Thursday 10 November 2011

UN envoy in Yemen in his sixth attempt  to end the crisis

By Nasser Arrabyee , 10/11/2011

Two important and controversial issues are facing the UN envoy Jamal Bin Omar who arrived in Sanaa Thursday, November 10,2011 to monitor the implementation of  Security Council resolution 2014, which urged the conflicting parties in Yemen to end the 10-month political crisis.

The ruling party wants the  GCC initiative to be signed simultaneously with its implementation mechanism while the opposition wants to sign the latter in Riyadh later.

The ruling party wants the leaders of the opposition to get back from outside Yemen to finalize the last details of the implementation mechanism of the GCC. 

The secretary general of the socialist party, Yassin Saeed Noman, secretary general of the Islamist party, Abdul Wahab Al Ansi,and chairman of the national council, Mohammed Ba Sundwa are still mobilizing support outside Yemen since middle of October and they do not want to get back until the GCC is signed despite the American and European calls for them to get back.

The ruling party also wants guarantees   From opposition to end protests as soon as the national government is formed according to the implementation mechanism of the GCC.

The opposition keep saying their protesters have the right to demonstrate and sit in regardless of any agreement between the parties.

After the UNSC 2014,  the UN envoy Jamal Bin Omar hopes to end the Yemen  crisis in his current round, the sixth since the beginning of the crisis earlier this year.

Bin Omar was supposed to arrive in Yemen at the end of October. 

But he delayed the trip to November 10th, after  senior  officials left Yemen for medical check ups outside Yemen.

The Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh was then  supposed to authorize his deputy to sign a Gulf-brokered deal and implement   all its steps until a new president is elected.

However, vice President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi left for United States for necessary medical check ups.

And so did the political advisor of President Saleh, Dr Abdul Kareem Al Eryani, who is the chief negotiator with the opposition forces about the GCC deal.

The UN envoy to Yemen, Jamal Bin Omar,consequently, delayed his trip to Yemen after the vice President Mr Hadi  had coordinated with him and told how long he would take for medical checks in US.

Both Mr Hadi and Mr Al Eryani are scheduled to return to Sanaa on November 4 and 3 respectively.

According to reliable sources in government and opposition, the UN envoy Bin Omar,will arrive on February  10 to attend the final consultations meeting with both sides before the GCC is signed by the vice President Mr Hadi.

Some of the opposition politicians confirmed Tuesday February 1st that they were informed by the US ambassador that Saleh had agreed to authorize his deputy to act for him until a new president is elected within three months maximum after the GCC deal is signed.

The authorization decree will stipulate that Saleh will remain president until a new president is elected  and that the  authorized deputy should not cancel him. This is a kind of guarantee.

Immediately, after the GCC deal is signed by Mr Hadi, and the implementation mechanism is approved by both sides , the UN Security Council  would issue a resolution binding all conflicting parties to implement the mechanism step by step and the UN envoy Bin Omar would be monitoring all steps and performance of all parties.  

After being authorized by President Saleh, vice president Mr Hadi,would entrust someone nominated by the opposition to form a  national unity government from the opposition coalition and the ruling party.

The opposition-chaired government would form a military and security committee chaired by Mr Hadi, to control the army and security. 

The son and three nephews of President Saleh will remain in their positions  as important commanders in army and security  until the end of the transitional period. 

Then, the vice president would call for presidential elections within three month. 

Mr Hadi himself would be the candidate of both the ruling party and the opposition as a man of national consensus.

Hadi would elected as a transitional president for two years during which all political and constitutional issues are supposed to be solved. 

However, the situation on the ground  remains  tense and escalation continues. The protesters refuse the GCC and insist on the ouster president Saleh without conditions, despite the fact that  more than 90 percent of them belong to the opposition parties who are involved in the GCC deal and negotiations with the ruling party.

The armed opposition tribesmen supported by defected troops are still in almost daily confrontations with the government forces inside the capital and other places.  

 ))))In an  online conference last week,  
Nasser Arrabyee  who writes for Yemen Observer, asked the US DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR NEAR EASTERN AFFAIRS TAMARA WITTES this question:

  Political tyranny and corruption led to the current popular uprising in Yemen, but this uprising is now being exploited by traditional tribal and religious forces that may repeat the same political tyranny and corruption and maybe even worse.  What would the U.S. government do to help Yemenis who want real democracy and not just changing the regime with a worse one?


And MS. WITTES answered: I  think anytime there is an opening in society, there are going to be those who try and come in to work that change on behalf of their own interests.  That’s politics.  But the Yemeni people are determined, it seems to me, and they’ve demonstrated that determination through months and months of peaceful demonstrations, calling for political transition and calling for democracy in Yemen.  To me, it’s the Yemeni people who will be the guarantors that in any political transition they will get the change they seek.  The – it’s going to be Yemeni people who need to be able to hold their new leaders accountable for the promises that they’ve made.
Now in order to do that, you need good democratic rules, good institutions, and you need an environment in which rights are respected so that Yemeni citizens can speak freely about what’s going on and can hold their government to account.  I think in all the work that the United States has tried to do diplomatically with others in the international community to promote a political transition in Yemen, we have held in mind these aspirations of the Yemeni people, but ultimately it will be Yemeni citizens who are going to have to enforce those expectations on their new leaders.
(((((

Yemen Nobel peace prize winner described as criminal and traitor 

A fundamentalist cleric described the Yemeni noble peace prize winner as a  " criminal, and traitor" calling  her for repentance.

" Tawakul Karman was given the prize of Jews and Christians as a reward for her major treason of Islam, State and the People," said The Salafi cleric Mohammed Al Emam in a lengthy lecture  on Ms Karman.

On October 7th, 2011, the Yemeni political activist Tawakul Karman was announced as a co-winner of the Nobel peace prize with two other Liberian women.

" This woman corrupted the women and men, and she and  those like her need to repent to Allah Almighty before they die," said Al  Emam in his lecture which was widely  distributed in Yemen by  followers this week.

Mohammed Al Emam,  heads one of  the largest and most famous and extremist  Salafi schools in Yemen.

In addition to his School, located in town  of Mabar, some 70 km south of the Yemeni capital Sanaa, there are about 4,000 other similar Salafi schools scattered all over the poor country. 

Gulf Salafi  businessmen and other religious groups, especially from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Kuwait, financially and logistically support these schools.

"This woman called for rebellion against Allah, and his Messenger and Hejab, and this a criminal call," said the Salafi cleric who has tens of thousands of followers in Yemen.

Al Emam also blasted Tawakul's party, the Islamist party, Islah and called its leaders to repent to Allah Almighty as well for  dealing with the enemies, in a clear reference to Americans and Westerners in general. 

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