Soutanlgnoub: Friday Morning 03/07/09 Report on the assassination of Ahmad Ajam President of the National Council of Aqqan

The Occupation forces proceeded from Al-Anad, this morning to break into the house of Ali Ahmed, the president of The National Council for the liberation, independence and restoration of the South, in Aqqan - Al-Musaymar in the Lahj Governorate. They used lived ammo on him and showered his body with bullets, until he fell to his death, right in front of the eyes of his children and family members.

In response to this act, the citizens of Musaymar blocked the main road that connects Aden to Tai’z to express their anger, denunciation and condemnation of this barbaric criminal act, and demanding that those terrorists be prosecuted.

And in the mean time the armed forces of the occupation distributed heavy weapons along the Aden-Tai’z line, as well as on the hills overlooking Aqqan.

Translated: Rasha Rashed
Source: Sout al ganoub

There have been several reports of new weaponry shipped to the South in advance of the protests.

Yemen, Libya to strike deal
SANA’A, June 20 (Saba) - Secretary of the General People’s Committee for Endowment Affairs in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Ebrahim Khalaf Allah and an accompanying delegation arrived here on Saturday on a several-day visit.

Khalaf Allah said the delegation will hold talks with Yemeni officials at the Ministry of Endowments and Guidance.

The two countries will sign a deal that would focus on cooperation in areas such as intellectual and juristic affairs and exchange of scholars and publications as well as holding joint scientific symposiums.

The delegation will also familiarize itself with religious institutions in Yemen with the intention to learn from their experiences.

Yemen Times SANA’A, June 24 - In an attempt to safeguard the morality of Yemen’s youth, the Ministry of Culture will step up its campaign to search internet cafes and CD sellers without warning.

The move is to prevent youth, especially school children, from watching pornographic material on the internet, the ministry says.

Instructions given to Internet café owners include obtaining a license for opening the café, and ensuring computer screens are not set up either facing the wall or separated by partitions. They are also asked not to allow school students to use Internet during school hours if they are wearing school uniform.

Yemenis between 15-35 years are the most common users in Internet cafes, and about 70 percent of young Internet users in Yemen search for pornography, according to a government survey in 2007.

Internet cafés play an important role in access to the web for many Yemenis, since Internet service at home is cost-prohibitive.

Although the number of Internet subscribers rose from 295,624 to 206,909 between and 2009, according to the Public telecommunications Corporation, Internet use in the country is still relatively low, with less than one to two percent of the population using the Net, depending on studies.

Both Internet service providers in Yemen are 100 percent government-owned, but TeleYemen is managed by a French company.

The Ministry of Telecommunication controls what is accessed on the Internet, both by banning websites and keywords, and by the regular campaigns by Ministry of Culture to internet centers to observe the contents of the server commuters.

Internet center administrators also have their own censorship tools, such as software which alerts them when someone is on a pornography website.

One of these programs, for example, shows a special icon next to the culprit’s computer number on the administrator’s computer screen. The latter can then decide whether to ignore the alert, or ask the user to stop what he is doing, which most of the time leads to losing that customer.

The government’s massive campaign to blame the rebels lacks authenticity, considering the chrages were made with no investigation or proof. The three day delay in expanding the search beyond Sa’ada is bizarre.

Earth Times: A rebel group in Yemen which denies any role in recent abductions there has charged via a statement on their website that government efforts to save the hostages are a sham. The rebels led by Abdul-Malik al-Houthi alleged that two suspects had been tortured by Yemen’s political security forces into uttering a false claim that the rebels were to blame for the June 12 abduction of nine westerners, of whom three were then murdered.

Al-Houthi’s Shiite rebels, who are based in Saada province, put the statement online Thursday evening.

They commented that the likelihood of finding the German family of five and a British engineer were low, because the abductors would fear capture. No one has claimed responsibility for the crime.

The rebels also quoted local eyewitnesses saying that there had never been a systematic search of the region where the westerners were abducted or of the valley where the bodies of three murdered women were found.

Almotamar.net - Yemeni official information source has on Thursday (6/25) denied Al-Jazeera TV channel and other media instruments reports on occurrence of killed or wounded in the massive demonstration supporting the unity in Al-Dhalie governorate on Wednesday. The march was organised by political, social and cultural activities in the governorate in loyalty to the unity and in condemnation of the voices calling for separation, sedition and sowing feelings of hatred among the sons of the one homeland.

On the other hand the source condemned the attack on Al-Jazeera TV channel team while it was heading for Dhalie to cover the march in support of the unity, at the hands of anarchic outlaw elements.

Also the other thing to note, tangentially, is the journalist Abdel-Elah Haidar noted in the article as one who interviewed Wahishi previously is now insisting that AQAP would not have carried out the kidnapping of the medical workers in Sa’ada because it is against their principles. (Killing women like the Belgiams tourists in Hadramout is apparently less of an offense than kidnapping them.) I dont think Haidar would be taking such a strong position in his analysis (which was published in News Yemen) without there being something behind it, one way or another. From Al Masdar:

Al Qaeda announces military intelligence security information on the preparation of new processes and the implementation of Hadramout and Sana’a
المصدر أون لاين - محمد العزكي Source Online - Mohammed Aezzki

كشف تنظيم القاعدة عن معلومات أمنية عسكرية جديدة حول منفذي العمليتين الانتحاريتين في حضرموت وصنعاء ضد السياح والمحققين الأمنيين الكوريين في مارس الماضي، مستهدفا سمعة الأجهزة الأمنية اليمنية وإفشال الحكومة اقتصاديا. Detection al-Qaeda military security of the information on the perpetrators of a new double suicide bombing in Hadramout and Sana’a against the security of tourists and Korean investigators last March, the reputation of the security target and the failure of the Yemeni government economically.
وقال تنظيم القاعدة في شريط مصور جديد لمؤسسة الملاحم التابع للقاعدة في جزيرة العرب، وبثته على شبكة الإنترنت يوم السبت 27 يونيو، أن الأجهزة الأمنية قد داهمت منزلي عبد الرحمن بن مهدي في محافظة تعز، وخالد الضياني في حي السفارة الأمريكية بالعاصمة صنعاء، حيث كانا يقبعان تحت المراقبة الأمنية المشددة قبل انضمامها لصفوف تنظيم القاعدة. Al Qaeda video in a new institution sagas of the Base in the Arabian Peninsula, and aired on the Internet on Saturday, June 27, the security services have raided the homes of Abdul-Rahman bin Mahdi in the province of Taiz, and Khalid Al Alziani U.S. embassy in the capital Sanaa, where they Iqavan under strict security control by joining the ranks of al Qaeda.

وأفادت القاعدة في الشريط المرئي الذي يعرض وصية الشابين وجزء من تفاصيل تنفيذ العمليتين، أنه حينما علم عبد الرحمن بن مهدي البالغ من العمر 18 عاما بأن قوات الأمن داهمت بيته بمحافظة تعز في محاولة للإمساك به، توجه مسافرا إلى صنعاء وهناك أخذ يتنقل في شوارعها باحثا عن جماعة أبو بصير ناصر الوحيشي، وبعد شهور من البحث لم يعرف مكان معسكرات القاعدة؛ إلا أن جهاز الاستطلاع والتجنيد لتنظيم القاعدة هو من وجده والتقاه في شوارع صنعاء، حيث جنده بعد ذلك ضمن كتيبة الاستشهاديين حسب طلب بن مهدي. According to al-Qaeda in video-tape, which will expose the young and part of the details of the implementation of processes that, when he learned bin Abd al-Rahman al-Mahdi, a 18-year-old security forces raided his home in Taiz province, in an attempt to capture him, he went traveling to Sanaa and taken there in the streets, moving in search of The Abu Basir Nasir Louhichi, after months of research did not know where al-Qaeda camps; But a poll, and recruitment for al Qaeda is a grandfather and he met in the streets of Sanaa, where he was recruited by then part of a battalion of martyrdom, as requested by Benmehidi.

ويرجح رواية التجول الحر لأفراد القاعدة المطلوبين أمنيا في شوارع صنعاء، ما وثقه الصحفي والباحث في شؤون الإرهاب، عبد الإله حيدر شائع، حيث كتب في مقدمة المقابلة التي أجراها مؤخرا مع أمير تنظيم القاعدة ناصر الوحيشي، أنه التقى أولا بالمسؤول العسكري للتنظيم أبو هريرة قاسم الريمي في أحد شوارع صنعاء. The curfew is likely to account for the free-Qaeda members wanted by security on the streets of Sanaa, and confidence in the journalist and researcher on terrorism, Abdel-Elah Haidar, a common, who wrote in the introduction to his recent interview with the Emir of al-Qaeda Louhichi Nasser, he met for the first official military organization of Abu Hurayrah Qasim Reemy in one of the streets of Sana’a.

وأضاف حيدر شائع قائلا :” فكان – أي المسؤول العسكري للقاعدة - أول من التقاني قبل لقائي بأبي بصير، وجلس معي في أحد أحياء العاصمة صنعاء جلسة طويلة يطلب مني أن أشرح له الأسئلة ومحاورها وأسلمه نسخة منها”. The common Haider said: “So it was - a military officer of the base - the first rendezvous of two meetings before the Abu Basir, and sat with me in a suburb of the capital Sanaa, a long asked me to explain to him the questions and the Islamization of their hubs and a copy of it.” وهي الأسئلة التي تم الاتفاق عليها مسبقا لإجراء المقابلة لاحقا مع أمير القاعدة في جزيرة العرب أبو بصير ناصر الوحيشي. It is the questions that have been agreed in advance to conduct the interview later with the Emir of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, Abu Basir Nasir Louhichi.

وكان عبد الرحمن مهدي علي قاسم العجيري، الملقب بأبو عبيدة بن الجراح، هو من قام بتنفيذ الهجوم الانتحاري قرب مدينة شبام حضرموت الذي أدى إلى مقتل أربعة سياح من كوريا الجنوبية بالإضافة إلى المرشد السياحي اليمني المرافق للوفد وإصابة ستة آخرين في مارس الماضي، وذلك باستخدام إطار صورة حائطية – لمنظر طبيعي - مفخخ بالمتفجرات كان يحمله بين يديه حينما اقترب من الفوج السياحي – بحسب ما أظهره الشريط المصور. Rahman was Ajeeri Qasim Mehdi Ali, alias Abu Ubaida bin Jarrah, is carried out a suicide attack near the city of Shibam Hadramout, which led to the deaths of four tourists from South Korea in addition to the tour guide accompanying the Yemeni delegation and injured six others last March, using the framework the image of a wall - for the natural landscape - a booby-trapped with explosives was carrying in his hands when the regiment came from tourism - as shown by the video.

وأشار موقع وزارة الداخلية اليمنية إلى أن عبد الرحمن بن مهدي كان قد سافر بمعية والدته إلى الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية عام 1995 لمدة سنة واحدة، وقد تم تجنيده في أكتوبر 2008 من قبل شخص يسمى عمر حسن المحفلي 25عاما والذي درجت الأجهزة الأمنية أسمه ضمن 12 عنصرا من خلية إرهابية تتعقبهم وزارة الداخلية. The website of the Ministry of Interior of Yemen that Abdul-Rahman bin Mahdi had traveled together with his mother to the United States in 1995 for a period of one year, was recruited in October 2008 by a person called Omar Hassan Mahvli 25, who has been named among the security organs of a 12 cell terrorist and hunted by the Ministry of the Interior.

الجدير ذكره أن أربعة أفراد من الـ 12 عنصرا الذين تتعقبهم وزارة الداخلية قد ظهرت أسماؤهم الأصلية في العدد الأخير من مجلة صدى الملاحم، العدد التاسع، مباركين ومهنئين الهجومين اللذين نفذاهما عبد الرحمن بن مهدي وخالد الضياني. It is worth noting that four of the 12 individuals who are sought by an Interior Ministry has the original names appeared in the latest issue of the Journal of the echo sagas, No. IX, and pat Mbarkin by two attacks, which bin Abd al-Rahman al-Mahdi, Khaled Alziani.
وتحدث في الشريط الجديد أيضا خالد الضياني، 19 عاما، والملقب بـ شامل الصنعاني، وهو الذي قام بالعملية الانتحارية ضد وفد المحققين الأمنيين لكوريا الجنوبية في العاصمة صنعاء بعد يومين فقط من الهجوم الأول الذي استهدف سياح كوريا الجنوبية في حضرموت. He spoke on the tape also Khalid Alziani new, 19-year-old, and known as a comprehensive Sanani, a suicide by investigators against the delegation of South Korea’s security in the capital, Sanaa, just two days after the first attack against the South Korean tourists in Hadramout.

وبحسب تقرير لوكالة فرانس برس الفرنسية في مارس الماضي، فإن العملية الانتحارية جرى تنفيذها قرب مطار صنعاء أمام بوابة قاعدة الديلمي الجوية العسكرية في الوقت الذي كان فريق التحقيق الأمني الكوري المكون من أربعة مسؤولين أمنيين كوريين جنوبيين يتجه إلى مطار صنعاء الدولي مغادرا اليمن بعد أن جمع معلومات حول الهجمة الانتحارية على السياح بحضرموت، ولم يسفر الهجوم الانتحاري على فريق التحقيق عن أية خسائر أخرى في الأرواح. According to the report of the French Agence France Presse last March, the attack was carried out near the airport to the gate of Sana’a Daylami military air base at the time was the security team to investigate the Korean four-South Korean security officials heading to the international airport of Sana’a Yemen after leaving that the collection of information on the suicide attack on tourists Bhoudermott, did not result in a suicide attack on the investigation team for any other losses of life.

وقد أظهر الشريط المصور، لتنظيم القاعدة، خالد الضياني وهو يحمل بين يديه مسجلة إليكترونية - من النوع المتوسط في الحجم - معبأة بالمتفجرات والمسامير. Has shown the video, al Qaeda, Khalid Alziani He holds in his hands, recording electronic - the kind of average size - packed with explosives and nails. وقالت القاعدة أنه بعد عملية شبام حضرموت والتي قتل فيها عبد الرحمن بن مهدي، ألح خالد الضياني في طلبه من قيادة التنظيم بسرعة تعجيل عملية عسكرية جديدة لكي يلحق برفيقه وصديقه عبد الرحمن بن مهدي، حيث كانا أصدقاء مقربين جدا من بعضهما البعض أثناء التدريب في معسكر كتيبة الاستشهاديين وكانا حافظين للقرآن الكريم. Al Qaeda said that after the process of Shibam Hadramout and killed Abdul-Rahman bin Mahdi, Khaled Alziani insisted in his leadership of the organization rapidly accelerate the process of a new military order to Parvigah and his friend Abdul-Rahman bin Mahdi, as they were very close friends of each other during training at Camp battalion The martyrs were Hafezin of the Holy Quran.

وقالت القاعدة أن الأوامر كانت قد صدرت بالفعل من قيادة التنظيم باستهداف فريق التحقيق الكوري بعد عملية رصد استخباراتية ناجحة لتحركات الفريق الأمني الكوري وحددت مكان وساعة الضربة وتم تكليف خالد الضياني بالمهمة. Al Qaeda said that orders had already been issued from the leadership of the organization to target the Korean investigation team after a successful intelligence operation to monitor movements of the security team has identified the Korean and the place and hour strike, Khaled Alziani has been assigned the task.
وأفاد تنظيم القاعدة بأن خالد الضياني كان يتنقل في طلب العلم الشرعي بعيدا عن أهله، وذات مره رجع إلى البيت لزيارة والدته وأهله فعلمت الأجهزة الأمنية بوجوده في البيت وتحركت لمحاصرة منزله، ولكنه نجح في الفرار من قبضة الأمن. According to al-Qaeda, Khalid Alziani that he was the application of forensic science away from his family, and once he returned home to visit his mother and his family She was informed the security presence in the home and moved to besiege his house, but managed to escape from the grip of security. ولم تذكر القاعدة سبب مطاردة الأجهزة الأمنية للضياني، إلا أنها قالت أن الضياني لم يكن حينها قد التقى بالقاعدة بعد. It did not say why al-Qaeda hunt by the security organs Ziani, but she said that was not timely Alziani had met al-Qaeda yet. لكن أثناء ملاحقة الأجهزة الأمنية له، اكتشفه جهاز الاستطلاع والتجنيد التابع لتنظيم القاعدة حيث طلب الضياني إدراج اسمه فورا في كتيبة الاستشهاديين. But while in pursuit of the security services, the discovery of a surveillance and the recruitment of al Qaeda, where he requested the inclusion of his name Alziani immediately to the martyrs battalion.

ونقلت فرانس برس عن مسئولين أمنيين يمنيين أن الانتحاري،الذي لقي حتفه في الهجوم، كان منتظرا أمام بوابة قاعدة الديلمي الجوية العسكرية على طريق المطار. AFP quoted officials as saying that Yemeni security bomber, who died in the attack, had been expected before the gate of a military air Daylami on the road to the airport.

وفي هذا السياق، قال دبلوماسي أجنبي مقيم في صنعاء أنه :”إذا كان صحيحا ان الانتحاري كان ينتظر الموكب فهذا يعني انه تم إبلاغهم” في إشارة صريحة إلى تنظيم القاعدة. In this context, he said a foreign diplomat based in Sanaa: “If it is true that the suicide bomber was waiting for the procession that would mean he had been informed” in explicit reference to the al-Qaeda. وتطرح هذه الإمكانية تساؤلات حول تواطؤ قد يكون استفاد منه مخططو ومنفذ العملية – بحسب فرانس برس. This possibility raises questions about collusion may have benefited from the planners and the executor of the operation - according to AFP.

* تداعيات الهجمتين الانتحاريتين على السياح والمحققين الكوريين * The implications of suicide attacks on tourists and investigators Koreans
في أعقاب التفجيرين الانتحاريين، أصدرت وزارة خارجية كوريا الجنوبية تحذيرات وأوامر مباشرة لرعاياها بسرعة مغادرة الأراضي اليمنية، ورفعت لاحقا مستوى التحذيرات لرعاياها ناصحة إياهم بمغادرة دول منطقة الشرق الأوسط بأكمله إن أمكن. In the wake of suicide bombings, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of South Korea’s direct orders and warnings to their nationals to leave the land at speeds of Yemen, and later rose to the level of warnings to their nationals and advised them to leave the Middle East as a whole if possible.

وبعد إعلان وزارة الخارجية والتجارة الكورية بحوالي شهرين، وتحديدا في الـ 23 من شهر يونيو الجاري، نقلت وكالة رويتر عن مراسلها في العاصمة الكورية الجنوبية “سول” ان إتحاد الشركات النفطية الكورية الجنوبية قرر عرض بيع حصص في حقوله النفطية في اليمن والتي يقدر انها تضم 36 مليون برميل من الاحتياطيات النفطية في اليمن. After the announcement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Korea about two months, and specifically in the 23 of June, Reuters quoted its correspondent in the capital of South Korea, “Seoul,” The Union of South Korean oil companies decided to sell stakes in oil fields in Yemen, which is estimated to be of 36 million barrels of oil reserves in Yemen.

ونقل موقع موني توداي على الانترنت عن مصادر لم يكشف عن هويتها قولها ان مؤسسة النفط الوطنية الكورية كيه.ان.او.سي وشركة هيونداي ايندستريز ومجموعة هانوها تعرض حصة 47.5 بالمئة من حصتها في الحقول اليمنية للبيع. Muni and the transfer site on the Internet Today on unidentified sources as saying that the Korean National Oil Corporation structure. That. Or.’s Hyundai Group and Aindstriz Hanoha share was 47.5 percent of its stake in the fields of Yemen for sale.
واستثمرت هيونداي 31.1 مليار وون (24.10 مليون دولار) في حقول نفطية باليمن، في حين استثمرت هانوها 10.3 مليار وون كوري وذلك بعد توقيع اتفاقية تشغيل مشتركة مع الحكومة اليمنية في عام 2007. Hyundai has invested 31.1 billion won (24.10 million dollars) in oil fields in Yemen, while Hanoha invested 10.3 billion Korean won, after the signing of the joint operation with the Yemeni government in 2007.

وذكرت وكالة رويتر إلى أن مصادر في السوق قدرت قيمة الحصص النفطية للشركات النفطية الكورية في اليمن بنحو 50 مليون دولار أمريكي. The news agency Reuters that the market sources estimated the value of the shares of oil companies in Yemen, the Korean oil estimated at about 50 million U.S. dollars.

وقد قامت هذه الشركات الكورية والتي تمتلك شركة توتال الفرنسية أكبر حصة فيهم، ببناء مصنع للغاز الطبيعي المسال في محافظة شبوه جنوب البلاد. The Korean companies, which owns the French company Total, the largest share of them, to build a factory for LNG in the Shabwa province south of the country.

وكان من المقرر ان تتسلم كوريا الجنوبية الشحنة الاولى من الغاز المنتج في هذا المصنع في نهاية يونيو الجاري، إلا أنه لأسباب غير معلومة تم تأجيل موعد تسليم الشحنة الأولى من الغاز لكوريا الجنوبية حتى نهاية أغسطس المقبل. He was scheduled to take over South Korea is the first of the gas produced in this factory at the end of June, but for reasons unknown has been to postpone the date of first delivery of gas to South Korea until the end of August.
* تكتيك عسكري وتبريرات دينية للقاعدة * The military tactic of the religious justification for a

ورجح مراقبون أن استهداف القاعدة للسياح والمسؤولين الأمنيين الكوريين في صنعاء وحضرموت، لم يكن من قبيل المصادفة. Observers see that the targeting of tourists and the rule of the Korean security officials in Sana’a and Hadramout, it was not coincidence. حيث صرح الصحفي منير الماروي لموقع نيوز يمن الإليكتروني في 24 مارس، بقوله:”درج تنظيم القاعدة على التخطيط لعمليات مزدوجة في أوقات متقاربة، وهذا أمر غير جديد فقد استهدفت القاعدة السفارتين الأميركيتين في كينيا وتنزانيا في وقت واحد، واستهدفت نيويورك وواشنطن في آن واحد، وليس غريبا أن تنفذ عمليتين صغيرتين في شبام وصنعاء في وقت متقارب على نمط هجومي الضبة وصافر الفاشلين”. Munir said in a press Almaruy for e-News Yemen in March 24, saying: “Al-Qaida has planned for a double in the times of close, and this is not a new rule was aimed at the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania at the same time, targeting New York and Washington at the same time, It is not strange to be implemented in two minibuses in Sana’a and Shibam, close to the time pattern of offensive and wheezy Alillp failed. ”

وقال كيم جين، صحفي كوري ومحرر الافتتاحية في صحيفة “جونجأنج ألبو” أن هذا الاستهداف الإرهابي هو الأول من نوعه ضد رعايا كوريا الجنوبية في اليمن. Kim said Jin, a Korean journalist and editor of the opening in the newspaper, “Albu Jongonj that” this terrorist targeting is the first of its kind against the nationals of South Korea in Yemen. وتعد كوريا الجنوبية حليفة في الحرب على الإرهاب التي تقودها الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية. South Korea is an ally in the war on terrorism led by the United States of America.

وعلى الرغم أن حكومة “سول” أعلنت في 2006 أنها ستسحب 1800 جندي كوري من أجمالي 2800 جندي من اربيل بالعراق في 2007 بحسب تصريحات هيي تيك كيم / مدير عام شؤون الشرق الاوسط وافريقيا بوزارة الخارجية والتجارة بجمهورية كوريا الجنوبية لصحيفة دنيا الوطن الفلسطينية في ديسمبر 2006، إلا أن القاعدة في اليمن اعتبرت دخولهم في حلف “محاربة الإرهاب” مع الولايات المتحدة ومشاركة جنودها في الحرب على أفغانستان والعراق مبرر “شرعي وديني” لاستهداف وقتل رعايا جمهورية كوريا من سياح ومدنيين وعسكريين في اليمن بحسب الفتوى الذي أصدرها تنظيم القاعدة في جزيرة العرب ونشرها في العدد الأخير – العدد التاسع - من مجلة صدى الملاحم الناطقة باسم القاعدة. In spite that the Government of “Sol” in 2006 announced it would withdraw 1800 troops from the Korean total of 2800 troops from Iraq, Arbil, in 2007, according to Tech’s Hee Kim / General Manager for the Middle East and Africa, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of the Republic of South Korea told the world of the Palestinian homeland in December 2006, However, the al-Qaeda in Yemen was entered in the Alliance “to fight terrorism” with the United States and its participation in the war on Afghanistan and Iraq unjustified “illegal religious” for targeting and killing of nationals of the Republic of Korea, tourists, and civilians and military personnel in Yemen, according to the fatwa issued by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and published in the the latest issue - Issue IX - an echo of the epic magazine spokeswoman for al-Qaeda.

الجدير ذكره أن الشابين اللذين نفذا الهجومين الانتحاريين في حضرموت وصنعاء قد ركزا في وصيتيهما – في الشريط المرئي المصور - على التحريض والتوعد باستهداف المصالح السياسية والاقتصادية والعسكرية والأمنية للحكومتين اليمنية والسعودية بالإضافة إلى المصالح الغربية في المنطقة. It is worth noting that the two young men who carried out the suicide attacks in Hadramout and Sana’a has focused in Sitema - visible in the video cameraman - the target of incitement and threats of political and economic interests, military and the security of the two governments of Yemen and Saudi Arabia in addition to Western interests in the region.

Dead shrimp are one thing, but theres whole villages that have been sickened by enviornmental contaminaton of the extractive industries and other pollution. And the Health Ministry is so inept that its criminal. From SABA:

GAMSR warns of crude oil leaking in Shabwa

ADEN ,July 01 (Saba) - The General Authority for Marine Science Research (GAMSR) has warned of crude oil leaking due to negligence of the companies working in Balhaf, near Bir-Ali area ,in the eastern governorate of Shabwa which causes death of shrimp and various fish.

Deputy Chairman of GAMSR Saleh Awadh told Saba that this phenomenon discovered late of last June has caused death of many shrimp in Bir-Ali which is known of shrimp existence in trade quantities.

A technical research team led by Awadh headed to the mentioned area, he made it clear to study the situation.

Accordingly, the team reported to the authorities in Shabwa governorate and the government to take necessary measures and to put an end for this phenomenon which appears as oil spots at the sea, Awadh added.

He indicated that the search team did not reach a scientific result yet after examining a shrimp as they were found rotten, warning of environmental pollution in the area.

Its quite a similiar situation to the seven Saudis that Yemen breathlessly reported captured in February. The Saudis issued an official statement at the time denying any knowledge, later re-published by SABA, Yemen’s official news agency. (See Oh Seven Saudi Al Qaeda Weren’t Captured in Yemen?) And it looks like they did it again.

Jamestown: Analysts and observers often hesitate to trust Yemeni authorities when they issue their periodic announcements regarding their fight against terrorism. Their often exaggerated or cosmetic claims of their anti-terrorist activities and victories are not as credible as claims made, for instance, by the Saudi authorities, who have a better history of credibility. The uncertainty surrounding the arrest of Alwan should cause any independent observer or analyst to have two hypotheses on the matter, each supported by evidence from openly available sources…

Read the whole thing at Jamestown for a thoughtful analysis of the possible scenarios, the broader picture and its implications.

Yemen plans to conduct comprehensive surveys for Yemeni expatriates that would focus on their numbers, jobs, families and activities, and their remittances to their homeland.

According to the Expatriate Affairs Ministry, between 6 and 8 million Yemenis are living in 80 world states including a million people in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, half million people in India, and other large communities in countries such as Indonesia and Britain.

The Yemeni expatriates send almost $ 1 billion in remittance a year, Minister of Expatriate Affairs Ahmed Musa’ed Hussein has said.

Surveys on the conditions of Yemeni expatriates would start next year, the minister said, adding the project is currently being processed in the Cabinet to approve it in the near future.

The ministry has talked to 62 Yemeni embassies to prepare reports on Yemeni communities abroad in an attempt to help them solve problems they face at sea as well as land and air travel when returning home.

Hussein also said that the ministry asked the embassies to give names of administrators of Yemeni communities and names of Yemeni businessmen and academics abroad.

In this context, the Yemeni government is currently handling problems facing investments of Yemeni expatriates in their country ahead of the third expatriate conference which will be held in October.

The conference represents a new step towards activating investment of Yemeni expatriates at home by establishing the best ways to help them contribute to development in Yemen.

Saeeda was a young Yemeni woman from the akhdam. She was working as a street cleaner in Sana’a when a group of men began to harass her. The men ended up slicing Saeeda’s neck, killing her, and stabbing her brother in the chest several times. Nothing was done by authorities to investigate or avenge Saeeda’s death.

More than 50 decades ago, there were only two visible classes, the Imam and his family who were descendants of the Prophet, and the rest of the public. But after the Imamate rule ended, three classes emerged: the Hashemite or saada, the tribes, known as a’raab or qabail, and the mazaayina, also known as atraaf.

An additional class has emerged, popularly known as the akhdam. This term, however, carries with it a negative stigma, and they prefer to call themselves, al-muhamasheen, or the marginalized ones.

The muhamasheen is the impoverished class. They are isolated socially and economically. They frequently live in places like slums on the outskirts of Sana’a, where there are make-shifts homes and no electricity. Children often have is limited, if any, access to education, adequate nutrition or sanitation.

The muhamasheen are also often victims of discrimination or prejudice. Children drop out of school because they are looked down upon by their peers. Homes flood when it rains. Ali Izzil Muhammad Obaid told the New York Times: “We are surviving but we are not living.”

The government has not done much to fix this problem. The Yemeni constitution says, “The state shall guarantee equal opportunities for all citizens in the fields of political, economic, social and cultural activities.” It also says Yemeni Society is based in social solidarity, which is based on justice, freedom and equality according to the law.

Although the Yemeni constitution promises equality for all, it doesn’t provide it. In articles 24 and 25 of chapter 3 on social and cultural foundations, it says that it will provide the same opportunities to all Yemenis culturally, economically, politically and even socially, but none of this has happened.

The constitution was laid down in 1994 and 15 years later, the situation is as bad as ever.

Prisoners of war

According to Iranian historian Mohammed Hussein Fadhlallah, Ethiopians also known as the Ahbash in Arabic ruled Yemen for 72 years over 1,500 years ago.

During their rule, one of their kings called Abraha wanted to save the Yemeni deteriorating economy then by directing trade and attention to Sana’a instead of Hijaz in what is known today as Saudi Arabia.

He realized that he needed to destroy the Ka’aba and attract world pilgrimage and hence trade towards Yemen by building a magnificent church he called “Al-Qilees.”

However, his attack on Mecca failed and he returned to Yemen in 571 A.C. while his people in Yemen were fought by a Yemeni leader with support from Persia called Saif bin Thee Yazan.

The Ahbash were then enslaved and made to work in demeaning jobs such as cleaning bathrooms, washing dishes and sweeping streets. They were not allowed to slaughter animals or cook food until recently because they were considered by Yemenis as ‘unclean’ because of their slavery status.

The mazaayina, however, were. According to renowned 9th century historian Ibn Al-Saeb Al-Kalbi, the latter were prisoners of war caught during the Islamic expansion towards northern Arabia. This is why they usually have fair skin and blue and green eyes.

They appeared in Yemen many years after the Ahbash slaves and so they were given a slightly higher status through being able to serve in the houses in cooking and slaughtering, or barbers or working in the Turkish baths known as hamams.

The mazaayina are traditionally considered working-class, and work as barbers, entertainers and butchers. However, many work as circumcisers, give injections or administer first aid. They are referred to as doctors by almost all the social classes, especially in the rural areas. The mazaayina also traditionally sing at weddings, help to prepare brides for their wedding day, and serve in wealthy homes.

At the top of the social ladder, the saada claim Hashemite ancestry, dating back to the prophet Mohammed (P.B.U.H.). They traditionally work as judges or religious leaders because of their history of access to education and leadership.

The saada and the tribes once kept their distance, but now share a closer relationship. It used to be unacceptable for a saada to marry someone from any tribe. More recently, however, the saada marriage range has expanded, and they are allowed to marry members of the tribes.

Most saada families, however, will not permit their relatives to marry members of the mazaayina or muhamasheen. Neither are members of the tribal class

Yemeni tribes are divided into four main groups that describe themselves as the decedents of four sheiks: Hashid, Bakil, Hamdan and Madhaj. The tribes are now lead by sheikhs who enforce a tribal system of law. Yemeni sheikhs have their own prisons, arms and soldiers.

Pervasive discrimination

The last two classes suffer from social discrimination although for the muhamasheen it is much worse because of their dark skin color.

This is a prevalent concept, although they are not necessarily black especially since, over the years, some abandoned children were conceived outside wedlock by qabael or saada and dumped in the akhdam’s neighborhood. The akhdam took care of the children as their own and married them with their own, and so with time some families have lighter skin colors because of this.

There are some Yemenis who are of dark skin and those are generally from coastal areas or the valley in Hadramout. Where they live, they are integrated normally into society but when they travel to other areas in Yemen they are sometimes looked down upon just because they are black, despite the fact that they could be from a higher social class.

However, muhamasheen remain the most discriminated against and are also regularly denied basic rights like property, credit or employment.

According to people from rural Taiz, each area or district had its akhdam. Each area’s inhabitants were responsible for protecting them, giving them food and shelter in return for the akhdam’s services, in the form of domestic work and especially during weddings and social occasions.

The trend was that the akhdam of one area or village were not allowed to work in another. They belonged to a specific territory and had to operate within that.

During weddings for example, their job was to play the drums, sing and entertain the people. They also helped in domestic chores mainly cleaning and serving people.

During the dancing, friends and family would throw money into the lap of the akhdam entertainment leader after gesturing circles with the money on top of the bride or the groom’s head. This show was a cultural tradition supposed to break the evil eye, and say, “Your value is above all money.”

When the bride or groom dances, family and friends compete to see who can throw in the more money. It is a special treat for the akhdam that day.

Outside the wedding seasons, the akhdam earn money by doing services in the village. When there is no work, they can easily go to houses and demand money or food or clothes. Locals were obliged to give them because they were the responsibility of the village.

In recent years, some akhdam went to schools and broke free from this form of unwritten slavery, and some even traveled and worked abroad. But for the majority, especially in the cities, they are still heavily discriminated against and looked down upon.

“These groups face tyrannical treatment from society because of their unknown origins, according to which they are now not allowed to take leading positions in the state, and in the past were not allowed to in the tribe,” said Mohammed Al-Khayat, a professor of social studies at the University of Sana’a. “So, they worked in jobs considered as low professions socially.”

Challenging the norm

Challenging social norms is not easy, and in some cases the costs are heavy.

“A man from the saada class wanted to marry his daughter to her relative who was of the a’raab,” said Um Ali, an a’raab who asked not to be identified by her full name. “When they came to Sana’a to buy the clothes for the bride, her elder brothers who live in Sana’a refused to let the marriage to happen.”

“[The brothers] disobeyed their father, who told them of his agreement with his [potential] new son-in-law. They kept on refusing the marriage, which caused the father to be paralyzed for nearly three years which ended in his death.”

Some saada think they are too good to socialize with other classes. A saada woman would never invite a neighbor from the tribes over to her house for lunch, and she would never let her children hang out with muhamasheen.

“The saada and qabael interact socially and invite each other to their weddings or celebrations, but it is unheard of to invite mazaayina or akhdam as guests,” said Mohammed Noman Al-Hakimi a writer from Taiz. “There is a red line between those two groups and the saada and mazaayina that cannot be crossed.”

“In fact if you were to insult someone you would call him ‘ya muzayyin,’” he continued. “Even if we were to invite the akhdam, they are generally dirty and don’t dress up nicely. As for the mazaayina, it is impossible to even consider inviting them.”

A wealthy mazaayina man wanted to marry a saada woman and since her family would never accept him, he changed his last name to one of the common names of saada families. He claimed he had no family members or relatives. The ruse worked because the lived in a town where nobody knew his past. Her family agreed and the couple married.

After three years, the man and his wife traveled to Egypt to visit her brother. He met another man whose last name was the same as the mazaayina man’s acclaimed surname.

The other man doubted his origin and asked him about specific details known only to those from the family. The mazaayina was forced to confess that he lied in order to marry. His wife’s family then forced him to divorce her, although they had just had a baby together a few months before.

Society’s apathy and winds of change

Kevin Aldrich, a teacher at the Sana’a International School said that he tried to organize a charity walk to benefit the muhamasheen. He cancelled the event because people lacked interest or enthusiasm. The students were simply not interested in this topic, he said.

But when another teacher, David Stanton, organized a charity walk to raise money for the Arabian leopards which are in danger of extinction, people jumped at the opportunity and raised USD 5,000 that day.

There are some NGOs made by the marginalized communities mostly from akhdams who have organized themselves in order to change their conditions such as Amer and Uqbi Association. Increasingly humanitarian and rights based organizations in Yemen are executing projects to improve their situation. A documentary has been released recently by WINTESS and Sisters Arab Forum for Human Rights on the plight of akhdam and injustice happening to that community in Yemen. The documentary discussed the situation of akhdams in Yemen with focus on Saeeda’s story calling for social action against such injustice.

Some mazaayina have also broken from the isolation and availed good education and are now working abroad in respectable jobs. In Yemen, there remains discriminated against regardless of their education or wealth but the trend is slowly changing.