Yemen security official and 2 soldiers killed in south

Source: Reuters

13\06\2010

Gunmen shot dead a senior security official in south Yemen, scene of escalating separatist tensions, and two soldiers died defusing a bomb near a southern army camp, officials and witnesses said on Sunday.

A provincial official said Jalal al-Uthmani, a senior security official in the flashpoint Abyan province, was killed outside his house in a hail of gunfire on Saturday.

In neighboring Dalea, two soldiers died on Sunday when a bomb they were trying to defuse outside the gate of an army camp exploded, witnesses and local officials said.

Yemen, neighbor to top oil exporter Saudi Arabia, has been a Western security concern since a Yemen-based regional al Qaeda arm claimed responsibility for a failed December attempt to bomb a U.S.-bound plane.

Yemen's Western allies and Saudi Arabia fear a resurgent al Qaeda wing could exploit unrest to use Yemen as a base for destabilizing attacks in the region and beyond. They want the government to resolve internal conflict and consolidate power.

But a separatist movement in the south has taken on steam in recent months, with deaths on both sides, even as a separate civil war with Shi'ite rebels subsides in a northern corner of the Arabian peninsula state.

North and South Yemen formally united in 1990 but many in the south, where most of impoverished Yemen's oil facilities are located, complain northerners have used unification to seize their resources and discriminate against them.

Al Qaeda assassinates 37 Yemeni officials

By Nasser Arrabyee/13/06/2010

A total of 37 military and security officials were assassinated by Al Qaeda in Yemen over the last three years, security sources said Sunday.

Al Qaeda planned to assassinate 40 officials to enhance its control over the eastern areas like Mareb, Shabwa, Al Jawf, Hudhrmout where the government is very weak.

Since early last May, Al Qaeda in Arabian Peninsula (AQAP, Yemen and Saudi branches) started a new plan for assassinating new officials with two of them at least were already killed over the last few weeks in Mareb, the sources said.

Because of the recent painful blows, the sources said Al Qaeda might escape from Yemen to Somalia or Saudi Arabia.

Meanwhile, tribal leaders reached an agreement to allow technical teams to repair an oil pipeline blown up in Mareb earlier on Saturday by gunmen angry over the government's crack down on Al Qaeda militants hiding in their areas , said tribal sources Saturday.

The tribal leaders also agreed to be united against Al Qaeda and anyone of them who harbours Al Qaeda militants.

The sources said that the tribal leader Nasser Kumad, removed the check points installed by his tribesmen from Abaida after they blew up the oil pipe line which passes through their area in Abaida valley in retaliation for shelling their houses while shelling Al Qaeda hideouts.

Many tribal leaders like Sheikh Kumad and Sheikh Ahmed Al Shareef went Saturday to Al Hadba area in Wadi Abaida, the place where the pipe line was blown, and allowed the technical teams to start repairing the pipe line which transfers the oil to Ras Essa exporting port.

Earlier in the day, he tribal leaders had met in the city of Mareb with the Minister of Interior Mutahr Rashad Al Mesri and the governor of Mareb Naji Al Zaydi who promised to compensate for any house damaged while bombarding Al Qaeda hideouts.

The Minister of Interior Al Mesri said the military campaign would continue Al Qaeda militants are arrested and brought to justice.

Since last Wednesday, the government troops have been launching a military and security campaign on Abaida valley where two main Al Qaeda operatives are hiding with their supporters.

The troops hit the houses of the two operatives but failed to arrest them. The two operatives, disowned by families and tribesmen, are called Hussein Al Akaili and Ali Saeed Jamil.

Al Akaili according to local sources led a group of Al Qaeda militants and killed the military commander Mahammed Saleh Al Shayef and two of his bodyguards in Mareb on June 5th.

Ali Saeed Jamil, known as Emir (leader) of Al Qaeda in Mareb, was the one who lured Jaber Al Shabwani who was killed along with three of his bodyguards mistakenly by an air strike on May 24 after Jamil deceived the Yemeni intelligence through a double agent, according to local sources.

Tribesmen allow engineers to repair blown oil pipeline

By Nasser Arrabyee/12/06/2010

Tribal leaders reached an agreement to allow technical teams to repair an oil pipeline blown up in Mareb earlier today by gunmen angry over the government's crack down on Al Qaeda militants hiding in their areas , said tribal sources Saturday.

The tribal leaders also agreed to be united against Al Qaeda and anyone of them who harbours Al Qaeda militants.

The sources said that the tribal leader Nasser Kumad, removed the check points installed by his tribesmen from Abaida after they blew up the oil pipe line which passes through their area in Abaida valley in retaliation for shelling their houses while shelling Al Qaeda hideouts.

Many tribal leaders like Sheikh Kumad and Sheikh Ahmed Al Shareef went today to Al Hadba area in Wadi Abaida, the place where the pipe line was blown, and allowed the technical teams to start repairing the pipe line which transfers the oil to Ras Essa exporting port.

Earlier in the day, he tribal leaders had met in the city of Mareb with the Minister of Interior Mutahr Rashad Al Mesri and the governor of Mareb Naji Al Zaydi who promised to compensate for any house damaged while bombarding Al Qaeda hideouts.

The Minister of Interior Al Mesri said the military campaign would continue Al Qaeda militants are arrested and brought to justice.

Since last Wednesday, the government troops have been launching a military and security campaign on Abaida valley where two main Al Qaeda operatives are hiding with their supporters.

The troops hit the houses of the two operatives but failed to arrest them. The two operatives, disowned by families and tribesmen, are called Hussein Al Akaili and Ali Saeed Jamil.

Al Akaili according to local sources led a group of Al Qaeda militants and killed the military commander Mahammed Saleh Al Shayef and two of his bodyguards in Mareb on June 5th.

Ali Saeed Jamil, known as Emir (leader) of Al Qaeda in Mareb, was the one who lured Jaber Al Shabwani who was killed along with three of his bodyguards mistakenly by an air strike on May 24 after Jamil deceived the Yemeni intelligence through a double agent, according to local sources.

Tribal chief: Yemen tribesmen blow up oil pipeline

Source: The Associated Press

12\06\2010

SAN'A, Yemen — A Yemeni tribal chief says tribesmen in his province have blown up an oil pipeline after the government recently bombed the area in retaliation for an attack on a military convoy.

Lawmaker Sheik Jaabal Tayman from the eastern Marib province says his tribesmen are angry over what they see as random airforce bombings.

He says the tribesmen deny any role in last week's attack by gunmen — thought to be from al-Qaida — on a military convoy that killed a senior Yemeni commander and a soldier.

Tayman says the pipeline blast took place on Saturday morning outside the provincial capital, Marib.

Tribesmen twice blew up oil pipelines in Marib in May. Those blasts came after an airstrike there that accidentally killed a provincial councilman and two bodyguards.

Tribesmen angry with Al Qaeda and government

By Nasser Arrabyee/11/06/2010

A tribal coalition said Friday that Al Qaeda operations and the government strikes in the eastern province of Mareb kill only the innocents from their tribes.

The coalition of tribesmen of Mareb and Al Jawf blamed in a statement both Al Qaeda militants and the government forces for what is happening now in Mareb.

They said, "Mareb is drowning" and they will leave it for Al Qaeda if it is not rescued.

The tribesmen launched a strong attack, in their statement, on Al Qaeda for claiming responsibility for killing a tribal leader who was mediating between Al Qaeda and the government on May 24.

Earlier Al Qaeda said in a statement they deceived Jaber Al Shabwani and lured him to be bombed by the government's air strike on May 24.

"It's immoral and a big treason to deceive and kill a mediator," the tribesmen said in the statement.

The Yemeni government has been implementing a military campaign in Mareb to arrest or kill at least 12 Al Qaeda militants hiding in Wadi Abaida in Mareb.

Over the last two days, the government troops hit the houses of two main Al Qaeda operatives, but failed to arrest them. The two operatives, disowned by families and tribesmen, are called Hussein Al Akaili and Ali Saeed Jamil.

Al Akaili according to local sources led a group of Al Qaeda militants and killed the military commander Mahammed Saleh Al Shayef and two of his bodyguards in Mareb on June 5th.

Ali Saeed Jamil, known as Emir (leader) of Al Qaeda in Mareb, was the one who lured Jaber Al Shabwani who was killed along with three of his bodyguards mistakenly by an air strike on May 24 after Jamil deceived the Yemeni intelligence through a double agent, according to local sources.

U.S. judge rules for Yemeni detainee

Source: MiamiHerald

11\06\2010

WASHINGTON -- A federal judge has forcefully put Yemeni citizen Mohammed Mohammed Hassan Odaini on the path to freedom after eight years of incarceration at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

In a 36-page opinion formally released Thursday, U.S. District Judge Henry H. Kennedy Jr. called Odaini's continued detention unlawful'' and said he would emphatically'' grant Odaini's petition for a writ of habeas corpus.

The ruling issued secretly last month but published Thursday sets the 26-year-old Odaini up for potential release, though when and where he will go remains unclear. The ruling also represents the latest defeat for U.S. officials in their efforts to keep Guantánamo detainees behind bars.

[U.S.] officials kept a young man from Yemen in detention in Cuba from age 18 to age 26,'' Kennedy wrote. They have prevented him from seeing his family and denied him the opportunity to complete his studies and embark on a career.''

Pointedly, Kennedy added that the evidence before the court shows that holding Odaini in custody at such great cost to him has done nothing to make the United States more secure.''

Kennedy's ruling brings to 36 the number of Guantánamo Bay detainees who have successfully challenged their detentions through U.S. court proceedings.

Over the Bush administration's objections, a divided Supreme Court two years ago granted the Guantánamo detainees the right to file habeas corpus challenges.

German girls search for normality after Yemen captivity - Feature

Source: Earthtimes

11\06\2010

Bautzen, Germany ­ Eleven months of captivity have left their mark on Lydia and Anna Hentschel.

The 4 and 6-year-old sisters, members of a German family of five that was kidnapped in Yemen last year, returned to their home state of Saxony in mid-May after being rescued by Saudi soldiers.

But they have yet to really settle in. "There is no everyday life," their uncle, Reinhard Poetschke, said.

The fate of their parents and barely 2-year-old brother remains uncertain, a year after their capture north of the Yemeni capital Sana'a on June 12, 2009.

A special church service with prayers for the Hentschel family and another hostage that is still missing will be held on Saturday at St. Michael's Church in Bautzen.

The girls will not be there "in order to protect them," Poetschke said. Saudi special forces rescued the sisters on May 17 in the border area between Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

Two days later, the girls returned to Germany onboard an aircraft of the German Armed Forces.

"The girls resurfacing was just as mysterious as their abduction," said Poetschke, who has acted as the family's spokesman during the ensuing media frenzy.

The children have largely been shielded from the public. "They should return to a normal life," Poetschke, a minister in the Dresden suburb of Radebeul, said.

But that hasn't been easy. "Yemen is their actual home, that's where they have lived for most of their lives," Poetschke noted.

Relatives hope that Anna and Lydia will find a new home and regain trust under the loving care of their extended family. Their father, who is still missing, is the youngest of seven siblings.

Poetschke is his brother-in-law. The girls' parents worked at a public hospital in the northern province of Saada, where an insurgency led by the Shiite Houthi tribe has been raging since 2004.

The nurse and the mechanical engineer used to be employed by the small Christian aid agency Worldwide Services, which is based in the Netherlands.

In 2004, their first child Lydia was born in Saada. The other two children, Anna and Simon, were later born in Saxony.

Shortly after each birth, Sabine and Johannes Hentschel would travel back to Yemen with their children.

The family only lived in Meschwitz, close to Bautzen in Saxony, when they spent their holidays in Germany.

On June 12, 2009, the couple and their three children joined some colleagues on an excursion in Yemen.

On their way back, the family, two German nursing aides, a South Korean teacher and a British engineer fell into the hands of kidnappers.

The South Korean and the two German women from Lower Saxony were found soon afterwards. They had been shot dead.

The exact circumstances surrounding the capture of the hostages remain unclear. In all likelihood, Anna and Lydia have been living separately from their mother and father for a long time.

They hardly speak any German anymore. There are few signs that the girls miss their parents. "They dont ask about them," Poetschke said.

"It seems that they had to process the pain months ago."

The family assumes that the children were living with a Yemeni tribe.

"The girls still speak Arabic with each other," Poetschke said.

"Every once in a while, they call each other Fatima and Sarah." Conversations over more than everyday things are thus difficult.

"They can only express their deeper feelings in Arabic," he said. Fortunately, the family is receiving help from friends and acquaintances who know the language.

According to their uncle, the rescued girls do not seem distressed and show no apparent signs of trauma or physical deprivation.

They play with puppets and like to paint.

They do appear to be out of shape, Poetschke said. He assumes that they were not allowed to go outside much during their captivity.

The joy over the return of the girls mixes with worries about the three family members who are still missing. Relatives are bracing for the worst.

Speculation over little Simon's death has not been officially confirmed so far.

"We still have hope that all of them will come back," Poetschke said.