubarah, there’s no women or children there, just terrorists training. The Sa’ada region has been closed to journalists and international agencies since 2004.

Bottom line: the Houthis captured General Ali Mohsen’s boy, Hussain al Tais, and AQAP is agitating for his release by kidnapping a Yemeni official. The primary and pressing issue at this moment though is to interrogate Hussain al Tais about the location of the German and British al Qaeda hostages.

Reuters: SANAA (Reuters) – The Yemeni wing of al Qaeda has claimed the August kidnapping of a senior intelligence official in the northern province of Saada and demanded the release of two imprisoned militants. (Read on …)

At the time of the Germans’ kidnapping, in Sa’ada in June 09, myself and others published reports of Hussain al Tais’s (and the al Tais al Qaeda gang in Sa’ada’s) possible involvement. (Actually for five years I have documenting the al Qaeda in Sa’ada including al Nabi who fought there in 2005 and is now commissioned to fight in the south.) So recently, the Houthis captured Hussain al Tais in al Jawf, handed him over to the PSO in Sa’ada, and then al Qaeda kidnapped the deputy PSO to bargain for al Tais’s exchange. The AQAP statement on al Tais also proves that they are in Sa’ada. Its a very important base for them. But maybe someone should ask al Qaeda to return the other four European hostages, (two German parents, their infant son, and a Brit) before they give him up. But clearly al Tais can’t remain in custody- because he actually knows something. The Yemeni government will release him or kill him. Link at Marib Press. But the one at al Masdar Online translates better:

Source Online – Special
Al Qaeda in Yemen (Base of Jihad in the Arabian Peninsula) claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of Colonel Ali Hussam Mohammed Salah, deputy director of Political Security in the province of Saada.

And demanded that al-Qaeda in a statement in this regard, published positions on the Web site, the government release two members of the al-Qaeda said, “they captured in a point belonging to the Alhouthein in al-Jawf province, after that, the Houthis Shiites surrender them to the Director of the Political Security Saada Yahya Almrani according to confessions deputy director of political security prisoner to us. ” The statement said.

And the granting of the statement of organization, dated today, Monday, 11 October 1431 the government 48 hours to release (Hussein goat and famous VMA) in return for disclosing the fate of the alleged “spy” Deputy Director of Political Security kidnapped al-Qaeda. (Read on …)

Spiegel has some disturbing details.

When Manuela-Anett T. met her cousins Lydia, 6, and Anna, 4, in a hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, earlier this week, it was as if the girls they knew had been swapped for others. The girls shyly said that their names were now Fatima and Sarah. And when questioned in German, they answered in Arabic.
(Read on …)

CNN reports a Saudi-Yemeni operation secured the release of two kidnapped German toddlers in Yemen. German authorities report the two little girls are in the hospital and will be flying home tomorrow, but their brother is probably dead. The children were rescued from somewhere in the war torn Sada’a province, the same area they were kidnapped from. The Germans and Saudis are still working to secure the release of their parents. A British engineer is also still being held. (Read on …)

More buzz on Ali Mohsen from al Wahdawi below the fold. This investigative report from “Saadaonline” is not too surprising:

Ali Mohsen coordinating with al Qaeda in Sa’ada
Salafi leaders integrated directly into the military
Tribal militias and other groups armed by the military
Zaidi mosques handed over to Salafis
Kidnappers were unable to relocate the hostages initally because of Houthi control of many areas and were forced to leave the bodies inside the military controlled Al Jbarah valley
Yemeni government behind the recent declaration of jihad if western troops enter Yemen

Hidden roles between Sanaa regime and al-Qaeda

Special News Saada
20/1/2010

we talk about Saada previously and the hijacking of doctors in
Saada province on the role of a hidden secret and to coordinate with the secret coordination with pro Government:

Especially in the area of Wadi (Valley) Al-Abu Jebara
we talked previously about the history of this valley and where Al Qaedeh fighters training.

Funds, which pumps by Saudi princes and their relationship with Osama bin Laden through private sources, News Saada inside the corridors of military bases and political situation in Saada

During the latest sadah War mostly at Abu Ali font , we got field information that confirm that :ABADAH and TAYS group and other groups from WADY- Valley- Al JBAREH had met with local officials of Sadah and received ammunition and weapons to confront Al Hoothy from behind, and that what really happened .

Those days we got secret and confidential information when news focused on Qaeda in Yemen. The information said that there is currently coordination between military commanders/ eaders loyal to Ali Mohsen Al Ahmar through his office in Saddah, the aim of this coordination is bolstering and unify their actions against Al Hoothy. (Read on …)

Well, I’d like to see their proof. There’s a lot of talk but not many documents, details or witnesses.

Press TV: Yemen’s Houthi fighters accuse the Sana’a government of fueling violence in the country in a bid to attract financial backing from the United States.

The Shia resistance fighters charged the central government with forging an al-Qaeda cell in Yemen, adding that the abduction of foreigners in the country is another part of the scheme planned by Sana’a.

The Houthis insisted that they have evidence showing that the Yemeni government supplies arms to and finances militants throughout the country.

The last time “al Qaeda” demanded money was in August 08, five million dollars. It was the era of the Yemen Soldiers Brigades (now theres a blast from the past). Supposedly, Islamic Jihad and Hamza al Qaiti, claimed responsibility for the car bombing of a police station in Sayoun, and demanded the money to stop future attacks. The very sad incident of the German’s kidnapping has been bizarre from day one. The demand for funds is unusual. Damanding prisoner releases is not. But Saleh says he knows where the German family is being held and is negotiating. The Germans are skeptical.

Speigel: The German government has been presented with a new challenge in Yemen. Kidnappers holding a German family are allegedly demanding $2 million in ransom and the release of several suspected Islamist terrorists being held by the Yemeni government. The demands are being met with skepticism. (Read on …)

The Daily Mail: Yemen has started negotiations with kidnappers holding one British and five German hostages. The Yemeni foreign minister has confirmed that talks are taking place to free the Europeans believed to have been kidnapped by Al Qaeda.
(Read on …)

Thats just smashing!!! For more, see my category, “9 hostages”, on the side bar.

BBC: German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle has made a surprise visit to Yemen, where five German nationals have been held hostage for six months. (Read on …)

That’s truely excellent news but I’m dubious about the claims of a joint Houthi- al Qaeda operation.

SANAA — Five Germans, including three children, and a British national who have been held by kidnappers in Yemen for the past six months are still alive, a top official said on Thursday.

“We have confirmed information that they are still alive. They are five Germans and a British national,” deputy prime minister for defence and security affairs, Rashad al-Aleemi, told a press conference. (Read on …)