Process of withdrawing troops and armed tribesmen started for enhancing peace and normalizing life in Yemen

By Nasser Arrabyee, 18//12/2011

Sand bags and soil barriers were removed and armed tribesmen and   troops and armored vehicles were withdrawn from some of the streets in the Yemeni capital Sanaa in an implementation of a plan to enhance  on going peace process and  the political solution of the one-year long political crisis.

The sand bags and soil barriers in Aser traffic circle in the 60 ring road were removed before noon Saturday and the process is continuing to clean the capital from all  military and weapons manifestations.

Earlier, the Yemeni Vice President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi put a one week long road map to withdraw all  government forces and opposition armed militants from the streets of the capital Sanaa and the other cities starting at 8 o'clock in the morning on Saturday December 17th, 2011.

In a meeting with the military committee for achieving security and stability, which was formed from opposition and government, Mr. Hadi who is authorized by President Saleh to act as president till elections are held next February, said :
The government forces must return to their permanent camps and opposition armed people must return to their villages and houses.

 The  military and security situation in Sanaa and other cities witnessing tensions, must be as normal as it was before January 2011.

The meeting was attended by the UN envoy to Yemen Jamal Bin Omar who urged all parties to stop violating human rights and stop violence.


Big support for Yemen's political and  peace process 

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia promised to offer all urgent needs to the recently established government of Yemen under the leadership of the opposition. 

The Saudi foreign minister called earlier this week the vice president,Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi, and the prime minister Mohammed Basundwa and told them that the Saudi king had ordered the assistance to Yemen.

The international community appears to be very determined to help the 35-member government  which is evenly divided between the opposition and the ruling party.

The most urgent needs for the Yemeni people now are the fuels and electricity. 
The prime minster, Mohammed Salem Basundwa,who is also the chairman of the "National Council of Revolution" told the  ministers to be one team and quickly stop the sufferings of the people.
 
The worsening economic situation is the    biggest challenge facing the new interim government. 

The security situation has become relatively better especially after the new ministers started to operate their ministries. 

The opposition runs 17 ministries including, the interior ministry, the information ministry, and the finance ministry.

The UN envoy to Yemen Jamal Bin Omar is also doing his best by directly supervising the implementation plan  of the GCC deal and UN resolution 2014.

This week, Bin Omar, visited the three most troubled provinces, Taiz,( south of the north), Aden, capital of the south, and Saada (north of the north). He met   all different parties in the three cities.

The ambassadors of the five permanent  countries in the UN Council, as well as the ambassadors of the six gulf countries and EU ambassador, are also visiting these cities where tension is higher than other  places in the whole country. 
In Taiz,troops and armed opposition fighters started to withdraw from the streets earlier this weeks after months of fighting. 

In Aden, the separatists still demand the separation of the south and ignore the internationally supported current  solution for the crisis.  In Saada, Al Houthi Shiite rebels still want to have their own government and refuse the solution.  The UN envoy repeatedly said that the separatist movement, locally known as Hirak, and Al Houthi and the independent youth should be represented in the new government, but the three groups are not yet represented.

Observers say if the government would be helped to fix the economic problems then it will be successful in the other areas.

"the essential problem is economic more than political, so the new government should not be confused by what is being said that Yemeni economy is collapsed, it is not collapsed but it had only some stagnancy," said  Dr, Mohammed Al Sabri, an expert in Yemeni economy.

"the Yemeni economy can rise again with the minimum cost," said Dr Al Sabri who was involved in the economic reforms before the political crisis erupted in Yemen earlier this year.

According to the implementation plan of the GCC deal, on February 21, 2012, early elections will be held and new president will be elected instead of  president Saleh who signed the GCC on November 23 in the Saudi capital Riyadh. 

After leaving the power, Ali Abdullah Saleh will continue his political activities through his party as he repeatedly said.

To appease the protesters who still in the streets, the new minister of interior, Abdul Qader Qahtan, ordered the release of detainees on political background especially those detained during the crisis.

The opposition-chaired government is thinking of a way to convince the protesters to go home as a step of removing the factors of tension in the streets.

 The armed opposition tribesmen claim they defend the peaceful protesters and the government security     will not withdraw without withdrawal of the opposition fighters from the streets.

Al Qaeda top leaders move to new hideouts and 6 operatives arrested 


The  Yemen two top leaders of Al Qaeda in Arabian Peninsular (AQAP) left their hideouts in the southern province of Shabwah to  new hideouts in the north-east province Al Jawf, said local sources on Tuesday.

The sources said that the Yemeni Nasser Al Wahayshi (top leader of AQAP) and Saudi Saeed Al Shehri (deputy) left Shabwah early this month to unknown  new hideouts in Al Jawaf and Mareb where recruiting and  training young people has become easier than any other places.

The sources added that  hundreds of young people were sent from Al Jawf and Mareb  to Al Qaeda-held towns in the south like Jaar, Zinjubar, in Abyan and Al Huta in Shabwah over the last six months.

"We believe there is some kind of training now in the two desert provinces of Al Jawaf and Mareb , maybe this is why the leaders moved there," said the sources.

On September 30th, 2011, the Yemeni American cleric, Anwar Al Awlaki, who was the most wanted terrorist for the US, was killed with three other  operatives by a US drone in Al Jawf where important meetings were held.

Earlier  Tuesday, a total  of six Al Qaeda operatives including the Al Qaeda leader in Al Jawf province,  were arrested according to an official statement by  the ministry of interior.

The terrorist group were planning to assassinate senior officials and attack government installations and western embassies and interests.

Musaad  Mohammed Ahmed Naji Al Barbari, the leader of Al Qaeda in Al Jawf province,  200km north-east of the capital Sanaa, was one of the six terrorists.

Al Barbari led an operation to attack the Sanaa international airport in January,19th, 2009.

The arrest  was the first operation implemented against Al Qaeda by the ministry of interior under the leadership of the new minister,  Abdul Qader Qahtan who is from the opposition side in the opposition-chaired   new government.

The ministry of interior published their full names and photos. The group was also recruiting young people and sending them to fight with Al Qaeda against the government troops in the southern provinces of Abyan and Shabwah.
The other five were identified as Mohammed Hussein Mohammed Musyab, Mohammed Abdul Qader Ahmed Al Shehri, Nader Ahmed Mohammed Al Qubati, Mohammed Muthana Ali Mohammed Al Ammari, and Abdul Munem Hamid Ali Abu Ghanim.