Source:Washington Post
01\03\2010
It's 10 p.m. on a Thursday, and Freedom Square is electric. Ten thousand protesters, perhaps more, are waving flags and banners clamoring for President Ali Abdullah Saleh to resign.
On a makeshift stage, 12-year-old Ons Al-Ahdel, dressed in a head-to-toe black abaya and clutching a bubble-gum-pink purse, grabs the microphone.
"The revolution is coming," she screams.
This south-central city, ringed by oatmeal-colored mountains, is a place that many believe could become the cradle of another Arab revolution, if momentum builds here as it did in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya.
Activists are comparing Taiz to Benghazi, the eastern Libyan city that triggered the rebellion that threatens to oust Moammar Gaddafi.
As in Benghazi, residents of Taiz have a history of grievances and deep-rooted resentment toward their regime, accusing the government in Sanaa, the capital, of ignoring their region for decades.
The anger runs deepest among a large, ambitious middle class that considers the city to be the intellectual and cultural heart of Yemen.
"The government doesn't care about us," said Faisal Athubani, 27, a youth leader. "They are afraid because the people here are educated. If they give us benefits, they fear we can gain power and change Yemen. So they want to keep us down."
Saleh, a vital U.S. ally who has ruled Yemen for more than three decades, has pledged to step down when his term ends in 2013.
The 68-year-old leader has also pledged not to pass the presidency to his son and has offered to re-launch power-sharing talks with the opposition.
But the concessions have only emboldened the protesters, w
ho have little faith in Saleh's promises. In recent days, Yemen's main political opposition - a coalition of six parties - has also joined the protests, urging supporters to go to the streets.
On Monday, opponents spurned Saleh's offer to create a national unity government, and they have called for major demonstrations Tuesday.
At least 10 lawmakers from Saleh's party have resigned in recent days, though he has the support of 80 percent of Yemen's parliament.
"There is no going back to dialogue," said Mohammed al-Sabri, a lawmaker and spokesman for the opposition coalition, who addressed a rally in Taiz on Friday, just after the nighttime rally, that drew as many as 100,000 demonstrators, one of the largest protests among recent uprisings in Yemen. "We want the government to step down."
Across Yemen, anti-government demonstrations have been growing larger and more boisterous in recent days, attracting tens of thousands.
The protests also appear to be drawing a wider cross section of Yemenis, from urbanized elites to rural tribesmen, from lawyers to laborers, suggesting a political maturation of the populist uprising.
Since the protests in Yemen began Feb. 16, human rights activists say, at least 27 people have been killed in clashes between security forces and anti-government demonstrators. Most casualties have been in the southern city of Aden, another place full of revolutionary fervor.
Burgeoning movement
In Taiz, what started out as a small pro-democracy protest by 35 youth activists has grown to include medical unions, religious leaders, even entire tribes and villages.
Inspired by the revolts in Tunisia and Egypt, they have set up tents in a patch of central Taiz that they have renamed Freedom Square, mimicking Cairo's Tahrir - or Liberation - Square, the focal point of the Egyptian revolution that overthrew President Hosni Mubarak.
Here, thousands eat, sleep, and protest virtually 24 hours a day. Organizers have set up first-aid and food tents; young men frisk anyone who enters, to prevent weapons from flowing into the area.
"We want democracy, and I will not leave until we get it," said Bander Abdulwahid, 28, a machinist who has slept in his yellow tent for two weeks.
Taiz has a history of rebellion. In the 1950s, this was the epicenter of the Free Yemeni movement that sought political reforms.
At the time, it was also the administrative capital of North Yemen. By the 1980s, though, power had shifted to Sanaa, even more so after North and South Yemen were unified in 1990.
On the streets and in the tea shops of this ancient city, the disaffection is evident. As in other parts of the country, people here complain about high unemployment, a lack of basic services, corruption and poverty.
Nearby agricultural regions are suffering the full impact of the country's water shortage, forcing farmers to move to the city to compete for scarce jobs, adding to the ranks of the frustrated.
Taiz is also the nation's industrial capital. Unrest here could destabilize Yemen's economy, already weakened by shrinking oil revenue and political emergencies, which include a rebellion in the north, a secessionist movement in the south and a resurgent al-Qaeda branch.
As in Tunisia, the populist uprising here is being fueled by ambitious youths such as Athubani, who feel the world is passing them by under Saleh. "Even if you have a university degree, you cannot find a job," he said.
He and other youth activists have used Facebook, text messages and word of mouth to organize demonstrations. They are connected with other youth activists not only across Yemen, but also in Egypt and Tunisia.
On Friday, many said they had come out in anger on a day that organizers dubbed "Martyrs' Friday" to commemorate the deaths of two activists killed in a grenade attack in the square Feb 18.
Amid large pictures of the victims, the crowds called for Saleh to resign, chanting "Irhal, irhal!" - go away, go away!
Activists and opposition leaders said they want to avoid the sort of chaos that has beset Libya.
With an abundance of weapons and tribal rivalries, Yemen could easily plunge into civil war. The activists say they hope peaceful demonstrations, as they get larger and larger, will persuade Saleh to step down in the upcoming weeks or months.
"If it doesn't happen, we will go to the streets and fight," Athubani said. "That is our last resort."
Monday, 28 February 2011
Yemen opposition refuse unity government and insist on ‘day of rage’
By Nasser Arrabyee/28/03/2011
The spokesman of the Yemen opposition coalition, refused an offer by President Ali Abdullah Saleh to form a unity government for monitoring parliamentary elections and then presidential elections.
The spokesman, Mohammed Al Kubati, said , “ Saleh has only two options: either to be a former president, or a deposed president.”
The offer of President Saleh came only one day before “a day of rage” called for by the opposition coalition to support the limited but increasing demonstrations of the young people who have been demanding the ouster of Saleh over the last few weeks.
Earlier on Monday President Saleh met the chairman and members of the Yemeni clerics association, which includes all the Yemeni religious scholars like Abdul Majid Al Zandani, the most influential cleric in the Islamist party, Islah, which leads the opposition coalition which includes Islamists, Socialists, and Nasserites.
Before they met Saleh in his 80-million dollar mosque, Al Saleh Mosque, the scholars had advised Saleh to form a unity government from opposition and ruling party, sharing the most important ministries, fifty-fifty. They also advised him to remove all corrupts from their posts.
“Say the truth, say the truth, you will be responsible before Allah almighty for what might happen, those (opposition) are riding the wave of foolishness,” Saleh told the clerics.
“I know, and almost all of you in this room know, who pays for those demonstrations and why and how and , you should say the truth.”
“ We call for a unity government for monitoring the parliamentary elections, and then the presidential elections, and he who avoids the dialogue, hides evil against the nation.”
President Saleh said the opposition replied to his initiative of February 2nd, 2011, in which he said he would not stand for office when his current term ends in 2013, and his son would not succeed him, the opposition replied to it “ time for dialogue is over, now the word is for the street.
“I’m ready to leave the power but not through chaos, I’m fed up now after 32 years, but how to do that peacefully, and you scholars, should say how.”
The spokesman of the Yemen opposition coalition, refused an offer by President Ali Abdullah Saleh to form a unity government for monitoring parliamentary elections and then presidential elections.
The spokesman, Mohammed Al Kubati, said , “ Saleh has only two options: either to be a former president, or a deposed president.”
The offer of President Saleh came only one day before “a day of rage” called for by the opposition coalition to support the limited but increasing demonstrations of the young people who have been demanding the ouster of Saleh over the last few weeks.
Earlier on Monday President Saleh met the chairman and members of the Yemeni clerics association, which includes all the Yemeni religious scholars like Abdul Majid Al Zandani, the most influential cleric in the Islamist party, Islah, which leads the opposition coalition which includes Islamists, Socialists, and Nasserites.
Before they met Saleh in his 80-million dollar mosque, Al Saleh Mosque, the scholars had advised Saleh to form a unity government from opposition and ruling party, sharing the most important ministries, fifty-fifty. They also advised him to remove all corrupts from their posts.
“Say the truth, say the truth, you will be responsible before Allah almighty for what might happen, those (opposition) are riding the wave of foolishness,” Saleh told the clerics.
“I know, and almost all of you in this room know, who pays for those demonstrations and why and how and , you should say the truth.”
“ We call for a unity government for monitoring the parliamentary elections, and then the presidential elections, and he who avoids the dialogue, hides evil against the nation.”
President Saleh said the opposition replied to his initiative of February 2nd, 2011, in which he said he would not stand for office when his current term ends in 2013, and his son would not succeed him, the opposition replied to it “ time for dialogue is over, now the word is for the street.
“I’m ready to leave the power but not through chaos, I’m fed up now after 32 years, but how to do that peacefully, and you scholars, should say how.”
Sunday, 27 February 2011
UK aid budget refocuses on Yemen
Source: The Guardian, by Nicholas Watt, chief political correspondent,
28/02/2011
Britain is to stop sending aid to a series of relatively affluent developing countries as the government focuses resources on countries with the highest levels of poverty, and failing states that have become havens for Islamist fundamentalists.
A review of Britain's £8.4bn international development budget will herald the end of aid to Russia, Serbia, China, Cambodia, Vietnam and Moldova.
Aid to Yemen, regarded by Britain as a failing state whose lack of economic development provides a fertile recruiting ground for al-Qaida, will instead be doubled from £46.7m this year to £90m by 2015.
The changes will be announced by Andrew Mitchell, the international development secretary, who established separate reviews into Britain's bilateral and multilateral aid budgets after the general election.
The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) could be a victim of the review of Britain's support for multilateral organisations. Unesco, which was boycotted by Britain for 12 years between 1985 and 1997 on the grounds that it was "pro-Soviet", will have to meet a series of targets to justify its aid after the review found that it wasted the £12m it receives from Britain each year.
Mitchell told the BBC Politics Show that the reviews would lead to Britain's aid budget being "much better focused" on areas of greatest need. "People who live in conflict states are very much part of that," he said.
The reviews are designed to answer opponents on the right and left who have criticised the government's approach to aid from different angles.
A focus on developing countries in greatest need, with a hard-headed payments by results system, is meant to show sceptical Tories that the aid budget is being spent in a sensible way. Many Tories believe it was wrong of David Cameron to ringfence the aid budget, after the prime minister pledged to maintain Britain's commitment to meet the UN target of spending 0.7% of gross national income on aid by 2013.
Targeting resources at a country such as Yemen, some of whose territory is used by al-Qaida as a training ground, is also designed to show that concerns on the left about the securitisation of Britain's aid budget are unfounded.
Charities have warned that aligning aid priorities with Britain's overall foreign and trade policy could lead to a return to the 1990s when the Pergau dam in Indonesia was funded with British aid money. Harriet Harman, the shadow international development secretary, voiced these fears when she warned of "subsuming aid activities into military activities".
Mitchell said it was in Britain's interests to help countries which present a threat. "It's very much in our national interest to tackle these effects of dysfunctionality and poverty, such as piracy, migration, terrorism and disease in Somalia," he told the Sunday Times. "Tackling the causes of poverty upstream is much less expensive than sending in troops."
Mitchell also tackled one of the main criticisms from the right, that it is wrong to provide aid to India, whose economy is growing at such a fast pace that Delhi can afford a space programme. "The fact is that if you want to reach these [UN] millennium development goals, which we are also keen to do by 2015, you have to operate where poverty is greatest," he told the Politics Show. "In India there are more poor people in three states than there are in the whole of sub-Saharan Africa. Operating there in the way that we do is extremely effective in poverty alleviation."
The reviews, which have been subject to independent peer review, will have four main themes:
• A complete overhaul of the way in which Britain distributes aid. Mitchell believes that Gordon Brown announced an overall figure for a grant to a particular country without working out what exactly that would deliver. "Now it is going to be payment by results, so money will only be granted if it is clear how many more children will be educated in a given country and how much clean water will be supplied, for example," one source said.
Independent evaluation. A four-strong independent panel, including the Kenyan anti-corruption expert John Githongo, will monitor aid spending. The panel will report to parliament.
• Britain has a moral duty to help those in need in line with its values. Mitchell frequently quotes the anti-slavery campaigner William Wilberforce to support the aid cause. "You may choose to look the other way but you can never say again you did not know," Wilberforce said.
• It is in Britain's own national interests to help countries which present a threat, however indirectly.
28/02/2011
Britain is to stop sending aid to a series of relatively affluent developing countries as the government focuses resources on countries with the highest levels of poverty, and failing states that have become havens for Islamist fundamentalists.
A review of Britain's £8.4bn international development budget will herald the end of aid to Russia, Serbia, China, Cambodia, Vietnam and Moldova.
Aid to Yemen, regarded by Britain as a failing state whose lack of economic development provides a fertile recruiting ground for al-Qaida, will instead be doubled from £46.7m this year to £90m by 2015.
The changes will be announced by Andrew Mitchell, the international development secretary, who established separate reviews into Britain's bilateral and multilateral aid budgets after the general election.
The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) could be a victim of the review of Britain's support for multilateral organisations. Unesco, which was boycotted by Britain for 12 years between 1985 and 1997 on the grounds that it was "pro-Soviet", will have to meet a series of targets to justify its aid after the review found that it wasted the £12m it receives from Britain each year.
Mitchell told the BBC Politics Show that the reviews would lead to Britain's aid budget being "much better focused" on areas of greatest need. "People who live in conflict states are very much part of that," he said.
The reviews are designed to answer opponents on the right and left who have criticised the government's approach to aid from different angles.
A focus on developing countries in greatest need, with a hard-headed payments by results system, is meant to show sceptical Tories that the aid budget is being spent in a sensible way. Many Tories believe it was wrong of David Cameron to ringfence the aid budget, after the prime minister pledged to maintain Britain's commitment to meet the UN target of spending 0.7% of gross national income on aid by 2013.
Targeting resources at a country such as Yemen, some of whose territory is used by al-Qaida as a training ground, is also designed to show that concerns on the left about the securitisation of Britain's aid budget are unfounded.
Charities have warned that aligning aid priorities with Britain's overall foreign and trade policy could lead to a return to the 1990s when the Pergau dam in Indonesia was funded with British aid money. Harriet Harman, the shadow international development secretary, voiced these fears when she warned of "subsuming aid activities into military activities".
Mitchell said it was in Britain's interests to help countries which present a threat. "It's very much in our national interest to tackle these effects of dysfunctionality and poverty, such as piracy, migration, terrorism and disease in Somalia," he told the Sunday Times. "Tackling the causes of poverty upstream is much less expensive than sending in troops."
Mitchell also tackled one of the main criticisms from the right, that it is wrong to provide aid to India, whose economy is growing at such a fast pace that Delhi can afford a space programme. "The fact is that if you want to reach these [UN] millennium development goals, which we are also keen to do by 2015, you have to operate where poverty is greatest," he told the Politics Show. "In India there are more poor people in three states than there are in the whole of sub-Saharan Africa. Operating there in the way that we do is extremely effective in poverty alleviation."
The reviews, which have been subject to independent peer review, will have four main themes:
• A complete overhaul of the way in which Britain distributes aid. Mitchell believes that Gordon Brown announced an overall figure for a grant to a particular country without working out what exactly that would deliver. "Now it is going to be payment by results, so money will only be granted if it is clear how many more children will be educated in a given country and how much clean water will be supplied, for example," one source said.
Independent evaluation. A four-strong independent panel, including the Kenyan anti-corruption expert John Githongo, will monitor aid spending. The panel will report to parliament.
• Britain has a moral duty to help those in need in line with its values. Mitchell frequently quotes the anti-slavery campaigner William Wilberforce to support the aid cause. "You may choose to look the other way but you can never say again you did not know," Wilberforce said.
• It is in Britain's own national interests to help countries which present a threat, however indirectly.
Yemen powerful tribal leaders support President Saleh
Source: The Wall Street Journal, By OLIVER HOLMES
27/02/2011
SAN'A, Yemen—Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh rallied tribes to his support after a prominent tribal leader said he would join the opposition, as the president moved to shore up his regime amid fears that other tribal chiefs will follow suit.
At least 11 tribal sheikhs publicly pledged their allegiance to the president on Sunday, in an attempt to quash rumors that the resignation of Sheikh Hussein al Ahmar, a powerful Yemeni chief, was speaking on behalf of his tribe, the Hashid. Tribesmen across the country are now feeling the pressure to take sides, after staying quiet as the unrest escalated over the past two weeks.
A protester holds up a piece of bread with the word "Leave!" on it as he shouts slogans during an antigovernment rally outside San'a University.
The president, facing protests against his 32-year reign, has been up and down the country meeting tribal sheikhs, opposition leaders and youth activists all weekend, rebutting claims that he should step down.
"There is a conspiracy against Yemen's unity and territorial integrity and we, in the armed forces, have served to preserve the republican regime with every drop of blood we have," Mr. Saleh was quoted as saying by state-run press on Sunday.
"Our nation has been passing through difficult times for four years," he added. "We are trying in every way possible to deal with and overcome these difficulties democratically, through dialogue with all political leaders, but in vain."
Mohammed al-Qadhi, a member of Parliament and tribal sheikh, handed in his resignation last week from the president's ruling party along with a few other tribal chieftains. Mr. Ahmar's resignation holds more weight, as he is a leading figure in the Hashid, the largest confederation of tribes in Yemen. President Saleh himself is a member of the Hashid confederation, which consists of members supporting both ruling and opposition parties.
A ruling party official said reports that Yemen's two largest tribes, the Hashid and the Bakil, had vowed to oppose the regime are "ridiculous." But he also conceded that there is now a split within the tribes.
"In 2005, [Sheikh Ahmar] lost a senior position he was strongly seeking in the ruling party elections, and since then he froze all his party activities," the official wrote in an email to the Wall Street Journal. "Also, Mohammed al-Qadhi, joined forces a while ago with [Sheikh Ahmar] and created a political-tribal movement. Both continued to be vocal against the ruling party and their resignations were not a surprise but merely a media stunt," he added.
Sheikh Ahmar on Saturday stood in front of a crowd of around 10,000 in the northern province of Amran to announce his support for antigovernment protestors and denounce violence used by riot police in the south. "We call on all those loyal to Yemen to stand with the revolution until this regime falls," he told the crowd. "The Yemeni people will not stay quiet on the blood that was spilled in Aden and we will avenge them," he added.
According to London-based Amnesty International, the death toll of recent protests has now reached 27, with an average of nearly three people killed every day since the 16th of February. The majority of casualties have been in the once-independent southern city of Aden, a longstanding hotbed for antigovernment sentiment.
Demonstrations have rapidly escalated in numbers in Yemen, with over 100,000 people attending rallies across the country on Friday to mourn the deaths of protestors killed by police and government loyalists.
Sheikh Ahmar quit the ruling party before, in 2009, but rejoined in December last year. Tribal support is known to ebb and flow as the president allocates inducements for party loyalty. With depleting oil reserves, there are fears here that the president can't continue to pay off tribal sheikhs for their allegiance.
In Yemen, where tribal alliances and politics are interwoven, the move has the potential to cause a domino effect, and analysts say more leaders are expected to resign from the president's party over the coming week.
Critics say Sheikh Ahmar's speech was a political move, as his brother, Hamid al-Ahmar—who is believed to be grooming himself for the presidency—possibly ordered his brother to take this moment to act. Until recently, when protest numbers soared, the president has appeared relatively secure, compared to his counterparts in North Africa.
Now, many low-level tribesmen around the country have started joining the protestors. In San'a, tribes from the eastern provinces of Marib and Khowlan have pitched tents at the demonstrations, complaining of marginalization and demanding the president flee the country.
Opposition groups held a meeting Saturday to discuss the increased violence against protestors over the past two weeks. The coalition of political parties released a statement late Saturday night saying they condemn all violence and call "on all supporters to take to the streets for a demonstration on Tuesday." However, they haven't officially joined the protestors and are still open to dialogue with the president.
27/02/2011
SAN'A, Yemen—Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh rallied tribes to his support after a prominent tribal leader said he would join the opposition, as the president moved to shore up his regime amid fears that other tribal chiefs will follow suit.
At least 11 tribal sheikhs publicly pledged their allegiance to the president on Sunday, in an attempt to quash rumors that the resignation of Sheikh Hussein al Ahmar, a powerful Yemeni chief, was speaking on behalf of his tribe, the Hashid. Tribesmen across the country are now feeling the pressure to take sides, after staying quiet as the unrest escalated over the past two weeks.
A protester holds up a piece of bread with the word "Leave!" on it as he shouts slogans during an antigovernment rally outside San'a University.
The president, facing protests against his 32-year reign, has been up and down the country meeting tribal sheikhs, opposition leaders and youth activists all weekend, rebutting claims that he should step down.
"There is a conspiracy against Yemen's unity and territorial integrity and we, in the armed forces, have served to preserve the republican regime with every drop of blood we have," Mr. Saleh was quoted as saying by state-run press on Sunday.
"Our nation has been passing through difficult times for four years," he added. "We are trying in every way possible to deal with and overcome these difficulties democratically, through dialogue with all political leaders, but in vain."
Mohammed al-Qadhi, a member of Parliament and tribal sheikh, handed in his resignation last week from the president's ruling party along with a few other tribal chieftains. Mr. Ahmar's resignation holds more weight, as he is a leading figure in the Hashid, the largest confederation of tribes in Yemen. President Saleh himself is a member of the Hashid confederation, which consists of members supporting both ruling and opposition parties.
A ruling party official said reports that Yemen's two largest tribes, the Hashid and the Bakil, had vowed to oppose the regime are "ridiculous." But he also conceded that there is now a split within the tribes.
"In 2005, [Sheikh Ahmar] lost a senior position he was strongly seeking in the ruling party elections, and since then he froze all his party activities," the official wrote in an email to the Wall Street Journal. "Also, Mohammed al-Qadhi, joined forces a while ago with [Sheikh Ahmar] and created a political-tribal movement. Both continued to be vocal against the ruling party and their resignations were not a surprise but merely a media stunt," he added.
Sheikh Ahmar on Saturday stood in front of a crowd of around 10,000 in the northern province of Amran to announce his support for antigovernment protestors and denounce violence used by riot police in the south. "We call on all those loyal to Yemen to stand with the revolution until this regime falls," he told the crowd. "The Yemeni people will not stay quiet on the blood that was spilled in Aden and we will avenge them," he added.
According to London-based Amnesty International, the death toll of recent protests has now reached 27, with an average of nearly three people killed every day since the 16th of February. The majority of casualties have been in the once-independent southern city of Aden, a longstanding hotbed for antigovernment sentiment.
Demonstrations have rapidly escalated in numbers in Yemen, with over 100,000 people attending rallies across the country on Friday to mourn the deaths of protestors killed by police and government loyalists.
Sheikh Ahmar quit the ruling party before, in 2009, but rejoined in December last year. Tribal support is known to ebb and flow as the president allocates inducements for party loyalty. With depleting oil reserves, there are fears here that the president can't continue to pay off tribal sheikhs for their allegiance.
In Yemen, where tribal alliances and politics are interwoven, the move has the potential to cause a domino effect, and analysts say more leaders are expected to resign from the president's party over the coming week.
Critics say Sheikh Ahmar's speech was a political move, as his brother, Hamid al-Ahmar—who is believed to be grooming himself for the presidency—possibly ordered his brother to take this moment to act. Until recently, when protest numbers soared, the president has appeared relatively secure, compared to his counterparts in North Africa.
Now, many low-level tribesmen around the country have started joining the protestors. In San'a, tribes from the eastern provinces of Marib and Khowlan have pitched tents at the demonstrations, complaining of marginalization and demanding the president flee the country.
Opposition groups held a meeting Saturday to discuss the increased violence against protestors over the past two weeks. The coalition of political parties released a statement late Saturday night saying they condemn all violence and call "on all supporters to take to the streets for a demonstration on Tuesday." However, they haven't officially joined the protestors and are still open to dialogue with the president.
Saturday, 26 February 2011
Sons of dead tribal leader try to unite against father’s ally, President Saleh
By Nasser Arrabyee/26/02/2011
A tribal leader from the most influential tribe in Yemen, Hashed, said Saturday he would join the young people in the streets who demand the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
“I’m announcing my resignation from the ruling party, party of corruption, and my joining to the revolution of the young people until this regime is toppled,” Hussein Al Ahmar, a former close friend of President Saleh, addressed tens of thousands of tribesmen in Amran city, the stronghold of Hashed tribe.
Although Hussein Al Ahmar is only the brother of the historic head of Hashed, he was speaking in the rally in the name of the Hashed and Bakil tribes, the most two influential tribes in Yemen.
Earlier this month, Hussein said he would send his armed tribesmen to the capital Sana’a to protect the anti-Saleh demonstrators.
Many tribal leaders from the two tribes like Hamoud Atef, Abdu Rabu Rajeh, and Mohammed Naji Al Shayef, said in statements, Hussein Al Ahmar was “only representing himself”.
Al Ahmar’s rally of tens of thousands of tribesmen from Hashed and Bakil, who were chanting slogans against president Saleh, came only two days after a rally of tens of thousands of tribesmen from the same two tribes who were chanting slogans to support Saleh in the neighboring province of Hajja.
The whole Yemen is divided into three main tribes, Hashed, Bakil, and Madhaj: Hashed, the most influential and always ruling over history, though the smallest in terms of population.
Bakil, the second most influential with more population. Madhaj, the least influential and least important though the largest in terms of population.
The official head of Hashed is Sadeq Abdullah Al Ahmar, brother of Hussein. Sadek is trying to copy his dead father who used to play a balanced role between President Saleh and his detractors although he was (the father) the head of the largest opposition party, Islah.
“I’m the brother of all,” Sadeq said last Monday in his father’s weekly forum, when he was asked, who he supports, President Saleh or the opposition.
To this end, Himyar Al Ahmar, brother of Hussein, who is the deputy speaker of Parliament, and member of the ruling part, said he thwarted an intelligence plan to assassinate opposition figures including his brother Hamid Al Ahamar, the most influential detractor of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Himyar said in a statement early Saturday, that his body guards arrested Friday afternoon February 25th, 2011, a group of armed men working for the National Security Agency (NSA) close to his house in the street of October 14 in Sana’a.
The group, dressed in civil clothes, using a normal car ( taxi), were collecting information about the houses of the influential opposition figures especially the house of Hamid Al Ahmar, the statement said.
Hours before Al Ahmar’s statement, the ministry of interior accused the bodyguards of Himyar Al Ahmar, and his brother Hamid Al Ahmar of shooting and injuring a man and woman for “unknown reasons”.
However, Al Ahmar’s statement said when the group tried to escape “ they drove crazily and ran over a woman passer-by and tried to shoot randomly and injuring one of them.”
The ministry of interior said that Sabri Mohammed Al Tharhani,35, and Takiyah Mohammed Al Sermi,50, were taken to hospital after being injured with bullets of the bodyguards of Himyar and Hamid Al Ahmar, without giving any further details.
Al Ahmar’s statement said that the deputy of NSA, Ammar Mohammed Abdullah Saleh, nephew of President Saleh, came immediately to the place with many military vehicles escorting him. The car of the group was taken by Ammar, said the statement, without mentioning the fate of the group.
The ministry of interior said “ a citizen” was kidnapped by the bodyguards of Al Ahmar brothers.
The billionaire Hamid Al Ahmar, is the most influential opposition figure who clearly says the solution for Yemen’s crisis is only the ouster of President Saleh, unlike his Islamist party that dominates the opposition coalition, which until now say officially “serious reforms” not ouster of Saleh, will solve the problem.
According press reports, the fiery and conflicting statements between the State ( or rather Saleh) and Al Ahmar’s sons, came after a phone call from President Saleh to his man, Himyar Al Ahmar, asking him to prevent his brother Hamid from leading the anti-Saleh young people in the streets.
The opposition coalition say they support the limited, but increasing demonstrations of the young people in the street. But they have not decided yet to take to the streets with them.
Hamid Al Ahmar, known as the money man of the opposition’s hawks, expects the opposition coalition to take to the street soon.
A tribal leader from the most influential tribe in Yemen, Hashed, said Saturday he would join the young people in the streets who demand the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
“I’m announcing my resignation from the ruling party, party of corruption, and my joining to the revolution of the young people until this regime is toppled,” Hussein Al Ahmar, a former close friend of President Saleh, addressed tens of thousands of tribesmen in Amran city, the stronghold of Hashed tribe.
Although Hussein Al Ahmar is only the brother of the historic head of Hashed, he was speaking in the rally in the name of the Hashed and Bakil tribes, the most two influential tribes in Yemen.
Earlier this month, Hussein said he would send his armed tribesmen to the capital Sana’a to protect the anti-Saleh demonstrators.
Many tribal leaders from the two tribes like Hamoud Atef, Abdu Rabu Rajeh, and Mohammed Naji Al Shayef, said in statements, Hussein Al Ahmar was “only representing himself”.
Al Ahmar’s rally of tens of thousands of tribesmen from Hashed and Bakil, who were chanting slogans against president Saleh, came only two days after a rally of tens of thousands of tribesmen from the same two tribes who were chanting slogans to support Saleh in the neighboring province of Hajja.
The whole Yemen is divided into three main tribes, Hashed, Bakil, and Madhaj: Hashed, the most influential and always ruling over history, though the smallest in terms of population.
Bakil, the second most influential with more population. Madhaj, the least influential and least important though the largest in terms of population.
The official head of Hashed is Sadeq Abdullah Al Ahmar, brother of Hussein. Sadek is trying to copy his dead father who used to play a balanced role between President Saleh and his detractors although he was (the father) the head of the largest opposition party, Islah.
“I’m the brother of all,” Sadeq said last Monday in his father’s weekly forum, when he was asked, who he supports, President Saleh or the opposition.
To this end, Himyar Al Ahmar, brother of Hussein, who is the deputy speaker of Parliament, and member of the ruling part, said he thwarted an intelligence plan to assassinate opposition figures including his brother Hamid Al Ahamar, the most influential detractor of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Himyar said in a statement early Saturday, that his body guards arrested Friday afternoon February 25th, 2011, a group of armed men working for the National Security Agency (NSA) close to his house in the street of October 14 in Sana’a.
The group, dressed in civil clothes, using a normal car ( taxi), were collecting information about the houses of the influential opposition figures especially the house of Hamid Al Ahmar, the statement said.
Hours before Al Ahmar’s statement, the ministry of interior accused the bodyguards of Himyar Al Ahmar, and his brother Hamid Al Ahmar of shooting and injuring a man and woman for “unknown reasons”.
However, Al Ahmar’s statement said when the group tried to escape “ they drove crazily and ran over a woman passer-by and tried to shoot randomly and injuring one of them.”
The ministry of interior said that Sabri Mohammed Al Tharhani,35, and Takiyah Mohammed Al Sermi,50, were taken to hospital after being injured with bullets of the bodyguards of Himyar and Hamid Al Ahmar, without giving any further details.
Al Ahmar’s statement said that the deputy of NSA, Ammar Mohammed Abdullah Saleh, nephew of President Saleh, came immediately to the place with many military vehicles escorting him. The car of the group was taken by Ammar, said the statement, without mentioning the fate of the group.
The ministry of interior said “ a citizen” was kidnapped by the bodyguards of Al Ahmar brothers.
The billionaire Hamid Al Ahmar, is the most influential opposition figure who clearly says the solution for Yemen’s crisis is only the ouster of President Saleh, unlike his Islamist party that dominates the opposition coalition, which until now say officially “serious reforms” not ouster of Saleh, will solve the problem.
According press reports, the fiery and conflicting statements between the State ( or rather Saleh) and Al Ahmar’s sons, came after a phone call from President Saleh to his man, Himyar Al Ahmar, asking him to prevent his brother Hamid from leading the anti-Saleh young people in the streets.
The opposition coalition say they support the limited, but increasing demonstrations of the young people in the street. But they have not decided yet to take to the streets with them.
Hamid Al Ahmar, known as the money man of the opposition’s hawks, expects the opposition coalition to take to the street soon.
Friday, 25 February 2011
Deputy speaker of Parliament accuses intelligence of targeting key detractors of President Saleh
By Nasser Arrabyee/26/02/2011
The Yemeni deputy speaker of Parliament said he thwarted an intelligence plan to target opposition figures including his brother Hamid Al Ahamar, the most influential detractor of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
The deputy speaker of Parliament, Himyar Al Ahmar, member of President Saleh’s party, said in a statement early Saturday, that his body guards arrested Friday afternoon February 25th, 2011, a group of armed men working for the National Security Agency (NSA) close to Al Ahmar’s house in the street of October 14 in Sana’a.
The group, dressed in civil clothes, using a normal car ( taxi), were collecting information about the houses of the influential opposition figures especially the house of Hamid Al Ahmar, the statement said.
Hours before Al Ahmar’s statement, the ministry of interior accused the bodyguards of Himyar Al Ahmar, and his brother Hamid Al Ahmar of shooting and injuring a man and woman for “unknown reasons”.
However, Al Ahmar’s statement said when the group tried to escape “ they drove crazily and ran over a woman passer-by and tried to shoot randomly and injuring one of them.”
The ministry of interior said that Sabri Mohammed Al Tharhani,35, and Takiyah Mohammed Al Sermi,50, were taken to hospital after being injured with bullets of the bodyguards of Himyar and Hamid Al Ahmar, without giving any further details.
Al Ahmar’s statement said that the deputy of NSA, Ammar Mohammed Abdullah Saleh, nephew of President Saleh, came immediately to the place with many military vehicles escorting him. The car of the group was taken by Ammar, said the statement, without mentioning the fate of the group.
The ministry of interior said “ a citizen” was kidnapped by the bodyguards of Al Ahmar brothers.
The billionaire Hamid Al Ahmar, is the most influential opposition figure who clearly says the solution for Yemen’s crisis is only the ouster of President Saleh, unlike his Islamist party that dominates the opposition coalition, which until now say officially “serious reforms” not ouster of Saleh, will solve the problem.
The opposition coalition say they support the limited, but increasing demonstrations of the young people in the street. But they have not decided yet to take to streets with them. Hamid Al Ahmar expects the opposition coalition to take to the street soon.
Tens of thousands of anti-and-pro-government protest peacefully in Yemen
Source: Reuters , 25/02/2011
Tens of thousands of supporters and opponents of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh held rival demonstrations in the capital on Friday, in a test of support for the veteran leader's 32-year rule.
Protesters outside Sanaa University, repeating slogans which have echoed round the Arab world since the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, chanted: "The people demand the downfall of the regime."
Supporters of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh wave traditional daggers, or jambiyas, as they attend a rally in Sanaa February 25, 2011.
About 4 km (2 miles) across town, loyalists shouted support for a leader they said was holding the fractured and impoverished tribal nation together. "The creator of unity is in
our hearts. We will not abandon him," they chanted.
Seventeen people have been killed in the past nine days in a sustained wave of countrywide anti-Saleh protests galvanised by the fall of the Tunisian and Egyptian presidents. Saleh has said he will not give in to "anarchy and killing".
A U.S. ally against the Yemen-based al Qaida wing that has launched attacks at home and abroad, the Yemeni leader is struggling to end protests flaring across the Arabian
Peninsula's poorest state.
He is also trying to maintain a shaky truce with northern Shi'ite Muslim rebels and contain a secessionist insurgency in the south against northern rule.
In the south of the country, more than 10,000 people took to the streets in various districts of the port city of Aden, demanding an end to Saleh's rule.
Twenty-two people were wounded in the protests from live bullets fired by security forces, witnesses said, and security forces blocked off the city to prevent people from neighboring
cities joining them.
In Aden's Mansoura district, protesters stormed a city council building and set on fire a government vehicle parked outside the building.
In the city of Taiz, 200 km (125 miles) south of the capital, about 10,000 people staged an anti-government protest.
"THE REVOLUTION HAS STARTED"
Outside Sanaa university, Saleh's opponents held an auction to raise money for their campaign, selling a car and a watch, which fetched 600,000 riyals (e3,000).
"The revolution has started. It will not stop until all of our demands are met," said Fouad Dahaba, an opposition member of parliament who attended the rally. "We are not less than the people of Tunis and Egypt, who were emancipated."
Saleh supporters in Tahrir Square, many of whom arrived in buses from provinces outside the capital, chanted "Yes to stability, no to chaos".
"There is no use in trying to destroy the country and divide it. We all must enter a dialogue to preserve the national interest," said Mohammad Saleh.
Authorities stepped up security in Sanaa before the rallies. An Interior Ministry statement late on Thursday ordered security forces to "raise their security vigilance and take all measures to control any terrorist elements" who might take advantage of
the protests to infiltrate Sanaa.
Saleh had earlier "demanded security services offer full protection for the demonstrators" and prevent confrontations, according a statement from Yemen's Washington embassy.
Pro-Saleh loyalists wielding clubs and daggers have often sought to break up opposition protests in Sanaa and elsewhere.
Saleh has promised to step down when his term ends in 2013 and not hand power to his son, though he has backed out of similar pledges in the past.
State news agency Saba said on Thursday Saleh has assigned a committee headed by Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Megawar to open a dialogue with protesters to hear their demands.
Nine members of parliament resigned from Saleh's ruling party on Wednesday in protest against what they said was government violence against protesters, but the president still has the support of around 80 percent of parliamentarians.
Tens of thousands of supporters and opponents of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh held rival demonstrations in the capital on Friday, in a test of support for the veteran leader's 32-year rule.
Protesters outside Sanaa University, repeating slogans which have echoed round the Arab world since the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, chanted: "The people demand the downfall of the regime."
Supporters of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh wave traditional daggers, or jambiyas, as they attend a rally in Sanaa February 25, 2011.
About 4 km (2 miles) across town, loyalists shouted support for a leader they said was holding the fractured and impoverished tribal nation together. "The creator of unity is in
our hearts. We will not abandon him," they chanted.
Seventeen people have been killed in the past nine days in a sustained wave of countrywide anti-Saleh protests galvanised by the fall of the Tunisian and Egyptian presidents. Saleh has said he will not give in to "anarchy and killing".
A U.S. ally against the Yemen-based al Qaida wing that has launched attacks at home and abroad, the Yemeni leader is struggling to end protests flaring across the Arabian
Peninsula's poorest state.
He is also trying to maintain a shaky truce with northern Shi'ite Muslim rebels and contain a secessionist insurgency in the south against northern rule.
In the south of the country, more than 10,000 people took to the streets in various districts of the port city of Aden, demanding an end to Saleh's rule.
Twenty-two people were wounded in the protests from live bullets fired by security forces, witnesses said, and security forces blocked off the city to prevent people from neighboring
cities joining them.
In Aden's Mansoura district, protesters stormed a city council building and set on fire a government vehicle parked outside the building.
In the city of Taiz, 200 km (125 miles) south of the capital, about 10,000 people staged an anti-government protest.
"THE REVOLUTION HAS STARTED"
Outside Sanaa university, Saleh's opponents held an auction to raise money for their campaign, selling a car and a watch, which fetched 600,000 riyals (e3,000).
"The revolution has started. It will not stop until all of our demands are met," said Fouad Dahaba, an opposition member of parliament who attended the rally. "We are not less than the people of Tunis and Egypt, who were emancipated."
Saleh supporters in Tahrir Square, many of whom arrived in buses from provinces outside the capital, chanted "Yes to stability, no to chaos".
"There is no use in trying to destroy the country and divide it. We all must enter a dialogue to preserve the national interest," said Mohammad Saleh.
Authorities stepped up security in Sanaa before the rallies. An Interior Ministry statement late on Thursday ordered security forces to "raise their security vigilance and take all measures to control any terrorist elements" who might take advantage of
the protests to infiltrate Sanaa.
Saleh had earlier "demanded security services offer full protection for the demonstrators" and prevent confrontations, according a statement from Yemen's Washington embassy.
Pro-Saleh loyalists wielding clubs and daggers have often sought to break up opposition protests in Sanaa and elsewhere.
Saleh has promised to step down when his term ends in 2013 and not hand power to his son, though he has backed out of similar pledges in the past.
State news agency Saba said on Thursday Saleh has assigned a committee headed by Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Megawar to open a dialogue with protesters to hear their demands.
Nine members of parliament resigned from Saleh's ruling party on Wednesday in protest against what they said was government violence against protesters, but the president still has the support of around 80 percent of parliamentarians.
Thousands Demand Yemen Leader's Departure
Source: Wall Street Journal
25\02\2011
Tens of thousands of Yemenis took to the streets of the capital on Friday to demand the resignation of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Small protests have been taking place in Yemen since mid-January, inspired by the demonstrations in Tunisia and Egypt, but Friday's protests drew much larger crowds.
Outside San'a university, where students have been camped out for weeks, the streets were flooded with people. More than 30,000 people attended Friday prayers at the university, to show their support and to mourn the death of two protesters who were shot and killed late Tuesday night by government loyalists.
Because the protests were spread out over multiple streets in central San'a, reliable numbers were hard to calculate. Local media reported between 50,000 and 80,000 antigovernment demonstrators.
A sea of people knelt on their hands and knees in the street to pray for the dead protesters under flapping Yemeni flags, before rising to chant slogans against the president. Crowds of young men and some women moved up the street and started demonstrating in the faces of riot police.
"People want the regime to collapse," screamed the heaving crowds, punching the air as they chanted. At one point, some people converged down a side street, causing a bottleneck. Confusion ensued and shots were fired.
It is unclear whether the gunfire came from the police or pro-Saleh loyalists, who have fired on protesters in the past. Nobody was injured.
Government loyalists staged a counter-demonstration in Tahrir Square, where they have held rallies over the past few weeks.
Giant beige marquees have been set up to prevent antigovernment demonstrators occupying the square. Around 10,000 men marched up and down the streets yelling, "Yemen needs Ali Abdullah Saleh."
Although much smaller than the antigovernment protest, Tahrir Square was flooded with people, many carrying wooden batons.
Antigovernment protesters say the loyalists are hired thugs, using violence to quash the opposition. The government has denied any connection with the violence and states it hasn't paid anyone to protest for the president.
25\02\2011
Tens of thousands of Yemenis took to the streets of the capital on Friday to demand the resignation of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Small protests have been taking place in Yemen since mid-January, inspired by the demonstrations in Tunisia and Egypt, but Friday's protests drew much larger crowds.
Outside San'a university, where students have been camped out for weeks, the streets were flooded with people. More than 30,000 people attended Friday prayers at the university, to show their support and to mourn the death of two protesters who were shot and killed late Tuesday night by government loyalists.
Because the protests were spread out over multiple streets in central San'a, reliable numbers were hard to calculate. Local media reported between 50,000 and 80,000 antigovernment demonstrators.
A sea of people knelt on their hands and knees in the street to pray for the dead protesters under flapping Yemeni flags, before rising to chant slogans against the president. Crowds of young men and some women moved up the street and started demonstrating in the faces of riot police.
"People want the regime to collapse," screamed the heaving crowds, punching the air as they chanted. At one point, some people converged down a side street, causing a bottleneck. Confusion ensued and shots were fired.
It is unclear whether the gunfire came from the police or pro-Saleh loyalists, who have fired on protesters in the past. Nobody was injured.
Government loyalists staged a counter-demonstration in Tahrir Square, where they have held rallies over the past few weeks.
Giant beige marquees have been set up to prevent antigovernment demonstrators occupying the square. Around 10,000 men marched up and down the streets yelling, "Yemen needs Ali Abdullah Saleh."
Although much smaller than the antigovernment protest, Tahrir Square was flooded with people, many carrying wooden batons.
Antigovernment protesters say the loyalists are hired thugs, using violence to quash the opposition. The government has denied any connection with the violence and states it hasn't paid anyone to protest for the president.
Thursday, 24 February 2011
Yemeni president forms committee for dialogue with protesters
Source: AFP, 25/02/2011
Sana'a: Yemen's president on Thursday ordered the formation of a government committee to open a dialogue with protesters who have been staging demonstrations for weeks demanding the president step down, state media reported.
President Ali Abdullah Saleh's directive appeared to mark a significant concession in the standoff with the opposition, as well as an attempt to defuse the demonstrations that have been inspired by the successful uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia.
The protesters in Yemen are demanding the resignation of the US-backed Saleh, who has been in power for 32 years.
Saleh has refused to resign, but has said he will not run for another term in national elections in 2013.
Yemen's official Saba news agency said Saleh ordered his prime minister to lead the five-member committee that it to "have a constructive and open dialogue with the young brothers, including protesters ... and to listen to their conditions and visions."
There was no immediate response from opposition figures.
Saba also reported that the president and top officials on Thursday discussed Yemen's economy and ways of solving the country's chronic unemployment problem. A lack of jobs in Yemen has been one of the complaints of the protesters.
The anti-government protests have left at least 13 demonstrators dead since the crisis began nearly a month ago.
Earlier Thursday, security officials said one person was killed and two were wounded when a grenade was thrown at demonstrators demanding to secede from northern Yemen.
Sana'a: Yemen's president on Thursday ordered the formation of a government committee to open a dialogue with protesters who have been staging demonstrations for weeks demanding the president step down, state media reported.
President Ali Abdullah Saleh's directive appeared to mark a significant concession in the standoff with the opposition, as well as an attempt to defuse the demonstrations that have been inspired by the successful uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia.
The protesters in Yemen are demanding the resignation of the US-backed Saleh, who has been in power for 32 years.
Saleh has refused to resign, but has said he will not run for another term in national elections in 2013.
Yemen's official Saba news agency said Saleh ordered his prime minister to lead the five-member committee that it to "have a constructive and open dialogue with the young brothers, including protesters ... and to listen to their conditions and visions."
There was no immediate response from opposition figures.
Saba also reported that the president and top officials on Thursday discussed Yemen's economy and ways of solving the country's chronic unemployment problem. A lack of jobs in Yemen has been one of the complaints of the protesters.
The anti-government protests have left at least 13 demonstrators dead since the crisis began nearly a month ago.
Earlier Thursday, security officials said one person was killed and two were wounded when a grenade was thrown at demonstrators demanding to secede from northern Yemen.
Yemenis want change but not bloody, a Canadian tries to fix the problem
Source : Toronto Star, 25/02/2011
By Michelle Shephard, National Security Reporter
SANAA, YEMEN—Rafat Al-Akhali’s solution for reforming his country sounds, well, so Canadian.
He laughs.
“I know, I know, it does sound so nice. Hey, let’s just be friends.”
Maybe that’s what he gets for living in Calgary and Montreal for the last eight years, only returning home a few weeks ago as revolutions swept the Arab world.
At 28, Al-Akhali grew up under the rule of President Ali Abdullah Saleh and, like many his age, says he was inspired by the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt that toppled two autocratic presidents.
“But every time we look at that and try to figure out how it’s going to happen here, the scenarios don’t work out,” he said one night this week as he drove through the capital’s downtown.
“We want change, but we don’t want it to be bloody. The corruption is there, the president and regime failed to manage the country properly, unemployment rate is high—Yemen is failing in many aspects.”
But, Al-Akhali stresses what many analysts and politicians have said for weeks—Yemen is different.
“The regime here is intertwined in the social fabric. They’re all tribal heads, they’re all influential, so when you say bring down the regime it’s like bringing down society.”
Al-Akhali, a pharmaceutical distributor who worked at IBM before leaving Canada, had already decided to return here with his wife and two children when Tunisia sparked unrest throughout the region.
But since arriving a few weeks ago he has been trying to meet with government representatives and reaching out to students, in an effort to bridge the gap.
He wants the street movement to become organized and fight for Saleh’s removal, but not immediately, and not until a workable new system is in place.
It’s hardly a sexy option when Yemen’s youth are emboldened by a new-found freedom of expression and want Saleh out now.
Thousands joined the student-led sit-in outside the university gates Thursday, in the biggest crowd in the last two weeks.
Hanging above the protestors who chanted “Ali out,” was a cardboard cut-out out of the president hanging from a street light by a noose.
The students have dubbed the area Al Tagheer (Change) Square and on Thursday hundreds of women joined what had predominantly been an all-male gathering.
Just before sunset, men lounged in tents chewing the leafy narcotic khat while vendors sold nuts, fresh pressed orange juice and barbecued meat from carts. There was even a groom who received a rousing applause for choosing to celebrate his nuptials at the demonstration.
The number of street protestors increased following the fatalities Tuesday night, when government loyalists broke through police lines and shot into the crowd. The Yemen Times identified one of the dead as 34-year-old teacher Awadh al-Soraihi.
Many suspect that mingling with pro-Saleh forces are the government’s security service and what Yemenis call baltagiyah, or thugs, who have been paid by the government – a claim Saleh denies.
In protest over the government violence, nine members of parliament resigned Wednesday. Hours later Saleh ordered all security services to protect the street demonstrators and by Thursday evening, that peace seemed to hold.
Friday’s protest is expected to be the largest yet.
Al-Akhali’s message might be timely, but it’s not the first time he has advocated for a strong youth voice for change.
In early 2010, as he was completing his MBA in Montreal, he started an organization called “Resonate! Yemen” with two Yemeni friends from Calgary.
They wanted to represent the youth to the international community attending London’s “Friends of Yemen” conference on terrorism, which was organized following the failed Christmas Eve attack on a Detroit-bound flight (the Nigerian suspect had links to the Yemen-based Al Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula).
Al-Akhali says he knows his moderate message today is not popular among the majority on the street who want Saleh driven out of the country, but he is hoping to appeal to the leaders who believe change can come in months, not days.
“Some of the people out on the street just want him out. They don’t care if the devil rules them after this,” he says, honking his horn in the congested night street.
“But there are lots of logical people who understand,” he breaks off talking as he is forced to stop behind a driver who has just left his car, then continues, “people who understand that parking in the middle of the street is not a logical thing.”
In other words, if Yemen has been governed like the traffic here, where it seems acceptable to drive on the wrong side of the road, then some basic rules have to be in place to avoid a major pile up.
By Michelle Shephard, National Security Reporter
SANAA, YEMEN—Rafat Al-Akhali’s solution for reforming his country sounds, well, so Canadian.
He laughs.
“I know, I know, it does sound so nice. Hey, let’s just be friends.”
Maybe that’s what he gets for living in Calgary and Montreal for the last eight years, only returning home a few weeks ago as revolutions swept the Arab world.
At 28, Al-Akhali grew up under the rule of President Ali Abdullah Saleh and, like many his age, says he was inspired by the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt that toppled two autocratic presidents.
“But every time we look at that and try to figure out how it’s going to happen here, the scenarios don’t work out,” he said one night this week as he drove through the capital’s downtown.
“We want change, but we don’t want it to be bloody. The corruption is there, the president and regime failed to manage the country properly, unemployment rate is high—Yemen is failing in many aspects.”
But, Al-Akhali stresses what many analysts and politicians have said for weeks—Yemen is different.
“The regime here is intertwined in the social fabric. They’re all tribal heads, they’re all influential, so when you say bring down the regime it’s like bringing down society.”
Al-Akhali, a pharmaceutical distributor who worked at IBM before leaving Canada, had already decided to return here with his wife and two children when Tunisia sparked unrest throughout the region.
But since arriving a few weeks ago he has been trying to meet with government representatives and reaching out to students, in an effort to bridge the gap.
He wants the street movement to become organized and fight for Saleh’s removal, but not immediately, and not until a workable new system is in place.
It’s hardly a sexy option when Yemen’s youth are emboldened by a new-found freedom of expression and want Saleh out now.
Thousands joined the student-led sit-in outside the university gates Thursday, in the biggest crowd in the last two weeks.
Hanging above the protestors who chanted “Ali out,” was a cardboard cut-out out of the president hanging from a street light by a noose.
The students have dubbed the area Al Tagheer (Change) Square and on Thursday hundreds of women joined what had predominantly been an all-male gathering.
Just before sunset, men lounged in tents chewing the leafy narcotic khat while vendors sold nuts, fresh pressed orange juice and barbecued meat from carts. There was even a groom who received a rousing applause for choosing to celebrate his nuptials at the demonstration.
The number of street protestors increased following the fatalities Tuesday night, when government loyalists broke through police lines and shot into the crowd. The Yemen Times identified one of the dead as 34-year-old teacher Awadh al-Soraihi.
Many suspect that mingling with pro-Saleh forces are the government’s security service and what Yemenis call baltagiyah, or thugs, who have been paid by the government – a claim Saleh denies.
In protest over the government violence, nine members of parliament resigned Wednesday. Hours later Saleh ordered all security services to protect the street demonstrators and by Thursday evening, that peace seemed to hold.
Friday’s protest is expected to be the largest yet.
Al-Akhali’s message might be timely, but it’s not the first time he has advocated for a strong youth voice for change.
In early 2010, as he was completing his MBA in Montreal, he started an organization called “Resonate! Yemen” with two Yemeni friends from Calgary.
They wanted to represent the youth to the international community attending London’s “Friends of Yemen” conference on terrorism, which was organized following the failed Christmas Eve attack on a Detroit-bound flight (the Nigerian suspect had links to the Yemen-based Al Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula).
Al-Akhali says he knows his moderate message today is not popular among the majority on the street who want Saleh driven out of the country, but he is hoping to appeal to the leaders who believe change can come in months, not days.
“Some of the people out on the street just want him out. They don’t care if the devil rules them after this,” he says, honking his horn in the congested night street.
“But there are lots of logical people who understand,” he breaks off talking as he is forced to stop behind a driver who has just left his car, then continues, “people who understand that parking in the middle of the street is not a logical thing.”
In other words, if Yemen has been governed like the traffic here, where it seems acceptable to drive on the wrong side of the road, then some basic rules have to be in place to avoid a major pile up.
Wednesday, 23 February 2011
President Saleh should leave power early, minister says
By Nasser Arrabyee/24/02/2011
A Yemeni minister said President Ali Abdullah will not be far from what happened in Tunisia and Egypt, asking him to hold an early presidential elections this year.
The minister of tourism Nabil Al Faki, said in a letter addressed to Saleh, the presidential elections should take place late this year in coincidence with parliamentary elections with President Saleh only sponsoring the peaceful transfer of power.
President Saleh repeatedly said this week he would not run for office when his current term ends in 2013 and that his son Ahmed would not succeed him.
Al Faki’s letter which was published in the state-run daily Al Syasyah, advised Saleh also to do many other political and electoral reforms to institutionalize the State and guarantee the rule of law.
Great efforts are now being made by internal and external players (specially American and European) to help President Saleh find an acceptable solution without necessarily an immediate step down.
Unlike the ongoing limited but increasing demonstrations of the young people who demand the ouster of Saleh, the opposition coalition which includes the Islamist, Socialists, and Nasserites, want only guarantees from Saleh that he will leave power at the end of his term and he will not interfere in the would-be unity government that would prepare for and monitor the early elections.
After a meeting with the chairman of the American democratic institute (NDI) Les Campbell in Sana’a on Wednesday, President Saleh called for forming an national unity government to monitor the elections.
And called for stopping demonstrations for paving the way for talks.
President Saleh, at the same time, instructed the security forces to protect the anti-and pro-government demonstrators in the streets.
Earlier on Tuesday, one demonstrator was killed and more than 10 injured when armed tribesmen of two rival demonstrations clashed with each other nearby Sana’a university.
The anti-regime demonstrators from the young people increased to thousands, instead of hundreds, after the clashes of Tuesday.
A Yemeni minister said President Ali Abdullah will not be far from what happened in Tunisia and Egypt, asking him to hold an early presidential elections this year.
The minister of tourism Nabil Al Faki, said in a letter addressed to Saleh, the presidential elections should take place late this year in coincidence with parliamentary elections with President Saleh only sponsoring the peaceful transfer of power.
President Saleh repeatedly said this week he would not run for office when his current term ends in 2013 and that his son Ahmed would not succeed him.
Al Faki’s letter which was published in the state-run daily Al Syasyah, advised Saleh also to do many other political and electoral reforms to institutionalize the State and guarantee the rule of law.
Great efforts are now being made by internal and external players (specially American and European) to help President Saleh find an acceptable solution without necessarily an immediate step down.
Unlike the ongoing limited but increasing demonstrations of the young people who demand the ouster of Saleh, the opposition coalition which includes the Islamist, Socialists, and Nasserites, want only guarantees from Saleh that he will leave power at the end of his term and he will not interfere in the would-be unity government that would prepare for and monitor the early elections.
After a meeting with the chairman of the American democratic institute (NDI) Les Campbell in Sana’a on Wednesday, President Saleh called for forming an national unity government to monitor the elections.
And called for stopping demonstrations for paving the way for talks.
President Saleh, at the same time, instructed the security forces to protect the anti-and pro-government demonstrators in the streets.
Earlier on Tuesday, one demonstrator was killed and more than 10 injured when armed tribesmen of two rival demonstrations clashed with each other nearby Sana’a university.
The anti-regime demonstrators from the young people increased to thousands, instead of hundreds, after the clashes of Tuesday.
Tuesday, 22 February 2011
Armed tribesmen participate in anti-and pro-regime protests, one killed, more than 10 injured
By Nasser Arrabyee/23/02/2011
At least one protester was killed and more than 10 injured in clashes between armed tribesmen protecting anti-and pro-government hundreds of demonstrators at the gate of Sana’a university before dawn of Wednesday.
Independent eyewitnesses said the clashes started with hands and sticks when the pro-government demonstrators tried to install their own tents in a place close to the tents of the anti-government demonstrators nearby the university.
When the security forces, deployed in the area failed to disperse the night demonstrators (few hundreds of young people from each side), the armed tribesmen of each side clashed with each other killing one at least and injuring more than 10.
Armed tribesmen loyal to President Ali Abdullah Saleh were there to protect the pro-government demonstrators and armed tribesmen loyal to Hamid and Hussein Al Al Ahmar were there to protect the anti-Saleh demonstrators, according to eyewitnesses.
Hussein Al Ahmar , chairman of a tribal group, called council of national solidarity, publicly said last week he would send tribesmen to protect demonstrators in Sana’a from violence of the tribesmen loyal to the government.
Earlier during the daytime of Tuesday, the anti-regime demonstrators attacked by stones and set fire to a car belonging to the pro-government demonstrators, which tried to distribute posters and pictures of President Saleh around their area.
The Yemeni President Saleh says he will never leave the power by the force of the limited but increasing demonstrations of the young people who have been demanding his ouster over the last few weeks.
The opposition parties say they want guarantees for “serious reforms” and they never said, until now, they want the ouster of President Saleh, even though they support these young people in the street who insist on Saleh’s sep-down.
In such a conservative country like Yemen, where illiteracy is still more than 50 % of the 24 million population, the civil society and educated young people who mainly contact with each other by face book and twitter for their daily anti-regime protests, are not yet the most effective players.
The tribal leaders and the religious scholars are still the most effective players on the society of Yemen where 70% of the population are living in the rural areas where basic services like education, health, electricity and communication are very poor.
Most of the religious and tribal leaders still support President Saleh, or at least, have not yet called for taking to streets. They both seem they want to give Saleh the last chance if things will remain in their hands.
The Association of the Yemeni clerics held an exceptional meeting on Monday February 21st, 2011, and said in a statement President Saleh should remove all corrupts around him and take “serious steps” for reforms.
One of the most influential Yemen cleric said the opposition must take to streets only if President Saleh has not accepted their conditions for a guaranteed peaceful transfer of power.
“A national unity government must be formed, with the most important ministries shared between the opposition and the ruling party, to prepare for elections within six month,” said Sheik Abdul Majid Al Zandani, a leader in the largest Islamist opposition party, and chairman of the religious university of Al Eyman.
If the President has not accepted this condition, then the people must take to streets peacefully until he accepts, said Al Zandani.
Over the last two weeks, President Saleh was holding extensive meetings every day with the tribal leaders and their tribesmen from the Yemen’s most influential two tribes Hashed and Bakil in the provinces of Sana’a, Amran and Hajja.
The opposition politicians considered President Saleh’s meetings with the tribesmen as a tactic of “Divide to rule”.
“It’s a foreign agenda, and conspiracy against security and stability of the nation,” said President Saleh in one of those big gathering of tribesmen who came to Sana’a to express their support for him.
“He who wants to take the power, should take it through polls, not through sabotage and chaos ,” he said.
He said it’s only the citizens who will pay the price if the country collapsed into a civil war. “ Those who pay and push citizens to the streets will be hiding in the bad-rooms, with their bags in their hands to go abroad where their bank credits are.”
President Saleh was obviously referring to Hamid Al Ahmar, a politically ambitious businessman and Islamist leader, and also the son of the chief of Hashed, the departed Abdullah Al Ahmar. The Hashed tribesmen can be divided into two groups at least, one with Saleh and one with Hamid and his brother Hussein who says he will send his tribesmen to protect the demonstrators in Sana’a from the “thugs” of the government. Hamid Al Al Ahmar has his own satellite TV, Suhail.
Under the influence of some people like Hamid, both the opposition coalition and tribesmen seem to be spilt over the question of what to do now to accept Saleh’s concessions and go for dialogue or take to streets.
“ We’ll join the young people in the streets soon, when everybody realizes that the regime is not serious,” Hamid Al Ahmar incited the opposition and tribesmen in a meeting in Sana’a last week.
In the most recent official statement on Sunday, February 20th, 2011, the opposition parties they support the young people who demonstrate in the streets for the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
But those parties , which includes mainly the Islamists, Socialists, and Nasserites, did not say they would join them in street and they never the support was for the ouster of President Saleh.
“We support their peaceful protests against tyranny”.
Meanwhile, the President Ali Abdulah Saleh repeatedly said on the same day he is ready to meet all the “legal” demands of the opposition through dialogue.
“We are ready to sit on negotiation table and meet the demands of the opposition, if they are legal, the dialogue is the best way, not the sabotage, blocking roads, killing innocents, and looting public and private properties,” President Saleh addressed about 40,000 of his supporters in the country’s largest hall, May 22 Hall, in the capital Sana’a.
The Islamist-led opposition coalition in a statement issued at the end of an exceptional meeting held by the top leaders said, “No dialogue with bullets, batons, and thugs, no dialogue with the power who mobilizes mercenaries to occupy the public squares.”
President Saleh regretted for the violence that happened on Friday and Saturday, February 19th, 20th, 2011, in Aden, Taiz and Sana’a in which dozens were killed and injured. He also regretted for what happened to journalists in Sana’a on Friday and Saturday by “hired thugs”.
“Those elements are not from the ruling party or its allies , they were hired thugs, and this will never happen again ,” Saleh said.
While President Saleh was speaking, two rival demonstrations were going on at the gate of the Sana’a university: hundreds of students were demanding Saleh’s ouster, and hundreds others demanding dialogue and security and stability. Both ended peacefully after the security separated them meters away from each other.
After violence stopped, the anti-Salehof hundreds students started a permanent sit-in at the gate of Sana’a university on Sunday February 20th, 2011, like their colleagues in the province of Taiz where hundreds of youn people started day and night sit-in about week earlier.
Because of violence against demonstrators, 10 members of parliament from the ruling party said they would resign if the violence against demonstrators and journalists continued.
In southern province of Aden where always the protestors would demand the separation of the south from the north which united in 1990, small but violent demonstrations calling for the ouster of President Saleh started last Friday when at least five people were killed in clashes with security forces.
The new position of the southern separatist movement was viewed by some observers as an implicit agreement between the movement and opposition coalition to focus on toppling of the regime.
In Sada’a, for the first time, the Al Houthi Shiite rebels, who are in a fragile truce after the 6-year old sporadic war with the government, staged demonstrations on Monday, February 21st, 2011, in cooperation with the opposition coalition in the province to support the young people in Sana’a, Taiz, and Aden and other provinces.
Some of the opposition politicians say the angry young people will calm down if dialogue starts but some .
“The young people protesting in the streets now will calm down when we start dialogue and show them guarantees, it is not like the previous times,” Mohammed Kahtan, a senior Islamist opposition, said.
At least one protester was killed and more than 10 injured in clashes between armed tribesmen protecting anti-and pro-government hundreds of demonstrators at the gate of Sana’a university before dawn of Wednesday.
Independent eyewitnesses said the clashes started with hands and sticks when the pro-government demonstrators tried to install their own tents in a place close to the tents of the anti-government demonstrators nearby the university.
When the security forces, deployed in the area failed to disperse the night demonstrators (few hundreds of young people from each side), the armed tribesmen of each side clashed with each other killing one at least and injuring more than 10.
Armed tribesmen loyal to President Ali Abdullah Saleh were there to protect the pro-government demonstrators and armed tribesmen loyal to Hamid and Hussein Al Al Ahmar were there to protect the anti-Saleh demonstrators, according to eyewitnesses.
Hussein Al Ahmar , chairman of a tribal group, called council of national solidarity, publicly said last week he would send tribesmen to protect demonstrators in Sana’a from violence of the tribesmen loyal to the government.
Earlier during the daytime of Tuesday, the anti-regime demonstrators attacked by stones and set fire to a car belonging to the pro-government demonstrators, which tried to distribute posters and pictures of President Saleh around their area.
The Yemeni President Saleh says he will never leave the power by the force of the limited but increasing demonstrations of the young people who have been demanding his ouster over the last few weeks.
The opposition parties say they want guarantees for “serious reforms” and they never said, until now, they want the ouster of President Saleh, even though they support these young people in the street who insist on Saleh’s sep-down.
In such a conservative country like Yemen, where illiteracy is still more than 50 % of the 24 million population, the civil society and educated young people who mainly contact with each other by face book and twitter for their daily anti-regime protests, are not yet the most effective players.
The tribal leaders and the religious scholars are still the most effective players on the society of Yemen where 70% of the population are living in the rural areas where basic services like education, health, electricity and communication are very poor.
Most of the religious and tribal leaders still support President Saleh, or at least, have not yet called for taking to streets. They both seem they want to give Saleh the last chance if things will remain in their hands.
The Association of the Yemeni clerics held an exceptional meeting on Monday February 21st, 2011, and said in a statement President Saleh should remove all corrupts around him and take “serious steps” for reforms.
One of the most influential Yemen cleric said the opposition must take to streets only if President Saleh has not accepted their conditions for a guaranteed peaceful transfer of power.
“A national unity government must be formed, with the most important ministries shared between the opposition and the ruling party, to prepare for elections within six month,” said Sheik Abdul Majid Al Zandani, a leader in the largest Islamist opposition party, and chairman of the religious university of Al Eyman.
If the President has not accepted this condition, then the people must take to streets peacefully until he accepts, said Al Zandani.
Over the last two weeks, President Saleh was holding extensive meetings every day with the tribal leaders and their tribesmen from the Yemen’s most influential two tribes Hashed and Bakil in the provinces of Sana’a, Amran and Hajja.
The opposition politicians considered President Saleh’s meetings with the tribesmen as a tactic of “Divide to rule”.
“It’s a foreign agenda, and conspiracy against security and stability of the nation,” said President Saleh in one of those big gathering of tribesmen who came to Sana’a to express their support for him.
“He who wants to take the power, should take it through polls, not through sabotage and chaos ,” he said.
He said it’s only the citizens who will pay the price if the country collapsed into a civil war. “ Those who pay and push citizens to the streets will be hiding in the bad-rooms, with their bags in their hands to go abroad where their bank credits are.”
President Saleh was obviously referring to Hamid Al Ahmar, a politically ambitious businessman and Islamist leader, and also the son of the chief of Hashed, the departed Abdullah Al Ahmar. The Hashed tribesmen can be divided into two groups at least, one with Saleh and one with Hamid and his brother Hussein who says he will send his tribesmen to protect the demonstrators in Sana’a from the “thugs” of the government. Hamid Al Al Ahmar has his own satellite TV, Suhail.
Under the influence of some people like Hamid, both the opposition coalition and tribesmen seem to be spilt over the question of what to do now to accept Saleh’s concessions and go for dialogue or take to streets.
“ We’ll join the young people in the streets soon, when everybody realizes that the regime is not serious,” Hamid Al Ahmar incited the opposition and tribesmen in a meeting in Sana’a last week.
In the most recent official statement on Sunday, February 20th, 2011, the opposition parties they support the young people who demonstrate in the streets for the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
But those parties , which includes mainly the Islamists, Socialists, and Nasserites, did not say they would join them in street and they never the support was for the ouster of President Saleh.
“We support their peaceful protests against tyranny”.
Meanwhile, the President Ali Abdulah Saleh repeatedly said on the same day he is ready to meet all the “legal” demands of the opposition through dialogue.
“We are ready to sit on negotiation table and meet the demands of the opposition, if they are legal, the dialogue is the best way, not the sabotage, blocking roads, killing innocents, and looting public and private properties,” President Saleh addressed about 40,000 of his supporters in the country’s largest hall, May 22 Hall, in the capital Sana’a.
The Islamist-led opposition coalition in a statement issued at the end of an exceptional meeting held by the top leaders said, “No dialogue with bullets, batons, and thugs, no dialogue with the power who mobilizes mercenaries to occupy the public squares.”
President Saleh regretted for the violence that happened on Friday and Saturday, February 19th, 20th, 2011, in Aden, Taiz and Sana’a in which dozens were killed and injured. He also regretted for what happened to journalists in Sana’a on Friday and Saturday by “hired thugs”.
“Those elements are not from the ruling party or its allies , they were hired thugs, and this will never happen again ,” Saleh said.
While President Saleh was speaking, two rival demonstrations were going on at the gate of the Sana’a university: hundreds of students were demanding Saleh’s ouster, and hundreds others demanding dialogue and security and stability. Both ended peacefully after the security separated them meters away from each other.
After violence stopped, the anti-Salehof hundreds students started a permanent sit-in at the gate of Sana’a university on Sunday February 20th, 2011, like their colleagues in the province of Taiz where hundreds of youn people started day and night sit-in about week earlier.
Because of violence against demonstrators, 10 members of parliament from the ruling party said they would resign if the violence against demonstrators and journalists continued.
In southern province of Aden where always the protestors would demand the separation of the south from the north which united in 1990, small but violent demonstrations calling for the ouster of President Saleh started last Friday when at least five people were killed in clashes with security forces.
The new position of the southern separatist movement was viewed by some observers as an implicit agreement between the movement and opposition coalition to focus on toppling of the regime.
In Sada’a, for the first time, the Al Houthi Shiite rebels, who are in a fragile truce after the 6-year old sporadic war with the government, staged demonstrations on Monday, February 21st, 2011, in cooperation with the opposition coalition in the province to support the young people in Sana’a, Taiz, and Aden and other provinces.
Some of the opposition politicians say the angry young people will calm down if dialogue starts but some .
“The young people protesting in the streets now will calm down when we start dialogue and show them guarantees, it is not like the previous times,” Mohammed Kahtan, a senior Islamist opposition, said.
Monday, 21 February 2011
Is Yemen’s President Different?
By Nasser Arrabyee/22/02/2011
The Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh says he will never leave the power by the force of the limited but increasing demonstrations of the young people who have been demanding his ouster over the last few weeks.
The opposition parties say they want guarantees for “serious reforms” and they never said, until now, they want the ouster of President Saleh, even though they support the young people in the street who insist on Saleh's leaving.
A lot of intensive efforts are being exerted now to bring all parties to negotiation table and defuse the crisis.
In such a conservative country like Yemen, where illiteracy is still more than 50 % of the 24 million population, the civil society and educated young people who mainly contact with each other by face book and twitter for their daily anti-regime protests, are not yet the most effective players.
The tribal leaders and the religious scholars are still the most effective players on the society of Yemen where 70% of the population are living in the rural areas where basic services like education, health, electricity and communication are very poor.
Most of the religious and tribal leaders still support President Saleh, or at least, have not yet called for taking to streets. They both seem they want to give Saleh the last chance if things will remain in their hands.
The association of the Yemeni clerics held an exceptional meeting on Monday February 21st, 2011, and said in a statement President Saleh should remove all corrupts around him and take “serious steps” for reforms.
One of the most influential Yemeni cleric said the opposition must take to streets only if President Saleh has not accepted their conditions for a guaranteed peaceful transfer of power.
“A national unity government must be formed, with the most important ministries shared between the opposition and the ruling party, to prepare for elections within six month,” said Sheik Abdul Majid Al Zandani, a leader in the largest Islamist opposition party, and chairman of the religious university of Al Eyman.
If the President has not accepted this condition, then the people must take to streets peacefully until he accepts, said Al Zandani.
Over the last two weeks, President Saleh was holding extensive meetings every day with the tribal leaders and their tribesmen from the Yemen’s most influential two tribes Hashed and Bakil in the provinces of Sana’a, Amran and Hajja.
The opposition politicians considered President Saleh’s meetings with the tribesmen as a tactic of “Divide to rule”.
“It’s a foreign agenda, and conspiracy against security and stability of the nation,” said President Saleh in one of those big gathering of tribesmen who came to Sana’a to express their support for him.
“He who wants to take the power, should take it through polls, not through sabotage and chaos ,” he said.
He said it’s only the citizens who will pay the price if the country collapsed into a civil war. “ Those who pay and push citizens to the streets will be hiding in the bad-rooms, with their bags in their hands to go abroad where their bank credits are.”
President Saleh was obviously referring to Hamid Al Ahmar, a politically ambitious businessman and Islamist leader, and also the son of the chief of Hashed, the departed Abdullah Al Ahmar. The Hashed tribesmen can be divided into two groups at least, one with Saleh and one with Hamid and his brother Hussein who says he will send his tribesmen to protect the demonstrators in Sana’a from the “thugs” of the government. Hamid Al Al Ahmar has his own satellite TV, Suhail.
Under the influence of some people like Hamid, both the opposition coalition and tribesmen seem to be spilt over the question of what to do now to accept Saleh’s concessions and go for dialogue or take to streets.
“ We’ll join the young people in the streets soon, when everybody realizes that the regime is not serious,” Hamid Al Ahmar incited the opposition and tribesmen in a meeting in Sana’a last week.
In the most recent official statement on Sunday, February 20th, 2011, the opposition parties they support the young people who demonstrate in the streets for the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
But those parties , which includes mainly the Islamists, Socialists, and Nasserites, did not say they would join them in street and they never the support was for the ouster of President Saleh.
“We support their peaceful protests against tyranny”.
Meanwhile, the President Ali Abdulah Saleh repeatedly said on the same day he is ready to meet all the “legal” demands of the opposition through dialogue.
“We are ready to sit on negotiation table and meet the demands of the opposition, if they are legal, the dialogue is the best way, not the sabotage, blocking roads, killing innocents, and looting public and private properties,” President Saleh addressed about 40,000 of his supporters in the country’s largest hall, May 22 Hall, in the capital Sana’a on Sunday February 21st, 2011.
The Islamist-led opposition coalition in a statement issued at the end of an exceptional meeting held by the top leaders said, “No dialogue with bullets, batons, and thugs, no dialogue with the power who mobilizes mercenaries to occupy the public squares.”
President Saleh regretted for the violence that happened on Friday and Saturday, February 19th, 20th, 2011, in Aden, Taiz and Sana’a in which dozens were killed and injured. He also regretted for what happened to journalists in Sana’a on Friday and Saturday by “hired thugs”.
“Those elements are not from the ruling party or its allies , they were hired thugs, and this will never happen again ,” Saleh said.
While President Saleh was speaking, two rival demonstrations were going on at the gate of the Sana’a university: hundreds of students were demanding Saleh’s ouster, and hundreds others demanding dialogue and security and stability. Both ended peacefully after the security separated them meters away from each other.
After violence stopped, hundreds of anti-Saleh university students started a permanent sit-in at the gate of Sana’a university on Sunday February 20th, 2011, like their colleagues in the province of Taiz where hundreds of young people started day and night sit-in about a week earlier.
Because of violence against demonstrators, 10 members of parliament from the ruling party said they would resign if the violence against demonstrators and journalists continued.
In southern province of Aden where always the protestors would demand the separation of the south from the north which united in 1990, small but violent demonstrations calling for the ouster of President Saleh started last Friday when at least five people were killed in clashes with security forces.
The new position of the southern separatist movement was viewed by some observers as an implicit agreement between the movement and opposition coalition to focus on toppling of the regime.
In Sada’a, for the first time, the Al Houthi Shiite rebels, who are in a fragile truce after the 6-year old sporadic war with the government, staged demonstrations on Monday, February 21st, 2011, in cooperation with the opposition coalition in the province to support the young people in Sana’a, Taiz, and Aden and other provinces.
Some of the opposition politicians say the angry young people will calm down if dialogue starts but some .
“The young people protesting in the streets now will calm down when we start dialogue and show them guarantees, it is not like the previous times,” Mohammed Kahtan, a senior Islamist opposition, said.
The Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh says he will never leave the power by the force of the limited but increasing demonstrations of the young people who have been demanding his ouster over the last few weeks.
The opposition parties say they want guarantees for “serious reforms” and they never said, until now, they want the ouster of President Saleh, even though they support the young people in the street who insist on Saleh's leaving.
A lot of intensive efforts are being exerted now to bring all parties to negotiation table and defuse the crisis.
In such a conservative country like Yemen, where illiteracy is still more than 50 % of the 24 million population, the civil society and educated young people who mainly contact with each other by face book and twitter for their daily anti-regime protests, are not yet the most effective players.
The tribal leaders and the religious scholars are still the most effective players on the society of Yemen where 70% of the population are living in the rural areas where basic services like education, health, electricity and communication are very poor.
Most of the religious and tribal leaders still support President Saleh, or at least, have not yet called for taking to streets. They both seem they want to give Saleh the last chance if things will remain in their hands.
The association of the Yemeni clerics held an exceptional meeting on Monday February 21st, 2011, and said in a statement President Saleh should remove all corrupts around him and take “serious steps” for reforms.
One of the most influential Yemeni cleric said the opposition must take to streets only if President Saleh has not accepted their conditions for a guaranteed peaceful transfer of power.
“A national unity government must be formed, with the most important ministries shared between the opposition and the ruling party, to prepare for elections within six month,” said Sheik Abdul Majid Al Zandani, a leader in the largest Islamist opposition party, and chairman of the religious university of Al Eyman.
If the President has not accepted this condition, then the people must take to streets peacefully until he accepts, said Al Zandani.
Over the last two weeks, President Saleh was holding extensive meetings every day with the tribal leaders and their tribesmen from the Yemen’s most influential two tribes Hashed and Bakil in the provinces of Sana’a, Amran and Hajja.
The opposition politicians considered President Saleh’s meetings with the tribesmen as a tactic of “Divide to rule”.
“It’s a foreign agenda, and conspiracy against security and stability of the nation,” said President Saleh in one of those big gathering of tribesmen who came to Sana’a to express their support for him.
“He who wants to take the power, should take it through polls, not through sabotage and chaos ,” he said.
He said it’s only the citizens who will pay the price if the country collapsed into a civil war. “ Those who pay and push citizens to the streets will be hiding in the bad-rooms, with their bags in their hands to go abroad where their bank credits are.”
President Saleh was obviously referring to Hamid Al Ahmar, a politically ambitious businessman and Islamist leader, and also the son of the chief of Hashed, the departed Abdullah Al Ahmar. The Hashed tribesmen can be divided into two groups at least, one with Saleh and one with Hamid and his brother Hussein who says he will send his tribesmen to protect the demonstrators in Sana’a from the “thugs” of the government. Hamid Al Al Ahmar has his own satellite TV, Suhail.
Under the influence of some people like Hamid, both the opposition coalition and tribesmen seem to be spilt over the question of what to do now to accept Saleh’s concessions and go for dialogue or take to streets.
“ We’ll join the young people in the streets soon, when everybody realizes that the regime is not serious,” Hamid Al Ahmar incited the opposition and tribesmen in a meeting in Sana’a last week.
In the most recent official statement on Sunday, February 20th, 2011, the opposition parties they support the young people who demonstrate in the streets for the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
But those parties , which includes mainly the Islamists, Socialists, and Nasserites, did not say they would join them in street and they never the support was for the ouster of President Saleh.
“We support their peaceful protests against tyranny”.
Meanwhile, the President Ali Abdulah Saleh repeatedly said on the same day he is ready to meet all the “legal” demands of the opposition through dialogue.
“We are ready to sit on negotiation table and meet the demands of the opposition, if they are legal, the dialogue is the best way, not the sabotage, blocking roads, killing innocents, and looting public and private properties,” President Saleh addressed about 40,000 of his supporters in the country’s largest hall, May 22 Hall, in the capital Sana’a on Sunday February 21st, 2011.
The Islamist-led opposition coalition in a statement issued at the end of an exceptional meeting held by the top leaders said, “No dialogue with bullets, batons, and thugs, no dialogue with the power who mobilizes mercenaries to occupy the public squares.”
President Saleh regretted for the violence that happened on Friday and Saturday, February 19th, 20th, 2011, in Aden, Taiz and Sana’a in which dozens were killed and injured. He also regretted for what happened to journalists in Sana’a on Friday and Saturday by “hired thugs”.
“Those elements are not from the ruling party or its allies , they were hired thugs, and this will never happen again ,” Saleh said.
While President Saleh was speaking, two rival demonstrations were going on at the gate of the Sana’a university: hundreds of students were demanding Saleh’s ouster, and hundreds others demanding dialogue and security and stability. Both ended peacefully after the security separated them meters away from each other.
After violence stopped, hundreds of anti-Saleh university students started a permanent sit-in at the gate of Sana’a university on Sunday February 20th, 2011, like their colleagues in the province of Taiz where hundreds of young people started day and night sit-in about a week earlier.
Because of violence against demonstrators, 10 members of parliament from the ruling party said they would resign if the violence against demonstrators and journalists continued.
In southern province of Aden where always the protestors would demand the separation of the south from the north which united in 1990, small but violent demonstrations calling for the ouster of President Saleh started last Friday when at least five people were killed in clashes with security forces.
The new position of the southern separatist movement was viewed by some observers as an implicit agreement between the movement and opposition coalition to focus on toppling of the regime.
In Sada’a, for the first time, the Al Houthi Shiite rebels, who are in a fragile truce after the 6-year old sporadic war with the government, staged demonstrations on Monday, February 21st, 2011, in cooperation with the opposition coalition in the province to support the young people in Sana’a, Taiz, and Aden and other provinces.
Some of the opposition politicians say the angry young people will calm down if dialogue starts but some .
“The young people protesting in the streets now will calm down when we start dialogue and show them guarantees, it is not like the previous times,” Mohammed Kahtan, a senior Islamist opposition, said.
Yemen president vows not to quit amid protests
Source: AFP
21\02\2011
Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, in power since 1978, vowed Monday not to quit under pressure from the street, as MPs joined thousands of protesters in Sanaa calling for his departure.
In the country's south, police shot dead a protester in the regional capital Aden, bringing to 12 the number of people killed in protests that have raged there since February 16, according to an AFP tally based on reports by medics. Dozens have been wounded.
Anti-regime protests also spread to the north of the country, with tens of thousands of Shiite Huthi rebels demonstrating Monday in Saada to demand the ouster of Saleh, a local tribal leader said.
Saada is the stronghold of the rebels, who from 2004 fought six wars with Saleh's government before signing a peace treaty in 2010.
"If they want me to quit, I will only leave through the ballot box," Saleh told a news conference as the protesters, including opposition MPs, gathered outside Sanaa University.
"The opposition are raising the level of their demands, some of which are illicit," the Yemeni leader said.
Saleh, whose long reign makes him one of the Middle East's great survivors, said the protests were "not new," accusing his opponents of having been behind the demonstrations for a while.
Around a dozen opposition MPs, who vowed to take to the streets in a statement issued on Sunday, joined students who have been protesting for the past nine days.
Security forces surrounded the protesters as they gathered in a square near Sanaa university, which they have dubbed Al-Huriya (Liberty Square), brandishing banners declaring: "People want change", "People want to overthrow the regime" and "Leave!"
The protesters, who have set up tents at the square, vowed to stand firm despite Saleh having announced the formation of three committees to examine issues relating respectively to security, medical care and nutrition.
"The students will not leave unless either the president falls or they fall" dead, said one of the students, Muamar al-Haidari.
After Tunisia's strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was toppled in an uprising, "we see the cards falling based on the people's will. (Egypt's president) Hosni Mubarak was toppled, now we are waiting for (Libya's Moamer) Kadhafi and the Yemeni president will follow," opposition MP Ahmed Saif Hashed told AFP.
Responding to Saleh's calls earlier this month to resume dialogue, stalled since October, the parliamentary opposition had refrained from calling for protests.
But loyalists who are demonstrating in support of Saleh in Al-Tahrir square in the centre of Sanaa have almost daily broken up students protests using batons and stones, with police also using violence that has left scores of demonstrators injured.
Incensed by the brutal attacks on protesters, the Common Forum, an alliance of parliamentary opposition groups, on Sunday came out with a statement urging its members "to join the protesting youths... in their demonstrations against oppression, tyranny and corruption."
"After bloodshed and the fall of victims, and after the government has sent its thugs onto the streets... we insist that there is no dialogue with bullets and batons" and with a regime "that brings thugs to occupy public places and terrorise people," the statement said.
In the western port city of Al-Hudaydah, three protesters were wounded in clashes with the regime's loyalists on Monday, demonstrators told AFP.
In Taez, south of Sanaa, protests continued for the 11th straight day Monday as tens of thousands gathered in a square near the municipality building, some setting up tent.
Medics in Aden named the protester shot by police and who later died of his wounds in hospital Monday as Ali al-Khalaqi. Four other protesters were shot and wounded, one seriously, medics said.
Meanwhile, Yemeni clerics issued a statement on Monday prohibiting the use of force against protesters, which they described as a "crime," and calling for a ban on arbitrary arrest and torture.
"Any act of beating or killing of protesters is a deliberate crime," said the association of Yemeni clerics headed by Sheikh Abdul Majid Zindani.
Saleh has outlived the Cold War division, civil war and an Al-Qaeda insurgency but is now scrambling to see his term through to the end as sustained popular uprisings in Sanaa and Aden test his grip on power.
INTERVIEW-Yemeni MP says Saleh not learned Egyptian lesson
Source: Reuters
21\02\2011
A Yemeni opposition member of parliament said President Ali Abdullah Saleh will share the fate of toppled rulers in Egypt and Tunisia unless he cleans up his government and starts fighting corruption.
"It has become totally unacceptable. The army is staffed with his relatives. Sovereign resources, especially oil and gas, are in his hands or his proteges'," Abdulmoez Dabwan told Reuters in an interview on Monday in the Yemeni capital.
"There are no institutions. Yemenis want real reform, while the president's statements have consisted of hot air. He has not yet grasped the lessons of Egypt and Tunisia," said Dabwan, a member of the main opposition grouping in parliament.
The 240-member parliament has been controlled by Saleh's allies for decades through what Dabwan described as unfair elections in which he said Saleh used government machinery to ensure a comfortable majority loyal to him.
Dabwan said Saleh's reaction to the unrest in Yemen, which has killed 12 people since Thursday, was to play on the contradictions of Yemen's tribal society instead of embarking on genuine reforms.
"The president is politically savvy. He said he would not run again, and he is playing on fears of chaos and divisions, but this is not enough," Dabwan said.
U.S.-backed Saleh said protesters demanding an end to his 32-year rule could not achieve their goal through what he described as anarchy and killing.
His call for dialogue has been rejected by opposition parties who said they cannot negotiate with a government they say is using violence.
Protesters, encouraged by the overthrow of Tunisia's Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and Egypt's Hosni Mubarak, have demonstrated at the main university in the capital Sanaa and thousands have gathered in several Yemeni cities.
"We have not even seen a mass movement yet. Most of the protesters have been from the youth," Dabwan said.
Assessing the impact of the Arab political upheaval, Dabwan said the economic and social malaise in Yemen was more acute than in Egypt, where frustration with unemployment and economic conditions helped bring down Mubarak.
"The corruption in Yemen would make Egypt look like child's play. I would argue that the gap between the rich and poor is also more acute," he said.
National income per capita in Yemen was around $1,100 at the end of 2009, compared with $2,500 in Egypt.
Most of the deaths during the protests have been in Aden, the southern port city where many people resent what they regard as discriminatory policies by the central government. Dabwan said Saleh has invited trouble there by ignoring the region since a southern challenge to his rule after unification in the 1990s.
"If there is democracy and real reforms the south will not separate," he said.
21\02\2011
A Yemeni opposition member of parliament said President Ali Abdullah Saleh will share the fate of toppled rulers in Egypt and Tunisia unless he cleans up his government and starts fighting corruption.
"It has become totally unacceptable. The army is staffed with his relatives. Sovereign resources, especially oil and gas, are in his hands or his proteges'," Abdulmoez Dabwan told Reuters in an interview on Monday in the Yemeni capital.
"There are no institutions. Yemenis want real reform, while the president's statements have consisted of hot air. He has not yet grasped the lessons of Egypt and Tunisia," said Dabwan, a member of the main opposition grouping in parliament.
The 240-member parliament has been controlled by Saleh's allies for decades through what Dabwan described as unfair elections in which he said Saleh used government machinery to ensure a comfortable majority loyal to him.
Dabwan said Saleh's reaction to the unrest in Yemen, which has killed 12 people since Thursday, was to play on the contradictions of Yemen's tribal society instead of embarking on genuine reforms.
"The president is politically savvy. He said he would not run again, and he is playing on fears of chaos and divisions, but this is not enough," Dabwan said.
U.S.-backed Saleh said protesters demanding an end to his 32-year rule could not achieve their goal through what he described as anarchy and killing.
His call for dialogue has been rejected by opposition parties who said they cannot negotiate with a government they say is using violence.
Protesters, encouraged by the overthrow of Tunisia's Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and Egypt's Hosni Mubarak, have demonstrated at the main university in the capital Sanaa and thousands have gathered in several Yemeni cities.
"We have not even seen a mass movement yet. Most of the protesters have been from the youth," Dabwan said.
Assessing the impact of the Arab political upheaval, Dabwan said the economic and social malaise in Yemen was more acute than in Egypt, where frustration with unemployment and economic conditions helped bring down Mubarak.
"The corruption in Yemen would make Egypt look like child's play. I would argue that the gap between the rich and poor is also more acute," he said.
National income per capita in Yemen was around $1,100 at the end of 2009, compared with $2,500 in Egypt.
Most of the deaths during the protests have been in Aden, the southern port city where many people resent what they regard as discriminatory policies by the central government. Dabwan said Saleh has invited trouble there by ignoring the region since a southern challenge to his rule after unification in the 1990s.
"If there is democracy and real reforms the south will not separate," he said.
Sunday, 20 February 2011
Yemen opposition supports demonstrators but not to ouster President Saleh
By Nasser Arrabyee/20/02/2011
The Yemeni opposition parties said Sunday they support the young people who demonstrate in the streets for the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
But the opposition parties, which includes mainly the Islamists, Socialists, and Nasserites, did not say they support the young people to demand the ouster of President Saleh.
“We support their peaceful protests against tyranny” , they never said to topple Saleh’s regime.
Meanwhile, the President Ali Abdulah Saleh repeatedly said on Sunday he is ready to meet all the “legal” demands of the opposition through dialogue.
“We are ready to sit on negotiation table and meet the demands of the opposition, if they are legal, the dialogue is the best way, not the sabotage, blocking roads, killing innocents, and looting public and private properties,” President Saleh addressed about 40,000 of his supporters in the country’s largest hall, May 22 Hall, in the capital Sana’a.
The supporters who were chanting slogans in favor of Saleh’s rule and his initiative to offer concessions, came from all the government ministries in the city of Sana’a.
Over the last week, President Saleh held about 10 similar gatherings in Sana’a but with tribesmen from the Yemen’s most influential two tribes Hashed and Bakil in the provinces of Sana’a, Amran and Hajja.
The opposition considered President Saleh’s meetings with the tribesmen as a tactic of “Divide to rule” . They opposition condemned trying to make tribesmen fight each other.
“No dialogue with bullets, batons, and thugs, no dialogue with the power who mobilizes mercenaries to occupy the public squares,” said the Islamist-led opposition collation in a statement issued at the end of an exceptional meeting held Sunday in Sana’a by the top leaders of the coalition.
President Saleh regretted for the violence that happened over the last two days in Aden, Taiz and Sana’a in which dozens were killed and injured. He also regretted for what happened to journalists in Sana’a on Friday and Saturday by “hired thugs”.
“Those elements are not from the ruling party or its allies , they were hired thugs, and this will never happen,” Saleh said.
While President Saleh was speaking, two rival demonstrations were going on at the gate of the Sana’a university: hundreds of students were demanding Saleh’s ouster, and hundreds others demanding dialogue and security and stability. Both ended peacefully after the security separated them meters away from each other.
The anti-Saleh students were planning Sunday to make a permanent sit-in at the gate like colleagues in the province of Taiz where hundreds were sitting in day and night in the area of Dhafer, or Freedom Square as they called it.
Earlier, 10 members of parliament from the ruling party said they would resign if the violence against demonstrators and journalists continue.
In southern province of Aden where always the protestors would demand the separation of the south from the north which united in 1990, small but violent demonstration calling for the ouster of President Saleh started last Friday when at least five people were killed in clashes with security forces.
The new position of the separatist southern movement was viewed by some observers as an implicit agreement between the movement and opposition coalition.
In Sada’a, for the first time, the spokesman of the Al Houthi rebels Mohammed Abdul Salam said Sunday they would stage demonstrations in cooperation with the opposition coalition in the province to support the young people in Sana’a, Taiz, and Aden and other provinces.
Saturday, 19 February 2011
Foreign conspiracy in Yemen, President Saleh’s says as violence increases in his country
By Nasser Arrabyee/19/02/2011
The Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh said Saturday what’s happening in his country now is just a foreign conspiracy, as dozens were killed and injured over the last two days in violent demonstrations calling for his ouster.
“It’s a foreign agenda, and conspiracy against security and stability of the nation,” said President Saleh in a big gathering of tribal leaders from his tribe, Hashed, the Yemen’s most influential tribe.
“There are thugs in the streets, hired thugs, and we know who hired them,” Saleh said in the Saturday’s tribal gathering in the capital Sana’a, which is the eighth tribal gathering he held in a week.
“He who wants to take the power should take it through polls, and the people will confront the saboteurs and outlaws,” He told the tribesmen who came to express their support for him from the northern province of Amran where Hashed tribe is based.
He said it’s only the citizens who will pay the price if the country collapsed into a civil war. “ Those who pay and push citizens to the streets will be hiding the bad-rooms, with their bags in their hands to go abroad where their bank credits are.”
President Saleh was obviously referring to Hamid Al Ahmar, politically ambitious businessman and Islamist leader, and also the son of the chief of Hashed, the departed Abdullah Al Ahmar.
Now, with the Yemeni streets simmering with anti-regime protests, the government media keeps accusing Hamid Al Ahmar of being behind some violent cases, exactly the same way as the opposition accuses the government of sending thugs to beat and scare the protesters.
Hamid Al Al Ahmar has his own satellite TV, Suhail. Hamid’s brother, Hussein who says now he’s independent after he resigned from Saleh’s party, has been also meeting with Hashed tribesmen during over the last few days. He said is ready to send his tribesmen, from Hashed, to protect the demonstrators in Sana’a.
Clashes between rival demonstrations take place almost every day in the capital Sana’a where the pro-government demonstrators chase after the opposition demonstrators everywhere they go.
One young man was killed and at least six anti-government demonstrators were injured on Saturday, February 19th, 2011 when armed men loyal to the government fired to disperse rival demonstrators clashing with hands ,sticks and stones at the gate of the university of Sana’a.
Eyewitnesses said, about 200 protesting students, who were demanding the ouster of President Saleh, tried to stage a demonstration at the gate of the university, but the pro-government demonstrators came and clashed with them and drove them out.
“The clashes were with hands, sticks, batons, and the armed men were firing to disperse the demonstrators and I saw at least five of them injured,” said one of the students who were not siding, but were only watching.
The capital Sana’a and many other cities mainly Taiz and Aden, have been witnessing increasing violent demonstrations calling for toppling the regime.
As violence started to increase in the demonstrations which spread across the country, the US embassy in Sana’a called the Yemeni government to fulfill its responsibility to protect the life and property of all Yemenis and to safeguard their basic human and civil rights।
The Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh said Saturday what’s happening in his country now is just a foreign conspiracy, as dozens were killed and injured over the last two days in violent demonstrations calling for his ouster.
“It’s a foreign agenda, and conspiracy against security and stability of the nation,” said President Saleh in a big gathering of tribal leaders from his tribe, Hashed, the Yemen’s most influential tribe.
“There are thugs in the streets, hired thugs, and we know who hired them,” Saleh said in the Saturday’s tribal gathering in the capital Sana’a, which is the eighth tribal gathering he held in a week.
“He who wants to take the power should take it through polls, and the people will confront the saboteurs and outlaws,” He told the tribesmen who came to express their support for him from the northern province of Amran where Hashed tribe is based.
He said it’s only the citizens who will pay the price if the country collapsed into a civil war. “ Those who pay and push citizens to the streets will be hiding the bad-rooms, with their bags in their hands to go abroad where their bank credits are.”
President Saleh was obviously referring to Hamid Al Ahmar, politically ambitious businessman and Islamist leader, and also the son of the chief of Hashed, the departed Abdullah Al Ahmar.
Now, with the Yemeni streets simmering with anti-regime protests, the government media keeps accusing Hamid Al Ahmar of being behind some violent cases, exactly the same way as the opposition accuses the government of sending thugs to beat and scare the protesters.
Hamid Al Al Ahmar has his own satellite TV, Suhail. Hamid’s brother, Hussein who says now he’s independent after he resigned from Saleh’s party, has been also meeting with Hashed tribesmen during over the last few days. He said is ready to send his tribesmen, from Hashed, to protect the demonstrators in Sana’a.
Clashes between rival demonstrations take place almost every day in the capital Sana’a where the pro-government demonstrators chase after the opposition demonstrators everywhere they go.
One young man was killed and at least six anti-government demonstrators were injured on Saturday, February 19th, 2011 when armed men loyal to the government fired to disperse rival demonstrators clashing with hands ,sticks and stones at the gate of the university of Sana’a.
Eyewitnesses said, about 200 protesting students, who were demanding the ouster of President Saleh, tried to stage a demonstration at the gate of the university, but the pro-government demonstrators came and clashed with them and drove them out.
“The clashes were with hands, sticks, batons, and the armed men were firing to disperse the demonstrators and I saw at least five of them injured,” said one of the students who were not siding, but were only watching.
The capital Sana’a and many other cities mainly Taiz and Aden, have been witnessing increasing violent demonstrations calling for toppling the regime.
As violence started to increase in the demonstrations which spread across the country, the US embassy in Sana’a called the Yemeni government to fulfill its responsibility to protect the life and property of all Yemenis and to safeguard their basic human and civil rights।
Five injured in violent protests in Sana’a
By Nasser Arrabyee/19/02/2011
At least five anti-government demonstrators were injured, one of them seriously, when armed men loyal to government fired to disperse them at gate of the university of Sana’a on Saturday, February 19th, 2011.
Eyewitnesses said, about 200 protesting students, who were demanding the ouster of President Saleh, tried to stage a demonstration at the gate of the university, but the pro-government demonstrators came and clashed with them and drove them out।
The clashes were with hands, sticks, batons, and the armed men were firing to disperse the demonstrators and I saw at least five of injured , said one of the students who were not siding, but were only watching।
The capital Sana’a and many other cities mainly Taiz and Aden, have been witnessing increasing violent demonstrations calling for toppling the regime।
As violence started to increase in the demonstrations which spread across the country, the US embassy in Sana’a called the Yemeni government to fulfill its responsibility to protect the life and property of all Yemenis and to safeguard their basic human and civil rights.
At least five anti-government demonstrators were injured, one of them seriously, when armed men loyal to government fired to disperse them at gate of the university of Sana’a on Saturday, February 19th, 2011.
Eyewitnesses said, about 200 protesting students, who were demanding the ouster of President Saleh, tried to stage a demonstration at the gate of the university, but the pro-government demonstrators came and clashed with them and drove them out।
The clashes were with hands, sticks, batons, and the armed men were firing to disperse the demonstrators and I saw at least five of injured , said one of the students who were not siding, but were only watching।
The capital Sana’a and many other cities mainly Taiz and Aden, have been witnessing increasing violent demonstrations calling for toppling the regime।
As violence started to increase in the demonstrations which spread across the country, the US embassy in Sana’a called the Yemeni government to fulfill its responsibility to protect the life and property of all Yemenis and to safeguard their basic human and civil rights.
EU calls for dialogue as Bahrain, Yemen, Libya kill protesters
Source: EUOBSERVER, 19/02/2011
BRUSSELS - The European Union has called for restraint and dialogue after Bahrain's absolutist monarchy launched a military crackdown on protesters and following deadly clashes between pro-democracy demonstrators and authorities in Yemen and Libya.
Troops crushed a rally in the Bahraini capital on Thursday (17 February), firing live ammunition and tear gas and killing five, according to reports. Some 200 have been injured and dozens arrested.
The events prompted a statement from the EU's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.
"The high representative strongly deplores the loss of life and violence and calls for calm and restraint in this situation,' her spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic said. She called on the leaders of the island-archipelago nation of 1.3 million people "to fully respect and protect fundamental rights."
Using the same formula the EU has deployed since anti-government rallies began in Tunisia two months ago, she called for dialogue between protesters and the authorities. "The peaceful expression of people's concerns should be met through dialogue," Ms Kocijancic went on.
Similar events also took place on Thursday in Yemen, where four people were killed and 40 were hurt after armed government supporters charged protesters.
"Genuine, comprehensive and inclusive national dialogue is the only way forward to make progress on political, economic and social reforms," Ms Kocjancic said on Yemen, adding that the EU is ready to help the government in making such moves.
In Libya, between five and 12 people were reportedly killed during a "Day of Rage" organised in part via social networking sites.
Ms Ashton's spokeswoman had said earlier on Wednesday that her boss was: "following the situation very closely. As in other cases, we call on the authorities to listen to all those who are taking part in the protests ... and to allow freedom of expression,"
Meanwhile, in related news, Tunisia's industry minister, Mohamed Afif Chelbi has described European aid efforts for his country, fresh from its own revolutionary upheaval, as "ridiculous".
Visiting Italian businessmen in Rome to put minds at rest about their investments in the country, the minister said: "The figures put forward by the European Union are ridiculous and show that it has not understood the scale of the historical events in the southern Mediterranean."
The EU has pledged €258 million in aid by 2013 and €17 million in immediate assistance.
"When Ashton said €17 million, our minister thought he had misunderstood and asked: 'Millions or billions?' Once again, the European Union has not been up to the task of dealing with the region," said Mr Chelbi.
German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle has also denounced the violence across the region, saying that citizens are "only realizing their rights" and that a "spark of freedom" has been lit after the Tunisian government fell.
The German free-market-liberal announced he will visit Egypt in the coming days and said that Europe should open its borders further to products from the region.
"Economic success would be the confirmation that democracy brings opportunities for people," he told the German Press Agency. "For this reason the European Union should open its own markets more for products from Tunisia and those countries that are just becoming democratic."
BRUSSELS - The European Union has called for restraint and dialogue after Bahrain's absolutist monarchy launched a military crackdown on protesters and following deadly clashes between pro-democracy demonstrators and authorities in Yemen and Libya.
Troops crushed a rally in the Bahraini capital on Thursday (17 February), firing live ammunition and tear gas and killing five, according to reports. Some 200 have been injured and dozens arrested.
The events prompted a statement from the EU's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.
"The high representative strongly deplores the loss of life and violence and calls for calm and restraint in this situation,' her spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic said. She called on the leaders of the island-archipelago nation of 1.3 million people "to fully respect and protect fundamental rights."
Using the same formula the EU has deployed since anti-government rallies began in Tunisia two months ago, she called for dialogue between protesters and the authorities. "The peaceful expression of people's concerns should be met through dialogue," Ms Kocijancic went on.
Similar events also took place on Thursday in Yemen, where four people were killed and 40 were hurt after armed government supporters charged protesters.
"Genuine, comprehensive and inclusive national dialogue is the only way forward to make progress on political, economic and social reforms," Ms Kocjancic said on Yemen, adding that the EU is ready to help the government in making such moves.
In Libya, between five and 12 people were reportedly killed during a "Day of Rage" organised in part via social networking sites.
Ms Ashton's spokeswoman had said earlier on Wednesday that her boss was: "following the situation very closely. As in other cases, we call on the authorities to listen to all those who are taking part in the protests ... and to allow freedom of expression,"
Meanwhile, in related news, Tunisia's industry minister, Mohamed Afif Chelbi has described European aid efforts for his country, fresh from its own revolutionary upheaval, as "ridiculous".
Visiting Italian businessmen in Rome to put minds at rest about their investments in the country, the minister said: "The figures put forward by the European Union are ridiculous and show that it has not understood the scale of the historical events in the southern Mediterranean."
The EU has pledged €258 million in aid by 2013 and €17 million in immediate assistance.
"When Ashton said €17 million, our minister thought he had misunderstood and asked: 'Millions or billions?' Once again, the European Union has not been up to the task of dealing with the region," said Mr Chelbi.
German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle has also denounced the violence across the region, saying that citizens are "only realizing their rights" and that a "spark of freedom" has been lit after the Tunisian government fell.
The German free-market-liberal announced he will visit Egypt in the coming days and said that Europe should open its borders further to products from the region.
"Economic success would be the confirmation that democracy brings opportunities for people," he told the German Press Agency. "For this reason the European Union should open its own markets more for products from Tunisia and those countries that are just becoming democratic."
Thursday, 17 February 2011
Yemen streets simmering, clerics calling for last chance, politicians confused
By Nasser Arrabyee/17/02/2011
An influential Yemen cleric said Thursday the opposition must take to streets if President Ali Abdullah Saleh has not accepted their conditions for a guaranteed peaceful transfer of power.
“A National unity government must be formed, with the most important ministries shared between the opposition and the ruling party, to prepare for elections within six month,” said Sheik Abdul Majid Al Zandani, an influential leader in the largest Islamist opposition party, and chairman of the religious university of Al Eyman.
If the President has not accepted this condition, then the people must take to streets peacefully until he accepts, said Al Zandani in a press conference he held in his house in Sana’a on Thursday, February 17th, 2011.
Next Monday, he said, all Yemeni clerics will meet and issue an official and unified statement with more clarifications about their position on the ongoing limited but increasing youth demonstrations which call for the ouster of Saleh in Sana’a , Taiz and Aden and other provinces
Al Zandani’s statement came after rival small but violent demonstrations continued in the capital Sana’a and Taiz for the sixth straight day.
About 10 people were injured on Thursday when two rival demonstrations clashed with hands, sticks, and stones in the 60 ring road and Al Rebat street in Sana’a, before the security forces dispersed and separated them by firing to the air .
The clashes took place when hundreds of pro-government demonstrators attacked hundreds of the opposition demonstrators who were demanding the ouster of President Saleh in Al Rebat street, close to Sana’a university.
The anti-government protesters, mostly university students from Islamist party, Islah, tried to do their demonstrations at the gate of the university as usual, but pro-government demonstrators came earlier than them and occupied the gate of the university.
The pro-government protesters demand reforms, dialogue, security and development while sometimes drumming, dancing, and carrying the President Saleh’s pictures.
The anti-regime students quickly walked and re-assembled themselves in Al Rebat street instead of the gate of the university. They could not go to the main square , Tahrir, because it’s also occupied by the ruling party supporters.
“We came here after the thugs of the ruling party occupied the gate where we always sit in,” The 20-year old student, Ali, said “We’ll continue protesting anywhere and everywhere until the regime is toppled.”
Most of the protesting students tell press reporters they are independent and they are not belonging to any party, but it was clear they are from the opposition parties, mainly from the Islamist party, Islah, the largest opposition party.
The students know that their parties are still hesitating between taking to streets and sitting on the negotiation table with the government.
Some of the pro-government demonstrators tell press reporters they are not in the ruling party, and they even do not like President Saleh, but they do not want their country to collapse into chaos.
“I know the regime is corrupt, and we need change, but not this way, we need peaceful change, , the opposition now push people to streets to take power by force, this is not right, even if we die we’ll not accept this way,” Said, Salah Abdu, the 21-year old student who was carrying Saleh’s picture in the 60-ring road, after clashes with the anti-Saleh students.
Some of the opposition politicians say the angry young people will calm down if dialogue starts but some say they will take to streets soon when President Saleh fails to convince them.
“The young people protesting in the streets now will calm down when we start dialogue and show them guarantees, it is not like the previous times now,” Mohammed Kahtan, senior Islamist opposition, told reporters.
But, the ambitious businessman and Islamist leader, Hamid Al Ahmar, said, “ We’ll join the young people in the street soon, when everybody realizes that the regime is not serious.”
An influential Yemen cleric said Thursday the opposition must take to streets if President Ali Abdullah Saleh has not accepted their conditions for a guaranteed peaceful transfer of power.
“A National unity government must be formed, with the most important ministries shared between the opposition and the ruling party, to prepare for elections within six month,” said Sheik Abdul Majid Al Zandani, an influential leader in the largest Islamist opposition party, and chairman of the religious university of Al Eyman.
If the President has not accepted this condition, then the people must take to streets peacefully until he accepts, said Al Zandani in a press conference he held in his house in Sana’a on Thursday, February 17th, 2011.
Next Monday, he said, all Yemeni clerics will meet and issue an official and unified statement with more clarifications about their position on the ongoing limited but increasing youth demonstrations which call for the ouster of Saleh in Sana’a , Taiz and Aden and other provinces
Al Zandani’s statement came after rival small but violent demonstrations continued in the capital Sana’a and Taiz for the sixth straight day.
About 10 people were injured on Thursday when two rival demonstrations clashed with hands, sticks, and stones in the 60 ring road and Al Rebat street in Sana’a, before the security forces dispersed and separated them by firing to the air .
The clashes took place when hundreds of pro-government demonstrators attacked hundreds of the opposition demonstrators who were demanding the ouster of President Saleh in Al Rebat street, close to Sana’a university.
The anti-government protesters, mostly university students from Islamist party, Islah, tried to do their demonstrations at the gate of the university as usual, but pro-government demonstrators came earlier than them and occupied the gate of the university.
The pro-government protesters demand reforms, dialogue, security and development while sometimes drumming, dancing, and carrying the President Saleh’s pictures.
The anti-regime students quickly walked and re-assembled themselves in Al Rebat street instead of the gate of the university. They could not go to the main square , Tahrir, because it’s also occupied by the ruling party supporters.
“We came here after the thugs of the ruling party occupied the gate where we always sit in,” The 20-year old student, Ali, said “We’ll continue protesting anywhere and everywhere until the regime is toppled.”
Most of the protesting students tell press reporters they are independent and they are not belonging to any party, but it was clear they are from the opposition parties, mainly from the Islamist party, Islah, the largest opposition party.
The students know that their parties are still hesitating between taking to streets and sitting on the negotiation table with the government.
Some of the pro-government demonstrators tell press reporters they are not in the ruling party, and they even do not like President Saleh, but they do not want their country to collapse into chaos.
“I know the regime is corrupt, and we need change, but not this way, we need peaceful change, , the opposition now push people to streets to take power by force, this is not right, even if we die we’ll not accept this way,” Said, Salah Abdu, the 21-year old student who was carrying Saleh’s picture in the 60-ring road, after clashes with the anti-Saleh students.
Some of the opposition politicians say the angry young people will calm down if dialogue starts but some say they will take to streets soon when President Saleh fails to convince them.
“The young people protesting in the streets now will calm down when we start dialogue and show them guarantees, it is not like the previous times now,” Mohammed Kahtan, senior Islamist opposition, told reporters.
But, the ambitious businessman and Islamist leader, Hamid Al Ahmar, said, “ We’ll join the young people in the street soon, when everybody realizes that the regime is not serious.”
Yemen protests spread, grow more violent
Source:Reuters
17\02\2011
Yemen has been hit by increasingly violent protests that have pitted anti-government demonstrators against government loyalists across the impoverished country.
President Ali Abdullah Saleh, a U.S. ally against al Qaeda who has been struggling to keep rebellions at bay in Yemen's north and south, now faces the additional challenge of trying to quell the daily popular protests.
Following are some key facts about Yemen's protests:
DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROTESTS
* Yemen's opposition coalition began organizing the demonstrations almost a month ago, inspired by the popular revolts that brought down the long-serving rulers of Egypt and Tunisia.
* They stopped after agreeing to a package of concessions offered by Saleh, including an offer for national dialogue and a promise not to run for reelection when his term ends in 2013.
But then the demonstrations began to erupt more spontaneously, led mostly by university students and independent activists.
* Protests under this ad-hoc leadership have been smaller than those organized by the opposition, which drew tens of thousands of people. But they occur daily and sometimes last late into the night.
Organization AND GOALS
* The new protesters are much clearer about what they want: Saleh's resignation.
* Many online protesters focus on what they say is the humiliation of living under an authoritarian regime. Unemployment is at least 35 percent, a third of Yemenis face chronic hunger and 40 percent live on $2 a day or less.
* Social networking sites are often being used to rally the protesters, despite the relatively low internet penetration in the Arabian Peninsula state.
Twitter and Facebook pages have been multiplying quickly in the last few days.
VIOLENCE
* The level of violence is increasing. In the capital Sanaa, protesters often throw rocks at government loyalists armed with batons and daggers. Police have been quicker to crack down with violence in the south, using tear gas and firing into the air.
In the southern protest of Aden, two protesters died from gunshot wounds on Wednesday.
* Activists and protesters complain that many of the government loyalists are men hired to attack them or instigate clashes.
The loyalists have camped out in Sanaa's main square, denying anti-government protesters access to a symbolic public space similar to Cairo's Tahrir square.
17\02\2011
Yemen has been hit by increasingly violent protests that have pitted anti-government demonstrators against government loyalists across the impoverished country.
President Ali Abdullah Saleh, a U.S. ally against al Qaeda who has been struggling to keep rebellions at bay in Yemen's north and south, now faces the additional challenge of trying to quell the daily popular protests.
Following are some key facts about Yemen's protests:
DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROTESTS
* Yemen's opposition coalition began organizing the demonstrations almost a month ago, inspired by the popular revolts that brought down the long-serving rulers of Egypt and Tunisia.
* They stopped after agreeing to a package of concessions offered by Saleh, including an offer for national dialogue and a promise not to run for reelection when his term ends in 2013.
But then the demonstrations began to erupt more spontaneously, led mostly by university students and independent activists.
* Protests under this ad-hoc leadership have been smaller than those organized by the opposition, which drew tens of thousands of people. But they occur daily and sometimes last late into the night.
Organization AND GOALS
* The new protesters are much clearer about what they want: Saleh's resignation.
* Many online protesters focus on what they say is the humiliation of living under an authoritarian regime. Unemployment is at least 35 percent, a third of Yemenis face chronic hunger and 40 percent live on $2 a day or less.
* Social networking sites are often being used to rally the protesters, despite the relatively low internet penetration in the Arabian Peninsula state.
Twitter and Facebook pages have been multiplying quickly in the last few days.
VIOLENCE
* The level of violence is increasing. In the capital Sanaa, protesters often throw rocks at government loyalists armed with batons and daggers. Police have been quicker to crack down with violence in the south, using tear gas and firing into the air.
In the southern protest of Aden, two protesters died from gunshot wounds on Wednesday.
* Activists and protesters complain that many of the government loyalists are men hired to attack them or instigate clashes.
The loyalists have camped out in Sanaa's main square, denying anti-government protesters access to a symbolic public space similar to Cairo's Tahrir square.
Wednesday, 16 February 2011
Polls are the only way to power, Presidnt Saleh
By Nasser Arrabyee/17/02/2011
The Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh has said the only road to power is the polls not coups and chaos.
“I am not sticking to the power; power is available to anyone, but through ballot boxes,” he said while meeting tribal leaders from Hajja province.
"The time of coups and chaos is over. Whoever wants to take the power, should take it through the ballot boxes, not through chaos in streets,” he further explained.
Inspired and emboldened by what happened in Tunisia and Egypt, hundreds of young people from schools and universities over the last few weeks have been taking to streets in Sana’a and Taiz demanding the ouster of President Saleh.
On his part, President Saleh has been holding meetings with the most influential tribal and religious leaders during the day time, while holding meetings with senior State officials including security and military officials in the evening for the sixth straight day.
The Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh has said the only road to power is the polls not coups and chaos.
“I am not sticking to the power; power is available to anyone, but through ballot boxes,” he said while meeting tribal leaders from Hajja province.
"The time of coups and chaos is over. Whoever wants to take the power, should take it through the ballot boxes, not through chaos in streets,” he further explained.
Inspired and emboldened by what happened in Tunisia and Egypt, hundreds of young people from schools and universities over the last few weeks have been taking to streets in Sana’a and Taiz demanding the ouster of President Saleh.
On his part, President Saleh has been holding meetings with the most influential tribal and religious leaders during the day time, while holding meetings with senior State officials including security and military officials in the evening for the sixth straight day.
Without political change, Yemen ripe for popular revolt, secret report
Source : New York Times, By MARK LANDLER
17/02/2011
"The secret report was ordered by Obama and has identified the potential uprisings in the Arab world. The report singles out Jordan, Egypt, Bahrain, and Yemen : The first is trying to move toward change, the second has resisted any change while the last two are with deep strategic ties to the United States as well as religious tensions."
Washington- President Obama ordered his advisers last August to produce a secret report on unrest in the Arab world, which concluded that without sweeping political changes, countries from Bahrain to Yemen were ripe for popular revolt, administration officials said Wednesday.
Mr. Obama’s order, known as a Presidential Study Directive, identified likely flashpoints, most notably Egypt, and solicited proposals for how the administration could push for political change in countries with autocratic rulers who are also valuable allies of the United States, these officials said.
The 18-page classified report, they said, grapples with a problem that has bedeviled the White House’s approach toward Egypt and other countries in recent days: how to balance American strategic interests and the desire to avert broader instability against the democratic demands of the protesters.
Administration officials did not say how the report related to intelligence analysis of the Middle East, which the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Leon E. Panetta, acknowledged in testimony before Congress, needed to better identify “triggers” for uprisings in countries like Egypt.
Officials said Mr. Obama’s support for the crowds in Tahrir Square in Cairo, even if it followed some mixed signals by his administration, reflected his belief that there was a greater risk in not pushing for changes because Arab leaders would have to resort to ever more brutal methods to keep the lid on dissent.
“There’s no question Egypt was very much on the mind of the president,” said a senior official who helped draft the report and who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss its findings. “You had all the unknowns created by Egypt’s succession picture — and Egypt is the anchor of the region.”
At the time, officials said, President Hosni Mubarak appeared to be either digging in or grooming his son, Gamal, to succeed him. Parliamentary elections scheduled for November were widely expected to be a sham. Egyptian police were jailing bloggers, and Mohamed ElBaradei, the former chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency, had returned home to lead a nascent opposition movement.
In Yemen, too, officials said Mr. Obama worried that the administration’s intense focus on counterterrorism operations against Al Qaeda was ignoring a budding political crisis, as angry young people rebelled against President Ali Abdullah Saleh, an autocratic leader of the same vintage as Mr. Mubarak.
“Whether it was Yemen or other countries in the region, you saw a set of trends” — a big youth population, threadbare education systems, stagnant economies and new social network technologies like Facebook and Twitter — that was a “real prescription for trouble,” another official said.
The White House held weekly meetings with experts from the State Department, the C.I.A. and other agencies. The process was led by Dennis B. Ross, the president’s senior adviser on the Middle East; Samantha Power, a senior director at the National Security Council who handles human rights issues; and Gayle Smith, a senior director responsible for global development.
The administration kept the project secret, officials said, because it worried that if word leaked out, Arab allies would pressure the White House, something that happened in the days after protests convulsed Cairo.
Indeed, except for Egypt, the officials refused to discuss countries in detail. The report singles out four for close scrutiny, which an official said ran the gamut: one that is trying to move toward change, another that has resisted any change and two with deep strategic ties to the United States as well as religious tensions. Those characteristics would suggest Jordan, Egypt, Bahrain and Yemen.
By issuing a directive, Mr. Obama was also pulling the topic of political change out of regular meetings on diplomatic, commercial or military relations with Arab states. In those meetings, one official said, the strategic interests loom so large that it is almost impossible to discuss reform efforts.
The study has helped shape other messages, like a speech Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton gave in Qatar in January, in which she criticized Arab leaders for resisting change.
“We really pushed the question of who was taking the lead in reform,” said an official. “Would pushing reform harm relations with the Egyptian military? Doesn’t the military have an interest in reform?”
Mr. Obama also pressed his advisers to study popular uprisings in Latin America, Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia to determine which ones worked and which did not. He is drawn to Indonesia, where he spent several years as a child, which ousted its longtime leader, Suharto, in 1998.
While the report is guiding the administration’s response to events in the Arab world, it has not yet been formally submitted — and given the pace of events in the region, an official said, it is still a work in progress.
17/02/2011
"The secret report was ordered by Obama and has identified the potential uprisings in the Arab world. The report singles out Jordan, Egypt, Bahrain, and Yemen : The first is trying to move toward change, the second has resisted any change while the last two are with deep strategic ties to the United States as well as religious tensions."
Washington- President Obama ordered his advisers last August to produce a secret report on unrest in the Arab world, which concluded that without sweeping political changes, countries from Bahrain to Yemen were ripe for popular revolt, administration officials said Wednesday.
Mr. Obama’s order, known as a Presidential Study Directive, identified likely flashpoints, most notably Egypt, and solicited proposals for how the administration could push for political change in countries with autocratic rulers who are also valuable allies of the United States, these officials said.
The 18-page classified report, they said, grapples with a problem that has bedeviled the White House’s approach toward Egypt and other countries in recent days: how to balance American strategic interests and the desire to avert broader instability against the democratic demands of the protesters.
Administration officials did not say how the report related to intelligence analysis of the Middle East, which the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Leon E. Panetta, acknowledged in testimony before Congress, needed to better identify “triggers” for uprisings in countries like Egypt.
Officials said Mr. Obama’s support for the crowds in Tahrir Square in Cairo, even if it followed some mixed signals by his administration, reflected his belief that there was a greater risk in not pushing for changes because Arab leaders would have to resort to ever more brutal methods to keep the lid on dissent.
“There’s no question Egypt was very much on the mind of the president,” said a senior official who helped draft the report and who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss its findings. “You had all the unknowns created by Egypt’s succession picture — and Egypt is the anchor of the region.”
At the time, officials said, President Hosni Mubarak appeared to be either digging in or grooming his son, Gamal, to succeed him. Parliamentary elections scheduled for November were widely expected to be a sham. Egyptian police were jailing bloggers, and Mohamed ElBaradei, the former chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency, had returned home to lead a nascent opposition movement.
In Yemen, too, officials said Mr. Obama worried that the administration’s intense focus on counterterrorism operations against Al Qaeda was ignoring a budding political crisis, as angry young people rebelled against President Ali Abdullah Saleh, an autocratic leader of the same vintage as Mr. Mubarak.
“Whether it was Yemen or other countries in the region, you saw a set of trends” — a big youth population, threadbare education systems, stagnant economies and new social network technologies like Facebook and Twitter — that was a “real prescription for trouble,” another official said.
The White House held weekly meetings with experts from the State Department, the C.I.A. and other agencies. The process was led by Dennis B. Ross, the president’s senior adviser on the Middle East; Samantha Power, a senior director at the National Security Council who handles human rights issues; and Gayle Smith, a senior director responsible for global development.
The administration kept the project secret, officials said, because it worried that if word leaked out, Arab allies would pressure the White House, something that happened in the days after protests convulsed Cairo.
Indeed, except for Egypt, the officials refused to discuss countries in detail. The report singles out four for close scrutiny, which an official said ran the gamut: one that is trying to move toward change, another that has resisted any change and two with deep strategic ties to the United States as well as religious tensions. Those characteristics would suggest Jordan, Egypt, Bahrain and Yemen.
By issuing a directive, Mr. Obama was also pulling the topic of political change out of regular meetings on diplomatic, commercial or military relations with Arab states. In those meetings, one official said, the strategic interests loom so large that it is almost impossible to discuss reform efforts.
The study has helped shape other messages, like a speech Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton gave in Qatar in January, in which she criticized Arab leaders for resisting change.
“We really pushed the question of who was taking the lead in reform,” said an official. “Would pushing reform harm relations with the Egyptian military? Doesn’t the military have an interest in reform?”
Mr. Obama also pressed his advisers to study popular uprisings in Latin America, Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia to determine which ones worked and which did not. He is drawn to Indonesia, where he spent several years as a child, which ousted its longtime leader, Suharto, in 1998.
While the report is guiding the administration’s response to events in the Arab world, it has not yet been formally submitted — and given the pace of events in the region, an official said, it is still a work in progress.
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