Source: AFP
31\08\2010
The chief of US intelligence has warned spy agencies against "blabbing secrets" to the media, saying employees should be "seen not heard."
In a blunt memo, James Clapper, the new director of national intelligence, scolded staff members about leaks that appeared in recent news reports, saying it was a "serious matter."
"I am concerned that recent leaks regarding our work have received prominent attention in the media," he said in the memo obtained by AFP.
He did not say to which reports he was referring, but US newspapers have recently quoted unnamed officials about proposed drone CIA operations in Yemen and Afghan officials allegedly on the spy agency's payroll.
Top US officials were also stunned earlier in July by the release of tens of thousands of secret files on the war in Afghanistan, posted on the WikiLeaks website.
There are "established procedures for authorized officers to interact with the media," Clapper wrote.
But for other personnel, passing on classified information without approval "is both a serious matter and a diversion from the critical tasks we face.
"In other words, blabbing secrets to the media is not 'in' as far as I'm concerned."
Clapper recalled that when President Barack Obama nominated him to the intelligence director's position, "I said that people in the intelligence business should be like my grandchildren -- seen
but not heard."
The Obama administration has adopted a tough line against leaks, filing charges against those suspected of disclosing classified information.
But news reporting suggests government officials continue to reveal secret details to journalists in an attempt to shape policy and undermine rival agencies.
The memo was the latest sign "that the administration remains vexed by leaks," said Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists, who writes a blog on government secrecy.
"But the memo itself is just a reminder, and doesn't seem to represent a new policy. The pending prosecutions send a more ominous signal," he told AFP in an email.
Last week, the Justice Department unveiled an indictment against a State Department contractor, Stephen Jin-Woo Kim, for allegedly passing on defense information. Kim has pleaded not guilty.
The case reportedly involves a 2009 intelligence assessment given to Fox News, saying that North Korea was likely to respond to UN sanctions by launching another nuclear test.
US Defense Secretary Robert Gates in July also gave a stern warning to the Pentagon work force
over the media, saying those who violated the law would be prosecuted.
Tuesday, 31 August 2010
Did 2 men with Michigan ties have a terror plan?
Source:Detroit Free Press
31\08\2010
Two Yemeni nationals who at one point lived in metro Detroit have been arrested in the Netherlands on suspicion of plotting terrorism, federal authorities said Monday.
The men were identified as Ahmed Mohamed Nasser al Soofi, 48, a Yemeni who has permanent resident status in the U.S. and who lived in metro Detroit until two or three years ago, and Hezem Abdullah Thabi al Murisi, 37, a Yemeni who traveled to the U.S. on a visitor's visa and also spent time living and working in metro Detroit.
They were arrested in the Netherlands after getting off a United Airlines flight from Chicago to
Amsterdam.
ABC News reported that Dutch authorities arrested the men at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport and charged them with "preparation of a terrorist attack." ABC News reported the men were arrested at the request of U.S. authorities. The network quoted unnamed U.S. officials who said the men appeared to be traveling with mock explosives.
CBS News reported the two men were not connected and that officials were focusing mainly on al Soofi.
Authorities said federal air marshals were on the flight. They said neither of the suspects were on no-fly lists or had active warrants against them.
The two suspects were known in metro Detroit's Yemeni-American communities and have distant relatives who live locally, said Imad Hamad, regional director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. One of the suspects later moved to Birmingham, Ala., Hamad said.
The other moved to Memphis, Tenn.
Terror test run or a mistake?
Suspicious items in luggage set off the nation's latest terrorism scare, the Department of Homeland Security said Monday night.
The items -- a cell phone taped to a Pepto-Bismol bottle, three cell phones taped together and several watches taped into a bundle -- were found in the checked luggage of Ahmed Mohamed Nasser al Soofi, 48, formerly of metro Detroit. He was flying on a United Airlines flight Sunday night from Chicago to Amsterdam, Netherlands. Authorities also found a knife and a box cutter in his luggage, the Associated Press reported.
"The items were not deemed to be dangerous in and of themselves," the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement.
The statement didn't say whether the men had been detained or arrested.
Authorities said the two men didn't have any prohibited items with them in the plane's cabin or in their carry-on luggage.
ABC News said screeners at the airport in Birmingham, Ala., became suspicious of al Soofi because of his bulky clothing and directed him to secondary inspection. They searched his luggage and found $7,000 in cash and the bottle, cell phones and watches.
While al Soofi was in Chicago, authorities learned that he had checked his luggage on a flight to Dulles airport in Washington for a flight to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen, but that he hadn't gotten on that flight. Authorities ordered the flight to return to the gate. No explosives were found.
The network said al Murisi joined al Soofi in Chicago and they flew to Amsterdam.
The two suspects were known in metro Detroit's Yemeni-American communities and have distant relatives who live locally, said Imad Hamad, regional director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. One suspect later moved to Birmingham, Ala., Hamad said. The other moved to Memphis, Tenn.
Hamad said he doesn't know the suspects, but said that Yemeni Americans living in metro Detroit told him: "These two young people used to live here."
They were known to work hard in odd jobs to earn money to help relatives in their native Yemen, Hamad said. "They used to work in restaurants ... grocery stores," Hamad said.
Hamad said both men came from "a well-respected (tribal) family in metro Detroit. ... These are two well-known families."
Hamad cautioned against rushing to judgment about the men, saying that these are just allegations for now.
Al Soofi is from a "very large, huge family," said Yemen's consul general in Detroit, Abdul-Hakim Al-Sadah. Al-Sadah said he does not know the suspect, but is familiar with his name, which indicates he is from Al-Dalea, a province in Yemen.
"A lot of immigrants from that province" are in metro Detroit, he said.
Al-Sadah said that the Yemeni-American community condemns any acts of terrorism.
"Yemen is fighting with all its power" against terrorists, he said.
United Airlines, based in Chicago, referred all calls Monday to the Chicago office of the FBI.
Ross Rice, a special agent there, had sparse details: "To our knowledge they have not been charged with any crimes in the U.S.," he said.
The Transportation Security Administration, which is responsible for screening passengers, referred all calls to the Department of Homeland Security.
There was no immediate comment from the Detroit FBI, although FBI agents had visited the southwest Detroit neighborhood where several addresses were found for variations of al Soofi's name, neighbors who declined to give their names told the Associated Press. U.S. Attorney
Barbara McQuade also declined to comment.
The arrests are the latest terror-related incident involving metro Detroit.
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a 23-year-old Nigerian national, is accused of trying to detonate a bomb in his underwear on a Delta-Northwest Airlines flight as it approached Detroit Metro Airport on Dec. 25, 2009. Abdulmutallab is in custody and is said to be cooperating with federal authorities.
In 2003, two North African immigrants were convicted in federal court in Detroit of conspiring to provide material support to terrorism in the first trial to result from the federal probe of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
A judge later threw out the convictions at the request of the U.S. Attorney's Office because the prosecutors in the case had withheld key evidence from the defendants.
31\08\2010
Two Yemeni nationals who at one point lived in metro Detroit have been arrested in the Netherlands on suspicion of plotting terrorism, federal authorities said Monday.
The men were identified as Ahmed Mohamed Nasser al Soofi, 48, a Yemeni who has permanent resident status in the U.S. and who lived in metro Detroit until two or three years ago, and Hezem Abdullah Thabi al Murisi, 37, a Yemeni who traveled to the U.S. on a visitor's visa and also spent time living and working in metro Detroit.
They were arrested in the Netherlands after getting off a United Airlines flight from Chicago to
Amsterdam.
ABC News reported that Dutch authorities arrested the men at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport and charged them with "preparation of a terrorist attack." ABC News reported the men were arrested at the request of U.S. authorities. The network quoted unnamed U.S. officials who said the men appeared to be traveling with mock explosives.
CBS News reported the two men were not connected and that officials were focusing mainly on al Soofi.
Authorities said federal air marshals were on the flight. They said neither of the suspects were on no-fly lists or had active warrants against them.
The two suspects were known in metro Detroit's Yemeni-American communities and have distant relatives who live locally, said Imad Hamad, regional director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. One of the suspects later moved to Birmingham, Ala., Hamad said.
The other moved to Memphis, Tenn.
Terror test run or a mistake?
Suspicious items in luggage set off the nation's latest terrorism scare, the Department of Homeland Security said Monday night.
The items -- a cell phone taped to a Pepto-Bismol bottle, three cell phones taped together and several watches taped into a bundle -- were found in the checked luggage of Ahmed Mohamed Nasser al Soofi, 48, formerly of metro Detroit. He was flying on a United Airlines flight Sunday night from Chicago to Amsterdam, Netherlands. Authorities also found a knife and a box cutter in his luggage, the Associated Press reported.
"The items were not deemed to be dangerous in and of themselves," the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement.
The statement didn't say whether the men had been detained or arrested.
Authorities said the two men didn't have any prohibited items with them in the plane's cabin or in their carry-on luggage.
ABC News said screeners at the airport in Birmingham, Ala., became suspicious of al Soofi because of his bulky clothing and directed him to secondary inspection. They searched his luggage and found $7,000 in cash and the bottle, cell phones and watches.
While al Soofi was in Chicago, authorities learned that he had checked his luggage on a flight to Dulles airport in Washington for a flight to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen, but that he hadn't gotten on that flight. Authorities ordered the flight to return to the gate. No explosives were found.
The network said al Murisi joined al Soofi in Chicago and they flew to Amsterdam.
The two suspects were known in metro Detroit's Yemeni-American communities and have distant relatives who live locally, said Imad Hamad, regional director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. One suspect later moved to Birmingham, Ala., Hamad said. The other moved to Memphis, Tenn.
Hamad said he doesn't know the suspects, but said that Yemeni Americans living in metro Detroit told him: "These two young people used to live here."
They were known to work hard in odd jobs to earn money to help relatives in their native Yemen, Hamad said. "They used to work in restaurants ... grocery stores," Hamad said.
Hamad said both men came from "a well-respected (tribal) family in metro Detroit. ... These are two well-known families."
Hamad cautioned against rushing to judgment about the men, saying that these are just allegations for now.
Al Soofi is from a "very large, huge family," said Yemen's consul general in Detroit, Abdul-Hakim Al-Sadah. Al-Sadah said he does not know the suspect, but is familiar with his name, which indicates he is from Al-Dalea, a province in Yemen.
"A lot of immigrants from that province" are in metro Detroit, he said.
Al-Sadah said that the Yemeni-American community condemns any acts of terrorism.
"Yemen is fighting with all its power" against terrorists, he said.
United Airlines, based in Chicago, referred all calls Monday to the Chicago office of the FBI.
Ross Rice, a special agent there, had sparse details: "To our knowledge they have not been charged with any crimes in the U.S.," he said.
The Transportation Security Administration, which is responsible for screening passengers, referred all calls to the Department of Homeland Security.
There was no immediate comment from the Detroit FBI, although FBI agents had visited the southwest Detroit neighborhood where several addresses were found for variations of al Soofi's name, neighbors who declined to give their names told the Associated Press. U.S. Attorney
Barbara McQuade also declined to comment.
The arrests are the latest terror-related incident involving metro Detroit.
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a 23-year-old Nigerian national, is accused of trying to detonate a bomb in his underwear on a Delta-Northwest Airlines flight as it approached Detroit Metro Airport on Dec. 25, 2009. Abdulmutallab is in custody and is said to be cooperating with federal authorities.
In 2003, two North African immigrants were convicted in federal court in Detroit of conspiring to provide material support to terrorism in the first trial to result from the federal probe of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
A judge later threw out the convictions at the request of the U.S. Attorney's Office because the prosecutors in the case had withheld key evidence from the defendants.
NY groups seek DC order blocking targeted killings
Source: AP , By LARRY NEUMEISTER , 31/08/2010
NEW YORK — Two New York-based civil liberties groups have sued the federal government, saying its targeting and killing of people overseas is unconstitutional when certain standards aren't met.
The American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Constitutional Rights filed the lawsuit Monday in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Defendants include the president and the CIA director.
The lawsuit was filed for the father of a U.S.-born cleric believed to be hiding in Yemen. It seeks a court order saying targeting and killing U.S. citizens violates the Constitution and international law except when there's no other way to stop an imminent threat.
The cleric is believed to have helped inspire the attempted bombing of a Detroit-bound airliner Christmas Day. He's on the CIA's list of targets.
The CIA says it follows American law.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
NEW YORK (AP) — Two civil liberties groups sued the federal government on Monday to try to block its targeted killing overseas of a U.S.-born cleric believed to have inspired recent attacks in the United States.
The American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Constitutional Rights filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia for the father of cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who's believed to be hiding in his parents' native Yemen. Defendants were President Barack Obama, CIA Director Leon C. Panetta and Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates.
The groups, both based in New York, said it was unconstitutional to intentionally try to kill al-Awlaki unless he presents a specific imminent threat to life or physical safety and only killing him will eliminate the threat. The Obama administration cited al-Awlaki's growing role with al-Qaida when it placed him on the CIA's list of targets.
Al-Awlaki was put on the list after U.S. intelligence authorities tied him to Sept. 11 hijackers and concluded he had provided inspiration for those who carried out shootings in Fort Hood, Texas, a failed Times Square car bombing and an attempted Christmas Day bombing of a jetliner approaching Detroit.
The lawsuit seeks a court order declaring that the U.S. Constitution prohibits the government's targeted killings of U.S. citizens, including al-Awlaki, unless there's a concrete and imminent threat to life and there's no other way to prevent it.
In a statement, Department of Justice spokesman Matthew Miller defended the U.S. position. He said Congress has authorized the use of all necessary and appropriate force against al-Qaida and associated groups.
"The U.S. is careful to ensure that all its operations used to prosecute the armed conflict against those forces, including lethal operations, comply with all applicable laws, including the laws of war," Miller said.
He said the U.S. government has the authority under domestic and international law and the responsibility to its citizens to use force to defend itself "in a manner consistent with those laws."
"This administration is using every legal measure available to defeat al-Qaeda, and we will continue to do so as long as its forces pose a threat to this nation," Miller said in the statement.
Al-Awlaki was born in 1971 in New Mexico. His father, Nasser al-Awlaki, who had moved to the United States to study agriculture at New Mexico State University in 1966, returned the family in 1978 to Yemen, where he served as agriculture minister.
The younger al-Awlaki returned to the United States in 1991 to study civil engineering at Colorado State University before pursuing a master's degree at San Diego State University, followed by doctoral work at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., where he remained until December 2001.
He was a preacher at mosques in California and Virginia before moving to the United Kingdom in 2003 and to Yemen in 2004.
The lawsuit notes al-Awlaki hasn't been publicly indicted for any terrorism-related crime, though Yemeni officials have stated they are taking measures to arrest him. He has been detained by the government of Yemen before and was imprisoned for 18 months there in 2006 and 2007, the lawsuit notes.
Since at least January, al-Awlaki has been hiding in Yemen and has had no communication with his father because to do so would endanger his life, the lawsuit says.
ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero said a program that authorizes killing U.S. citizens without judicial oversight, due process or disclosed standards is "unconstitutional, unlawful and un-American."
CIA spokesman George Little said his agency acts "in strict accord with American law."
NEW YORK — Two New York-based civil liberties groups have sued the federal government, saying its targeting and killing of people overseas is unconstitutional when certain standards aren't met.
The American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Constitutional Rights filed the lawsuit Monday in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Defendants include the president and the CIA director.
The lawsuit was filed for the father of a U.S.-born cleric believed to be hiding in Yemen. It seeks a court order saying targeting and killing U.S. citizens violates the Constitution and international law except when there's no other way to stop an imminent threat.
The cleric is believed to have helped inspire the attempted bombing of a Detroit-bound airliner Christmas Day. He's on the CIA's list of targets.
The CIA says it follows American law.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
NEW YORK (AP) — Two civil liberties groups sued the federal government on Monday to try to block its targeted killing overseas of a U.S.-born cleric believed to have inspired recent attacks in the United States.
The American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Constitutional Rights filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia for the father of cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who's believed to be hiding in his parents' native Yemen. Defendants were President Barack Obama, CIA Director Leon C. Panetta and Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates.
The groups, both based in New York, said it was unconstitutional to intentionally try to kill al-Awlaki unless he presents a specific imminent threat to life or physical safety and only killing him will eliminate the threat. The Obama administration cited al-Awlaki's growing role with al-Qaida when it placed him on the CIA's list of targets.
Al-Awlaki was put on the list after U.S. intelligence authorities tied him to Sept. 11 hijackers and concluded he had provided inspiration for those who carried out shootings in Fort Hood, Texas, a failed Times Square car bombing and an attempted Christmas Day bombing of a jetliner approaching Detroit.
The lawsuit seeks a court order declaring that the U.S. Constitution prohibits the government's targeted killings of U.S. citizens, including al-Awlaki, unless there's a concrete and imminent threat to life and there's no other way to prevent it.
In a statement, Department of Justice spokesman Matthew Miller defended the U.S. position. He said Congress has authorized the use of all necessary and appropriate force against al-Qaida and associated groups.
"The U.S. is careful to ensure that all its operations used to prosecute the armed conflict against those forces, including lethal operations, comply with all applicable laws, including the laws of war," Miller said.
He said the U.S. government has the authority under domestic and international law and the responsibility to its citizens to use force to defend itself "in a manner consistent with those laws."
"This administration is using every legal measure available to defeat al-Qaeda, and we will continue to do so as long as its forces pose a threat to this nation," Miller said in the statement.
Al-Awlaki was born in 1971 in New Mexico. His father, Nasser al-Awlaki, who had moved to the United States to study agriculture at New Mexico State University in 1966, returned the family in 1978 to Yemen, where he served as agriculture minister.
The younger al-Awlaki returned to the United States in 1991 to study civil engineering at Colorado State University before pursuing a master's degree at San Diego State University, followed by doctoral work at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., where he remained until December 2001.
He was a preacher at mosques in California and Virginia before moving to the United Kingdom in 2003 and to Yemen in 2004.
The lawsuit notes al-Awlaki hasn't been publicly indicted for any terrorism-related crime, though Yemeni officials have stated they are taking measures to arrest him. He has been detained by the government of Yemen before and was imprisoned for 18 months there in 2006 and 2007, the lawsuit notes.
Since at least January, al-Awlaki has been hiding in Yemen and has had no communication with his father because to do so would endanger his life, the lawsuit says.
ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero said a program that authorizes killing U.S. citizens without judicial oversight, due process or disclosed standards is "unconstitutional, unlawful and un-American."
CIA spokesman George Little said his agency acts "in strict accord with American law."
Monday, 30 August 2010
Some 1.4 Million Children Do Not Attend School In Yemen
Source: Bernama
30\08\2010
Some 1.4 million Yemeni children is unable to attend schools in Yemen, a governmental report revealed, Yemen News Agency (Saba) said.
The report, issued recently by the Supreme Council for Education Planning indicated that this makes these children live under the threat of illiteracy and represent a major tributary to double the number of illiterates in the country.
The report pointed out that the basic education in Yemen still faces many challenges since the basic education is not yet generalised.
"Among the causes of children illiteracy to the weakness of educational service in some rural and urban areas located in outskirts of the country," the report said, adding that poverty too forces parents to withdraw their children from first school grades and push them to the labour market.
The report of the Supreme Council for Education Planning showed that the drop-out rates of school children, who are between 6 to 14 years ages from the first education classes, amounted last year to 80.11 percent, while the rates of school year repeating reached 74.5 percent.
Furthermore, the report recommended drawing a clear policy to strengthen the capacities of the provinces provide educational opportunities and necessary circumstances and conditions to help pupils to flow to schools during the first education classes and continue to complete their education.
It stressed the need to strengthen the provisions of educational process in the first stage of the basic education, which represents the bedrock of subsequent education and ensures that the dropouts will not become illiterates in this stage.
30\08\2010
Some 1.4 million Yemeni children is unable to attend schools in Yemen, a governmental report revealed, Yemen News Agency (Saba) said.
The report, issued recently by the Supreme Council for Education Planning indicated that this makes these children live under the threat of illiteracy and represent a major tributary to double the number of illiterates in the country.
The report pointed out that the basic education in Yemen still faces many challenges since the basic education is not yet generalised.
"Among the causes of children illiteracy to the weakness of educational service in some rural and urban areas located in outskirts of the country," the report said, adding that poverty too forces parents to withdraw their children from first school grades and push them to the labour market.
The report of the Supreme Council for Education Planning showed that the drop-out rates of school children, who are between 6 to 14 years ages from the first education classes, amounted last year to 80.11 percent, while the rates of school year repeating reached 74.5 percent.
Furthermore, the report recommended drawing a clear policy to strengthen the capacities of the provinces provide educational opportunities and necessary circumstances and conditions to help pupils to flow to schools during the first education classes and continue to complete their education.
It stressed the need to strengthen the provisions of educational process in the first stage of the basic education, which represents the bedrock of subsequent education and ensures that the dropouts will not become illiterates in this stage.
Yemen cannot tackle Al Qaida menace alone
Source: Gulf News , 30/08/2010
Yemen has for long denied reports that Al Qaida has created a base in the country from which it recruits, trains and sends its members to carry out attacks in neighbouring countries.
Just last week, the government said those reports, the latest released last week and based on United States intelligence briefing, were exaggerating the threat.
However, President Ali Abdullah Saleh on Saturday acknowledged for the first time that the Al Qaida threat was a critical challenge for Yemen.
His government is faced with other significant security threats, such as the periodic flare-ups in a northern rebellion that last year drew in Saudi Arabia's military for several weeks as well as a growing secessionist movement in the south. But according to Saleh, the Al Qaida threat is the most dangerous. "This remains the last phase, which is the worst phase," Saleh said.
Hours before his speech, gunmen, believed to be from Al Qaida, attacked a security patrol in the southern city of Ja'ar, killing eight soldiers and setting their bodies on fire. Dozens of Yemeni soldiers have been killed in similar attacks in recent months.
The President has appealed to his people to support the government efforts in fighting those terrorists. "The citizens should stand by the side of the state. These terrorists ... are harming the nation's and the citizens' interests."
But it is unlikely the Yemeni government can do the job alone. It will take a collective effort involving other countries in the region, especially when the recruits come from different Arab states. Also, Al Qaida threatens the security of the entire region. It may be based in Yemen, but it threatens the stability of the Gulf and Arabian Peninsula.
Yemen needs the help of other states and must get it. Al Qaida terrorists should not be allowed to prevail
Yemen has for long denied reports that Al Qaida has created a base in the country from which it recruits, trains and sends its members to carry out attacks in neighbouring countries.
Just last week, the government said those reports, the latest released last week and based on United States intelligence briefing, were exaggerating the threat.
However, President Ali Abdullah Saleh on Saturday acknowledged for the first time that the Al Qaida threat was a critical challenge for Yemen.
His government is faced with other significant security threats, such as the periodic flare-ups in a northern rebellion that last year drew in Saudi Arabia's military for several weeks as well as a growing secessionist movement in the south. But according to Saleh, the Al Qaida threat is the most dangerous. "This remains the last phase, which is the worst phase," Saleh said.
Hours before his speech, gunmen, believed to be from Al Qaida, attacked a security patrol in the southern city of Ja'ar, killing eight soldiers and setting their bodies on fire. Dozens of Yemeni soldiers have been killed in similar attacks in recent months.
The President has appealed to his people to support the government efforts in fighting those terrorists. "The citizens should stand by the side of the state. These terrorists ... are harming the nation's and the citizens' interests."
But it is unlikely the Yemeni government can do the job alone. It will take a collective effort involving other countries in the region, especially when the recruits come from different Arab states. Also, Al Qaida threatens the security of the entire region. It may be based in Yemen, but it threatens the stability of the Gulf and Arabian Peninsula.
Yemen needs the help of other states and must get it. Al Qaida terrorists should not be allowed to prevail
Sunday, 29 August 2010
Yemen President urges clerics to help government fight Al Qaeda
By Nasser Arrabyee/29/08/2010
The Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh called upon religious scholars and all Yemenis for fighting Al Qaeda in his country.
“These terrorists have nothing to do with Islam and its tolerant values, so we all must fight them because they fight Allah and religion and the nation and development,” said Saleh on Saturday in a gathering of scholars and Quran students in Al Saleh grand mosque in Sana’a.
Saleh said that Al Qaeda in Yemen is trying to do the same way as in Afghanistan and Iraq in targeting the Yemeni security forces.
“Now these terrorists turn to target the security forces in the same way as it is in Afghanistan and Iraq but they will not succeed,” he said.
“The traders of drugs are from the terrorists , the politicians in the terrorist Al Qaeda organization allowed them to do business in drugs starting from Afghanistan to any place in the world.”
For its part, Al Qaeda which is in an open war with the security forces since the beginning of this year, claimed responsibility for several attacks on security forces and killing and injuring dozens of hem in Abyan province over the last few weeks.
Published in internet websites under the title “Al Qaeda operations in the State of Abyan”, the Al Qaeda attributed statement said, “ We would like to inform our Muslim brothers, who are oppressed by the apostate regime, of a number of operations carried out by Mujahideen of Al Qaeda in Arabian Peninsular in the State of Abyan, in the city of Zinjubar.”
The statement mentioned five operations only in Zinjubar city in which more than 15 soldiers were killed during the month of August .
Eight soldiers and a government official were killed on Saturday when Al Qaeda suspects attacked a security check point in Ja’ar, Abayan province .
The Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh called upon religious scholars and all Yemenis for fighting Al Qaeda in his country.
“These terrorists have nothing to do with Islam and its tolerant values, so we all must fight them because they fight Allah and religion and the nation and development,” said Saleh on Saturday in a gathering of scholars and Quran students in Al Saleh grand mosque in Sana’a.
Saleh said that Al Qaeda in Yemen is trying to do the same way as in Afghanistan and Iraq in targeting the Yemeni security forces.
“Now these terrorists turn to target the security forces in the same way as it is in Afghanistan and Iraq but they will not succeed,” he said.
“The traders of drugs are from the terrorists , the politicians in the terrorist Al Qaeda organization allowed them to do business in drugs starting from Afghanistan to any place in the world.”
For its part, Al Qaeda which is in an open war with the security forces since the beginning of this year, claimed responsibility for several attacks on security forces and killing and injuring dozens of hem in Abyan province over the last few weeks.
Published in internet websites under the title “Al Qaeda operations in the State of Abyan”, the Al Qaeda attributed statement said, “ We would like to inform our Muslim brothers, who are oppressed by the apostate regime, of a number of operations carried out by Mujahideen of Al Qaeda in Arabian Peninsular in the State of Abyan, in the city of Zinjubar.”
The statement mentioned five operations only in Zinjubar city in which more than 15 soldiers were killed during the month of August .
Eight soldiers and a government official were killed on Saturday when Al Qaeda suspects attacked a security check point in Ja’ar, Abayan province .
Eight soldiers killed in south Yemen suspected Qaeda attack
Source: AFP , By Fawaz al-Haidari 29/08/2010
ADEN, Yemen — Eight Yemeni soldiers and a civilian were killed on Saturday in an attack by suspected Al-Qaeda militants on an army post in the southern province of Abyan, a security official told AFP.
"Eight soldiers were killed in an attack by members of Al-Qaeda on a military post in Al-Rai neighbourhood, west of the town of Jaar in Abyan" province, the official said.
"The soldiers were breaking the (Muslim Ramadan (dawn-to-dusk) fast when four armed militants attacked them using RPG (rocket-propelled grenades) ... and machine guns," the official said.
Seven of the soldiers were killed on the spot while the eighth was wounded and later died of his injuries at a hospital in the town of Jaar, a haven for extremists located five kilometres (three miles) from Zinjibar, capital of Abyan province, the official added.
Medics at Al-Razi hospital in Jaar confirmed they had received a wounded soldier who later died.
One civilian, a government employee, was also killed in the attack, the security official said, adding that reinforcements were deployed in the town to pursue the assailants.
Witnesses told AFP they had seen seven body parts of the soldiers strewn over a wide area as a result of the attack.
Last Tuesday, gunmen shot dead four policemen and wounded two others in an ambush in Zinjibar.
Earlier on Saturday, the defence ministry's website reported that gunmen had killed a soldier and wounded three others in an ambush in the southern province of Lahij.
"Armed outlaw elements... opened fire on members of a patrol killing the soldier Bilal Hael" and wounding three others late on Friday, 26sep.net quoted security official Lieutenant Colonel Salah al-Dawoodi as saying.
A committee was set up to investigate the incident, Dawoodi said.
Earlier this month, armed men ambushed the chief of the Lahij intelligence service's investigations department, who was killed in a hail of bullets.
Also on Friday, security agents arrested an alleged Al-Qaeda member near Al-Bayda, another southern province, 26sep.net reported.
The man had fled from the Abyan province town of Loder following deadly clashes between suspected Al-Qaeda militants and the army last week, the report said.
At least 33 people, including 19 militants, 11 soldiers, and three civilians were killed in the Loder battle, according to an AFP tally based on official and medical sources.
The interior ministry on Sunday called for tighter security at intelligence headquarters throughout the country and said it had put security units on the alert.
The ministry, in a statement posted on its website, stressed "the importance of increasing security vigilance and deploying patrols in the capital and the provinces, in addition to tightening security measures on vital facilities and buildings."
South Yemen, especially Abyan province, is feared to have become a base for Al-Qaeda militants to regroup under the network's local franchise, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).
The region, where many residents complain of discrimination by the Sanaa government in the allocation of resources, is also the site of frequent protests and periodic unrest.
ADEN, Yemen — Eight Yemeni soldiers and a civilian were killed on Saturday in an attack by suspected Al-Qaeda militants on an army post in the southern province of Abyan, a security official told AFP.
"Eight soldiers were killed in an attack by members of Al-Qaeda on a military post in Al-Rai neighbourhood, west of the town of Jaar in Abyan" province, the official said.
"The soldiers were breaking the (Muslim Ramadan (dawn-to-dusk) fast when four armed militants attacked them using RPG (rocket-propelled grenades) ... and machine guns," the official said.
Seven of the soldiers were killed on the spot while the eighth was wounded and later died of his injuries at a hospital in the town of Jaar, a haven for extremists located five kilometres (three miles) from Zinjibar, capital of Abyan province, the official added.
Medics at Al-Razi hospital in Jaar confirmed they had received a wounded soldier who later died.
One civilian, a government employee, was also killed in the attack, the security official said, adding that reinforcements were deployed in the town to pursue the assailants.
Witnesses told AFP they had seen seven body parts of the soldiers strewn over a wide area as a result of the attack.
Last Tuesday, gunmen shot dead four policemen and wounded two others in an ambush in Zinjibar.
Earlier on Saturday, the defence ministry's website reported that gunmen had killed a soldier and wounded three others in an ambush in the southern province of Lahij.
"Armed outlaw elements... opened fire on members of a patrol killing the soldier Bilal Hael" and wounding three others late on Friday, 26sep.net quoted security official Lieutenant Colonel Salah al-Dawoodi as saying.
A committee was set up to investigate the incident, Dawoodi said.
Earlier this month, armed men ambushed the chief of the Lahij intelligence service's investigations department, who was killed in a hail of bullets.
Also on Friday, security agents arrested an alleged Al-Qaeda member near Al-Bayda, another southern province, 26sep.net reported.
The man had fled from the Abyan province town of Loder following deadly clashes between suspected Al-Qaeda militants and the army last week, the report said.
At least 33 people, including 19 militants, 11 soldiers, and three civilians were killed in the Loder battle, according to an AFP tally based on official and medical sources.
The interior ministry on Sunday called for tighter security at intelligence headquarters throughout the country and said it had put security units on the alert.
The ministry, in a statement posted on its website, stressed "the importance of increasing security vigilance and deploying patrols in the capital and the provinces, in addition to tightening security measures on vital facilities and buildings."
South Yemen, especially Abyan province, is feared to have become a base for Al-Qaeda militants to regroup under the network's local franchise, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).
The region, where many residents complain of discrimination by the Sanaa government in the allocation of resources, is also the site of frequent protests and periodic unrest.
Saturday, 28 August 2010
One soldier killed in south Yemen ambush
Source: AFP , 28/08/2010
SANAA — Gunmen killed a Yemeni soldier and wounded three others in an ambush in the southern province of Lahij, the defence ministry's news website reported on Saturday.
"Armed outlaw elements... opened fire on members of a patrol killing the soldier Bilal Hael" and wounding three others late on Friday, 26sep.net quoted security official Lieutenant Colonel Salah al-Dawoodi as saying.
A committee was set up to investigate the incident, Dawoodi said.
Separately, the interior ministry called for tighter security at intelligence headquarters throughout the country.
The ministry said it had put security units on the alert, in a statement posted on its website, and stressed "the importance of increasing security vigilance and deploying patrols in the capital and the provinces, in addition to tightening security measures on vital facilities and buildings."
Earlier this month, armed men ambushed the chief of the Lahij intelligence service's investigations department, who was killed in a hail of bullets.
On Tuesday, gunmen shot dead four policemen and wounded two others in an ambush in Zinjibar, in neighbouring Abyan province.
South Yemen, where many residents complain of discrimination by the Sanaa government in the allocation of resources, is the site of frequent protests and periodic unrest.
The region is also feared to have become a base for Al-Qaeda militants to regroup under the network's local franchise, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).
SANAA — Gunmen killed a Yemeni soldier and wounded three others in an ambush in the southern province of Lahij, the defence ministry's news website reported on Saturday.
"Armed outlaw elements... opened fire on members of a patrol killing the soldier Bilal Hael" and wounding three others late on Friday, 26sep.net quoted security official Lieutenant Colonel Salah al-Dawoodi as saying.
A committee was set up to investigate the incident, Dawoodi said.
Separately, the interior ministry called for tighter security at intelligence headquarters throughout the country.
The ministry said it had put security units on the alert, in a statement posted on its website, and stressed "the importance of increasing security vigilance and deploying patrols in the capital and the provinces, in addition to tightening security measures on vital facilities and buildings."
Earlier this month, armed men ambushed the chief of the Lahij intelligence service's investigations department, who was killed in a hail of bullets.
On Tuesday, gunmen shot dead four policemen and wounded two others in an ambush in Zinjibar, in neighbouring Abyan province.
South Yemen, where many residents complain of discrimination by the Sanaa government in the allocation of resources, is the site of frequent protests and periodic unrest.
The region is also feared to have become a base for Al-Qaeda militants to regroup under the network's local franchise, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).
US dollar declines against Yemeni Rial
Source: Yemen official news agnecy, Saba , 28/08/2010
SANA'A- The national currency continued to improve against foreign currencies ,primarily the US dollar ,which continued to drop recording YR 215, the State-run 26sep.net reported on Friday.
This came after the strict economic measures taken by the government during the last few days, following a fall in the value of Yemeni riyal (YR) to a record level.
The US dollar recorded on Friday YR 215 amid a great satisfaction in the Yemeni streets after it had reached about YR 260 at the beginning of this month, and the other foreign currencies also continued to fall against the riyal, including the UK pounds, euro, Saudi riyal and other currencies.
President Ali Abdullah Saleh, chairing the weekly meeting of the Council of Ministers on August 3, directed the government to focus its efforts to stabilize the price of the national currency, as well as prices of basic foodstuffs.
In the same regard, a senior official at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said that the gains have been achieved by the Yemeni currency recently are incipient signs that the strict economic reforms began to bear fruit in Yemen.
Head of the IMF's mission to Yemen Hassan al-Atrash told Reuters that the Yemeni government did not intervene in the market last month to support the currency, which indicates that the situation is stabilizing.
"I think that the currency exceeded the acceptable levels in the recent decline and so the recent rise will be welcomed", al-Atrash added.
He pointed out that the economic measures taken by the government eventually have contributed to the exchange rate stability and the protection of foreign exchange reserves, affirming that adequate reserves are available to the Yemeni government for about five months.
SANA'A- The national currency continued to improve against foreign currencies ,primarily the US dollar ,which continued to drop recording YR 215, the State-run 26sep.net reported on Friday.
This came after the strict economic measures taken by the government during the last few days, following a fall in the value of Yemeni riyal (YR) to a record level.
The US dollar recorded on Friday YR 215 amid a great satisfaction in the Yemeni streets after it had reached about YR 260 at the beginning of this month, and the other foreign currencies also continued to fall against the riyal, including the UK pounds, euro, Saudi riyal and other currencies.
President Ali Abdullah Saleh, chairing the weekly meeting of the Council of Ministers on August 3, directed the government to focus its efforts to stabilize the price of the national currency, as well as prices of basic foodstuffs.
In the same regard, a senior official at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said that the gains have been achieved by the Yemeni currency recently are incipient signs that the strict economic reforms began to bear fruit in Yemen.
Head of the IMF's mission to Yemen Hassan al-Atrash told Reuters that the Yemeni government did not intervene in the market last month to support the currency, which indicates that the situation is stabilizing.
"I think that the currency exceeded the acceptable levels in the recent decline and so the recent rise will be welcomed", al-Atrash added.
He pointed out that the economic measures taken by the government eventually have contributed to the exchange rate stability and the protection of foreign exchange reserves, affirming that adequate reserves are available to the Yemeni government for about five months.
Friday, 27 August 2010
Security official died after injuries in Al Qaeda assassination
By Nasser Arrabyee/27/08/2010
A senior security official died after being seriously injured in an assassination attempt carried out by Al Qaeda suspects in Mareb province east of Yemen, said an official statement Friday.
“Colonel Mohammed Fare’e deputy chairman of the criminal investigations in Mareb province died out of injuries early afternoon today Friday in the hospital of Police in Sana’a,” said the official statement.
On Thursday August 26,2010, a group of gunmen believed to be Al Qaeda operatives, seriously injured Fare’e when they opened fire at him while getting out from his house in Mareb. Fare’e is also working as the director of combating drugs in Mareb province.
Fare’e is the second security officials to be assassinated this year and the fifth since 2007 in Mareb province. Al Qaeda was accused of implementing the previous assassinations.
Meanwhile, the security officials said Friday in a statement they arrested two Al Qaeda suspects in Abayn province.
Jihad Abdullah Fakeerah, 25, was arrested with an explosive belt in his possession while driving his car in his way to the town of Lawdar.
The statement said that Fakeerah admitted that he was in his way to carry out a suicide operation with orders from Al Qaeda leader called Alawi Alawi Al Saqqaf.
Lawdar, Al Qaeda stronghold in Abyan, witnessed fierce confrontations last week between Al Qaeda fighters and security forces in which more than 30 people were killed including 19 Al Qaeda militants.
The official statement also said that one of Al Qaeda militant called Saeed was arrested in Zinjubar, the capital of Abyan, with weapons in his possession.
Saeed is one those suspected of killing four police men and injuring two others on Wednesday August 25th, 2010, in Zinjubar.
Father of `terrorist' slams US hitlist
Source: AFP, 27/08/2010
The father of Yemeni-US Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki has accused the American government of acting illegally after it ordered the targeted killing of his son, in comments to a British newspaper.
President Barack Obama's administration added the preacher's name to its hit list several months ago after he was linked to high-profile terrorist incidents.
But his father, Nasser al-Awlaki, told The Times daily that the US should pursue his son through the courts if they believed he was guilty of any wrongdoing.
Advertisement: Story continues belowHe also revealed he was working with Yemeni and American lawyers to seek a federal court order restraining the US government or CIA from killing the cleric without proper legal process.
"What the US government is doing is against the American constitution," he said, speaking in Yemeni capital Sanaa.
"If Anwar has done anything wrong he should be prosecuted not targeted by a drone," added his father, who is a respected moderate politician and university professor in Yemen.
Anwar al-Awlaki, now based in Yemen, rose to prominence last year after he was linked to a US army major who shot dead 13 people in Fort Hood, Texas, and to a Nigerian student accused of trying to blow up a Northwest Airlines flight on Christmas Day.
In April, a US official said the Obama administration had authorised the targeted killing of Awlaki, after American intelligence agencies concluded the cleric was directly involved in anti-US plots.
And in July, the US government said Awlaki was a key leader of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, placing him on its list of terrorism supporters, freezing his financial assets and banning any transactions with him.
The father of Yemeni-US Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki has accused the American government of acting illegally after it ordered the targeted killing of his son, in comments to a British newspaper.
President Barack Obama's administration added the preacher's name to its hit list several months ago after he was linked to high-profile terrorist incidents.
But his father, Nasser al-Awlaki, told The Times daily that the US should pursue his son through the courts if they believed he was guilty of any wrongdoing.
Advertisement: Story continues belowHe also revealed he was working with Yemeni and American lawyers to seek a federal court order restraining the US government or CIA from killing the cleric without proper legal process.
"What the US government is doing is against the American constitution," he said, speaking in Yemeni capital Sanaa.
"If Anwar has done anything wrong he should be prosecuted not targeted by a drone," added his father, who is a respected moderate politician and university professor in Yemen.
Anwar al-Awlaki, now based in Yemen, rose to prominence last year after he was linked to a US army major who shot dead 13 people in Fort Hood, Texas, and to a Nigerian student accused of trying to blow up a Northwest Airlines flight on Christmas Day.
In April, a US official said the Obama administration had authorised the targeted killing of Awlaki, after American intelligence agencies concluded the cleric was directly involved in anti-US plots.
And in July, the US government said Awlaki was a key leader of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, placing him on its list of terrorism supporters, freezing his financial assets and banning any transactions with him.
Thursday, 26 August 2010
Yemen denies US reports about Al Qaeda threats
By Nasser Arrabyee/26/08/2010
Yemen said Thursday that western media exaggerates the threat of Al Qaeda in Yemen.
In an official statement carried on by the State-run news agency (Saba), it said that combating terrorism of Al Qaeda will be always the responsibility of its security forces .
And it denied American reports that Al Qaeda in Yemen has become more dangerous than Pakistan.
“Some American and western media exaggerates Al Qaeda and its threats to stability and security of Yemen and to the interests of the brotherly and friendly countries,” said the statement.
The Washington Post and Wall Street Journal quoted on Wednesday unnamed CIA officials that Al Qaeda in Yemen has become more dangerous to US than Pakistan, and special operations should be implemented in Yemen using drones.
“The Yemeni forces, with support from brothers and friends, will be able to take its full responsibility for combating the elements of Al Qaeda and those who support them from saboteurs,” said the statement .
“Al Qaeda is suffering big breakdowns, be it through the preemptive strikes being implemented by the security agencies or surrenders of a number of leaders or arrests of others during the continuous hunts and tightening the noose on them.”
“These reports might have something to do with the mid- term elections in United States, so it will not affect the Yemeni government’s policy of combating terrorism or cooperation with the international community to combat it without touching the Yemen’s sovereignty and its constitution and laws.”
These developments came after fierce confrontations between Yemen’s security forces and Al Qaeda fighters in town of Lawdar, Abyan province south of Yemen. More than 30 people were killed in those confrontations which started last Friday August 20th, 2010.
On Wednesday, August 25th, 2010, Al Qaeda operatives killed four soldiers and injured two others in the heart of the capital of Abyan Zinjubar, according to an official statement.
An Al Qaeda fighter with an explosive belt was arrested in the same city on Thursday, said the official statement.
Yemen said Thursday that western media exaggerates the threat of Al Qaeda in Yemen.
In an official statement carried on by the State-run news agency (Saba), it said that combating terrorism of Al Qaeda will be always the responsibility of its security forces .
And it denied American reports that Al Qaeda in Yemen has become more dangerous than Pakistan.
“Some American and western media exaggerates Al Qaeda and its threats to stability and security of Yemen and to the interests of the brotherly and friendly countries,” said the statement.
The Washington Post and Wall Street Journal quoted on Wednesday unnamed CIA officials that Al Qaeda in Yemen has become more dangerous to US than Pakistan, and special operations should be implemented in Yemen using drones.
“The Yemeni forces, with support from brothers and friends, will be able to take its full responsibility for combating the elements of Al Qaeda and those who support them from saboteurs,” said the statement .
“Al Qaeda is suffering big breakdowns, be it through the preemptive strikes being implemented by the security agencies or surrenders of a number of leaders or arrests of others during the continuous hunts and tightening the noose on them.”
“These reports might have something to do with the mid- term elections in United States, so it will not affect the Yemeni government’s policy of combating terrorism or cooperation with the international community to combat it without touching the Yemen’s sovereignty and its constitution and laws.”
These developments came after fierce confrontations between Yemen’s security forces and Al Qaeda fighters in town of Lawdar, Abyan province south of Yemen. More than 30 people were killed in those confrontations which started last Friday August 20th, 2010.
On Wednesday, August 25th, 2010, Al Qaeda operatives killed four soldiers and injured two others in the heart of the capital of Abyan Zinjubar, according to an official statement.
An Al Qaeda fighter with an explosive belt was arrested in the same city on Thursday, said the official statement.
US Officials: CIA drones may target Yemen terrorists
Source: AP , By KIMBERLY DOZIER , 26/08/2010
WASHINGTON — The White House, in an effort to turn up the heat against al-Qaida's branch in Yemen, is considering adding the CIA's armed Predator drones to the fight, two U.S. officials said Wednesday.
The drones are among CIA resources that could be assigned to an existing mission by U.S. special operations forces, a senior U.S. official told The Associated Press. The official said such options were in the planning stages and would be done only with the cooperation of the Yemeni leadership in Sanaa.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss matters of intelligence.
The fact that the White House is considering supplying CIA weapons and other resources to the clandestine counterterrorist fight in Yemen was first reported in The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal.
Yemen is the base of operations for al-Qaida of the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, the militant group that claimed responsibility for the attempted bombing of a Detroit-bound airliner last Christmas Day and counts American-born rebel cleric Anwar al-Awlaki among its leadership. The U.S. military has been working with the Yemeni counterterrorist forces for years, and that cooperation has increased under the Obama administration.
But officials say the U.S. hasn't yet brought as much pressure to bear against AQAP as they have against its parent organization, Osama bin Laden's Pakistan-based al-Qaida, and that a range of tools and tactics were being considered.
Among the CIA's most lethal tools, armed Predator drones are already hunting high-value militant targets in Pakistan's lawless tribal regions. The idea is to reassign some of those to the U.S. special operations forces assisting local counterterrorist forces in Yemen.
But U.S. officials may have a hard time selling the concept to the Yemeni government in Sanaa, where reports of the potential use of drones has already touched off controversy.
A CIA drone strike made headlines in Yemen, in November 2002, when it killed an American citizen along with a group of al-Qaida operatives. Drones became shorthand in Yemen for a weak government allowing foreign forces to have their way.
Drones would be a "nonstarter," Yemen's ambassador to the United Nations told the AP earlier this year.
"To even posit this theory about U.S. drones only builds support for radicalization," Abdullah al-Saidi said at the time. "Yemen will not allow it."
Yemen's government was caught in the blowback last December when a Yemeni-sanctioned U.S. cruise missile strike killed at least seven al-Qaida operatives in a remote tent camp. The strike also killed dozens of civilians, many of them relatives of the militants.
In another strike, a U.S. missile hit an al-Qaida meeting that included a local Yemeni official whom the Yemen government claimed had been trying to negotiate the militants' surrender.
As a result, U.S. operations were reportedly sharply curtailed and limited to sharing intelligence with Yemeni counterterrorist forces. But a senior U.S. official insisted there had been no appreciable decline in cooperation or action against AQAP. The official said that ebbs and flows in the U.S.-Yemeni relationship are common.
WASHINGTON — The White House, in an effort to turn up the heat against al-Qaida's branch in Yemen, is considering adding the CIA's armed Predator drones to the fight, two U.S. officials said Wednesday.
The drones are among CIA resources that could be assigned to an existing mission by U.S. special operations forces, a senior U.S. official told The Associated Press. The official said such options were in the planning stages and would be done only with the cooperation of the Yemeni leadership in Sanaa.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss matters of intelligence.
The fact that the White House is considering supplying CIA weapons and other resources to the clandestine counterterrorist fight in Yemen was first reported in The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal.
Yemen is the base of operations for al-Qaida of the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, the militant group that claimed responsibility for the attempted bombing of a Detroit-bound airliner last Christmas Day and counts American-born rebel cleric Anwar al-Awlaki among its leadership. The U.S. military has been working with the Yemeni counterterrorist forces for years, and that cooperation has increased under the Obama administration.
But officials say the U.S. hasn't yet brought as much pressure to bear against AQAP as they have against its parent organization, Osama bin Laden's Pakistan-based al-Qaida, and that a range of tools and tactics were being considered.
Among the CIA's most lethal tools, armed Predator drones are already hunting high-value militant targets in Pakistan's lawless tribal regions. The idea is to reassign some of those to the U.S. special operations forces assisting local counterterrorist forces in Yemen.
But U.S. officials may have a hard time selling the concept to the Yemeni government in Sanaa, where reports of the potential use of drones has already touched off controversy.
A CIA drone strike made headlines in Yemen, in November 2002, when it killed an American citizen along with a group of al-Qaida operatives. Drones became shorthand in Yemen for a weak government allowing foreign forces to have their way.
Drones would be a "nonstarter," Yemen's ambassador to the United Nations told the AP earlier this year.
"To even posit this theory about U.S. drones only builds support for radicalization," Abdullah al-Saidi said at the time. "Yemen will not allow it."
Yemen's government was caught in the blowback last December when a Yemeni-sanctioned U.S. cruise missile strike killed at least seven al-Qaida operatives in a remote tent camp. The strike also killed dozens of civilians, many of them relatives of the militants.
In another strike, a U.S. missile hit an al-Qaida meeting that included a local Yemeni official whom the Yemen government claimed had been trying to negotiate the militants' surrender.
As a result, U.S. operations were reportedly sharply curtailed and limited to sharing intelligence with Yemeni counterterrorist forces. But a senior U.S. official insisted there had been no appreciable decline in cooperation or action against AQAP. The official said that ebbs and flows in the U.S.-Yemeni relationship are common.
US Officials: CIA drones may target Yemen terrorists
Source: AP , By KIMBERLY DOZIER , 26/08/2010
WASHINGTON — The White House, in an effort to turn up the heat against al-Qaida's branch in Yemen, is considering adding the CIA's armed Predator drones to the fight, two U.S. officials said Wednesday.
The drones are among CIA resources that could be assigned to an existing mission by U.S. special operations forces, a senior U.S. official told The Associated Press. The official said such options were in the planning stages and would be done only with the cooperation of the Yemeni leadership in Sanaa.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss matters of intelligence.
The fact that the White House is considering supplying CIA weapons and other resources to the clandestine counterterrorist fight in Yemen was first reported in The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal.
Yemen is the base of operations for al-Qaida of the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, the militant group that claimed responsibility for the attempted bombing of a Detroit-bound airliner last Christmas Day and counts American-born rebel cleric Anwar al-Awlaki among its leadership. The U.S. military has been working with the Yemeni counterterrorist forces for years, and that cooperation has increased under the Obama administration.
But officials say the U.S. hasn't yet brought as much pressure to bear against AQAP as they have against its parent organization, Osama bin Laden's Pakistan-based al-Qaida, and that a range of tools and tactics were being considered.
Among the CIA's most lethal tools, armed Predator drones are already hunting high-value militant targets in Pakistan's lawless tribal regions. The idea is to reassign some of those to the U.S. special operations forces assisting local counterterrorist forces in Yemen.
But U.S. officials may have a hard time selling the concept to the Yemeni government in Sanaa, where reports of the potential use of drones has already touched off controversy.
A CIA drone strike made headlines in Yemen, in November 2002, when it killed an American citizen along with a group of al-Qaida operatives. Drones became shorthand in Yemen for a weak government allowing foreign forces to have their way.
Drones would be a "nonstarter," Yemen's ambassador to the United Nations told the AP earlier this year.
"To even posit this theory about U.S. drones only builds support for radicalization," Abdullah al-Saidi said at the time. "Yemen will not allow it."
Yemen's government was caught in the blowback last December when a Yemeni-sanctioned U.S. cruise missile strike killed at least seven al-Qaida operatives in a remote tent camp. The strike also killed dozens of civilians, many of them relatives of the militants.
In another strike, a U.S. missile hit an al-Qaida meeting that included a local Yemeni official whom the Yemen government claimed had been trying to negotiate the militants' surrender.
As a result, U.S. operations were reportedly sharply curtailed and limited to sharing intelligence with Yemeni counterterrorist forces. But a senior U.S. official insisted there had been no appreciable decline in cooperation or action against AQAP. The official said that ebbs and flows in the U.S.-Yemeni relationship are common.
WASHINGTON — The White House, in an effort to turn up the heat against al-Qaida's branch in Yemen, is considering adding the CIA's armed Predator drones to the fight, two U.S. officials said Wednesday.
The drones are among CIA resources that could be assigned to an existing mission by U.S. special operations forces, a senior U.S. official told The Associated Press. The official said such options were in the planning stages and would be done only with the cooperation of the Yemeni leadership in Sanaa.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss matters of intelligence.
The fact that the White House is considering supplying CIA weapons and other resources to the clandestine counterterrorist fight in Yemen was first reported in The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal.
Yemen is the base of operations for al-Qaida of the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, the militant group that claimed responsibility for the attempted bombing of a Detroit-bound airliner last Christmas Day and counts American-born rebel cleric Anwar al-Awlaki among its leadership. The U.S. military has been working with the Yemeni counterterrorist forces for years, and that cooperation has increased under the Obama administration.
But officials say the U.S. hasn't yet brought as much pressure to bear against AQAP as they have against its parent organization, Osama bin Laden's Pakistan-based al-Qaida, and that a range of tools and tactics were being considered.
Among the CIA's most lethal tools, armed Predator drones are already hunting high-value militant targets in Pakistan's lawless tribal regions. The idea is to reassign some of those to the U.S. special operations forces assisting local counterterrorist forces in Yemen.
But U.S. officials may have a hard time selling the concept to the Yemeni government in Sanaa, where reports of the potential use of drones has already touched off controversy.
A CIA drone strike made headlines in Yemen, in November 2002, when it killed an American citizen along with a group of al-Qaida operatives. Drones became shorthand in Yemen for a weak government allowing foreign forces to have their way.
Drones would be a "nonstarter," Yemen's ambassador to the United Nations told the AP earlier this year.
"To even posit this theory about U.S. drones only builds support for radicalization," Abdullah al-Saidi said at the time. "Yemen will not allow it."
Yemen's government was caught in the blowback last December when a Yemeni-sanctioned U.S. cruise missile strike killed at least seven al-Qaida operatives in a remote tent camp. The strike also killed dozens of civilians, many of them relatives of the militants.
In another strike, a U.S. missile hit an al-Qaida meeting that included a local Yemeni official whom the Yemen government claimed had been trying to negotiate the militants' surrender.
As a result, U.S. operations were reportedly sharply curtailed and limited to sharing intelligence with Yemeni counterterrorist forces. But a senior U.S. official insisted there had been no appreciable decline in cooperation or action against AQAP. The official said that ebbs and flows in the U.S.-Yemeni relationship are common.
Wednesday, 25 August 2010
Yemen army 'regains control' of southern town
Source: AFP, By Fawaz al-Haidari, 25/08/2010
ADEN-Yemeni authorities claimed to have regained control of the southern town of Loder, a great part of which was in the grip of suspected Al-Qaeda militants during days of clashes with the army.
"Security authorities have done their job efficiently and professionally," Deputy Interior Minister General Saleh al-Zaweri said late Tuesday in a statement carried by the Saba state news agency.
He said that security forces have "stormed the dens of the terrorists" in Loder, in the province of Abyan, and were "chasing the runaway elements."
"Security forces have taught the terrorists of Al-Qaeda a hard lesson and inflicted painful hits on them, forcing those terrorist elements that tried to hide, to flee after dozens were killed and wounded," he added.
Zaweri said that more than 12 suspected Al-Qaeda militants were killed in the fighting which started on Friday.
An AFP tally based on official and medical sources had put the total death toll Tuesday at some 33 people, including 19 militants, 11 soldiers, and three civilians.
Other security officials in Abyan also said that Al-Qaeda's fatalities were 12, and that all were Yemenis, Saba said.
Authorities had said that Adel Saleh Hardaba, 27, whom they described as the Al-Qaeda second-in-command in Loder, was among the dead.
The army had at that start of the fighting distributed pamphlets urging civilians in Loder, which has a population of 80,000, to leave.
Security officials told AFP at the weekend that civilians had mostly fled the city and that "only gunmen are left." Many of the militants were believed to be foreigners, notably Saudis and Pakistanis.
South Yemen, and Abyan province in particular, is feared to have become a base for Al-Qaeda militants to regroup under the network's local franchise, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).
Largely tribal Yemen is the ancestral homeland of Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.
Yemen has intensified operations against AQAP since December. The network has claimed responsibility for a December 25 attempt to blow up a US airliner over Detroit.
US officials cited by the Washington Post on Tuesday have warned that the threat of Al-Qaeda's branch in Yemen to US security has become higher than that of the core group based in Pakistan, recommending escalating US operations against AQAP.
"We are looking to draw on all of the capabilities at our disposal," the newspaper quoted an unnamed senior official in the US President Barack Obama's administration.
Adding armed CIA drones to a clandestine campaign of US military strikes was among the proposals, the paper said.
AQAP is "on the upswing," said another US official according to the Post. "The relative concern ratios are changing. We're more concerned now about AQAP than we were before."
US military had conducted a secret air strike in May against a suspected group of Al-Qaeda militants in the remote desert of Marib province, the New York Times reported earlier this month, citing unnamed US officials.
It was at least the fourth such assault, it said, though these were never publicly acknowledged by the US administration or Yemeni authorities
ADEN-Yemeni authorities claimed to have regained control of the southern town of Loder, a great part of which was in the grip of suspected Al-Qaeda militants during days of clashes with the army.
"Security authorities have done their job efficiently and professionally," Deputy Interior Minister General Saleh al-Zaweri said late Tuesday in a statement carried by the Saba state news agency.
He said that security forces have "stormed the dens of the terrorists" in Loder, in the province of Abyan, and were "chasing the runaway elements."
"Security forces have taught the terrorists of Al-Qaeda a hard lesson and inflicted painful hits on them, forcing those terrorist elements that tried to hide, to flee after dozens were killed and wounded," he added.
Zaweri said that more than 12 suspected Al-Qaeda militants were killed in the fighting which started on Friday.
An AFP tally based on official and medical sources had put the total death toll Tuesday at some 33 people, including 19 militants, 11 soldiers, and three civilians.
Other security officials in Abyan also said that Al-Qaeda's fatalities were 12, and that all were Yemenis, Saba said.
Authorities had said that Adel Saleh Hardaba, 27, whom they described as the Al-Qaeda second-in-command in Loder, was among the dead.
The army had at that start of the fighting distributed pamphlets urging civilians in Loder, which has a population of 80,000, to leave.
Security officials told AFP at the weekend that civilians had mostly fled the city and that "only gunmen are left." Many of the militants were believed to be foreigners, notably Saudis and Pakistanis.
South Yemen, and Abyan province in particular, is feared to have become a base for Al-Qaeda militants to regroup under the network's local franchise, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).
Largely tribal Yemen is the ancestral homeland of Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.
Yemen has intensified operations against AQAP since December. The network has claimed responsibility for a December 25 attempt to blow up a US airliner over Detroit.
US officials cited by the Washington Post on Tuesday have warned that the threat of Al-Qaeda's branch in Yemen to US security has become higher than that of the core group based in Pakistan, recommending escalating US operations against AQAP.
"We are looking to draw on all of the capabilities at our disposal," the newspaper quoted an unnamed senior official in the US President Barack Obama's administration.
Adding armed CIA drones to a clandestine campaign of US military strikes was among the proposals, the paper said.
AQAP is "on the upswing," said another US official according to the Post. "The relative concern ratios are changing. We're more concerned now about AQAP than we were before."
US military had conducted a secret air strike in May against a suspected group of Al-Qaeda militants in the remote desert of Marib province, the New York Times reported earlier this month, citing unnamed US officials.
It was at least the fourth such assault, it said, though these were never publicly acknowledged by the US administration or Yemeni authorities
U.S. Weighs Expanded Strikes in Yemen
25/08/2010
Source: Wall Street Journal , By ADAM ENTOUS And SIOBHAN GORMAN
WASHINGTON—U.S. officials believe al Qaeda in Yemen is now collaborating more closely with allies in Pakistan and Somalia to plot attacks against the U.S., spurring the prospect that the administration will mount a more intense targeted killing program in Yemen.
WSJ.com/Mideast: News, photos, videos Follow @WSJMidEast on Twitter Such a move would give the Central Intelligence Agency a far larger role in what has until now been mainly a secret U.S. military campaign against militant targets in Yemen and across the Horn of Africa. It would likely be modeled after the CIA's covert drone campaign in Pakistan.
The U.S. military's Special Operation Forces and the CIA have been positioning surveillance equipment, drones and personnel in Yemen, Djibouti, Kenya and Ethiopia to step up targeting of al Qaeda's Yemen affiliate, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, known as AQAP, and Somalia's al Shabaab—Arabic for The Youth.
U.S. counterterrorism officials believe the two groups are working more closely together than ever. "The trajectory is pointing in that direction," a U.S. counterterrorism official said of a growing nexus between the Islamist groups. He said the close proximity between Yemen and Somalia "allows for exchanges, training." But he said the extent to which AQAP and al Shabaab are working together is "hard to measure in an absolute way."
Authorizing covert CIA operations would further consolidate control of future strikes in the hands of the White House, which has enthusiastically embraced the agency's covert drone program in Pakistan's tribal areas.
More
Residents Flee City in Yemen Congressional officials briefed on the matter compared the growing relationships to partnerships forged between al Qaeda's leadership in Quetta, Pakistan, and increasingly capable groups like Taliban factions and the Haqqani network, a group based in the tribal areas of Pakistan that has been battling U.S. forces in neighboring Afghanistan.
"You're looking at AQAP. You're looking at al Qaeda in Somalia. You're looking at al Qaeda even in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and you see a whole bunch of folks and a whole bunch of activity, as ineffective as it may be right now, talking about and planning attacks in the U.S.," said Rep. Pete Hoekstra of Michigan, who is the top Republican on the House intelligence committee.
White House officials had no immediate comment.
Defense officials have long seen links between al Shabaab and al Qaeda as an emerging threat, but some in the CIA were more skeptical. Those disparate views appear to have converged during a recent White House review of the threat posed by the Somali group.
Some lawmakers and intelligence officials now think AQAP and al Shabaab could pose a more immediate threat to the U.S. than al Qaeda leaders now believed to be in Pakistan who were behind the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks but have largely gone into hiding. AQAP and al Shabaab have increasingly sophisticated recruitment techniques and are focused on less spectacular attacks that are harder for U.S. intelligence agencies to detect and to stop.
"It's very possible the next terrorist attack will see its origins coming out of Yemen and Somalia rather than out of Pakistan," Mr. Hoekstra said.
AQAP was behind the failed bombing of a U.S.-bound jetliner last Christmas Day, and has gained in stature in Islamist militant circles in large part because of the appeal of Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S.-born, Internet-savvy cleric who some officials see as the group's leader-in-waiting.
U.S. officials have seen indications that al Qaeda leadership is discussing with AQAP an expanded role for Mr. Awlaki, who was allegedly involved in the Christmas bombing attempt and had communicated with Fort Hood shooter Maj. Nidal Hasan.
"They are moving people in who understand the U.S.," a U.S. official said, adding that such people have a unique ability to inspire extremist sympathizers in the U.S. "They know what their vulnerabilities may be. It concerns me a lot."
Al Qaeda's central leadership and affiliates in Yemen and Somalia are increasingly strengthening their ties and have even discussed efforts to attack U.S. interests, U.S. officials say.
Mr. Hoekstra said he was particularly concerned about communications between al Qaeda in Yemen and Shabaab in Somalia. "We get indications their goals are more in alignment in terms of attacking American and western interests and doing it in Europe and the [U.S.] homeland," he said.
This increasing alignment has spawned a debate within the administration over whether to try to replicate the type of drone campaign the CIA has mounted with success in Pakistan. The CIA has rapidly stepped up its drone hits in Pakistan under the Obama administration and is now conducting strikes at an average rate of two or three a week—which amount to about 50 so far this year. Since the beginning of the Obama administration the strikes have killed at least 650 militants, according to a U.S. official. Earlier this year, a U.S. counterterrorism official said around 20 noncombatants have been killed in the CIA campaign in Pakistan, and the number isn't believed to have grown much since then.
Such a move would likely find bipartisan support on Capitol Hill. Mr. Hoekstra said he would support a more aggressive effort like that in Yemen. "The more pressure we can keep putting on al Qaeda whether it's in Yemen, Pakistan, or Afghanistan, the better off we will be," he said. "If they asked for the funds, Congress would provide them with it."
Rep. Adam Smith, a Washington Democrat who serves both on the House intelligence and armed services committees, also said it would be helpful to take similar measures in Yemen.
"The intelligence community, broadly speaking will need to increase its focus on Yemen," he said, adding that the efforts needed aren't just CIA operations but also counterterrorism efforts of other agencies, including the U.S. military.
Giving the CIA greater control of counterterrorism efforts in Yemen could run into resistance from some in the Pentagon who feel a sense of ownership of a campaign against extremists that began last year.
The military's Central Command under Gen. David Petraeus had lobbied aggressively to sharply increase military assistance to Yemen. The military has carried out several strikes against al Qaeda militants in coordination with Yemen's government. One in May killed a deputy governor, angering Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Source: Wall Street Journal , By ADAM ENTOUS And SIOBHAN GORMAN
WASHINGTON—U.S. officials believe al Qaeda in Yemen is now collaborating more closely with allies in Pakistan and Somalia to plot attacks against the U.S., spurring the prospect that the administration will mount a more intense targeted killing program in Yemen.
WSJ.com/Mideast: News, photos, videos Follow @WSJMidEast on Twitter Such a move would give the Central Intelligence Agency a far larger role in what has until now been mainly a secret U.S. military campaign against militant targets in Yemen and across the Horn of Africa. It would likely be modeled after the CIA's covert drone campaign in Pakistan.
The U.S. military's Special Operation Forces and the CIA have been positioning surveillance equipment, drones and personnel in Yemen, Djibouti, Kenya and Ethiopia to step up targeting of al Qaeda's Yemen affiliate, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, known as AQAP, and Somalia's al Shabaab—Arabic for The Youth.
U.S. counterterrorism officials believe the two groups are working more closely together than ever. "The trajectory is pointing in that direction," a U.S. counterterrorism official said of a growing nexus between the Islamist groups. He said the close proximity between Yemen and Somalia "allows for exchanges, training." But he said the extent to which AQAP and al Shabaab are working together is "hard to measure in an absolute way."
Authorizing covert CIA operations would further consolidate control of future strikes in the hands of the White House, which has enthusiastically embraced the agency's covert drone program in Pakistan's tribal areas.
More
Residents Flee City in Yemen Congressional officials briefed on the matter compared the growing relationships to partnerships forged between al Qaeda's leadership in Quetta, Pakistan, and increasingly capable groups like Taliban factions and the Haqqani network, a group based in the tribal areas of Pakistan that has been battling U.S. forces in neighboring Afghanistan.
"You're looking at AQAP. You're looking at al Qaeda in Somalia. You're looking at al Qaeda even in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and you see a whole bunch of folks and a whole bunch of activity, as ineffective as it may be right now, talking about and planning attacks in the U.S.," said Rep. Pete Hoekstra of Michigan, who is the top Republican on the House intelligence committee.
White House officials had no immediate comment.
Defense officials have long seen links between al Shabaab and al Qaeda as an emerging threat, but some in the CIA were more skeptical. Those disparate views appear to have converged during a recent White House review of the threat posed by the Somali group.
Some lawmakers and intelligence officials now think AQAP and al Shabaab could pose a more immediate threat to the U.S. than al Qaeda leaders now believed to be in Pakistan who were behind the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks but have largely gone into hiding. AQAP and al Shabaab have increasingly sophisticated recruitment techniques and are focused on less spectacular attacks that are harder for U.S. intelligence agencies to detect and to stop.
"It's very possible the next terrorist attack will see its origins coming out of Yemen and Somalia rather than out of Pakistan," Mr. Hoekstra said.
AQAP was behind the failed bombing of a U.S.-bound jetliner last Christmas Day, and has gained in stature in Islamist militant circles in large part because of the appeal of Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S.-born, Internet-savvy cleric who some officials see as the group's leader-in-waiting.
U.S. officials have seen indications that al Qaeda leadership is discussing with AQAP an expanded role for Mr. Awlaki, who was allegedly involved in the Christmas bombing attempt and had communicated with Fort Hood shooter Maj. Nidal Hasan.
"They are moving people in who understand the U.S.," a U.S. official said, adding that such people have a unique ability to inspire extremist sympathizers in the U.S. "They know what their vulnerabilities may be. It concerns me a lot."
Al Qaeda's central leadership and affiliates in Yemen and Somalia are increasingly strengthening their ties and have even discussed efforts to attack U.S. interests, U.S. officials say.
Mr. Hoekstra said he was particularly concerned about communications between al Qaeda in Yemen and Shabaab in Somalia. "We get indications their goals are more in alignment in terms of attacking American and western interests and doing it in Europe and the [U.S.] homeland," he said.
This increasing alignment has spawned a debate within the administration over whether to try to replicate the type of drone campaign the CIA has mounted with success in Pakistan. The CIA has rapidly stepped up its drone hits in Pakistan under the Obama administration and is now conducting strikes at an average rate of two or three a week—which amount to about 50 so far this year. Since the beginning of the Obama administration the strikes have killed at least 650 militants, according to a U.S. official. Earlier this year, a U.S. counterterrorism official said around 20 noncombatants have been killed in the CIA campaign in Pakistan, and the number isn't believed to have grown much since then.
Such a move would likely find bipartisan support on Capitol Hill. Mr. Hoekstra said he would support a more aggressive effort like that in Yemen. "The more pressure we can keep putting on al Qaeda whether it's in Yemen, Pakistan, or Afghanistan, the better off we will be," he said. "If they asked for the funds, Congress would provide them with it."
Rep. Adam Smith, a Washington Democrat who serves both on the House intelligence and armed services committees, also said it would be helpful to take similar measures in Yemen.
"The intelligence community, broadly speaking will need to increase its focus on Yemen," he said, adding that the efforts needed aren't just CIA operations but also counterterrorism efforts of other agencies, including the U.S. military.
Giving the CIA greater control of counterterrorism efforts in Yemen could run into resistance from some in the Pentagon who feel a sense of ownership of a campaign against extremists that began last year.
The military's Central Command under Gen. David Petraeus had lobbied aggressively to sharply increase military assistance to Yemen. The military has carried out several strikes against al Qaeda militants in coordination with Yemen's government. One in May killed a deputy governor, angering Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Tuesday, 24 August 2010
Yemen may foster new generation of Bashirs
Source: Sydney Morning Herald
By : Philip Eliason 24\08\2010
Great hotel deals in Yemen. Low prices guaranteed
Just before the start of Ramadan, the spiritual leader of Indonesia's Jemaah Islamiah (JI), Abu Bakar Bashir, was jailed again in Indonesia for allegedly supporting and sponsoring terrorist activity.
For Australia and its neighbours such as the Philippines, JI and its spin-off groups remain a danger, just as JI remains a danger to Indonesian authorities, Indonesian Christians, foreign businesses and tourists as well as to ordinary Indonesians who nearly universally harbour a deep rejection of terrorism.
Bashir is an Indonesian of Yemeni heritage. From his family origins in the religious Hadramout region of Yemen where he would be called Ba 'Ashar, to Indonesia he reflects the continuing channel of Yemeni-based religious thought into Indonesia.
Bashir's counterpart in Yemen, Abdul Majid al-Zindani holds great following and draws support from extremists to the extent that the US has listed him as a terrorist and asked Yemen to arrest him. Both have substantial oratorical skills and can issue influential messages to the public about the use of violence.
Rather than its historically tolerant Sufi doctrine, religious trends in the Hadramout have changed to be more Wahhabi, increasingly conservative and unabiding of other schools of thought.
It sometimes is hostile to Western culture, our moral perspectives and our political doctrines such as the importance of democratic forms of debate.
By : Philip Eliason 24\08\2010
Great hotel deals in Yemen. Low prices guaranteed
Just before the start of Ramadan, the spiritual leader of Indonesia's Jemaah Islamiah (JI), Abu Bakar Bashir, was jailed again in Indonesia for allegedly supporting and sponsoring terrorist activity.
For Australia and its neighbours such as the Philippines, JI and its spin-off groups remain a danger, just as JI remains a danger to Indonesian authorities, Indonesian Christians, foreign businesses and tourists as well as to ordinary Indonesians who nearly universally harbour a deep rejection of terrorism.
Bashir is an Indonesian of Yemeni heritage. From his family origins in the religious Hadramout region of Yemen where he would be called Ba 'Ashar, to Indonesia he reflects the continuing channel of Yemeni-based religious thought into Indonesia.
Bashir's counterpart in Yemen, Abdul Majid al-Zindani holds great following and draws support from extremists to the extent that the US has listed him as a terrorist and asked Yemen to arrest him. Both have substantial oratorical skills and can issue influential messages to the public about the use of violence.
Rather than its historically tolerant Sufi doctrine, religious trends in the Hadramout have changed to be more Wahhabi, increasingly conservative and unabiding of other schools of thought.
It sometimes is hostile to Western culture, our moral perspectives and our political doctrines such as the importance of democratic forms of debate.
Al Qaeda under fire in Yemen, Al Houthi rebels talk for peace
By Nasser Arrabyee/24/08/2010
Qatari-sponsored peace talks are being held in Doha to end a six-year old war between the Yemen government and Al Houthi Shiite rebels in the north of the country.
But another war is being launched against Al Qaeda in south. More than 18 Al Qaeda operatives were killed including three foreigners mainly Saudis over the last three days.
The battles started when Al Qaeda operatives killed more than 15 soldiers in an ambush in Lawdar district, Abyan province south of Yemen on Friday August 13th , 2010. The government forces have been surrounding the town of Lawdar where more than 60 Al Qaeda operatives are barricading in some houses.
On Tuesday, August 24th, the government said in a statement the campaign would continue to “break the back” of terrorism . the mountainous district of Lawdar , about 350 km south east of the capital Sana’a, is the home district of top leader of what’s called Al Qaeda in Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), Nasser Al Wahaishi.
These developments came after three security officials were assassinated by Al Qaeda militants in less than a week in the province of Abyan.
Also, earlier in the month , four Al Qaeda operatives surrendered and arrested after the government tightened the noose on them. Hezam Mujali, and Ali Hassan Al Tais were probably the most important two . Mujali was one of the 23 who escaped from the Sana’a intelligence prison in February 2006. And Al Tais joined Al Qaeda after he had returned from Guantanamo detention in 2007.
The Lawdar town is considered to be one of the most important strongholds not only for Al Qaeda militants but also for the southern separatists . The two groups (Al Qaeda and separatists) have been exploiting the poor and unemployed young men of this remote and almost lawless area to get more and more recruits.
The government says the separatists are cooperating with Al Qaeda fighters while the latter say Al Qaeda is used as a justification to strike the southern separatist movement.
The southern opposition politicians outside Yemen condemned Tuesday the government’s strikes and siege imposed on Lawdar saying that was only to strike the southern movement not Al Qaeda.
“The strike on Lawdar is an attempt to gain international support,” said the former President of the south Ali Salem Al Baidh on Tuesday August 24th, in a statement from his exile in Germany. Al Baidh calls clearly for independence of the south.
On Tuesday also, two more leaders said in a joint statement the government targeted the southern movement not Al Qaeda.
“What’s happening in Lawdar has nothing to do with Al Qaeda, but it is a war on the south, the human, the land, and the will,” said the joint statement which was issued by Ali Nasser Mohammed in Syria and Haidar Abu Bakr Al Attas in Saudi Arabia. Both of them disagree with Al Baidh about separation and they call only for solving all problems of the south within the framework of unity which was proclaimed in 1990. They say the southerners were excluded and marginalized after the civil war of 1994 when Al Baidh failed in his separation attempt.
The situation in the north of the country is not better. At least 10 people were killed on Monday in clashes between Al Houthi rebels and tribesmen loyal to the government in Houth area in Amran province. These clashes come while Qatari-sponsored peace talks begin in Doha on Tuesday August 24th, 2010, to end a 6-year old sporadic war between Al Houthi Shiite rebels and the Yemeni government forces.
Two delegations from the Yemeni government and Al Houthi rebels hope to bring peace to the war-torn Sa’ada.
Ali Bin Ali Al Qaisi heads the government delegation which includes , Mujahid Ghuthaim, chairman of the military intelligence, Jalal Al Ruwaishan, deputy chairman of the national security agency.
The chairman of the delegation, Al Qaisi, is the head of the supervisory committee in charge of supervising the implementation of the six conditions set by the government and accepted by the rebels earlier on February this year to end the war.
Yousif Al Faishi heads the delegation of Al Houthi which includes Dhaif Allah Al Shami and Germany-based Yahya Al Houthi.
The Doha will focus on the practical details of implementing the government’s six conditions which include the rebels going down from the mountains and handing over the weapons and releasing the detainees from both sides.
None of the six conditions was implemented since February 12th, 2010, when the two parties announced a fragile truce and desire to implement the conditions of ending the war.
Al Houthi rebels claim they are politically, socially, economically, and religiously discriminated against.
Qatari-sponsored peace talks are being held in Doha to end a six-year old war between the Yemen government and Al Houthi Shiite rebels in the north of the country.
But another war is being launched against Al Qaeda in south. More than 18 Al Qaeda operatives were killed including three foreigners mainly Saudis over the last three days.
The battles started when Al Qaeda operatives killed more than 15 soldiers in an ambush in Lawdar district, Abyan province south of Yemen on Friday August 13th , 2010. The government forces have been surrounding the town of Lawdar where more than 60 Al Qaeda operatives are barricading in some houses.
On Tuesday, August 24th, the government said in a statement the campaign would continue to “break the back” of terrorism . the mountainous district of Lawdar , about 350 km south east of the capital Sana’a, is the home district of top leader of what’s called Al Qaeda in Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), Nasser Al Wahaishi.
These developments came after three security officials were assassinated by Al Qaeda militants in less than a week in the province of Abyan.
Also, earlier in the month , four Al Qaeda operatives surrendered and arrested after the government tightened the noose on them. Hezam Mujali, and Ali Hassan Al Tais were probably the most important two . Mujali was one of the 23 who escaped from the Sana’a intelligence prison in February 2006. And Al Tais joined Al Qaeda after he had returned from Guantanamo detention in 2007.
The Lawdar town is considered to be one of the most important strongholds not only for Al Qaeda militants but also for the southern separatists . The two groups (Al Qaeda and separatists) have been exploiting the poor and unemployed young men of this remote and almost lawless area to get more and more recruits.
The government says the separatists are cooperating with Al Qaeda fighters while the latter say Al Qaeda is used as a justification to strike the southern separatist movement.
The southern opposition politicians outside Yemen condemned Tuesday the government’s strikes and siege imposed on Lawdar saying that was only to strike the southern movement not Al Qaeda.
“The strike on Lawdar is an attempt to gain international support,” said the former President of the south Ali Salem Al Baidh on Tuesday August 24th, in a statement from his exile in Germany. Al Baidh calls clearly for independence of the south.
On Tuesday also, two more leaders said in a joint statement the government targeted the southern movement not Al Qaeda.
“What’s happening in Lawdar has nothing to do with Al Qaeda, but it is a war on the south, the human, the land, and the will,” said the joint statement which was issued by Ali Nasser Mohammed in Syria and Haidar Abu Bakr Al Attas in Saudi Arabia. Both of them disagree with Al Baidh about separation and they call only for solving all problems of the south within the framework of unity which was proclaimed in 1990. They say the southerners were excluded and marginalized after the civil war of 1994 when Al Baidh failed in his separation attempt.
The situation in the north of the country is not better. At least 10 people were killed on Monday in clashes between Al Houthi rebels and tribesmen loyal to the government in Houth area in Amran province. These clashes come while Qatari-sponsored peace talks begin in Doha on Tuesday August 24th, 2010, to end a 6-year old sporadic war between Al Houthi Shiite rebels and the Yemeni government forces.
Two delegations from the Yemeni government and Al Houthi rebels hope to bring peace to the war-torn Sa’ada.
Ali Bin Ali Al Qaisi heads the government delegation which includes , Mujahid Ghuthaim, chairman of the military intelligence, Jalal Al Ruwaishan, deputy chairman of the national security agency.
The chairman of the delegation, Al Qaisi, is the head of the supervisory committee in charge of supervising the implementation of the six conditions set by the government and accepted by the rebels earlier on February this year to end the war.
Yousif Al Faishi heads the delegation of Al Houthi which includes Dhaif Allah Al Shami and Germany-based Yahya Al Houthi.
The Doha will focus on the practical details of implementing the government’s six conditions which include the rebels going down from the mountains and handing over the weapons and releasing the detainees from both sides.
None of the six conditions was implemented since February 12th, 2010, when the two parties announced a fragile truce and desire to implement the conditions of ending the war.
Al Houthi rebels claim they are politically, socially, economically, and religiously discriminated against.
Monday, 23 August 2010
Yemen forces kill 7 militants after Qaeda attacks
Source: Reuters ,23/08/2010
* Government forces kill 7 militants in the south
* Fighting follows a series of al Qaeda attacks
ADEN- Yemeni troops killed seven militants on Sunday, a day after seven suspected al Qaeda fighters were shot dead following a string of attacks in south Yemen, a security official said.
The seven militants were killed in the restive town of Lawdar, where seven others died in clashes with government forces on Saturday, the official, who declined to be named, told Reuters.
Officials earlier said the seven militants killed on Saturday included three foreigners, without giving their nationality.
State media has blamed the fighting, including the killing of at least eight soldiers in Lawdar on Friday, on al Qaeda's regional wing and "outlaw elements", a reference to separatists who are behind some of the unrest in southern Yemen. Most of the assaults since June have been claimed by al Qaeda, which has stepped up attacks on security forces in recent months, marking a shift in tactics for the global militant group's Yemen arm, which previously focused on foreign targets.
Al Qaeda has said in statements released on Islamist websites that its attacks on Yemen government targets are due to enhanced U.S.-Yemeni military cooperation against the group.
With U.S. backing, Yemen is waging a crackdown on al Qaeda, which has long made use of the Arabian Peninsula state's remote mountains and deserts to hide and set up training camps.
Western powers fear that al Qaeda is exploiting instability in Yemen, which borders top oil exporter Saudi Arabia and sits next to a strategic shipping lane, to strengthen its operations and launch attacks both regionally and abroad.
The group claimed a failed bomb attempt on a U.S.-bound passenger plane in December.
Impoverished Yemen, which is also trying to cement a ceasefire with Shi'ite rebels in the north , has faced international pressure to resolve its domestic conflicts in order to focus on quashing al Qaeda. (Reporting by Mohammed Mukhashef; writing by Firouz Sedarat; Editing by Charles Dick)
* Government forces kill 7 militants in the south
* Fighting follows a series of al Qaeda attacks
ADEN- Yemeni troops killed seven militants on Sunday, a day after seven suspected al Qaeda fighters were shot dead following a string of attacks in south Yemen, a security official said.
The seven militants were killed in the restive town of Lawdar, where seven others died in clashes with government forces on Saturday, the official, who declined to be named, told Reuters.
Officials earlier said the seven militants killed on Saturday included three foreigners, without giving their nationality.
State media has blamed the fighting, including the killing of at least eight soldiers in Lawdar on Friday, on al Qaeda's regional wing and "outlaw elements", a reference to separatists who are behind some of the unrest in southern Yemen. Most of the assaults since June have been claimed by al Qaeda, which has stepped up attacks on security forces in recent months, marking a shift in tactics for the global militant group's Yemen arm, which previously focused on foreign targets.
Al Qaeda has said in statements released on Islamist websites that its attacks on Yemen government targets are due to enhanced U.S.-Yemeni military cooperation against the group.
With U.S. backing, Yemen is waging a crackdown on al Qaeda, which has long made use of the Arabian Peninsula state's remote mountains and deserts to hide and set up training camps.
Western powers fear that al Qaeda is exploiting instability in Yemen, which borders top oil exporter Saudi Arabia and sits next to a strategic shipping lane, to strengthen its operations and launch attacks both regionally and abroad.
The group claimed a failed bomb attempt on a U.S.-bound passenger plane in December.
Impoverished Yemen, which is also trying to cement a ceasefire with Shi'ite rebels in the north , has faced international pressure to resolve its domestic conflicts in order to focus on quashing al Qaeda. (Reporting by Mohammed Mukhashef; writing by Firouz Sedarat; Editing by Charles Dick)
Sunday, 22 August 2010
Government and rebels delegations left Sana’a for Doha peace talks, 50 journalists banned from entering Sa’ada
Government and rebels delegations left Sana’a for Doha peace talks, 50 journalists banned from entering Sa’ada
By Nasser Arrabyee/22/08/2010
Two delegations from the Yemeni government and Al Houthi rebels have left Sana’a Sunday for Doha to attend Qatari-sponsored peace talks, well-informed sources said Sunday.
Earlier in the day, an official statement said Ali Bin Ali Al Qaisi, will head the government delegation which will include, Mujahid Ghuthaim, chairman of the the military intelligence, Jalal Al Ruwaishan, deputy chairman of the national security agency.
The chairman of the delegation, Al Qaisi, is the head of the supervisory committee in charges of supervising the implementation of the six conditions set by the government and accepted by the rebels end the war last February.
The official statement said that Yousif Al Faishi, will represent Al Houthi rebels in Doha talks with two other persons . Sources from Al Houthi side said that Dhaif Allah Al Shami and Germany-based Yahya Al Houthi will be two members of the Al Houthi delegation.
The Doha talks, which begins in the coming few days, will focus on the practical details of implementing the six conditions which include the rebels going down from the mountains and handing over the weapons and releasing the detainees.
None of the six conditions was implemented since February 12th, 2010, when the two parties announced fragile truce and desire to implement the conditions of ending the six-year old sporadic war between them.
Meanwhile, the Yemeni army prevented more than 50 journalists from entering Sa’ada to attend a peace conference called for by a local tribal sheikh, journalists said Sunday.
The army released more than 27 journalists after about six hours in detention in two check points in Harf Sufyan between the Sa’ada and the capital Sana’a.
The journalists include the Yemeni reporters and cameramen of Al Jazeera, Reuters, AP, Al Hurra, Al Manar Suhail Al Alam, said Omar Al Amki, the journalist who organized the trip on behalf of the tribal Sheikh Fares Mana’a.
About 25 more journalists who were already arrived in the city of Sa’ada, returned to Sana’a immediately in solidarity with their colleagues who were arrested in Harf Sufyan.
“These 25 journalists were able to enter Sa’ada because they told the checkpoints they were engineers not journalist s,” said Khaled Al Mahdi, the DPA reporter who was among the 27 arrested by the army in Harf Sufyan.
The tribal Sheikh Fares Mana’a invited the journalists to attend a conference in Sa’ada in which he said he would announce a peace initiative.
The army officers at the check points said they did not receive instructions to allow journalists to enter Sa’ada for any reason.
The tribal sheikh Fares Mana’a told the journalists in Sana’a before they headed to Sa’ada, that every thing was coordinated and arranged for their trip. Sheikh Mana’a is famous weapon trader who was blacklisted by the United States early this year for charges of smuggling weapons to Somalia.
By Nasser Arrabyee/22/08/2010
Two delegations from the Yemeni government and Al Houthi rebels have left Sana’a Sunday for Doha to attend Qatari-sponsored peace talks, well-informed sources said Sunday.
Earlier in the day, an official statement said Ali Bin Ali Al Qaisi, will head the government delegation which will include, Mujahid Ghuthaim, chairman of the the military intelligence, Jalal Al Ruwaishan, deputy chairman of the national security agency.
The chairman of the delegation, Al Qaisi, is the head of the supervisory committee in charges of supervising the implementation of the six conditions set by the government and accepted by the rebels end the war last February.
The official statement said that Yousif Al Faishi, will represent Al Houthi rebels in Doha talks with two other persons . Sources from Al Houthi side said that Dhaif Allah Al Shami and Germany-based Yahya Al Houthi will be two members of the Al Houthi delegation.
The Doha talks, which begins in the coming few days, will focus on the practical details of implementing the six conditions which include the rebels going down from the mountains and handing over the weapons and releasing the detainees.
None of the six conditions was implemented since February 12th, 2010, when the two parties announced fragile truce and desire to implement the conditions of ending the six-year old sporadic war between them.
Meanwhile, the Yemeni army prevented more than 50 journalists from entering Sa’ada to attend a peace conference called for by a local tribal sheikh, journalists said Sunday.
The army released more than 27 journalists after about six hours in detention in two check points in Harf Sufyan between the Sa’ada and the capital Sana’a.
The journalists include the Yemeni reporters and cameramen of Al Jazeera, Reuters, AP, Al Hurra, Al Manar Suhail Al Alam, said Omar Al Amki, the journalist who organized the trip on behalf of the tribal Sheikh Fares Mana’a.
About 25 more journalists who were already arrived in the city of Sa’ada, returned to Sana’a immediately in solidarity with their colleagues who were arrested in Harf Sufyan.
“These 25 journalists were able to enter Sa’ada because they told the checkpoints they were engineers not journalist s,” said Khaled Al Mahdi, the DPA reporter who was among the 27 arrested by the army in Harf Sufyan.
The tribal Sheikh Fares Mana’a invited the journalists to attend a conference in Sa’ada in which he said he would announce a peace initiative.
The army officers at the check points said they did not receive instructions to allow journalists to enter Sa’ada for any reason.
The tribal sheikh Fares Mana’a told the journalists in Sana’a before they headed to Sa’ada, that every thing was coordinated and arranged for their trip. Sheikh Mana’a is famous weapon trader who was blacklisted by the United States early this year for charges of smuggling weapons to Somalia.
7 Al Qaeda operatives including three foreigners killed
By Nasser Arrabyee/22/08/2010
A total of 7 AL Qaeda operatives were killed including three foreigners in clashes between the Yemeni security forces and Al Qaeda in Lawdar, Abyan province , south of Yemen, said the ministry of interior in a statement Sunday.
Al Qaeda operatives killed more than 11 soldiers in an ambush in clashes with the Yemeni forces in the town of Lawdar.
Security and military forces have been surrounding the town of Lawdar since Friday. The government officials pressure on tribal chiefs to surrender dozens of Al Qaeda operatives barricading in some of the houses of the town. Tribal chiefs appeal to the government to be careful about the lives of the citizens of the town.
Hundreds of people from Lawdar were seen Saturday and Sunday leaving the town after receiving warnings from the army not to be human shields for Al Qaeda fighters.
A total of 7 AL Qaeda operatives were killed including three foreigners in clashes between the Yemeni security forces and Al Qaeda in Lawdar, Abyan province , south of Yemen, said the ministry of interior in a statement Sunday.
Al Qaeda operatives killed more than 11 soldiers in an ambush in clashes with the Yemeni forces in the town of Lawdar.
Security and military forces have been surrounding the town of Lawdar since Friday. The government officials pressure on tribal chiefs to surrender dozens of Al Qaeda operatives barricading in some of the houses of the town. Tribal chiefs appeal to the government to be careful about the lives of the citizens of the town.
Hundreds of people from Lawdar were seen Saturday and Sunday leaving the town after receiving warnings from the army not to be human shields for Al Qaeda fighters.
Peace talks between Yemeni government and rebels to begin in Doha, 50 journalists banned from entering Sa’ada
By Nasser Arrabyee/22/08/2010
A Yemeni official delegation would head to Doha to attend Qatari-sponsored peace talks between the Yemeni government and Al Houthi rebels, official statement Sunday.
Ali Bin Ali Al Qaisi, will head the delegation which will include, Mujahid Ghuthaim, chairman of the the military intelligence, Jalal Al Ruwaishan, deputy chairman of the national security agency.
The chairman of the delegation, Al Qaisi, is the head of the supervisory committee in charges of supervising the implementation of the six conditions set by the government and accepted by the rebels end the war last February.
The official statement said that Yousif Al Faishi, will represent Al Houthi rebels in Doha talks with two other persons .
The Doha talks, which begins in the coming few days, will focus on the practical details of implementing the six conditions which include the rebels going down from the mountains and handing over the weapons and releasing the detainees.
None of the six conditions was implemented since February 12th, 2010, when the two parties announced fragile truce and desire to implement the conditions of ending the six-year old sporadic war between them.
Meanwhile, the Yemeni army prevented more than 50 journalists from entering Sa’ada to attend a peace conference called for by a local tribal sheikh, journalists said Sunday.
The army released more than 27 journalists after about six hours in detention in two check points in Harf Sufyan between the Sa’ada and the capital Sana’a.
The journalists include the Yemeni reporters and cameramen of Al Jazeera, Reuters, AP, Al Hurra, Al Manar Suhail Al Alam, said Omar Al Amki, the journalist who organized the trip on behalf of the tribal Sheikh Fares Mana’a.
About 25 more journalists who were already arrived in the city of Sa’ada, returned to Sana’a immediately in solidarity with their colleague who were arrested in Harf Sufyan.
“These 25 journalists were able to enter Sa’ada because they told the checkpoints they were engineers not journalist s,” said Khaled Al Mahdi, the DPA reporter who was among the 27 arrested by the army in Harf Sufyan.
The tribal Sheikh Fares Mana’a invited the journalists to attend a conference in Sa’ada in which he said he would announce a peace initiative.
The army officers at the check points said they did not receive instructions to allow journalists to enter Sa’ada for any reason.
The tribal sheikh Fares Mana’a told the journalists in Sana’a before they headed to Sa’ada, that every thing was coordinated and arranged for their trip. Sheikh Mana’a is famous weapon trader who was blacklisted by the United States early this year for charges of smuggling weapons to Somalia.
A Yemeni official delegation would head to Doha to attend Qatari-sponsored peace talks between the Yemeni government and Al Houthi rebels, official statement Sunday.
Ali Bin Ali Al Qaisi, will head the delegation which will include, Mujahid Ghuthaim, chairman of the the military intelligence, Jalal Al Ruwaishan, deputy chairman of the national security agency.
The chairman of the delegation, Al Qaisi, is the head of the supervisory committee in charges of supervising the implementation of the six conditions set by the government and accepted by the rebels end the war last February.
The official statement said that Yousif Al Faishi, will represent Al Houthi rebels in Doha talks with two other persons .
The Doha talks, which begins in the coming few days, will focus on the practical details of implementing the six conditions which include the rebels going down from the mountains and handing over the weapons and releasing the detainees.
None of the six conditions was implemented since February 12th, 2010, when the two parties announced fragile truce and desire to implement the conditions of ending the six-year old sporadic war between them.
Meanwhile, the Yemeni army prevented more than 50 journalists from entering Sa’ada to attend a peace conference called for by a local tribal sheikh, journalists said Sunday.
The army released more than 27 journalists after about six hours in detention in two check points in Harf Sufyan between the Sa’ada and the capital Sana’a.
The journalists include the Yemeni reporters and cameramen of Al Jazeera, Reuters, AP, Al Hurra, Al Manar Suhail Al Alam, said Omar Al Amki, the journalist who organized the trip on behalf of the tribal Sheikh Fares Mana’a.
About 25 more journalists who were already arrived in the city of Sa’ada, returned to Sana’a immediately in solidarity with their colleague who were arrested in Harf Sufyan.
“These 25 journalists were able to enter Sa’ada because they told the checkpoints they were engineers not journalist s,” said Khaled Al Mahdi, the DPA reporter who was among the 27 arrested by the army in Harf Sufyan.
The tribal Sheikh Fares Mana’a invited the journalists to attend a conference in Sa’ada in which he said he would announce a peace initiative.
The army officers at the check points said they did not receive instructions to allow journalists to enter Sa’ada for any reason.
The tribal sheikh Fares Mana’a told the journalists in Sana’a before they headed to Sa’ada, that every thing was coordinated and arranged for their trip. Sheikh Mana’a is famous weapon trader who was blacklisted by the United States early this year for charges of smuggling weapons to Somalia.
More than 50 journalists arrested in Sa’ada
By Nasser Arrabyee/22/08/2010
The Yemeni army and Al Houthi rebels arrested more than 50 journalists who were invited by a tribal sheikh to his house in Sa’ada, said the journalists from their detention Sunday.
The army arrested about 27 journalists in Harf Sufyan, including the reporters and cameramen of Al Jazeera, Reuters, AP, Al Hurra, Al Manar, said Omar Al Amki, the journalist who organized the trip on behalf of the tribal Sheikh Fares Mana’a.
About 25 journalists are blockaded by Al Houthi rebels in the house of Sheikh Fares Mana’a in the outskirt of Sa’ada city.
“These 25 journalists were able to enter Sa’ada because they told the checkpoints they were engineers not journalist s,” said Khaled Al Mahdi, the DPA reporter who is among the 27 arrested by the army in Harf Sufyan.
The tribal Sheikh Fares Mana’a invited the journalists to attend a conference in Sa’ada in which he said he would announce a peace initiative.
It seems that Mana’a did not coordinate with the conflicting parties before he invited the journalists to a volatile place like Sa’ada. Sheikh Mana’a is famous weapon trader who was blacklisted by the United States early this year for charges of smuggling weapons to Somalia.
The Yemeni army and Al Houthi rebels arrested more than 50 journalists who were invited by a tribal sheikh to his house in Sa’ada, said the journalists from their detention Sunday.
The army arrested about 27 journalists in Harf Sufyan, including the reporters and cameramen of Al Jazeera, Reuters, AP, Al Hurra, Al Manar, said Omar Al Amki, the journalist who organized the trip on behalf of the tribal Sheikh Fares Mana’a.
About 25 journalists are blockaded by Al Houthi rebels in the house of Sheikh Fares Mana’a in the outskirt of Sa’ada city.
“These 25 journalists were able to enter Sa’ada because they told the checkpoints they were engineers not journalist s,” said Khaled Al Mahdi, the DPA reporter who is among the 27 arrested by the army in Harf Sufyan.
The tribal Sheikh Fares Mana’a invited the journalists to attend a conference in Sa’ada in which he said he would announce a peace initiative.
It seems that Mana’a did not coordinate with the conflicting parties before he invited the journalists to a volatile place like Sa’ada. Sheikh Mana’a is famous weapon trader who was blacklisted by the United States early this year for charges of smuggling weapons to Somalia.
Saturday, 21 August 2010
17 soldiers, 8 Al Qaeda suspects killed and injured in clashes south Yemen
Ex-Guantanamo detainee surrenders and calls Al Qaeda to give up violence
By Nasser Arrabyee/21/08/2010
A total of five Al Qaeda suspects were killed and three others injured in clashes between Al Qaeda and security force in Lawdar, Abyan province south of Yemen, said security official. Saturday.
The security official said in a statement that investigations are going on with the three injured to help in hunting for the rest of the terrorist group that attacked security forces late Friday August 20th, 2010 in Lawdar.
One of those five dead from Al Qaeda was identified by the government as Adham Al Shaibani. The statement identified five of the Al Qaeda attackers who escaped after the clashes. Ahmed Mohamed Dradish,Abdul Raof Abdullah, Mohammed Nassib, Jalal Saleh, and Mohamed Al Saidi.
About 17 soldiers were killed and several others injured when this group ambushed a number of armed military vehicles while in their way for hunting Al Qaeda elements who hide in Lawdar mountains, according to local sources in Abyan.
The sources said at least 8 soldiers were killed by an RPG missile fired by Al Qaeda fighters on their armed vehicle.
However, the security officials said only 11 soldiers were killed in that terrorist attack.
Separately, a former Guantanamo detainee surrendered himself to the Yemeni authorities and called others to do the same for the sake of security and stability of Yemen, said the ministry of defense on its website on Saturday.
Ali Hussain Al Tais, member of Al Qaeda and ex-detainee in Guantanamo, surrendered himself and showed readiness to cooperate with the government said the ministry. He called Al Qaeda to give up violence.
By Nasser Arrabyee/21/08/2010
A total of five Al Qaeda suspects were killed and three others injured in clashes between Al Qaeda and security force in Lawdar, Abyan province south of Yemen, said security official. Saturday.
The security official said in a statement that investigations are going on with the three injured to help in hunting for the rest of the terrorist group that attacked security forces late Friday August 20th, 2010 in Lawdar.
One of those five dead from Al Qaeda was identified by the government as Adham Al Shaibani. The statement identified five of the Al Qaeda attackers who escaped after the clashes. Ahmed Mohamed Dradish,Abdul Raof Abdullah, Mohammed Nassib, Jalal Saleh, and Mohamed Al Saidi.
About 17 soldiers were killed and several others injured when this group ambushed a number of armed military vehicles while in their way for hunting Al Qaeda elements who hide in Lawdar mountains, according to local sources in Abyan.
The sources said at least 8 soldiers were killed by an RPG missile fired by Al Qaeda fighters on their armed vehicle.
However, the security officials said only 11 soldiers were killed in that terrorist attack.
Separately, a former Guantanamo detainee surrendered himself to the Yemeni authorities and called others to do the same for the sake of security and stability of Yemen, said the ministry of defense on its website on Saturday.
Ali Hussain Al Tais, member of Al Qaeda and ex-detainee in Guantanamo, surrendered himself and showed readiness to cooperate with the government said the ministry. He called Al Qaeda to give up violence.
Friday, 20 August 2010
11 soldiers among 14 killed in south Yemen: ministry, medics
Source : AFP By Fawaz al-Haidari,21/08/2010
ADEN, Yemen — Eleven soldiers were killed on Friday as the Yemeni army fought gunmen in the southern city of Loder, the interior ministry said, and medics said three civilians also died.
The soldiers were killed "in an ambush set up by Al-Qaeda terrorists and outlaws cooperating with them," the ministry said.
Eight of the soldiers were killed when a rocket-propelled grenade hit their armoured vehicle, Loder regional security chief Yahya al-Barkani said.
The three civilians were killed -- and another four wounded -- when soldiers bombarded buildings near Loder market from where the military was being targeted, medical sources said.
The interior ministry said in a statement that the gunmen were "holed up in houses and certain areas near the marketplace in Loder."
Earlier, a local security source said the armed men involved in the firefight may have been Al-Qaeda members, but another local official said they could be linked to a southern separatist movement.
However, a member of the separatist Southern Movement coalition of secessionist groups categorically denied involvement.
"We reject such acts -- the Southern Movement uses only peaceful means to secure independence for the people of the south," Aydarus Haqis told AFP.
At the same time he condemned "the actions of the army, especially the indiscriminate shelling by tanks" of a residential area of Loder.
"Loder is a ghost-town, and fighting's going on in the streets. We don't know if the gunmen are Al-Qaeda or southern separatists," one local official told AFP, asking not to be identified.
Friday's fighting came a day after a two-hour clash in the same city, in the southern province of Abyan, in which gunmen killed two soldiers and wounded two others.
A local official said the gunmen involved in that incident "could be part of Al-Qaeda."
Thursday's firefight erupted after two soldiers were attacked in the marketplace and their weapons were seized, leading to the intervention of the army.
South Yemen is feared to have become a base for Al-Qaeda militants to regroup, under the network's local franchise Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).
Also on Thursday, Yemeni security forces said they had arrested a suspected Al-Qaeda militant who was sentenced to death for attacking a French ship and was among 23 prison escapees in 2006, a security official said.
Huzam Majali, considered a leading Al-Qaeda figure in Arhab, north of the capital, was arrested on Wednesday.
Majali was sentenced in August 2004 for his role in the deadly attack on French tanker the Limburg in October 2002 off Yemen's southeast coast. A blast ripped through the ship, killing a Bulgarian crewman and wounding 12 others.
Two years earlier, 17 US sailors were killed when two suicide bombers on an inflatable raft blew themselves up alongside the destroyer USS Cole in Yemen's southern port of Aden.
Yemen is the ancestral homeland of Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.
The south is also the site of frequent protests and separatist unrest, with southerners complaining of discrimination by the Sanaa government in the north over the allocation of resources.
It was independent from 1967 until 1990 when it united with the north. It seceded in 1994, sparking a short-lived conflict which ended with the south bring overrun by northern troops.
ADEN, Yemen — Eleven soldiers were killed on Friday as the Yemeni army fought gunmen in the southern city of Loder, the interior ministry said, and medics said three civilians also died.
The soldiers were killed "in an ambush set up by Al-Qaeda terrorists and outlaws cooperating with them," the ministry said.
Eight of the soldiers were killed when a rocket-propelled grenade hit their armoured vehicle, Loder regional security chief Yahya al-Barkani said.
The three civilians were killed -- and another four wounded -- when soldiers bombarded buildings near Loder market from where the military was being targeted, medical sources said.
The interior ministry said in a statement that the gunmen were "holed up in houses and certain areas near the marketplace in Loder."
Earlier, a local security source said the armed men involved in the firefight may have been Al-Qaeda members, but another local official said they could be linked to a southern separatist movement.
However, a member of the separatist Southern Movement coalition of secessionist groups categorically denied involvement.
"We reject such acts -- the Southern Movement uses only peaceful means to secure independence for the people of the south," Aydarus Haqis told AFP.
At the same time he condemned "the actions of the army, especially the indiscriminate shelling by tanks" of a residential area of Loder.
"Loder is a ghost-town, and fighting's going on in the streets. We don't know if the gunmen are Al-Qaeda or southern separatists," one local official told AFP, asking not to be identified.
Friday's fighting came a day after a two-hour clash in the same city, in the southern province of Abyan, in which gunmen killed two soldiers and wounded two others.
A local official said the gunmen involved in that incident "could be part of Al-Qaeda."
Thursday's firefight erupted after two soldiers were attacked in the marketplace and their weapons were seized, leading to the intervention of the army.
South Yemen is feared to have become a base for Al-Qaeda militants to regroup, under the network's local franchise Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).
Also on Thursday, Yemeni security forces said they had arrested a suspected Al-Qaeda militant who was sentenced to death for attacking a French ship and was among 23 prison escapees in 2006, a security official said.
Huzam Majali, considered a leading Al-Qaeda figure in Arhab, north of the capital, was arrested on Wednesday.
Majali was sentenced in August 2004 for his role in the deadly attack on French tanker the Limburg in October 2002 off Yemen's southeast coast. A blast ripped through the ship, killing a Bulgarian crewman and wounding 12 others.
Two years earlier, 17 US sailors were killed when two suicide bombers on an inflatable raft blew themselves up alongside the destroyer USS Cole in Yemen's southern port of Aden.
Yemen is the ancestral homeland of Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.
The south is also the site of frequent protests and separatist unrest, with southerners complaining of discrimination by the Sanaa government in the north over the allocation of resources.
It was independent from 1967 until 1990 when it united with the north. It seceded in 1994, sparking a short-lived conflict which ended with the south bring overrun by northern troops.
Thursday, 19 August 2010
2 soldiers killed and four injured in terrorist attack in Yemen
By Nasser Arrabyee/20/08/2010
Two security men were killed and three others were injured when Al Qaeda suspects attacked two security patrols in Lawdar district, Abyan province, south of Yemen, said security and local sources Friday. Two of the attackers were injured.
Local sources said about 8 attackers were seen walking in the town of Lawdar with their guns and shouting ‘Allahu Akbar, Allah Akbar, god is greater god is greater,’ before they attacked the security men shortly before the sunset of Thursday.
This attack came less than 24 hours after a leading Al Qaeda operative surrendered himself after the American-trained anti-terror forces surrounded him in his hideout in the Arhab area east of the capital Sana’a.
The government considered Hezam Mujali who surrendered himself, as one of the dangerous Al Qaeda leaders in the area of Arhab. Mujali was one of the 23 Al Qaeda elements who escaped in February 2006 from the intelligence prison in Sana’a. Mujali was sentenced to death in absentia in 2004 for participating in the terrorist attack on the French oil tanker Lumberg in October 2002.
On the same day, Thursday, August19th, 2010, Al Qaeda leading operative Anis Al Awthali was arrested in Abyan according the security officials.
Information obtained from previous arrests led to the hideouts of the two leading Al Qaeda elements, said the security officials .
Earlier this week, Juman Safyan, the leader of Al Qaeda in Al Jawf province, surrendered himself to the authorities.
On July 6th,2010, Hamzah Al Dhayani, a leading Al Qaeda operative in Mareb, surrendered himself to the authorities.
Two security men were killed and three others were injured when Al Qaeda suspects attacked two security patrols in Lawdar district, Abyan province, south of Yemen, said security and local sources Friday. Two of the attackers were injured.
Local sources said about 8 attackers were seen walking in the town of Lawdar with their guns and shouting ‘Allahu Akbar, Allah Akbar, god is greater god is greater,’ before they attacked the security men shortly before the sunset of Thursday.
This attack came less than 24 hours after a leading Al Qaeda operative surrendered himself after the American-trained anti-terror forces surrounded him in his hideout in the Arhab area east of the capital Sana’a.
The government considered Hezam Mujali who surrendered himself, as one of the dangerous Al Qaeda leaders in the area of Arhab. Mujali was one of the 23 Al Qaeda elements who escaped in February 2006 from the intelligence prison in Sana’a. Mujali was sentenced to death in absentia in 2004 for participating in the terrorist attack on the French oil tanker Lumberg in October 2002.
On the same day, Thursday, August19th, 2010, Al Qaeda leading operative Anis Al Awthali was arrested in Abyan according the security officials.
Information obtained from previous arrests led to the hideouts of the two leading Al Qaeda elements, said the security officials .
Earlier this week, Juman Safyan, the leader of Al Qaeda in Al Jawf province, surrendered himself to the authorities.
On July 6th,2010, Hamzah Al Dhayani, a leading Al Qaeda operative in Mareb, surrendered himself to the authorities.
Yemen captures Al-Qaeda prison escapee: official
Source: AFP
10\08\2010
Yemeni security forces have arrested a suspected Al-Qaeda militant who was among 23 people sentenced to death for attacking a French ship who escaped from jail in 2006, a security official said on Thursday.
Huzam Majali, who is considered a leading figure of Al-Qaeda in the area of Arhab, north of the capital, was arrested on Wednesday.
"He surrendered after a successful raid by the anti-terrorism forces on a house he was hiding in," the official said.
Information obtained from "recently arrested elements and leaders of Al-Qaeda have helped in arresting new people and foiling plots for terrorist attacks on vital security and economic installations," the source added.
Majali was sentenced in August 2004 for his involvement in the deadly attack on the French tanker, the Limburg, in October 2002, off Yemen's southeastern coast.
An explosion ripped through the ship, killing one Bulgarian crew member and wounding 12 others.
The brazen escape from a prison controlled by Yemen's political security service in February 2006 left Sanaa red-faced. Most of the escapees have either been recaptured or killed.
Yemen is the ancestral homeland of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
Five injured in bombing on south Yemen police
Source: Reuters, 19/08/2010
ADEN-Five policemen were seriously injured in south Yemen when an attacker on a motorbike threw a hand grenade into their midst before riding off, a security official said.
The midnight bombing on Wednesday at the police station of Jaar, a town in the southern province of Abyan, was the latest in a string of attacks on security personnel in south Yemen since June, most of which have been claimed by al Qaeda militants.
Security forces have launched a search for the attacker, the official told Reuters. He said the bombing followed gunbattles between security forces in Jaar and unidentified gunmen, in which nobody was killed or injured.
Al Qaeda's campaign against government forces in southern Yemen marks a widening of tactics for the global militant group's Yemeni arm, which has clashed with the authorities for many years but previously focussed on high profile attacks against foreign targets.
Western powers have long feared that al Qaeda is exploiting instability in Yemen, which borders Saudi Arabia, to strengthen its operations and launch attacks abroad.
In December the group's Yemen wing claimed an attempted bombing of a U.S.-bound passenger plane.
With U.S.-backing, the Yemeni government subsequently launched a major crackdown against al Qaeda, who had long made use of Yemen's impenetrable mountains and deserts to hide and set up training camps.
The start of the attacks in June came as Yemen was already struggling with increasingly bloody tit-for-tat violence between security forces and a southern separatist movement.
The government is also still reeling from the latest round in an ongoing war against northern rebels that ended with a truce in February.
(Reporting by Mohammed Mokhashef; Writing by Raissa Kasolowsky; editing by Myra MacDonald)
ADEN-Five policemen were seriously injured in south Yemen when an attacker on a motorbike threw a hand grenade into their midst before riding off, a security official said.
The midnight bombing on Wednesday at the police station of Jaar, a town in the southern province of Abyan, was the latest in a string of attacks on security personnel in south Yemen since June, most of which have been claimed by al Qaeda militants.
Security forces have launched a search for the attacker, the official told Reuters. He said the bombing followed gunbattles between security forces in Jaar and unidentified gunmen, in which nobody was killed or injured.
Al Qaeda's campaign against government forces in southern Yemen marks a widening of tactics for the global militant group's Yemeni arm, which has clashed with the authorities for many years but previously focussed on high profile attacks against foreign targets.
Western powers have long feared that al Qaeda is exploiting instability in Yemen, which borders Saudi Arabia, to strengthen its operations and launch attacks abroad.
In December the group's Yemen wing claimed an attempted bombing of a U.S.-bound passenger plane.
With U.S.-backing, the Yemeni government subsequently launched a major crackdown against al Qaeda, who had long made use of Yemen's impenetrable mountains and deserts to hide and set up training camps.
The start of the attacks in June came as Yemen was already struggling with increasingly bloody tit-for-tat violence between security forces and a southern separatist movement.
The government is also still reeling from the latest round in an ongoing war against northern rebels that ended with a truce in February.
(Reporting by Mohammed Mokhashef; Writing by Raissa Kasolowsky; editing by Myra MacDonald)
Wednesday, 18 August 2010
Detainee still held 6 years after release order
A judge ordered a Guantánamo captive to be freed in 2004, but he is still being held as the government decides whether to appeal
Source: Miami Herlad.com, By CAROL ROSENBERG, 18/08/2010
The Pentagon recommended as far back as 2004 to send an emotionally stricken Guantánamo captive back to Yemen, according to a judge's release order made public this week. But the man is still held at the prison camps in southeast Cuba.
Moreover, it wasn't until 2007 that the Bush administration put Adnan Abdul Latif, now about 34, on a transfer list. By then, the issue of transfers to Yemen, Osama bin Laden's ancestral homeland, was mired in a diplomatic standoff over whether the Arabian Peninsula nation could provide security assurances and rehabilitate suspected radicalized Guantánamo detainees.
U.S. District Court Judge Henry Kennedy disclosed the timeline in a heavily censored 28-page ruling made public on Monday night that ordered Latif set free. Latif is the 38th Guantánamo captive to be found by a federal judge to be illegally detained at the U.S. base.
Kennedy first ordered the Obama administration to arrange for Latif's release ``forthwith'' on July 21. But a Justice Department spokesman, Dean Boyd, said government lawyers were still deciding Tuesday night whether to appeal.
``Why they continue to defend holding him is unfathomable,'' said David Remes, Latif's free-of-charge attorney. ``Adnan's case reflects the Obama administration's complete failure to bring the Guantánamo litigation under control.''
Latif, held at Guantánamo since Jan. 18, 2002, has said for years that he had suffered a head injury in his teens and was in Pakistan and Afghanistan seeking Islamic charity medical care before his capture. The U.S. Justice Department countered that Latif was seen at an al Qaeda guest house and trained with the terror movement.
But in the portion of the judge's ruling made public Kennedy noted that the Pentagon's own military intelligence analysis found no eyewitness to back up the claim, only war-on-terror captives who had seen him in U.S. prison camps.
Kennedy quoted from a 2004 Defense Department report that recommended he be sent home.
Latif's lawyer said the Yemeni has spent long periods of his captivity in the psychiatric ward after repeated suicide attempts and reacted with despair to the judge's ruling.
``He sees death as his only way out,'' Remes said.
He has covered himself in excrement, thrown blood at the lawyer, swallowed shards of metal and tried to eat glass in dozens of self-harm episodes, Remes said.
Source: Miami Herlad.com, By CAROL ROSENBERG, 18/08/2010
The Pentagon recommended as far back as 2004 to send an emotionally stricken Guantánamo captive back to Yemen, according to a judge's release order made public this week. But the man is still held at the prison camps in southeast Cuba.
Moreover, it wasn't until 2007 that the Bush administration put Adnan Abdul Latif, now about 34, on a transfer list. By then, the issue of transfers to Yemen, Osama bin Laden's ancestral homeland, was mired in a diplomatic standoff over whether the Arabian Peninsula nation could provide security assurances and rehabilitate suspected radicalized Guantánamo detainees.
U.S. District Court Judge Henry Kennedy disclosed the timeline in a heavily censored 28-page ruling made public on Monday night that ordered Latif set free. Latif is the 38th Guantánamo captive to be found by a federal judge to be illegally detained at the U.S. base.
Kennedy first ordered the Obama administration to arrange for Latif's release ``forthwith'' on July 21. But a Justice Department spokesman, Dean Boyd, said government lawyers were still deciding Tuesday night whether to appeal.
``Why they continue to defend holding him is unfathomable,'' said David Remes, Latif's free-of-charge attorney. ``Adnan's case reflects the Obama administration's complete failure to bring the Guantánamo litigation under control.''
Latif, held at Guantánamo since Jan. 18, 2002, has said for years that he had suffered a head injury in his teens and was in Pakistan and Afghanistan seeking Islamic charity medical care before his capture. The U.S. Justice Department countered that Latif was seen at an al Qaeda guest house and trained with the terror movement.
But in the portion of the judge's ruling made public Kennedy noted that the Pentagon's own military intelligence analysis found no eyewitness to back up the claim, only war-on-terror captives who had seen him in U.S. prison camps.
Kennedy quoted from a 2004 Defense Department report that recommended he be sent home.
Latif's lawyer said the Yemeni has spent long periods of his captivity in the psychiatric ward after repeated suicide attempts and reacted with despair to the judge's ruling.
``He sees death as his only way out,'' Remes said.
He has covered himself in excrement, thrown blood at the lawyer, swallowed shards of metal and tried to eat glass in dozens of self-harm episodes, Remes said.
CPJ calls on Yemen to release detained journalist
Source : CPJ ,18/08/2010
New York—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Yemeni authorities to release Abdulelah Hider Shaea, a Yemeni journalist who covers Islamist groups including Al-Qaeda. Armed security forces arrested Shaea on Monday after raiding his family home, according to news reports.
Shaea is a reporter for the official Saba News Agency and a frequent commentator and contributor to Al-Jazeera. He is known for his exclusive interviews with Al-Qaeda leaders and his analysis on Islamist groups.
When Shaea was arrested at his house, “most of the soldiers stayed outside,” but “around 15-20 soldiers stormed the house,” his brother Khaled, who was present, told Al-Masdar Online, the Web-based edition of the popular independent weekly Al-Masdar, According to his brother, the journalist asked the soldiers to show a court order for his arrest. He said they replied that they were “following the orders of national security apparatus,” and that they said they had an order but did not show it.
His bother added that Shaea was taken by force. After the arrest, officers searched the house and confiscated his notes and laptop. The Yemen Journalists’ Syndicate condemned the arrest in a statement released today.
“We call on the authorities to immediately release Abdulelah Hider Shaea,” said Mohamed Abdel Dayem , CPJ’s Middle East and North Africa program coordinator. “The Yemeni government is acting without regard for the law. This is a flagrant violation of the most basic norms of due process. It a state kidnapping.”
This is the second time Shaea has been detained forcibly this summer. On July 11, he was abducted by unidentified men. After being blindfolded and led to a basement in an unknown location, he was interrogated for several hours about his friends and his reporting on Al-Qaeda, Shaea told CPJ just hours after his release.
Only days before his first abduction, Shaea told CPJ: “In Yemen , you conceal your identity as a journalist. Your journalism ID is a liability, not an asset. It turns you into a target.”
After his release, Shaea was not able to identify the specific agency that had abducted him, but said that the abductors referred to themselves simply as “security.” He told Al-Masdar Online later in July that he was receiving threats via phone from security officers demanding that he stops contributing to media outlets without consulting them because "it harms the reputation of the country."
New York—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Yemeni authorities to release Abdulelah Hider Shaea, a Yemeni journalist who covers Islamist groups including Al-Qaeda. Armed security forces arrested Shaea on Monday after raiding his family home, according to news reports.
Shaea is a reporter for the official Saba News Agency and a frequent commentator and contributor to Al-Jazeera. He is known for his exclusive interviews with Al-Qaeda leaders and his analysis on Islamist groups.
When Shaea was arrested at his house, “most of the soldiers stayed outside,” but “around 15-20 soldiers stormed the house,” his brother Khaled, who was present, told Al-Masdar Online, the Web-based edition of the popular independent weekly Al-Masdar, According to his brother, the journalist asked the soldiers to show a court order for his arrest. He said they replied that they were “following the orders of national security apparatus,” and that they said they had an order but did not show it.
His bother added that Shaea was taken by force. After the arrest, officers searched the house and confiscated his notes and laptop. The Yemen Journalists’ Syndicate condemned the arrest in a statement released today.
“We call on the authorities to immediately release Abdulelah Hider Shaea,” said Mohamed Abdel Dayem , CPJ’s Middle East and North Africa program coordinator. “The Yemeni government is acting without regard for the law. This is a flagrant violation of the most basic norms of due process. It a state kidnapping.”
This is the second time Shaea has been detained forcibly this summer. On July 11, he was abducted by unidentified men. After being blindfolded and led to a basement in an unknown location, he was interrogated for several hours about his friends and his reporting on Al-Qaeda, Shaea told CPJ just hours after his release.
Only days before his first abduction, Shaea told CPJ: “In Yemen , you conceal your identity as a journalist. Your journalism ID is a liability, not an asset. It turns you into a target.”
After his release, Shaea was not able to identify the specific agency that had abducted him, but said that the abductors referred to themselves simply as “security.” He told Al-Masdar Online later in July that he was receiving threats via phone from security officers demanding that he stops contributing to media outlets without consulting them because "it harms the reputation of the country."
Tuesday, 17 August 2010
3 people killed in bomb explosion
By Nasser Arrabyee, 18/08/2010
At least 3 people were killed when abandoned bomb went off in Al Nahfad area, in Abyan south of Yemen, a local official said Tuesday.
Mukbel Mohammed Al Ambouri, member of local council of Al Mahfad district said that no political or terrorist motivations were behind the explosion.
Some people found the bomb in Al Majala area, where a training camp of Al Qaeda was struck on December 2009, while they were collecting ‘Miswaks’ from the trees of the area.
"While those men were collecting Miswaks, they found the bomb nearby a tree and IT exploded when one of them played with it," Al Ambouri told Yemen Observer over phone from the Al Majalah.
All the people came from Tihama in the coastal western province of Hodieda, to collect ‘Misswaks’ to export them to the neighboring Saudi Arabia. Miswaks are natural brushes for cleaning the teeth and mouth collected from trees of Arak which exist in the area of Al Majalah.
At least 3 people were killed when abandoned bomb went off in Al Nahfad area, in Abyan south of Yemen, a local official said Tuesday.
Mukbel Mohammed Al Ambouri, member of local council of Al Mahfad district said that no political or terrorist motivations were behind the explosion.
Some people found the bomb in Al Majala area, where a training camp of Al Qaeda was struck on December 2009, while they were collecting ‘Miswaks’ from the trees of the area.
"While those men were collecting Miswaks, they found the bomb nearby a tree and IT exploded when one of them played with it," Al Ambouri told Yemen Observer over phone from the Al Majalah.
All the people came from Tihama in the coastal western province of Hodieda, to collect ‘Misswaks’ to export them to the neighboring Saudi Arabia. Miswaks are natural brushes for cleaning the teeth and mouth collected from trees of Arak which exist in the area of Al Majalah.
Intelligence arrest of journalist condemned
By Nasser Arrabyee 17/08/2010
The Yemeni Journalists Syndicate condemned the arrest of the journalist Abdul Elah Haidar Shea who was arrested by the intelligence on Monday August 16th, 2010 from his house in Sana’a.
In a statement, the Syndicate said the arrest of Shea was unjustifiable and called for an immediate release of the journalist.
The syndicate expressed surprise over intimidation of a well-known journalist who works in the state-run news agency (Saba). “He could have been summoned easily,” the statement said.
The syndicate held responsible the security authorities for “ kidnapping of Shea and abuses that he might be subjected to”.
The journalist Shea was arrested from his house for his statements about Al Qaeda, said the family on Monday.
A group of security men arrested the journalist Abdul Elah Haidar Shea, specializes in Al Qaeda affairs, after they stormed his house in Al Tahreer area in the Yemeni capital Sana’a.
The security took Shea to an unknown place along with his laptop , mobile and personal documents.
“ About 20 soldiers surrounded our house, and a group of officers with civil clothes stormed the house while we were having Iftar (dinner) and they took my brother by force,” said Khaled Shea, the brother of the journalist.
“When I interfered to ask why they want to arrest my brother, one of them told me to keep silent or he will kill me,” the brother said.
The security men continued to search the house even after Abdul Elah was handcuffed and blindfolded and taken to unknown place, said the brother. On July 12, 2010, a group men belonging to the intelligence agency (National Security Agency) kidnapped Abdul Elah, who has good contact with Al Qaeda leaders, from a Sana’a street and released him about 10 hours later.
Abdul Elah said at the time, they security told him that his statements to media about Al Qaeda were damaging the interests of the homeland. They warned him from doing that any more.
The Yemeni Journalists Syndicate condemned the arrest of the journalist Abdul Elah Haidar Shea who was arrested by the intelligence on Monday August 16th, 2010 from his house in Sana’a.
In a statement, the Syndicate said the arrest of Shea was unjustifiable and called for an immediate release of the journalist.
The syndicate expressed surprise over intimidation of a well-known journalist who works in the state-run news agency (Saba). “He could have been summoned easily,” the statement said.
The syndicate held responsible the security authorities for “ kidnapping of Shea and abuses that he might be subjected to”.
The journalist Shea was arrested from his house for his statements about Al Qaeda, said the family on Monday.
A group of security men arrested the journalist Abdul Elah Haidar Shea, specializes in Al Qaeda affairs, after they stormed his house in Al Tahreer area in the Yemeni capital Sana’a.
The security took Shea to an unknown place along with his laptop , mobile and personal documents.
“ About 20 soldiers surrounded our house, and a group of officers with civil clothes stormed the house while we were having Iftar (dinner) and they took my brother by force,” said Khaled Shea, the brother of the journalist.
“When I interfered to ask why they want to arrest my brother, one of them told me to keep silent or he will kill me,” the brother said.
The security men continued to search the house even after Abdul Elah was handcuffed and blindfolded and taken to unknown place, said the brother. On July 12, 2010, a group men belonging to the intelligence agency (National Security Agency) kidnapped Abdul Elah, who has good contact with Al Qaeda leaders, from a Sana’a street and released him about 10 hours later.
Abdul Elah said at the time, they security told him that his statements to media about Al Qaeda were damaging the interests of the homeland. They warned him from doing that any more.
Al Qaeda suspects kill and injure four Yemeni security officials in less than a week
By Nasser Arrabyee, 17/08/2010
Three security officials were killed and the fourth was injured in southern Yemen by Al Qaeda suspects in less than a week.
The Yemeni Ministry of Interior said Tuesday security forces are hunting for three men accused of killing Sultan Abdul Kareem Al Sharabi, 36, who was in charge for the security operations in Al Mahfad district, Abyan province.
The three men were identified by the ministry as Abdullah Mohammed Abdullah, 27, Yaslem Ali Hadi Laksar, 35, and Salem Ali Hadi Laksar, 22.
On Monday August 16th, 2010, masked gunmen believed to Al Qaeda assassinated Kasem Abdul Kareem Al Dhale’e nearby his house in Zinjubar city, the capital of Abyan.
On the same day, the police director in Shakra district in Abyan province also, Mohammed Saeed Al Mawri, was slightly injured in an ambush made by a group of gunmen described by the government as terrorists.
Colonel Ali Abdul Kareem Fadhal Al Ban, the director of intelligence in the district of Tuban in Lahaj province south of Yemen was killed on Friday August 13th, 2010 in an ambush made by gunmen as he walked out from his house in the village of Al Hamra, about 10 km south of Al Huta, the capital of the province.
Al Ban, 40 , who was also in charge of the investigations with Al Qaeda suspects and separatists, survived two assassination attempts earlier this year. A total of 10 men accused of killing Al Ban were arrested on Sunday August 15th, 2010.
Three security officials were killed and the fourth was injured in southern Yemen by Al Qaeda suspects in less than a week.
The Yemeni Ministry of Interior said Tuesday security forces are hunting for three men accused of killing Sultan Abdul Kareem Al Sharabi, 36, who was in charge for the security operations in Al Mahfad district, Abyan province.
The three men were identified by the ministry as Abdullah Mohammed Abdullah, 27, Yaslem Ali Hadi Laksar, 35, and Salem Ali Hadi Laksar, 22.
On Monday August 16th, 2010, masked gunmen believed to Al Qaeda assassinated Kasem Abdul Kareem Al Dhale’e nearby his house in Zinjubar city, the capital of Abyan.
On the same day, the police director in Shakra district in Abyan province also, Mohammed Saeed Al Mawri, was slightly injured in an ambush made by a group of gunmen described by the government as terrorists.
Colonel Ali Abdul Kareem Fadhal Al Ban, the director of intelligence in the district of Tuban in Lahaj province south of Yemen was killed on Friday August 13th, 2010 in an ambush made by gunmen as he walked out from his house in the village of Al Hamra, about 10 km south of Al Huta, the capital of the province.
Al Ban, 40 , who was also in charge of the investigations with Al Qaeda suspects and separatists, survived two assassination attempts earlier this year. A total of 10 men accused of killing Al Ban were arrested on Sunday August 15th, 2010.
Rebels Seize 2 Government Facilities In North Yemen: Ministry
Source: Bernama, 17/08/2010
SANAA- Yemen's interior ministry said Monday a government office and a hospital in the troubled northern province of al-Jouf were seized by rebels, China's Xinhua news agency reported.Around 50 armed rebels exchanged fire with local residents who tried to prevent them from taking over the facilities, the ministry said in a statement posted on its website.
"The armed Houthi (rebels) have managed to take control of the provincial education office and a governmental hospital after clashes with the local residents," said the statement."The clashes stopped immediately after the Houthis seized the two government buildings," it added.
However, the statement did not mention the number of casulties and whether security guards of the buildings were engaged in the clashes is also unclear.Meanwhile, Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh met on Monday here with Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al Thani, official Saba news agency reported.
The two leaders discussed issues regarding reactivating the Doha peace agreement between the Yemeni government and northern rebels mediated by Qatar, said Saba.
The visit came nearly one month after Emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al- Thani met with Saleh on July 13, during which the two leaders agreed to reactivate the Doha peace agreement to cement the cease-fire deal between the northern rebels and the Yemeni government.
Since 2004, Yemen has witnessed sporadic battles between government troops and the Houthi rebels in the North.The government said the rebels were seeking to reestablish their clerical rule, which is overthrown by the 1962 Yemeni revolution that led to the creation of the Yemeni republic.
The government and the rebels signed a cease-fire deal mediated by Qatar at the beginning of 2008 in Doha, capital of Qatar, to end conflict in northern Yemen.On Aug 26, 2009, the government said the Doha agreement was over, saying the rebels should be responsible for the breakup.
On Feb 11, 2010, the government and the rebels struck another cease-fire agreement, but both sides were still trading accusations against each other over breaching the truce.
SANAA- Yemen's interior ministry said Monday a government office and a hospital in the troubled northern province of al-Jouf were seized by rebels, China's Xinhua news agency reported.Around 50 armed rebels exchanged fire with local residents who tried to prevent them from taking over the facilities, the ministry said in a statement posted on its website.
"The armed Houthi (rebels) have managed to take control of the provincial education office and a governmental hospital after clashes with the local residents," said the statement."The clashes stopped immediately after the Houthis seized the two government buildings," it added.
However, the statement did not mention the number of casulties and whether security guards of the buildings were engaged in the clashes is also unclear.Meanwhile, Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh met on Monday here with Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al Thani, official Saba news agency reported.
The two leaders discussed issues regarding reactivating the Doha peace agreement between the Yemeni government and northern rebels mediated by Qatar, said Saba.
The visit came nearly one month after Emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al- Thani met with Saleh on July 13, during which the two leaders agreed to reactivate the Doha peace agreement to cement the cease-fire deal between the northern rebels and the Yemeni government.
Since 2004, Yemen has witnessed sporadic battles between government troops and the Houthi rebels in the North.The government said the rebels were seeking to reestablish their clerical rule, which is overthrown by the 1962 Yemeni revolution that led to the creation of the Yemeni republic.
The government and the rebels signed a cease-fire deal mediated by Qatar at the beginning of 2008 in Doha, capital of Qatar, to end conflict in northern Yemen.On Aug 26, 2009, the government said the Doha agreement was over, saying the rebels should be responsible for the breakup.
On Feb 11, 2010, the government and the rebels struck another cease-fire agreement, but both sides were still trading accusations against each other over breaching the truce.
Monday, 16 August 2010
Al Qaeda suspects kill intelligence officer, and injure senior policeman
Al Qaeda suspects kill intelligence officer, and injure senior policeman
By Nasser Arrabyee /16/08/2010
Al Qaeda suspects killed an intelligence officer in the city of Zinjubar, the capital of Abyan province , south of Yemen, eyewitness said late Monday.
Kasem Al Dhale’e who worked at the intelligence office in Zinjubar was killed at the gate of his house in the city tonight, by a group of masked gunmen, said the eyewitness who heard the shootout and went immediately to the scene and saw the dead body.
The security officials confirmed the assassination of Kasem Ali Abdul Kareem Al Dhale’e, 50. The security officials said in a statement disseminated by the state-run media that separatists and saboteurs were behind the assassination.
The security officials also said in the statement that the police director in Shakra district in Abyan province , Mohammed Saeed Al Mawri, was survived an assassination attempt .
“Al Mawri was slightly injured in an ambush made by a group of terrorists,” said the statement.
Earlier today, the Ministry of Interior said it had tightened the security measures in seven provinces including Abyan where sabotage and terrorist acts are expected to happen.
The Ministry said in a statement published on its website (http://www.moi.gov.ye/) that the purpose of the measure is to foil any possible terrorist or sabotage acts in the provinces of Hudhrmout, Sayoun, Abyan, Shabwah, Mareb, Al Jawf and Sa’ada.
The Ministry also said that the security forces are continuing the chase of terrorists and saboteurs in those provinces.
The step came one day after President Ali Abdullah Saleh urged the senior security and military officials to raise alertness for maintaining security and stability.
By Nasser Arrabyee /16/08/2010
Al Qaeda suspects killed an intelligence officer in the city of Zinjubar, the capital of Abyan province , south of Yemen, eyewitness said late Monday.
Kasem Al Dhale’e who worked at the intelligence office in Zinjubar was killed at the gate of his house in the city tonight, by a group of masked gunmen, said the eyewitness who heard the shootout and went immediately to the scene and saw the dead body.
The security officials confirmed the assassination of Kasem Ali Abdul Kareem Al Dhale’e, 50. The security officials said in a statement disseminated by the state-run media that separatists and saboteurs were behind the assassination.
The security officials also said in the statement that the police director in Shakra district in Abyan province , Mohammed Saeed Al Mawri, was survived an assassination attempt .
“Al Mawri was slightly injured in an ambush made by a group of terrorists,” said the statement.
Earlier today, the Ministry of Interior said it had tightened the security measures in seven provinces including Abyan where sabotage and terrorist acts are expected to happen.
The Ministry said in a statement published on its website (http://www.moi.gov.ye/) that the purpose of the measure is to foil any possible terrorist or sabotage acts in the provinces of Hudhrmout, Sayoun, Abyan, Shabwah, Mareb, Al Jawf and Sa’ada.
The Ministry also said that the security forces are continuing the chase of terrorists and saboteurs in those provinces.
The step came one day after President Ali Abdullah Saleh urged the senior security and military officials to raise alertness for maintaining security and stability.
Al Qaeda suspects kill intelligence officer
By Nasser Arrabyee/16/08/2010
Al Qaeda suspects killed an intelligence officer in the city of Zinjubar, the capital of Abyan province , south of Yemen, eyewitness said late Monday.
Kasem Al Dhale’e who worked at the intelligence office in Zinjubar was killed at the gate of his house in the city tonight, by a group of masked gunmen, said the eyewitness who heard the shootout and went immediately to the scene and saw the dead body.
Earlier today, the Ministry of Interior said it had tightened the security measures in seven provinces including Abyan where sabotage and terrorist acts are expected to happen.
The Ministry said in a statement published on its website (http://www.moi.gov.ye/) that the purpose of the measure is to foil any possible terrorist or sabotage acts in the provinces of Hudhrmout, Sayoun, Abyan, Shabwah, Mareb, Al Jawf and Sa’ada.
The Ministry also said that the security forces are continuing the chase of terrorists and saboteurs in those provinces.
The step came one day after President Ali Abdullah Saleh urged the senior security and military officials to raise alertness for maintaining security and stability.
Al Qaeda suspects killed an intelligence officer in the city of Zinjubar, the capital of Abyan province , south of Yemen, eyewitness said late Monday.
Kasem Al Dhale’e who worked at the intelligence office in Zinjubar was killed at the gate of his house in the city tonight, by a group of masked gunmen, said the eyewitness who heard the shootout and went immediately to the scene and saw the dead body.
Earlier today, the Ministry of Interior said it had tightened the security measures in seven provinces including Abyan where sabotage and terrorist acts are expected to happen.
The Ministry said in a statement published on its website (http://www.moi.gov.ye/) that the purpose of the measure is to foil any possible terrorist or sabotage acts in the provinces of Hudhrmout, Sayoun, Abyan, Shabwah, Mareb, Al Jawf and Sa’ada.
The Ministry also said that the security forces are continuing the chase of terrorists and saboteurs in those provinces.
The step came one day after President Ali Abdullah Saleh urged the senior security and military officials to raise alertness for maintaining security and stability.
Yemeni journalist arrested from his house
By Nasser Arrabyee 16/08/2010
A Yemeni journalist was arrested from his house for his statements about Al Qaeda, said the family on Monday. A group of security men arrested the journalist Abdul Elah Haidar Shea, specializes in Al Qaeda affairs, after they stormed his house in Al Tahreer area in the Yemeni capital Sana’a.
The security took Haidar to an unknown place along with his laptop , mobile and personal documents.“ About 20 soldiers surrounded our house, and a group of officers with civil clothes stormed the house while we were having Iftar (dinner) and they took my brother by force,” said Khaled Shea, the brother of the journalist.
“When I interfered to ask why they want to arrest my brother, one of them told me to keep silent or he will kill me,” the brother said.The security men continued to search the house even after Abdul Elah was handcuffed and blindfolded and taken to unknown place, said the brother.
On July 12, 2010, a group men belonging to the intelligence agency (National Security Agency) kidnapped Abdul Elah, who has good contact with Al Qaeda leaders, from a Sana’a street and released him about 10 hours later.
Abdul Elah said at the time, they security told him that his statements to media about Al Qaeda were damaging the interests of the homeland. They warned him from doing that any more.
A Yemeni journalist was arrested from his house for his statements about Al Qaeda, said the family on Monday. A group of security men arrested the journalist Abdul Elah Haidar Shea, specializes in Al Qaeda affairs, after they stormed his house in Al Tahreer area in the Yemeni capital Sana’a.
The security took Haidar to an unknown place along with his laptop , mobile and personal documents.“ About 20 soldiers surrounded our house, and a group of officers with civil clothes stormed the house while we were having Iftar (dinner) and they took my brother by force,” said Khaled Shea, the brother of the journalist.
“When I interfered to ask why they want to arrest my brother, one of them told me to keep silent or he will kill me,” the brother said.The security men continued to search the house even after Abdul Elah was handcuffed and blindfolded and taken to unknown place, said the brother.
On July 12, 2010, a group men belonging to the intelligence agency (National Security Agency) kidnapped Abdul Elah, who has good contact with Al Qaeda leaders, from a Sana’a street and released him about 10 hours later.
Abdul Elah said at the time, they security told him that his statements to media about Al Qaeda were damaging the interests of the homeland. They warned him from doing that any more.
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