By Nasser Arrabyee/07/04/2010
A Yemeni 12-year old girl died three days after she was wed to husband in his 20s in Hajja north of Yemen, medical and human rights sources said Wednesday.
The bride Elham Mahdi Shuee, died in the hospital of Hajja where she was admitted after acute bleeding happened to her because of sexual intercourse, said Majed Al Mathhaji, spokesman for Sisters Forum for Human Rights, NGO, concerned with child bride.
Al Mathhaji confirmed that the medical report showed that Elham had suffered rupture of the womb.
Elham was married off in what's known in Yemen as swap marriage. Her husband family, did not pay dowry, but instead, they married off a girl in the same age to the brother of Elham, according to Al Mathahji.
After Elham died, the family of the husband went to take their daughter from her husband, said Al Mathhaji.
Child bride is very common in Yemen because of illiteracy and poverty.
Islamic extremists and tribal leaders have been campaigning against a draft law putting 18 years as the age of marriage for about two years now. The religious extremists say the draft law, under debates in the Parliament, does not go with what the prophet Mohammed did. They argue that the prophet got married to one of his wives when she was eight.
Wednesday, 7 April 2010
Yemen's Al Qaeda escapes to Somalia: Somali Minister
Earlier in the week, press reports from Saudi and Yemen said that about 20 the Yemen-based Al Qaeda members including the top leaders escaped the continuous crackdown on them in Yemen to Somalia, and today a Somali minister say that 12 members arrived in Somalia. Here is the story from Nairobi-based Reuters:
Source: Reuters, 7/4/2010
NAIROBI (Reuters) - At least 12 al Qaeda members have crossed from Yemen into Somalia in the last two weeks, bringing money and military expertise to Somali rebels battling the Western-backed government, a senior Somali official said.
Western and regional intelligence agencies have long feared that Somalia's porous borders and lack of a strong central government could make the Horn of Africa nation a safe haven for militants looking to attack the region and beyond.
"Our intelligence shows 12 senior al Qaeda officials came into Somalia from Yemen in the last two weeks," said Treasury Minister Abdirahman Omar Osman, adding that he had been briefed by Somalia's intelligence agencies.
"They were sent off to assess the situation to see if al Qaeda may move its biggest military bases to southern Somalia since they are facing a lot of pressure in Afghanistan and Iraq," he told Reuters by telephone on Wednesday.
Osman did not say who the al Qaeda members were nor their positions in the organisation.
Al Qaeda in Yemen jumped to the forefront of Western security concerns after a Yemen-based regional wing claimed responsibility for a failed attack on a U.S.-bound jet in December.
Somalia's al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab rebels are waging a deadly insurgency against the transitional government headed by a former rebel and are intent on imposing a harsh version of Sharia Islamic law throughout the war-ravaged nation.
"They brought money to al Shabaab who had been facing difficulties to recruit more fighters because of cash shortages," Osman said.
He said that some of the foreign commanders landed in airstrips in the south disguised as humanitarian workers. Two were in Mogadishu, he said.
Since plunging into anarchy in 1991, hundreds of thousands of people have perished from famine, war and disease in Somalia. Multiple attempts to set up central rule have failed.
Somalia's current government backed by African Union peacekeepers has been unable to rest control of the seaside capital from insurgent groups. Al Shabaab controls large swathes of southern Somalia and Mogadishu.
Source: Reuters, 7/4/2010
NAIROBI (Reuters) - At least 12 al Qaeda members have crossed from Yemen into Somalia in the last two weeks, bringing money and military expertise to Somali rebels battling the Western-backed government, a senior Somali official said.
Western and regional intelligence agencies have long feared that Somalia's porous borders and lack of a strong central government could make the Horn of Africa nation a safe haven for militants looking to attack the region and beyond.
"Our intelligence shows 12 senior al Qaeda officials came into Somalia from Yemen in the last two weeks," said Treasury Minister Abdirahman Omar Osman, adding that he had been briefed by Somalia's intelligence agencies.
"They were sent off to assess the situation to see if al Qaeda may move its biggest military bases to southern Somalia since they are facing a lot of pressure in Afghanistan and Iraq," he told Reuters by telephone on Wednesday.
Osman did not say who the al Qaeda members were nor their positions in the organisation.
Al Qaeda in Yemen jumped to the forefront of Western security concerns after a Yemen-based regional wing claimed responsibility for a failed attack on a U.S.-bound jet in December.
Somalia's al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab rebels are waging a deadly insurgency against the transitional government headed by a former rebel and are intent on imposing a harsh version of Sharia Islamic law throughout the war-ravaged nation.
"They brought money to al Shabaab who had been facing difficulties to recruit more fighters because of cash shortages," Osman said.
He said that some of the foreign commanders landed in airstrips in the south disguised as humanitarian workers. Two were in Mogadishu, he said.
Since plunging into anarchy in 1991, hundreds of thousands of people have perished from famine, war and disease in Somalia. Multiple attempts to set up central rule have failed.
Somalia's current government backed by African Union peacekeepers has been unable to rest control of the seaside capital from insurgent groups. Al Shabaab controls large swathes of southern Somalia and Mogadishu.
Human Rights Watch calls for investigation over violations in Sa'ada war
Source: HRW 07/04/2010
Dubai, April 7, 2010) – The Yemeni government and Huthi rebels should investigate alleged violations of the laws of war during the recent conflict and hold all those responsible to account, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. On February 11, 2010, both sides agreed to a truce – the sixth since the war began in 2004, but the agreement contains no accountability provisions.
The 54-page report, “All Quiet on the Northern Front?: Uninvestigated Laws of War Violations in Yemen’s War with Huthi Rebels,” documents how government forces may have indiscriminately bombed and shelled civilian areas, causing civilian casualties, and how Huthi forces may have committed summary executions and unlawfully deployed in populated areas. Huthi forces also allegedly carried out pillage and looting, used “human shields,” and prevented civilians from fleeing war zones, even to seek medical treatment. Both sides used children in combat, in violation of international law.
“It is time to end the impunity surrounding the cycle of civilian suffering in northern Yemen,” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “The recent truce is an opportunity to strengthen protection for civilians by investigating alleged war crimes and making sure the victims receive justice.”
The report is based on Human Rights Watch interviews in Yemen in October 2009 with civilians who witnessed fighting in seven districts of the northern Sa’da and ‘Amran governorates and with humanitarian aid workers. Because the government has restricted access to the conflict area, making it impossible for Human Rights Watch to assess damage at the sites of incidents described by witnesses, further investigations are needed to obtain a clearer picture of alleged abuses, Human Rights Watch said.
Since the beginning of the sixth round of fighting in mid-August 2009, artillery shelling by both sides and government aerial bombardments have killed hundreds of civilians, injured many more, and in some cases, the fighting destroyed entire villages.
In early November, Saudi Arabia entered the war, sending fighter planes into Yemeni airspace to bomb rebel positions. By mid-February, international aid agencies were struggling to assist even a small fraction of the roughly 265,000 people – most of them women and children – displaced from their homes in this and earlier rounds of fighting.
Before the February 11 truce, the United Nations, the United States, and the European Union called for an end to the fighting, but urged an investigation only into one government airstrike that reportedly killed more than 80 civilians in September 2009. The government said within days that it had begun an inquiry into this incident, but it has not announced the outcome. Huthi rebels are not known to have conducted any investigations into allegations of war crimes.
Human Rights Watch called on the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to establish a human rights monitoring and reporting mission in Yemen. It urged Yemen’s donors and allies to support such a mission, in addition to a human rights advisory position currently under discussion.
Government airstrikes on Huthi forces that did not discriminate between combatants and civilians or caused disproportionate loss of civilian life and property would constitute violations of the laws of war, Human Rights Watch said.
Huthi forces also may have at times placed civilians at unnecessary risk by deploying within densely populated villages. Displaced people reported two cases of possible summary killings by Huthi forces. In one case involving possible human shielding, available evidence suggests that Huthi forces unlawfully used captured Yemeni military officers to deter an attack. On several occasions, the Huthis allegedly prevented injured civilians from leaving their villages to obtain necessary medical care in larger towns. There were also accounts by witnesses of rebels pillaging private property.
Human Rights Watch spoke to three youths who described fighting for government or Huthi forces as child soldiers, in violation of international law.
By mid-February 2010, international aid agencies struggled to assist just over 45,000 displaced persons in seven camps and nine informal settlements. But this was only about 17 percent of the total number of people displaced by the conflict.
Aid agencies faced even greater obstacles trying to assist another 218,000 displaced people who have taken shelter with host families or in public buildings, or are living in open spaces, because of danger in the conflict zone and government obstruction of aid activity outside formally approved camps.
Saudi Arabia has exacerbated the plight of the displaced by preventing Yemenis from seeking refuge across the border in Saudi Arabia and by forcing refugees back across the border into Yemen, in violation of international law.
“Very few of those displaced by this tragic conflict are getting desperately needed assistance,” Stork said. “Concerned governments should press Yemen to make sure that aid agencies can reach people displaced throughout rural areas.”
US orders killing top terrorist in Yemen
Press: 07/04/2010
Finally, US has officaily agreed to kill or capture the Yemeni- American Anwar Al Awlaki, who recently called for Jihad against US, and who is accused of being behind many terrorist attacks. Washington Post has this article today:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration has authorized operations to capture or kill a U.S.-born Muslim cleric based in Yemen, who is described by a key lawmaker as Americas's top terrorist threat, officials said on Tuesday.
The decision to add Anwar al-Awlaki, of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, to the target list followed a National Security Council review prompted by his status as a U.S. citizen.
Officials said Awlaki directly threatened the United States. "Awlaki is a proven threat," said a U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity. "He's being targeted."
Rep. Jane Harman, chairwoman of the House of Representatives Homeland Security Subcommittee on Intelligence, described Awlaki as "probably the person, the terrorist, who would be terrorist No. 1 in terms of threat against us."
"He is very much in the sights of the Yemenis, with us helping them," said Harman, who recently visited Yemen to meet with U.S. and Yemeni officials.
She told Reuters that Awlaki's U.S. citizenship made going after him "certainly complicated."
But Harman said President Barack Obama and his administration "made very clear that people, including Americans who are trying to attack our country, are people we will definitely pursue... are targets of the United States."
The U.S. target list is secret and it was not immediately clear whether Awlaki was the first American added, as some experts had suggested he would be.
Yemen has carried out air strikes with U.S. assistance to target al Qaeda leaders, but there have been conflicting reports about whether Awlaki was present during any of those attacks. U.S. officials believe he remains in hiding in Yemen.
CHANGING ASSESSMENT
U.S. intelligence agencies had viewed Awlaki as chiefly an al Qaeda sympathizer and recruiter for Islamist causes with possible ties to some of the September 11, 2001, hijackers.
That assessment changed late last year with revelations about his contacts with a Nigerian suspect in the attempted bombing of a transatlantic passenger jet as it approached Detroit on December 25 and with a U.S. Army psychiatrist accused of shooting dead 13 people at a military base in Texas on November 5.
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) claimed responsibility for the attempted Christmas Day bombing of the flight from Amsterdam to Detroit.
The suspected bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, has been cooperating with U.S. authorities, providing intelligence about the group, which allegedly supplied him with explosives that were sewn into his underwear, officials said.
U.S. counterterrorism officials described Awlaki as the main force behind AQAP's decision to transform itself from a regional threat into what U.S. spy agencies see as al Qaeda's most active affiliate outside Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Born in New Mexico, Awlaki was an imam at mosques in Denver, San Diego and Falls Church, Virginia, just outside Washington. He returned to Yemen in 2004 where he taught at a university before he was arrested and imprisoned in 2006 for suspected links to al Qaeda and involvement in attacks.
Awlaki, part of a prominent Yemeni family, was released in December 2007 because he said he had repented, according to a Yemeni security official. But he was later charged again on similar counts and went into hiding.
After Major Nidal Malik Hasan, a U.S. Army psychiatrist, went on a shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, U.S. authorities said he had frequently been in email contact with Awlaki.
And after the Christmas Day plot, U.S. and Yemeni officials said they learned that Awlaki had met with Abdulmutallab in Yemen.
In a recent interview with a Yemeni freelance journalist, posted on Al Jazeera television's website, Awlaki described Abdulmutallab as "one of my students" but said he did not encourage the attack.
Finally, US has officaily agreed to kill or capture the Yemeni- American Anwar Al Awlaki, who recently called for Jihad against US, and who is accused of being behind many terrorist attacks. Washington Post has this article today:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration has authorized operations to capture or kill a U.S.-born Muslim cleric based in Yemen, who is described by a key lawmaker as Americas's top terrorist threat, officials said on Tuesday.
The decision to add Anwar al-Awlaki, of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, to the target list followed a National Security Council review prompted by his status as a U.S. citizen.
Officials said Awlaki directly threatened the United States. "Awlaki is a proven threat," said a U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity. "He's being targeted."
Rep. Jane Harman, chairwoman of the House of Representatives Homeland Security Subcommittee on Intelligence, described Awlaki as "probably the person, the terrorist, who would be terrorist No. 1 in terms of threat against us."
"He is very much in the sights of the Yemenis, with us helping them," said Harman, who recently visited Yemen to meet with U.S. and Yemeni officials.
She told Reuters that Awlaki's U.S. citizenship made going after him "certainly complicated."
But Harman said President Barack Obama and his administration "made very clear that people, including Americans who are trying to attack our country, are people we will definitely pursue... are targets of the United States."
The U.S. target list is secret and it was not immediately clear whether Awlaki was the first American added, as some experts had suggested he would be.
Yemen has carried out air strikes with U.S. assistance to target al Qaeda leaders, but there have been conflicting reports about whether Awlaki was present during any of those attacks. U.S. officials believe he remains in hiding in Yemen.
CHANGING ASSESSMENT
U.S. intelligence agencies had viewed Awlaki as chiefly an al Qaeda sympathizer and recruiter for Islamist causes with possible ties to some of the September 11, 2001, hijackers.
That assessment changed late last year with revelations about his contacts with a Nigerian suspect in the attempted bombing of a transatlantic passenger jet as it approached Detroit on December 25 and with a U.S. Army psychiatrist accused of shooting dead 13 people at a military base in Texas on November 5.
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) claimed responsibility for the attempted Christmas Day bombing of the flight from Amsterdam to Detroit.
The suspected bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, has been cooperating with U.S. authorities, providing intelligence about the group, which allegedly supplied him with explosives that were sewn into his underwear, officials said.
U.S. counterterrorism officials described Awlaki as the main force behind AQAP's decision to transform itself from a regional threat into what U.S. spy agencies see as al Qaeda's most active affiliate outside Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Born in New Mexico, Awlaki was an imam at mosques in Denver, San Diego and Falls Church, Virginia, just outside Washington. He returned to Yemen in 2004 where he taught at a university before he was arrested and imprisoned in 2006 for suspected links to al Qaeda and involvement in attacks.
Awlaki, part of a prominent Yemeni family, was released in December 2007 because he said he had repented, according to a Yemeni security official. But he was later charged again on similar counts and went into hiding.
After Major Nidal Malik Hasan, a U.S. Army psychiatrist, went on a shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, U.S. authorities said he had frequently been in email contact with Awlaki.
And after the Christmas Day plot, U.S. and Yemeni officials said they learned that Awlaki had met with Abdulmutallab in Yemen.
In a recent interview with a Yemeni freelance journalist, posted on Al Jazeera television's website, Awlaki described Abdulmutallab as "one of my students" but said he did not encourage the attack.
Tuesday, 6 April 2010
Saleh blasts the secessionists abroad
By Nasser Arrabyee/06/04/2010
The Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh launched Tuesday a strong attack on an exiled secessionist leader describing him as a traitor and agent.
"There is no agent who can become a leader, and whoever was a leader and sold his nation and left it, it is impossible for him to return and rule," Saleh said in an obvious reference to the Yemeni secessionist leader Ali Salem Al Baidh who calls from his exile in Germany for separation of the south which united with the north on May 22, 1990.
Al Baidh was the second man after Saleh in the unified Yemen until 1994 when he left for Oman after he failed to secede the south by force.
He kept silent until May 22, 2009, when declared from Germany he would lead the secessionists in south Yemen to restore the State of the south.
In a speech delivered to gathering of politicians and clerics in Hudhrmout province east of Yemen, Saleh ordered the release of all the province's detainees including two journalists who were arrested for secession activities.
The step was highly welcomed by the local opposition leaders who attended the gathering. Saleh opened Tuesday in Hudhrmout development projects in Hudrmout including electric energy station, and cement factory.
The Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh launched Tuesday a strong attack on an exiled secessionist leader describing him as a traitor and agent.
"There is no agent who can become a leader, and whoever was a leader and sold his nation and left it, it is impossible for him to return and rule," Saleh said in an obvious reference to the Yemeni secessionist leader Ali Salem Al Baidh who calls from his exile in Germany for separation of the south which united with the north on May 22, 1990.
Al Baidh was the second man after Saleh in the unified Yemen until 1994 when he left for Oman after he failed to secede the south by force.
He kept silent until May 22, 2009, when declared from Germany he would lead the secessionists in south Yemen to restore the State of the south.
In a speech delivered to gathering of politicians and clerics in Hudhrmout province east of Yemen, Saleh ordered the release of all the province's detainees including two journalists who were arrested for secession activities.
The step was highly welcomed by the local opposition leaders who attended the gathering. Saleh opened Tuesday in Hudhrmout development projects in Hudrmout including electric energy station, and cement factory.
Yemen released 236 Al Houthi supporters
By Nasser Arrabyee/06/04/2010
A total of 236 men arrested for charges of supporting Al Houthi armed rebellion were released in implementation of six conditions set by the government and accept by for ending the war, an official statement said Tuesday.
The statement said that 161 detainees were released Monday, and 75 were released two weeks ago.
"This step comes in the frame work of implementation of the six conditions and their executive mechanisms for ending the military operations and starting to focus on development and reconstruction of Sa'ada," said the statement.
Earlier in the week, the country's supreme defense council chaired by President Ali Abdullah Saleh, urged Al Houthi "to implement the six conditions without procrastination, violations, or loitering."
Al Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdul Salam, welcomed the step of releasing the detainees describing it as "a good sign for bringing peace to Sa'ada."
However, he said they were not formally informed of the 161 detainees who were released Monday according to the government's announcement.
The spokesman said that 6 people were killed and two others in injured when land mines exploded in two different places in Sa'ada Monday.
He called for quicker removing of the mines so that people can resume their life normally especially in the pasture areas.
The Yemen organization for defending rights and liberties, local NGO concerned with the Sa'ada war detainees confirmed the release of 32 detainees and published their names.
Mediations committees for ending Al Houthi armed rebellion have been working since February 12th, 2010, when the rebels' leader announced the acceptance of the government's six conditions for permanently ending the on-and –off 6-year -old war.
However, the rebels have not yet implemented the most important condition, which is going down from the mountains, and handing over the weapons.
A total of 236 men arrested for charges of supporting Al Houthi armed rebellion were released in implementation of six conditions set by the government and accept by for ending the war, an official statement said Tuesday.
The statement said that 161 detainees were released Monday, and 75 were released two weeks ago.
"This step comes in the frame work of implementation of the six conditions and their executive mechanisms for ending the military operations and starting to focus on development and reconstruction of Sa'ada," said the statement.
Earlier in the week, the country's supreme defense council chaired by President Ali Abdullah Saleh, urged Al Houthi "to implement the six conditions without procrastination, violations, or loitering."
Al Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdul Salam, welcomed the step of releasing the detainees describing it as "a good sign for bringing peace to Sa'ada."
However, he said they were not formally informed of the 161 detainees who were released Monday according to the government's announcement.
The spokesman said that 6 people were killed and two others in injured when land mines exploded in two different places in Sa'ada Monday.
He called for quicker removing of the mines so that people can resume their life normally especially in the pasture areas.
The Yemen organization for defending rights and liberties, local NGO concerned with the Sa'ada war detainees confirmed the release of 32 detainees and published their names.
Mediations committees for ending Al Houthi armed rebellion have been working since February 12th, 2010, when the rebels' leader announced the acceptance of the government's six conditions for permanently ending the on-and –off 6-year -old war.
However, the rebels have not yet implemented the most important condition, which is going down from the mountains, and handing over the weapons.
Monday, 5 April 2010
32 Al Houthi supporters released
By Nasser Arrabyee/05/04/2010
The Yemeni authorities released 32 detainees of Al Houthi supporters, said a human rights group, Monday.
Ali Al Dailami, chairman of the Yemen organization for defending rights and liberties, local NGO concerned with Sa'ada war detainees, confirmed the release and welcoming it as a good step towards ending the war of Al Houthi armed rebellion.
On Sunday, the same right group said 10 detainees were released. The group, which raises the slogan of 'Free the Detainees First', and which published the names of the 32 releasees, demanded the release of the remaining.
Mediations committees for ending Al Houthi armed rebellion have been working since February 12th, 2010, when the rebels' leader announced the acceptance of the government's six conditions for permanently ending the on-and –off 6-year -old war.
However, the rebels have not yet implemented the most important condition, which is going down from the mountains, and handing over the weapons.
The Yemeni authorities released 32 detainees of Al Houthi supporters, said a human rights group, Monday.
Ali Al Dailami, chairman of the Yemen organization for defending rights and liberties, local NGO concerned with Sa'ada war detainees, confirmed the release and welcoming it as a good step towards ending the war of Al Houthi armed rebellion.
On Sunday, the same right group said 10 detainees were released. The group, which raises the slogan of 'Free the Detainees First', and which published the names of the 32 releasees, demanded the release of the remaining.
Mediations committees for ending Al Houthi armed rebellion have been working since February 12th, 2010, when the rebels' leader announced the acceptance of the government's six conditions for permanently ending the on-and –off 6-year -old war.
However, the rebels have not yet implemented the most important condition, which is going down from the mountains, and handing over the weapons.
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