Source: The Economist, 30/09/2010
THE mountains of Yemen are covered in green terraces growing qat, a mildly narcotic plant that takes up more than half the country’s arable land. Its shoots are gathered daily, packed in bags or wrapped in leaves and carried by lorry to noontime markets. A big fistful goes for about $2, depending on provenance, tenderness and taste.
In Sana’a, lunch is often large but hasty, eaten quickly to line the stomach for an afternoon’s chewing. Those not invited to a mafraj—a sunlit living-room at the top of Yemeni homes—chew qat in the street or at work.
It was not always like this. Thirty years ago, chewing qat leaves for their curious effect of physical relaxation and mental stimulation was an occasional pastime. Now more than half of Yemenis chew it daily. This has bad effects.
A World Bank report estimates that a quarter of working hours are spent chewing and that Yemenis spend money on qat instead of food for their often malnourished families. Irrigating qat is also a drain on water reserves that are anyway drying up fast. And it can cause oral cancer. A local pundit, frustrated by people’s reluctance to protest against Yemen’s poverty, corruption and violence, describes the people as “anaesthetised by qat”.
But proposals put forward by foreign lobbies and backed by the World Bank to eliminate the leaf have been met with dismay. At least 2,000 tonnes of qat are bought and sold in Yemen every day. This transfers money to the 70% of the population living in the countryside.
It supports more than 2.5m people and may discourage the growth of urban slums in a poor country with a fast-growing population. Alternative crops would be less profitable. Yemenis and Yemen-lovers bridle at the idea that this is a nation on drugs, pointing out that qat is weaker and less dangerous than alcohol.
Chewing qat is an unproductive hobby that has grown up in an unproductive country. One of Yemen’s millions of civil servants says he chews at work because there is little else to do.
The civil service is a social safety-net, paying its workers little money for less labour, but consuming government resources and stifling reform. Fuel subsidies, which make diesel-powered wells cheap to operate, encourage the cultivation of qat.
But as corrupt elites exploit subsidised fuel for their own gain, these handouts are unlikely to be cut anytime soon. A messy, tooth-rotting waste of time it may be, but qat is a symptom not a cause of Yemen’s problems.
Thursday, 30 September 2010
Yemen FM confirms US strikes on Qaeda
Source: AFP, 30/09/2010
Yemen's foreign minister acknowledged the United States has launched attacks on Al-Qaeda in his country in an interview published on Thursday, the first confirmation from Sanaa of a US military role.
Abu Bakr al-Kurbi told the Saudi-owned pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat that the US strikes were suspended in December because his government viewed them as counterproductive.
"Fighting Al-Qaeda is the responsibility of security and anti-terrorism forces in Yemen," Kurbi said.
However, the New York Times reported in mid August that the US military carried out a secret air strike in May against a suspected Al-Qaeda target in Yemen, killing a deputy provincial governor in the process.
According to the paper, the strike was a secret mission by the US military, and was at least the fourth such assault on Al-Qaeda in the mountains and deserts of Yemen since December.
The United States operates a major counter-terrorism base in Djibouti just across the strategic Bab al-Mandab strait from Yemen.
In the interview, Kurbi also said that while Yemen had launched a manhunt for US-born jihadist preacher Anwar al-Awlaqi, who is on a US most-wanted list, it would not hand him over if it succeeded in capturing him.
"Awlaqi is in an area where we are conducting operations against Al-Qaeda, and he is among those targeted for arrest in these operations," the Yemeni foreign minister said.
"The US has already requested the extradition of other Yemenis holding US citizenship, but we refused because the Yemeni constitution prohibits the extradition of a Yemeni citizen to a third country. This applies to Awlaqi."
In April, a US official said the Obama administration had authorised the targeted killing of Awlaqi, after intelligence agencies concluded the Muslim cleric was directly involved in anti-US plots.
Born in the southwestern US state of New Mexico, Awlaqi, 39, rose to prominence last year after he was linked 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 December 25.
at-wd/kir
Yemen's foreign minister acknowledged the United States has launched attacks on Al-Qaeda in his country in an interview published on Thursday, the first confirmation from Sanaa of a US military role.
Abu Bakr al-Kurbi told the Saudi-owned pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat that the US strikes were suspended in December because his government viewed them as counterproductive.
"Fighting Al-Qaeda is the responsibility of security and anti-terrorism forces in Yemen," Kurbi said.
However, the New York Times reported in mid August that the US military carried out a secret air strike in May against a suspected Al-Qaeda target in Yemen, killing a deputy provincial governor in the process.
According to the paper, the strike was a secret mission by the US military, and was at least the fourth such assault on Al-Qaeda in the mountains and deserts of Yemen since December.
The United States operates a major counter-terrorism base in Djibouti just across the strategic Bab al-Mandab strait from Yemen.
In the interview, Kurbi also said that while Yemen had launched a manhunt for US-born jihadist preacher Anwar al-Awlaqi, who is on a US most-wanted list, it would not hand him over if it succeeded in capturing him.
"Awlaqi is in an area where we are conducting operations against Al-Qaeda, and he is among those targeted for arrest in these operations," the Yemeni foreign minister said.
"The US has already requested the extradition of other Yemenis holding US citizenship, but we refused because the Yemeni constitution prohibits the extradition of a Yemeni citizen to a third country. This applies to Awlaqi."
In April, a US official said the Obama administration had authorised the targeted killing of Awlaqi, after intelligence agencies concluded the Muslim cleric was directly involved in anti-US plots.
Born in the southwestern US state of New Mexico, Awlaqi, 39, rose to prominence last year after he was linked 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 December 25.
at-wd/kir
Tit-for tat attacks by Al Qaeda in Yemen
By Nasser Arrabyee/30/09/2010
Al Qaeda has retaliated quickly after Yemen’s security forces drove them out from Al Huta village, in the southern province of Shabwa earlier this week.
Al Qaeda tried, unsuccessfully late Wednesday , to assassinate the military, security and political leaders who led and supervised the campaign against them in Al Huta.
One soldier at least was killed and seven others injured when Al Qaeda fighters ambushed the governor of Shabwa Ali Al Ahmadi, deputy chief of general staff, Salem Al Kotn, security director, Ahmad Al Makdashi and other officials in the area of Yashbom, between Atak and Al Saeed. The security forces are chasing after the attackers who used RPGs to strike the convoy of the officials.
“ the attackers were Al Qaeda and separatists,” security director of Shabwah said after the incident. The officials were in their way back to Atak, the capital of Shabwah, from Al Saeed area, where they had lunch in the house of the deputy chief of the general staff Salem Al Kotn.
Al Saeed area includes the village of the extremist Yemeni-American cleric Anwar Al Awlaki, who is wanted dead or alive for the CIA, and who is believed to be hiding there.
“Al Qaeda attacks now are based on three motives: to prove they are still strong, to take revenge, and to recruit,” said Saeed Al Jemhi, chairman of the Al Jemhi Centre for Studies, a recently established think-tank specialized in Al Qaeda affairs.
Al Jemhi believes that almost 50 percent of the fighters and leaders of Al Qaeda in Yemen are Saudi.
“Saudis are important for finance and for experience,” he said.
The Yemeni forces did not find any fighters of Al Qaeda in town of Al Huta after retaking it early Friday September 24th, 2010.
The storm came after four days of complete siege on the town where about 100 Al Qaeda fighters were cornered by American-trained anti-terror forces from all directions according security and military officials .
The government said after controlling the town that five Al Qaeda fighters and two soldiers were killed and 32 Al Qaeda suspects were arrested many others from both sides injured during all Al Huta operations. The security forces are chasing after the remaining operatives of Al Qaeda in the neighboring mountainous areas between Shabwah and Hudhrmout in the east of the country according to the government officials.
Local residents, however, say that Al Qaeda fighters escaped from the western direction of Al Huta and went to Mareb province , one of the stronghold of Al Qaeda . about 250 km east of the capital Sana’a.
“Al Qaeda realized at the end that the army would destroy the town, so they withdrew, they know what they were doing, and the army was lying when they said they surrounded the town from all directions,” said Abu Ahmed from Al Huta over phone. “I think they went to Mareb because they escaped from western part of the town in the direction of Mareb, they know what they are doing.”
The opposition abroad who inspire the separatist movement in the south accuses the government of using Al Qaeda as a justification to strike separatists and to divert the attention of the world from the southern issue.
“The attack on Al Huta was designed to secure “financial assistance under the pretext of fighting terrorism, and to divert the attention of the leaders of the world from discussing the southern issue from political aspect,” said Ali Salem al-Baidh, the former president of the south before unity in 1990 and who is based in Germany now and calling for separation.
While the Yemeni security forces were combing the town of Al Huta on Friday, September 24th, delegations from about 27 countries from GCC, EU, US, Japan and other international agencies and donors (known as Friends of Yemen) were in a meeting in New York to assess a previous plan to help Yemen get out from its political, economic, development and security problems. The Friends of Yemen said in a statement they support unity, security, and stability of Yemen.
The US plans to give Yemen $1.2 billion in military aid to fight Al Qaida over the upcoming six years. The US military assistance to Yemen for the 2010 increased 155 million US$.
The government from its side accuses the separatists of cooperating and coordinating with Al Qaeda despite the contradicting ideologies of them.
Observers say the separatist and Al Qaeda are only exploiting each to strike the common enemy, the government.
“ Because people are angry from the deteriorating economic situation, you can not differentiate between Al Qaeda and separatists and all against the government, and poor and unemployed young people look at them as heroes,” Kasem Khaleel, a social figure from the southern province of Abyan.
What happen in Al Huta this month had happened last August in Lawdar in the southern province of Abyan where about 30- 40 Al Qaeda fighters escaped after five days of fierce confrontations in which about 33 people were killed including 15 Al Qaeda militants and 11 soldiers were killed.
“They used three pick-up cars and escaped from one of the security check points, the security soldiers let them go at the end,” said Kasem Khaleel quoting local eyewitnesses.
Most of those who escaped from Lawdar last August are believed to have fought with Al Huta group.
The war between Al Qaeda and the Yemeni forces is open and continuing not only in the unstable south but almost everywhere.
On Saturday September 25th, 2010, 10 intelligence officers were injured three of them seriously, when a group of gunmen believed to be Al Qaeda supporters opened fire on a bus carrying soldiers belonging to the Political Security Agency, the intelligence, in the area of Shamlan, a northern outskirt of the Yemeni capital Sana’a. Four suspects were arrested later in the day after security forces were deployed in the capital . This attack came few days after Al Qaeda put 55 security officials by names as legitimate targets .
Al Qaeda has retaliated quickly after Yemen’s security forces drove them out from Al Huta village, in the southern province of Shabwa earlier this week.
Al Qaeda tried, unsuccessfully late Wednesday , to assassinate the military, security and political leaders who led and supervised the campaign against them in Al Huta.
One soldier at least was killed and seven others injured when Al Qaeda fighters ambushed the governor of Shabwa Ali Al Ahmadi, deputy chief of general staff, Salem Al Kotn, security director, Ahmad Al Makdashi and other officials in the area of Yashbom, between Atak and Al Saeed. The security forces are chasing after the attackers who used RPGs to strike the convoy of the officials.
“ the attackers were Al Qaeda and separatists,” security director of Shabwah said after the incident. The officials were in their way back to Atak, the capital of Shabwah, from Al Saeed area, where they had lunch in the house of the deputy chief of the general staff Salem Al Kotn.
Al Saeed area includes the village of the extremist Yemeni-American cleric Anwar Al Awlaki, who is wanted dead or alive for the CIA, and who is believed to be hiding there.
“Al Qaeda attacks now are based on three motives: to prove they are still strong, to take revenge, and to recruit,” said Saeed Al Jemhi, chairman of the Al Jemhi Centre for Studies, a recently established think-tank specialized in Al Qaeda affairs.
Al Jemhi believes that almost 50 percent of the fighters and leaders of Al Qaeda in Yemen are Saudi.
“Saudis are important for finance and for experience,” he said.
The Yemeni forces did not find any fighters of Al Qaeda in town of Al Huta after retaking it early Friday September 24th, 2010.
The storm came after four days of complete siege on the town where about 100 Al Qaeda fighters were cornered by American-trained anti-terror forces from all directions according security and military officials .
The government said after controlling the town that five Al Qaeda fighters and two soldiers were killed and 32 Al Qaeda suspects were arrested many others from both sides injured during all Al Huta operations. The security forces are chasing after the remaining operatives of Al Qaeda in the neighboring mountainous areas between Shabwah and Hudhrmout in the east of the country according to the government officials.
Local residents, however, say that Al Qaeda fighters escaped from the western direction of Al Huta and went to Mareb province , one of the stronghold of Al Qaeda . about 250 km east of the capital Sana’a.
“Al Qaeda realized at the end that the army would destroy the town, so they withdrew, they know what they were doing, and the army was lying when they said they surrounded the town from all directions,” said Abu Ahmed from Al Huta over phone. “I think they went to Mareb because they escaped from western part of the town in the direction of Mareb, they know what they are doing.”
The opposition abroad who inspire the separatist movement in the south accuses the government of using Al Qaeda as a justification to strike separatists and to divert the attention of the world from the southern issue.
“The attack on Al Huta was designed to secure “financial assistance under the pretext of fighting terrorism, and to divert the attention of the leaders of the world from discussing the southern issue from political aspect,” said Ali Salem al-Baidh, the former president of the south before unity in 1990 and who is based in Germany now and calling for separation.
While the Yemeni security forces were combing the town of Al Huta on Friday, September 24th, delegations from about 27 countries from GCC, EU, US, Japan and other international agencies and donors (known as Friends of Yemen) were in a meeting in New York to assess a previous plan to help Yemen get out from its political, economic, development and security problems. The Friends of Yemen said in a statement they support unity, security, and stability of Yemen.
The US plans to give Yemen $1.2 billion in military aid to fight Al Qaida over the upcoming six years. The US military assistance to Yemen for the 2010 increased 155 million US$.
The government from its side accuses the separatists of cooperating and coordinating with Al Qaeda despite the contradicting ideologies of them.
Observers say the separatist and Al Qaeda are only exploiting each to strike the common enemy, the government.
“ Because people are angry from the deteriorating economic situation, you can not differentiate between Al Qaeda and separatists and all against the government, and poor and unemployed young people look at them as heroes,” Kasem Khaleel, a social figure from the southern province of Abyan.
What happen in Al Huta this month had happened last August in Lawdar in the southern province of Abyan where about 30- 40 Al Qaeda fighters escaped after five days of fierce confrontations in which about 33 people were killed including 15 Al Qaeda militants and 11 soldiers were killed.
“They used three pick-up cars and escaped from one of the security check points, the security soldiers let them go at the end,” said Kasem Khaleel quoting local eyewitnesses.
Most of those who escaped from Lawdar last August are believed to have fought with Al Huta group.
The war between Al Qaeda and the Yemeni forces is open and continuing not only in the unstable south but almost everywhere.
On Saturday September 25th, 2010, 10 intelligence officers were injured three of them seriously, when a group of gunmen believed to be Al Qaeda supporters opened fire on a bus carrying soldiers belonging to the Political Security Agency, the intelligence, in the area of Shamlan, a northern outskirt of the Yemeni capital Sana’a. Four suspects were arrested later in the day after security forces were deployed in the capital . This attack came few days after Al Qaeda put 55 security officials by names as legitimate targets .
Wednesday, 29 September 2010
Soldier dies as militants ambush governor, army officials in Yemen
Source: dpa
29\09\2010
Suspected al-Qaeda militants ambushed a convoy carrying the governor of a southern Yemeni province and military officials on Wednesday, killing a soldier and injuring four officers, provincial sources said.
The assailants opened fire on five cars carrying provincial and army officials, including the governor of Shabwa, Ali Hassan al- Ahmadi, and the military's deputy chief of staff, Major General Salem Qatan, the sources told the German Press Agency dpa.
Both officials survived the ambush unharmed, the sources said.
The attack occurred as the convoy drove on a road in al-Saeed district of Shabwa, around 579 kilometres south-east of the capital Sana'a, they said.
This was the latest in a series of attacks by al-Qaeda in southern Yemen on police and military targets in recent months. The attacks have claimed dozens of lives.
29\09\2010
Suspected al-Qaeda militants ambushed a convoy carrying the governor of a southern Yemeni province and military officials on Wednesday, killing a soldier and injuring four officers, provincial sources said.
The assailants opened fire on five cars carrying provincial and army officials, including the governor of Shabwa, Ali Hassan al- Ahmadi, and the military's deputy chief of staff, Major General Salem Qatan, the sources told the German Press Agency dpa.
Both officials survived the ambush unharmed, the sources said.
The attack occurred as the convoy drove on a road in al-Saeed district of Shabwa, around 579 kilometres south-east of the capital Sana'a, they said.
This was the latest in a series of attacks by al-Qaeda in southern Yemen on police and military targets in recent months. The attacks have claimed dozens of lives.
International attention on Yemen is erratic
Source : Chatham House, by Kate Nevens
29/09/2010
International attention on Yemen is erratic. In the past year, media interest has been raised over a failed attempt to blow-up a US aeroplane on Christmas Day by a Nigerian student allegedly trained in Yemen; a suicide bomb attack aimed, unsuccessfully, at the British Ambassador in the capital city of Sana'a; and, most recently, reports of American cruise missiles being used in clandestine operations against al-Qaeda targets. For Western policy-makers and security analysts, Yemen hovers in the margins, commanding less attention than Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The international 'Friends of Yemen' contact group, who met last week seem keen to buck the trend and create a platform for sustained and coordinated engagement in the country. Security is not the only concern: Yemen's problems are that of a fragile state - social, political, economic and entrenched - and require more than a glancing thought.
A Support Package
The 'Friends' - comprised of ministers from 22 countries and members of the UN, EU, Gulf Cooperation Council, Arab League, IMF and World Bank - announced an ongoing 'package of support' for the government of Yemen. The package is 'all-inclusive', with support pledged for economic, development, justice and security sector reforms.
Elements of progress are already being celebrated. Fuel subsidies have been reduced (a major drain on national resources that tend to only benefit the ruling elite), a ceasefire holds - precariously - in conflict-affected Sa'dah region and the Yemeni government has agreed to an IMF programme of economic reform. The on-again off-again national dialogue between the regime and opposition parties is also, for the moment, on-again.
Yemen's Friends are eager to make it clear that this is a two-way relationship: much was made at the meeting of "mutual accountability" and linking support to Yemen's own commitments and performance. Pressure is being put on Yemen to guarantee human rights and political inclusion, as well as continue with the reform agenda.
Quick Fixes
In theory, the Friends' approach is grounded in the need to address Yemen's underlying challenges - a struggling economy, domestic conflict and a government perceived to be weak and, by some, illegitimate - paving the way for a secure, stable and developed Yemen in the long-term. However, in practice, it's clearly proving difficult even to achieve the short-term basics.
The challenge lies in framing the desired reforms in terms of incentives that appeal to elite self-interest. President Ali Abdullah Saleh has been in power for over 30 years, presiding over informal patronage networks that intersect and overlap with state bureaucracy. These complex power structures do not fit well with Western expectations of a strong central state. As it stands, the Friends of Yemen agenda is largely technical, and the power vested in these informal networks makes it difficult to push through technical reforms.
'Comprehensive Approach'
The 'comprehensive approach' agreed by the Friends is complicated by the US security agenda and the drive to eliminate al-Qaeda. In Washington, there is an ongoing debate between the Department of Defence, the State Department and the CIA over the right way to address the emerging threat. Although they agree with their Friends of Yemen counterparts on paper, the US still wants to see quick results and tends to prioritise counter-terrorism initiatives and short-term successes. Recent reports suggest the Pentagon is about to assign over a billion dollars of military aid to Yemen.
Anti-terrorism measures, particularly if badly handled, have a record in Yemen of driving popular resentment. Security sector assistance allows President Saleh's family to consolidate power through their military structures, which works directly against efforts to improve political inclusion. Security aid can also be self-defeating, as it leaves Saleh with little incentive to defeat al-Qaeda if they are also seen as a way to finance his regime.
A British Priority
The UK government is not only taking a lead on the process but also has a new national security priority on fragile states. Yemen, and the Friends of Yemen process, provide a test case scenario "to show that the international community can act effectively to support a fragile State in danger of failure."
29/09/2010
International attention on Yemen is erratic. In the past year, media interest has been raised over a failed attempt to blow-up a US aeroplane on Christmas Day by a Nigerian student allegedly trained in Yemen; a suicide bomb attack aimed, unsuccessfully, at the British Ambassador in the capital city of Sana'a; and, most recently, reports of American cruise missiles being used in clandestine operations against al-Qaeda targets. For Western policy-makers and security analysts, Yemen hovers in the margins, commanding less attention than Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The international 'Friends of Yemen' contact group, who met last week seem keen to buck the trend and create a platform for sustained and coordinated engagement in the country. Security is not the only concern: Yemen's problems are that of a fragile state - social, political, economic and entrenched - and require more than a glancing thought.
A Support Package
The 'Friends' - comprised of ministers from 22 countries and members of the UN, EU, Gulf Cooperation Council, Arab League, IMF and World Bank - announced an ongoing 'package of support' for the government of Yemen. The package is 'all-inclusive', with support pledged for economic, development, justice and security sector reforms.
Elements of progress are already being celebrated. Fuel subsidies have been reduced (a major drain on national resources that tend to only benefit the ruling elite), a ceasefire holds - precariously - in conflict-affected Sa'dah region and the Yemeni government has agreed to an IMF programme of economic reform. The on-again off-again national dialogue between the regime and opposition parties is also, for the moment, on-again.
Yemen's Friends are eager to make it clear that this is a two-way relationship: much was made at the meeting of "mutual accountability" and linking support to Yemen's own commitments and performance. Pressure is being put on Yemen to guarantee human rights and political inclusion, as well as continue with the reform agenda.
Quick Fixes
In theory, the Friends' approach is grounded in the need to address Yemen's underlying challenges - a struggling economy, domestic conflict and a government perceived to be weak and, by some, illegitimate - paving the way for a secure, stable and developed Yemen in the long-term. However, in practice, it's clearly proving difficult even to achieve the short-term basics.
The challenge lies in framing the desired reforms in terms of incentives that appeal to elite self-interest. President Ali Abdullah Saleh has been in power for over 30 years, presiding over informal patronage networks that intersect and overlap with state bureaucracy. These complex power structures do not fit well with Western expectations of a strong central state. As it stands, the Friends of Yemen agenda is largely technical, and the power vested in these informal networks makes it difficult to push through technical reforms.
'Comprehensive Approach'
The 'comprehensive approach' agreed by the Friends is complicated by the US security agenda and the drive to eliminate al-Qaeda. In Washington, there is an ongoing debate between the Department of Defence, the State Department and the CIA over the right way to address the emerging threat. Although they agree with their Friends of Yemen counterparts on paper, the US still wants to see quick results and tends to prioritise counter-terrorism initiatives and short-term successes. Recent reports suggest the Pentagon is about to assign over a billion dollars of military aid to Yemen.
Anti-terrorism measures, particularly if badly handled, have a record in Yemen of driving popular resentment. Security sector assistance allows President Saleh's family to consolidate power through their military structures, which works directly against efforts to improve political inclusion. Security aid can also be self-defeating, as it leaves Saleh with little incentive to defeat al-Qaeda if they are also seen as a way to finance his regime.
A British Priority
The UK government is not only taking a lead on the process but also has a new national security priority on fragile states. Yemen, and the Friends of Yemen process, provide a test case scenario "to show that the international community can act effectively to support a fragile State in danger of failure."
Yemen as much a threat as Afghanistan, report
Source: FT, By Andrew England 29/09/2010
Conflict and terrorist activity in Yemen pose as great a threat to international stability as the war in Afghanistan, according to a London School of Economics report.
The report says the significance of the “spokes of terror radiating outward from Yemen” is magnified because of the region’s geo-commercial importance. The troubled Arab state shares a long and porous border with Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil producer, and it lies in proximity to lawless Somalia and major waterways through which much of the world’s traded crude passes.
EDITOR’S CHOICE
Iran fear triggers arms surge - Sep-20Yemen arrests eight al-Qaeda suspects - Jul-11Comment: Yemen’s slide into hopelessness - Jun-21Yemen in talks with IMF over support - May-11British ambassador survives Yemen attack - Apr-26Yemen arrests al-Qaeda suspects - Mar-04“It can be plausibly argued that this presents at least as great a challenge as the ongoing military campaign in Afghanistan,” Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, a research fellow at LSE Global Governance, wrote in the LSE Research Magazine. “Looked at in cold geostrategic terms ... it is Yemeni instability that has exhibited a genuinely transnational and far-reaching threat over the past year.”
Yemen has come under increasing scrutiny since it was alleged that a Nigerian student who attempted to blow himself up on transatlantic passenger jet in the US on December 25 had trained in the Arab state. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which is based in Yemen, claimed responsibility for the attack and said it provided Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian, with the explosive device.
A radical Yemeni cleric, Anwar al-Awlaki, is also alleged to have been in communication with Mr Abdulmutallab, as well as an American Muslim soldier who went on a shooting rampage at Fort Hood last November.
US officials have described Yemen as an incubator for al-Qaeda and last month counter-terrorism officials said Washington was intensifying its focus on the “mortal threat” posed by militants based in the country.
Sana’a, which has previously been accused of turning a blind eye to the threat of al-Qaeda, has stepped up its campaign against militants this year. But human rights groups have complained that the crackdown has led to abuses and unlawful killings, while air strikes that have killed civilians have sparked uproar among local tribes.
Last week, thousands of people were forced to flee a town in the southern Shabwa province as the military battled suspected al-Qaeda members.
The government is also struggling with an on-off rebellion in the north, an increasingly active secessionist movement in the south, and a collapsing economy as the country’s oil reserves dwindle and its water resources decline at an alarming rate.
Ali Abdullah Saleh, the president, has ruled for three decades through a system of patronage in the highly tribal country and analysts say an absence of effective state institutions is at the core of many of Yemen’s problems.
“All the problems of Yemen emanate from poor governance, lack of rule of law and the massive corruption,” says Abdul Ghani al-Aryani, a Yemeni analyst. “We need to reform at the centre if we want to resolve the problems at the periphery.”
Mr Ulrichsen says Yemen’s travails should be a warning for other Gulf states that face the prospect of their oil resources – on which the region’s economies depend – run dry.
“Yemen is the canary in the coal mine – a danger sign of what can go wrong when a country fails to develop political legitimacy and build a sustainable, productive non-oil economy,” he says. “The challenges to government authority in southern and northern Yemen plainly demonstrate how existing socioeconomic discontent and regional marginalisation can fracture and fragment social cohesion.
“Similar fissures and unequal patterns of access to resources exist in the GCC (Gulf) states and could become transmitters of conflict in the future.”
Conflict and terrorist activity in Yemen pose as great a threat to international stability as the war in Afghanistan, according to a London School of Economics report.
The report says the significance of the “spokes of terror radiating outward from Yemen” is magnified because of the region’s geo-commercial importance. The troubled Arab state shares a long and porous border with Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil producer, and it lies in proximity to lawless Somalia and major waterways through which much of the world’s traded crude passes.
EDITOR’S CHOICE
Iran fear triggers arms surge - Sep-20Yemen arrests eight al-Qaeda suspects - Jul-11Comment: Yemen’s slide into hopelessness - Jun-21Yemen in talks with IMF over support - May-11British ambassador survives Yemen attack - Apr-26Yemen arrests al-Qaeda suspects - Mar-04“It can be plausibly argued that this presents at least as great a challenge as the ongoing military campaign in Afghanistan,” Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, a research fellow at LSE Global Governance, wrote in the LSE Research Magazine. “Looked at in cold geostrategic terms ... it is Yemeni instability that has exhibited a genuinely transnational and far-reaching threat over the past year.”
Yemen has come under increasing scrutiny since it was alleged that a Nigerian student who attempted to blow himself up on transatlantic passenger jet in the US on December 25 had trained in the Arab state. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which is based in Yemen, claimed responsibility for the attack and said it provided Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian, with the explosive device.
A radical Yemeni cleric, Anwar al-Awlaki, is also alleged to have been in communication with Mr Abdulmutallab, as well as an American Muslim soldier who went on a shooting rampage at Fort Hood last November.
US officials have described Yemen as an incubator for al-Qaeda and last month counter-terrorism officials said Washington was intensifying its focus on the “mortal threat” posed by militants based in the country.
Sana’a, which has previously been accused of turning a blind eye to the threat of al-Qaeda, has stepped up its campaign against militants this year. But human rights groups have complained that the crackdown has led to abuses and unlawful killings, while air strikes that have killed civilians have sparked uproar among local tribes.
Last week, thousands of people were forced to flee a town in the southern Shabwa province as the military battled suspected al-Qaeda members.
The government is also struggling with an on-off rebellion in the north, an increasingly active secessionist movement in the south, and a collapsing economy as the country’s oil reserves dwindle and its water resources decline at an alarming rate.
Ali Abdullah Saleh, the president, has ruled for three decades through a system of patronage in the highly tribal country and analysts say an absence of effective state institutions is at the core of many of Yemen’s problems.
“All the problems of Yemen emanate from poor governance, lack of rule of law and the massive corruption,” says Abdul Ghani al-Aryani, a Yemeni analyst. “We need to reform at the centre if we want to resolve the problems at the periphery.”
Mr Ulrichsen says Yemen’s travails should be a warning for other Gulf states that face the prospect of their oil resources – on which the region’s economies depend – run dry.
“Yemen is the canary in the coal mine – a danger sign of what can go wrong when a country fails to develop political legitimacy and build a sustainable, productive non-oil economy,” he says. “The challenges to government authority in southern and northern Yemen plainly demonstrate how existing socioeconomic discontent and regional marginalisation can fracture and fragment social cohesion.
“Similar fissures and unequal patterns of access to resources exist in the GCC (Gulf) states and could become transmitters of conflict in the future.”
A CPJ Special Report: In Yemen, brutal repression cloaked in law
Source: Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ),29/09/2010
New York-Extrajudicial abductions, intimidation, and crude censorship have marked the Yemeni government's record of repression for years, but President Ali Abdullah Saleh's administration is now erecting an elaborate legal structure intended to further restrict news coverage and provide a veneer of legitimacy for its brutal actions, the Committee to Protect Journalists finds in a new report.
"Taken together, the government's longstanding practice of violent repression and its new legalistic tactics are creating the worst climate for press freedom since the country's unification in 1990," CPJ's Mohamed Abdel Dayem writes. And in a strategically important country where international extremists have found safe haven, that is an alarming prospect.
The creation of an exceptional court to prosecute so-called press offenses has been the centerpiece of the government's escalating campaign of repression. The effort continues today with an array of legislative proposals that would set prohibitive financial barriers for broadcast and online news outlets, expand the definition of criminal defamation to include virtually any form of criticism of the president, and increase prison terms for critical news coverage to 10 years.
http://cpj.org/reports/2010/09/in-yemen-brutal-repression-cloaked-in-law.php
New York-Extrajudicial abductions, intimidation, and crude censorship have marked the Yemeni government's record of repression for years, but President Ali Abdullah Saleh's administration is now erecting an elaborate legal structure intended to further restrict news coverage and provide a veneer of legitimacy for its brutal actions, the Committee to Protect Journalists finds in a new report.
"Taken together, the government's longstanding practice of violent repression and its new legalistic tactics are creating the worst climate for press freedom since the country's unification in 1990," CPJ's Mohamed Abdel Dayem writes. And in a strategically important country where international extremists have found safe haven, that is an alarming prospect.
The creation of an exceptional court to prosecute so-called press offenses has been the centerpiece of the government's escalating campaign of repression. The effort continues today with an array of legislative proposals that would set prohibitive financial barriers for broadcast and online news outlets, expand the definition of criminal defamation to include virtually any form of criticism of the president, and increase prison terms for critical news coverage to 10 years.
http://cpj.org/reports/2010/09/in-yemen-brutal-repression-cloaked-in-law.php
Tuesday, 28 September 2010
Two Al Qaeda suspects arrested
By Nasser Arrabyee/28/09/2010
Two Al Qaeda suspects were arrested in sa’ada north of Yemen before implementing suicide attacks against vital interests, said the ministry of Interior Tuesday on its website.
The two suspects are aged 21-25 and one of them is Yemeni and other is Arab, the ministry said. Investigations have started with the two young men.
Two days ago, the ministry distributed names and pictures of eight men to the all the country’s security check points to be arrested as dangerous elements.
Two Al Qaeda suspects were arrested in sa’ada north of Yemen before implementing suicide attacks against vital interests, said the ministry of Interior Tuesday on its website.
The two suspects are aged 21-25 and one of them is Yemeni and other is Arab, the ministry said. Investigations have started with the two young men.
Two days ago, the ministry distributed names and pictures of eight men to the all the country’s security check points to be arrested as dangerous elements.
Hit and run style of Al Qaeda in Yemen
By Nasser Arrabyee/28/09/2010
The Yemeni forces did not find any fighters of Al Qaeda in the remote southern town of Al Huta in Shabwah province after retaking it early Friday September 24th, 2010.
The storm came after four days of complete siege on the town where about 100 Al Qaeda fighters were cornered by American-trained anti-terror forces from all directions according security and military officials .
So, where Al Qaeda fighters went ? Almost all the 20,000 population of the town were already out before the all-out offensive in which all kinds of weapons including fighter jets and helicopters were used.
The government said five Al Qaeda fighters and two soldiers were killed and 32 Al Qaeda suspects were arrested many others from both sides injured during all Al Huta operations. The security forces are chasing after the remaining operatives of Al Qaeda in the neighboring mountainous areas between Shabwah and Hudhrmout in the east of the country according to the government officials.
Local residents, however, say that Al Qaeda fighters escaped from the western direction of Al Huta and went to Mareb province , one of the stronghold of Al Qaeda . about 250 km east of the capital Sana’a.
“Al Qaeda realized at the end that the army would destroy the town, so they withdrew, they know what they were doing, and the army was lying when they said they surrounded the town from all directions,” said Abu Ahmed from Al Huta over phone. “I think they went to Mareb because they escaped from western part of the town in the direction of Mareb, they know what they are doing.”
The opposition abroad who inspire the separatist movement in the south accuses the government of using Al Qaeda as a justification to strike separatists and to divert the attention of the world from the southern issue.
“The attack on Al Huta was designed to secure “financial assistance under the pretext of fighting terrorism, and to divert the attention of the leaders of the world from discussing the southern issue from political aspect,” said Ali Salem al-Baidh, the former president of the south before unity in 1990 and who is based in Germany now and calling for separation.
While the Yemeni security forces were combing the town of Al Huta on Friday, September 24th, delegations from about 27 countries from GCC, EU, US, Japan and other international agencies and donors (known as Friends of Yemen) were in a meeting in New York to assess a previous plan to help Yemen get out from its political, economic, development and security problems. The Friends of Yemen said in a statement they support unity, security, and stability of Yemen.
The US plans to give Yemen $1.2 billion in military aid to fight Al Qaida over the upcoming six years.
The US military assistance to Yemen for the 2010 increased 155 million US$.
The government from its side accuses the separatists of cooperating and coordinating with Al Qaeda despite the contradicting ideologies of them.
Observers say the separatist and Al Qaeda are only exploiting each to strike the common enemy, the government.
“ Because people are angry from the deteriorating economic situation, you can not differentiate between Al Qaeda and separatists and all against the government, and poor and unemployed young people look at them as heroes,” Kasem Khaleel, a social figure from the southern province of Abyan.
What happen in Al Huta this month had happened last August in Lawdar in the southern province of Abyan where about 30- 40 Al Qaeda fighters escaped after five days of fierce confrontations in which about 33 people were killed including 15 Al Qaeda militants and 11 soldiers were killed.
“They used three pick-up cars and escaped from one of the security check points, the security soldiers let them go at the end,” said Kasem Khaleel quoting local eyewitnesses.
Most of those who escaped from Lawdar last August are believed to have fought with Al Huta group.
The war between Al Qaeda and the Yemeni forces is open and continuing not only in the unstable south but almost everywhere.
On Saturday September 25th, 2010, 10 intelligence officers were injured three of them seriously, when a group of gunmen believed to be Al Qaeda supporters opened fire on a bus carrying soldiers belonging to the Political Security Agency, the intelligence, in the area of Shamlan, a northern outskirt of the Yemeni capital Sana’a. Four suspects were arrested later in the day after security forces were deployed in the capital . This attack came few days after Al Qaeda put 55 security officials by names as legitimate targets .
“Their attacks now are based on three motives: to prove they are still strong, to take revenge, and to recruit,” said Saeed Al Jemhi, chairman of the Al Jemhi Centre for Studies, a recently established think-tank specialized in Al Qaeda affairs. Al Jemhi believes that almost 50 percent of the fighters and leaders of Al Qaeda in Yemen are Saudi.
“Saudis are important for finance and for experience,” he said.
It is not only the security forces who fight Al Qaeda but also the US-back government is using the courts to try the arrested militants.
On September 20th, 2010, four men including a German Iraqi were put on trial before the State Security Court for charges of planning to carry out terrorist acts against government and western interests in Yemen.
The State Security Court ruled on Tuesday September 21st, 2010, that a Yemeni journalist be kept in prison for 30 days more for completing the investigations. The Journalist Abdul Elah Haidar Shaea was arrested by the Yemeni intelligence from his house in Sana’a on August 16th, 2010. His file was submitted to the prosecution on September 14th.
The journalist Shaea became famous after he made an interview with the top leader of Al Qaeda in Yemen Nasser Al Wahaishi in Jaunary 2009, and an interview very late in the same year with the American-Yemeni extremist cleric Anwar Al Awlaki, who is wanted dead or alive for the CIA.
The government media say that among the accusations against Shaea is that “He affiliates to Al Qaeda and that he is the official spokesman for it , and the defender of it, and he offered the ‘Baya’ (oath and loyalty) to the leader of Al Qaeda Nasser Al Wahaishy, and he has relations with Anwar Al Awlaki, the wanted for security.”
Shaea, who works with the Yemeni official news agency Saba, appeared recently in the satellite channels particularly Al Jazeera as analyst with views critical to the government’s dealing with Al Qaeda.
The Yemeni forces did not find any fighters of Al Qaeda in the remote southern town of Al Huta in Shabwah province after retaking it early Friday September 24th, 2010.
The storm came after four days of complete siege on the town where about 100 Al Qaeda fighters were cornered by American-trained anti-terror forces from all directions according security and military officials .
So, where Al Qaeda fighters went ? Almost all the 20,000 population of the town were already out before the all-out offensive in which all kinds of weapons including fighter jets and helicopters were used.
The government said five Al Qaeda fighters and two soldiers were killed and 32 Al Qaeda suspects were arrested many others from both sides injured during all Al Huta operations. The security forces are chasing after the remaining operatives of Al Qaeda in the neighboring mountainous areas between Shabwah and Hudhrmout in the east of the country according to the government officials.
Local residents, however, say that Al Qaeda fighters escaped from the western direction of Al Huta and went to Mareb province , one of the stronghold of Al Qaeda . about 250 km east of the capital Sana’a.
“Al Qaeda realized at the end that the army would destroy the town, so they withdrew, they know what they were doing, and the army was lying when they said they surrounded the town from all directions,” said Abu Ahmed from Al Huta over phone. “I think they went to Mareb because they escaped from western part of the town in the direction of Mareb, they know what they are doing.”
The opposition abroad who inspire the separatist movement in the south accuses the government of using Al Qaeda as a justification to strike separatists and to divert the attention of the world from the southern issue.
“The attack on Al Huta was designed to secure “financial assistance under the pretext of fighting terrorism, and to divert the attention of the leaders of the world from discussing the southern issue from political aspect,” said Ali Salem al-Baidh, the former president of the south before unity in 1990 and who is based in Germany now and calling for separation.
While the Yemeni security forces were combing the town of Al Huta on Friday, September 24th, delegations from about 27 countries from GCC, EU, US, Japan and other international agencies and donors (known as Friends of Yemen) were in a meeting in New York to assess a previous plan to help Yemen get out from its political, economic, development and security problems. The Friends of Yemen said in a statement they support unity, security, and stability of Yemen.
The US plans to give Yemen $1.2 billion in military aid to fight Al Qaida over the upcoming six years.
The US military assistance to Yemen for the 2010 increased 155 million US$.
The government from its side accuses the separatists of cooperating and coordinating with Al Qaeda despite the contradicting ideologies of them.
Observers say the separatist and Al Qaeda are only exploiting each to strike the common enemy, the government.
“ Because people are angry from the deteriorating economic situation, you can not differentiate between Al Qaeda and separatists and all against the government, and poor and unemployed young people look at them as heroes,” Kasem Khaleel, a social figure from the southern province of Abyan.
What happen in Al Huta this month had happened last August in Lawdar in the southern province of Abyan where about 30- 40 Al Qaeda fighters escaped after five days of fierce confrontations in which about 33 people were killed including 15 Al Qaeda militants and 11 soldiers were killed.
“They used three pick-up cars and escaped from one of the security check points, the security soldiers let them go at the end,” said Kasem Khaleel quoting local eyewitnesses.
Most of those who escaped from Lawdar last August are believed to have fought with Al Huta group.
The war between Al Qaeda and the Yemeni forces is open and continuing not only in the unstable south but almost everywhere.
On Saturday September 25th, 2010, 10 intelligence officers were injured three of them seriously, when a group of gunmen believed to be Al Qaeda supporters opened fire on a bus carrying soldiers belonging to the Political Security Agency, the intelligence, in the area of Shamlan, a northern outskirt of the Yemeni capital Sana’a. Four suspects were arrested later in the day after security forces were deployed in the capital . This attack came few days after Al Qaeda put 55 security officials by names as legitimate targets .
“Their attacks now are based on three motives: to prove they are still strong, to take revenge, and to recruit,” said Saeed Al Jemhi, chairman of the Al Jemhi Centre for Studies, a recently established think-tank specialized in Al Qaeda affairs. Al Jemhi believes that almost 50 percent of the fighters and leaders of Al Qaeda in Yemen are Saudi.
“Saudis are important for finance and for experience,” he said.
It is not only the security forces who fight Al Qaeda but also the US-back government is using the courts to try the arrested militants.
On September 20th, 2010, four men including a German Iraqi were put on trial before the State Security Court for charges of planning to carry out terrorist acts against government and western interests in Yemen.
The State Security Court ruled on Tuesday September 21st, 2010, that a Yemeni journalist be kept in prison for 30 days more for completing the investigations. The Journalist Abdul Elah Haidar Shaea was arrested by the Yemeni intelligence from his house in Sana’a on August 16th, 2010. His file was submitted to the prosecution on September 14th.
The journalist Shaea became famous after he made an interview with the top leader of Al Qaeda in Yemen Nasser Al Wahaishi in Jaunary 2009, and an interview very late in the same year with the American-Yemeni extremist cleric Anwar Al Awlaki, who is wanted dead or alive for the CIA.
The government media say that among the accusations against Shaea is that “He affiliates to Al Qaeda and that he is the official spokesman for it , and the defender of it, and he offered the ‘Baya’ (oath and loyalty) to the leader of Al Qaeda Nasser Al Wahaishy, and he has relations with Anwar Al Awlaki, the wanted for security.”
Shaea, who works with the Yemeni official news agency Saba, appeared recently in the satellite channels particularly Al Jazeera as analyst with views critical to the government’s dealing with Al Qaeda.
Al-Qaida Takes Lessons Learned To Yemen
Source: GlobalPost
By : Ellen Knickmeyer 28\09\2010
Yemeni soldiers streamed into the streets of the capital this weekend after a deadly attack on intelligence services by alleged al-Qaida gunmen, underscoring the impact of what U.S.
government officials and experts on terrorism say has become the world’s most active and dangerous offshoot of al-Qaida.
With dozens of attacks this year on spy and security forces, including deadly raids into the very headquarters of Yemen’s mukhabarat, or intelligence branch, Yemen's newly invigorated al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula is reshaping the mission, strategy and tactics of Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida brand, experts say.
And the Yemeni government is now stepping up its effort to confront this insurgency and doing so with pledges of more than $1 billion in military aid from the United States.
'Raging War'
At this point, there is a "raging war taking place between al-Qaida in Yemen and the Yemeni government," said Fawaz Gerges, professor of Middle East politics at the London School of Economics, and a longtime scholar of al-Qaida.
Diversifying from al-Qaida's core vision of mass-casualty attacks upon people of the distant, hated West, al-Qaida fighters in Yemen have redirected their aim squarely upon the weak, fumbling and corrupt government of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Saleh this summer sided more than ever with the United States against the al-Qaida forces who have made their home in his country, proclaiming al-Qaida the greatest danger to his country.
Increasing the threat, this is an incarnation of al-Qaida that has learned from the mistakes of al-Qaida in Iraq and other battle zones, experts say. This is an al-Qaida driven by ardent and experienced Saudi veterans of campaigns against U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“Before, they were hiding in the mountains, in deserted places,” said Saeed Ali al-Jemhi, a Yemeni author on al-Qaida. “Now, they are hitting in the cities.”
These days, bin Laden, the founder of al-Qaida and the architect of the Sept. 11 attacks, is believed by many terrorism experts and counterterrorism officials to be hiding along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.
Al-Qaida groups in Iraq and in the Sahara have floundered after alienating their Sunni Muslim base. Al-Qaida’s offshoots in Somalia and Indonesia continue to struggle to take form.
Coordinated, Motivated
But here, al-Qaida in Yemen, made up of a few hundred members at most, is coordinated, motivated and on the attack, terrorism experts say.
Al-Qaida fighters have hit checkpoints, police stations, intelligence offices and, in June, the high-walled, tightly guarded compound of Yemen’s domestic intelligence agency in the port city of Aden, killing 13 in one well-planned assault.
This month, al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula published the names of 55 Yemeni security and intelligence officials it intended to kill.
Saturday morning, suspected al-Qaida gunmen opened fire on a bus carrying guards for one of Yemen’s intelligence branches, according to news reports. The barrage killed at least two aboard the bus.
Yemeni security forces typically have been able to shield the capital, Sanaa, from most of the violence that hits elsewhere in the country; in response to the attack on the bus, Yemeni troops took up positions in roadways throughout the city. Soldiers flagged down vehicles to peer inside at the occupants.
Adding to the pressure on Saleh’s government, the United States in particular has pressed Yemen hard for decisive action after the failed December attack on a Detroit-bound airliner, by a man trained for the attack by al-Qaida in Yemen.
Last month, an al-Qaida ambush in a market in southern Yemen helped push Saleh and his largely family-run security forces into Yemen’s first full-on assault on al-Qaida.
In that attack, witnesses and townspeople said, armed and bearded al-Qaida fighters came upon a dozen or so Yemeni soldiers in an open-air market in the city of Lowdar.
At the time, the souk’s stalls of okra, potatoes, tomatoes, rice and fish were crowded with shoppers buying food to break the daily fast of the Muslim holiday of Ramadan.
The Yemeni soldiers pleaded for their lives — even handed over their guns, unasked, said Ali Saleh, who was shopping in the market that day.
"We are Muslim," shoppers heard the Yemeni soldiers tell the al-Qaida gunmen.
The al-Qaida fighters opened fire regardless. By the next day, Aug. 20, at least two of the Yemeni soldiers had died. That afternoon, hundreds of Yemeni troops rolled toward Lowdar, in Yemen’s largest mobilization yet against the terrorist group.
Fighting between al-Qaida and Yemeni forces intensified again last week, when Yemeni forces surrounded the southeastern town of Huta with tanks and artillery.
Security officials pledged full-scale airstrikes, and ordered all innocent civilians out. By Friday morning, Yemen’s military said it had taken the town.
In both Lowdar and Huta, however, the main force of the al-Qaida fighters present — two or three score, or more — somehow managed to escape the Yemeni cordons.
Timing Of Latest Government Assault
Critics say Yemen’s government timed the assault to a visit last week by U.S. National Security Adviser John Brennan, an advocate of tougher action on al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula.
It was also no coincidence that as the government assault on Huta peaked Friday, representatives of the United States and roughly 30 other nations and agencies were meeting in New York to consider how to help Yemen confront its extremist threats, critics of the government say. The group, Friends of Yemen, together has pledged billions of dollars.
The siege of Huta was designed to secure “financial assistance under the pretext of fighting terrorism,” Ali Salem al-Baid, a leader of a separate separatist movement in Yemen’s south, told reporters.
The U.S. military wants to give Yemen $1.2 billion in military aid to fight al-Qaida.
U.S. military officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Americans played a role, but a limited one, in the assault on Huta.
While experts say the threat poised by al-Qaida in Yemen is real, it is only one of many insurgencies in Yemen.
And economists say the greatest danger in Yemen remains the government’s own corrupt and bungled management of Yemen’s stunted economy, which has produced a persistent 40 percent unemployment rate and a cadre of under-educated and disaffected young men.
After al-Qaida in Iraq doomed itself by violent extremism that cost it support even among Iraq’s Sunnis, al-Qaida fighters in Yemen are trying to be good guests among Yemen’s Sunni tribes.
They have even reached out to the South’s traditionally socialist and secular separatist movement, urging all Yemen’s Muslims to unite against the Yemeni government.
“This is a major change in tactic,” Gerges said. “They are really trying to learn from past mistakes.’’
And while other al-Qaida branches also have targeted forces of their local countries, and while al-Qaida in Yemen still pursues Western targets as well, the concentrated campaign against Yemeni forces is new.
In the past, the distinguishing characteristic of al-Qaida, compared to earlier Islamist extremist groups, was its targeting of the “Far Enemy’’ — the United States and its allies — over the “Near Enemy’’ — the governments of the Muslim Middle East.
Gerges, the al-Qaida expert, asks: Does the battle in Yemen show that international jihad has run its course — or that for al-Qaida, Western-allied Arab governments have now become one with the West?
"My take is, the answer is both," he said.
By : Ellen Knickmeyer 28\09\2010
Yemeni soldiers streamed into the streets of the capital this weekend after a deadly attack on intelligence services by alleged al-Qaida gunmen, underscoring the impact of what U.S.
government officials and experts on terrorism say has become the world’s most active and dangerous offshoot of al-Qaida.
With dozens of attacks this year on spy and security forces, including deadly raids into the very headquarters of Yemen’s mukhabarat, or intelligence branch, Yemen's newly invigorated al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula is reshaping the mission, strategy and tactics of Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida brand, experts say.
And the Yemeni government is now stepping up its effort to confront this insurgency and doing so with pledges of more than $1 billion in military aid from the United States.
'Raging War'
At this point, there is a "raging war taking place between al-Qaida in Yemen and the Yemeni government," said Fawaz Gerges, professor of Middle East politics at the London School of Economics, and a longtime scholar of al-Qaida.
Diversifying from al-Qaida's core vision of mass-casualty attacks upon people of the distant, hated West, al-Qaida fighters in Yemen have redirected their aim squarely upon the weak, fumbling and corrupt government of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Saleh this summer sided more than ever with the United States against the al-Qaida forces who have made their home in his country, proclaiming al-Qaida the greatest danger to his country.
Increasing the threat, this is an incarnation of al-Qaida that has learned from the mistakes of al-Qaida in Iraq and other battle zones, experts say. This is an al-Qaida driven by ardent and experienced Saudi veterans of campaigns against U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“Before, they were hiding in the mountains, in deserted places,” said Saeed Ali al-Jemhi, a Yemeni author on al-Qaida. “Now, they are hitting in the cities.”
These days, bin Laden, the founder of al-Qaida and the architect of the Sept. 11 attacks, is believed by many terrorism experts and counterterrorism officials to be hiding along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.
Al-Qaida groups in Iraq and in the Sahara have floundered after alienating their Sunni Muslim base. Al-Qaida’s offshoots in Somalia and Indonesia continue to struggle to take form.
Coordinated, Motivated
But here, al-Qaida in Yemen, made up of a few hundred members at most, is coordinated, motivated and on the attack, terrorism experts say.
Al-Qaida fighters have hit checkpoints, police stations, intelligence offices and, in June, the high-walled, tightly guarded compound of Yemen’s domestic intelligence agency in the port city of Aden, killing 13 in one well-planned assault.
This month, al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula published the names of 55 Yemeni security and intelligence officials it intended to kill.
Saturday morning, suspected al-Qaida gunmen opened fire on a bus carrying guards for one of Yemen’s intelligence branches, according to news reports. The barrage killed at least two aboard the bus.
Yemeni security forces typically have been able to shield the capital, Sanaa, from most of the violence that hits elsewhere in the country; in response to the attack on the bus, Yemeni troops took up positions in roadways throughout the city. Soldiers flagged down vehicles to peer inside at the occupants.
Adding to the pressure on Saleh’s government, the United States in particular has pressed Yemen hard for decisive action after the failed December attack on a Detroit-bound airliner, by a man trained for the attack by al-Qaida in Yemen.
Last month, an al-Qaida ambush in a market in southern Yemen helped push Saleh and his largely family-run security forces into Yemen’s first full-on assault on al-Qaida.
In that attack, witnesses and townspeople said, armed and bearded al-Qaida fighters came upon a dozen or so Yemeni soldiers in an open-air market in the city of Lowdar.
At the time, the souk’s stalls of okra, potatoes, tomatoes, rice and fish were crowded with shoppers buying food to break the daily fast of the Muslim holiday of Ramadan.
The Yemeni soldiers pleaded for their lives — even handed over their guns, unasked, said Ali Saleh, who was shopping in the market that day.
"We are Muslim," shoppers heard the Yemeni soldiers tell the al-Qaida gunmen.
The al-Qaida fighters opened fire regardless. By the next day, Aug. 20, at least two of the Yemeni soldiers had died. That afternoon, hundreds of Yemeni troops rolled toward Lowdar, in Yemen’s largest mobilization yet against the terrorist group.
Fighting between al-Qaida and Yemeni forces intensified again last week, when Yemeni forces surrounded the southeastern town of Huta with tanks and artillery.
Security officials pledged full-scale airstrikes, and ordered all innocent civilians out. By Friday morning, Yemen’s military said it had taken the town.
In both Lowdar and Huta, however, the main force of the al-Qaida fighters present — two or three score, or more — somehow managed to escape the Yemeni cordons.
Timing Of Latest Government Assault
Critics say Yemen’s government timed the assault to a visit last week by U.S. National Security Adviser John Brennan, an advocate of tougher action on al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula.
It was also no coincidence that as the government assault on Huta peaked Friday, representatives of the United States and roughly 30 other nations and agencies were meeting in New York to consider how to help Yemen confront its extremist threats, critics of the government say. The group, Friends of Yemen, together has pledged billions of dollars.
The siege of Huta was designed to secure “financial assistance under the pretext of fighting terrorism,” Ali Salem al-Baid, a leader of a separate separatist movement in Yemen’s south, told reporters.
The U.S. military wants to give Yemen $1.2 billion in military aid to fight al-Qaida.
U.S. military officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Americans played a role, but a limited one, in the assault on Huta.
While experts say the threat poised by al-Qaida in Yemen is real, it is only one of many insurgencies in Yemen.
And economists say the greatest danger in Yemen remains the government’s own corrupt and bungled management of Yemen’s stunted economy, which has produced a persistent 40 percent unemployment rate and a cadre of under-educated and disaffected young men.
After al-Qaida in Iraq doomed itself by violent extremism that cost it support even among Iraq’s Sunnis, al-Qaida fighters in Yemen are trying to be good guests among Yemen’s Sunni tribes.
They have even reached out to the South’s traditionally socialist and secular separatist movement, urging all Yemen’s Muslims to unite against the Yemeni government.
“This is a major change in tactic,” Gerges said. “They are really trying to learn from past mistakes.’’
And while other al-Qaida branches also have targeted forces of their local countries, and while al-Qaida in Yemen still pursues Western targets as well, the concentrated campaign against Yemeni forces is new.
In the past, the distinguishing characteristic of al-Qaida, compared to earlier Islamist extremist groups, was its targeting of the “Far Enemy’’ — the United States and its allies — over the “Near Enemy’’ — the governments of the Muslim Middle East.
Gerges, the al-Qaida expert, asks: Does the battle in Yemen show that international jihad has run its course — or that for al-Qaida, Western-allied Arab governments have now become one with the West?
"My take is, the answer is both," he said.
African migrants boat capsizes near Yemen, 13 die
Source: The Associated Press
28\09\2010
The U.S. Navy says a boat carrying 85 African migrants capsized in the Gulf of Aden off the coast of Yemen, drowning at least 13 passengers.
A ship belonging to the U.S.'s Bahrain-based Fifth Fleet discovered the overcrowded boat Sunday, rendered assistance and began towing back to Somalia from where it originated.
The Navy says that while transferring humanitarian supplies to the boat on Monday, it began to take on water and sink as the passengers rushed to one side of the vessel.
All passengers were thrown overboard and eight people remain missing.
The United Nations says an estimated 74,000 Africans, mainly from Ethiopia and Somalia fled to Yemen as refugees in 2009.
Most cross the Gulf of Aden in rickety and overcrowded vessels run by smugglers.
28\09\2010
The U.S. Navy says a boat carrying 85 African migrants capsized in the Gulf of Aden off the coast of Yemen, drowning at least 13 passengers.
A ship belonging to the U.S.'s Bahrain-based Fifth Fleet discovered the overcrowded boat Sunday, rendered assistance and began towing back to Somalia from where it originated.
The Navy says that while transferring humanitarian supplies to the boat on Monday, it began to take on water and sink as the passengers rushed to one side of the vessel.
All passengers were thrown overboard and eight people remain missing.
The United Nations says an estimated 74,000 Africans, mainly from Ethiopia and Somalia fled to Yemen as refugees in 2009.
Most cross the Gulf of Aden in rickety and overcrowded vessels run by smugglers.
Monday, 27 September 2010
Sana’a Book Fair boycotted for extremism and terrorism publications
By Nasser Arrabyee/27/09/2010
A number of Yemeni intellectuals boycotted a book exhibition being held in Sana’a for showing books calling for “ extremism and terrorism” and not allowing books of “modernity and enlightening”.
“We boycotted the Book Fair because the organizers did not allow creative works including Mushaf Ahmar, and they allowed instead for a great number of the books that call for extremism and terrorism,” said a statement signed by eight writers and poets including Mohammed Al Gharbi Amran the author of the book “ MUshaf Ahmar meaning Red Book” was not allowed to be displayed.
The Book Fair 27th being organized by the Ministry of Culture during the period from 25th of September to 6th of October in San’a, has about 400,000 titles from about 350 local Arab and international publishers.
A number of Yemeni intellectuals boycotted a book exhibition being held in Sana’a for showing books calling for “ extremism and terrorism” and not allowing books of “modernity and enlightening”.
“We boycotted the Book Fair because the organizers did not allow creative works including Mushaf Ahmar, and they allowed instead for a great number of the books that call for extremism and terrorism,” said a statement signed by eight writers and poets including Mohammed Al Gharbi Amran the author of the book “ MUshaf Ahmar meaning Red Book” was not allowed to be displayed.
The Book Fair 27th being organized by the Ministry of Culture during the period from 25th of September to 6th of October in San’a, has about 400,000 titles from about 350 local Arab and international publishers.
Yemen to Join WTO next year
Source : Global Arab Network, By Adnan Kassar , 27/09/2010
Yemen (SANA'A) – Yemen is keen to conclude its proposition to join the World Trade Organization this year and to accede in 2011, reports Global Arab Network according Yemen Sources.
Since years, Yemen has conducted several meetings and agreements as move toward getting membership of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Yemeni officials' hope that the bid of joining the WTO be concluded this year as membership of the body would boost economy of the country and provide access to technical assistance from the WTO and its 153 members.
They said that there was big progress towards the accession, expecting talks would be completed by the end of this year.
On Sunday, Minister of Trade and Industry Yahya al- Mutawakel headed for the Geneva leading the Yemeni delegation for the 8th meeting of the working group on Yemen' accession into the WTO.
Al-Mutawakel stated to Saba that the meeting is within final steps and negotiations for the accession.
He made it clear that such agreements are important for negotiations with the working group, adding that the government of Yemen had approved a package of legislations that would be amended and issued in accordance with the WTO agreements.
Last week, Yemen signed a bilateral agreement with South Korea on goods and services and a similar agreement would be signed with Japan soon, the minister said.
The German diplomat chairing the negotiations, Hartmut Roben said that he was encouraged by Yemen's efforts.
Reuters quoted Roben as saying "I am cautiously optimistic that Yemen's accession could approach its final stage over the coming months."
Roben said he hoped the working party could meet again this year to wrap up outstanding issues such as Yemen's treatment of services, intellectual property and customs valuation.
Director of Communication and Coordination Office with the WTO at the ministry of trade Hamoud al-Najar told 26september weekly and other media outlets that the main part of the accession is fitness of the country's investment and trade systems with the systems of other WTO member countries.
Such key part needs for legislative reforms in addition to financial and administrative reforms, al-Najar added, already Yemen has been carrying out general economic reforms since 1995 and a major component of these reforms have been in trade.
He mentioned some reforms taken place such as decrease the custom tariffs on imports.
Asked about expected disadvantages of the accession on the private sector, al-Najar said it is better for the national economy to allow real competition to take place which means more business.
He said that the private sector needs to step-up its act and learn to compete in international markets.
Prospective members of the WTO have to reach agreement with a group representing all current members and on a bilateral level with any member that requests it.
Yemen applied to join the WTO in 2000, and membership talks have picked up since 2005, especially in the last three years.
The WTO is the only global international organization dealing with the rules of trade between nations. At its heart are the WTO agreements, negotiated and signed by the bulk of the world’s trading nations and ratified in their parliaments.
The goal is to help producers of goods and services, exporters, and importers conduct their business.
Yemen (SANA'A) – Yemen is keen to conclude its proposition to join the World Trade Organization this year and to accede in 2011, reports Global Arab Network according Yemen Sources.
Since years, Yemen has conducted several meetings and agreements as move toward getting membership of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Yemeni officials' hope that the bid of joining the WTO be concluded this year as membership of the body would boost economy of the country and provide access to technical assistance from the WTO and its 153 members.
They said that there was big progress towards the accession, expecting talks would be completed by the end of this year.
On Sunday, Minister of Trade and Industry Yahya al- Mutawakel headed for the Geneva leading the Yemeni delegation for the 8th meeting of the working group on Yemen' accession into the WTO.
Al-Mutawakel stated to Saba that the meeting is within final steps and negotiations for the accession.
He made it clear that such agreements are important for negotiations with the working group, adding that the government of Yemen had approved a package of legislations that would be amended and issued in accordance with the WTO agreements.
Last week, Yemen signed a bilateral agreement with South Korea on goods and services and a similar agreement would be signed with Japan soon, the minister said.
The German diplomat chairing the negotiations, Hartmut Roben said that he was encouraged by Yemen's efforts.
Reuters quoted Roben as saying "I am cautiously optimistic that Yemen's accession could approach its final stage over the coming months."
Roben said he hoped the working party could meet again this year to wrap up outstanding issues such as Yemen's treatment of services, intellectual property and customs valuation.
Director of Communication and Coordination Office with the WTO at the ministry of trade Hamoud al-Najar told 26september weekly and other media outlets that the main part of the accession is fitness of the country's investment and trade systems with the systems of other WTO member countries.
Such key part needs for legislative reforms in addition to financial and administrative reforms, al-Najar added, already Yemen has been carrying out general economic reforms since 1995 and a major component of these reforms have been in trade.
He mentioned some reforms taken place such as decrease the custom tariffs on imports.
Asked about expected disadvantages of the accession on the private sector, al-Najar said it is better for the national economy to allow real competition to take place which means more business.
He said that the private sector needs to step-up its act and learn to compete in international markets.
Prospective members of the WTO have to reach agreement with a group representing all current members and on a bilateral level with any member that requests it.
Yemen applied to join the WTO in 2000, and membership talks have picked up since 2005, especially in the last three years.
The WTO is the only global international organization dealing with the rules of trade between nations. At its heart are the WTO agreements, negotiated and signed by the bulk of the world’s trading nations and ratified in their parliaments.
The goal is to help producers of goods and services, exporters, and importers conduct their business.
US accused of Yemen proxy detention
Source : Al Jazeera, 27/092010
Lawyers for Sharif Mobley, an American citizen detained in Yemen, say the US government arranged his arrest
When Sharif Mobley, an American citizen living in Yemen, went to the shops on the morning of January 26 this year, his family had no idea that it was the start of a chain of events that would lead to him being accused of murder and facing potential execution.
As he drank tea on a Sana'a street, eight masked men burst from two white vans and tried to grab him. Terrified, he ran, but was brought crashing to the ground by two bullets to his legs and bundled into one of the vans.
The method of abduction may have been brutal, but it was not the work of a rebel group or criminal gang. Instead, the armed men were Yemeni security agents, and in a set of legal documents seen by Al Jazeera, Mobley's lawyers allege they were operating on behalf of the US government.
The documents, part of a freedom of information request submitted by Mobley's legal team to US authorities, paint a disturbing picture of shadowy security cooperation between the US and Yemen in the wake of an alleged attempt by an al-Qaeda group based in the country to blow up an airliner over Detriot in December last year.
In the weeks that followed, Yemen shot up the priority list for US counter-terrorism planners. This year alone, military aid from Washington to Sana'a has reached $155mn, more than 30 times the amount given in 2006, and American special forces are known to be training Yemeni troops to fight armed groups.
Mobley's story, his lawyers say, is an example of a more disturbing development in the relationship between the US and Yemen; the proxy detention of an American citizen by the Yemeni government, arranged and overseen by US agents in the country.
Embassy visits
According to the lawyers, several weeks before his arrest, Mobley decided to leave Yemen. He had been enrolled in a language school in the country, but his wife had recently given birth to a baby boy, and with the security situation deteriorating in the wake of the failed Detroit attack, the family decided to return to the US.
To obtain travel documentation for his new son, Mobley presented himself at the US embassy. Embassy officials initially responded positively to his requests, but the documents say that relations "quickly soured".
"US officials refused to process the family's papers in a timely way, and instead interrogated Mr Mobley about his contacts and activities in Yemen," the lawyers' account says. Mobley was asked about his links with Anwar al-Awlaki, a US-born radical Islamic cleric believed by the US government to be connected to the failed Detriot attack.
"Sharif openly admits that he had been in limited contact with al-Awlaki," says Cori Crider, Mobley's lawyer. "But he categorically denies that he was involved in or aware of any plot or link to al-Qaeda."
When he left the embassy, Mobley told his wife, Nzinga Saba Islam, that he thought he had been followed home. The family returned to the embassy several times, but each time found their documents had not been processed and instead, the questioning continued. Their last visit was two days before his arrest.
When she realised her husband was missing, Nzinga immediately reported his disappearance to the embassy, where she was told to file a report with Yemeni police.
That night, at 1am, as she lay worrying about what had happened to her husband, the documents say around 15 men burst into the family home. The family were held at gunpoint and searched, while the house was raided and items confiscated.
Nzinga has told lawyers that the following morning she returned to the US embassy. As she waited to file a report about what had happened, she insists that she saw the man who had led the raid on her home wearing a US embassy pass.
"He was, as far as Nzinga could tell, in charge of the raid on her home," Crider says. "She asked the embassy about him and what he was doing there, but embassy officials never gave her a straight answer."
The documents allege that embassy officials listened to what Nzinga had to say, and began to question her about her husband's activities in Yemen. Amongst the items she says they showed her were photographs taken during the raid on the house.
Cruel treatment
Meanwhile, Mobley says he was chained, blindfolded, to a hospital bed, being interrogated by two men who introduced themselves as "Matt and Khan" and said they worked for the US government. His lawyers say the two men told him that he would never see his family again and would be raped in Yemeni prison.
The lawyers say he was interrogated repeatedly over the coming weeks, and that he was badly beaten by Yemeni security forces while being moved between detention facilities.
Eventually he says he was taken to another hospital, where Matt and Khan continued to question him over his links to al-Awlaki. His lawyers say that at no point was he offered consular assistance, and that he was desperate for news of his family, who he was told would be arrested.
In early March, Mobley is alleged to have launched an escape bid from the hospital, in which he is accused of shooting dead one of his guards and wounding another. Murdering a guard is a capital offence in Yemen; if found guilty in his upcoming trial, Mobley could be executed by firing squad.
"My husband's prolonged secret detention and abusive interrogation are directly responsible for the circumstances he is in now," Nzinga says. "Our troubles began with a trip to the embassy. If we, as Americans abroad, cannot trust our embassy to help us, who can we trust?"
Meanwhile, his lawyers are calling for US authorities to release all information pertaining to his case as a matter of urgency, arguing that the court needs the full facts surrounding Mobley's initial detention in January to ensure he has a fair trial.
Official silence
The US has refused to answer any of the allegations laid against it by Mobley's legal team, but Crider says the American agents involved have a responsibility to come forward.
"Since the US arranged the abduction at the heart of this case, US agents are obviously key witnesses for the defence," she says. "We will seek to call them to testify at the upcoming trial. And given that Sharif's life is at stake, there can be no excuse for 'Matt and Khan' not coming forward about their role in this tragedy."
While it is not possible to independently verify the account of Sharif Mobley's arrest given by his legal team, few analysts in Yemen doubt that coordination on security operations is occurring at a senior level between US and Yemeni authorities.
"There are incidents where we see high level cooperation, and others where that cooperation breaks down," says Abdul Ghani al-Aryani, a Yemeni political analyst. "If the government of Yemen cooperated in this case, it would be a risk free opportunity to gain credit with the Americans, given the individual in question is an American."
US state department officials contacted by Al Jazeera declined to comment on Mobley's case, citing concerns over his privacy. The US justice department was contacted to respond to general allegations that the US has played a role in the arrest and interrogation of its own citizens in Yemen, but also refused to comment on the matter. The Pentagon failed to respond to Al Jazeera's request for comment.
Lawyers for Sharif Mobley, an American citizen detained in Yemen, say the US government arranged his arrest
When Sharif Mobley, an American citizen living in Yemen, went to the shops on the morning of January 26 this year, his family had no idea that it was the start of a chain of events that would lead to him being accused of murder and facing potential execution.
As he drank tea on a Sana'a street, eight masked men burst from two white vans and tried to grab him. Terrified, he ran, but was brought crashing to the ground by two bullets to his legs and bundled into one of the vans.
The method of abduction may have been brutal, but it was not the work of a rebel group or criminal gang. Instead, the armed men were Yemeni security agents, and in a set of legal documents seen by Al Jazeera, Mobley's lawyers allege they were operating on behalf of the US government.
The documents, part of a freedom of information request submitted by Mobley's legal team to US authorities, paint a disturbing picture of shadowy security cooperation between the US and Yemen in the wake of an alleged attempt by an al-Qaeda group based in the country to blow up an airliner over Detriot in December last year.
In the weeks that followed, Yemen shot up the priority list for US counter-terrorism planners. This year alone, military aid from Washington to Sana'a has reached $155mn, more than 30 times the amount given in 2006, and American special forces are known to be training Yemeni troops to fight armed groups.
Mobley's story, his lawyers say, is an example of a more disturbing development in the relationship between the US and Yemen; the proxy detention of an American citizen by the Yemeni government, arranged and overseen by US agents in the country.
Embassy visits
According to the lawyers, several weeks before his arrest, Mobley decided to leave Yemen. He had been enrolled in a language school in the country, but his wife had recently given birth to a baby boy, and with the security situation deteriorating in the wake of the failed Detroit attack, the family decided to return to the US.
To obtain travel documentation for his new son, Mobley presented himself at the US embassy. Embassy officials initially responded positively to his requests, but the documents say that relations "quickly soured".
"US officials refused to process the family's papers in a timely way, and instead interrogated Mr Mobley about his contacts and activities in Yemen," the lawyers' account says. Mobley was asked about his links with Anwar al-Awlaki, a US-born radical Islamic cleric believed by the US government to be connected to the failed Detriot attack.
"Sharif openly admits that he had been in limited contact with al-Awlaki," says Cori Crider, Mobley's lawyer. "But he categorically denies that he was involved in or aware of any plot or link to al-Qaeda."
When he left the embassy, Mobley told his wife, Nzinga Saba Islam, that he thought he had been followed home. The family returned to the embassy several times, but each time found their documents had not been processed and instead, the questioning continued. Their last visit was two days before his arrest.
When she realised her husband was missing, Nzinga immediately reported his disappearance to the embassy, where she was told to file a report with Yemeni police.
That night, at 1am, as she lay worrying about what had happened to her husband, the documents say around 15 men burst into the family home. The family were held at gunpoint and searched, while the house was raided and items confiscated.
Nzinga has told lawyers that the following morning she returned to the US embassy. As she waited to file a report about what had happened, she insists that she saw the man who had led the raid on her home wearing a US embassy pass.
"He was, as far as Nzinga could tell, in charge of the raid on her home," Crider says. "She asked the embassy about him and what he was doing there, but embassy officials never gave her a straight answer."
The documents allege that embassy officials listened to what Nzinga had to say, and began to question her about her husband's activities in Yemen. Amongst the items she says they showed her were photographs taken during the raid on the house.
Cruel treatment
Meanwhile, Mobley says he was chained, blindfolded, to a hospital bed, being interrogated by two men who introduced themselves as "Matt and Khan" and said they worked for the US government. His lawyers say the two men told him that he would never see his family again and would be raped in Yemeni prison.
The lawyers say he was interrogated repeatedly over the coming weeks, and that he was badly beaten by Yemeni security forces while being moved between detention facilities.
Eventually he says he was taken to another hospital, where Matt and Khan continued to question him over his links to al-Awlaki. His lawyers say that at no point was he offered consular assistance, and that he was desperate for news of his family, who he was told would be arrested.
In early March, Mobley is alleged to have launched an escape bid from the hospital, in which he is accused of shooting dead one of his guards and wounding another. Murdering a guard is a capital offence in Yemen; if found guilty in his upcoming trial, Mobley could be executed by firing squad.
"My husband's prolonged secret detention and abusive interrogation are directly responsible for the circumstances he is in now," Nzinga says. "Our troubles began with a trip to the embassy. If we, as Americans abroad, cannot trust our embassy to help us, who can we trust?"
Meanwhile, his lawyers are calling for US authorities to release all information pertaining to his case as a matter of urgency, arguing that the court needs the full facts surrounding Mobley's initial detention in January to ensure he has a fair trial.
Official silence
The US has refused to answer any of the allegations laid against it by Mobley's legal team, but Crider says the American agents involved have a responsibility to come forward.
"Since the US arranged the abduction at the heart of this case, US agents are obviously key witnesses for the defence," she says. "We will seek to call them to testify at the upcoming trial. And given that Sharif's life is at stake, there can be no excuse for 'Matt and Khan' not coming forward about their role in this tragedy."
While it is not possible to independently verify the account of Sharif Mobley's arrest given by his legal team, few analysts in Yemen doubt that coordination on security operations is occurring at a senior level between US and Yemeni authorities.
"There are incidents where we see high level cooperation, and others where that cooperation breaks down," says Abdul Ghani al-Aryani, a Yemeni political analyst. "If the government of Yemen cooperated in this case, it would be a risk free opportunity to gain credit with the Americans, given the individual in question is an American."
US state department officials contacted by Al Jazeera declined to comment on Mobley's case, citing concerns over his privacy. The US justice department was contacted to respond to general allegations that the US has played a role in the arrest and interrogation of its own citizens in Yemen, but also refused to comment on the matter. The Pentagon failed to respond to Al Jazeera's request for comment.
Sunday, 26 September 2010
Yemen president says determined to fight Al-Qaeda
(Source: AFP, 26/09/2010
SANAA — Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh said Sunday he is determined to fight Al-Qaeda, which has become increasingly active in his country, in a speech marking the anniversary of the 1962 revolution.
"We are committed to the war on terror... which has harmed our economy, the reputation of our religion and country," Saleh said in the speech, which was published by state news agency Saba.
"Al-Qaeda elements... have attacked the interests of our people and our homeland... hindered the development and affected tourism and investment in our country," said Saleh.
"We have no choice but to face their danger and overcome it by all means," he added.
Sunday marks the anniversary of the 26 September, 1962 revolution which brought down the imamate, a form of clerical rule, and which saw Yemen proclaimed a republic.
Yemen, the ancestral homeland of Osama bin Laden, has witnessed an upsurge of activity by his network's local branch, known as Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), in past months.
The Islamist militants have claimed responsibility for a series of deadly attacks, including in Loder at the end of August, when three days of intense fighting with the security forces killed at least 33 people.
More recently, Yemeni soldiers regained control of the southern city of Huta on Friday after it had been taken over by Al-Qaeda militants on September 18, officials said.
The military's reported advances in the south were followed by a setback in Sanaa, however, when two unidentified gunmen ambushed a bus taking intelligence agents to work at dawn on Saturday, injuring 10 of them.
Saleh in his speech thanked the "Friends of Yemen" group, which aims to fight extremism and raise funds to tackle poverty in the Arabian Peninsula country, and which met Friday in New York.
"We highly value the stances of our friends who stood next to Yemen to support its security, stability and unity," Saleh said.
"We also express our comfort with the positive results of the Friends of Yemen meeting... which has shown... strong support to our country, its development and stimulation of its economic and human capabilities."
During the meeting, Britain warned of "massive dangers" to world security should Yemen, the Arab world's poorest country and increasingly an Al-Qaeda stronghold, become a failed state.
The situation was described as "a very potent cocktail for danger" by Britain's international development minister Alan Duncan, speaking in New York at the latest meeting of international support group the Friends of Yemen.
Sanaa has intensified its operations against Al-Qaeda since AQAP claimed responsibility for a botched attack on US-bound airliner on Christmas Day last year.
SANAA — Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh said Sunday he is determined to fight Al-Qaeda, which has become increasingly active in his country, in a speech marking the anniversary of the 1962 revolution.
"We are committed to the war on terror... which has harmed our economy, the reputation of our religion and country," Saleh said in the speech, which was published by state news agency Saba.
"Al-Qaeda elements... have attacked the interests of our people and our homeland... hindered the development and affected tourism and investment in our country," said Saleh.
"We have no choice but to face their danger and overcome it by all means," he added.
Sunday marks the anniversary of the 26 September, 1962 revolution which brought down the imamate, a form of clerical rule, and which saw Yemen proclaimed a republic.
Yemen, the ancestral homeland of Osama bin Laden, has witnessed an upsurge of activity by his network's local branch, known as Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), in past months.
The Islamist militants have claimed responsibility for a series of deadly attacks, including in Loder at the end of August, when three days of intense fighting with the security forces killed at least 33 people.
More recently, Yemeni soldiers regained control of the southern city of Huta on Friday after it had been taken over by Al-Qaeda militants on September 18, officials said.
The military's reported advances in the south were followed by a setback in Sanaa, however, when two unidentified gunmen ambushed a bus taking intelligence agents to work at dawn on Saturday, injuring 10 of them.
Saleh in his speech thanked the "Friends of Yemen" group, which aims to fight extremism and raise funds to tackle poverty in the Arabian Peninsula country, and which met Friday in New York.
"We highly value the stances of our friends who stood next to Yemen to support its security, stability and unity," Saleh said.
"We also express our comfort with the positive results of the Friends of Yemen meeting... which has shown... strong support to our country, its development and stimulation of its economic and human capabilities."
During the meeting, Britain warned of "massive dangers" to world security should Yemen, the Arab world's poorest country and increasingly an Al-Qaeda stronghold, become a failed state.
The situation was described as "a very potent cocktail for danger" by Britain's international development minister Alan Duncan, speaking in New York at the latest meeting of international support group the Friends of Yemen.
Sanaa has intensified its operations against Al-Qaeda since AQAP claimed responsibility for a botched attack on US-bound airliner on Christmas Day last year.
Yemeni forces kill 5 al-Qaeda members and arrest 32 suspects
SOurce: Saba, 26/09/2010
Sana'a- Five terrorists of al-Qaeda were killed and 32 suspects arrested during an one-week security campaign took place in Shabwa province, security sources said on Sunday. The sources added that two Yemeni soldiers were killed during the operation of hunting down terrorists of al-Qaeda at al-Hota area in Shabwa, southern Yemen. Last week, the Yemeni military reinforcements from the counterterrorist forces arrived in al-Hota, backed up by heavy weapons, to hunt down suspected al-Qaeda terrorists there.
Al-Hota has seen violent clashes between the Yemeni counterterrorist forces and suspected al-Qaeda terrorists who are holed up in the area. Since June, al-Qaeda militants have carried out a number of attacks on state targets in southern Yemen, including a hit on the headquarters of the Political Security Service in the city of Aden in which 11 people died.
The government has responded with a widespread crackdown including airstrikes, against the suspected militants. The sources affirmed that a number of civilians were virtually encircled because al-Qaeda elements in the area had restricted their movement and prevented them from leaving the neighbourhood to use them as human shields.
In addition, the sources said the security campaign had eliminated al-Qaeda members who disrupt the security of citizens in Shabwa, stressing that some members of al-Qaeda are still at large and are being hunted down by the security forces.
Sana'a- Five terrorists of al-Qaeda were killed and 32 suspects arrested during an one-week security campaign took place in Shabwa province, security sources said on Sunday. The sources added that two Yemeni soldiers were killed during the operation of hunting down terrorists of al-Qaeda at al-Hota area in Shabwa, southern Yemen. Last week, the Yemeni military reinforcements from the counterterrorist forces arrived in al-Hota, backed up by heavy weapons, to hunt down suspected al-Qaeda terrorists there.
Al-Hota has seen violent clashes between the Yemeni counterterrorist forces and suspected al-Qaeda terrorists who are holed up in the area. Since June, al-Qaeda militants have carried out a number of attacks on state targets in southern Yemen, including a hit on the headquarters of the Political Security Service in the city of Aden in which 11 people died.
The government has responded with a widespread crackdown including airstrikes, against the suspected militants. The sources affirmed that a number of civilians were virtually encircled because al-Qaeda elements in the area had restricted their movement and prevented them from leaving the neighbourhood to use them as human shields.
In addition, the sources said the security campaign had eliminated al-Qaeda members who disrupt the security of citizens in Shabwa, stressing that some members of al-Qaeda are still at large and are being hunted down by the security forces.
Eight separatists arrested in southern city of Aden
Names and pictures of eight wanted distributed
By Nasser Arrabyee/26/09/2010
A total of 8 separatists accused of planning to target tourist places were arrested in the southern city of Aden, said security official Sunday.
The official said in a statement published in the state-run media that the a group of 15 men (aged between 35-57) were in a house in Al Boraika area in Aden when the police stormed the house and arresting 8 while the remaining 7 escaped. The police is chasing after them, the official said.
The group formed secret cells to carry out sabotage, violence, chaos acts with the aim of targeting the national unity, the official said in the statement.
Seven of them were recently released from prison by a presidential pardon after they had been convicted of inciting against the national unity.
The security official said that the group was planning to strike tourist places in Aden to fight what they called immoral activities and pornography.
Meanwhile, the Yemeni security authorities distributed names and pictures of 8 other men to all security check points to be arrested as wanted as dangerous criminals.
The authorities also called upon the citizens to cooperate with the security by giving any information that leads to the arrest of
Bashir Mohammed Ahmed Al Helsi; Musleh Abdullah Ahmed Al Helsi; Yousef Ahmed Muthana Zeyod; Abdul Elah Ali Kasem Al Mesbahi; Mohammed Ali Abdullah Haidar Al Nashiri; Shawki Ali Ahmed Al Badani Ameen Abdullah Al Othmani; Abdul Hamid Ahmed Mohammed.
By Nasser Arrabyee/26/09/2010
A total of 8 separatists accused of planning to target tourist places were arrested in the southern city of Aden, said security official Sunday.
The official said in a statement published in the state-run media that the a group of 15 men (aged between 35-57) were in a house in Al Boraika area in Aden when the police stormed the house and arresting 8 while the remaining 7 escaped. The police is chasing after them, the official said.
The group formed secret cells to carry out sabotage, violence, chaos acts with the aim of targeting the national unity, the official said in the statement.
Seven of them were recently released from prison by a presidential pardon after they had been convicted of inciting against the national unity.
The security official said that the group was planning to strike tourist places in Aden to fight what they called immoral activities and pornography.
Meanwhile, the Yemeni security authorities distributed names and pictures of 8 other men to all security check points to be arrested as wanted as dangerous criminals.
The authorities also called upon the citizens to cooperate with the security by giving any information that leads to the arrest of
Bashir Mohammed Ahmed Al Helsi; Musleh Abdullah Ahmed Al Helsi; Yousef Ahmed Muthana Zeyod; Abdul Elah Ali Kasem Al Mesbahi; Mohammed Ali Abdullah Haidar Al Nashiri; Shawki Ali Ahmed Al Badani Ameen Abdullah Al Othmani; Abdul Hamid Ahmed Mohammed.
Saturday, 25 September 2010
Four men accused of attacking intelligence soldiers arrested
By Nasser Arrabyee/25/09/2010
Four men accused of attacking intelligence soldiers were arrested, said security sources Saturday.
Earlier in the day, gunmen believed to be Al Qaeda supporters opened fire on bus carrying soldiers belonging to the Political Security Agency, the intelligence, in the area of Shamlan, a northern outskirt of the Yemeni capital Sana’a. The gunmen escaped after they injured at least 10 soldiers three of them seriously.
The security sources said that the four men accused of implementing the attack were arrested in the traffic circle of Ayah, at the eastern outskirt of the capital Sana’a.
Meanwhile, security forces are chasing after an armed gang who plundered about one million US dollars from a government car in the southern province of Lahj, said security and local sources Saturday.A group of gunmen opened fire on and injured the driver of the bus which belongs to the Post Office of Lahj and took and the bus and the assistant of the driver to drove away in the direction of Abyan, the local sources said.
About 200 million Yemeni Rials (about one million US dollars) was in the bus as government revenues
Four men accused of attacking intelligence soldiers were arrested, said security sources Saturday.
Earlier in the day, gunmen believed to be Al Qaeda supporters opened fire on bus carrying soldiers belonging to the Political Security Agency, the intelligence, in the area of Shamlan, a northern outskirt of the Yemeni capital Sana’a. The gunmen escaped after they injured at least 10 soldiers three of them seriously.
The security sources said that the four men accused of implementing the attack were arrested in the traffic circle of Ayah, at the eastern outskirt of the capital Sana’a.
Meanwhile, security forces are chasing after an armed gang who plundered about one million US dollars from a government car in the southern province of Lahj, said security and local sources Saturday.A group of gunmen opened fire on and injured the driver of the bus which belongs to the Post Office of Lahj and took and the bus and the assistant of the driver to drove away in the direction of Abyan, the local sources said.
About 200 million Yemeni Rials (about one million US dollars) was in the bus as government revenues
10 intelligence soldiers injured in terrorist attack in Sana’a
By Nasser Arrabyee,25/09/2010
About 10 soldiers from the intelligence agency (the Political Security) were injured three of them seriously when gunmen believed to be Al Qaeda members attacked them in the northern outskirt of the Yemeni capital Sana’a, security sources said Saturday.
“We were in our way to work in our bus when the gunmen fired at us at Shamlan area injuring 10 three seriously,” said the security source.
About 10 soldiers from the intelligence agency (the Political Security) were injured three of them seriously when gunmen believed to be Al Qaeda members attacked them in the northern outskirt of the Yemeni capital Sana’a, security sources said Saturday.
“We were in our way to work in our bus when the gunmen fired at us at Shamlan area injuring 10 three seriously,” said the security source.
U.S. urges judge to toss lawsuit over target killings
Source: Reuters, By Jeremy Pelofsky, 25/09/2010
WASHINGTON - The Obama administration on Saturday urged a federal judge to reject a challenge to a program that targets for killing U.S. citizens like Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki who have joined militant groups and have been tied to terrorism plots.
The Obama administration earlier this year authorized the Central Intelligence Agency to capture or kill al-Awlaki, who is believed to be in hiding in Yemen where al Qaeda militants have been operating for years, U.S. officials have said.
Obama administration officials have also said Americans who travel overseas to fight alongside groups like al Qaeda -- blamed for the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania -- are legitimate targets for lethal strikes.
The cleric's father, Nasser al-Awlaki, sued, saying targeted killings were illegal under the U.S. Constitution because Americans should be prosecuted in a court and should only be targeted for lethal force if there was an imminent threat and no other way to stop it.
With the help of the American Civil Liberties Union and Center for Constitutional Rights, he asked a federal judge to issue an injunction and force the administration to publicly reveal its criteria for determining who can be targeted.
The Justice Department, while refusing to confirm that the targeted kill program existed, said in a court filing that the father has no legal standing to sue and that U.S. courts should not interfere with how the government protects the country.
"The lawsuit, which never denies that Anwar al-Awlaki is an active leader of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, asks a court to take the unprecedented step of intervening in military matters and directing the president how to manage military action -- all for the benefit of a leader of a foreign terrorist organization," said Justice Department spokesman Matthew Miller.
"If Anwar al-Awlaki wishes to access our legal system, he should surrender to authorities and be held accountable for his actions," he said. The cleric has said he has no intention of surrendering to U.S. authorities.
With Internet postings on the Internet by al-Awlaki promoting and praising attacks against the United States, he has become a major focus by U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies.
U.S. investigators have found that he communicated with the Army major who went on a shooting spree last year at Fort Hood, Texas killing 13 people and that he instructed the Nigerian man who tried to blow up a U.S. airliner on Christmas Day.
In response to the growing activities of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula group, the Obama administration has ramped up foreign aid and assistance to Yemen, which has struggled against militant groups for years.
The administration, which often stresses its bid to be more transparent, also invoked the argument that the case should be dismissed because it involved state secrets and revealing them would compromise national security.
"It strains credulity to argue that our laws require the government to disclose to an active, operational terrorist any information about how, when and where we fight terrorism," Miller said.
Al-Awlaki was born in New Mexico and lived in Virginia until late 2001. No charges have been publicly filed against the cleric, who has dual U.S. and Yemeni citizenship.
"The idea that courts should have no role whatsoever in determining the criteria by which the executive branch can kill its own citizens is unacceptable in a democracy," the ACLU and CCR organizations said in a statement. "In matters of life and death, no executive should have a blank check."
A court hearing is set for October 22 to consider the case.
(Editing by Eric Walsh)
WASHINGTON - The Obama administration on Saturday urged a federal judge to reject a challenge to a program that targets for killing U.S. citizens like Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki who have joined militant groups and have been tied to terrorism plots.
The Obama administration earlier this year authorized the Central Intelligence Agency to capture or kill al-Awlaki, who is believed to be in hiding in Yemen where al Qaeda militants have been operating for years, U.S. officials have said.
Obama administration officials have also said Americans who travel overseas to fight alongside groups like al Qaeda -- blamed for the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania -- are legitimate targets for lethal strikes.
The cleric's father, Nasser al-Awlaki, sued, saying targeted killings were illegal under the U.S. Constitution because Americans should be prosecuted in a court and should only be targeted for lethal force if there was an imminent threat and no other way to stop it.
With the help of the American Civil Liberties Union and Center for Constitutional Rights, he asked a federal judge to issue an injunction and force the administration to publicly reveal its criteria for determining who can be targeted.
The Justice Department, while refusing to confirm that the targeted kill program existed, said in a court filing that the father has no legal standing to sue and that U.S. courts should not interfere with how the government protects the country.
"The lawsuit, which never denies that Anwar al-Awlaki is an active leader of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, asks a court to take the unprecedented step of intervening in military matters and directing the president how to manage military action -- all for the benefit of a leader of a foreign terrorist organization," said Justice Department spokesman Matthew Miller.
"If Anwar al-Awlaki wishes to access our legal system, he should surrender to authorities and be held accountable for his actions," he said. The cleric has said he has no intention of surrendering to U.S. authorities.
With Internet postings on the Internet by al-Awlaki promoting and praising attacks against the United States, he has become a major focus by U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies.
U.S. investigators have found that he communicated with the Army major who went on a shooting spree last year at Fort Hood, Texas killing 13 people and that he instructed the Nigerian man who tried to blow up a U.S. airliner on Christmas Day.
In response to the growing activities of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula group, the Obama administration has ramped up foreign aid and assistance to Yemen, which has struggled against militant groups for years.
The administration, which often stresses its bid to be more transparent, also invoked the argument that the case should be dismissed because it involved state secrets and revealing them would compromise national security.
"It strains credulity to argue that our laws require the government to disclose to an active, operational terrorist any information about how, when and where we fight terrorism," Miller said.
Al-Awlaki was born in New Mexico and lived in Virginia until late 2001. No charges have been publicly filed against the cleric, who has dual U.S. and Yemeni citizenship.
"The idea that courts should have no role whatsoever in determining the criteria by which the executive branch can kill its own citizens is unacceptable in a democracy," the ACLU and CCR organizations said in a statement. "In matters of life and death, no executive should have a blank check."
A court hearing is set for October 22 to consider the case.
(Editing by Eric Walsh)
Friday, 24 September 2010
UK warns of 'massive dangers' if Yemen collapses
Source: AFP , By Christophe Schmidt
UNITED NATIONS — London on Friday warned of "massive dangers" to world security should Yemen, the Arab world's poorest country and an increasing stronghold of Al-Qaeda, become a failed state.
"The underpinning issue (of help to Yemen) is the protection of the stability of the state overall and let's be honest: there are massive dangers to the country, the region and the wider world if ever Yemen becomes failed state," International Development Minister Alan Duncan said.
Duncan, who described "a very potent cocktail for danger," was speaking at a meeting at UN headquarters in New York of the Friends of Yemen -- an international support group for the country.
The Arabian Peninsula nation is suffering growing security and economic strains and faces a rising Al-Qaeda presence.
US authorities blame a plot to blow up a US-bound airliner on Christmas Day last year on the Yemen-based organization known as Al-Qaeda on the Arabian peninsula. The group also claimed the attack, which was foiled only when the alleged bomber's explosive failed to ignite properly.
Meanwhile, the central government in Sanaa is struggling to deal with rebels in the north, separatists in the south and an economy holed by declining oil reserves, the main revenue source.
"You have a country that's running out of oil, running out of water and running out of time," Duncan said.
According to the UN refugee agency, at least 4,000 civilians have fled fighting between government forces and militants in southern Yemen since last weekend.
Friends of Yemen said in a statement that it supported internal Yemeni attempts to resolve political tensions and promised to "provide additional support for social protection" to shield the country's poor from the side-effects of painful economic reforms.
Yemen's donors met in February to discuss disbursement of the rest of 5.7 billion dollars promised in 2006.
But Duncan said that three billion dollars of that sum remained unspent, "simply because the country has not been able to show the capacity to absorb the fund."
"We need to see proper improvement, otherwise none of these programs will have the desired effect," he said.
Yemeni forces have since last weekend been locked in a standoff with up to 100 alleged Al-Qaeda militants who officials say are holed up in the Shabwa province town of Huta.
In late August, government forces and alleged Al-Qaeda militants fought a pitched battle in the town of Loder in the southern province of Abyan.
least 33 people were killed, including 19 militants, according to an AFP tally based on official and medical sources.
Protests and intermittent unrest have also rocked the south of Yemen, where there is a growing secessionist movement and many residents complain of discrimination by the Sanaa government.
Thousands of supporters of Yemen's Southern Movement, whose members want either increased autonomy or independence for the region, demonstrated in south Yemen on Thursday, local officials and witnesses said.
Yemeni authorities also face a sporadic Zaidi Shiite rebellion in the north.
Yemen is also the ancestral homeland of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden
UNITED NATIONS — London on Friday warned of "massive dangers" to world security should Yemen, the Arab world's poorest country and an increasing stronghold of Al-Qaeda, become a failed state.
"The underpinning issue (of help to Yemen) is the protection of the stability of the state overall and let's be honest: there are massive dangers to the country, the region and the wider world if ever Yemen becomes failed state," International Development Minister Alan Duncan said.
Duncan, who described "a very potent cocktail for danger," was speaking at a meeting at UN headquarters in New York of the Friends of Yemen -- an international support group for the country.
The Arabian Peninsula nation is suffering growing security and economic strains and faces a rising Al-Qaeda presence.
US authorities blame a plot to blow up a US-bound airliner on Christmas Day last year on the Yemen-based organization known as Al-Qaeda on the Arabian peninsula. The group also claimed the attack, which was foiled only when the alleged bomber's explosive failed to ignite properly.
Meanwhile, the central government in Sanaa is struggling to deal with rebels in the north, separatists in the south and an economy holed by declining oil reserves, the main revenue source.
"You have a country that's running out of oil, running out of water and running out of time," Duncan said.
According to the UN refugee agency, at least 4,000 civilians have fled fighting between government forces and militants in southern Yemen since last weekend.
Friends of Yemen said in a statement that it supported internal Yemeni attempts to resolve political tensions and promised to "provide additional support for social protection" to shield the country's poor from the side-effects of painful economic reforms.
Yemen's donors met in February to discuss disbursement of the rest of 5.7 billion dollars promised in 2006.
But Duncan said that three billion dollars of that sum remained unspent, "simply because the country has not been able to show the capacity to absorb the fund."
"We need to see proper improvement, otherwise none of these programs will have the desired effect," he said.
Yemeni forces have since last weekend been locked in a standoff with up to 100 alleged Al-Qaeda militants who officials say are holed up in the Shabwa province town of Huta.
In late August, government forces and alleged Al-Qaeda militants fought a pitched battle in the town of Loder in the southern province of Abyan.
least 33 people were killed, including 19 militants, according to an AFP tally based on official and medical sources.
Protests and intermittent unrest have also rocked the south of Yemen, where there is a growing secessionist movement and many residents complain of discrimination by the Sanaa government.
Thousands of supporters of Yemen's Southern Movement, whose members want either increased autonomy or independence for the region, demonstrated in south Yemen on Thursday, local officials and witnesses said.
Yemeni authorities also face a sporadic Zaidi Shiite rebellion in the north.
Yemen is also the ancestral homeland of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden
Security forces continue hunting for escaping terrorists after retaking Al Huta town
By Nasser Arrabyee/24/09/2010
The Yemeni security authorities announced Friday retaking of a southern town where a group of Al Qaeda fighters were cornered for four days.
The director of security the southern province of Shabwa, Ahmed Al Makdashi said in statements after taking control over the town that the terrorist group escaped to the neighboring mountainous areas.
“The army and security forces would continue hunting down the terrorists who escaped from Al Huta, and would corner them in their hideouts in the mountains until they surrender or get arrested,” said Al Makdashi.
Earlier in the day, tribal and military sources said that Yemeni army had stormed early the town of Al Huta without facing any resistance from Al Qaeda fighters who escaped before the attack.
The majority of the nearly 100-member terrorist group escaped to unknown places according to the sources . Earlier in the week, Al Makdashi said that 28 Al Qaeda fighters were arrested.
The army has been combing the town since early morning .
More than 15,000 displaced people were not allowed to return to their houses in the town. “They told us this morning, the town is not secure yet, we have to wait,” said Abu Ahmed, one of the displaced people in Azzan area.
The tribal sources said the terrorist group escaped from the western direction of Al Rawdha in the town although the army was saying the town was surrounded from all directions.
Before storming of the town, the At least 4 Al Qaeda fighters were killed and five others arrested in an attack by the Yemeni army on a position outside the town of Al Huta in the southern province of Shabwa, said tribal and security sources Thursday. Dozens of soldiers were killed and injured as the resistance was very strong, the sources said.
The sources said that the army started an all out offensive on the town of Al Huta later after noon on Thursday after almost all population displaced to the neighboring areas to escape the fighting.
“ Almost all the population are out now, and the army has started the attack on the Al Qaeda fighters,” said Abu Ahmed, who displaced from Al Huta with 30 members of his family and his brother’s family to the area of Azzan, about 9km away from Al Huta.
“Al Qaeda tried to prevent us and beat us to make us stay with them to use us as human shields but we all refused and got out, but now we need help,” said Abu Ahmed over phone from Azzan.
“We received assistance for 200 families, and those who displaced are about 3000 families so we need much more assistance,” Said Abu Ahmed, who refused to give his full name for security reasons. Al Qaeda uses rifles and RPGs and snipers, he said.
Meanwhile, the tribal sheikh Abdul Bari Al Mehdhar said Thursday that he and all people of Al Huta condemned the terrorist acts of AlQaeda. “We tried to negotiate with them but they refused and chose the violence, ” said sheikh Al Mehdhar, the brother of Abdullah Al Mehdhar, the alleged Al Qaeda leader in Al Huta who was killed in January this year in security operation.
The government loyal Sheikh Abdul Bari Al Mehdhar said the Al Qaeda fighters who are from Al Huta are only 8 and the others are from outside the town. He said the leader of the group is called Abdul Azeez Al Mualem.
The Yemeni security authorities announced Friday retaking of a southern town where a group of Al Qaeda fighters were cornered for four days.
The director of security the southern province of Shabwa, Ahmed Al Makdashi said in statements after taking control over the town that the terrorist group escaped to the neighboring mountainous areas.
“The army and security forces would continue hunting down the terrorists who escaped from Al Huta, and would corner them in their hideouts in the mountains until they surrender or get arrested,” said Al Makdashi.
Earlier in the day, tribal and military sources said that Yemeni army had stormed early the town of Al Huta without facing any resistance from Al Qaeda fighters who escaped before the attack.
The majority of the nearly 100-member terrorist group escaped to unknown places according to the sources . Earlier in the week, Al Makdashi said that 28 Al Qaeda fighters were arrested.
The army has been combing the town since early morning .
More than 15,000 displaced people were not allowed to return to their houses in the town. “They told us this morning, the town is not secure yet, we have to wait,” said Abu Ahmed, one of the displaced people in Azzan area.
The tribal sources said the terrorist group escaped from the western direction of Al Rawdha in the town although the army was saying the town was surrounded from all directions.
Before storming of the town, the At least 4 Al Qaeda fighters were killed and five others arrested in an attack by the Yemeni army on a position outside the town of Al Huta in the southern province of Shabwa, said tribal and security sources Thursday. Dozens of soldiers were killed and injured as the resistance was very strong, the sources said.
The sources said that the army started an all out offensive on the town of Al Huta later after noon on Thursday after almost all population displaced to the neighboring areas to escape the fighting.
“ Almost all the population are out now, and the army has started the attack on the Al Qaeda fighters,” said Abu Ahmed, who displaced from Al Huta with 30 members of his family and his brother’s family to the area of Azzan, about 9km away from Al Huta.
“Al Qaeda tried to prevent us and beat us to make us stay with them to use us as human shields but we all refused and got out, but now we need help,” said Abu Ahmed over phone from Azzan.
“We received assistance for 200 families, and those who displaced are about 3000 families so we need much more assistance,” Said Abu Ahmed, who refused to give his full name for security reasons. Al Qaeda uses rifles and RPGs and snipers, he said.
Meanwhile, the tribal sheikh Abdul Bari Al Mehdhar said Thursday that he and all people of Al Huta condemned the terrorist acts of AlQaeda. “We tried to negotiate with them but they refused and chose the violence, ” said sheikh Al Mehdhar, the brother of Abdullah Al Mehdhar, the alleged Al Qaeda leader in Al Huta who was killed in January this year in security operation.
The government loyal Sheikh Abdul Bari Al Mehdhar said the Al Qaeda fighters who are from Al Huta are only 8 and the others are from outside the town. He said the leader of the group is called Abdul Azeez Al Mualem.
Yemeni army retakes Al Huta, terrorist group escapes to unknown place
By Nasser Arrabyee/24/09/2010
Town of AlHuta
photo sent to the blog by Saleh Muklam
The Yemeni army has stormed early morning Friday the town of Al Huta where about 100 Al Qaeda fighters were cornered for four days, military and tribal sources said Friday.
The majority of the terrorist group escaped to unknown places the sources said.
The army has been combing the town since early morning . More than 15,000 displaced people were not allowed to return to their houses in the town. “They told us this morning, the town is not secure yet, we have to wait,” said Abu Ahmed, one of the displaced people in Azzan area.
The sources said the terrorist group escaped from the western direction of Al Rawdha in the town although the army was saying the town was surrounded from all directions.
Before storming of the town, the At least 4 Al Qaeda fighters were killed and five others arrested in an attack by the Yemeni army on a position outside the town of Al Huta in the southern province of Shabwa, said tribal and security sources Thursday. Dozens of soldiers were killed and injured as the resistance was very strong, the sources said.
The sources said that the army started an all out offensive on the town of Al Huta later after noon on Thursday after almost all population displaced to the neighboring areas to escape the fighting.
“ Almost all the population are out now, and the army has started the attack on the Al Qaeda fighters,” said Abu Ahmed, who displaced from Al Huta with 30 members of his family and his brother’s family to the area of Azzan, about 9km away from Al Huta.
“Al Qaeda tried to prevent us and beat us to make us stay with them to use us as human shields but we all refused and got out, but now we need help,” said Abu Ahmed over phone from Azzan.
“We received assistance for 200 families, and those who displaced are about 3000 families so we need much more assistance,” Said Abu Ahmed, who refused to give his full name for security reasons. Al Qaeda uses rifles and RPGs and snipers, he said.
Meanwhile, the tribal sheikh Abdul Bari Al Mehdhar said Thursday that he and all people of Al Huta condemned the terrorist acts of AlQaeda. “We tried to negotiate with them but they refused and chose the violence, ” said sheikh Al Mehdhar, the brother of Abdullah Al Mehdhar, the alleged Al Qaeda leader in Al Huta who was killed in January this year in security operation.
The government loyal Sheikh Abdul Bari Al Mehdhar said the Al Qaeda fighters who are from Al Huta are only 8 and the others are from outside the town. He said the leader of the group is called Abdul Azeez Al Mualem.
About 100 militants are fighting the army now including Saudis and Somalis according to local sources.
CPJ demands release of Yemeni journalist
24/09/2010
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists called upon the Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh to release the Yemeni journalist Abdul Elah Haidar Shaea who has been in custody for 38 days over charges of having ties with Al Qaeda.
His Excellency President Ali Abdullah Saleh
C/o Ambassador Abdul Wahab al-Hajjri
Your Excellency,
The Committee to Protect Journalists, a New York-based nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to defending press freedom worldwide, calls on you to ensure the immediate release of Abdulelah Hider Shaea, a Yemeni journalist known for his coverage of Islamist groups, including Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. We also call on you to publicly repudiate the abusive treatment to which Shaea has been subjected while in state custody.
Armed security forces detained Shaea on August 16 after raiding his home, according to news reports. His house was searched and his laptop confiscated along with his notes.
According to the Yemeni Penal Code and Article 48 of the Constitution, detainees must be brought before a judge and informed of their charges within 24 hours. Yet Shaea was held incommunicado for 29 days before his first hearing, on September 16. He has been allowed to see a lawyer only once since that hearing, according to the local human rights group Hood.
This is the second time Shaea has been detained this year. On July 11, he was abducted by men who identified themselves as government agents. He was blindfolded and led to a basement in an unknown location, where he was interrogated for several hours about his friends and his reporting on Al-Qaeda, Shaea told CPJ in Yemen just hours after his release.
On September 22, the Specialized Criminal Court extended Shaea’s detention for an additional 30 days “to complete the investigation,” according to news reports. He is accused of “planning to carry out terrorist acts” and “providing media support to Al-Qaeda leadership,” according to the same reports. (The specialized court’s own constitutionality has been questioned by legal experts.)
Local journalists told CPJ that Shaea has an extensive network of sources in the military, government, and Islamist groups, allowing him a unique perspective on crucial security issues. In his frequent appearances on Al-Jazeera, Shaea has critically analyzed the government’s responses to terrorist threats. Yet that does not mean Shaea is “providing media support“ to extremist groups as the charges against him claim; critical analysis is not antistate activity.
Reporters and lawyers who attended Shaea’s September 16 hearing said it was clear that Shaea had been abused during interrogation. Extensive brusing was evident on his body, they said. During the hearing, Shaea said he had been subjected to long hours of harsh interrogation during which he lost consciousness at times.
Mr. President, we urge you to instruct the proper authorities to release Shaea without delay, extend to him all rights under the law, repudiate his abusive treatment, and facilitate immediate medical treatment. Thank you for your attention to this important matter. We look forward to your reply.
Sincerely,
Joel Simon
Executive Director
CC:
Ghazi al-Aghbari, Yemeni Minister of Justice
Hassan al-Lawzi, Yemeni Minister of Information
John Kerry, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
Richard Lugar, Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
Gary L. Ackerman, Chairman of the House Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia
Dan Burton, Ranking Member of the House Subcommittee on the Middle East and South AsiaMichael Posner, Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists called upon the Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh to release the Yemeni journalist Abdul Elah Haidar Shaea who has been in custody for 38 days over charges of having ties with Al Qaeda.
His Excellency President Ali Abdullah Saleh
C/o Ambassador Abdul Wahab al-Hajjri
Your Excellency,
The Committee to Protect Journalists, a New York-based nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to defending press freedom worldwide, calls on you to ensure the immediate release of Abdulelah Hider Shaea, a Yemeni journalist known for his coverage of Islamist groups, including Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. We also call on you to publicly repudiate the abusive treatment to which Shaea has been subjected while in state custody.
Armed security forces detained Shaea on August 16 after raiding his home, according to news reports. His house was searched and his laptop confiscated along with his notes.
According to the Yemeni Penal Code and Article 48 of the Constitution, detainees must be brought before a judge and informed of their charges within 24 hours. Yet Shaea was held incommunicado for 29 days before his first hearing, on September 16. He has been allowed to see a lawyer only once since that hearing, according to the local human rights group Hood.
This is the second time Shaea has been detained this year. On July 11, he was abducted by men who identified themselves as government agents. He was blindfolded and led to a basement in an unknown location, where he was interrogated for several hours about his friends and his reporting on Al-Qaeda, Shaea told CPJ in Yemen just hours after his release.
On September 22, the Specialized Criminal Court extended Shaea’s detention for an additional 30 days “to complete the investigation,” according to news reports. He is accused of “planning to carry out terrorist acts” and “providing media support to Al-Qaeda leadership,” according to the same reports. (The specialized court’s own constitutionality has been questioned by legal experts.)
Local journalists told CPJ that Shaea has an extensive network of sources in the military, government, and Islamist groups, allowing him a unique perspective on crucial security issues. In his frequent appearances on Al-Jazeera, Shaea has critically analyzed the government’s responses to terrorist threats. Yet that does not mean Shaea is “providing media support“ to extremist groups as the charges against him claim; critical analysis is not antistate activity.
Reporters and lawyers who attended Shaea’s September 16 hearing said it was clear that Shaea had been abused during interrogation. Extensive brusing was evident on his body, they said. During the hearing, Shaea said he had been subjected to long hours of harsh interrogation during which he lost consciousness at times.
Mr. President, we urge you to instruct the proper authorities to release Shaea without delay, extend to him all rights under the law, repudiate his abusive treatment, and facilitate immediate medical treatment. Thank you for your attention to this important matter. We look forward to your reply.
Sincerely,
Joel Simon
Executive Director
CC:
Ghazi al-Aghbari, Yemeni Minister of Justice
Hassan al-Lawzi, Yemeni Minister of Information
John Kerry, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
Richard Lugar, Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
Gary L. Ackerman, Chairman of the House Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia
Dan Burton, Ranking Member of the House Subcommittee on the Middle East and South AsiaMichael Posner, Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
Thursday, 23 September 2010
Four Al Qaeda fighters killed as army starts all-out attack on Al Huta
Almost all population are out.
Official accuses journalist of affiliating to Al Qaeda.
The separation movement in the south stage demonstrations one day before the Friends of Yemen meet in New York.
By Nasser Arrabyee/23/09/2010
At least 4 Al Qaeda fighters were killed and five others arrested in an attack by the Yemeni army on a position outside the town of Al Huta in the southern province of Shabwa, said tribal and security sources Thursday. Dozens of soldiers were killed and injured as the resistance was very strong, the sources said.
The sources said that the army started an all out offensive on the town of Al Huta later after noon on Thursday after almost all population displaced to the neighboring areas to escape the fighting.
“ Almost all the population are out now, and the army has started the attack on the Al Qaeda fighters,” said Abu Ahmed, who displaced from Al Huta with 30 members of his family and his brother’s family to the area of Azzan, about 9km away from Al Huta.
“Al Qaeda tried to prevent us and beat us to make us stay with them to use us as human shields but we all refused and got out, but now we need help,” said Abu Ahmed over phone from Azzan.
“We received assistance for 200 families, and those who displaced are about 3000 families so we need much more assistance,” Said Abu Ahmed, who refused to give his full name for security reasons. Al Qaeda uses rifles and RPGs and snipers, he said.
Meanwhile, the tribal sheikh Abdul Bari Al Mehdhar said Thursday that he and all people of Al Huta condemned the terrorist acts of AlQaeda.
“We tried to negotiate with them but they refused and chose the violence, ” said sheikh Al Mehdhar, the brother of Abdullah Al Mehdhar, the alleged Al Qaeda leader in Al Huta who was killed in January this year in security operation
.
The government loyal Sheikh Abdul Bari Al Mehdhar said the Al Qaeda fighters who are from Al Huta are only 8 and the others are from outside the town. He said the leader of the group is called Abdul Azeez Al Mualem.
About 100 militants are fighting the army now including Saudis and Somalis according to local sources.
To this end, the website of the Yemeni defense ministry accused a journalist of being a member of Al Qaeda.
The www.26sep.net quoted a source close to the investigations with the journalist Abdul Elah Haidar Shaea as saying , “ Among the accusations against Shaea is that he affiliates to Al Qaeda and that he is the official spokesman for it , and the defender of it, and he offered the ‘Baya’ (oath and loyalty) to the leader of Al Qaeda Nasser Al Wahaishy, and he has relations with Anwar Al Awlaki, the wanted for security.”
The State Security Court ruled on Tuesday that Shaea be kept in prison for 30 days more for completing the investigations. Shaea was arrested by Yemeni intelligence from his house in Sana’a on August 16th, 2010. His file was submitted to the prosecution on September 14th.
“The so-called Abdul Elah Haidar Shaea was arrested with documents in his possession showing that he told Al Qaeda and advised them to assassinate a senior security official in a gathering for condolences after death of the father of this official. There were many other officials in the gathering.”
The investigations showed that he had documents and films showing the movements of a senior security official.
The website said that Shaea received Al Qaeda members who came from outside Yemen, and took them to the places of Al Qaeda in Yemen.
He provided some Arab and international satellite channels with video tapes showing operations implemented by the AlQaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in return for money.
Meanwhile, thousands of supporters of the separation southern movement staged Thursday demonstrations in Lahj, Abyan and Al Dhale’e without any clashes with the security forces.
The demonstrations came one day before the Friends of Yemen meet in New York (Friday September4th) to help Yemen get out from its political, economic, security and development problems.
Official accuses journalist of affiliating to Al Qaeda.
The separation movement in the south stage demonstrations one day before the Friends of Yemen meet in New York.
By Nasser Arrabyee/23/09/2010
At least 4 Al Qaeda fighters were killed and five others arrested in an attack by the Yemeni army on a position outside the town of Al Huta in the southern province of Shabwa, said tribal and security sources Thursday. Dozens of soldiers were killed and injured as the resistance was very strong, the sources said.
The sources said that the army started an all out offensive on the town of Al Huta later after noon on Thursday after almost all population displaced to the neighboring areas to escape the fighting.
“ Almost all the population are out now, and the army has started the attack on the Al Qaeda fighters,” said Abu Ahmed, who displaced from Al Huta with 30 members of his family and his brother’s family to the area of Azzan, about 9km away from Al Huta.
“Al Qaeda tried to prevent us and beat us to make us stay with them to use us as human shields but we all refused and got out, but now we need help,” said Abu Ahmed over phone from Azzan.
“We received assistance for 200 families, and those who displaced are about 3000 families so we need much more assistance,” Said Abu Ahmed, who refused to give his full name for security reasons. Al Qaeda uses rifles and RPGs and snipers, he said.
Meanwhile, the tribal sheikh Abdul Bari Al Mehdhar said Thursday that he and all people of Al Huta condemned the terrorist acts of AlQaeda.
“We tried to negotiate with them but they refused and chose the violence, ” said sheikh Al Mehdhar, the brother of Abdullah Al Mehdhar, the alleged Al Qaeda leader in Al Huta who was killed in January this year in security operation
.
The government loyal Sheikh Abdul Bari Al Mehdhar said the Al Qaeda fighters who are from Al Huta are only 8 and the others are from outside the town. He said the leader of the group is called Abdul Azeez Al Mualem.
About 100 militants are fighting the army now including Saudis and Somalis according to local sources.
To this end, the website of the Yemeni defense ministry accused a journalist of being a member of Al Qaeda.
The www.26sep.net quoted a source close to the investigations with the journalist Abdul Elah Haidar Shaea as saying , “ Among the accusations against Shaea is that he affiliates to Al Qaeda and that he is the official spokesman for it , and the defender of it, and he offered the ‘Baya’ (oath and loyalty) to the leader of Al Qaeda Nasser Al Wahaishy, and he has relations with Anwar Al Awlaki, the wanted for security.”
The State Security Court ruled on Tuesday that Shaea be kept in prison for 30 days more for completing the investigations. Shaea was arrested by Yemeni intelligence from his house in Sana’a on August 16th, 2010. His file was submitted to the prosecution on September 14th.
“The so-called Abdul Elah Haidar Shaea was arrested with documents in his possession showing that he told Al Qaeda and advised them to assassinate a senior security official in a gathering for condolences after death of the father of this official. There were many other officials in the gathering.”
The investigations showed that he had documents and films showing the movements of a senior security official.
The website said that Shaea received Al Qaeda members who came from outside Yemen, and took them to the places of Al Qaeda in Yemen.
He provided some Arab and international satellite channels with video tapes showing operations implemented by the AlQaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in return for money.
Meanwhile, thousands of supporters of the separation southern movement staged Thursday demonstrations in Lahj, Abyan and Al Dhale’e without any clashes with the security forces.
The demonstrations came one day before the Friends of Yemen meet in New York (Friday September4th) to help Yemen get out from its political, economic, security and development problems.
UPDATE 1-Amnesty urges Yemen to protect displaced civilians
Source: Reuters
23\09\2010
A human rights groups expressed concern over the displacement of "a shocking number of people" during fighting in south Yemen and warned against any disproportionate offensive against suspected al Qaeda fighters.
Yemen's Red Crescent said this week that up to 12,000 civilians had been forced to flee clashes between suspected al Qaeda militants and government forces in and around the town of al-Hota in the southern province of Shabwa.
Amnesty International said some inhabitants of al-Hota had told the rights watchdog that the suspected militants were in fact armed tribesmen with grievances against the government.
"The nature of the assault may be -- for a law-enforcement operation -- grossly disproportionate," Amnesty said in a statement on Wednesday.
The Yemeni government has confirmed that civilians had been asked to move out of the area to avoid being caught up in military operations.
"Residents were advised to evacuate their homes to minimise collateral damage," a spokesman for the Yemeni embassy in Washington said in a statement late on Wednesday.
Across southern Yemen, thousands marched on Thursday in support of a call by separatists for a donors' meeting in New York on Friday to consider the plight of the south, residents said.
Impoverished Yemen has faced increasing unrest by southern separatists who say the northern-based government has discriminated against them and exploited their region's resources. The government denies the accusation.
The military assault on Hota was a response to a recent attempt by suspected militants to bomb a key gas pipeline running to an export point in Shabwa, the $4.5 billion Total-led (TOTF.PA: Quote) liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant that started production in October, it said.
Amnesty International urged the Yemeni government to protect those displaced by the fighting.
"Whatever the nature of the ongoing operations, the Yemeni authorities must ensure as a matter of urgency that what amounts to a shocking number of people displaced in the space of a few days are adequately provided for," Philip Luther, Amnesty International's deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa, said in the statement.
23\09\2010
A human rights groups expressed concern over the displacement of "a shocking number of people" during fighting in south Yemen and warned against any disproportionate offensive against suspected al Qaeda fighters.
Yemen's Red Crescent said this week that up to 12,000 civilians had been forced to flee clashes between suspected al Qaeda militants and government forces in and around the town of al-Hota in the southern province of Shabwa.
Amnesty International said some inhabitants of al-Hota had told the rights watchdog that the suspected militants were in fact armed tribesmen with grievances against the government.
"The nature of the assault may be -- for a law-enforcement operation -- grossly disproportionate," Amnesty said in a statement on Wednesday.
The Yemeni government has confirmed that civilians had been asked to move out of the area to avoid being caught up in military operations.
"Residents were advised to evacuate their homes to minimise collateral damage," a spokesman for the Yemeni embassy in Washington said in a statement late on Wednesday.
Across southern Yemen, thousands marched on Thursday in support of a call by separatists for a donors' meeting in New York on Friday to consider the plight of the south, residents said.
Impoverished Yemen has faced increasing unrest by southern separatists who say the northern-based government has discriminated against them and exploited their region's resources. The government denies the accusation.
The military assault on Hota was a response to a recent attempt by suspected militants to bomb a key gas pipeline running to an export point in Shabwa, the $4.5 billion Total-led (TOTF.PA: Quote) liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant that started production in October, it said.
Amnesty International urged the Yemeni government to protect those displaced by the fighting.
"Whatever the nature of the ongoing operations, the Yemeni authorities must ensure as a matter of urgency that what amounts to a shocking number of people displaced in the space of a few days are adequately provided for," Philip Luther, Amnesty International's deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa, said in the statement.
Yemen goes on offensive against Al Qaeda
Yemen's government stepped up its battle against Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula with an offensive this week in a southern city. US aid to Yemen has doubled in 2010, with most going to military assistance.
Source : Christian Science Monitor, By Laura Kasinof
23/09/2010
Sanaa, Yemen — The Yemeni government’s fight against Al Qaeda reached a new high this week after government forces launched a major military offensive against a city in southern Yemen known as a base for Al Qaeda-affiliated operatives.
Fighting between government forces and militants started on Tuesday in Hawta, a city in the highly volatile Shabwa Province, and has continued for the past three days. Yemeni forces have surrounded Hawta with tanks, and the city has come under arial attack.
The siege of Hawta coincided with an official visit Monday to the Yemeni capital Sanaa by John Brennan, the US assistant to the president for counterterrorism and homeland security. Mr. Brennan met with Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Sanaa to discuss US financial assistance for Yemen and continued support for the government to fight Al Qaeda, according to a White House press statement.
There was speculation about the connection between Brennan’s visit and the military campaign against Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), especially given that Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical US-born cleric linked to the Fort Hood shootings, is known to be based in Shabwa Province. But the Yemeni government has said that the bombardment of Hawta was in retaliation for an Al Qaeda attack on a Yemeni liquid natural gas pipeline last week.
Gregory Johnsen, a specialist on Yemen at Princeton University in New Jersey, said that Brennan’s visit seemed to be part of the US’s ongoing efforts to stress to the Yemeni government the importance of the two nations working together “toward an elimination of Al Qaeda in Yemen.”
He added that the campaign in Hawta is part of a larger Yemeni effort over the past few months to bring the fight against AQAP in places like Shabwa, as well as Abyan Province.
The US Embassy in Sanaa would not comment on any relationship between Brennan’s trip and the offensive in Hawta.
Yemen became a central focus of American counterterrorism policy after the failed bombing attempt of a Detroit-bound plane on Christmas Day 2009 that was planned by AQAP. US financial aid to Yemen, the majority of which goes toward military assistance, is set to more than double in 2010, to $200 million.
Many analysts warn against too strong an emphasis on military aid, saying it doesn't address the symptoms of extremism in the impoverished country, and the causes of growing antigovernment Islamist ideology. They argue that the international community should concentrate more on development to tackle Yemen's deep-seated poverty.
In Yemen’s countryside, where tribal sheikhs wield more power than the central government, civilians have grown increasing disgruntled with what is widely viewed as the corrupt and inefficient leadership of Mr. Saleh. Analysts worry that not only do these areas provide AQAP with a haven in which the organization can plot attacks against the West, they also offer fertile ground for recruiting new members.
According to local sources, 27 Al Qaeda militants have been captured since the offensive in Hawta began, and the son of late AQAP leader Abdullah Al-Midhar has been killed.
Up to 15,000 civilians have been displaced because of the fighting, according Fouad Abdel Karim, president of the Yemeni Red Crescent Society in Aden.
The home village of the Awlaki family is only about 60 miles away from Hawta. Local opposition press reported yesterday that Awlaki was among the militants fighting in Hawta. The Yemeni government, however, has denied that Awlaki is present among the fighters.
Mr. Johnsen warns that the US should not place too much importance on Awlaki.
"While Awlaki's death would certainly be an important propaganda victory for the Yemeni and US governments, I doubt that this would in anyway a debilitating blow for AQAP."
"Awlaki has certainly been a important propagandist," he adds, "but he is not someone who is a key military or strategic thinker for the organization."
Source : Christian Science Monitor, By Laura Kasinof
23/09/2010
Sanaa, Yemen — The Yemeni government’s fight against Al Qaeda reached a new high this week after government forces launched a major military offensive against a city in southern Yemen known as a base for Al Qaeda-affiliated operatives.
Fighting between government forces and militants started on Tuesday in Hawta, a city in the highly volatile Shabwa Province, and has continued for the past three days. Yemeni forces have surrounded Hawta with tanks, and the city has come under arial attack.
The siege of Hawta coincided with an official visit Monday to the Yemeni capital Sanaa by John Brennan, the US assistant to the president for counterterrorism and homeland security. Mr. Brennan met with Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Sanaa to discuss US financial assistance for Yemen and continued support for the government to fight Al Qaeda, according to a White House press statement.
There was speculation about the connection between Brennan’s visit and the military campaign against Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), especially given that Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical US-born cleric linked to the Fort Hood shootings, is known to be based in Shabwa Province. But the Yemeni government has said that the bombardment of Hawta was in retaliation for an Al Qaeda attack on a Yemeni liquid natural gas pipeline last week.
Gregory Johnsen, a specialist on Yemen at Princeton University in New Jersey, said that Brennan’s visit seemed to be part of the US’s ongoing efforts to stress to the Yemeni government the importance of the two nations working together “toward an elimination of Al Qaeda in Yemen.”
He added that the campaign in Hawta is part of a larger Yemeni effort over the past few months to bring the fight against AQAP in places like Shabwa, as well as Abyan Province.
The US Embassy in Sanaa would not comment on any relationship between Brennan’s trip and the offensive in Hawta.
Yemen became a central focus of American counterterrorism policy after the failed bombing attempt of a Detroit-bound plane on Christmas Day 2009 that was planned by AQAP. US financial aid to Yemen, the majority of which goes toward military assistance, is set to more than double in 2010, to $200 million.
Many analysts warn against too strong an emphasis on military aid, saying it doesn't address the symptoms of extremism in the impoverished country, and the causes of growing antigovernment Islamist ideology. They argue that the international community should concentrate more on development to tackle Yemen's deep-seated poverty.
In Yemen’s countryside, where tribal sheikhs wield more power than the central government, civilians have grown increasing disgruntled with what is widely viewed as the corrupt and inefficient leadership of Mr. Saleh. Analysts worry that not only do these areas provide AQAP with a haven in which the organization can plot attacks against the West, they also offer fertile ground for recruiting new members.
According to local sources, 27 Al Qaeda militants have been captured since the offensive in Hawta began, and the son of late AQAP leader Abdullah Al-Midhar has been killed.
Up to 15,000 civilians have been displaced because of the fighting, according Fouad Abdel Karim, president of the Yemeni Red Crescent Society in Aden.
The home village of the Awlaki family is only about 60 miles away from Hawta. Local opposition press reported yesterday that Awlaki was among the militants fighting in Hawta. The Yemeni government, however, has denied that Awlaki is present among the fighters.
Mr. Johnsen warns that the US should not place too much importance on Awlaki.
"While Awlaki's death would certainly be an important propaganda victory for the Yemeni and US governments, I doubt that this would in anyway a debilitating blow for AQAP."
"Awlaki has certainly been a important propagandist," he adds, "but he is not someone who is a key military or strategic thinker for the organization."
Wednesday, 22 September 2010
Yemeni, GCC FMs discuss Yemen Friends meeting in New York
Source: Saba, 23/09/2010
New York- Foreign Ministers of the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states have held talks here with Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Qirbi over the agenda of Yemen Friends' meeting, which will be held on Friday in New York. After the meeting, al-Qirbi said that the consultations tackled ways to bolster the development and economic support offered by Yemen friends to enable Yemen face current challenges that hamper development, such as poverty, unemployment, terrorism and extremism.
He said the ministers agreed that Saudi Arabia would later host ministerial meetings in time deems appropriate by Sana'a. The Yemen friends include the GCC, EU, US, Russia, Japan, Canada, Turkey and major international organisations. ‘’They have also explored means as to how to support the construction of infrastructure in Yemen, and countering terrorism and extremism’’, added the Yemeni Minister.
On Yemen's joining the GCC, al-Qirbi said Yemen sought to further strengthen economic and development ties with the six-member Gulf bloc. "This is the start that will lead to Yemen's membership" to the GCC’’, he added. Germany will be chairing the friends of Yemen in New York.
New York- Foreign Ministers of the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states have held talks here with Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Qirbi over the agenda of Yemen Friends' meeting, which will be held on Friday in New York. After the meeting, al-Qirbi said that the consultations tackled ways to bolster the development and economic support offered by Yemen friends to enable Yemen face current challenges that hamper development, such as poverty, unemployment, terrorism and extremism.
He said the ministers agreed that Saudi Arabia would later host ministerial meetings in time deems appropriate by Sana'a. The Yemen friends include the GCC, EU, US, Russia, Japan, Canada, Turkey and major international organisations. ‘’They have also explored means as to how to support the construction of infrastructure in Yemen, and countering terrorism and extremism’’, added the Yemeni Minister.
On Yemen's joining the GCC, al-Qirbi said Yemen sought to further strengthen economic and development ties with the six-member Gulf bloc. "This is the start that will lead to Yemen's membership" to the GCC’’, he added. Germany will be chairing the friends of Yemen in New York.
Yemen army poised for assault on rebel town
Source: (AFP)
22\09\2010
Yemeni troops were on Wednesday preparing to go on the offensive against suspected Al-Qaeda militants entrenched in the southern town of Huta, a security official said.
"The operation will be launched once all civilians have left the city," said the official, who is involved in the preparations for the assault.
Troops have laid siege to the Shabwa province town for the past four days sparking a mass exodus of civilians.
Of the town's 20,000 residents, between 8,000 and 12,000 have fled, a Yemeni Red Crescent report said on Tuesday. But militants have been blocking further departures with a view to using residents as human shields, a security official said.
Overnight, Yemeni troops bombed wooden huts in the Bureika district, three kilometres (two miles) outside Huta, witnesses told AFP.
Fighting between troops and militants also erupted near Kharma, four kilometres (two and a half miles) from the town centre, witnesses said.
Provincial officials estimate that between 80 and 100 suspected Al-Qaeda militants are holed up in the town. Yemen is the ancestral homeland of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and has seen repeated attacks by his jihadist network.
The formerly independent south of the country has also witnessed growing discontent with the Sanaa government spearheaded by a coalition of secessionist and autonomist groups dubbed the Southern Movement.
The organisation denies any connection with Al-Qaeda.
One of its exiled leaders, Ali Salem al-Baid, described the campaign against the militants in Huta as a bid to secure funding from donors at the Friends of Yemen meeting that is due to be held in New York later this month.
The campaign is aimed at securing "financial assistance under the pretext of fighting terrorism," Baid said.
The Yemeni government is using Al-Qaeda as a pretext to subjugate the south and "silence the voice of the free south and its peaceful independence movement," he said.
"We invite the sponsors and participants from the Friends of Yemen conference to explore the facts for themselves and see the reality of the tragic situation in south Yemen," Baid added.
South Yemen was independent from the end of British colonial rule in 1967 until union with the north in 1990. The Sanaa government crushed an attempt by the region to break away in 1994.
Yemen fires Chess Board and players after meetings with Israelis
Source: Saba
22\09\2010
Minister of Youth and Sports Hamoud Ubad sacked on Tuesday the board of directors of the Yemeni Chess Union and all chess players who met with Israelis during their participation in the chess championship currently held in Belarus.
Meeting Israelis was personal act and not in line with Yemen's official plans rejecting any kind of normalization with Israel, Ubad said.
The Ministry of Youth and Sports will hold accountable who acted like that because all Yemenis at the championship were notified if one's lots brought them to play with an Israeli they would withdraw, said Ubad, as he noted the team has already withdrawn from the championship and is expected home soon.
22\09\2010
Minister of Youth and Sports Hamoud Ubad sacked on Tuesday the board of directors of the Yemeni Chess Union and all chess players who met with Israelis during their participation in the chess championship currently held in Belarus.
Meeting Israelis was personal act and not in line with Yemen's official plans rejecting any kind of normalization with Israel, Ubad said.
The Ministry of Youth and Sports will hold accountable who acted like that because all Yemenis at the championship were notified if one's lots brought them to play with an Israeli they would withdraw, said Ubad, as he noted the team has already withdrawn from the championship and is expected home soon.
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