By Nasser Arrabyee, 31/07/2010
The Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh called on the Qatari leadership to convince Al Houthi rebels to abide by the Doha-agreement.
“We hope that our brothers in Qatar would contact and persuade Al Houthis to comply with what was agreed upon,” President Saleh said in a students’ graduation ceremony at Sana’a university.
“The Doha-agreement should not be sound phenomenon but it must be implemented,” He said. During a visit to Sana’a by the Qatari Emir earlier this month, the Yemeni government announced that the Doha agreement would be applied to end the war with the rebels. Doha agreement was reached in middles of 2007 and renewed in 2008.
The President Saleh said Al Houthi rebels are violating the cease-fire to implement a foreign agenda.
“Al Houthis are working according to a foreign agenda and they have become lords of war.”
“The option of the State is peace, and the rebels are still violating the cease-fire,” he said.
The President repeatedly called the rebels to abide by the six conditions they accepted to stop the war in February this year.
“We call upon the rebels to abide by the six conditions and their implementation mechanism,” he said.
On February 12, the rebels accepted six conditions set by the government to end the 6-year old sporadic conflict. The conditions include the rebels going down from the mountains and handing over the weapons.
Saleh said Yemen would not allow to undermine its stability and security which are “important for the regional and international security” .
“We call for coordinating the efforts for confronting, terrorism, rebellion, and the outlaws (separatists ),” he said.
The latest news stories and independent and balanced reports on the political, security, economic and social developments in Yemen by the Yemeni journalist Nasser Arrabyee.
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Saturday, 31 July 2010
Al Houthi rebels violating cease-fire, President Saleh
By Nasser Arrabyee, 31/07/2010
The Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh accused Saturday Al Houthi rebels of violating the cease-fire.
“The option of the State is peace, and the rebels are still violating the cease-fire,” Saleh said in a students’ graduation ceremony at Sana’a university.
The President repeatedly called the rebels to abide by the six conditions they accepted to stop the war in February this year.
“We call upon the rebels to abide by the six conditions and their implementation mechanism,” he said.
On February 12, the rebels accepted six conditions set by the government to end the 6-year old sporadic conflict. The conditions include the rebels going down from the mountains and handing over the weapons.
Saleh said Yemen would not allow to undermine its stability and security which are “important for the regional and international security” .
“We call for coordinating the efforts for confronting, terrorism, rebellion, and the outlaws (separatists ),” he said.
The Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh accused Saturday Al Houthi rebels of violating the cease-fire.
“The option of the State is peace, and the rebels are still violating the cease-fire,” Saleh said in a students’ graduation ceremony at Sana’a university.
The President repeatedly called the rebels to abide by the six conditions they accepted to stop the war in February this year.
“We call upon the rebels to abide by the six conditions and their implementation mechanism,” he said.
On February 12, the rebels accepted six conditions set by the government to end the 6-year old sporadic conflict. The conditions include the rebels going down from the mountains and handing over the weapons.
Saleh said Yemen would not allow to undermine its stability and security which are “important for the regional and international security” .
“We call for coordinating the efforts for confronting, terrorism, rebellion, and the outlaws (separatists ),” he said.
12 soldiers killed, 55 injured, 228 kidnapped, by Al Houthi rebels
By Nasser Arrabyee, 31/07/2010
Al Houthi rebels killed 12 soldiers and injured 55 others and kidnapped 228 in the last violation of cease-fire over the last few days, said the Yemen’s supreme security committee in a statement on Saturday.
The statement accused the rebels of committing many more violations since the cease-fire was announced last February.
“The last attack was the two month-long blockade on Al Zala’a post in which 12 soldiers were killed and 55 others injured, and 228 were kidnapped from the troops deployed there and tribal supporters of sheikh Sagheer bin Azeez, member of parliament,” said the statement.
The supreme security committee held responsible the rebels and those behind them for the results of the violations and dangerous crimes being committed by them every day.
“ So many people were killed and injured and kidnapped, roads were blocked, houses of citizens were destroyed and properties were plundered,” said the statement.
“What the rebels do in the ground prove that they do not tend to peace but rather they want to implement their dark projects which are known to the great Yemeni people.”
Al Houthi rebels killed 12 soldiers and injured 55 others and kidnapped 228 in the last violation of cease-fire over the last few days, said the Yemen’s supreme security committee in a statement on Saturday.
The statement accused the rebels of committing many more violations since the cease-fire was announced last February.
“The last attack was the two month-long blockade on Al Zala’a post in which 12 soldiers were killed and 55 others injured, and 228 were kidnapped from the troops deployed there and tribal supporters of sheikh Sagheer bin Azeez, member of parliament,” said the statement.
The supreme security committee held responsible the rebels and those behind them for the results of the violations and dangerous crimes being committed by them every day.
“ So many people were killed and injured and kidnapped, roads were blocked, houses of citizens were destroyed and properties were plundered,” said the statement.
“What the rebels do in the ground prove that they do not tend to peace but rather they want to implement their dark projects which are known to the great Yemeni people.”
Al Qaeda was successful in the last attacks, expert
By Nasser Arrabyee, 31/07/2010
Al Qaeda was successful in its recent two attacks on security offices in southern Yemen where dozens were killed and injured, said Al Qaeda expert on Saturday.
“For sure Al Qaeda succeeded in the attacks in Aden and Zinjubar on the security offices in comparison with all its failed attacks in the past,” said Saeed Obaid Al Jimhi, chairman of a Yemeni think-tank on Al Qaeda affairs.
Commenting on a statement issued Thursday and attributed to Yemen-based Al Qaeda in Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), Al Jimhi said it was a part of media war being launched by Al Qaeda.
On Thursday Al Qaeda said it would form an army of 12,000 soldiers and launch more attacks.
“Al Qaeda failed to strike western targets since after USS Cole bombing with the exceptions of the tourists, so now with this statement it wants to invest its success,” he said.
For the point of the statement in which Al Qaeda said it would form an army of 12,000 soldiers, Al Jimhi, said, “It wanted to have a religious legitimacy by using this Hadith, and the same time it wanted to tell the other Jihadi groups to join it.”
The Prophet Mohammed was reported to have said in a Hadith that an army of 12,000 soldiers will come out from Aden and Abyan in southern Yemen.
Al Jimhi expected more attacks in the future.
“I expect more attacks because they are getting more and more there in Shabwa and Abyan because of the absence of successful treatments and and because of the mistakes of the government in its war against them,” said Al Jimhi, the author of the book Al Qaeda in Yemen.
END#
Al Qaeda was successful in its recent two attacks on security offices in southern Yemen where dozens were killed and injured, said Al Qaeda expert on Saturday.
“For sure Al Qaeda succeeded in the attacks in Aden and Zinjubar on the security offices in comparison with all its failed attacks in the past,” said Saeed Obaid Al Jimhi, chairman of a Yemeni think-tank on Al Qaeda affairs.
Commenting on a statement issued Thursday and attributed to Yemen-based Al Qaeda in Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), Al Jimhi said it was a part of media war being launched by Al Qaeda.
On Thursday Al Qaeda said it would form an army of 12,000 soldiers and launch more attacks.
“Al Qaeda failed to strike western targets since after USS Cole bombing with the exceptions of the tourists, so now with this statement it wants to invest its success,” he said.
For the point of the statement in which Al Qaeda said it would form an army of 12,000 soldiers, Al Jimhi, said, “It wanted to have a religious legitimacy by using this Hadith, and the same time it wanted to tell the other Jihadi groups to join it.”
The Prophet Mohammed was reported to have said in a Hadith that an army of 12,000 soldiers will come out from Aden and Abyan in southern Yemen.
Al Jimhi expected more attacks in the future.
“I expect more attacks because they are getting more and more there in Shabwa and Abyan because of the absence of successful treatments and and because of the mistakes of the government in its war against them,” said Al Jimhi, the author of the book Al Qaeda in Yemen.
END#
Friday, 30 July 2010
Exiled Yemen opposition leader killed on return
Source: Reuters
By Mohammed Ghobari 30\07\2010
An opposition leader shot in the head after returning to his native Yemen from 32 years in exile died of his wounds, his party announced on its website Friday.
Abd al-Raqib al-Qirshi, who died on Thursday, was killed at the start of a new national political dialogue announced in a May speech where Yemen's president offered amnesty to political opponents, allowing Qirshi to return.
"Abd al-Raqib al-Qirshi died in a hospital in the Syrian capital Damascus," his party's statement said.
"He was moved there when he sustained wounds to the head from an assassination attempt last month. He had been in a coma since that time."
Supporters believe Qirshi, who was still a major opposition figure while in exile and one of the first to return after the pardon, was killed by the government.
They rejected an official explanation that his death was the result of a personal feud.
Although his killing was not expected to affect the political dialogue initiative, it may discourage other opposition leaders, many of whom are still in exile, from returning to Yemen.
Sanaa is struggling to curb a rising southern separatist movement that has grown increasingly violent, and maintain a fragile truce declared in February with northern Shi'ite rebels engaged in an intermittent war since 2004.
Qirshi had been a leader of the Wahdawi, or Unity, organization, which has a pan-Arab and socialist ideology.
He was sentenced to death when Yemen's president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, came to power in 1978, on charges of leading an armed rebel group in south Yemen, the Wahdawi statement said.
The former leader had been back in Yemen for only three weeks when he was shot in the head and was sent to Damascus for treatment.
The Interior Ministry said that police had five suspects, but had not made any arrests.
REBELS JOIN DIALOGUE
The political dialogue talks that started this week included representatives of the northern rebels. It was the first time the president had agreed to include his fiercest foes -- the northern rebels and southern separatists -- in talks alongside other opposition groups.
Secessionists from the Southern Movement, however, did not attend the first preparatory committee that met Thursday to discuss the terms and outlines of the dialogue.
Struggling with spiraling violence and a deepening recession, Saleh said in May that the dialogue could lead to the formation of a unity government.
Impoverished Yemen, neighbor to top oil exporterSaudi Arabia, has come under international pressure to quell domestic conflict and focus on fighting a resurgent regional al Qaeda wing which is based in the country.
The move to begin political dialogue is seen by analysts and the opposition as an effort to relieve foreign pressure.
A similar attempt with Yemen's opposition last year fell flat. Both sides accused each other of undermining the process in a country where declining oil income has undermined efforts to tackle poverty, unemployment and failing water resources
By Mohammed Ghobari 30\07\2010
An opposition leader shot in the head after returning to his native Yemen from 32 years in exile died of his wounds, his party announced on its website Friday.
Abd al-Raqib al-Qirshi, who died on Thursday, was killed at the start of a new national political dialogue announced in a May speech where Yemen's president offered amnesty to political opponents, allowing Qirshi to return.
"Abd al-Raqib al-Qirshi died in a hospital in the Syrian capital Damascus," his party's statement said.
"He was moved there when he sustained wounds to the head from an assassination attempt last month. He had been in a coma since that time."
Supporters believe Qirshi, who was still a major opposition figure while in exile and one of the first to return after the pardon, was killed by the government.
They rejected an official explanation that his death was the result of a personal feud.
Although his killing was not expected to affect the political dialogue initiative, it may discourage other opposition leaders, many of whom are still in exile, from returning to Yemen.
Sanaa is struggling to curb a rising southern separatist movement that has grown increasingly violent, and maintain a fragile truce declared in February with northern Shi'ite rebels engaged in an intermittent war since 2004.
Qirshi had been a leader of the Wahdawi, or Unity, organization, which has a pan-Arab and socialist ideology.
He was sentenced to death when Yemen's president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, came to power in 1978, on charges of leading an armed rebel group in south Yemen, the Wahdawi statement said.
The former leader had been back in Yemen for only three weeks when he was shot in the head and was sent to Damascus for treatment.
The Interior Ministry said that police had five suspects, but had not made any arrests.
REBELS JOIN DIALOGUE
The political dialogue talks that started this week included representatives of the northern rebels. It was the first time the president had agreed to include his fiercest foes -- the northern rebels and southern separatists -- in talks alongside other opposition groups.
Secessionists from the Southern Movement, however, did not attend the first preparatory committee that met Thursday to discuss the terms and outlines of the dialogue.
Struggling with spiraling violence and a deepening recession, Saleh said in May that the dialogue could lead to the formation of a unity government.
Impoverished Yemen, neighbor to top oil exporterSaudi Arabia, has come under international pressure to quell domestic conflict and focus on fighting a resurgent regional al Qaeda wing which is based in the country.
The move to begin political dialogue is seen by analysts and the opposition as an effort to relieve foreign pressure.
A similar attempt with Yemen's opposition last year fell flat. Both sides accused each other of undermining the process in a country where declining oil income has undermined efforts to tackle poverty, unemployment and failing water resources
Thursday, 29 July 2010
Al-Qaida wing claims to form 12,000-strong army in southern Yemen
Source: Xinhua 30/07/2010
SANAA-The Yemen-based al-Qaida regional wing claimed on Thursday it was preparing to form an army of 12,000 fighters in the country's south in order to fight Yemeni security and intelligence agents there.
In an audio recording posted on a forum on the Internet on Thursday, Mohamed Saied al-Omda, field commander of the al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, said "We have a good news for the Islamic nation, that an army of 12,000 fighters is being prepared in Aden and Abyan."
"By this army, we will establish an Islamic Caliphate," Saied al-Omda, also known as Gharib al-Taizy, said, referring to Yemen's southern restive province of Abyan and the port city Aden.
"This is a message to the Yemeni government security and the National security Service: our swords are ready and we are resolved to cleanse the land," he threatened as he recalled the latest numerous deadly attacks by al-Qaida against Yemeni security facilities.
The resurgent al-Qaida regional arm in the Arabian Peninsula is blamed for at least five deadly attacks against highly-guarded Western and local targets since last month.
In the audio message, the al-Qaida commander also accused the Yemeni government of "allying with the U.S.-led crusader military campaign," saying "(the campaign) killed innocent Muslims and destroyed homes and mosques in the provinces of Abyan and Marib under the approval of the Yemeni government."
SANAA-The Yemen-based al-Qaida regional wing claimed on Thursday it was preparing to form an army of 12,000 fighters in the country's south in order to fight Yemeni security and intelligence agents there.
In an audio recording posted on a forum on the Internet on Thursday, Mohamed Saied al-Omda, field commander of the al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, said "We have a good news for the Islamic nation, that an army of 12,000 fighters is being prepared in Aden and Abyan."
"By this army, we will establish an Islamic Caliphate," Saied al-Omda, also known as Gharib al-Taizy, said, referring to Yemen's southern restive province of Abyan and the port city Aden.
"This is a message to the Yemeni government security and the National security Service: our swords are ready and we are resolved to cleanse the land," he threatened as he recalled the latest numerous deadly attacks by al-Qaida against Yemeni security facilities.
The resurgent al-Qaida regional arm in the Arabian Peninsula is blamed for at least five deadly attacks against highly-guarded Western and local targets since last month.
In the audio message, the al-Qaida commander also accused the Yemeni government of "allying with the U.S.-led crusader military campaign," saying "(the campaign) killed innocent Muslims and destroyed homes and mosques in the provinces of Abyan and Marib under the approval of the Yemeni government."
CBY injects $57 mln into exchange market
Source: Saba
29\07\2010
The Central Bank of Yemen (CBY) pumped on Thursday $ 57 million into the market to meet needs of foreign exchanges ,for the second intervention by the bank in July and the ninth since the beginning of 2010.
This intervention brings the total amount pumped by the bank since the beginning of this year to about $ 1.15 billion, of which $ 173 million is payments for Yemen imports of wheat.
The bank's interventions come to reduce the depreciation of the local currency against foreign currencies.
In a recent statement to Saba, the bank's Governor Mohamed bin Hammam attributed the new downturn in the exchange rate of Riyal against foreign currencies, especially the U.S. Dollar, to the increase of payments for importing requirements of the Holy month of Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr.
He did not rule out the presence of speculators were manipulating in the exchange rates.
The CBY counts on the emigrants' remittances to Yemen, which would increase the size of the supply of foreign exchange and thus reduce the pressure of demand on the dollar in the local exchange market.
29\07\2010
The Central Bank of Yemen (CBY) pumped on Thursday $ 57 million into the market to meet needs of foreign exchanges ,for the second intervention by the bank in July and the ninth since the beginning of 2010.
This intervention brings the total amount pumped by the bank since the beginning of this year to about $ 1.15 billion, of which $ 173 million is payments for Yemen imports of wheat.
The bank's interventions come to reduce the depreciation of the local currency against foreign currencies.
In a recent statement to Saba, the bank's Governor Mohamed bin Hammam attributed the new downturn in the exchange rate of Riyal against foreign currencies, especially the U.S. Dollar, to the increase of payments for importing requirements of the Holy month of Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr.
He did not rule out the presence of speculators were manipulating in the exchange rates.
The CBY counts on the emigrants' remittances to Yemen, which would increase the size of the supply of foreign exchange and thus reduce the pressure of demand on the dollar in the local exchange market.
Shiite rebels to take part in Yemen national dialogue
Source: AFP, 29/07/2010
SANAA — Shiite Zaidi rebels are to take part in a national dialogue between Yemen's ruling party and the opposition aimed at easing tensions across the country, a ruling party member said on Thursday.
Three rebel figures, including their spokesman, are among those nominated to represent Yemen's opposition in the national dialogue accord of July 17, Sadok Abu Ras of the General People's Congress told reporters.
"In principle, we will participate in the national dialogue," rebel spokesman Mohammed Abdul Salam told AFP by telephone.
The accord was signed by the government and the opposition Common Forum which groups Al-Islah (Reform) Party, the main Islamist opposition, and the Yemeni Socialist Party, as well as with other smaller factions.
It focuses on mechanisms to implement a February 2009 accord for national dialogue and the postponement of a parliamentary election until April 2011 to allow time to amend Yemen's constitution and restructure its political system.
Two days after the accord was sealed, the Zaidi rebels of northern Yemen, who are also known as Huthis, released a statement of support for "a comprehensive dialogue which excludes no one."
In May, Saleh invited all political groups inside and outside Yemen to a "responsible national dialogue, within the framework of the constitutional institutions."
"According to this dialogue, it is possible to form a government of all the influential political parties represented in parliament," he said on the eve of the 20th anniversary or unification between the former North and South Yemen.
A fierce battle between Yemeni government forces and the Huthis erupted last August. Thousands of people have been killed in the conflict which first broke out in 2004, with the last battle ending in a February truce.
SANAA — Shiite Zaidi rebels are to take part in a national dialogue between Yemen's ruling party and the opposition aimed at easing tensions across the country, a ruling party member said on Thursday.
Three rebel figures, including their spokesman, are among those nominated to represent Yemen's opposition in the national dialogue accord of July 17, Sadok Abu Ras of the General People's Congress told reporters.
"In principle, we will participate in the national dialogue," rebel spokesman Mohammed Abdul Salam told AFP by telephone.
The accord was signed by the government and the opposition Common Forum which groups Al-Islah (Reform) Party, the main Islamist opposition, and the Yemeni Socialist Party, as well as with other smaller factions.
It focuses on mechanisms to implement a February 2009 accord for national dialogue and the postponement of a parliamentary election until April 2011 to allow time to amend Yemen's constitution and restructure its political system.
Two days after the accord was sealed, the Zaidi rebels of northern Yemen, who are also known as Huthis, released a statement of support for "a comprehensive dialogue which excludes no one."
In May, Saleh invited all political groups inside and outside Yemen to a "responsible national dialogue, within the framework of the constitutional institutions."
"According to this dialogue, it is possible to form a government of all the influential political parties represented in parliament," he said on the eve of the 20th anniversary or unification between the former North and South Yemen.
A fierce battle between Yemeni government forces and the Huthis erupted last August. Thousands of people have been killed in the conflict which first broke out in 2004, with the last battle ending in a February truce.
Wednesday, 28 July 2010
Yemen rebels free 200 captured soldiers: mediator
Source: AFP, 29/07/2010
SANAA — Yemeni Shiite rebels freed on Wednesday 200 soldiers they had captured two days earlier and promised to release other prisoners, both civilian and military, a mediator said.
"The Huthi rebels freed soldiers captured" during fighting in the Al-Amishiya region of the northern province of Amran, said the mediator.
AFP confirmed this from tribal sources close to the rebels.
On Tuesday, a military official said the Huthis had captured 200 soldiers," which he said belong to the 72nd Regiment of the army's Republican Guards."
The soldiers were reportedly captured after rebels took control on Monday of a strategic army post in Al-Zaala, in Amran, where rebels and army-backed tribes had been engaged in deadly fighting.
Earlier on Wednesday, the defence ministry denied that rebels had captured soldiers from the Republican Guards, the state news agency Saba reported.
"The republican guards have no presence in the alleged posts," the spokesman said.
It was not clear however if soldiers from another unit had been captured by rebels in northern Yemen.
The clashes erupted on July 19 and lasted nine days, rattling an already fragile truce agreed in February that ended a six-month round of fighting in the conflict between the rebels and the army, which started in 2004.The Huthis and the government blame one another of violating the truce
SANAA — Yemeni Shiite rebels freed on Wednesday 200 soldiers they had captured two days earlier and promised to release other prisoners, both civilian and military, a mediator said.
"The Huthi rebels freed soldiers captured" during fighting in the Al-Amishiya region of the northern province of Amran, said the mediator.
AFP confirmed this from tribal sources close to the rebels.
On Tuesday, a military official said the Huthis had captured 200 soldiers," which he said belong to the 72nd Regiment of the army's Republican Guards."
The soldiers were reportedly captured after rebels took control on Monday of a strategic army post in Al-Zaala, in Amran, where rebels and army-backed tribes had been engaged in deadly fighting.
Earlier on Wednesday, the defence ministry denied that rebels had captured soldiers from the Republican Guards, the state news agency Saba reported.
"The republican guards have no presence in the alleged posts," the spokesman said.
It was not clear however if soldiers from another unit had been captured by rebels in northern Yemen.
The clashes erupted on July 19 and lasted nine days, rattling an already fragile truce agreed in February that ended a six-month round of fighting in the conflict between the rebels and the army, which started in 2004.The Huthis and the government blame one another of violating the truce
Yemen denies capture by rebels of republican guards
Source: AFP
28\07\2010
The Yemeni defence ministry has denied that Shiite rebels in the north of the country have captured soldiers from the army's republican guards, the state news agency Saba reported on Wednesday.
Claims that the rebels known as Huthis captured 200 republican guards "are unfounded," the agency said on its website quoting a defence ministry spokesman.
"The republican guards have no presence in the alleged posts," the spokesman said. It was not clear however if soldiers from another unit had been captured by rebels in northern Yemen.
On Tuesday, a military official told AFP the "Huthi (rebels) captured 200 soldiers," who he said "belong to regiment 72 of the army's republican guards."
The soldiers were reportedly captured after rebels took control on Monday of a strategic army post in Al-Zaala, in Amran province, where rebels and army-backed tribes had been engaged in deadly fighting.
The clashes erupted on July 19 and lasted nine days, rattling an already fragile truce agreed in February that ended a six-month round of fighting in the conflict between the rebels and the army, which started in 2004.
The Huthis and the government blame one another of violating the truce.
28\07\2010
The Yemeni defence ministry has denied that Shiite rebels in the north of the country have captured soldiers from the army's republican guards, the state news agency Saba reported on Wednesday.
Claims that the rebels known as Huthis captured 200 republican guards "are unfounded," the agency said on its website quoting a defence ministry spokesman.
"The republican guards have no presence in the alleged posts," the spokesman said. It was not clear however if soldiers from another unit had been captured by rebels in northern Yemen.
On Tuesday, a military official told AFP the "Huthi (rebels) captured 200 soldiers," who he said "belong to regiment 72 of the army's republican guards."
The soldiers were reportedly captured after rebels took control on Monday of a strategic army post in Al-Zaala, in Amran province, where rebels and army-backed tribes had been engaged in deadly fighting.
The clashes erupted on July 19 and lasted nine days, rattling an already fragile truce agreed in February that ended a six-month round of fighting in the conflict between the rebels and the army, which started in 2004.
The Huthis and the government blame one another of violating the truce.
Tuesday, 27 July 2010
Shi'ite rebels capture north Yemen base, 10 dead
Source: Rueters
27\07\2010
27\07\2010
- Shi'ite rebels captured an army base and several soldiers on Monday in clashes with the army and tribesmen that killed 10 people and threatened a fragile truce in northern Yemen, rebel and officials said.
Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh accused the rebels, known as Houthis after the name of their leaders' clan, of trying to ignite a new war with the government.
Both the government and the rebels confirmed that a number of soldiers had been taken hostage at the Zuala army base in the flashpoint north district of Harf Sufyan, but neither side would give an exact number of how many men were seized by the Houthis.
Among those killed in the clashes were rebels, soldiers, and tribesmen from the Ibn Aziz tribe which allied with the government against the Houthis in the northern war. Both sides declined to say how many men they lost.
Yemen agreed a truce with Houthis in February to halt a war that has raged on and off since 2004 and displaced 350,000 people. But instability still threatens Yemen, neighbor to top exporter Saudi Arabia, which was briefly drawn into the conflict last year when rebels seized Saudi border areas.
Houthi rebels complain of socio-economic and religious discrimination by the government, accusations it denies.
Tensions between the rebels and the Ibn Aziz tribe, from the same Zaidi sect of Shi'ite Islam but which sides with the government, have increased in past months. Clashes last week were the bloodiest since the truce and drew in government forces.
Separately, security forces in southern Yemen killed three men believed to be al Qaeda members in continuing security sweeps following the militant group's recent attacks on state security forces, a local security official said on Monday.
Ahmed al-Maqdisi, head of security in the southern province of Shabwa, said the three men were suspected of participating in an attack on Thursday on a security convoy in Shabwa that killed five soldiers and was blamed on al Qaeda.
Al Qaeda's regional wing based in Yemen had previously focused its high-impact strikes on foreign targets, but has started to also aim them at government forces in response to a recent U.S.-backed crackdown on al Qaeda.
Western powers fear the militant group could be exploiting growing instability in Yemen to use the country as a launchpad for attacks abroad.
Yemen also faces a separatist movement in its south and is under Western and Saudi pressure to quell domestic conflicts in order to focus on al Qaeda.
On Sunday, gunmen killed six Yemeni soldiers in Shabwa, an oil-producing province. It was the fourth assault since June attributed to al Qaeda's regional Yemen-based arm that hit state targets, including intelligence and police offices.
6 Yemeni troops die in al Qaeda attack
Source: CNN
27\07\2010
Six Yemeni troops were killed in an al Qaeda attack in the county's Shabwa province, according to Yemen's Defense Ministry.
After the Sunday night attack, Yemeni security forces killed three suspected al Qaeda militants, the ministry said. One was a "senior" member of al Qaeda. A car used in the incident was also seized, police director Brig. Ahmed al Maqdashi told the state-run Saba news agency.
However, Yemen Post Editor-in-Chief Hakim al-Masmari said al Qaeda sources told him only one of the suspected militants -- Zaed al Dakhari -- is confirmed to be a member of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The group says the other two were not al Qaeda members.
Yemen's southern Shabwa province is an al Qaeda stronghold.
Authorities believe al Qaeda was involved in a Thursday attack on a security patrol in the province, al Maqdashi said. Five soldiers were killed and sixth was injured.
Sunday, 25 July 2010
Yemen LNG Seeking to Increase Prices to Korea Gas, Foreign Minister Says
Source: Bloomberg
By Nasser Morshid - Jul 25, 2010
Yemen’s government is seeking to increase the prices at which Yemen LNG Co. has contracted to sell liquefied natural gas to one of its shareholders, Korea Gas Corp.
The government will take “any legal steps” to try to ensure that Yemen LNG negotiates higher prices with Korea Gas, Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Qirbi said in an interview on July 21 at his office in Sana’a. The prices set in a 20-year contract between the companies are “unfair” to Yemen because they are below those that regional suppliers Qatar and Oman charge for their liquefied gas, he said, without giving a price target.
LNG is often sold under long-term contracts at negotiated prices that are confidential. The gas that is chilled and converted into a liquid for transportation by ship is also sold on the spot market.
Korea Gas owns 6 percent of Yemen LNG, while state- controlled Yemen Gas Co. holds 16.7 percent. Yemen LNG began producing earlier this year and has an annual production capacity of 6.7 million tons. Its other shareholders include Total SA, with a 39.6 percent share, and Dallas-based Hunt Oil Co., with 17.2 percent, according to Yemen LNG’s website.
If Korea Gas balks at paying higher prices, “the government will seek its rights through legal advice and any legal steps that can be taken,” al-Qirbi said. The minister declined to specify those possible steps.
The agreement between Yemen LNG and Korea Gas is binding on both sides, al-Qirbi said. “But in that agreement there is also the right of the parties to address issues that may create a disadvantageous situation for one side or the other,” he said.
Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh ordered a review of contracts signed between Yemen LNG and its customers to try to bring them into line with current gas prices, the official Saba news agency reported on June 15. Managing Director François Rafin said at the time that Yemen LNG would honor its contracts with buyers including GDF Suez SA and Korea Gas.
Al-Qirbi denied that the government’s budget deficit was a factor in its decision to review the contracts.
“There was unfairness in the prices of our LNG,” he said. The Yemeni producer should increase its selling prices “to the extent that is normally exercised with the other producers of LNG like Qatar and Oman.”
Natural gas for August delivery closed on July 23 at $4.580 per million Btu, down 1.4 percent, on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
A member of Yemen’s parliament’s oil and gas committee, Sakhr al-Wajeeh, told reporters on July 12 that the government would lose billions of dollars if Yemen LNG does not raise its prices.
Yemen has turned to LNG as a potential alternative export to oil, the source of 75 percent of its income. Crude production may drop to 260,000 barrels a day this year from 440,000 barrels a day in 2001, according to U.S. Energy Department data.
By Nasser Morshid - Jul 25, 2010
Yemen’s government is seeking to increase the prices at which Yemen LNG Co. has contracted to sell liquefied natural gas to one of its shareholders, Korea Gas Corp.
The government will take “any legal steps” to try to ensure that Yemen LNG negotiates higher prices with Korea Gas, Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Qirbi said in an interview on July 21 at his office in Sana’a. The prices set in a 20-year contract between the companies are “unfair” to Yemen because they are below those that regional suppliers Qatar and Oman charge for their liquefied gas, he said, without giving a price target.
LNG is often sold under long-term contracts at negotiated prices that are confidential. The gas that is chilled and converted into a liquid for transportation by ship is also sold on the spot market.
Korea Gas owns 6 percent of Yemen LNG, while state- controlled Yemen Gas Co. holds 16.7 percent. Yemen LNG began producing earlier this year and has an annual production capacity of 6.7 million tons. Its other shareholders include Total SA, with a 39.6 percent share, and Dallas-based Hunt Oil Co., with 17.2 percent, according to Yemen LNG’s website.
If Korea Gas balks at paying higher prices, “the government will seek its rights through legal advice and any legal steps that can be taken,” al-Qirbi said. The minister declined to specify those possible steps.
The agreement between Yemen LNG and Korea Gas is binding on both sides, al-Qirbi said. “But in that agreement there is also the right of the parties to address issues that may create a disadvantageous situation for one side or the other,” he said.
Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh ordered a review of contracts signed between Yemen LNG and its customers to try to bring them into line with current gas prices, the official Saba news agency reported on June 15. Managing Director François Rafin said at the time that Yemen LNG would honor its contracts with buyers including GDF Suez SA and Korea Gas.
Al-Qirbi denied that the government’s budget deficit was a factor in its decision to review the contracts.
“There was unfairness in the prices of our LNG,” he said. The Yemeni producer should increase its selling prices “to the extent that is normally exercised with the other producers of LNG like Qatar and Oman.”
Natural gas for August delivery closed on July 23 at $4.580 per million Btu, down 1.4 percent, on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
A member of Yemen’s parliament’s oil and gas committee, Sakhr al-Wajeeh, told reporters on July 12 that the government would lose billions of dollars if Yemen LNG does not raise its prices.
Yemen has turned to LNG as a potential alternative export to oil, the source of 75 percent of its income. Crude production may drop to 260,000 barrels a day this year from 440,000 barrels a day in 2001, according to U.S. Energy Department data.
New strategy to fight Al Qaeda needed, says minister
By Nasser Arrabyee/25/07/2010
The Yemeni foreign minister Abu Bakr Al Querbi said combating terrorism needs a new strategy for removing the reasons that created the terrorists.
“We need a strategy to deal with these elements not only in field of security and intelligence, but also in development and education,” the minister said in an interview with Yemen Observer.
Al Qaeda in Yemen claimed responsibility for recent attacks on the security offices in Aden and Abyan last month and this month and threatened to continue its operations.
The minister Al Querbi said Al Qaeda in Yemen is exaggerated. “ Al Qaeda exists in Yemen but it is exaggerated.” He said.
But he said that cooperation and coordination between countries that combat terrorism should be reviewed for making it more effective.
“All countries need to review their coordination and cooperation for combating Al Qaeda and removing the reasons which led to the emergence of such extremists and terrorists,” he said.
He said the cooperation and coordination between his country and US and other partners is mainly in field of intelligence, training the counter-terrorism forces , and logistic cooperation.
“ More efforts should be exerted not only by Yemen but by all partners.”
Al Qaeda is only one of four challenges facing Yemen : The Al Houthi armed rebellion in the north and the separation calls in the south and the economic deterioration.
Dozens were killed and injured in clashes between Al Houthi rebels and tribesmen loyal to the government over the last two weeks in the north after the government returned to a former Qatari mediation to end the 6-year old sporadic conflict. The Qatari mediation failed in 2007 and 2008 to end the conflict.
On February 2010, Al Houthi rebels accepted six conditions set by the government to end the sixth round of war . The rebels have not dismounted from mountains and have not handed over the weapons, which are the most important thing in the six conditions.
The minister Al Querbi said returning to the Doha agreement does not mean cancellation of the six conditions.
“ We agreed to activate the Doha agreement and we took into consideration the six conditions set by the government,” he said.
“We returned to Qatari brothers because their initiative focuses on peace and reconstruction.”
The minister said the Qatari position is very clear in terms of supporting Yemeni unity and ending the rebellion .
For the separation calls in the south, the minister said, “There is a big group who wants treatments, and has legal demands, and there is a small and limited group who talks about separation.”
“The result of the dialogue will show that this group (separatists) has no room in the Yemeni political arena,” said the minister referring to an agreement reached by political parties on July 17th, 2010 for opening a national dialogue for conducting political and electoral reforms.
The Yemeni foreign minister Abu Bakr Al Querbi said combating terrorism needs a new strategy for removing the reasons that created the terrorists.
“We need a strategy to deal with these elements not only in field of security and intelligence, but also in development and education,” the minister said in an interview with Yemen Observer.
Al Qaeda in Yemen claimed responsibility for recent attacks on the security offices in Aden and Abyan last month and this month and threatened to continue its operations.
The minister Al Querbi said Al Qaeda in Yemen is exaggerated. “ Al Qaeda exists in Yemen but it is exaggerated.” He said.
But he said that cooperation and coordination between countries that combat terrorism should be reviewed for making it more effective.
“All countries need to review their coordination and cooperation for combating Al Qaeda and removing the reasons which led to the emergence of such extremists and terrorists,” he said.
He said the cooperation and coordination between his country and US and other partners is mainly in field of intelligence, training the counter-terrorism forces , and logistic cooperation.
“ More efforts should be exerted not only by Yemen but by all partners.”
Al Qaeda is only one of four challenges facing Yemen : The Al Houthi armed rebellion in the north and the separation calls in the south and the economic deterioration.
Dozens were killed and injured in clashes between Al Houthi rebels and tribesmen loyal to the government over the last two weeks in the north after the government returned to a former Qatari mediation to end the 6-year old sporadic conflict. The Qatari mediation failed in 2007 and 2008 to end the conflict.
On February 2010, Al Houthi rebels accepted six conditions set by the government to end the sixth round of war . The rebels have not dismounted from mountains and have not handed over the weapons, which are the most important thing in the six conditions.
The minister Al Querbi said returning to the Doha agreement does not mean cancellation of the six conditions.
“ We agreed to activate the Doha agreement and we took into consideration the six conditions set by the government,” he said.
“We returned to Qatari brothers because their initiative focuses on peace and reconstruction.”
The minister said the Qatari position is very clear in terms of supporting Yemeni unity and ending the rebellion .
For the separation calls in the south, the minister said, “There is a big group who wants treatments, and has legal demands, and there is a small and limited group who talks about separation.”
“The result of the dialogue will show that this group (separatists) has no room in the Yemeni political arena,” said the minister referring to an agreement reached by political parties on July 17th, 2010 for opening a national dialogue for conducting political and electoral reforms.
Friday, 23 July 2010
Saudi was behind the Shabwa terrorist attack
Saudi was behind the Shabwa terrorist attack
By Nasser Arrabyee, 23/07/2010
The car used in the Thursday terrorist attack which killed 6 soldiers in Ataq, the capital of the Yemeni eastern province of Shabwa, belonged to a Saudi citizen, said the ministry of interior Friday.
The ministry identified the Saudi owner of the car as Ahmed Saleh Hudaig Al Hamami.
The car, whose plate number is 659, white, pick up Hilux, entered Yemen from Saudi Arabia on July 5th through Al Wadeah outpost, the ministry said in statement in its website (http://www.moi.gov.ye/) .
The Saudi man was put in the blacklist, and his name and the descriptions of the car were distributed to Yemeni ports and check points to be arrested .
Early Thursday a group of gunmen, believed to be Al Qaeda members, attacked a police vehicle inside the city of Ataq killing six soldiers (one died later) before escaped with the guns of the soldiers.
Meanwhile, the ministry of interior said it would upgrade the security measure to prevent any possible attacks. The step came hours after Al Qaeda in Yemen claimed responsibility for the twin attacks on the security office in Abyan on July 14th, in which four people were killed.
By Nasser Arrabyee, 23/07/2010
The car used in the Thursday terrorist attack which killed 6 soldiers in Ataq, the capital of the Yemeni eastern province of Shabwa, belonged to a Saudi citizen, said the ministry of interior Friday.
The ministry identified the Saudi owner of the car as Ahmed Saleh Hudaig Al Hamami.
The car, whose plate number is 659, white, pick up Hilux, entered Yemen from Saudi Arabia on July 5th through Al Wadeah outpost, the ministry said in statement in its website (http://www.moi.gov.ye/) .
The Saudi man was put in the blacklist, and his name and the descriptions of the car were distributed to Yemeni ports and check points to be arrested .
Early Thursday a group of gunmen, believed to be Al Qaeda members, attacked a police vehicle inside the city of Ataq killing six soldiers (one died later) before escaped with the guns of the soldiers.
Meanwhile, the ministry of interior said it would upgrade the security measure to prevent any possible attacks. The step came hours after Al Qaeda in Yemen claimed responsibility for the twin attacks on the security office in Abyan on July 14th, in which four people were killed.
Al Qaeda claims Yemen attacks, vows more strikes
Source: Reuters , 23/07/2010
DUBAI -Al Qaeda's Yemen arm said on Friday it was behind coordinated attacks on security offices in the Arabian peninsula state in which four people were killed, and threatened more strikes on Yemeni targets.
Gunmen on motorcycles stormed police and intelligence offices in south Yemen and opened fire on July 14, part of a series of recent al Qaeda attacks in response to a government crackdown.
"Two squads of the Jamil al-Ambari Martyr Brigades carried out attacks on the dens of oppression and aggression -- the political and general security buildings in Abyan province -- in two blessed operations," al Qaeda's Yemen-based regional wing said in a statement posted on an Islamist website.
Yemen's Western allies fear the regional impact of a failed state in Yemen, right next door to oil exporter Saudi Arabia. Yemen is bogged down in domestic conflicts in its north and south while also fighting al Qaeda which has struck Western and Arab targets in recent months.
The attacks, including a failed attempt to bomb a U.S.-bound plane in December and a suicide bombing that failed to kill the British ambassador, prompted Sanaa to respond with air strikes and military assaults.
Al Qaeda, which said the July attack was in response to the killing of a militant in Abyan, stepped up its rhetoric against the government of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
"We say to the treacherous Arab governments, the false American idol and the leadership of the crusader campaign in the Islamic world: know that your desperate attempts to retain the regime of Ali Saleh, to defend your interests in the region, will not be of use," it said.
"It is a corrupt, oppressive and decrepit regime, ripe for a fall, and the fighters by the grace of God will continue their strikes until God's promise of victory is achieved."
Al Qaeda in Yemen previously focused on high-impact strikes against Western and Saudi targets, but appears to have turned its focus to government forces in response to enhanced Yemen-U.S. security coordination and a government crackdown.
The claim of responsibility came after suspected al Qaeda gunmen killed five soldiers on Thursday in an ambush in south Yemen. The al Qaeda statement made no mention of that attack.
Yemen's poorly equipped security forces are easier to strike than many Western targets, and the group may hope to capitalize on anti-government sentiment in the south, home to a strong and growing separatist movement.
The militant group, which confirmed that one of its fighters was among the dead in the July attack, also said it was behind the prior assassinations of a number of security officers, but did not say when those killings took place.
(Writing by Cynthia Johnston)
DUBAI -Al Qaeda's Yemen arm said on Friday it was behind coordinated attacks on security offices in the Arabian peninsula state in which four people were killed, and threatened more strikes on Yemeni targets.
Gunmen on motorcycles stormed police and intelligence offices in south Yemen and opened fire on July 14, part of a series of recent al Qaeda attacks in response to a government crackdown.
"Two squads of the Jamil al-Ambari Martyr Brigades carried out attacks on the dens of oppression and aggression -- the political and general security buildings in Abyan province -- in two blessed operations," al Qaeda's Yemen-based regional wing said in a statement posted on an Islamist website.
Yemen's Western allies fear the regional impact of a failed state in Yemen, right next door to oil exporter Saudi Arabia. Yemen is bogged down in domestic conflicts in its north and south while also fighting al Qaeda which has struck Western and Arab targets in recent months.
The attacks, including a failed attempt to bomb a U.S.-bound plane in December and a suicide bombing that failed to kill the British ambassador, prompted Sanaa to respond with air strikes and military assaults.
Al Qaeda, which said the July attack was in response to the killing of a militant in Abyan, stepped up its rhetoric against the government of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
"We say to the treacherous Arab governments, the false American idol and the leadership of the crusader campaign in the Islamic world: know that your desperate attempts to retain the regime of Ali Saleh, to defend your interests in the region, will not be of use," it said.
"It is a corrupt, oppressive and decrepit regime, ripe for a fall, and the fighters by the grace of God will continue their strikes until God's promise of victory is achieved."
Al Qaeda in Yemen previously focused on high-impact strikes against Western and Saudi targets, but appears to have turned its focus to government forces in response to enhanced Yemen-U.S. security coordination and a government crackdown.
The claim of responsibility came after suspected al Qaeda gunmen killed five soldiers on Thursday in an ambush in south Yemen. The al Qaeda statement made no mention of that attack.
Yemen's poorly equipped security forces are easier to strike than many Western targets, and the group may hope to capitalize on anti-government sentiment in the south, home to a strong and growing separatist movement.
The militant group, which confirmed that one of its fighters was among the dead in the July attack, also said it was behind the prior assassinations of a number of security officers, but did not say when those killings took place.
(Writing by Cynthia Johnston)
Yemen Clashes Reflect North-South Tensions
Source : New York Times, By ROBERT F. WORTH 23/07/2010
WASHINGTON — Fighting has flared up across Yemen in recent days, with dozens of pro-government tribesmen killed in clashes with rebels in the north since the weekend, and five soldiers killed in a suspected Qaeda ambush Thursday in the southern province of Shabwa, witnesses and military officials said.
The violence highlighted the multiple security threats facing Yemen, which drew global attention in December after a failed bombing attempt on a Detroit-bound commercial flight by a young Nigerian man trained by militants from Al Qaeda in Yemen. The United States and other Western countries have pressured Yemen to resolve separate insurgent movements in the north and south to focus more intensively on fighting Al Qaeda.
The government reached a truce with northern Houthi rebels in February, with the rebels agreeing to return detainees, open blocked roads and withdraw from civilian areas. But in recent days, clashes between the rebels and pro-government tribes have snowballed into open warfare, witnesses said. Many in Yemen fear the renewal of a conflict that has raged on and off since 2004.
The violence in the north started to spike last week, when Houthi fighters killed 11 soldiers and tribesmen fighting with the government in the Harf Sufyan area. A Houthi spokesman, Abu Hashem, said the group had fought only government soldiers.
The Houthi conflict has the potential to further destabilize Yemen, because it has sectarian overtones and has already once drawn in Saudi Arabia. The Saudis briefly became involved late last year after Houthi fighters crossed into Saudi territory and killed a Saudi border guard.
Many in the region feared that the conflict would spread, in part because the Houthis belong to an offshoot of Shiite Islam known as Zaydism and have been accused of drawing support from Shiite Iran. Saudi Arabia and other Sunni Arab countries are deeply concerned about Iran’s influence in the region, but Iran has denied support for the Houthis, as have Houthi press officers.
Violence also appears to be on the rise in Yemen’s south, where the five soldiers were reported killed Thursday morning, and a sixth seriously wounded. Last week, about 20 gunmen assaulted a government security compound in Zinjibar, killing three policemen and wounding 11. Al Qaeda’s Arabian branch later claimed credit for the attack.
The attack on Thursday morning also appeared to be the work of Al Qaeda, according to Gen. Ahmed al-Maqdashi, the security chief of the Shabwa province. General Maqdashi added that the attack was carried out in coordination with “subversive elements,” official shorthand for the separatist Southern Movement.
The Southern Movement’s leaders say they fight for economic justice and reject violence. But the movement is diverse, and some analysts said they feared that fringe elements may be collaborating with Al Qaeda.
The movement emerged three years ago with demonstrations by military retirees demanding that their pensions be paid. Since then, most members have started demanding secession from the north. North and south Yemen were separate countries before 1990. The north put down a rebellion by southerners in 1994.
Nasser Arrabyee contributed reporting from Sana, Yemen.
WASHINGTON — Fighting has flared up across Yemen in recent days, with dozens of pro-government tribesmen killed in clashes with rebels in the north since the weekend, and five soldiers killed in a suspected Qaeda ambush Thursday in the southern province of Shabwa, witnesses and military officials said.
The violence highlighted the multiple security threats facing Yemen, which drew global attention in December after a failed bombing attempt on a Detroit-bound commercial flight by a young Nigerian man trained by militants from Al Qaeda in Yemen. The United States and other Western countries have pressured Yemen to resolve separate insurgent movements in the north and south to focus more intensively on fighting Al Qaeda.
The government reached a truce with northern Houthi rebels in February, with the rebels agreeing to return detainees, open blocked roads and withdraw from civilian areas. But in recent days, clashes between the rebels and pro-government tribes have snowballed into open warfare, witnesses said. Many in Yemen fear the renewal of a conflict that has raged on and off since 2004.
The violence in the north started to spike last week, when Houthi fighters killed 11 soldiers and tribesmen fighting with the government in the Harf Sufyan area. A Houthi spokesman, Abu Hashem, said the group had fought only government soldiers.
The Houthi conflict has the potential to further destabilize Yemen, because it has sectarian overtones and has already once drawn in Saudi Arabia. The Saudis briefly became involved late last year after Houthi fighters crossed into Saudi territory and killed a Saudi border guard.
Many in the region feared that the conflict would spread, in part because the Houthis belong to an offshoot of Shiite Islam known as Zaydism and have been accused of drawing support from Shiite Iran. Saudi Arabia and other Sunni Arab countries are deeply concerned about Iran’s influence in the region, but Iran has denied support for the Houthis, as have Houthi press officers.
Violence also appears to be on the rise in Yemen’s south, where the five soldiers were reported killed Thursday morning, and a sixth seriously wounded. Last week, about 20 gunmen assaulted a government security compound in Zinjibar, killing three policemen and wounding 11. Al Qaeda’s Arabian branch later claimed credit for the attack.
The attack on Thursday morning also appeared to be the work of Al Qaeda, according to Gen. Ahmed al-Maqdashi, the security chief of the Shabwa province. General Maqdashi added that the attack was carried out in coordination with “subversive elements,” official shorthand for the separatist Southern Movement.
The Southern Movement’s leaders say they fight for economic justice and reject violence. But the movement is diverse, and some analysts said they feared that fringe elements may be collaborating with Al Qaeda.
The movement emerged three years ago with demonstrations by military retirees demanding that their pensions be paid. Since then, most members have started demanding secession from the north. North and south Yemen were separate countries before 1990. The north put down a rebellion by southerners in 1994.
Nasser Arrabyee contributed reporting from Sana, Yemen.
Thursday, 22 July 2010
Five police men killed one injured in terrorist attack in Shabwa
By Nasser Arrabyee 22/07/2010
Five soldiers were killed and the sixth was injured when gunmen attacked police vehicle while patrolling in the city of Ataq, Shabwa province east of Yemen, official and local sources said.
The attackers took the police car after they killed the police men who were almost asleep, but they left it in the area of Al Jabia at the outskirt of Ataq.
A dead body of the five who were killed was found on the car this morning in Al Jabia area . The attackers left the car because it had a break down, local sources, closes to the killed soldiers said .
The local source said elements from the separatist movement were likely behind the attack.
“From my experience here, I think Al Herak (the separatist movement) was behind the attack, I know all the six soldiers who were on the patrolling car,” said the source who asked not to be named.
“They soldiers told me many times that Al Herak and Al Qaeda were a big threat to them in this lawless province, but think Al Herak was behind this attack.”
The source said two unknown cars were moving in the city before the attack on the patrol.
The government official said Al Qaeda terrorists were behind the attack. “Five soldiers were martyred and one more injured in a terrorist attack in Ataq early morning.” the defense ministry website said.
Five soldiers were killed and the sixth was injured when gunmen attacked police vehicle while patrolling in the city of Ataq, Shabwa province east of Yemen, official and local sources said.
The attackers took the police car after they killed the police men who were almost asleep, but they left it in the area of Al Jabia at the outskirt of Ataq.
A dead body of the five who were killed was found on the car this morning in Al Jabia area . The attackers left the car because it had a break down, local sources, closes to the killed soldiers said .
The local source said elements from the separatist movement were likely behind the attack.
“From my experience here, I think Al Herak (the separatist movement) was behind the attack, I know all the six soldiers who were on the patrolling car,” said the source who asked not to be named.
“They soldiers told me many times that Al Herak and Al Qaeda were a big threat to them in this lawless province, but think Al Herak was behind this attack.”
The source said two unknown cars were moving in the city before the attack on the patrol.
The government official said Al Qaeda terrorists were behind the attack. “Five soldiers were martyred and one more injured in a terrorist attack in Ataq early morning.” the defense ministry website said.
Wednesday, 21 July 2010
New war in Sa’ada?
By Nasser Arrabyee 21/07/2010
Al Houthi rebels denied they are imposing a blockade on tribesmen loyal to the government in Harf Sufyan area, accusing the army of launching a war against them.
“The army has been pounding the citizens in villages of Al Amashia from two military positions, Al Zala and Al Labda and of our people were martyred,” said Abu Hashem, the media man in the office of the top leader of the rebels, Abdul Malik Al Houthi on Wednesday.
In an interview over phone, Abu Hashem said they welcome any mediation to stop the war.
He said that lords of war were behind what’s happening now in Harf Sufyan.
“All the areas of Sa’ada are quiet and stable except Harf Sufyan because military commanders who are lords of war including Sheikh Sagheer bin Azeez who is also a military commander.” He said.
About 66 MPs supported Wednesday a sit-in organized in the parliament by seven MPs from Sa’ada who accused Al Houthi rebels of imposing a blockade on the villages of the MP sheikh bin Azeez in Al Amashia.
Dozens were killed and injured from both sides in the confrontations which started earlier this week after three Al Houthi rebels were killed and five injured in an ambush in Al Amashia area.
The Sa’ada MP Ali Hussein Jailan said Wednesday inside the Parliament that the war did not stop.
“The war stopped only in the media when cease-fire was announced in February, the people of Sa’ada did not see peace since then, none of the six conditions was implemented ,” Jailan said.
“Al Houthis control the entire Sa’ada and play the role of the State, and they collect tax and Zakat.”
Tuesday, 20 July 2010
Al Houthi rebels kill tribal chief, son and four bodyguards
By Nasser Arrabyee,21/07/2010
A total of six tribesmen were killed in an ambush made by Al Houthi rebels north of the country, said the official news agency Saba on Wednesday.
“Sheikh Zaidan Al Maknay and his son and four of his bodyguards were martyred in an ambush made by Al Houthi rebels in Manbah area,” the agency quoted unidentified official as saying.
On Tuesday the MPs of Sa’ada province started a sit-in inside the Parliament to demand the government to take its responsibility for stopping the assassinations of the Al Houthi rebels against the tribesmen who cooperated with the government in the war.
A total of seven members of parliament from Sa’ada province started Tuesday a sit-in inside the parliament in protest over what they called assassinations by Al Houthi rebels against tribesmen loyal to the government.
They said they would stay inside the parliament until the government takes its responsibility in protecting the citizens of Sa’ada from Al Houthi rebels.
“We will stay here until the government takes its responsibility for protecting the people of Sa’ada from Al Houthi assassinations ,” said the MP, Othman Mujali who was speaking in the Tuesday Parliament session in the name of the Sa’ada MPs.
“Al Houthi rebels are fighting against our colleague MP, Shiekh Sagheer bin Azeez and blockading him and his tribe in his village in Harf Sufyan,” he said, in a reference to ongoing battles between Al Houthi rebels and tribesmen since Friday July16th.
The battles started earlier this after Al Houthi rebels accused the army and tribesmen of the MP bin Azeez of killing three and injuring five others of their supporters in an ambush.
Two more MPs from the ruling party, Sakhr Al Wajeeh, and Abdul Azeex Jubari, said they would participate in the sit-in in solidarity with their colleagues from Sa’ada.
On his part, the spokesman of Al Houthi rebels denied any assassinations against tribesmen loyal to the government.
“What’s happening now in Harf Sufyan is not assassinations but it is clashes between our people and the army,” said the spokesman Mohammed Abdul Salm in a statement sent to local media.
Commenting on the sit-in of the Sa’ada MPs, Abdul Salm said, “ We wish if the MPs have made this sit-in to demand the release of the sons of Sa’ada and to demand the reconstruction of war-torn Sa’ada.”
Local sources from Harf Sufyan confirmed that fierce battles between Al Houthi rebels and tribesmen of bin Azeez are still going on until late Tuesday. Tens from both sides were killed and injured. The road between Sana’a and Sa’ada was blocked because of the clashes.
Sa’ada MPs accuse Al Houthi rebels of assassinating tribesmen loyal to the government
By Nasser Arrabyee, 20/07/2010
A total of seven members of parliament from Sa’ada province started Tuesday a sit-in inside the parliament in protest over what they called assassinations by Al Houthi rebels against tribesmen loyal to the government.
They said they would stay inside the parliament until the government takes its responsibility in protecting the citizens of Sa’ada from Al Houthi rebels.
“We will stay here until the government takes its responsibility for protecting the people of Sa’ada from Al Houthi assassinations ,” said the MP, Othman Mujali who was speaking in the Tuesday Parliament session in the name of the Sa’ada MPs.
“Al Houthi rebels are fighting against our colleague MP, Shiekh Sagheer bin Azeez and blockading him and his tribe in his village in Harf Sufyan,” he said, in a reference to ongoing battles between Al Houthi rebels and tribesmen since Friday July16th.
The battles started earlier this after Al Houthi rebels accused the army and tribesmen of the MP bin Azeez of killing three and injuring five others of their supporters in an ambush.
Two more MPs from the ruling party, Sakhr Al Wajeeh, and Abdul Azeex Jubari, said they would participate in the sit-in in solidarity with their colleagues from Sa’ada.
On his part, the spokesman of Al Houthi rebels denied any assassinations against tribesmen loyal to the government.
“What’s happening now in Harf Sufyan is not assassinations but it is clashes between our people and the army,” said the spokesman Mohammed Abdul Salm in a statement sent to local media.
Commenting on the sit-in of the Sa’ada MPs, Abdul Salm said, “ We wish if the MPs have made this sit-in to demand the release of the sons of Sa’ada and to demand the reconstruction of war-torn Sa’ada.”
Local sources from Harf Sufyan confirmed that fierce battles between Al Houthi rebels and tribesmen of bin Azeez are still going on until late Tuesday. Tens from both sides were killed and injured. The road between Sana’a and Sa’ada was blocked because of the clashes.
A total of seven members of parliament from Sa’ada province started Tuesday a sit-in inside the parliament in protest over what they called assassinations by Al Houthi rebels against tribesmen loyal to the government.
They said they would stay inside the parliament until the government takes its responsibility in protecting the citizens of Sa’ada from Al Houthi rebels.
“We will stay here until the government takes its responsibility for protecting the people of Sa’ada from Al Houthi assassinations ,” said the MP, Othman Mujali who was speaking in the Tuesday Parliament session in the name of the Sa’ada MPs.
“Al Houthi rebels are fighting against our colleague MP, Shiekh Sagheer bin Azeez and blockading him and his tribe in his village in Harf Sufyan,” he said, in a reference to ongoing battles between Al Houthi rebels and tribesmen since Friday July16th.
The battles started earlier this after Al Houthi rebels accused the army and tribesmen of the MP bin Azeez of killing three and injuring five others of their supporters in an ambush.
Two more MPs from the ruling party, Sakhr Al Wajeeh, and Abdul Azeex Jubari, said they would participate in the sit-in in solidarity with their colleagues from Sa’ada.
On his part, the spokesman of Al Houthi rebels denied any assassinations against tribesmen loyal to the government.
“What’s happening now in Harf Sufyan is not assassinations but it is clashes between our people and the army,” said the spokesman Mohammed Abdul Salm in a statement sent to local media.
Commenting on the sit-in of the Sa’ada MPs, Abdul Salm said, “ We wish if the MPs have made this sit-in to demand the release of the sons of Sa’ada and to demand the reconstruction of war-torn Sa’ada.”
Local sources from Harf Sufyan confirmed that fierce battles between Al Houthi rebels and tribesmen of bin Azeez are still going on until late Tuesday. Tens from both sides were killed and injured. The road between Sana’a and Sa’ada was blocked because of the clashes.
EU welcomes Yemen agreement on national dialogue
Source :Saba
19\07\2010
- The European Union (EU) welcomed on Monday the agreement signed between the General People’s Congress (GPC) and the Joint Meeting Parties (JMP) on national dialogue.
“I welcome the recent Agreement reached in Yemen between the General People’s Congress (GPC) and the Joint Meeting Parties (JMP) on national dialogue.
I also welcome the announcement by President Saleh on the implementation of the confidence building measures first signaled in his speech of 22 May 2010’’, Catherine Ashton, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the Commission, said in a statement.
‘’These are important steps forward in the national dialogue process, which offers an opportunity to unlocking progress on many issues, from economic and political reform, to national reconciliation’’, Ashton added.
The EU official called on all the parties to implement the new agreement, reiterating the EU’s readiness to support the dialogue process.
‘’I also take the opportunity to restate the full support of the European Union for a democratic, united and stable Yemen”.
On Saturday, under sponsorship of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, the GPC and the JMP signed the agreement to apply a February agreement signed by both sides in February 2009.
Upon the agreement, the two sides agreed to give a chance for all political parties and civil society organizations to discuss constitutional amendments on the political and electoral systems.
The two sides also agreed to name their representatives in a joint committee for preparing the national dialogue. According to the agreement, the GPC and the JMP should comply with decisions of the committee and its meetings’ outcomes.
19\07\2010
- The European Union (EU) welcomed on Monday the agreement signed between the General People’s Congress (GPC) and the Joint Meeting Parties (JMP) on national dialogue.
“I welcome the recent Agreement reached in Yemen between the General People’s Congress (GPC) and the Joint Meeting Parties (JMP) on national dialogue.
I also welcome the announcement by President Saleh on the implementation of the confidence building measures first signaled in his speech of 22 May 2010’’, Catherine Ashton, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the Commission, said in a statement.
‘’These are important steps forward in the national dialogue process, which offers an opportunity to unlocking progress on many issues, from economic and political reform, to national reconciliation’’, Ashton added.
The EU official called on all the parties to implement the new agreement, reiterating the EU’s readiness to support the dialogue process.
‘’I also take the opportunity to restate the full support of the European Union for a democratic, united and stable Yemen”.
On Saturday, under sponsorship of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, the GPC and the JMP signed the agreement to apply a February agreement signed by both sides in February 2009.
Upon the agreement, the two sides agreed to give a chance for all political parties and civil society organizations to discuss constitutional amendments on the political and electoral systems.
The two sides also agreed to name their representatives in a joint committee for preparing the national dialogue. According to the agreement, the GPC and the JMP should comply with decisions of the committee and its meetings’ outcomes.
Monday, 19 July 2010
Yemen opens dialogue for reforms
By Nasser Arrabyee 19/07/2010
The Yemen opposition and ruling parties have agreed to solve their longstanding political crisis.
They have agreed to conduct “essential and genuine” reforms in the political and electoral systems before the coming parliamentary elections on April 2011.
The Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh said he would form a national government from all these parties if they could turn what they agreed on Saturday July 17th, 2010 into actions.
The ruling party, the People’s General Congress (PGC), and the four main opposition parties, coalition known as Joint Meeting Parties (JMPs) agreed to implement the February 2009 agreement according to which these parties postponed the parliamentary elections from April 2009 to April 2011.
After 17 months of disagreements and political wrangles , the parties under the sponsorship of President Ali Abdullah Saleh signed a 10-point plan for implementing the February 2009 agreement which stipulates conducting genuine political and electoral reforms.
The first and foremost demand of the opposition was met before reaching such an agreement.
A total of 28 political detainees from the southern movement activists, were released and about 400 of Al Houthi rebels, the Shiite rebels in the north, are to be released soon according to the opposition officials who were involved in the negotiation and signing process.
The former MP, Ahmed Ba Mualem, and former ambassador Kasem Askar were among the prominent leaders of the southern movement who were released this week after they were sentenced to 10 and 5 years in prison for “harming the national unity” charges.
Four people were injured including two soldiers on Monday in the southern volatile province of Al Dhale’e in clashes between security forces and supporters of the separatist movement who were doing ‘hero welcome’ to the 28 men who were released.
Despite the fact that the parties said the national dialogue they are going to make after this agreement will include Al Houthi rebels and the southern movement and their leaders abroad, some separatist leaders commented on the Saturday’s agreement as an external affair which does not matter them. “The agreement does not matter us, it matters Sana’a regime and its allies, what we, the southerners, want is to have our independence,” said the MP Nasser Al Khubaji, one of about 10 self-declared leaders competing for leadership of the southern movement.
The most important step, and maybe the most difficult, in the 10-point plan of the agreement, is that the parties would have to form a 200-member committee to prepare for a comprehensive national dialogue and conducting constitutional amendments to guarantee the political and elections reforms required for Yemen.
100 members of this committee will be from the ruling party, and 100 from the four opposition parties which include the Islamist Islah party, the Socialist party, Nasserite party , and the Ba’ath party, the only parties represented in the parliament. Islah has 46 seats , the socialists has 7, the Nasserite has 2 and Ba’ath has one of the 301-Seat House of Representatives.
“If the steps agreed upon were implemented , we are ready to form a national government from all political spectrum for conducting the elections on time,” said Saleh said who sponsored the signing ceremony in the presidential house while he was celebrating his 32 anniversary in power, the day of July 17th.
The representative of the opposition coalition, Abdul Wahab Mahamoud, said,” We are happy with this agreement, we are happy that his Excellency President (Saleh) sponsored the agreement. We hope we’ll have confidence and cooperation in the coming time.”
The agreement was welcomed by the other opposition parties who are not represented in the parliament .
The top leader of the rebels in the north, Abdul Malik Al Houthi also welcomed it saying in a statement, “ removing the impacts of Sa’ada war will be one of the essential factors for the political stability.”
Al Houthi, who is in a fragile truce since last February, after 6-year old sporadic war with the government forces, demanded the release of all detainees , reconstruction of Sa’ada, compensation of all those affected by the war, as conditions to make the agreement a success.
Over the last week, the government accused Al Houthi of killing 11 people ( 8 tribesmen loyal to government and three soldiers) in an ambush in Sa’ada. Two days later,
Al Houthi accused the army of killing three and injuring five of his supports in an ambush in Sa’ada.
The internal reactions to the agreement were various:
The politics professor at Sana’a university, Mohammed Al Dhaheri said, “ The agreement is a limited step in the right direction, because there is an absence of implementation.”
“Yemen does not need for agreements that are not implemented, but it needs political will that implements the agreements,” he said.
The political analyst Ali Al Jaradi, said , “ it is a good chance for the political parties to reform the political and electoral systems and rescue their nation from the political economic crises.”
The minister of information, Hassan Al Lawzi said the agreement was a victory for all Yemenis who agree about the general objectives and aspirations.
Some observes views the agreement, however, as a solution for the problem of the political parties not for Yemen and some say it came as a result of pressure from US and EU who do not want the unrest to give a good environment for Al Qaeda.
“The dialogue will not solve the problems of the protests in the south and the armed rebellion in the north, as the participants will be only from the ruling party and its allies, and the JMPs and their allies,” said Ali Saif Hassan, the chairman of the Political Development Forum.
The politics professor at Sana’a university , Abdullah Al Fakee said, “Pressures from the European Union, and United States were behind the agreement.”
Sunday, 18 July 2010
Refugees influx places more economic burdens on Yemen: UNHCR
Source : Yemen’s official news agency (Saba),18/07/2010
SANA'A-The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has said that Yemen is facing escalating challenges as a result of nonstop influx of Somali refugees to its coasts.
A report issued recently by the UNHCR office in Yemen said that about 90 boats have arrived in Yemeni coasts coming from Horn of Africa during last April 2010 carrying 4,213 refugees, including 80 children, according to the GPC ruling party website.
African refugee arrivals were distributed to 1,249 Somali refugees, about 695 Somalis arrived via Arabian Sea and 614 across the Red Sea, and 2,964 people from other African nationalities, the source reported.
The UNHCR revealed that the 80 Somali children have left their parents in their home and fled to Yemen to evade from the forced recruitment by the armed groups in Somalia.
Deteriorating the security situation in Somalia makes thousands of Somalis are ready to risk their lives on a perilous journey via Gulf of Aden to be smuggled into Yemen.
Yemen is considered to be a gateway for Somalis to the Middle East. It recognizes all Somalis as refugees on a "prima facie basis," meaning they are automatically granted the right to stay. But many of those who cross the Gulf of Aden move on to Yemen's neighbors Saudi Arabia and Oman in pursuit of jobs.
The escalating numbers of refugees place increasing strain on Yemen's limited resources and pose more challenges to the government's efforts to balance its obligations under international law with the need to protect the country from illegal entry.
SANA'A-The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has said that Yemen is facing escalating challenges as a result of nonstop influx of Somali refugees to its coasts.
A report issued recently by the UNHCR office in Yemen said that about 90 boats have arrived in Yemeni coasts coming from Horn of Africa during last April 2010 carrying 4,213 refugees, including 80 children, according to the GPC ruling party website.
African refugee arrivals were distributed to 1,249 Somali refugees, about 695 Somalis arrived via Arabian Sea and 614 across the Red Sea, and 2,964 people from other African nationalities, the source reported.
The UNHCR revealed that the 80 Somali children have left their parents in their home and fled to Yemen to evade from the forced recruitment by the armed groups in Somalia.
Deteriorating the security situation in Somalia makes thousands of Somalis are ready to risk their lives on a perilous journey via Gulf of Aden to be smuggled into Yemen.
Yemen is considered to be a gateway for Somalis to the Middle East. It recognizes all Somalis as refugees on a "prima facie basis," meaning they are automatically granted the right to stay. But many of those who cross the Gulf of Aden move on to Yemen's neighbors Saudi Arabia and Oman in pursuit of jobs.
The escalating numbers of refugees place increasing strain on Yemen's limited resources and pose more challenges to the government's efforts to balance its obligations under international law with the need to protect the country from illegal entry.
Saturday, 17 July 2010
National government to be formed, after agreement on reforms in Yemen
By Nasser Arrabyee 17\07\2010
The Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh said he would form a national government if the political parties in his country implemented an agreement they reached today Saturday.
The political parties have agreed to do political and elections reforms before the coming parliamentary elections on April 2011.
The ruling party and the four main opposition parties agreed to implement the February 2009 agreement according to which these parties postponed the Parliamentary elections from April 2009 to April 2011.
After 17 months of disagreements and political wrangles , the parties under the sponsorship of President Ali Abdullah Saleh signed a 10-point plan for implementing the February 2009 agreement which stipulates conducting genuine political and election reforms.
Before signing the agreement of today, a total of 28 political detainees from the southern movement activists, were released, the most important demand of the opposition during the last few months.
The former MP, Ahmed Ba Mualem, and former ambassador Kasem Askar were among the prominent leaders of the southern movement who were released today after they were sentenced to 10 and 5 years in prison for “harming the national unity”.
The most important step in the 10-point plan is that the parties would form a 200-member committee to prepare for a comprehensive national dialogue and conducting constitutional amendments to guarantee the political and elections reforms required for Yemen.
100 members of this committee will be from the ruling party, and 100 from the four opposition parties which include the Islamist Islah party, the Socialist party, Nasserite party , and the Ba’ath party.
The President Ali Abdullah Saleh who sponsored the signing of the agreement said a national government from all parties will be formed if this agreement is implemented.
“If the steps agreed upon were implemented , we are ready to form a national government from all political spectrum for conducting the elections on time,” said Saleh said who celebrated today , July 17th, the 33 anniversary of his taking power.
The representative of the opposition coalition, Abdul Wahab Mahamoud, said,” We are happy with this agreement, we are happy that his Excellency President (Saleh) sponsored the agreement. We hope we’ll have confidence and cooperation in the coming time.”
The Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh said he would form a national government if the political parties in his country implemented an agreement they reached today Saturday.
The political parties have agreed to do political and elections reforms before the coming parliamentary elections on April 2011.
The ruling party and the four main opposition parties agreed to implement the February 2009 agreement according to which these parties postponed the Parliamentary elections from April 2009 to April 2011.
After 17 months of disagreements and political wrangles , the parties under the sponsorship of President Ali Abdullah Saleh signed a 10-point plan for implementing the February 2009 agreement which stipulates conducting genuine political and election reforms.
Before signing the agreement of today, a total of 28 political detainees from the southern movement activists, were released, the most important demand of the opposition during the last few months.
The former MP, Ahmed Ba Mualem, and former ambassador Kasem Askar were among the prominent leaders of the southern movement who were released today after they were sentenced to 10 and 5 years in prison for “harming the national unity”.
The most important step in the 10-point plan is that the parties would form a 200-member committee to prepare for a comprehensive national dialogue and conducting constitutional amendments to guarantee the political and elections reforms required for Yemen.
100 members of this committee will be from the ruling party, and 100 from the four opposition parties which include the Islamist Islah party, the Socialist party, Nasserite party , and the Ba’ath party.
The President Ali Abdullah Saleh who sponsored the signing of the agreement said a national government from all parties will be formed if this agreement is implemented.
“If the steps agreed upon were implemented , we are ready to form a national government from all political spectrum for conducting the elections on time,” said Saleh said who celebrated today , July 17th, the 33 anniversary of his taking power.
The representative of the opposition coalition, Abdul Wahab Mahamoud, said,” We are happy with this agreement, we are happy that his Excellency President (Saleh) sponsored the agreement. We hope we’ll have confidence and cooperation in the coming time.”
Friday, 16 July 2010
Two Al Qaeda suspects arrested
By Nasser Arrabyee ,17/07/2010
Two more Al Qaeda suspects were arrested after their cell was dismantled earlier this month in Mukalla city east of Yemen, the defense ministry said on its website (http://www.26sep.net/) Saturday.
Two other Al Qaeda suspects were arrested on July 5th, 2010, when the cell clashed with the security forces in the area of Fuh, west of Mukalla city, where two militants and two soldiers were killed.
A total of 8 men belonging to the same cell, known as Fuh cell, were arrested later.
The ministry said it is still searching for more militants from this cell which included the Saudi national Abdullah Faraj Mohammed Lajubar, also known as Abu Ibrahim, who is in the wanted list of both Saudi and Yemeni authorities.
The 12 men already arrested are aged between 20-35, the ministry said. A 27-year old Yemeni ,who was born in Kuwait, and who works as engineer of motor-cycles, was among those who were arrested. A university student and 20-yearl old sailor were also among the arrested 12 men.
Earlier, the authorities said the Fuh cell was planning to carry out terrorist acts against security and military and development targets in Hudhrmout province. An explosive belt was found in the house where the group was hiding. The ministry of interior said the belt was supposed to be used in a suicide attack in the following day.
Two more Al Qaeda suspects were arrested after their cell was dismantled earlier this month in Mukalla city east of Yemen, the defense ministry said on its website (http://www.26sep.net/) Saturday.
Two other Al Qaeda suspects were arrested on July 5th, 2010, when the cell clashed with the security forces in the area of Fuh, west of Mukalla city, where two militants and two soldiers were killed.
A total of 8 men belonging to the same cell, known as Fuh cell, were arrested later.
The ministry said it is still searching for more militants from this cell which included the Saudi national Abdullah Faraj Mohammed Lajubar, also known as Abu Ibrahim, who is in the wanted list of both Saudi and Yemeni authorities.
The 12 men already arrested are aged between 20-35, the ministry said. A 27-year old Yemeni ,who was born in Kuwait, and who works as engineer of motor-cycles, was among those who were arrested. A university student and 20-yearl old sailor were also among the arrested 12 men.
Earlier, the authorities said the Fuh cell was planning to carry out terrorist acts against security and military and development targets in Hudhrmout province. An explosive belt was found in the house where the group was hiding. The ministry of interior said the belt was supposed to be used in a suicide attack in the following day.
US freezes assets of US-Yemeni cleric linked to bomb plot
Source: AFP, By Andrew Beatty, 17/07/2010
WASHINGTON — The US government on Friday slapped sanctions on American-Yemeni cleric Anwar al-Awlaqi, accusing him of helping to plan the failed bombing of a US passenger plane on Christmas Day.
The Treasury Department froze the assets of Awlaqi, a dual national wanted for his part in the plot to blow up a Northwest Airlines plane bound for Detroit, Michigan last year with 290 people on board.
The US-born cleric is currently thought to be in hiding in Yemen.
The Treasury sanctions include a freeze on Awlaqi's US-held assets and a ban any American from engaging in transactions with him, in an attempt to squeeze his financial support.
"Anwar al-Awlaqi has proven that he is extraordinarily dangerous, committed to carrying out deadly attacks on Americans and others worldwide," said Stuart Levey, the head of Treasury's sanctions department.
Levey said the New Mexico-born cleric "plays a major role in setting the strategic direction" of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).
President Barack Obama's administration has authorized the targeted killing of Awlaqi, a rare move against an American citizen.
The order was approved after US intelligence agencies concluded that the cleric was now directly involved in plots against the United States, and not merely publicly encouraging such attacks.
The cleric, aged 39, has backed the targeting of American civilians and in Internet videos has urged Muslims to follow the example of Major Nidal Hassan, a US army psychiatrist accused of fatally gunning down 13 colleagues during a rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, in November.
But, according to the Treasury, "since late 2009, Awlaqi has taken on an increasingly operational role in Al-Qaeda.
"He has involved himself in every aspect of the supply chain of terrorism -- fundraising for terrorist groups, recruiting and training operatives, and planning and ordering attacks on innocents," said Levey.
"Awlaqi has also recruited individuals to join AQAP, facilitated training at camps in Yemen in support of acts of terrorism, and helped focus AQAP's attention on planning attacks on US interests.
He is specifically accused of helping prepare Nigerian man Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab to carry out the failed the Christmas Day plot.
Abdulmutallab faces trial for trying to detonate explosives hidden in his underwear as the plane approached Detroit on December 25. He pleaded not guilty in January to six terrorism-related charges, including attempted murder and trying to use a weapon of mass destruction.
In an interview with Al-Jazeera earlier this year Awlaqi claimed that Abdulmutallab was his "student," but said that he did not direct the young Nigerian to launch the attack.
Awlaqi is now reported to be in the remote mountainous Shabwah region of Yemen.
He was imprisoned in Yemen in 2006 on charges of being involved in an Al-Qaeda plot to kidnap a US official but was released in December 2007 and went into hiding, according to the Treasury.
The cleric is thought to be one of dozens of Al-Qaeda operatives targeted in an air raid on Wadi Rafadh, 650 kilometers (400 miles) east of the Yemeni capital Sanaa, in December last year, in which 34 people were killed
WASHINGTON — The US government on Friday slapped sanctions on American-Yemeni cleric Anwar al-Awlaqi, accusing him of helping to plan the failed bombing of a US passenger plane on Christmas Day.
The Treasury Department froze the assets of Awlaqi, a dual national wanted for his part in the plot to blow up a Northwest Airlines plane bound for Detroit, Michigan last year with 290 people on board.
The US-born cleric is currently thought to be in hiding in Yemen.
The Treasury sanctions include a freeze on Awlaqi's US-held assets and a ban any American from engaging in transactions with him, in an attempt to squeeze his financial support.
"Anwar al-Awlaqi has proven that he is extraordinarily dangerous, committed to carrying out deadly attacks on Americans and others worldwide," said Stuart Levey, the head of Treasury's sanctions department.
Levey said the New Mexico-born cleric "plays a major role in setting the strategic direction" of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).
President Barack Obama's administration has authorized the targeted killing of Awlaqi, a rare move against an American citizen.
The order was approved after US intelligence agencies concluded that the cleric was now directly involved in plots against the United States, and not merely publicly encouraging such attacks.
The cleric, aged 39, has backed the targeting of American civilians and in Internet videos has urged Muslims to follow the example of Major Nidal Hassan, a US army psychiatrist accused of fatally gunning down 13 colleagues during a rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, in November.
But, according to the Treasury, "since late 2009, Awlaqi has taken on an increasingly operational role in Al-Qaeda.
"He has involved himself in every aspect of the supply chain of terrorism -- fundraising for terrorist groups, recruiting and training operatives, and planning and ordering attacks on innocents," said Levey.
"Awlaqi has also recruited individuals to join AQAP, facilitated training at camps in Yemen in support of acts of terrorism, and helped focus AQAP's attention on planning attacks on US interests.
He is specifically accused of helping prepare Nigerian man Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab to carry out the failed the Christmas Day plot.
Abdulmutallab faces trial for trying to detonate explosives hidden in his underwear as the plane approached Detroit on December 25. He pleaded not guilty in January to six terrorism-related charges, including attempted murder and trying to use a weapon of mass destruction.
In an interview with Al-Jazeera earlier this year Awlaqi claimed that Abdulmutallab was his "student," but said that he did not direct the young Nigerian to launch the attack.
Awlaqi is now reported to be in the remote mountainous Shabwah region of Yemen.
He was imprisoned in Yemen in 2006 on charges of being involved in an Al-Qaeda plot to kidnap a US official but was released in December 2007 and went into hiding, according to the Treasury.
The cleric is thought to be one of dozens of Al-Qaeda operatives targeted in an air raid on Wadi Rafadh, 650 kilometers (400 miles) east of the Yemeni capital Sanaa, in December last year, in which 34 people were killed
Three rebels killed, five injured
By Nasser Arrabyee 16/07/2010
Three Al Houthi rebels were killed and five others were injured in an ambush made by the army, said the rebels spokesman Friday.
“The army made an ambush today Friday and killed three of our people, and injured five others in the road between Sana’a and Sa’ada,” said the rebels’ spokesman, Yousef Al Faishi in a statement sent to local media.
Al Faishi identified the three men who were killed as Ahmed Hassan Jamilah, Ahmed Salem Jamilah and Ahmed Ali Hadi.
The rebels spokesman denied earlier accusations of the government that Al Houthi rebels killed 11 people including three soldiers in an ambush in Majaz district.
He said the accusations are untrue and baseless and what happened in district was only a tribal conflict.
On Thursday, the ministry of interior said that Al Houthi rebels killed 11 people including 8 tribesmen loyal to the government and three soldiers in Majaz district .
Three Al Houthi rebels were killed and five others were injured in an ambush made by the army, said the rebels spokesman Friday.
“The army made an ambush today Friday and killed three of our people, and injured five others in the road between Sana’a and Sa’ada,” said the rebels’ spokesman, Yousef Al Faishi in a statement sent to local media.
Al Faishi identified the three men who were killed as Ahmed Hassan Jamilah, Ahmed Salem Jamilah and Ahmed Ali Hadi.
The rebels spokesman denied earlier accusations of the government that Al Houthi rebels killed 11 people including three soldiers in an ambush in Majaz district.
He said the accusations are untrue and baseless and what happened in district was only a tribal conflict.
On Thursday, the ministry of interior said that Al Houthi rebels killed 11 people including 8 tribesmen loyal to the government and three soldiers in Majaz district .
Thursday, 15 July 2010
Al Houthi rebels kill 11 people
By Nasser Arrabyee/15/07/2010
Al Houthi rebels have killed 11 people including three soldiers in Sa’ada north of Yemen, said the ministry of interior on its website late Thursday.
The rebels killed three soldiers who were on board of military car transporting materials from Sa’ada city to Majaz district, the ministry said.
A total of 8 tribesmen loyal to the government were also killed in the same district, the ministry said.
The ministry published the names of the 11 people who were killed, saying such an incident shows that Al Houthi rebels want to foil efforts of peace in Sa’ada.
The incident came two days after the Yemeni President and Emir of Qatar met in Sana’a to activate a former Qatari-brokered deal to end the 6-year old sporadic conflict between Al Houthi rebels and the Yemeni government.
The ministry considered this incident as a violation of the fragile truce which was announced last February, saying Al Houthi rebels committed 635 violations since then.
Al Houthi rebels have killed 11 people including three soldiers in Sa’ada north of Yemen, said the ministry of interior on its website late Thursday.
The rebels killed three soldiers who were on board of military car transporting materials from Sa’ada city to Majaz district, the ministry said.
A total of 8 tribesmen loyal to the government were also killed in the same district, the ministry said.
The ministry published the names of the 11 people who were killed, saying such an incident shows that Al Houthi rebels want to foil efforts of peace in Sa’ada.
The incident came two days after the Yemeni President and Emir of Qatar met in Sana’a to activate a former Qatari-brokered deal to end the 6-year old sporadic conflict between Al Houthi rebels and the Yemeni government.
The ministry considered this incident as a violation of the fragile truce which was announced last February, saying Al Houthi rebels committed 635 violations since then.
Heavy rains kill more than 20 people in Yemen
By Nasser Arrabyee/15/07/2010
More than 20 people were killed and tens others were injured by heavy rains which fell on many provinces in Yemeni over the last two days, officials said Thursday.
Six people were killed and 8 others were injured in the province of Dhammar, 200 km south west of the capital Sana’a.
The secretary general of the local council of Wesab Safel district in Dhammar, Abdu Saad Al Faqee said that five people were killed and four others injured when a health centre collapsed on the people inside due to heavy rains. An old woman was killed and four others were injured when their car was swept away in the same district, said Al Faqee.
Seven people were killed including two women and three children when their car was swept away in Al Mashana area in the city of Ibb, said the director of Jebal district in the province of Ibb, Ali Yahya Jaghman.
Two men were killed in the city of Sana’a , the capital of Yemen, according the interior ministry statement .
Furthermore, seven people were killed and 41 others were injured in various traffic accidents because of the heavy rains which have been falling in Yemen for three days, according to official traffic statistics.
More than 20 people were killed and tens others were injured by heavy rains which fell on many provinces in Yemeni over the last two days, officials said Thursday.
Six people were killed and 8 others were injured in the province of Dhammar, 200 km south west of the capital Sana’a.
The secretary general of the local council of Wesab Safel district in Dhammar, Abdu Saad Al Faqee said that five people were killed and four others injured when a health centre collapsed on the people inside due to heavy rains. An old woman was killed and four others were injured when their car was swept away in the same district, said Al Faqee.
Seven people were killed including two women and three children when their car was swept away in Al Mashana area in the city of Ibb, said the director of Jebal district in the province of Ibb, Ali Yahya Jaghman.
Two men were killed in the city of Sana’a , the capital of Yemen, according the interior ministry statement .
Furthermore, seven people were killed and 41 others were injured in various traffic accidents because of the heavy rains which have been falling in Yemen for three days, according to official traffic statistics.
Wednesday, 14 July 2010
Five killed 10 injured in Al Qaeda attack on security offices
By Nasser Arrabyee/14/07/2010
At least five people were killed and 10 others injured when gunmen believed to be Al Qaeda militants, attacked two separate security offices in the city of Abyan, south of Yemen, official and local sources said Wednesday.
The official sources said that that two of the attackers were killed and seven were arrested.
The car of the attackers was seized with explosive belts and guns for snipers on board , the defense ministry website said. Five soldiers at least were injured in the two attacks, according to the official sources.
Local sources, however, said that the gunmen attacked the headquarters of the intelligence and headquarters of the general security in Abyan in two separate but simultaneous operations .
The sources said the attackers used motor cycles in the two attacks. RPG , hand grenades and Kalashnikovs were used in the two operations which took place at about 8:00 am.
Eyes witnesses said that the attackers were able to escape in the direction of Ja’ar, a mountainous area in Abyan where Al Qaeda suspects hide.
The attacks came after dozens were arrested in a campaign implemented by the government who was looking for militants accused of assassinating at least two high ranking intelligence officers over the last weeks in Abyan.
Earlier this week, Al Qaeda in Yemen claimed responsibility for the June 19th, 2010. Attack on the headquarters of the intelligence in the southern coastal city of Aden where 11 people were killed.
At least five people were killed and 10 others injured when gunmen believed to be Al Qaeda militants, attacked two separate security offices in the city of Abyan, south of Yemen, official and local sources said Wednesday.
The official sources said that that two of the attackers were killed and seven were arrested.
The car of the attackers was seized with explosive belts and guns for snipers on board , the defense ministry website said. Five soldiers at least were injured in the two attacks, according to the official sources.
Local sources, however, said that the gunmen attacked the headquarters of the intelligence and headquarters of the general security in Abyan in two separate but simultaneous operations .
The sources said the attackers used motor cycles in the two attacks. RPG , hand grenades and Kalashnikovs were used in the two operations which took place at about 8:00 am.
Eyes witnesses said that the attackers were able to escape in the direction of Ja’ar, a mountainous area in Abyan where Al Qaeda suspects hide.
The attacks came after dozens were arrested in a campaign implemented by the government who was looking for militants accused of assassinating at least two high ranking intelligence officers over the last weeks in Abyan.
Earlier this week, Al Qaeda in Yemen claimed responsibility for the June 19th, 2010. Attack on the headquarters of the intelligence in the southern coastal city of Aden where 11 people were killed.
US supports Yemen’s development with $114 million
By Nasser Arrabyee/14/07/2010
The United States said it supported Yemen’s development with $ 114 million.
In a statement issued Wednesday, the US embassy in Sana’a said that the American Agency for International Development (USAID), has awarded three implementation agreements and contracts worth $114 million as part of the $121 million assistance agreement it signed with the Yemeni government in September 2009.
The statement said that $26.5 million was awarded to Counterpart International, the Research Triangle Institute, and the National Democratic Institute to implement USAID's Responsive Governance Project, which will assist the Government of Yemen on policy and institutional reforms and capacity-building that will contribute to more equitable development in Yemen.
And $80 million was awarded to Creative Associates International and a consortium including Civic Democratic Initiatives Support Foundation, Yemen Partners for Democratic Change, and Yemen Education for Employment to implement USAID's Community Livelihoods Project that will assist the Government of Yemen in its efforts to improve livelihoods, increase access to basic services and broaden citizen participation and prospects for economic development in targeted communities.
The remaining $7.75 million was awarded to International Business & Technical Consultants, Inc. (IBTCI) to monitor and evaluate the impact of the overall assistance package. Through USAID's Monitoring and Evaluation Project, IBTCI will establish an information platform to track and analyze results and the programs' impact upon development in Yemen.
The United States said it supported Yemen’s development with $ 114 million.
In a statement issued Wednesday, the US embassy in Sana’a said that the American Agency for International Development (USAID), has awarded three implementation agreements and contracts worth $114 million as part of the $121 million assistance agreement it signed with the Yemeni government in September 2009.
The statement said that $26.5 million was awarded to Counterpart International, the Research Triangle Institute, and the National Democratic Institute to implement USAID's Responsive Governance Project, which will assist the Government of Yemen on policy and institutional reforms and capacity-building that will contribute to more equitable development in Yemen.
And $80 million was awarded to Creative Associates International and a consortium including Civic Democratic Initiatives Support Foundation, Yemen Partners for Democratic Change, and Yemen Education for Employment to implement USAID's Community Livelihoods Project that will assist the Government of Yemen in its efforts to improve livelihoods, increase access to basic services and broaden citizen participation and prospects for economic development in targeted communities.
The remaining $7.75 million was awarded to International Business & Technical Consultants, Inc. (IBTCI) to monitor and evaluate the impact of the overall assistance package. Through USAID's Monitoring and Evaluation Project, IBTCI will establish an information platform to track and analyze results and the programs' impact upon development in Yemen.
Tuesday, 13 July 2010
Saleh: No seventh war in Yemen's north
Source: Middle East Online
13\07\2010
Qatari emir says his country is ready to mediate in Yemen's south to safeguard country’s unity.
SANAA - Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh stressed on Tuesday that no seventh war will take place in the country's tense north between the Sanaa government and Shiite rebels.
"There are no indicators for a seventh war," Saleh told a news conference, saying that would be "totally unacceptable."
The sixth war with the rebels, known as Huthis -- who complain of political, social and religious marginalisation -- erupted last August.
Thousands have been killed in the conflict that first began in 2004 and ended in a February truce.
The Huthis will "start Wednesday" implementing the six-point truce "including the withdrawal from cities" currently under their control and "will hand everything over to local authorities," the president said.
Despite a complementary agreement reached late June to revive the peace accord, the shadow of war has been looming in the impoverished country's north as both sides exchanged blames over breaching February's truce.
Qatar mediation
The emir of Qatar said on Tuesday that his Gulf state was prepared to help in safeguarding the unity of Yemen as southern calls for secession get louder.
"We would happy to take part in finding a solution that helps the survival of the Yemen unity," Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani told reporters after talks with Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh in Sanaa.
"We are always with the Yemenis in their problems, unless they refuse that. Until now, they have not refused," the emir said, without specifying whether Qatar was already involved in mediation efforts.
"We support the efforts of President (Saleh) to find a solution," he said.
South Yemen was independent from the time of Britain's withdrawal in 1967 until it united with North Yemen in 1990. The south seceded in 1994, sparking a short civil war that ended with the region overrun by northern troops.
Residents of the south, who complain of discrimination by the Sanaa government in the allocation of resources, have staged frequent protests, sometimes demanding full secession.
Qatar has been involved in the past in talks between the Sanaa government and Huthi rebels in the north who have been locked in an on-off conflict since 2004.
13\07\2010
Qatari emir says his country is ready to mediate in Yemen's south to safeguard country’s unity.
SANAA - Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh stressed on Tuesday that no seventh war will take place in the country's tense north between the Sanaa government and Shiite rebels.
"There are no indicators for a seventh war," Saleh told a news conference, saying that would be "totally unacceptable."
The sixth war with the rebels, known as Huthis -- who complain of political, social and religious marginalisation -- erupted last August.
Thousands have been killed in the conflict that first began in 2004 and ended in a February truce.
The Huthis will "start Wednesday" implementing the six-point truce "including the withdrawal from cities" currently under their control and "will hand everything over to local authorities," the president said.
Despite a complementary agreement reached late June to revive the peace accord, the shadow of war has been looming in the impoverished country's north as both sides exchanged blames over breaching February's truce.
Qatar mediation
The emir of Qatar said on Tuesday that his Gulf state was prepared to help in safeguarding the unity of Yemen as southern calls for secession get louder.
"We would happy to take part in finding a solution that helps the survival of the Yemen unity," Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani told reporters after talks with Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh in Sanaa.
"We are always with the Yemenis in their problems, unless they refuse that. Until now, they have not refused," the emir said, without specifying whether Qatar was already involved in mediation efforts.
"We support the efforts of President (Saleh) to find a solution," he said.
South Yemen was independent from the time of Britain's withdrawal in 1967 until it united with North Yemen in 1990. The south seceded in 1994, sparking a short civil war that ended with the region overrun by northern troops.
Residents of the south, who complain of discrimination by the Sanaa government in the allocation of resources, have staged frequent protests, sometimes demanding full secession.
Qatar has been involved in the past in talks between the Sanaa government and Huthi rebels in the north who have been locked in an on-off conflict since 2004.
Monday, 12 July 2010
kidnappers told me not to talk to media, released jounalist says
By Nasser Arrabyee/12/07/2010
The Yemeni journalist Abdul Elah Haidar Shea was released Monday about 10 hours after security men kidnapped him from a Sana’a street because of his media statements about Al Qaeda.
Shea said the gunmen who kidnapped him from Hadda street in the evening of July 11th, 2010 , identified themselves to him as security people.
“They told me the statements I give to the media are damaging the interests of the homeland,” Shea told Gulf News immediately after he was released.
They took him blind-folded to a place where they interrogated him for more than six hours .
“I think the place was the Political Security or National Security offices, and they asked how I met Al Qaeda people and where I get the my information from,” Said Shea who previously made exclusive interviews with the two top leaders of Al Qaeda Nasser Al Wahayshi and Anwar Al Awlaki.
The journalist Shea said that the security people told him to be careful about the ‘Red Lines’.
“ ‘We hope you now understood the message, and the red lines’ they told me before I was released,” he said.
“My lab top is still with them.”
Shea said he was not subjected to torture while being investigated. But he said one of the investigators hit him on his nose when tried to pray when they arrived the place of investigation.
The journalist Shea did not exclude that his kidnapping had something to do with the internet statement of Sunday July 11th, 2010, in which the Yemen-based Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) claimed responsibility for the attack on the intelligence headquarters in June 19th, 2010, in which 11 people were killed.
The Yemeni journalist Abdul Elah Haidar Shea was released Monday about 10 hours after security men kidnapped him from a Sana’a street because of his media statements about Al Qaeda.
Shea said the gunmen who kidnapped him from Hadda street in the evening of July 11th, 2010 , identified themselves to him as security people.
“They told me the statements I give to the media are damaging the interests of the homeland,” Shea told Gulf News immediately after he was released.
They took him blind-folded to a place where they interrogated him for more than six hours .
“I think the place was the Political Security or National Security offices, and they asked how I met Al Qaeda people and where I get the my information from,” Said Shea who previously made exclusive interviews with the two top leaders of Al Qaeda Nasser Al Wahayshi and Anwar Al Awlaki.
The journalist Shea said that the security people told him to be careful about the ‘Red Lines’.
“ ‘We hope you now understood the message, and the red lines’ they told me before I was released,” he said.
“My lab top is still with them.”
Shea said he was not subjected to torture while being investigated. But he said one of the investigators hit him on his nose when tried to pray when they arrived the place of investigation.
The journalist Shea did not exclude that his kidnapping had something to do with the internet statement of Sunday July 11th, 2010, in which the Yemen-based Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) claimed responsibility for the attack on the intelligence headquarters in June 19th, 2010, in which 11 people were killed.
Gunmen kidnap Yemeni journalist
Source : Reuters, By MOHAMMED GHOBARI , 12/07/2010
SANAA-Three unidentified gunmen kidnapped a Yemeni freelance journalist specializing in reporting on Al-Qaeda on a street in the capital late on Sunday, an eyewitness said.
Abdulelah Shai was outside a Chinese restaurant in Sanaa when three armed men jumped out of a car and forced him to get into the vehicle which then sped off, Yemeni journalist Kamal Sharaf, who was with Shai at the time, told Reuters.
Police opened an investigation into the abduction but did not say who they thought was responsible.
Yemen's Journalist Syndicate said the kidnappers might be tribesmen angered by Shai's reporting on the relationship of some tribes with the Yemeni wing of the militant group Al-Qaeda.
Analysts say Al-Qaeda members, many of whom are holed up in Yemen's most impenetrable mountains and deserts, often receive protection from local tribes.
"We don't know for certain who is behind the incident but we fear it could be a tribal group ... because of his analyzes of the tribes' sympathy for Al-Qaeda. That is why his life is in danger," a Syndicate member said, asking not to be identified.
Yemen, which borders top oil exporter Saudi Arabia, leapt to the forefront of Western security concerns after a Yemen-based regional wing of Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for a failed attempt to bomb a US-bound airliner in December.
The conflict between the impoverished country's government and Al-Qaeda is intensifying, and tribes are increasingly drawn into the fighting.
In June, the Yemeni army shelled militant targets and fought gun battles in the Al-Qaeda stronghold of Wadi Obeida in Maarib province, the source of much of the country's oil.
Tensions in Maarib had been high since its deputy governor, who was mediating between the authorities and Al-Qaeda, was killed in May in an air strike aimed at the militant group, prompting his angry kinsmen to attack an oil pipeline.
Earlier on Sunday, Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for an attack last month on the southern headquarters of a Yemeni intelligence agency in which 11 people died, saying it was a response to a state crackdown on its members in Maarib.
A day before the attack in the southern city of Aden, Al-Qaeda had called on local tribesmen to take up arms against the government because of the crackdown
SANAA-Three unidentified gunmen kidnapped a Yemeni freelance journalist specializing in reporting on Al-Qaeda on a street in the capital late on Sunday, an eyewitness said.
Abdulelah Shai was outside a Chinese restaurant in Sanaa when three armed men jumped out of a car and forced him to get into the vehicle which then sped off, Yemeni journalist Kamal Sharaf, who was with Shai at the time, told Reuters.
Police opened an investigation into the abduction but did not say who they thought was responsible.
Yemen's Journalist Syndicate said the kidnappers might be tribesmen angered by Shai's reporting on the relationship of some tribes with the Yemeni wing of the militant group Al-Qaeda.
Analysts say Al-Qaeda members, many of whom are holed up in Yemen's most impenetrable mountains and deserts, often receive protection from local tribes.
"We don't know for certain who is behind the incident but we fear it could be a tribal group ... because of his analyzes of the tribes' sympathy for Al-Qaeda. That is why his life is in danger," a Syndicate member said, asking not to be identified.
Yemen, which borders top oil exporter Saudi Arabia, leapt to the forefront of Western security concerns after a Yemen-based regional wing of Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for a failed attempt to bomb a US-bound airliner in December.
The conflict between the impoverished country's government and Al-Qaeda is intensifying, and tribes are increasingly drawn into the fighting.
In June, the Yemeni army shelled militant targets and fought gun battles in the Al-Qaeda stronghold of Wadi Obeida in Maarib province, the source of much of the country's oil.
Tensions in Maarib had been high since its deputy governor, who was mediating between the authorities and Al-Qaeda, was killed in May in an air strike aimed at the militant group, prompting his angry kinsmen to attack an oil pipeline.
Earlier on Sunday, Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for an attack last month on the southern headquarters of a Yemeni intelligence agency in which 11 people died, saying it was a response to a state crackdown on its members in Maarib.
A day before the attack in the southern city of Aden, Al-Qaeda had called on local tribesmen to take up arms against the government because of the crackdown
Sunday, 11 July 2010
Four Al Qaeda militants sentenced to death, 12 jailed
By Nasser Arrabyee/11/07/2010
A Yemeni appeal court on Sunday sentenced four men to death and 12 others to jail terms ranging between 8-12 years for carrying out terrorist acts in Yemen during 2008.
The 16-member group, which is known as the Tareem cell, includes four Syrians and one Saudi .
The sentence of the four Syrians was reduced from 15 years to 10 years.
On July, 2009, the Primary State Security Court sentenced six men to death and 10 others to jail terms ranging between 8-15 years.
The trial of the group started on March 2009 for charges of forming an armed gang to carry out terrorist acts in Hudhrmout, Aden and Sana’a provinces. The group was accused of implementing many terrorist acts during 2008 in these three provinces including the failed attack on the US embassy, when the mortars missed into a nieghbouring girls’ school .
The group was accused of killing two Belgian tourists and Yemeni guide in Dawan valley, Hadhrmout in January 2008. The group was also accused of implementing the suicide attack on a security camp in Sayoun city where a soldier was killed and 17 others were injured in July 2008.
A Yemeni appeal court on Sunday sentenced four men to death and 12 others to jail terms ranging between 8-12 years for carrying out terrorist acts in Yemen during 2008.
The 16-member group, which is known as the Tareem cell, includes four Syrians and one Saudi .
The sentence of the four Syrians was reduced from 15 years to 10 years.
On July, 2009, the Primary State Security Court sentenced six men to death and 10 others to jail terms ranging between 8-15 years.
The trial of the group started on March 2009 for charges of forming an armed gang to carry out terrorist acts in Hudhrmout, Aden and Sana’a provinces. The group was accused of implementing many terrorist acts during 2008 in these three provinces including the failed attack on the US embassy, when the mortars missed into a nieghbouring girls’ school .
The group was accused of killing two Belgian tourists and Yemeni guide in Dawan valley, Hadhrmout in January 2008. The group was also accused of implementing the suicide attack on a security camp in Sayoun city where a soldier was killed and 17 others were injured in July 2008.
Saturday, 10 July 2010
10 Al Qaeda suspects arrested in Yemen
By Nasser Arrabyee/11/07/2010
A total of 10 Al Qaeda suspects including a Saudi man were arrested were arrested in the Yemeni eastern province of Mukalla where they were planning to carry out terrorist acts, said the Yemeni defense ministry ‘s website on Sunday.
The Saudi who was arrested was identified as Abdullah Faraj Mohammed (Abu Ibrahim), and he was wanted by both Yemeni and Saudi authorities.
Two of them were arrested last Monday when the Yemeni security forces stormed a hideout of Al Qaeda in Fuh area west of Mukalla city.
A total of 8 more Al Qaeda suspects were arrested in the hunt operations which followed the Monday’s raid in which two soldiers were killed and three others were wounded when Al Qaeda group threw bombs and escaped.
These 8 men escaped to an area in Hudhrmout called Wadi Al Mutadhririn where they were arrested, the defense ministry said.
Earlier, the ministry of interior said the security forces found an explosive belt and important documents that helped the security to know more about the plans and activities of the group.
The ministry expected to foil more terrorist plans and arrest more Al Qaeda militants according to the documents found in that hideout.
The cell was supposed to use the explosive belt on Tuesday July 6th, 2010, to carry out a suicide bombing against security installations, said the ministry.
A total of 10 Al Qaeda suspects including a Saudi man were arrested were arrested in the Yemeni eastern province of Mukalla where they were planning to carry out terrorist acts, said the Yemeni defense ministry ‘s website on Sunday.
The Saudi who was arrested was identified as Abdullah Faraj Mohammed (Abu Ibrahim), and he was wanted by both Yemeni and Saudi authorities.
Two of them were arrested last Monday when the Yemeni security forces stormed a hideout of Al Qaeda in Fuh area west of Mukalla city.
A total of 8 more Al Qaeda suspects were arrested in the hunt operations which followed the Monday’s raid in which two soldiers were killed and three others were wounded when Al Qaeda group threw bombs and escaped.
These 8 men escaped to an area in Hudhrmout called Wadi Al Mutadhririn where they were arrested, the defense ministry said.
Earlier, the ministry of interior said the security forces found an explosive belt and important documents that helped the security to know more about the plans and activities of the group.
The ministry expected to foil more terrorist plans and arrest more Al Qaeda militants according to the documents found in that hideout.
The cell was supposed to use the explosive belt on Tuesday July 6th, 2010, to carry out a suicide bombing against security installations, said the ministry.
Yemen accuses rebels of kidnapping oil workers
Source: Reuters, 01/07/2010
SANAA-Yemen accused Shi'ite rebels on Saturday of kidnapping five oil workers this week and said it had foiled an attempt to blow up an oil pipeline.
Yemen is struggling to curb a separatist movement in the south and cement a ceasefire with Shi'ite rebels in the north, and is under pressure to combat a resurgent al Qaeda wing.
The Interior Ministry said that five employees of a state oil company were kidnapped by the rebels on Thursday.
"The Houthis captured five staff from an oil company in Marib along with their car when they were inspecting fuel stations in the directorate of Barat in al-Jouf province," it said in a statement.
"The security forces ... are using all measures to ensure their release."
A Houthi source denied any link to the incident, saying the kidnap was a result of a tribal dispute.
In a separate statement, the government said security forces had foiled an attempt to sabotage an oil pipeline in Marib in the northeast of the country. The pipeline is used to transport oil to ports on the Red Sea.
It said that "unknown people" were forced to flee by security guards during the incident. (Reporting by Mohammed Ghobari; Writing by Jason Benham; Editing by Maria Golovnina)
SANAA-Yemen accused Shi'ite rebels on Saturday of kidnapping five oil workers this week and said it had foiled an attempt to blow up an oil pipeline.
Yemen is struggling to curb a separatist movement in the south and cement a ceasefire with Shi'ite rebels in the north, and is under pressure to combat a resurgent al Qaeda wing.
The Interior Ministry said that five employees of a state oil company were kidnapped by the rebels on Thursday.
"The Houthis captured five staff from an oil company in Marib along with their car when they were inspecting fuel stations in the directorate of Barat in al-Jouf province," it said in a statement.
"The security forces ... are using all measures to ensure their release."
A Houthi source denied any link to the incident, saying the kidnap was a result of a tribal dispute.
In a separate statement, the government said security forces had foiled an attempt to sabotage an oil pipeline in Marib in the northeast of the country. The pipeline is used to transport oil to ports on the Red Sea.
It said that "unknown people" were forced to flee by security guards during the incident. (Reporting by Mohammed Ghobari; Writing by Jason Benham; Editing by Maria Golovnina)
Truce under threat amid fears of new war in northern Yemen
Source :AFP
10\07\2010
SANAA — Almost five months after a ceasefire brought an end to fighting between Shiite northern rebels and Yemeni forces, clashes between the renegades and tribes loyal to the government are fuelling fears the violence will reignite.
The situation remains tense despite a complementary agreement reached late June to revive the peace accord, after which dozens of Huthi rebel prisoners were moved to a jail in Saada in an apparent step towards freedom.
Huthi rebels and the Sanaa government increasingly accuse each other of failing to honour their respective commitments to the ceasefire agreement, which took effect on February 12.
Sanaa and its loyal tribes in the restive region of Saada have charged that the Zaidi Shiite rebels did not evacuate their positions in the rugged mountains and are continually violating the truce in other ways.
The rebels, meanwhile, have accused the government of flouting the accord by failing to release hundreds of prisoners and by ignoring a commitment to work on reconstructing the city of Saada.
President Ali Abdullah Saleh had announced on May 21 a general amnesty, emcompassing Zaidi rebels and southern separatists.
The Huthi rebels spokesman, Mohammed Abdul Salam, claimed that out of a thousand comrades detained by the government during the war in Saada only a few hundred were released after the amnesty.
The authorities "have not released the detainees despite the president's amnesty" and have not been in favour of making progress "on other issues such as the case of vanished people, reconstruction, compensation, the stop of arrest campaigns and the arming of militias," he said in a statement, in an apparent reference to the tribes.
The complementary agreement was reached between the two parties late June. It stipulated that all Huthi prisoners would be moved to Saada in preparation for release.
At the same time, the rebels are to return the civil and military equipment confiscated during the war, and reach reconciliation with tribes.
A source close to the rebels told AFP that dozens of Huthi detainees were transferred Tuesday from the capital to Saada in three helicopters, as the first step towards implementing the new accord.
However, the leadership of the rebels says hundreds more remain in detention.
And although the prisoners were transferred to a jail in Saada, there was no indication of their imminent release.
Sanaa has its own list of complaints against the rebels.
"The Huthis have not evacuated their positions in the mountains and have not adhered to the six clauses accepted by (their leader) Abdulmalik al-Huthi," said Saada MP Sheikh Faez al-Awjari.
"The situation has not improved towards achieving peace in Saada. On the contrary, it is heading towards escalation and violence," added Awjari, who is close to the government.
He accused the rebels of fighting tribes "who refuse to allow them into their areas."
In the past few months, the Huthis have sporadically clashed with the Majli, Awjari and Beni Awir tribes, which are loyal to the government.
These clashes led many times to the blocking of the main road linking Saada with the capital.
Huthis insist that claims of ceasefire violations on their part are "unfounded."
"The fact that they accuse us of violating (the truce) stems from unfounded allegations aimed to hinder the release of the detainees and cover aggressive intentions," a rebel military chief told AFP.
The sixth war between the army and the Huthi rebels, who complain of political, social and religious marginalisation, had erupted on August 11. Thousands have been killed in the conflict that began in 2004.
Neighbouring Saudi Arabia became embroiled in the military fight in November after it accused the rebels of infiltrating its borders, killing one guard and occupying two villages.
Friday, 9 July 2010
Al-Qaeda: poor Yemeni town cursed by its name
Source: AFP By Jamal al-Jaberi 09/07/2010
AL-QAEDA, Yemen — Surrounded by mountains and weighed down by poverty, a Yemeni town bears the dubious honour of carrying the same name as Al-Qaeda.
The residents of Al-Qaeda, 220 kilometres (135 miles) northwest of the capital Sanaa, say the name has brought shame on the town.
Al-Qaeda (Arabic for 'the base') was once a commercial hub where custom duties on trade between north and south Yemen were collected decades ago, according to older residents.
"The name of the town of Al-Qaeda has nothing to do with the organisation headed by (Osama) bin Laden," Colonel Abdullah al-Shaddadi, the local security chief, told AFP.
But the inhabitants have been faced with "suspicion" because of the name ever since the rise of the jihadist group led by bin Laden, whose ancestral homeland is Yemen, Shaddadi said.
"There are many of them who are lucky enough to receive scholarships to study abroad, but they face trouble because Al-Qaeda is their hometown," the security chief said.
"One of Al-Qeada's inhabitants travelled to an Arab country for medical treatment, but airport authorities detained and interrogated him, and then sent him back after finding the name of Al-Qaeda in his passport," he said.
But the link has also brought a measure of fame to the town as "foreign journalists come to visit only for its name," he said.
In an attempt to clear the record, Shaddadi said the town "has many people who drink alcohol and consume drugs," both of which are strictly forbidden in Islam. "How could those be followers of bin Laden?"
He insisted Al-Qaeda was "absolutely free of jihadists and extremists."
The Arabian peninsula country as a whole has been the target of a string of attacks claimed by Al-Qaeda militants on foreign missions, tourist sites and oil installations.
The militants, believed to be regrouping in lawless parts of the country, especially eastern Yemen, have suffered setbacks amid US pressure on the government to crack down.
While extremism is not an issue in this town of 70,000 people, of whom 90 percent live below the poverty line, Al-Qaeda has become a safe haven for drug traffickers and alcohol dealers.
Those are taking advantage of the deteriorating economy and "recruit its people to merchandise drugs," another security official said.
"A number of drug, hashish and alcohol dealers have been detained throughout various Yemeni provinces, but most of them come from Al-Qaeda city," the official said on condition of anonymity.
Amid charges of complicity with criminal gangs, Shaddadi complained of how one of his men was slapped by a local official and forced to release a murder suspect.
Even though poverty stares them in the face, hospitality towards strangers is a must for the people of Al-Qaeda.
"Al-Qaeda is a beautiful place but there are those trying to tamper with its beauty and turn it into a base for criminal gangs," said resident Ahmed al-Sabri, 45.
"Twenty years ago, Al-Qaeda residents knew nothing about bandits and criminals who kill innocent people. But today, armed groups have been formed to rob and kill with impunity," he said.
Across Al-Qaeda, which has no paved roads and where cheap motorbikes are the most common means of transportation, all the talk is of chaos and government negligence.
"The state cannot do anything about the sewage that passes next to my home which has left me and my family with all sorts of illnesses. No a month passes without a family member being hospitalised," lamented an elderly man.
AL-QAEDA, Yemen — Surrounded by mountains and weighed down by poverty, a Yemeni town bears the dubious honour of carrying the same name as Al-Qaeda.
The residents of Al-Qaeda, 220 kilometres (135 miles) northwest of the capital Sanaa, say the name has brought shame on the town.
Al-Qaeda (Arabic for 'the base') was once a commercial hub where custom duties on trade between north and south Yemen were collected decades ago, according to older residents.
"The name of the town of Al-Qaeda has nothing to do with the organisation headed by (Osama) bin Laden," Colonel Abdullah al-Shaddadi, the local security chief, told AFP.
But the inhabitants have been faced with "suspicion" because of the name ever since the rise of the jihadist group led by bin Laden, whose ancestral homeland is Yemen, Shaddadi said.
"There are many of them who are lucky enough to receive scholarships to study abroad, but they face trouble because Al-Qaeda is their hometown," the security chief said.
"One of Al-Qeada's inhabitants travelled to an Arab country for medical treatment, but airport authorities detained and interrogated him, and then sent him back after finding the name of Al-Qaeda in his passport," he said.
But the link has also brought a measure of fame to the town as "foreign journalists come to visit only for its name," he said.
In an attempt to clear the record, Shaddadi said the town "has many people who drink alcohol and consume drugs," both of which are strictly forbidden in Islam. "How could those be followers of bin Laden?"
He insisted Al-Qaeda was "absolutely free of jihadists and extremists."
The Arabian peninsula country as a whole has been the target of a string of attacks claimed by Al-Qaeda militants on foreign missions, tourist sites and oil installations.
The militants, believed to be regrouping in lawless parts of the country, especially eastern Yemen, have suffered setbacks amid US pressure on the government to crack down.
While extremism is not an issue in this town of 70,000 people, of whom 90 percent live below the poverty line, Al-Qaeda has become a safe haven for drug traffickers and alcohol dealers.
Those are taking advantage of the deteriorating economy and "recruit its people to merchandise drugs," another security official said.
"A number of drug, hashish and alcohol dealers have been detained throughout various Yemeni provinces, but most of them come from Al-Qaeda city," the official said on condition of anonymity.
Amid charges of complicity with criminal gangs, Shaddadi complained of how one of his men was slapped by a local official and forced to release a murder suspect.
Even though poverty stares them in the face, hospitality towards strangers is a must for the people of Al-Qaeda.
"Al-Qaeda is a beautiful place but there are those trying to tamper with its beauty and turn it into a base for criminal gangs," said resident Ahmed al-Sabri, 45.
"Twenty years ago, Al-Qaeda residents knew nothing about bandits and criminals who kill innocent people. But today, armed groups have been formed to rob and kill with impunity," he said.
Across Al-Qaeda, which has no paved roads and where cheap motorbikes are the most common means of transportation, all the talk is of chaos and government negligence.
"The state cannot do anything about the sewage that passes next to my home which has left me and my family with all sorts of illnesses. No a month passes without a family member being hospitalised," lamented an elderly man.
Wednesday, 7 July 2010
Yemen sentences two Al-Qaeda suspects to death
Source: AFP
07\07\2010
07\07\2010
A court in the Yemeni capital on Wednesday sentenced to death two young men suspected of being Al-Qaeda members for a series of lethal attacks.
The men, Mansour Saleh Salem Daleel, 18, and Mubarak Ali Hadi al-Shabwani, 23, who denied the charges, were arrested on December 11 in the Marib province of eastern Yemen.
The pair were accused of "participating in an armed gang which carried out criminal actions against military and security officials and members of the armed forces," according to the list of charges.
Daleel said he will appeal against the verdict, which Mubarak called "unjust, null and void," rejecting the legitimacy of the Sanaa court specially set up to try terrorism cases.
"The defendants used arms to resist men of the public authority who were responsible for ... arresting them in Al-Shabwan in Marib province, killing two soldiers and a civilian and wounding five other soldiers," the prosecutor said.
The two men were likewise accused of killing three officials along with their two companions while they were driving on November 3 in the southern province of Hadramut.
Also, the prosecution said they killed a soldier in a July 2009 attack on an army truck loaded with weapons and ammunition.
Yemen's government has intensified its military campaign against Al-Qaeda as international pressure mounts on Sanaa to clamp down on militants believed to be regrouping in the impoverished country's eastern region.
Al-Qaeda's branch in Yemen -- Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) -- has claimed responsibility for the botched Christmas Day attack on a US airliner. Washington accused the group of training the Nigerian assailant.
On January 26, Yemen sentenced seven suspected Al-Qaeda members to between five and 10 years in jail for plotting to attack foreign interests and tourists.