Armies of Liberation

Oh my, implying security officials had something to do with the embassy attack, tsk tsk.

YEMEN: Website blocked, blogger harassed
Menassat

CAIRO, November 19, 2008 (ANHRI/IFEX) – The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information has strongly condemned the harassment and threats against engineer Nashwan Abdu Ali Ghanim, whose blog on Katib website http://helal08.katib.org is now blocked in Yemen by the state security. The threats and harassment are based on his articles about the consequences of a terrorist operation targeting the U.S. embassy in Yemen, in which he accused certain political and military leaders of being involved in the attacks.

ANHRI denounces the harassment, which violates international laws and conventions, as well as Yemen’s own constitution. ANHRI considers this action a breach of democratic principles, which the regime in Yemen claims to protect, and calls on Yemeni authorities to end the threats against Ghanim and guarantee his safety. The group also demands the immediate withdrawal of troops surrounding Ghanim’s house, the investigation of his case and the immediate unblocking of his blog.

ANHRI reminds the Yemeni authorities of their obligations towards international conventions following their participation in a 2006 donor conference for states adopting democracy. In particular, ANHRI reminds the authorities to respect Article 19 of the Universal Declaration for Human Rights and of the International Convention for Civil and Political Rights, which deals with freedom of expression.

In the same context, ANHRI calls on human rights organizations at the local, regional and international level, as well as donor institutions, to support Ghanim and pressure the Yemeni authorities to guarantee his physical integrity and end persecutions against expression and opinion activists.

Yemen on Line:

Amnesty International expresses concern about human rights situation in Yemen

Yemenonline-Nov 12,2008- In its submission to the UN Universal Periodic Review in the Fifth session of the UPR Working Group of the Human Rights Council on May 2009,Amnesty International expresses concern about human rights situation in Yemen.

The report criticized continuing pattern of serious human rights violations, including the extensive use of the death penalty; restrictions on the peaceful exercise of the rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly; and discrimination and violence against women, which would be exacerbated if the proposed new laws and amendments to existing laws .IntroductionThrough its executive, legislative and judicial branches the government is in the process of preparing new laws and revising current laws. This process will impact on the framework of protection of fundamental human rights. Some of the proposed new legislation fails to conform to the requirements of international human rights law and, if implemented, could seriously undermine the many positive features of the human rights framework in Yemen. These proposals also have to be seen in the context of existing laws and practices that are in violation of Yemen’s obligations under international human rights law. B. Normative and institutional framework of the State: Failure to bring laws into line with international standards The government has initiated a review of the Constitution and a number of existing laws and has proposed new draft laws, including to counter terrorism. Laws put forward for review include the Penal Code (PC)[1] and the Press and Publication Law (PPL).[2] The new draft laws include a Counter Terrorism Law (CTL) and a Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism Law (MLFTL). Human rights defenders in Yemen perceive both threats and opportunities in these legislative proposals. The new laws could be used to undermine the many important human rights achievements in the country since the establishment of the Republic of Yemen in 1990 (following unification of the then People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen and the Yemen Arab Republic) and Yemen’s adherence to its obligations under international human rights law.

Yet, Yemeni human rights defenders also see the proposed new laws as providing an opportunity to enhance the protection of human rights framework, which has seen the state’s ratification of many key international human rights treaties;[3] general respect for freedom of expression, association and assembly; criminalization of arbitrary arrest, detention and torture; and legal protection of the right to fair trial. Concerns that the legislative proposals may impact negatively on the current human rights framework are based on the assessment that they would expand the scope of the death penalty, criminalize legitimate freedoms, extend executive powers and the use of special procedures, and further entrench discrimination against women. The death penaltyIn addition to proposing an expansion in the scope of application of the death penalty, the new draft legislation would decrease further the few safeguards provided in the PC. Currently, the PC prescribes the death penalty under Shari’a law (Islamic Law) for murder (Qisas) and Hudud (divinely prescribed fixed offences and punishments), including for apostasy and adultery (where the punishment is death by stoning) and Hiraba (rebellion, unlawful war, spreading disorder on land), in addition to numerous capital offences related to state security. All of these capital offences are retained under the draft legislation and nine additional capital offences have been proposed; three as amendments to the PC[4] and six in the new CTL.[5]

(Read on …)

Yemeni confesses at court of phone contact with Iranian intelligence
Tuesday, 11-November-2008
Almotamar.net - The Yemeni Specialised criminal First Instance Court continued Tuesday listening to evidence presented by the prosecution against one of three persons accused of holding phone communication with Iran.

At the court sitting chaired by Judge Muhsin Alwan the prosecution continued presentation of statements of the first defendant Abdulkarim Ali Abdulkarim Laji in reports of the prosecution investigations containing what he provided to staffers in the Iranian embassy of information on the Yemeni Coast Guard and movements of American citizens in Yemen.

On the court question to the defendant on the statements attributed to him he confessed they were his but deeds were not his.

The court then decided to postpone the sitting to Wednesday to continue presenting statements of the second defendant Hani Ahmed Shin. The prosecution accused three persons of conducting phone calls and illegitimate communication with a foreign country and work for its interest and providing it with news and information in addition to documents and photos on the political and security situations in Yemen in the way that harmed the political, economic and war status of the Republic of Yemen

The prosecution said in the court sitting that Abdulkarim Ali Abdulkarim Laji, 33, Hani Ahmed Shin 31, secretary of the director general of Coast Guard
Of Hadramout and Iskandar Abdullah Yusuf, 57 had in the year 1997-2008 held contacts with Iran and that they were holding meetings foreigners and provided them with news and information on Yemen. The prosecution pointed out that the defendants were exchanging information via CDs and telephone memories.

Military violating truce agreements still. Yemen Times

SA’ADA, Oct.25 — Tribal sources from the Sa’ada governorate have said that the state of people, particularly those who are loyal to Houthis, is worsening due to the advent of winter and the continuous siege imposed by security authorities and tribes supporting the government in the area.

“A military checkpoint in Sa’ada governorate’s Al-Malahidh area prevented a medical unit belonging to medical humanitarian aid agency Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) from entering to Marran, Haidan and Saqain areas to offer medical aid to the affected citizens,” according to a statement issued by Houthis media center last Tuesday.

The statement said, “The Al-Malahidh checkpoints, in addition to the Al-Majram military site in the mountainous area of Marran, have recently witnessed military reinforcements”. It accused security apparatuses of practicing violations since the agreement to end the fifth war in Sa’ada.

According to the statement, new military sites have been set up in the areas bordering Marran from the Al-Malahidh area and confirmed that arrests had taken place in Sana’a and Mareb during the last two days.

(Read on …)

Empty Quarter

An al Qaeda source told al Wasat by telephone that the assassination of Mohammad Rabeysh Kalan was in retaliantion for the killing of four AQ operatives last year - Ali Doha, Abdul Aziz Jaradat, Naji Jaradat, and Amer Jaridat. The source said that the assassination came as was promised to the family of the martyrs…

The al Qaeda source also gave up the name of the US embassy bomber, “Mahmoud Saad,” but refused to give more details. The article reaffirms that the al Qaeda cell which attacked the embassy was actually from Hodeidah, and includes the prominent jihadist”Sheikh Latif.”

Yemen Times

SANA’A, Oct. 15 – The Radfan district of Lahj governorate witnessed on Monday a huge popular rally on the 45th Anniversary of the 14 October 1963 Revolution. At the Jubail Jabr district of Radfan, participants in the rally also marked the first anniversary of the Al-Jabalin incursion that killed 4 citizens and injured 15 others last year.

Organized by the Lahj-based Peaceful Struggle Organization in cooperation with martyrs’ families and relatives, the rally was attended by tens of thousands of citizens who came from various areas. Several speeches were given at the event before clashes between policemen and rally participants, who took to streets protesting against the government, injured four protesters when they threw stones at a security soldier.

Witnesses noted the clashes occurred in an area between Hebail Jabr and Al-Jabalain districts, adding that policemen fired live bullets and teargas at protesters and arrested many of them. Information obtained from witnesses revealed that as many as 23 protesters were arrested by the police during the event, while other sources indicated that 30 protesters were arrested after hurling stones at policemen.

Participants in the rally chanted slogans criticizing the government while driving their cars on the road leading to the area of Rasd, but they were intercepted by a military checkpoint and clashes broke out between protesters and army members at the checkpoint. They called on lifting security check points and random arrests which targeted civilians from the south. A statement by the protestors demanded an international tribunal for the crimes committed against people from the south. It also emphasized that the coming elections are rejected absolutely and does not concern the people from the south because their main concern is acknowledgement of their political struggle.

Speakers at the popular rally urged all participants to come together and continue their peaceful struggle against the regime in order to press it reform course of the unity and reconsider both October and September revolutions in Yemen. They said that military retirees in the southern governorate are ready to conciliate with other political groups.

then there was the one who made the gun busts….

MAREB, NewsYemen

Security director of Medghal district in Mareb, Mohammad bin Rabesh, was reportedly killed on Monday an explosive parcel sent to him from Sana’a.

A soldier was also said to be injured in the explosion.

Security authorities said that Rabesh died at a hospital in Sana’a due to the explosive substance used in a parcel, the first operation of its kind in Yemen.

This came after a month of terrorist attack on U.S Embassy in Sana’a that killed six security guards and other Yemeni nationals.

Most of the arms dealers were released after signing a pledge

Almotamar.net - Interior Minister General Mutahar Rashad al-Misri revealed that security authorities on Tuesday seized 3 million and 700 thousand intoxicating pills and managed during the first half of this year 18 tons of drugs, saying it was a quantity enough to destroy the entire youth of the Arab homeland.

Minister al-Misri also said the security authorities also managed to capture the terrorist cell that was sending threatening messages to some embassies in Yemen. In addition, security authorities were able to carry out the campaign of prohibiting weapons and the closure of 230 shops for selling arms and munitions. They detained 270 arms dealers in a number of governorates.

Bizarro world, does anyone anywhere believe this? (Besides the leftards I mean.)

SANA’A, Oct 09 (Saba) – Investigations continue with the members of a terrorist cell recently held and that as the police say affiliated with the Islamic Jihad Group and has ties with Israeli intelligence systems.

Initial investigations confirmed that the Israeli intelligence system provided support to the cell to carry out terrorist acts in the country.

Detailed information on the dismantled cell would be announced as investigations are completed.

The security forces announced two days ago they had seized a six-member terror cell backed by Israel and led by Emad Ali Said al-Rowni” Abul Ghaith” and that threatened to target foreign targets in the country including British, Saudi and Emirates embassies.

A security source noted that during the raid on the cell hide-out, the security forces found some of its equipments among them a laptop with which the security forces found out the deputy head of the cell Basam Abdullah Fadhl al-Haidari was corresponding with an Israeli intelligence authority asking support to carry out terrorist attacks in Yemen.

The source added the case would be referred to prosecution once investigations with the cell members are completed.

On the other hand, a judicial source revealed that almost 60 al-Qaeda suspects would be sent to the Specialized Penal Court before they stand trial on terrorism-related charges.

Yemen has recently rounded up al-Qaeda suspects across the republic amid increasing al-Qaeda claimed attacks on foreign and local targets.

Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for all the recent attacks in Yemen, the latest was a double car bomb attack on the US embassy which killed at list 16.

Afraid of the Americans, not the pirates, but any sort of sustained policing of the Bab al Menbad would disrupt Yemen’s block market economy. Xinhua

SANAA, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) — Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh has recently made a sudden visit to Jordan and Egypt to discuss rampant piracy activities in the Gulf of Aden.

Maritime officials have said the recent sudden surge in piracy activities in the Gulf of Aden, a narrow, 885 km-long stretch of water that lies between Yemen and Somalia, was unprecedented with more than 50 ships and 250 seamen been seized this year alone.

A Yemeni source said on condition of anonymity that the president’s visit to Jordan and Egypt on Oct. 1-4 leading a high ranking delegation, including Prime Minister Ali Muhammad al-Mujawa and Speaker of House of Representatives Yahia Al Ra’i, highlights Yemen’s growing fears about an American-European plan to internationalize the Red Sea.

(Read on …)

Right after AQ calls for more maritime actions…

The global shipping community has called upon the world’s naval powers to deploy more warships to patrol the commercially strategic Gulf of Aden to counter rising levels of piracy off the coast of Somalia.

The call comes in the wake of frequent incidents of piracy in the region, the latest being the hijacking of two vessels off the coast of Somalia Thursday.

In a joint statement, leading ship associations and transport unions said the situation is “spiraling completely and irretrievably out of control.”

They have made urgent calls to the United Nations in New York and its maritime body in London seeking the deployment of effective naval forces.

It is said that some shipping firms were already refusing to transit the Gulf of Aden.

The vital sea route in the Arabian Sea between Yemen and Somalia connects the Gulf and Asia to Europe and beyond via the Suez Canal. It is critical to Gulf oil shipments.

Currently, Somali pirates are holding 13 vessels captive, along with more than 200 sailors. Most of the gangs are based in northern Somalia’s Puntland region, where security forces reportedly clashed with pirates on Thursday.

And on it goes. M&C:

Sana’a, Yemen - Three powerful explosions shook three police buildings late Tuesday in the southern Yemeni city of Zunjubar, but no casualties were reported.

Witnesses told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that two explosions were heard outside the compound of the Central Police force in the city, about 60 kilometres east of the southern port city of Aden.

The third blast hit the headquarters of the Criminal Police agency, they said, adding that the blast might have been the result of projectiles fired at the buildings.

A local journalist at the scene said that ambulances rushed to the scene of the third blast, but no confirmed reports on casualties were immediately available.

Zunjubar is near Ja’ar city, the stronghold of Jihadi groups in Yemen, which sits on the southern tip of the Arabian peninsula.

On August 30, police arrested Khaled Abdulnabi, a leading figure in the Islamic Jihad movement in Ja’ar, amid a clampdown on militant groups.

Security forces have since been pursuing five militants connected to bombings that targeted local government and police buildings in Abyan.

Police in Abyan have arrested 40 militants in a clampdown on militant groups last month in the rugged mountainous area of Hatat near Ja’ar.

I thought it was al-Reimi and a funeral… I have to check.

PR inside

«A hot and cold policy (by the government) doesn’t work anymore,» said Mohammed Abulahoum, head of foreign relations for the ruling General People’s Congress party. «A clear-cut strategy has to be worked out,» he said. «We are probably looking at the tip of the iceberg with these incidents.
American officials have long been frustrated over what is seen as a «revolving door» policy toward al-Qaida militants by President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s government. Yemen has let some convicted militants go free after promising to refrain from violence, and in several cases, Washington has had to press it to keep particular militants in custody.
In a sign of the free rein given militants, one of the suspected top commanders of al-Qaida in Yemen, Nasser al-Wahishi, openly attended a wedding in the capital’s Old City two months ago, according to people who attended the ceremony and a Yemeni security official. Al-Wahishi stayed long enough to greet the groom and family then disappeared, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the press.
Al-Wahishi was one of 23 al-Qaida figures who escaped from a high-security San’a prison in 2006, among them militants accused in the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole destroyer in Aden harbor. There were widespread reports that security officials helped in the escape, and experts say Yemen’s security and intelligence services are riddled with militant sympathizers.
Part of the reason for the lenience is the weakness of the government. State control is weak in much of the mountainous, tribal-dominated country. The regime must balance multiple factions and tribes, it’s unpopular because of the country’s economic woes, and it faces widespread anti-American sentiment among the population. So the regime or factions within it co-opt militants and give them protection in return for support.
«Yemen has a unique al-Qaida problem in that it can’t afford to go after them with full strength because they are so embedded in the system themselves,» said Abdul-Ghani al-Iryani, an independent political analyst.

Al-Motamar

Almotamar.net - Deputy Premier for Defence and Security Affairs Dr Rashad al-Alimi affirmed Thursday that the terrorist operation that attempted the attack on the American embassy in Sana’a comes as reaction to and retaliatory operations especially after the blows received by the terrorist elements at the hands of the security apparatuses.

Al-Alimi said were it not for the wakefulness of security men, their bravery and ability to end up the terrorists and blasting their car bombs a disaster could have happened. He pointed out that most of the attacking terrorists were carrying explosive belts and they used large quantities of gas cylinders to create a huge explosive and destructive power.
The terrorist attack on the American embassy in Yemen led to the death of 6 security men in addition to three wounded. according to 26 September newspaper in its Thursday issue it said among the civilian people killed in the incident were a Yemeni man and a woman , an Iraqi man and an Indian woman.

NYT: The official also said that an initial review of security videotapes taken outside the embassy indicated that as many as three of the attackers were wearing suicide vests, another hallmark of Al Qaeda. Two attackers detonated or partially detonated their vests; a third attacker was shot by Yemeni security forces before he could blow himself up.

Statement - Attack on U.S. Embassy, Sana’a

September 17, 2008

This morning, September 17, at approximately 9:15 local time, the U.S. Embassy in Sana’a Yemen was attacked by armed terrorists. A number of explosions occurred in the vicinity of the Embassy’s main gate and there were several secondary explosions. A number of Yemeni security personnel were killed and injured, as were several Yemeni citizens waiting to gain entry to the Embassy.

The U.S. Embassy condemns this attack in the strongest possible terms. Today’s events demonstrate that terrorist criminals will not hesitate to kill innocent citizens and those charged with protecting them in pursuit of their agenda of terror.

The Embassy is working closely with senior Yemeni government officials to investigate this incident. We will rely on continued close cooperation with Yemeni authorities to complete a thorough investigation and to bring the perpetrators of this heinous terrorist crime to justice.

yemen.usembassy.gov

more at the link

Yemen Times

SANA’A, Sept. 10 — The Yemeni government approved last Tuesday the establishment of three regional centers to combat maritime piracy in the Gulf of Aden and Bab Al-Mandab Strait and to protect international maritime traffic in these areas.

The government declared that the three centers would be established in the Aden, Mukkalla and Hudeidah governorates and claimed international support for these centers that will work to “enhance security and stability in the region and protect different ships from piracy.”

Last Sunday, the Yemeni Maritime Forces were able to foil an attempted pirate attack on a Saudi trade ship in the international waters of the Strait of Bab Al-Mandab. The ship was 43 kilometers away from the Yemeni coastline.

Of Yemen’s 5.9 billion in external debt, Yemen owes Russia about one billion for military hardware including the Mig 29’s.

Yemen Post

Preparations at Yemeni Foreign Ministry are underway for President Saleh’s expected visit to Russia in which he seeks to buy large quantities of weapons.

Diplomatic sources announced that Saleh’s visit comes at a time the region witnesses complicated developments together with Russia’s differences with western countries and America over the last Russian-Georgian conflict.

The same sources further indicated that Yemen has balanced stances of world powers, hinting the visit comes within the frame of the developed relations between Yemen and Russia.

Observers note that Saleh seeks to buy modern Russian fighters and reinforce the military arsenal after a four-year war in Sa’ada that exhausted the country’s both budget and military armament.

Hood On Line

Hood concerns About Detaining al-Salihi Juvanile along with three others:
Tuesday 09 September 2008 / Hoodonline

Hood has informed that a 12-year juvenile of al-Salihi family was apprehended along with three of his relatives for more than a month and a half at Moa’en security directorate prison in the Capital.

These four prisoners are the juvenile Bakeel al-Salihi,12, Hussien Saleh al-Salihi,18, Mohammed ,21,and Ali Ahmed al-Salihi who are still under arrest until this writing.

They are kept in prison as hostages with no clear charges pressed against them. It became obvious later on that the detention was on the grounds of tribal dispute in M’arib-Yemen, which these four men play no part in it.

After receiving a complaint from the detainees’ relatives, the prosecution of the capital west-circuit visited the detention scene and proved the illegal condition of the detention. The prosecution also noted that the Police Station director scoffed at Law offering an excuse of receiving a high order from the Interior ministry.

Hood says, addressing the interior ministry, that the hostage system is supposed to be vanished since the blessing Sep26th Revolution. As Hood also alerts the Interior Minister of being drifted towards the rejected tribal practices and shifted to be a brigand entity Kidnapping and arresting people as hostages.

Therefore, Hood considers this detention illegal and egregious violation in human rights and calls the Interior Ministry and the Attorney-General, in two letters each, for the urgent release and the prosecution of those responsible.

M&C:

Sana’a, Yemen - A gunman was killed and five others injured in a grenade attack outside a local mosque in north-western Yemen on Friday, local officials said.

The officials told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that the attacker, wanted by security authorities over criminal offences, hurled the grenade as policemen tried to arrest him outside the mosque.

They said the gunman was killed instantly when the grenade exploded. The blast injured five worshippers, three of them were in critical condition, the officials said.

(Read on …)

So what is it then, a pre-election ploy? Really some kind of international supervision is required.

SA’ADA, Aug. 31 — Landmines planted during the four-year fighting in Sa’ada between the Yemeni army and Houthi loyalists have killed hundreds of goat herders in the governorate, Houthi sources maintain, adding that the human situation continues worsening as displaced residents no longer can tolerate living in tents without any access to sanitation networks.

“In various media outlets, we hear about various local and international relief agencies offering humanitarian assistance to affected citizens in Sa’ada, however, such hasn’t actually happened on the ground,” Houthi representative Sheikh Saleh Habra told the Yemen Times.

He added that, “Refugee tents sheltering the families of Houthi loyalists suffer unprecedented negligence. Refugees at Anad Camp, which is comprised of 700 tents, are experiencing the worst conditions since the war ended. They lack adequate sanitation systems, drinking water and necessary medical equipment.”

(Read on …)

but but I thought reform was good!

Sahwa Net – General Union of Yemeni Student has condemned the arrest of three students again by security forces in Ibb University after they had been released last week.

Sources of the Student Union said that the three students, Majed al-Awdi, Walid al-Laith and Walid al-Sharabi were arrested because they wrote about corruption inside the university in a paper issued by the Student Union.

There’s a lot of disappeared in Yemen, in this case, the article is referring to Hashimites.

Yemen Times

According to the Yemeni Organization to Defend Human Rights and Democratic Freedoms, nearly 135 people have been detained, 26 of whom disappeared arbitrarily after armed conflict between Yemeni government forces and Houthi rebels in Sa’ada and Bani Hushaish ended.

The organization distributed a list of 56 names of those alleged to have “arbitrarily disappeared” in Sana’a, demanding the immediate release of those detainees who haven’t been charged and revealing their location.
Ali Al-Amad, 27, was arrested July 5, 2008, after he left work at a mobile telephone company in Sana’a.

The organization maintains that many were seized after the conflict was called off by President Ali Abdullah Saleh on Aug. 7.

Sami Ghalib, editor-in-chief of Al-Nida’a opposition newspaper, criticized opposition parties’ weak rule regarding such detainees. He also condemned security forces’ charging of those belonging to the Zaidi sect of Islam.

“Arresting on the basis of ethnic and sectarian characteristics is a serious phenomenon,” noted Mohammed Al-Maqtari, executive director
serious phenomenon,” noted Mohammed Al-Maqtari, executive director of the Yemen
Mohammed Muftah, 37, was arrested in May 2008. Many international human rights organizations have asked the Yemeni government to release him.

Observatory for Human Rights.

He alleges that such arrests occurred after the announced ceasefire of the Sa’ada War, which violates Yemeni law and the Constitution, as well as international agreements Yemen has signed. Al-Maqtari added, “Political Security and National Security prisons are not under the authority of Yemeni judicial organizations, so no one can penalize them.”

Negotiating with bombs, a predictable result of prior appeasement and collusion
Mareb Press

Al Qaida leader in Yemen threatens to carry out more terrorist attacks

An alleged Al Qaida leader in Yemen threatened this week to carry out more attacks in the country if his brothers were not released from prison. “Your concern is our concern, your sadness is our sadness, you must know, we will never forget you,” said Hamza Al Quaiti in a statement posted on an internet website Tuesday, addressing the men jailed in Yemen on terror charges.

Al Quaiti, one of 23 Al Qaida suspects who broke out of a Sana’a maximum security prison in early 2006.Al Quaiti is believed to be the mastermind of the suicide bombing which targeted the security camp in Sayou, Hadhramout on July 25, killing two and injuring about 20 people. About six men have been arrested so far in Hadhramout in connection with the attack.

The investigations confirmed that Al Qaida was behind that attack and that the suicide bomber was a student in his third year at the college of medicine in Hadhramout. His name is Ahmad Saeed Al Mashjari and his alias is Abu Dujanah Al Hathrami. The investigations have shown that he disappeared from his family 20 days before implementing the suicide bombing operation on July 25.

The latest Al Qaida operations in Yemen coincide with remarkable fatwas published throughout the internet and attributed to Al Qaida members. The fatwas permit the killing of Muslims and striking their oil resources.

The justification, the fatwas say, is that the oil is feeding the enemies, crusaders and the Muslims being killed are cooperating with the enemy. Meanwhile, security authorities have arrested about 30 men wanted for various terrorist acts over the last few days in the southern province of Abyan, according to security sources yesterday.

Yemeni Security Forces has kidnapped the Journalist and Human Rights activist; Loui Al-Moaid on Monday, June 30th, 2008 at 11:00 a.m. and he was taken to The National Security building. Loui is infected with Hepatitis B virus (active) and we are concerned about his life since he might be tortured severely and there is no health care at all. (Read on …)

Yemen Post

The Specialized Penal Prosecution is still investigating with what security sources called the most dangerous drug dealer in Yemen Ali Abdullah bin Hitiqan Al-Saya’ri.

Al-Saya’ri was arrested by security forces last week in Shabwa province and was sent to Sana’a. A security source revealed that armed elements tried to intercept the security vehicles that transferred Al-Saya’ri and both sides exchange fire.

The exchange of fire resulted in killing 7 soldiers as their vehicle rolled over. The armed elements, boarding eight vehicles, fled the scene as soon as reinforcements arrived in the area without being able to release Al-Saya’ri.

The security forces arrested Al-Saya’ri last week in a check-point while he was boarding his Hummer vehicle.

In related news, the Specialized Penal Court received the file of another drug dealer accused of smuggling 715,000 drug pills who was arrested last June in Sana’a International Airport.

In an effort to trick security officials, the defendant hid the drugs inside water heaters. Similarly, 11 Iranian sailors are trailed over possessing and trading in drugs after being arrested early this year in Al-Maharah province.

Though it is not a consuming country, Yemen has turned into a transit country for drugs exported to Gulf countries from the Southeast of Asia. Security guards have seized big quantities of drugs this year in different ways.

So, the mortars were al Wahishi’s group and achieved crucial goals, and these attacks on security posts and oil pipe lines were al Qaeti’s group and designed to uplift morale only?

News Yemen

Security sources that NewsYemen called for details talked about the al-Qaeda’s proclamation last April claiming its responsibility for throwing three bombs to the same compound. They said that Friday’s attack came after arresting “a dangerous wanted” in Hadramout….

A source close to al-Qaeda group in Yemen told Abwab magazine, the latest issue, that “all attacks that targeted police stations and oil companies last months were carried out by Hamza al-Qaeti’s group that he said is different from Qasem al-Raimi and Naser al-Wahishi. It said that “al-Qaeti is interested to carry out attacks just to keep his group’s element enthusiastic, but al-Raimi and al-Wahishi do not agree to carry out operations unless they obtain crucial goals.”

A senior security source said in a statement to Abwab that “al-Qaeda in Yemen is changing its mechanisms to carry out operations”.

Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for two attacks with mortar rounds on the US Embassy and a housing compound for foreigners in the capital Sana’a last March and April.

In September 2006, explosive-loaded vehicles attacked two oil facilities in Hadramout and Mareb.

Sayoun’s attack was the first on a police station by an explosive vehicle.

In the aftermath of the attack, hundreds of people demonstrated outside the same compound and demanded that authorities withdraw police camps from cities and to compensate victims.

No no no, its a demand for five million dollars and cancel a concert or they will do more scary things, boo! They will annihilate those who attempt to harm (their version of) Islam. Surrender or die.

How sad the suicide bomber was a medical student, meaning he originally wanted to help and heal people but instead he turned into a mass murderer. Because of a concert. How imperialistic these al-Qaeda lunatics are, demanding all of society conform to their thinking and dictates- or die. They are dreamining of their own style of tyranny and everyone is Yemen has to pay the price for those violent and self-rightous dreams.

Islamic Jihad Group claim responsibility for Sayun blast
Sunday 27 July 2008 00ouSun, 27 Jul 2008 00:15:57 +0300 12 AM / Mareb Press

The Organization of Islamic Jihad in Yemen claimed on Friday responsibility for the attack that targeted the Central Security in Say’un city, in Hadramout province.

In the suicide attack, one policeman was killed and 17 people were injured in the suicide attack and about 366 neighbouring houses were affected by the blast.

The organization said in a statement that the attack came to protect Islam from these festivals and concerts performed by some Arab singers in Yemeni cities.

The statement said, “We, the Organization of Islamic Jihad in Yemen, claim responsibility for the martyr attack in Hadramut… this is a lesson to those who might be tempted to harm the religion of Islam,” threatening of annihilate them.

The organization said its next operation would be in Sana’a to annihilate those who are trying to corrupt the minds of the youth through singing and the mixing of sexes.

The statement demanded to cancel the concert of an Egyptian singer, Ihab Tawfeeq, within 48 hours, otherwise the concert “will be turned into crying and wailing.”

The organization demanded the government in the statement to pay five million dollars within 48 hours in return for stopping the terrorist attack which are “terrifying the people.”

On the other hand, a security source said that the investigation could identify the perpetrator of the suicide attack. The sources said the perpetrator of the suicide attack was a former student in medial college in Hadramout Science and Technology University and he is called Ahmed Saeed Omar al-Mashjari.

Al Jund? (Next AAIA…)

July 26 (Reuters) - An al Qaeda-linked group has claimed responsibility for an attack on a police station that killed two people and injured 18 others in Yemen’s Hadramout province.

The attack on Friday was in retaliation for the killing of al Qaeda militants in Yemen, the Yemen Soldiers Brigades said in a statement on a Web site often used by al Qaeda.

In Friday’s attack, a car tried to enter the police complex but exploded after it was stopped at the gate, killing the attacker and a police guard.

Earlier this year, gunmen killed two Belgian tourists in the Hadramout region in an attack the government said was believed to have been the work of al Qaeda.

Ok so thats three missing mortar attacks (Sana’a- US embassy, housing compound, Italian embassy), three exploding car attacks (Hadramout, Marib- thwarted attacks on oil facilities 2006, tourists at the temple Marib 2007 and police station in Hadramout 2008,), and several non-lethal, sometimes off-hour, bombings of buildings, oil lines and security patrols. Ok I’m getting the fractured feeling.

Update: YO: skepticism over claims of responsibility,

Al-Tawheed battalions affiliated to the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization announced accountability of launching the terrorist attack that targeted the central security camp and security complex in Sayoun city in Hadramout governorate in the south east of Yemen at the early hours of last Friday.

News Yemen website stated it received a statement issued by the al-Tawheed battalions claiming they have launched the terrorist attack to announce their rejection for the carnivals and festivals, threatening they would launch another attack in Sana’a if the Sana’a Summer tourist festival would not be cancelled.

The statement released on Saturday expressed rejection for such festivals which the statement said have been spoiling Yemeni female kids through involving them in singing and dancing activities and mixing them with males. The statement added that this operation came within the frame of defending Islam.

The death toll of the terrorist attack has risen to five persons killed and 15 others injured. Two of the critically injured were rushed to Sana’a on Saturday. The Yemeni security authorities believed the attacker was killed in the blast and that the attack was launched by a suicide car bomb.

According to News Yemen website the persons from al-Jihad organization that sent the statement have also demanded US$ five millions to stop launching similar attacks.

Some analysts when read the statement and the demands dismissed that al-Qaeda or al-Jihad organizations were behind the attack or was the one that sent the statement.

The analysts stated that al-Qaeda never asks for ransoms or money and that it has been always focusing on the political oratory rather than such art and tourism festivals.

In a related issue some security sources revealed that a truck loaded with explosives was detained in al-Alam area located in the road linking between Abyan and Aden governorates while trying to get to Aden city yesterday.

In response to the threat for cancelling the activities of Sana’a Summer Tourism Festival, Fathia Hameedaldeen principal of al-Nizari girls school in the capital Sana’a said her school girls have been contributing in the festival, displaying 25 folkloric female dresses representing all the 22 governorates of Yemen. “We strongly condemn such threats that we believe were issued by people who have been trying to curb any development or tourism campaigns that aim at boosting tourism and improving the economic situations in the country, “said Hameedaldeen. However she said she and her school girls don’t care about such threats and would continue displaying their folkloric dresses according to the festival’s schedule.

“I don’t believe that Islam prohibits 10 years old girls to display dresses or show their faces publicly,” she added. She affirmed that all the participating girls were chosen carefully making sure their ages are young. “We know our religion and our traditions well so we have never and would never ever violate our religion or tradition rules,” said Hameedaldeen.

The ten year old girls will stand up to them if no one else will.

Imagine how messy its going to get if the “citizens’ militia” comes to fruition.

Sana’a, Yemen - Gunmen loyal to a Shiite rebel group killed a senior regional official in an ambush in the north-western Yemeni al-Jawf province on Wednesday, local sources said.

The sources told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that Abdul-Wahab al- Dhamin, the deputy governor of al-Jawf, and three tribal chieftains accompanying him were killed after the gunmen opened fire on al- Dhamin’s car.

The attackers ambushed the car near al-Zahir district of al-Jawf, some 195 kilometres north west of the capital Sana’a, they said.

The assassination of al-Dhamin was likely a direct retaliation of the killing Abdu Abu-Rass, a leading member of the rebel group, in al-Jawf earlier in the day.

Abu-Rass and one of his body guards were ambushed by armed tribesmen in al-Zahir district.

In a separate ambush, two soldiers were killed and four others injured in the Barat district of al-Jawf Wednesday, local officials said, adding that the attackers were also Shiite rebels.

News Yemen

The Yemeni Journalists Syndicate (YJS) condemned the security authorities’ abusive measures against journalist al-Sabri bin Makhashin, chief editor of the independent Al-Muharer newspaper and almuharer.net.

Bin Makhashin was detained last Tuesday by the Security Department in Mukalla for publishing stories about disclosure of the secondary school exams, said the syndicate.

Bin Makhashin was admitted to hospital last Thursday to be treated of an injury and security authorities refuse to release him, it said. It said that personnel from the Security Department once raided the office of Al-Muharer and arrested bin Makhashin, condemning the hunt of journalists.

The syndicate called for the immediate release of bin Makhashin and held the security authorities responsible for deteriorating his health.

Sahwa Net – Yemeni security forces violated Fuad Dahaba, member of parliament , arrested two journalists Jabr Sabir and Saleh al-Soraimi and abused female activists belonging to the organization of Women Journalists Without Chains while they were protesting an imprisonment ruling against a comedian and signer Fahad al-Qarni on Wednesday .

Yemeni popular comedian and signer Fahad al-Qarni was sentenced to one and half year in prison and a YR 500,000 fine on Wednesday.

Yemen Observer

Police have arrested one of the most notorious drug traffickers in Rafdoum district of Shabwa province, said a police source on Sunday. They also halted the attempt of some gunmen to release the wanted traffickers by firing barrages of fire while being transported to Sana’a the capital.

One of the biggest drug traffickers in Yemen, named “Ali Abdullah bin Hatefan al-Suyeri’ was in his Hummer car at Ayn Bamabd security check-point, the source told al-motamar.net website . Al-Suyeri is high on the wanted list of the Specialized Criminal Court.

The police transferred him on Saturday to Sana’a accompanied by patrols lead by the commander of the seventh security zone in Shabwa province. Gunmen riding four vans and two other cars fired a barrage of fire on patrols, which led to a coup during their passing in Asilian area. The coup caused injury of seven soldiers who were transferred to Behan hospital.

The sources said that it had been strengthened by four patrols and other security check points to arrest and prosecute the gunmen.

In related news, the Public Administration of Anti-drug referred the case of a defendant accused of drugs trade to the Specialized Criminal Prosecution. The accused is a Syrian named Khalf Mohamed Helal, arrested in International Sana’a Airport on Sunday June 29 carrying 715,000 pills of drugs inside electric heaters.

The Ministry of Interior’s authorities captured during the last five months 17 tons and 970 kilograms of hashish, as well as 468,000 narcotic pills, stated a report issued by the ministry press office last month.

An official report announced that drug crimes increased in 2007 to 140 with 226 suspects, in comparison to 45 crimes and 86 suspects in 2005. The report disclosed that the number of Yemenis suspected of involvement in drug trafficking increased in 2007 to 204 compared to 81 in 2005. The numbers of foreign drug dealer suspects were 5 in 2005 and 22 in 2007.

The report added that 511 individuals were charged with drug dealing in the country in the last three years. The suspects included 469 Yemenis and 42 foreigners.

The amount of the seized hashish during the last three years amounted to 9,642 kilograms, with 3,004 kilograms seized in 2005, 2,082 in 2006 and 4,555 in 2007 together with the confiscation of 112 hashish plants.

The narcotic pills seized in the same period totaled 802,944; most of them were caught in 2007. In 2005, the number of pills seized was 791,469, however only 6,500 pills were confiscated in 2004, in addition to 535 liters of ether acetyl. The report announced that the total quantity of drugs destroyed in Sa’adah and Taiz in 2006 were 22.2 kilograms of heroin, 1,647,952 kilograms of hashish, 200 grams of hashish seeds, 41,039 narcotic pills and 7,856 amphetamine pills. The amount of drugs destroyed in al-Mahara in 2007 mounted to 1,542,500 kilograms of hashish.

Sources confirmed that disclosure of this amount of drugs comes in the light of security information received by the Yemeni Security Services and the General Administration of drug-policing in Saudi Arabia within the framework of security cooperation between Sana’a and Riyadh. The Yemeni Security Services had searched the boat more than once since its detention in the middle last February, but they did not find anything at that time.

Trend

Three policemen injured in southern Yemen ambush
08.07.08 17:26

Suspected Islamic militants on Tuesday ambushed a police patrol in southern Yemen, injuring three policemen, local sources said.

The police vehicle was attacked while driving on a highway leading to Ja’ar city in the southern province of Abyan, the sources told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Believed to be members of a militant Islamic group, the attackers opened fire on the vehicle and fled into the mountains, the sources said.

Police forces set up checkpoints and sent troops to the area to chase the attackers, witnesses said.

Ja’ar is located nearly 600 kilometres south of the capital Sana’a, and is close to mountains where armed Islamic groups take shelter.

In March, five policemen were injured in a bomb attack against the local government compound in Ja’ar. Officials said Islamic insurgents were behind the attack.

Seven people injured in blast in al-Dhale province
Monday 07 July 2008 14ouMon, 07 Jul 2008 14:00:48 +0300 02 PM / Mareb Press

About Seven people were injured on Monday in an explosion in al-Dhalae province, south of Yemen, during a peaceful march carried out by political movements in al-Dhalae.

The Islah party website, al-Sahwa quoted the source as saying that at least seven people were injured in explosion resulted from a bomb thrown by an unidentified person during the peaceful march.

The security men dispersed the demonstrators. The political activists in al-Dhale called for peaceful silent march on the occasion of the 7th of July protesting the continuous detention of the political leaders in the South.

Its really sickening that