By Nasser Arrabyee,29/02/2012
Al Qaeda threatens to attack outside the battle field, if troops not withdrawn, and security authorities looking for three car bombs
Al Qaeda threatened to attack places outside the battle field if the government troops did not withdraw from the circumference of Zinjubar within ten days, said the top leader of Al Qaeda in Zinjubar on Wednesday.
" We, Ansar Shariah in the State of Abyan, would give the government an ultimatum of 10 days for withdrawing all the troops from the circumference of Zinjubar, and compensate the displaced persons," said Abu Hamzah Jalal Beledi, Emir Ansar Shariah in the State of Abyan, in a statement sent through SMS by an assistant of his called himself Abu Al Waleed.
" If the troops not withdrawn, we would attack outside the battle field, and we might have to implement the plan of the flooding river," said the top leader of Al Qaeda in Zinjubar.
Al Qaeda threat came only two days after the command of the troop units around Zinjubar gave an ultimatum of one week to Al Qaeda operatives to leave the city of Zinjubar otherwise the troops will storm the city.
The threats of Al Qaeda to strike outside the battle field came also one day after security authorities said they had intelligence that three car bombs are somewhere ready to implement suicide attacks against Yemeni government and Western interests in Yemen.
The security authorities are searching for the three car bombs almost everywhere, the security sources said to official media.
The latest news stories and independent and balanced reports on the political, security, economic and social developments in Yemen by the Yemeni journalist Nasser Arrabyee.
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Wednesday, 29 February 2012
Challenges facing the new President of Yemen
By Nasser Arrabyee/29/02/2012
The Yemen new elected President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi is facing at least four major challenges.
It seems that overcoming these challenges will be impossible without international and regional support and serious cooperation from the internal players with the new President.
The international and regional support focusses on Al Qaeda terrorism more than the three other major challenges: the south issue, the Sa'ada issue, and the issue of deteriorating economy, which can be the main reason of all the other three major issues.
The internal players have their own focuses and political calculations which are different from those of the Americans and Saudis who lead the international and regional interest in Yemen.
Although the American and Saudi officials were behind the political settlement which led to the current peaceful and smooth transfer of power, but without sincere cooperation from the Yemeni conflicting influential players, nothing can be achieved in the ground.
Last Monday February 27,2012, the leaders of political parties who were behind the one-year anti-Saleh protests, did not attend an official ceremony for congratulating the new elected President Mr. Hadi and paying farewell for the former President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
The big ceremony, which was held in the presidential palace, was attended by the UN envoy to Yemen crisis Jamal Bin Omar, the chief of Arab League, Nabil Al Arabi, the chief of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Abdul Latif Al Zayani, and heads of all diplomatic missions in Yemen.
The justification of of the leaders of the political parties( who lead the current unity government) for not attending the ceremony was not to anger their followers who did not want them to say goodbye for the former president Saleh.
However, the ceremony was viewed by the supporters and observers inside and outside Yemen as an unprecedented historic event.
" I am handing the flag of the republic, freedom, and democracy, and unity, to my brother, colleague, His excellency President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi," said former president Saleh in the ceremony as he handed the flag of Yemen to the new president Hadi.
On his part, the new President Hadi said," two years from now, I will be standing where Ali Abdullah Saleh is standing now, and I will be handing the power to the new elected president".
The political leaders who did not attend Such a historic ceremony, did not violate the political agreement of the settlement or the constitution and laws of Yemen, but they will be losers in the eyes of the coming generations, according to political analysts.
" The JMP leaders should have ignored and forgotten the small and personal things between them and former president Saleh, and they should have attended such a historic and symbolic event," said Najeeb Ghallab, political analyst and politics university professor.
" They should have contributed to teaching the coming generations that this is the best and the only way to transfer the power from one to another," Ghallab added.
The JMP ( Joint Meeting Parties) is the coalition of six parties under the dominance of the Islamist party, Islah.
Before the settlement, the JMP was the opposition, but now a leader from them, Mohammed Salem Ba Sundwa, is the prime minister of the unity government which is divided equally between Saleh's party and the JMP, which includes Islamists ( Suna and Shia), Socialists and Nasserites.
Being a prime minister for a unity government, Mohammed Ba Sundwa should not have sided with the JMP, say the Saleh's supporters who have 16 ministers of the 35-member cabinet.
The House of Representatives officially demanded on Tuesday that the prime minister Ba Sundwa should publicly apologize for not attending the ceremony of paying farewell to the former President Saleh.
On Saturday February 25th, 2012, the former President Ali Abdullah Saleh returned from a one-month medical trip in US.
Saleh returned to his own house in the capital and would exercise his political activity as a head of his party, the People's General Congress ( PGC).
For the fourth consecutive day, Saleh has been receiving thousands of men and women in his own house who come to get reassured about his health.
On Tuesday February 28, Saleh received more wishers especially women in his magnificent mosque, Al Saleh Mosque, which is only meters from the presidential Palace.
Saleh's house was not large enough for the increasing number of wishers, so he moved to his grand mosque which is large enough for about 50,000 people.
At least three TV channels owned by Saleh's party, cover the activities of Saleh in his house and mosque.
The Yemen new elected President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi is facing at least four major challenges.
It seems that overcoming these challenges will be impossible without international and regional support and serious cooperation from the internal players with the new President.
The international and regional support focusses on Al Qaeda terrorism more than the three other major challenges: the south issue, the Sa'ada issue, and the issue of deteriorating economy, which can be the main reason of all the other three major issues.
The internal players have their own focuses and political calculations which are different from those of the Americans and Saudis who lead the international and regional interest in Yemen.
Although the American and Saudi officials were behind the political settlement which led to the current peaceful and smooth transfer of power, but without sincere cooperation from the Yemeni conflicting influential players, nothing can be achieved in the ground.
Last Monday February 27,2012, the leaders of political parties who were behind the one-year anti-Saleh protests, did not attend an official ceremony for congratulating the new elected President Mr. Hadi and paying farewell for the former President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
The big ceremony, which was held in the presidential palace, was attended by the UN envoy to Yemen crisis Jamal Bin Omar, the chief of Arab League, Nabil Al Arabi, the chief of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Abdul Latif Al Zayani, and heads of all diplomatic missions in Yemen.
The justification of of the leaders of the political parties( who lead the current unity government) for not attending the ceremony was not to anger their followers who did not want them to say goodbye for the former president Saleh.
However, the ceremony was viewed by the supporters and observers inside and outside Yemen as an unprecedented historic event.
" I am handing the flag of the republic, freedom, and democracy, and unity, to my brother, colleague, His excellency President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi," said former president Saleh in the ceremony as he handed the flag of Yemen to the new president Hadi.
On his part, the new President Hadi said," two years from now, I will be standing where Ali Abdullah Saleh is standing now, and I will be handing the power to the new elected president".
The political leaders who did not attend Such a historic ceremony, did not violate the political agreement of the settlement or the constitution and laws of Yemen, but they will be losers in the eyes of the coming generations, according to political analysts.
" The JMP leaders should have ignored and forgotten the small and personal things between them and former president Saleh, and they should have attended such a historic and symbolic event," said Najeeb Ghallab, political analyst and politics university professor.
" They should have contributed to teaching the coming generations that this is the best and the only way to transfer the power from one to another," Ghallab added.
The JMP ( Joint Meeting Parties) is the coalition of six parties under the dominance of the Islamist party, Islah.
Before the settlement, the JMP was the opposition, but now a leader from them, Mohammed Salem Ba Sundwa, is the prime minister of the unity government which is divided equally between Saleh's party and the JMP, which includes Islamists ( Suna and Shia), Socialists and Nasserites.
Being a prime minister for a unity government, Mohammed Ba Sundwa should not have sided with the JMP, say the Saleh's supporters who have 16 ministers of the 35-member cabinet.
The House of Representatives officially demanded on Tuesday that the prime minister Ba Sundwa should publicly apologize for not attending the ceremony of paying farewell to the former President Saleh.
On Saturday February 25th, 2012, the former President Ali Abdullah Saleh returned from a one-month medical trip in US.
Saleh returned to his own house in the capital and would exercise his political activity as a head of his party, the People's General Congress ( PGC).
For the fourth consecutive day, Saleh has been receiving thousands of men and women in his own house who come to get reassured about his health.
On Tuesday February 28, Saleh received more wishers especially women in his magnificent mosque, Al Saleh Mosque, which is only meters from the presidential Palace.
Saleh's house was not large enough for the increasing number of wishers, so he moved to his grand mosque which is large enough for about 50,000 people.
At least three TV channels owned by Saleh's party, cover the activities of Saleh in his house and mosque.
Monday, 27 February 2012
U.S. Teaming With New Yemen Government on Strategy to Combat Al Qaeda
Source: New York Times, By ERIC SCHMITT, 27/02/2012
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is embarking on an ambitious and potentially risky plan to help the new government in Yemen overhaul its military to combat the Qaeda franchise that has exploited the political turmoil there to seize control of large swaths of the country’s south.
The plan’s two-pronged strategy calls for the United States and Yemen to work together to kill or capture about two dozen of Al Qaeda’s most dangerous operatives, who are focused on attacking America and its interests.
At the same time, the administration will work with Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf allies to train and equip Yemeni security forces to counter the organization’s wider threat to destabilize the country and the government of its newly installed president, Abed Rabu Mansour Hadi.
This approach mirrors the White House’s global counterterrorism strategy in the wake of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan: to employ small numbers of Special Operations troops, Central Intelligence Agency paramilitary teams and drones against elements of Al Qaeda that are committed to striking the United States, while arming and advising indigenous security forces to tackle costlier long-term counterinsurgency campaigns.
John O. Brennan, President Obama’s chief counterterrorism adviser, spelled out the new plan in a visit to Sana, the Yemeni capital, before last week’s elections, as well as in telephone interviews.
One main proposal, he said, is to pay Yemeni troops directly rather than through their commanders. The current system has spawned corruption and shifted soldiers’ loyalty to individual commanders rather than to the government.
“We’re trying to ensure that the aid is very tailored, so it goes to those units that are professional, that fall within a command and control structure that reports to Hadi, that are addressing Al Qaeda and domestic threats to Yemen, and are not engaged in any political shenanigans,” Mr. Brennan said by telephone after making his seventh trip to Yemen in the last three years.
Senior American officials say the Qaeda group in Yemen poses the most immediate threat to the United States and its allies. It was responsible for failed plots to blow up a commercial airliner as it approached Detroit on Dec. 25, 2009, and for planting printer cartridges packed with explosives on cargo planes bound for Chicago in October 2010.
The American-backed campaign against the group has had mixed results in the past year. An American drone strike last September killed Anwar al-Awlaki, an American-born cleric who was one of the group’s top operatives, and Samir Khan, another American who edited the group’s English-language online magazine. Their deaths deprived the group of its two most skilled operatives focused on attacking America.
But in the political tumult that surrounded Yemen’s former president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, many Yemeni troops in the past year abandoned their posts or were summoned to Sana to help support the tottering government. The United States pulled out about 75 Special Forces trainers and support personnel in Yemen, and counterterrorism training ground to a halt.
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula — the group’s formal name — stepped in to fill the vacuum. In response, the C.I.A. and Special Operations forces have carried out nearly a dozen drone strikes against Qaeda operatives in Yemen since last May, according to The Long War Journal, a Web site that tracks the attacks.
With Mr. Hadi now in power and pledging to work closely with the administration to fight Al Qaeda, Mr. Brennan said the administration would slowly start resuming security aid that was suspended last year.
Mohammed Albasha, a spokesman for the Yemeni Embassy here, reiterated on Sunday that “the fight against Al Qaeda is a national and religious duty.”
One major unanswered question is how much influence Mr. Saleh’s son and nephews will retain over the security forces, including the Republican Guard and the Central Security Forces, some of whose members have been trained and equipped by the United States. It is a practical and ethical dilemma for the administration, given that many Yemeni security forces used scorched-earth tactics to suppress pro-democracy protesters.
“The Yemeni people who for one year stayed at demonstrations, they didn’t do this just for Saleh to leave, but for his whole regime, and that especially means those who are leaders in the armed forces,” said Ali al-Mamari, a Yemeni member of Parliament who quit the ruling party last spring after violence was used against protesters.
“After the past year, the Yemeni people now are thinking that America is helping them, and the American role is respected,” he said. “If the Americans continue to support the son and nephews of Saleh in the same way, the stance of the Yemeni people will change toward America.”
Some independent analysts also warned that the administration’s approach amounted to picking and choosing favorite Yemeni generals, which could backfire over time. “Any time the U.S. gets into where it’s favoring certain generals or trying to play generals off each other, it is a very dangerous game,” said Gregory Johnsen, a Princeton scholar who closely tracks militants in Yemen.
The United States has allocated $53.8 million in security assistance for Yemen this year, up from $30.1 million last year, according to State Department figures.
American officials, including Mr. Brennan and Gerald M. Feierstein, the American ambassador to Yemen, say the administration will consider Yemen’s requests for security assistance case by case once Yemen submits a long-term strategic plan for how it plans to address threats from Al Qaeda.
A high-level Yemeni military delegation is expected in Washington next month, the first of a series of reciprocal visits.
American officials say they envision sending trucks, troop carriers and transport helicopters, to give Yemeni forces greater mobility to attack militant fighters in their desolate redoubts. Ammunition, spare parts and other logistical support is also likely, the officials said.
“There are some things we couldn’t do last year because of the political crisis,” Mr. Feierstein said. “There has been a hiatus. We have not done training because the Yemeni units were not in a position to continue with the training. They had other priorities.”
U.S. Teaming With New Yemen Government on Strategy to Combat Al Qaeda
Source: New York Times, By ERIC SCHMITT, 27/02/2012
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is embarking on an ambitious and potentially risky plan to help the new government in Yemen overhaul its military to combat the Qaeda franchise that has exploited the political turmoil there to seize control of large swaths of the country’s south.
The plan’s two-pronged strategy calls for the United States and Yemen to work together to kill or capture about two dozen of Al Qaeda’s most dangerous operatives, who are focused on attacking America and its interests.
At the same time, the administration will work with Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf allies to train and equip Yemeni security forces to counter the organization’s wider threat to destabilize the country and the government of its newly installed president, Abed Rabu Mansour Hadi.
This approach mirrors the White House’s global counterterrorism strategy in the wake of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan: to employ small numbers of Special Operations troops, Central Intelligence Agency paramilitary teams and drones against elements of Al Qaeda that are committed to striking the United States, while arming and advising indigenous security forces to tackle costlier long-term counterinsurgency campaigns.
John O. Brennan, President Obama’s chief counterterrorism adviser, spelled out the new plan in a visit to Sana, the Yemeni capital, before last week’s elections, as well as in telephone interviews.
One main proposal, he said, is to pay Yemeni troops directly rather than through their commanders. The current system has spawned corruption and shifted soldiers’ loyalty to individual commanders rather than to the government.
“We’re trying to ensure that the aid is very tailored, so it goes to those units that are professional, that fall within a command and control structure that reports to Hadi, that are addressing Al Qaeda and domestic threats to Yemen, and are not engaged in any political shenanigans,” Mr. Brennan said by telephone after making his seventh trip to Yemen in the last three years.
Senior American officials say the Qaeda group in Yemen poses the most immediate threat to the United States and its allies. It was responsible for failed plots to blow up a commercial airliner as it approached Detroit on Dec. 25, 2009, and for planting printer cartridges packed with explosives on cargo planes bound for Chicago in October 2010.
The American-backed campaign against the group has had mixed results in the past year. An American drone strike last September killed Anwar al-Awlaki, an American-born cleric who was one of the group’s top operatives, and Samir Khan, another American who edited the group’s English-language online magazine. Their deaths deprived the group of its two most skilled operatives focused on attacking America.
But in the political tumult that surrounded Yemen’s former president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, many Yemeni troops in the past year abandoned their posts or were summoned to Sana to help support the tottering government. The United States pulled out about 75 Special Forces trainers and support personnel in Yemen, and counterterrorism training ground to a halt.
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula — the group’s formal name — stepped in to fill the vacuum. In response, the C.I.A. and Special Operations forces have carried out nearly a dozen drone strikes against Qaeda operatives in Yemen since last May, according to The Long War Journal, a Web site that tracks the attacks.
With Mr. Hadi now in power and pledging to work closely with the administration to fight Al Qaeda, Mr. Brennan said the administration would slowly start resuming security aid that was suspended last year.
Mohammed Albasha, a spokesman for the Yemeni Embassy here, reiterated on Sunday that “the fight against Al Qaeda is a national and religious duty.”
One major unanswered question is how much influence Mr. Saleh’s son and nephews will retain over the security forces, including the Republican Guard and the Central Security Forces, some of whose members have been trained and equipped by the United States. It is a practical and ethical dilemma for the administration, given that many Yemeni security forces used scorched-earth tactics to suppress pro-democracy protesters.
“The Yemeni people who for one year stayed at demonstrations, they didn’t do this just for Saleh to leave, but for his whole regime, and that especially means those who are leaders in the armed forces,” said Ali al-Mamari, a Yemeni member of Parliament who quit the ruling party last spring after violence was used against protesters.
“After the past year, the Yemeni people now are thinking that America is helping them, and the American role is respected,” he said. “If the Americans continue to support the son and nephews of Saleh in the same way, the stance of the Yemeni people will change toward America.”
Some independent analysts also warned that the administration’s approach amounted to picking and choosing favorite Yemeni generals, which could backfire over time. “Any time the U.S. gets into where it’s favoring certain generals or trying to play generals off each other, it is a very dangerous game,” said Gregory Johnsen, a Princeton scholar who closely tracks militants in Yemen.
The United States has allocated $53.8 million in security assistance for Yemen this year, up from $30.1 million last year, according to State Department figures.
American officials, including Mr. Brennan and Gerald M. Feierstein, the American ambassador to Yemen, say the administration will consider Yemen’s requests for security assistance case by case once Yemen submits a long-term strategic plan for how it plans to address threats from Al Qaeda.
A high-level Yemeni military delegation is expected in Washington next month, the first of a series of reciprocal visits.
American officials say they envision sending trucks, troop carriers and transport helicopters, to give Yemeni forces greater mobility to attack militant fighters in their desolate redoubts. Ammunition, spare parts and other logistical support is also likely, the officials said.
“There are some things we couldn’t do last year because of the political crisis,” Mr. Feierstein said. “There has been a hiatus. We have not done training because the Yemeni units were not in a position to continue with the training. They had other priorities.”
Saturday, 25 February 2012
Yemen new President sworn in and former president Saleh returns as normal politician and head of his party
By Nasser Arrabyee/ 25/02/2012
The Yemen new President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi took the constitutional oath before the Parliament on Saturday in presence of members of unity government and chiefs of diplomatic missions in Yemen.
After one year of wars of words and bullets, almost every one of the MPs and ministers of the conflicting parties, before the swearing in ceremony started, was hugging and kissing everyone as a sign of greeting and congratulating for ending the long standing crisis.
The majority of MPs belong to Saleh's party.
Earlier in the day, the supreme elections committee granted Hadi a certificate of winning as an elected president. Hadi won with 65 percent of the 10 million registered voters. Sone 6.5 million eligible voters voted for Hadi.
At the dawn of Saturday, the former president Ali Abdullah Saleh had arrived in the capital Sanaa and stayed in his own house.
Saleh will attend the installation ceremony of his successor Hadi on Monday, February 27th, 2012. Saleh will keep as a president of his party, the People's General Congress. (PGC).
Last Tuesday, the overwhelming majority of Yemenis voted for Hadi as a new president ending the 33-year long reign of the President Ali Abdullah Saleh,71.
The new President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi, was the sole candidate of consensus in exceptional elections viewed by the majority of Yemenis and international and regional community as the only way to rescue Yemen from a civil war.
Mr Hadi, 67, was highly supported by the international community when the two conflicting factions within Saleh's regime failed to end the one-year political crisis to the interest of one side.
Hadi is respected by almost all groups including those who defected from Saleh's regime and joined the youth revolution but failed to have what they called " revolutionary legitimacy" to be rulers.
Much of the respect given to Hadi from all Yemeni is because he is from the south which complains from being marginalized by the northerners.
Hadi served as vice president since after the 1994 civil war which erupted only four years after south and north united.
The last presidential elections was in 2006 when the former president Saleh was elected in an election described by the international community as " reasonably free and competitive" .
After about one year of anti-Saleh protests, Saleh now has gone, but his party and his supporters remain.
His party has 50 per cent of the ministries of the national unity government and his supporters were at least representing 50 per cent of the election turn out all our the country on this week's elections.
Saleh's party, the General People Congress(GPC), has now three operating Satellite channels, Yemen Today, Al Akeek, and Azal.
The vice chairman of the supreme committee of the elections Khamis Al Daini said the turn out " surprised every one".
Only 9 constituencies out of 301, which did not hold elections because of violent acts by those who refused the elections in the south because they demand independence.
The overall turn out was estimated at more than 70 per cent.
The Yemeni political leaders and international diplomats in Yemen described the elections as historic and as the only way to rescue the conflict-torn country from a civil war.
" The February 21st, is a historic day, and it protected Yemen from a civil war," said the UN envoy, Jamal Bin Omar, while visiting some of the polling stations in Sanaa on Tuesday.
"After elections,Yemenis will have a new social contract," added Bin Omar who orchestrated the Saudi-led and US-backed deal that led to such a political solution of the Yemeni crisis.
One day before elections, the former president Saleh called his supporters to vote for Hadi.
" Today, I would say good bye to the power, which should always be responsibility not a privilege," said Saleh from New York where he finished further medical treatments for burns and injuries he sustained in an assassination attempt last June.
Saleh declared he would attend the installation ceremony of Hadi which is expected to be held late this week or early next week.
" Saleh will definitely return and attend the installation ceremony," Saleh's secretary, Ahmed Al Sufi told the Weekly.
Al Sufi expected the installation ceremony to be held on Thursday February 23.
Saleh will return as a good and normal citizen as he always says,
Yemenis final goal not achieved yet:
The establishment of a civil state which protects rights and liberties of every one is the final goal, and changing Saleh with Hadi is the not the final goal of Yemenis.
The protesters in the streets still threaten to continue sitting in their tents until this final goal is achieved.
The 25-year old Mohammed Alwan, said Tuesday he is ready to stay in his tent all the two-year transitional period of Hadi or even more than that if the civil state is not established.
" Today I voted for Hadi, but I would keep staying in the tent until all our goals are achieved," said Mohammed shortly after he voted in a poll station inside the Sanaa university where the protests square is located.
Two big challenges
Before establishing the civil state which every one is dreaming, Yemenis with their new President Hadi need to open a comprehensive national dialogue to discuss and solve all big issues of those who refused the elections such as the issue of Al Houthi in northern province of Saada, and the issue of the south.
The second big thing to be done during the transitional period is the writing of a new constitution on which the would-be civil state will be based. France and Germany are helping Yemenis to write the new constitution.
In February 2014, a competitive presidential election is supposed to be held according to the new constitution. The elected president would set a date for parliamentary elections.
The Yemen new President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi took the constitutional oath before the Parliament on Saturday in presence of members of unity government and chiefs of diplomatic missions in Yemen.
After one year of wars of words and bullets, almost every one of the MPs and ministers of the conflicting parties, before the swearing in ceremony started, was hugging and kissing everyone as a sign of greeting and congratulating for ending the long standing crisis.
The majority of MPs belong to Saleh's party.
Earlier in the day, the supreme elections committee granted Hadi a certificate of winning as an elected president. Hadi won with 65 percent of the 10 million registered voters. Sone 6.5 million eligible voters voted for Hadi.
At the dawn of Saturday, the former president Ali Abdullah Saleh had arrived in the capital Sanaa and stayed in his own house.
Saleh will attend the installation ceremony of his successor Hadi on Monday, February 27th, 2012. Saleh will keep as a president of his party, the People's General Congress. (PGC).
Last Tuesday, the overwhelming majority of Yemenis voted for Hadi as a new president ending the 33-year long reign of the President Ali Abdullah Saleh,71.
The new President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi, was the sole candidate of consensus in exceptional elections viewed by the majority of Yemenis and international and regional community as the only way to rescue Yemen from a civil war.
Mr Hadi, 67, was highly supported by the international community when the two conflicting factions within Saleh's regime failed to end the one-year political crisis to the interest of one side.
Hadi is respected by almost all groups including those who defected from Saleh's regime and joined the youth revolution but failed to have what they called " revolutionary legitimacy" to be rulers.
Much of the respect given to Hadi from all Yemeni is because he is from the south which complains from being marginalized by the northerners.
Hadi served as vice president since after the 1994 civil war which erupted only four years after south and north united.
The last presidential elections was in 2006 when the former president Saleh was elected in an election described by the international community as " reasonably free and competitive" .
After about one year of anti-Saleh protests, Saleh now has gone, but his party and his supporters remain.
His party has 50 per cent of the ministries of the national unity government and his supporters were at least representing 50 per cent of the election turn out all our the country on this week's elections.
Saleh's party, the General People Congress(GPC), has now three operating Satellite channels, Yemen Today, Al Akeek, and Azal.
The vice chairman of the supreme committee of the elections Khamis Al Daini said the turn out " surprised every one".
Only 9 constituencies out of 301, which did not hold elections because of violent acts by those who refused the elections in the south because they demand independence.
The overall turn out was estimated at more than 70 per cent.
The Yemeni political leaders and international diplomats in Yemen described the elections as historic and as the only way to rescue the conflict-torn country from a civil war.
" The February 21st, is a historic day, and it protected Yemen from a civil war," said the UN envoy, Jamal Bin Omar, while visiting some of the polling stations in Sanaa on Tuesday.
"After elections,Yemenis will have a new social contract," added Bin Omar who orchestrated the Saudi-led and US-backed deal that led to such a political solution of the Yemeni crisis.
One day before elections, the former president Saleh called his supporters to vote for Hadi.
" Today, I would say good bye to the power, which should always be responsibility not a privilege," said Saleh from New York where he finished further medical treatments for burns and injuries he sustained in an assassination attempt last June.
Saleh declared he would attend the installation ceremony of Hadi which is expected to be held late this week or early next week.
" Saleh will definitely return and attend the installation ceremony," Saleh's secretary, Ahmed Al Sufi told the Weekly.
Al Sufi expected the installation ceremony to be held on Thursday February 23.
Saleh will return as a good and normal citizen as he always says,
Yemenis final goal not achieved yet:
The establishment of a civil state which protects rights and liberties of every one is the final goal, and changing Saleh with Hadi is the not the final goal of Yemenis.
The protesters in the streets still threaten to continue sitting in their tents until this final goal is achieved.
The 25-year old Mohammed Alwan, said Tuesday he is ready to stay in his tent all the two-year transitional period of Hadi or even more than that if the civil state is not established.
" Today I voted for Hadi, but I would keep staying in the tent until all our goals are achieved," said Mohammed shortly after he voted in a poll station inside the Sanaa university where the protests square is located.
Two big challenges
Before establishing the civil state which every one is dreaming, Yemenis with their new President Hadi need to open a comprehensive national dialogue to discuss and solve all big issues of those who refused the elections such as the issue of Al Houthi in northern province of Saada, and the issue of the south.
The second big thing to be done during the transitional period is the writing of a new constitution on which the would-be civil state will be based. France and Germany are helping Yemenis to write the new constitution.
In February 2014, a competitive presidential election is supposed to be held according to the new constitution. The elected president would set a date for parliamentary elections.
Tuesday, 21 February 2012
Yemen new president elected, what next?
By Nasser Arrabyee/ 21/02/2012
The overwhelming majority of Yemenis voted for a new president on Tuesday February 21st, 2012 ending the 33-year long reign of the President Ali Abdullah Saleh,71.
The new President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi, was the sole candidate of consensus in exceptional elections viewed by the majority of Yemenis and international and regional community as the only way to rescue Yemen from a civil war.
Mr Hadi, 67, was highly supported by the international community when the two conflicting factions within Saleh's regime failed to end the one-year political crisis to the interest of one side.
Hadi is respected by almost all groups including those who defected from Saleh's regime and joined the youth revolution but failed to have what they called " revolutionary legitimacy" to be rulers.
Much of the respect given to Hadi from all Yemeni is because he is from the south which complains from being marginalized by the northerners.
Hadi served as vice president since after the 1994 civil war which erupted only four years after south and north united.
The last presidential elections was in 2006 when the former president Saleh was elected in an election described by the international community as " reasonably free and competitive" .
After about one year of anti-Saleh protests, Saleh now has gone, but his party and his supporters remain.
His party has 50 per cent of the ministries of the national unity government and his supporters were at least representing 50 per cent of the election turn out all our the country on this week's elections.
Saleh's party, the General People Congress(GPC), has now three operating Satellite channels, Yemen Today, Al Akeek, and Azal.
The vice chairman of the supreme committee of the elections Khamis Al Daini said the turn out " surprised every one".
Only 9 constituencies out of 301, which did not hold elections because of violent acts by those who refused the elections in the south because they demand independence.
The overall turn out was estimated at more than 70 per cent.
The Yemeni political leaders and international diplomats in Yemen described the elections as historic and as the only way to rescue the conflict-torn country from a civil war.
" The February 21st, is a historic day, and it protected Yemen from a civil war," said the UN envoy, Jamal Bin Omar, while visiting some of the polling stations in Sanaa on Tuesday.
"After elections,Yemenis will have a new social contract," added Bin Omar who orchestrated the Saudi-led and US-backed deal that led to such a political solution of the Yemeni crisis.
One day before elections, the former president Saleh called his supporters to vote for Hadi.
" Today, I would say good bye to the power, which should always be responsibility not a privilege," said Saleh from New York where he finished further medical treatments for burns and injuries he sustained in an assassination attempt last June.
Saleh declared he would attend the installation ceremony of Hadi which is expected to be held late this week or early next week.
" Saleh will definitely return and attend the installation ceremony," Saleh's secretary, Ahmed Al Sufi told the Weekly.
Al Sufi expected the installation ceremony to be held on Thursday February 23.
Saleh will return as a good and normal citizen as he always says,
Yemenis final goal not achieved yet:
The establishment of a civil state which protects rights and liberties of every one is the final goal, and changing Saleh with Hadi is the not the final goal of Yemenis.
The protesters in the streets still threaten to continue sitting in their tents until this final goal is achieved.
The 25-year old Mohammed Alwan, said Tuesday he is ready to stay in his tent all the two-year transitional period of Hadi or even more than that if the civil state is not established.
" Today I voted for Hadi, but I would keep staying in the tent until all our goals are achieved," said Mohammed shortly after he voted in a poll station inside the Sanaa university where the protests square is located.
Two big challenges
Before establishing the civil state which every one is dreaming, Yemenis with their new President Hadi need to open a comprehensive national dialogue to discuss and solve all big issues of those who refused the elections such as the issue of Al Houthi in northern province of Saada, and the issue of the south.
The second big thing to be done during the transitional period is the writing of a new constitution on which the would-be civil state will be based. France and Germany are helping Yemenis to write the new constitution.
In February 2014, a competitive presidential election is supposed to be held according to the new constitution. The elected president would set a date for parliamentary elections.
The overwhelming majority of Yemenis voted for a new president on Tuesday February 21st, 2012 ending the 33-year long reign of the President Ali Abdullah Saleh,71.
The new President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi, was the sole candidate of consensus in exceptional elections viewed by the majority of Yemenis and international and regional community as the only way to rescue Yemen from a civil war.
Mr Hadi, 67, was highly supported by the international community when the two conflicting factions within Saleh's regime failed to end the one-year political crisis to the interest of one side.
Hadi is respected by almost all groups including those who defected from Saleh's regime and joined the youth revolution but failed to have what they called " revolutionary legitimacy" to be rulers.
Much of the respect given to Hadi from all Yemeni is because he is from the south which complains from being marginalized by the northerners.
Hadi served as vice president since after the 1994 civil war which erupted only four years after south and north united.
The last presidential elections was in 2006 when the former president Saleh was elected in an election described by the international community as " reasonably free and competitive" .
After about one year of anti-Saleh protests, Saleh now has gone, but his party and his supporters remain.
His party has 50 per cent of the ministries of the national unity government and his supporters were at least representing 50 per cent of the election turn out all our the country on this week's elections.
Saleh's party, the General People Congress(GPC), has now three operating Satellite channels, Yemen Today, Al Akeek, and Azal.
The vice chairman of the supreme committee of the elections Khamis Al Daini said the turn out " surprised every one".
Only 9 constituencies out of 301, which did not hold elections because of violent acts by those who refused the elections in the south because they demand independence.
The overall turn out was estimated at more than 70 per cent.
The Yemeni political leaders and international diplomats in Yemen described the elections as historic and as the only way to rescue the conflict-torn country from a civil war.
" The February 21st, is a historic day, and it protected Yemen from a civil war," said the UN envoy, Jamal Bin Omar, while visiting some of the polling stations in Sanaa on Tuesday.
"After elections,Yemenis will have a new social contract," added Bin Omar who orchestrated the Saudi-led and US-backed deal that led to such a political solution of the Yemeni crisis.
One day before elections, the former president Saleh called his supporters to vote for Hadi.
" Today, I would say good bye to the power, which should always be responsibility not a privilege," said Saleh from New York where he finished further medical treatments for burns and injuries he sustained in an assassination attempt last June.
Saleh declared he would attend the installation ceremony of Hadi which is expected to be held late this week or early next week.
" Saleh will definitely return and attend the installation ceremony," Saleh's secretary, Ahmed Al Sufi told the Weekly.
Al Sufi expected the installation ceremony to be held on Thursday February 23.
Saleh will return as a good and normal citizen as he always says,
Yemenis final goal not achieved yet:
The establishment of a civil state which protects rights and liberties of every one is the final goal, and changing Saleh with Hadi is the not the final goal of Yemenis.
The protesters in the streets still threaten to continue sitting in their tents until this final goal is achieved.
The 25-year old Mohammed Alwan, said Tuesday he is ready to stay in his tent all the two-year transitional period of Hadi or even more than that if the civil state is not established.
" Today I voted for Hadi, but I would keep staying in the tent until all our goals are achieved," said Mohammed shortly after he voted in a poll station inside the Sanaa university where the protests square is located.
Two big challenges
Before establishing the civil state which every one is dreaming, Yemenis with their new President Hadi need to open a comprehensive national dialogue to discuss and solve all big issues of those who refused the elections such as the issue of Al Houthi in northern province of Saada, and the issue of the south.
The second big thing to be done during the transitional period is the writing of a new constitution on which the would-be civil state will be based. France and Germany are helping Yemenis to write the new constitution.
In February 2014, a competitive presidential election is supposed to be held according to the new constitution. The elected president would set a date for parliamentary elections.
Yemen new president elected, what next?
By Nasser Arrabyee/ 21/02/2012
The overwhelming majority of Yemenis voted for a new president on Tuesday February 21st, 2012 ending the 33-year long reign of the President Ali Abdullah Saleh,71.
The new President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi, was the sole candidate of consensus in exceptional elections viewed by the majority of Yemenis and international and regional community as the only way to rescue Yemen from a civil war.
Mr Hadi, 67, was highly supported by the international community when the two conflicting factions within Saleh's regime failed to end the one-year political crisis to the interest of one side.
Hadi is respected by almost all groups including those who defected from Saleh's regime and joined the youth revolution but failed to have what they called " revolutionary legitimacy" to be rulers.
Much of the respect given to Hadi from all Yemeni is because he is from the south which complains from being marginalized by the northerners.
Hadi served as vice president since after the 1994 civil war which erupted only four years after south and north united.
The last presidential elections was in 2006 when the former president Saleh was elected in an election described by the international community as " reasonably free and competitive" .
After about one year of anti-Saleh protests, Saleh now has gone, but his party and his supporters remain.
His party has 50 per cent of the ministries of the national unity government and his supporters were at least representing 50 per cent of the election turn out all our the country on this week's elections.
Saleh's party, the General People Congress(GPC), has now three operating Satellite channels, Yemen Today, Al Akeek, and Azal.
The vice chairman of the supreme committee of the elections Khamis Al Daini said the turn out " surprised every one".
Only 9 constituencies out of 301, which did not hold elections because of violent acts by those who refused the elections in the south because they demand independence.
The overall turn out was estimated at more than 70 per cent.
The Yemeni political leaders and international diplomats in Yemen described the elections as historic and as the only way to rescue the conflict-torn country from a civil war.
" The February 21st, is a historic day, and it protected Yemen from a civil war," said the UN envoy, Jamal Bin Omar, while visiting some of the polling stations in Sanaa on Tuesday.
"After elections,Yemenis will have a new social contract," added Bin Omar who orchestrated the Saudi-led and US-backed deal that led to such a political solution of the Yemeni crisis.
One day before elections, the former president Saleh called his supporters to vote for Hadi.
" Today, I would say good bye to the power, which should always be responsibility not a privilege," said Saleh from New York where he finished further medical treatments for burns and injuries he sustained in an assassination attempt last June.
Saleh declared he would attend the installation ceremony of Hadi which is expected to be held late this week or early next week.
" Saleh will definitely return and attend the installation ceremony," Saleh's secretary, Ahmed Al Sufi told the Weekly.
Al Sufi expected the installation ceremony to be held on Thursday February 23.
Saleh will return as a good and normal citizen as he always says,
Yemenis final goal not achieved yet:
The establishment of a civil state which protects rights and liberties of every one is the final goal, and changing Saleh with Hadi is the not the final goal of Yemenis.
The protesters in the streets still threaten to continue sitting in their tents until this final goal is achieved.
The 25-year old Mohammed Alwan, said Tuesday he is ready to stay in his tent all the two-year transitional period of Hadi or even more than that if the civil state is not established.
" Today I voted for Hadi, but I would keep staying in the tent until all our goals are achieved," said Mohammed shortly after he voted in a poll station inside the Sanaa university where the protests square is located.
Two big challenges
Before establishing the civil state which every one is dreaming, Yemenis with their new President Hadi need to open a comprehensive national dialogue to discuss and solve all big issues of those who refused the elections such as the issue of Al Houthi in northern province of Saada, and the issue of the south.
The second big thing to be done during the transitional period is the writing of a new constitution on which the would-be civil state will be based. France and Germany are helping Yemenis to write the new constitution.
In February 2014, a competitive presidential election is supposed to be held according to the new constitution. The elected president would set a date for parliamentary elections.
The overwhelming majority of Yemenis voted for a new president on Tuesday February 21st, 2012 ending the 33-year long reign of the President Ali Abdullah Saleh,71.
The new President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi, was the sole candidate of consensus in exceptional elections viewed by the majority of Yemenis and international and regional community as the only way to rescue Yemen from a civil war.
Mr Hadi, 67, was highly supported by the international community when the two conflicting factions within Saleh's regime failed to end the one-year political crisis to the interest of one side.
Hadi is respected by almost all groups including those who defected from Saleh's regime and joined the youth revolution but failed to have what they called " revolutionary legitimacy" to be rulers.
Much of the respect given to Hadi from all Yemeni is because he is from the south which complains from being marginalized by the northerners.
Hadi served as vice president since after the 1994 civil war which erupted only four years after south and north united.
The last presidential elections was in 2006 when the former president Saleh was elected in an election described by the international community as " reasonably free and competitive" .
After about one year of anti-Saleh protests, Saleh now has gone, but his party and his supporters remain.
His party has 50 per cent of the ministries of the national unity government and his supporters were at least representing 50 per cent of the election turn out all our the country on this week's elections.
Saleh's party, the General People Congress(GPC), has now three operating Satellite channels, Yemen Today, Al Akeek, and Azal.
The vice chairman of the supreme committee of the elections Khamis Al Daini said the turn out " surprised every one".
Only 9 constituencies out of 301, which did not hold elections because of violent acts by those who refused the elections in the south because they demand independence.
The overall turn out was estimated at more than 70 per cent.
The Yemeni political leaders and international diplomats in Yemen described the elections as historic and as the only way to rescue the conflict-torn country from a civil war.
" The February 21st, is a historic day, and it protected Yemen from a civil war," said the UN envoy, Jamal Bin Omar, while visiting some of the polling stations in Sanaa on Tuesday.
"After elections,Yemenis will have a new social contract," added Bin Omar who orchestrated the Saudi-led and US-backed deal that led to such a political solution of the Yemeni crisis.
One day before elections, the former president Saleh called his supporters to vote for Hadi.
" Today, I would say good bye to the power, which should always be responsibility not a privilege," said Saleh from New York where he finished further medical treatments for burns and injuries he sustained in an assassination attempt last June.
Saleh declared he would attend the installation ceremony of Hadi which is expected to be held late this week or early next week.
" Saleh will definitely return and attend the installation ceremony," Saleh's secretary, Ahmed Al Sufi told the Weekly.
Al Sufi expected the installation ceremony to be held on Thursday February 23.
Saleh will return as a good and normal citizen as he always says,
Yemenis final goal not achieved yet:
The establishment of a civil state which protects rights and liberties of every one is the final goal, and changing Saleh with Hadi is the not the final goal of Yemenis.
The protesters in the streets still threaten to continue sitting in their tents until this final goal is achieved.
The 25-year old Mohammed Alwan, said Tuesday he is ready to stay in his tent all the two-year transitional period of Hadi or even more than that if the civil state is not established.
" Today I voted for Hadi, but I would keep staying in the tent until all our goals are achieved," said Mohammed shortly after he voted in a poll station inside the Sanaa university where the protests square is located.
Two big challenges
Before establishing the civil state which every one is dreaming, Yemenis with their new President Hadi need to open a comprehensive national dialogue to discuss and solve all big issues of those who refused the elections such as the issue of Al Houthi in northern province of Saada, and the issue of the south.
The second big thing to be done during the transitional period is the writing of a new constitution on which the would-be civil state will be based. France and Germany are helping Yemenis to write the new constitution.
In February 2014, a competitive presidential election is supposed to be held according to the new constitution. The elected president would set a date for parliamentary elections.
Sunday, 19 February 2012
Yemen's next president committed to destroying al Qaeda, US deputy national security adviser says
Source: New York Post, 19/02/2012
SANAA, Yemen -- Yemen's sole presidential candidate, who will be voted in this week, is committed to "destroying" al Qaeda, US deputy national security adviser John Brennan said Sunday in Sanaa.
Brennan, who met with Vice President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi in Sanaa on Saturday, said he was "very encouraged by [Hadi's] comments" on al Qaeda.
"He is committed, as well, to destroy al Qaeda, and I consider him a good and strong counterpart," Brennan told reporters.
Yemenis will hold referendum-like presidential elections Tuesday, in which President Ali Abdullah Saleh will officially hand power over to Hadi, the sole consensus candidate, under a Gulf-brokered power-transfer plan signed by the outgoing leader in November.
Yemen has been gripped by over a year of protests against Saleh's 33-year rule.
The uprising weakened the central government's authority, allowing al Qaeda militants to strengthen their presence in the lawless south and southeast.
But Saleh's opponents accuse him of having used Islamist militants as a tool against them, even though he repeatedly declared himself an ally of the US in its "war on terror."
"There are some individuals in Yemen who have exploited al Qaeda's presence for their own interests," Brennan said.
"We find it outrageous for any members of the Yemeni government or the Yemeni global system to do so. In my previous visit, I had spoken directly to Yemeni officials about the need to do more against al Qaeda and to dry up their sources of support."
When asked about the US role in fighting al Qaeda in Yemen, Brennan said, "We provide to the Yemeni units that fight al Qaeda advice, assistance and equipment."
The Yemeni government has repeatedly denied direct US involvement in the fight against al Qaeda's Yemeni branch, saying that it only provides logistical support.
Local residents and officials in the southern and eastern provinces, however, insist that US drone aircraft regularly carry out attacks on suspected al Qaeda operatives.
SANAA, Yemen -- Yemen's sole presidential candidate, who will be voted in this week, is committed to "destroying" al Qaeda, US deputy national security adviser John Brennan said Sunday in Sanaa.
Brennan, who met with Vice President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi in Sanaa on Saturday, said he was "very encouraged by [Hadi's] comments" on al Qaeda.
"He is committed, as well, to destroy al Qaeda, and I consider him a good and strong counterpart," Brennan told reporters.
Yemenis will hold referendum-like presidential elections Tuesday, in which President Ali Abdullah Saleh will officially hand power over to Hadi, the sole consensus candidate, under a Gulf-brokered power-transfer plan signed by the outgoing leader in November.
Yemen has been gripped by over a year of protests against Saleh's 33-year rule.
The uprising weakened the central government's authority, allowing al Qaeda militants to strengthen their presence in the lawless south and southeast.
But Saleh's opponents accuse him of having used Islamist militants as a tool against them, even though he repeatedly declared himself an ally of the US in its "war on terror."
"There are some individuals in Yemen who have exploited al Qaeda's presence for their own interests," Brennan said.
"We find it outrageous for any members of the Yemeni government or the Yemeni global system to do so. In my previous visit, I had spoken directly to Yemeni officials about the need to do more against al Qaeda and to dry up their sources of support."
When asked about the US role in fighting al Qaeda in Yemen, Brennan said, "We provide to the Yemeni units that fight al Qaeda advice, assistance and equipment."
The Yemeni government has repeatedly denied direct US involvement in the fight against al Qaeda's Yemeni branch, saying that it only provides logistical support.
Local residents and officials in the southern and eastern provinces, however, insist that US drone aircraft regularly carry out attacks on suspected al Qaeda operatives.
Yemen's next president committed to destroying al Qaeda, US deputy national security adviser says
Source: New York Post, 19/02/2012
SANAA, Yemen -- Yemen's sole presidential candidate, who will be voted in this week, is committed to "destroying" al Qaeda, US deputy national security adviser John Brennan said Sunday in Sanaa.
Brennan, who met with Vice President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi in Sanaa on Saturday, said he was "very encouraged by [Hadi's] comments" on al Qaeda.
"He is committed, as well, to destroy al Qaeda, and I consider him a good and strong counterpart," Brennan told reporters.
Yemenis will hold referendum-like presidential elections Tuesday, in which President Ali Abdullah Saleh will officially hand power over to Hadi, the sole consensus candidate, under a Gulf-brokered power-transfer plan signed by the outgoing leader in November.
Yemen has been gripped by over a year of protests against Saleh's 33-year rule.
The uprising weakened the central government's authority, allowing al Qaeda militants to strengthen their presence in the lawless south and southeast.
But Saleh's opponents accuse him of having used Islamist militants as a tool against them, even though he repeatedly declared himself an ally of the US in its "war on terror."
"There are some individuals in Yemen who have exploited al Qaeda's presence for their own interests," Brennan said.
"We find it outrageous for any members of the Yemeni government or the Yemeni global system to do so. In my previous visit, I had spoken directly to Yemeni officials about the need to do more against al Qaeda and to dry up their sources of support."
When asked about the US role in fighting al Qaeda in Yemen, Brennan said, "We provide to the Yemeni units that fight al Qaeda advice, assistance and equipment."
The Yemeni government has repeatedly denied direct US involvement in the fight against al Qaeda's Yemeni branch, saying that it only provides logistical support.
Local residents and officials in the southern and eastern provinces, however, insist that US drone aircraft regularly carry out attacks on suspected al Qaeda operatives.
SANAA, Yemen -- Yemen's sole presidential candidate, who will be voted in this week, is committed to "destroying" al Qaeda, US deputy national security adviser John Brennan said Sunday in Sanaa.
Brennan, who met with Vice President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi in Sanaa on Saturday, said he was "very encouraged by [Hadi's] comments" on al Qaeda.
"He is committed, as well, to destroy al Qaeda, and I consider him a good and strong counterpart," Brennan told reporters.
Yemenis will hold referendum-like presidential elections Tuesday, in which President Ali Abdullah Saleh will officially hand power over to Hadi, the sole consensus candidate, under a Gulf-brokered power-transfer plan signed by the outgoing leader in November.
Yemen has been gripped by over a year of protests against Saleh's 33-year rule.
The uprising weakened the central government's authority, allowing al Qaeda militants to strengthen their presence in the lawless south and southeast.
But Saleh's opponents accuse him of having used Islamist militants as a tool against them, even though he repeatedly declared himself an ally of the US in its "war on terror."
"There are some individuals in Yemen who have exploited al Qaeda's presence for their own interests," Brennan said.
"We find it outrageous for any members of the Yemeni government or the Yemeni global system to do so. In my previous visit, I had spoken directly to Yemeni officials about the need to do more against al Qaeda and to dry up their sources of support."
When asked about the US role in fighting al Qaeda in Yemen, Brennan said, "We provide to the Yemeni units that fight al Qaeda advice, assistance and equipment."
The Yemeni government has repeatedly denied direct US involvement in the fight against al Qaeda's Yemeni branch, saying that it only provides logistical support.
Local residents and officials in the southern and eastern provinces, however, insist that US drone aircraft regularly carry out attacks on suspected al Qaeda operatives.
Thursday, 16 February 2012
New leader emerges, after Al Qaeda leader Tarek Al Dhahab killed in clashes over elections and ruling
By Nasser Arrabyee/ 16/02/2012
Kaid Al Dhaha, seems to be grooming himself as the new leader of Al Qaeda after his brother Tarek was killed in clashes with a senior brother over ruling their areas, said a local tribal leader on Thursday.
" Now Kaid is the one who is regrouping Al Qaeda elements after his brother Tarek was killed," said the tribal leader from Kaifa tribe, Zaid Al Reyami. Kaifa tribe is Al Dhahab family tribe in the province of Al Baidha.
A name calling erupted between Tarik Al Dhahab, top leader of Al Qaeda in Radaa, and his brother Hizam, the normal tribal leader in Kaifa tribe.
The name calling and shouting erupted between the two brothers immediately after two officials of elections and four bodyguards were killed by Tarik militants of Al Qaeda.
" When Sheik Hezam failed to convince his brother Tarik to send away his gunmen from their villages, he killed him and went to his fort," said the tribal leader Al Reyami.
The fight between the two brothers happened about midnight on Wednesday.
About two hours before that, Al Qaeda operatives of Tarek, killed two senior officials working in the committee of elections in Al Baidha province and four of their bodyguards.
Tarek followers went and surrounded the family's fort in the village of Al Manaseh , where Hezam tried to hide after he killed his brother Tarek.
The clashes continued until about 10 am Thursday.
" When Sheik Hezam was killed the clashes quieted down and tribal mediation started to prevent any further fighting," said Al Reyami.
" now it's quiet but tension is still high, and we'll try to prevent any further bloodshed."
The government's special forces surrounded the areas but did not interfere.
The brothers Tarek, Hezam, and Ahmed Al Dhahab were killed. Two nephews at least, Ahmed Ali and Ali Hezam were also killed in the family fight.
Ahmed Saif, who is respected cousin, is trying now to prevent ant further killing between the family members.
Kaid and Nabil, who were fighting with their brothers of Tarek, are now trying to regroup Al Qaeda elements.
Nabil, is the brother was released by the Yemeni government earlier this year in return for Al Qaeda withdrawing from Radaa.
The tribal leader Hezam was the guarantor that his brother Tarek would send away his gunmen from the areas.
Tarek did not only break his promise to his brother Hezam and the government but he sent his gunmen to kill the elections officials.
The top leader of Al Qaeda in Al Baidah province, Tarek Al Dhahab, was killed early morning Thursday, after election officials had been killed by Al Qaeda operatives, said security sources.
Al Qaeda refuses the presidential elections to be held on February 21, 2012.
Posters of elections are almost everywhere in Yemen. No elections fever, because there is only one candidate to be elected.
Instead,there seem to be a big determination from Yemeni political players and their outside supporters to make this elections a success despite all challenges of such exceptional elections.
In the posters you can read slogans like " Vote to build new Yemen", "Election is the only way for power-transfer".
New President for new Yemen, you find this written under huge pictures of the only candidate Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi.
Pictures of the outgoing President Ali Abdullah Saleh are also put together with some of the huge pictures of Hadi to encourage Saleh's supporters to vote.
Three considerable groups refuse the internationally, regionally and nationally supported presidential elections scheduled on February 21, 2012 in Yemen.
Two of these three groups try to prevent elections by making riots and violence any where they can.
Although the three groups, represent only a small minority, the main political players of Yemenis and their outside supporters are concerned of any violence that may stop and spoil the elections, the essence of the political solution to rescue the country from a civil war.
The three groups that refuse elections are: the Shiite fighters , known as Al Hourhis in the northern province of Saada, and those who demand the separation of the south, known as Hirak in the south of the country that was an independent State before south and north United in 1990.
Al Qaeda is the third group that refuses not only elections,but also every political thing outside their thinking of establishing a Taliban-style Islamic Emirates in the framework of their final dream to establish what they call the Islamic Caliphate.
The top leader of Al Houthi Shiite fighters, Abdul Malik Al Houthi, declared clearly earlier this week, he and his supporters would boycott the elections but he also said he would not prevent people in his areas from voting if they like.
The Hirak, the separatist movement in the south, is not one thing: some leaders declared they would participate in the elections because the new elected President will be from the south and, they say, the problems that made them demand the separation will be solved after the elections.
Another group within Hirak, declared they would boycott the elections.
The least but the most dangerous one within Hirak, is that group that threatened to prevent the elections by force.
On Tuesday, February 14, 2012, a 28-year old man from this violent group within Hirak, named Amir Othman Al Yari,killed him self early morning when he failed to plant explosives inside the place of the elections committee in Aden city. No one else was injured because hr was alone.
This violent group is refused by the majority of the separatists and it is loyal to the German-based former president of the south, Ali Salem Al Baidh, who is reportedly receiving support from Iran.
For Al Qaeda, it's obvious that elections and solving the political crisis is not in its interest because it expands more and more only in the chaos not in the stability that elections will supposedly bring.
To frighten people from participating in the elections, Al Qaeda beheaded three of its members and hanged and crucified one of them in a public place in a Taliban-Style Al Qaeda-declared Islamic Emirate town in the south, about one week before the elections day.
Two Yemenis were executed by Al Qaeda for charges of spying for American, Saudi and Yemeni intelligence, according to Al Qaeda statements after the executions.
The Taliban-style executions took place in two different towns controlled by Al Qaeda south of Yemen in presence of hundreds of local people and Al Qaeda operatives.
Al Qaeda-declared judge was reading the verdict against the Yemeni Ramzi Mohammed Al Areeki, 30, early morning Sunday February 12,2012, in the same place where American drones killed the 16-year old son of the American-Yemeni slain extremist cleric Anwar Al Awlaki, in Azzan, Shabwa, south of Yemen.
Families of the victims of that drone attack which happened last October,were among the sympathizers and local residents who were chanting " Allahu Akabar, Allahu Akbar" as Al Areeki was being beheaded by the sword, in Mafrak Azzan, in Shabwa.
For the second, the 28-year old Yemeni, Saleh Ahmed Saleh Al Jamily, was executed and crucified close to Khanfar Stadium, Jaar, the southern province of Abyan.
In the two Al Qaeda-held towns,the militants distributed to local residents hundreds of copies of what they called confessions from the two executed Yemenis.
According to that confessions, Al Areeki said that two Saudi intelligence officials had recruited him to spy on Al Qaeda movements and activities in Yemen.
Hussein Bin Saad Al Kahtani, and Ibrahim Sulaiman Al Dailami met him in the Saudi city of Abha and agreed with him to work as a spy in return for money.
Al Areeki was the agent who sent the information about the son of Anwar Al Awlaki, Abdul Rehman, and a number of Al Qaeda operatives, who were in Mafrak Azzan last October before US drone killed them.
And for the second executed in Jaar, Al Jamily, he said in the confessions that the Yemeni intelligence officer Mueed Nasser Abdullah recruited him to collect information about nine Al Qaeda operatives including three prominent leaders who were killed by US drones in Zinjubar Abyan and Mareb.
He gave the information that led to the killing of Ali Bin Saeed Bin Jamil, and Abu Osama Ali Mubarak Feras in Zinjubar late last year.
Jamil from Abida tribe of Marib province, and Feras from Jehm tribe from the same province.
Al Jamily, who is originally from Mareb, also said he was behind the killing of seven other Al Qaeda militants from Mareb over the last few years.
Earlier this month, in Zinjubar, Al Qaeda executed a third man called Abu Eisa Hassan Naji Al Nakeeb, who was the money man for the two executed agents.
Al Qaeda threatened to do the same thing to any one who would give information about them to " the enemies of Allah".
Al Qaeda also declared names of three men who, as they said, still work with the Yemeni and American intelligence.
Kaid Al Dhaha, seems to be grooming himself as the new leader of Al Qaeda after his brother Tarek was killed in clashes with a senior brother over ruling their areas, said a local tribal leader on Thursday.
" Now Kaid is the one who is regrouping Al Qaeda elements after his brother Tarek was killed," said the tribal leader from Kaifa tribe, Zaid Al Reyami. Kaifa tribe is Al Dhahab family tribe in the province of Al Baidha.
A name calling erupted between Tarik Al Dhahab, top leader of Al Qaeda in Radaa, and his brother Hizam, the normal tribal leader in Kaifa tribe.
The name calling and shouting erupted between the two brothers immediately after two officials of elections and four bodyguards were killed by Tarik militants of Al Qaeda.
" When Sheik Hezam failed to convince his brother Tarik to send away his gunmen from their villages, he killed him and went to his fort," said the tribal leader Al Reyami.
The fight between the two brothers happened about midnight on Wednesday.
About two hours before that, Al Qaeda operatives of Tarek, killed two senior officials working in the committee of elections in Al Baidha province and four of their bodyguards.
Tarek followers went and surrounded the family's fort in the village of Al Manaseh , where Hezam tried to hide after he killed his brother Tarek.
The clashes continued until about 10 am Thursday.
" When Sheik Hezam was killed the clashes quieted down and tribal mediation started to prevent any further fighting," said Al Reyami.
" now it's quiet but tension is still high, and we'll try to prevent any further bloodshed."
The government's special forces surrounded the areas but did not interfere.
The brothers Tarek, Hezam, and Ahmed Al Dhahab were killed. Two nephews at least, Ahmed Ali and Ali Hezam were also killed in the family fight.
Ahmed Saif, who is respected cousin, is trying now to prevent ant further killing between the family members.
Kaid and Nabil, who were fighting with their brothers of Tarek, are now trying to regroup Al Qaeda elements.
Nabil, is the brother was released by the Yemeni government earlier this year in return for Al Qaeda withdrawing from Radaa.
The tribal leader Hezam was the guarantor that his brother Tarek would send away his gunmen from the areas.
Tarek did not only break his promise to his brother Hezam and the government but he sent his gunmen to kill the elections officials.
The top leader of Al Qaeda in Al Baidah province, Tarek Al Dhahab, was killed early morning Thursday, after election officials had been killed by Al Qaeda operatives, said security sources.
Al Qaeda refuses the presidential elections to be held on February 21, 2012.
Posters of elections are almost everywhere in Yemen. No elections fever, because there is only one candidate to be elected.
Instead,there seem to be a big determination from Yemeni political players and their outside supporters to make this elections a success despite all challenges of such exceptional elections.
In the posters you can read slogans like " Vote to build new Yemen", "Election is the only way for power-transfer".
New President for new Yemen, you find this written under huge pictures of the only candidate Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi.
Pictures of the outgoing President Ali Abdullah Saleh are also put together with some of the huge pictures of Hadi to encourage Saleh's supporters to vote.
Three considerable groups refuse the internationally, regionally and nationally supported presidential elections scheduled on February 21, 2012 in Yemen.
Two of these three groups try to prevent elections by making riots and violence any where they can.
Although the three groups, represent only a small minority, the main political players of Yemenis and their outside supporters are concerned of any violence that may stop and spoil the elections, the essence of the political solution to rescue the country from a civil war.
The three groups that refuse elections are: the Shiite fighters , known as Al Hourhis in the northern province of Saada, and those who demand the separation of the south, known as Hirak in the south of the country that was an independent State before south and north United in 1990.
Al Qaeda is the third group that refuses not only elections,but also every political thing outside their thinking of establishing a Taliban-style Islamic Emirates in the framework of their final dream to establish what they call the Islamic Caliphate.
The top leader of Al Houthi Shiite fighters, Abdul Malik Al Houthi, declared clearly earlier this week, he and his supporters would boycott the elections but he also said he would not prevent people in his areas from voting if they like.
The Hirak, the separatist movement in the south, is not one thing: some leaders declared they would participate in the elections because the new elected President will be from the south and, they say, the problems that made them demand the separation will be solved after the elections.
Another group within Hirak, declared they would boycott the elections.
The least but the most dangerous one within Hirak, is that group that threatened to prevent the elections by force.
On Tuesday, February 14, 2012, a 28-year old man from this violent group within Hirak, named Amir Othman Al Yari,killed him self early morning when he failed to plant explosives inside the place of the elections committee in Aden city. No one else was injured because hr was alone.
This violent group is refused by the majority of the separatists and it is loyal to the German-based former president of the south, Ali Salem Al Baidh, who is reportedly receiving support from Iran.
For Al Qaeda, it's obvious that elections and solving the political crisis is not in its interest because it expands more and more only in the chaos not in the stability that elections will supposedly bring.
To frighten people from participating in the elections, Al Qaeda beheaded three of its members and hanged and crucified one of them in a public place in a Taliban-Style Al Qaeda-declared Islamic Emirate town in the south, about one week before the elections day.
Two Yemenis were executed by Al Qaeda for charges of spying for American, Saudi and Yemeni intelligence, according to Al Qaeda statements after the executions.
The Taliban-style executions took place in two different towns controlled by Al Qaeda south of Yemen in presence of hundreds of local people and Al Qaeda operatives.
Al Qaeda-declared judge was reading the verdict against the Yemeni Ramzi Mohammed Al Areeki, 30, early morning Sunday February 12,2012, in the same place where American drones killed the 16-year old son of the American-Yemeni slain extremist cleric Anwar Al Awlaki, in Azzan, Shabwa, south of Yemen.
Families of the victims of that drone attack which happened last October,were among the sympathizers and local residents who were chanting " Allahu Akabar, Allahu Akbar" as Al Areeki was being beheaded by the sword, in Mafrak Azzan, in Shabwa.
For the second, the 28-year old Yemeni, Saleh Ahmed Saleh Al Jamily, was executed and crucified close to Khanfar Stadium, Jaar, the southern province of Abyan.
In the two Al Qaeda-held towns,the militants distributed to local residents hundreds of copies of what they called confessions from the two executed Yemenis.
According to that confessions, Al Areeki said that two Saudi intelligence officials had recruited him to spy on Al Qaeda movements and activities in Yemen.
Hussein Bin Saad Al Kahtani, and Ibrahim Sulaiman Al Dailami met him in the Saudi city of Abha and agreed with him to work as a spy in return for money.
Al Areeki was the agent who sent the information about the son of Anwar Al Awlaki, Abdul Rehman, and a number of Al Qaeda operatives, who were in Mafrak Azzan last October before US drone killed them.
And for the second executed in Jaar, Al Jamily, he said in the confessions that the Yemeni intelligence officer Mueed Nasser Abdullah recruited him to collect information about nine Al Qaeda operatives including three prominent leaders who were killed by US drones in Zinjubar Abyan and Mareb.
He gave the information that led to the killing of Ali Bin Saeed Bin Jamil, and Abu Osama Ali Mubarak Feras in Zinjubar late last year.
Jamil from Abida tribe of Marib province, and Feras from Jehm tribe from the same province.
Al Jamily, who is originally from Mareb, also said he was behind the killing of seven other Al Qaeda militants from Mareb over the last few years.
Earlier this month, in Zinjubar, Al Qaeda executed a third man called Abu Eisa Hassan Naji Al Nakeeb, who was the money man for the two executed agents.
Al Qaeda threatened to do the same thing to any one who would give information about them to " the enemies of Allah".
Al Qaeda also declared names of three men who, as they said, still work with the Yemeni and American intelligence.
Wednesday, 15 February 2012
Al Qaeda leader killed after his militants killed two election officials
By Nasser Arrabyee/ 16/02/2012
The top leader of Al Qaeda in Al Baidah province, Tarek Al Dhahab, was killed early morning Thursday, after election officials had been killed by Al Qaeda operatives, said security sources.
Late Last night, Al Qaeda killed the head the security committee of election and head the supervisory committee of election in Al Baidha province and blockaded the place of elections.
Special forces stormed the place and killed and injured many operatives of Al Qaeda including the leader Tarek Al Dhahab, said the sources.
Al Qaeda refuses the presidential elections to be held on February 21, 2012.
Posters of elections are almost everywhere in Yemen. No elections fever, because there is only one candidate to be elected.
Instead,there seem to be a big determination from Yemeni political players and their outside supporters to make this elections a success despite all challenges of such exceptional elections.
In the posters you can read slogans like " Vote to build new Yemen", "Election is the only way for power-transfer".
New President for new Yemen, you find this written under huge pictures of the only candidate Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi.
Pictures of the outgoing President Ali Abdullah Saleh are also put together with some of the huge pictures of Hadi to encourage Saleh's supporters to vote.
Three considerable groups refuse the internationally, regionally and nationally supported presidential elections scheduled on February 21, 2012 in Yemen.
Two of these three groups try to prevent elections by making riots and violence any where they can.
Although the three groups, represent only a small minority, the main political players of Yemenis and their outside supporters are concerned of any violence that may stop and spoil the elections, the essence of the political solution to rescue the country from a civil war.
The three groups that refuse elections are: the Shiite fighters , known as Al Hourhis in the northern province of Saada, and those who demand the separation of the south, known as Hirak in the south of the country that was an independent State before south and north United in 1990.
Al Qaeda is the third group that refuses not only elections,but also every political thing outside their thinking of establishing a Taliban-style Islamic Emirates in the framework of their final dream to establish what they call the Islamic Caliphate.
The top leader of Al Houthi Shiite fighters, Abdul Malik Al Houthi, declared clearly earlier this week, he and his supporters would boycott the elections but he also said he would not prevent people in his areas from voting if they like.
The Hirak, the separatist movement in the south, is not one thing: some leaders declared they would participate in the elections because the new elected President will be from the south and, they say, the problems that made them demand the separation will be solved after the elections.
Another group within Hirak, declared they would boycott the elections.
The least but the most dangerous one within Hirak, is that group that threatened to prevent the elections by force.
On Tuesday, February 14, 2012, a 28-year old man from this violent group within Hirak, named Amir Othman Al Yari,killed him self early morning when he failed to plant explosives inside the place of the elections committee in Aden city. No one else was injured because hr was alone.
This violent group is refused by the majority of the separatists and it is loyal to the German-based former president of the south, Ali Salem Al Baidh, who is reportedly receiving support from Iran.
For Al Qaeda, it's obvious that elections and solving the political crisis is not in its interest because it expands more and more only in the chaos not in the stability that elections will supposedly bring.
To frighten people from participating in the elections, Al Qaeda beheaded three of its members and hanged and crucified one of them in a public place in a Taliban-Style Al Qaeda-declared Islamic Emirate town in the south, about one week before the elections day.
Two Yemenis were executed by Al Qaeda for charges of spying for American, Saudi and Yemeni intelligence, according to Al Qaeda statements after the executions.
The Taliban-style executions took place in two different towns controlled by Al Qaeda south of Yemen in presence of hundreds of local people and Al Qaeda operatives.
Al Qaeda-declared judge was reading the verdict against the Yemeni Ramzi Mohammed Al Areeki, 30, early morning Sunday February 12,2012, in the same place where American drones killed the 16-year old son of the American-Yemeni slain extremist cleric Anwar Al Awlaki, in Azzan, Shabwa, south of Yemen.
Families of the victims of that drone attack which happened last October,were among the sympathizers and local residents who were chanting " Allahu Akabar, Allahu Akbar" as Al Areeki was being beheaded by the sword, in Mafrak Azzan, in Shabwa.
For the second, the 28-year old Yemeni, Saleh Ahmed Saleh Al Jamily, was executed and crucified close to Khanfar Stadium, Jaar, the southern province of Abyan.
In the two Al Qaeda-held towns,the militants distributed to local residents hundreds of copies of what they called confessions from the two executed Yemenis.
According to that confessions, Al Areeki said that two Saudi intelligence officials had recruited him to spy on Al Qaeda movements and activities in Yemen.
Hussein Bin Saad Al Kahtani, and Ibrahim Sulaiman Al Dailami met him in the Saudi city of Abha and agreed with him to work as a spy in return for money.
Al Areeki was the agent who sent the information about the son of Anwar Al Awlaki, Abdul Rehman, and a number of Al Qaeda operatives, who were in Mafrak Azzan last October before US drone killed them.
And for the second executed in Jaar, Al Jamily, he said in the confessions that the Yemeni intelligence officer Mueed Nasser Abdullah recruited him to collect information about nine Al Qaeda operatives including three prominent leaders who were killed by US drones in Zinjubar Abyan and Mareb.
He gave the information that led to the killing of Ali Bin Saeed Bin Jamil, and Abu Osama Ali Mubarak Feras in Zinjubar late last year.
Jamil from Abida tribe of Marib province, and Feras from Jehm tribe from the same province.
Al Jamily, who is originally from Mareb, also said he was behind the killing of seven other Al Qaeda militants from Mareb over the last few years.
Earlier this month, in Zinjubar, Al Qaeda executed a third man called Abu Eisa Hassan Naji Al Nakeeb, who was the money man for the two executed agents.
Al Qaeda threatened to do the same thing to any one who would give information about them to " the enemies of Allah".
Al Qaeda also declared names of three men who, as they said, still work with the Yemeni and American intelligence.
The top leader of Al Qaeda in Al Baidah province, Tarek Al Dhahab, was killed early morning Thursday, after election officials had been killed by Al Qaeda operatives, said security sources.
Late Last night, Al Qaeda killed the head the security committee of election and head the supervisory committee of election in Al Baidha province and blockaded the place of elections.
Special forces stormed the place and killed and injured many operatives of Al Qaeda including the leader Tarek Al Dhahab, said the sources.
Al Qaeda refuses the presidential elections to be held on February 21, 2012.
Posters of elections are almost everywhere in Yemen. No elections fever, because there is only one candidate to be elected.
Instead,there seem to be a big determination from Yemeni political players and their outside supporters to make this elections a success despite all challenges of such exceptional elections.
In the posters you can read slogans like " Vote to build new Yemen", "Election is the only way for power-transfer".
New President for new Yemen, you find this written under huge pictures of the only candidate Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi.
Pictures of the outgoing President Ali Abdullah Saleh are also put together with some of the huge pictures of Hadi to encourage Saleh's supporters to vote.
Three considerable groups refuse the internationally, regionally and nationally supported presidential elections scheduled on February 21, 2012 in Yemen.
Two of these three groups try to prevent elections by making riots and violence any where they can.
Although the three groups, represent only a small minority, the main political players of Yemenis and their outside supporters are concerned of any violence that may stop and spoil the elections, the essence of the political solution to rescue the country from a civil war.
The three groups that refuse elections are: the Shiite fighters , known as Al Hourhis in the northern province of Saada, and those who demand the separation of the south, known as Hirak in the south of the country that was an independent State before south and north United in 1990.
Al Qaeda is the third group that refuses not only elections,but also every political thing outside their thinking of establishing a Taliban-style Islamic Emirates in the framework of their final dream to establish what they call the Islamic Caliphate.
The top leader of Al Houthi Shiite fighters, Abdul Malik Al Houthi, declared clearly earlier this week, he and his supporters would boycott the elections but he also said he would not prevent people in his areas from voting if they like.
The Hirak, the separatist movement in the south, is not one thing: some leaders declared they would participate in the elections because the new elected President will be from the south and, they say, the problems that made them demand the separation will be solved after the elections.
Another group within Hirak, declared they would boycott the elections.
The least but the most dangerous one within Hirak, is that group that threatened to prevent the elections by force.
On Tuesday, February 14, 2012, a 28-year old man from this violent group within Hirak, named Amir Othman Al Yari,killed him self early morning when he failed to plant explosives inside the place of the elections committee in Aden city. No one else was injured because hr was alone.
This violent group is refused by the majority of the separatists and it is loyal to the German-based former president of the south, Ali Salem Al Baidh, who is reportedly receiving support from Iran.
For Al Qaeda, it's obvious that elections and solving the political crisis is not in its interest because it expands more and more only in the chaos not in the stability that elections will supposedly bring.
To frighten people from participating in the elections, Al Qaeda beheaded three of its members and hanged and crucified one of them in a public place in a Taliban-Style Al Qaeda-declared Islamic Emirate town in the south, about one week before the elections day.
Two Yemenis were executed by Al Qaeda for charges of spying for American, Saudi and Yemeni intelligence, according to Al Qaeda statements after the executions.
The Taliban-style executions took place in two different towns controlled by Al Qaeda south of Yemen in presence of hundreds of local people and Al Qaeda operatives.
Al Qaeda-declared judge was reading the verdict against the Yemeni Ramzi Mohammed Al Areeki, 30, early morning Sunday February 12,2012, in the same place where American drones killed the 16-year old son of the American-Yemeni slain extremist cleric Anwar Al Awlaki, in Azzan, Shabwa, south of Yemen.
Families of the victims of that drone attack which happened last October,were among the sympathizers and local residents who were chanting " Allahu Akabar, Allahu Akbar" as Al Areeki was being beheaded by the sword, in Mafrak Azzan, in Shabwa.
For the second, the 28-year old Yemeni, Saleh Ahmed Saleh Al Jamily, was executed and crucified close to Khanfar Stadium, Jaar, the southern province of Abyan.
In the two Al Qaeda-held towns,the militants distributed to local residents hundreds of copies of what they called confessions from the two executed Yemenis.
According to that confessions, Al Areeki said that two Saudi intelligence officials had recruited him to spy on Al Qaeda movements and activities in Yemen.
Hussein Bin Saad Al Kahtani, and Ibrahim Sulaiman Al Dailami met him in the Saudi city of Abha and agreed with him to work as a spy in return for money.
Al Areeki was the agent who sent the information about the son of Anwar Al Awlaki, Abdul Rehman, and a number of Al Qaeda operatives, who were in Mafrak Azzan last October before US drone killed them.
And for the second executed in Jaar, Al Jamily, he said in the confessions that the Yemeni intelligence officer Mueed Nasser Abdullah recruited him to collect information about nine Al Qaeda operatives including three prominent leaders who were killed by US drones in Zinjubar Abyan and Mareb.
He gave the information that led to the killing of Ali Bin Saeed Bin Jamil, and Abu Osama Ali Mubarak Feras in Zinjubar late last year.
Jamil from Abida tribe of Marib province, and Feras from Jehm tribe from the same province.
Al Jamily, who is originally from Mareb, also said he was behind the killing of seven other Al Qaeda militants from Mareb over the last few years.
Earlier this month, in Zinjubar, Al Qaeda executed a third man called Abu Eisa Hassan Naji Al Nakeeb, who was the money man for the two executed agents.
Al Qaeda threatened to do the same thing to any one who would give information about them to " the enemies of Allah".
Al Qaeda also declared names of three men who, as they said, still work with the Yemeni and American intelligence.
Tuesday, 14 February 2012
Bomber targets Yemen election committee office and kills only himself
Source: Reuters, 14/02/2012
ADEN-A suicide bomber blew himself up in front of a Yemeni election committee office in the southern port city of Aden early on Tuesday, a security official said, one week before an election to replace outgoing President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
The official said the unidentified bomber was wearing an explosive belt that detonated before he reached the election committee building in the Crater district of Aden, killing him instantly but injuring no one.
The attack was the latest sign of opposition to the February 21 vote, rejected by southern separatists, northern Shi'ite rebels and Islamist militants emboldened by political upheaval that has weakened central government control over swathes of Yemen.
Last month, unidentified gunmen attacked another election committee office in the southern province of Dalea.
Security reinforcements are now being sent to all election committee offices in Aden, the official said.
Saudi Arabia and the United States are pinning their hopes on the vote as a step towards ending instability, which they fear is giving al Qaeda's Yemen-based wing room to expand its foothold near oil shipping routes through the Red Sea.
One soldier and two Islamist fighters were killed in overnight clashes in the southern city of Zinjibar, parts of which are still controlled by militants, a local official said.
A spokesman for Islamist group Ansar al-Sharia (Partisans of Islamic Law), which has seized several towns in south Yemen, said in a text message that the militants had shot dead two soldiers.
Saleh is in the United States receiving medical treatment for injuries inflicted during an assassination attempt but has said he will return home before the vote, casting doubt on his commitment to leave office in line with a Gulf-brokered plan to end a year of political upheaval.
ADEN-A suicide bomber blew himself up in front of a Yemeni election committee office in the southern port city of Aden early on Tuesday, a security official said, one week before an election to replace outgoing President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
The official said the unidentified bomber was wearing an explosive belt that detonated before he reached the election committee building in the Crater district of Aden, killing him instantly but injuring no one.
The attack was the latest sign of opposition to the February 21 vote, rejected by southern separatists, northern Shi'ite rebels and Islamist militants emboldened by political upheaval that has weakened central government control over swathes of Yemen.
Last month, unidentified gunmen attacked another election committee office in the southern province of Dalea.
Security reinforcements are now being sent to all election committee offices in Aden, the official said.
Saudi Arabia and the United States are pinning their hopes on the vote as a step towards ending instability, which they fear is giving al Qaeda's Yemen-based wing room to expand its foothold near oil shipping routes through the Red Sea.
One soldier and two Islamist fighters were killed in overnight clashes in the southern city of Zinjibar, parts of which are still controlled by militants, a local official said.
A spokesman for Islamist group Ansar al-Sharia (Partisans of Islamic Law), which has seized several towns in south Yemen, said in a text message that the militants had shot dead two soldiers.
Saleh is in the United States receiving medical treatment for injuries inflicted during an assassination attempt but has said he will return home before the vote, casting doubt on his commitment to leave office in line with a Gulf-brokered plan to end a year of political upheaval.
Sunday, 12 February 2012
Two Yemenis executed by Al Qaeda as spies for US and Saudi Arabia
By Nasser Arrabyee/12/02/2012
Two Yemenis were executed by Al Qaeda for charges of spying for American, Saudi and Yemeni intelligence, said local residents Sunday.
The Taliban-style executions took place in two different towns controlled by Al Qaeda south of Yemen in presence of hundreds of local people and Al Qaeda operatives.
Al Qaeda-declared judge was reading the verdict against the Yemeni Ramzi Mohammed Al Areeki, 30, early morning Sunday February 12,2012, in the same place where American drones killed the 16-year old son of the American-Yemeni slain extremist cleric Anwar Al Awlaki, in Azzan, Shabwa, south of Yemen.
Families of the victims of that drone attack which happened last October,were among the sympathizers and local residents who were chanting " Allahu Akabar, Allahu Akbar" as Al Areeki was being beheaded by the sword, in Mafrak Azzan, in Shabwa.
For the second, the 28-year old Yemeni, Saleh Ahmed Saleh Al Jamily, was executed and crucified close to Khanfar Stadium, Jaar, the southern province of Abyan.
In the two Al Qaeda-held towns,the militants distributed to local residents hundreds of copies of what they called confessions from the two executed Yemenis.
According to that confessions, Al Areeki said that two Saudi intelligence officials had recruited him to spy on Al Qaeda movements and activities in Yemen.
Hussein Bin Saad Al Kahtani, and Ibrahim Sulaiman Al Dailami met him in the Saudi city of Abha and agreed with him to work as a spy in return for money.
Al Areeki was the agent who sent the information about the son of Anwar Al Awlaki, Abdul Rehman, and a number of Al Qaeda operatives, who were in Mafrak Azzan last October before US drone killed them.
And for the second executed in Jaar, Al Jamily, he said in the confessions that the Yemeni intelligence officer Mueed Nasser Abdullah recruited him to collect information about nine Al Qaeda operatives including three prominent leaders who were killed by US drones in Zinjubar Abyan and Mareb.
He gave the information that led to the killing of Ali Bin Saeed Bin Jamil, and Abu Osama Ali Mubarak Feras in Zinjubar late last year.
Jamil from Abida tribe of Marib province, and Feras from Jehm tribe from the same province.
Al Jamily, who is originally from Mareb, also said he was behind the killing of seven other Al Qaeda militants from Mareb over the last few years.
Earlier this month, in Zinjubar, Al Qaeda executed a third man called Abu Eisa Hassan Naji Al Nakeeb, who was the money man for the two executed agents.
Al Qaeda threatened to do the same thing to any one who would give information about them to " the enemies of Allah".
Al Qaeda also declared names of three men who, as they said, still work with the Yemeni and American intelligence.
Two Yemenis were executed by Al Qaeda for charges of spying for American, Saudi and Yemeni intelligence, said local residents Sunday.
The Taliban-style executions took place in two different towns controlled by Al Qaeda south of Yemen in presence of hundreds of local people and Al Qaeda operatives.
Al Qaeda-declared judge was reading the verdict against the Yemeni Ramzi Mohammed Al Areeki, 30, early morning Sunday February 12,2012, in the same place where American drones killed the 16-year old son of the American-Yemeni slain extremist cleric Anwar Al Awlaki, in Azzan, Shabwa, south of Yemen.
Families of the victims of that drone attack which happened last October,were among the sympathizers and local residents who were chanting " Allahu Akabar, Allahu Akbar" as Al Areeki was being beheaded by the sword, in Mafrak Azzan, in Shabwa.
For the second, the 28-year old Yemeni, Saleh Ahmed Saleh Al Jamily, was executed and crucified close to Khanfar Stadium, Jaar, the southern province of Abyan.
In the two Al Qaeda-held towns,the militants distributed to local residents hundreds of copies of what they called confessions from the two executed Yemenis.
According to that confessions, Al Areeki said that two Saudi intelligence officials had recruited him to spy on Al Qaeda movements and activities in Yemen.
Hussein Bin Saad Al Kahtani, and Ibrahim Sulaiman Al Dailami met him in the Saudi city of Abha and agreed with him to work as a spy in return for money.
Al Areeki was the agent who sent the information about the son of Anwar Al Awlaki, Abdul Rehman, and a number of Al Qaeda operatives, who were in Mafrak Azzan last October before US drone killed them.
And for the second executed in Jaar, Al Jamily, he said in the confessions that the Yemeni intelligence officer Mueed Nasser Abdullah recruited him to collect information about nine Al Qaeda operatives including three prominent leaders who were killed by US drones in Zinjubar Abyan and Mareb.
He gave the information that led to the killing of Ali Bin Saeed Bin Jamil, and Abu Osama Ali Mubarak Feras in Zinjubar late last year.
Jamil from Abida tribe of Marib province, and Feras from Jehm tribe from the same province.
Al Jamily, who is originally from Mareb, also said he was behind the killing of seven other Al Qaeda militants from Mareb over the last few years.
Earlier this month, in Zinjubar, Al Qaeda executed a third man called Abu Eisa Hassan Naji Al Nakeeb, who was the money man for the two executed agents.
Al Qaeda threatened to do the same thing to any one who would give information about them to " the enemies of Allah".
Al Qaeda also declared names of three men who, as they said, still work with the Yemeni and American intelligence.
Al Qaeda executes three men in south Yemen for spying for US
Source: Reuters,12/02/2012
ADEN-Yemen- Islamist militants in southern Yemen executed early on Sunday three men they accused of giving the United States information used to carry out drone strikes in the area, a spokesman for the group said in a text message.
Residents of the towns of Jaar and Azzan said two Saudis and one Yemeni were beheaded at dawn by militant group Ansar al-Sharia (Partisans of Islamic Law).
Weakened by months of protests against outgoing President Ali Abdullah Saleh, Yemen's government has lost control of whole chunks of the country, giving Islamist militants room to tighten their grip in the south, notably in Abyan province.
The United States, a prime target of al Qaeda's Yemen-based wing, which tried to blow up an airliner over Detroit in 2009, has been launching drone strikes against militants in the south. Last month, at least 12 people were killed in one such attack.
U.S. federal prosecutors said on Friday that Anwar al-Awlaki, a leader of al Qaeda's Yemen affiliate who died in another drone strike last year, had personally directed and approved the attempted airliner attack in which a Nigerian with a bomb hidden in his underpants failed to detonate it fully.
ADEN-Yemen- Islamist militants in southern Yemen executed early on Sunday three men they accused of giving the United States information used to carry out drone strikes in the area, a spokesman for the group said in a text message.
Residents of the towns of Jaar and Azzan said two Saudis and one Yemeni were beheaded at dawn by militant group Ansar al-Sharia (Partisans of Islamic Law).
Weakened by months of protests against outgoing President Ali Abdullah Saleh, Yemen's government has lost control of whole chunks of the country, giving Islamist militants room to tighten their grip in the south, notably in Abyan province.
The United States, a prime target of al Qaeda's Yemen-based wing, which tried to blow up an airliner over Detroit in 2009, has been launching drone strikes against militants in the south. Last month, at least 12 people were killed in one such attack.
U.S. federal prosecutors said on Friday that Anwar al-Awlaki, a leader of al Qaeda's Yemen affiliate who died in another drone strike last year, had personally directed and approved the attempted airliner attack in which a Nigerian with a bomb hidden in his underpants failed to detonate it fully.
Al Qaeda executes three men in south Yemen for spying for US
Source: Reuters,12/02/2012
ADEN-Yemen- Islamist militants in southern Yemen executed early on Sunday three men they accused of giving the United States information used to carry out drone strikes in the area, a spokesman for the group said in a text message.
Residents of the towns of Jaar and Azzan said two Saudis and one Yemeni were beheaded at dawn by militant group Ansar al-Sharia (Partisans of Islamic Law).
Weakened by months of protests against outgoing President Ali Abdullah Saleh, Yemen's government has lost control of whole chunks of the country, giving Islamist militants room to tighten their grip in the south, notably in Abyan province.
The United States, a prime target of al Qaeda's Yemen-based wing, which tried to blow up an airliner over Detroit in 2009, has been launching drone strikes against militants in the south. Last month, at least 12 people were killed in one such attack.
U.S. federal prosecutors said on Friday that Anwar al-Awlaki, a leader of al Qaeda's Yemen affiliate who died in another drone strike last year, had personally directed and approved the attempted airliner attack in which a Nigerian with a bomb hidden in his underpants failed to detonate it fully.
ADEN-Yemen- Islamist militants in southern Yemen executed early on Sunday three men they accused of giving the United States information used to carry out drone strikes in the area, a spokesman for the group said in a text message.
Residents of the towns of Jaar and Azzan said two Saudis and one Yemeni were beheaded at dawn by militant group Ansar al-Sharia (Partisans of Islamic Law).
Weakened by months of protests against outgoing President Ali Abdullah Saleh, Yemen's government has lost control of whole chunks of the country, giving Islamist militants room to tighten their grip in the south, notably in Abyan province.
The United States, a prime target of al Qaeda's Yemen-based wing, which tried to blow up an airliner over Detroit in 2009, has been launching drone strikes against militants in the south. Last month, at least 12 people were killed in one such attack.
U.S. federal prosecutors said on Friday that Anwar al-Awlaki, a leader of al Qaeda's Yemen affiliate who died in another drone strike last year, had personally directed and approved the attempted airliner attack in which a Nigerian with a bomb hidden in his underpants failed to detonate it fully.
Saturday, 11 February 2012
US says cleric slain by drone in Yemen aided in airliner plot
Source: Los Angeles Times,11/02/2012
By Ken Dilanian,
Reporting from Washington—
Anwar Awlaki, the U.S. citizen killed last year in a CIA drone strike in Yemen, was instrumental in the failed plot to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner in December 2009, according to a Justice Department court document filed Friday.
A sentencing memorandum for Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who pleaded guilty in October to attempting to down the jetliner with a bomb sewn into his underwear, makes public for the first time some of the evidence that led President Obama to order a lethal strike against Awlaki, the
Al Qaeda-linked cleric who was born in New Mexico.
Critics, including lawyers with the American Civil Liberties Union, have questioned whether Obama had the legal authority to order an attack on a U.S. citizen, and some wondered whether there was evidence tying Awlaki, known for his extremist sermons, to attacks against the United States.
Administration officials have said that Awlaki was
involved in planning operations to kill Americans and that he was therefore subject to deadly force under the law passed after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that authorized the use of military force against Al Qaeda members regardless of their citizenship.
The Justice Department memo portrays Awlaki
as the mastermind of the Christmas 2009 plot, which could have killed at least 289 people had it succeeded. It says Abdulmutallab stayed in Awlaki's house while the attack was planned.
Awlaki also helped write the video "martyrdom" statement and introduced Abdulmutallab to the man who designed the explosive device used in the attempted bombing, according to the memo.
The evidence was gathered by the FBI principally through interviews with Abdulmutallab. White House officials said the case proves that not every suspected terrorist should be placed in military custody, as some Republicans argue.
"This evidence puts to rest the idea that you need to put guys in military custody to gather intelligence," one White House official said. "He coughed all this stuff up to the FBI. Also, it shows in black and white that Awlaki was operational."
Having followed Awlaki's extremist teachings for several years, Abdulmutallab left Dubai, where he had been taking classes, to seek out the cleric in Yemen in August 2009, the document says.
Abdulmutallab wanted to be involved in holy war and was contemplating a suicide attack.
Ultimately, Abdulmutallab was taken to Awlaki's house, the court document says, where he stayed for three days discussing the "martyrdom operation."
Awlaki introduced the Nigerian to Al Qaeda bomb maker Ibrahim Hassan Asiri, who built the underwear bomb, the document says.
Reports that Asiri was killed in the Awlaki strike have not been confirmed, U.S. officials say.
Asiri trained Abdulmutallab in the use of the bomb, including having him practice the detonation mechanism by pushing the plunger of a syringe, causing two chemicals to mix and start a fire that would ignite the explosive.
Awlaki arranged for a professional film crew to record the so-called martyrdom video, the document says. Awlaki helped Abdulmutallab write his statement, and the five-minute video was recorded over two or three days. A 34-second excerpt of the video was later released by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, a branch of the terrorist group.
For two weeks, Abdulmutallab trained in an AQAP camp and received instruction in weapons, the document says.
The government is seeking a sentence of multiple life terms for Abdulmutallab, arguing that he is unrepentant and "poses a significant, ongoing threat to the safety of American citizens everywhere."
Sentencing by U.S. District Judge Nancy G. Edmunds is set for Thursday in Detroit.
By Ken Dilanian,
Reporting from Washington—
Anwar Awlaki, the U.S. citizen killed last year in a CIA drone strike in Yemen, was instrumental in the failed plot to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner in December 2009, according to a Justice Department court document filed Friday.
A sentencing memorandum for Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who pleaded guilty in October to attempting to down the jetliner with a bomb sewn into his underwear, makes public for the first time some of the evidence that led President Obama to order a lethal strike against Awlaki, the
Al Qaeda-linked cleric who was born in New Mexico.
Critics, including lawyers with the American Civil Liberties Union, have questioned whether Obama had the legal authority to order an attack on a U.S. citizen, and some wondered whether there was evidence tying Awlaki, known for his extremist sermons, to attacks against the United States.
Administration officials have said that Awlaki was
involved in planning operations to kill Americans and that he was therefore subject to deadly force under the law passed after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that authorized the use of military force against Al Qaeda members regardless of their citizenship.
The Justice Department memo portrays Awlaki
as the mastermind of the Christmas 2009 plot, which could have killed at least 289 people had it succeeded. It says Abdulmutallab stayed in Awlaki's house while the attack was planned.
Awlaki also helped write the video "martyrdom" statement and introduced Abdulmutallab to the man who designed the explosive device used in the attempted bombing, according to the memo.
The evidence was gathered by the FBI principally through interviews with Abdulmutallab. White House officials said the case proves that not every suspected terrorist should be placed in military custody, as some Republicans argue.
"This evidence puts to rest the idea that you need to put guys in military custody to gather intelligence," one White House official said. "He coughed all this stuff up to the FBI. Also, it shows in black and white that Awlaki was operational."
Having followed Awlaki's extremist teachings for several years, Abdulmutallab left Dubai, where he had been taking classes, to seek out the cleric in Yemen in August 2009, the document says.
Abdulmutallab wanted to be involved in holy war and was contemplating a suicide attack.
Ultimately, Abdulmutallab was taken to Awlaki's house, the court document says, where he stayed for three days discussing the "martyrdom operation."
Awlaki introduced the Nigerian to Al Qaeda bomb maker Ibrahim Hassan Asiri, who built the underwear bomb, the document says.
Reports that Asiri was killed in the Awlaki strike have not been confirmed, U.S. officials say.
Asiri trained Abdulmutallab in the use of the bomb, including having him practice the detonation mechanism by pushing the plunger of a syringe, causing two chemicals to mix and start a fire that would ignite the explosive.
Awlaki arranged for a professional film crew to record the so-called martyrdom video, the document says. Awlaki helped Abdulmutallab write his statement, and the five-minute video was recorded over two or three days. A 34-second excerpt of the video was later released by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, a branch of the terrorist group.
For two weeks, Abdulmutallab trained in an AQAP camp and received instruction in weapons, the document says.
The government is seeking a sentence of multiple life terms for Abdulmutallab, arguing that he is unrepentant and "poses a significant, ongoing threat to the safety of American citizens everywhere."
Sentencing by U.S. District Judge Nancy G. Edmunds is set for Thursday in Detroit.
Friday, 10 February 2012
Yemen's Islamists and the revolution
Source: Foreign Policy
By Lauren Bonnefoy,10/02/2012
Islamist movements did not start Yemen's revolution, but they have loomed large over its fate.
Tawakkol Karman, an ex-member of Islah, a coalition party that includes Yemen's Muslim Brotherhood, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011 for her tireless political campaigning.
Backers of outgoing President Ali Abdullah Saleh warned of the inexorable rise of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), even after the killing of ideologue Anwar al-Awlaki by a U.S. drone.
But as in much of the Arab world, the Yemeni revolution has presented both opportunities and challenges to its Islamists.
At least five different Islamist trends have played important roles in the unfolding events -- and some have fared better than others.
Those struggling to help Yemen's political transition must recognize the diversity and internal struggles among these Islamist trends, and be prepared to engage with them as part of the country's political landscape.
The Islamist trend most directly involved in the popular revolution is undoubtedly the Islah party.
Islah qualifies as the Yemeni branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, but should be understood as a coalition that includes conservative tribal leaders and prominent businessmen.
Islah began as a rather reluctant supporter of the "revolutionary youth" which was calling for the departure of Ali Abdullah Saleh in the early days of 2011.
As a key part of the Joint Meeting Parties (JMP), the platform of the unified opposition established since the early 2000s, Islah appeared to be willing to make compromises and accept dialogue with the regime, then becoming its main interlocutor.
As Saleh appeared to be losing grip in the late spring, however, Islah moved to capture a position as a central actor of the revolutionary process.
Its mobilizing capacity through its mosques, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and activists ended up restructuring much of the revolution, both physically on Change Square in Sanaa, and in terms of agenda.
No other structure or movement seemed able to compete with it.
This has made Islah a key broker in the political gamesmanship unfolding over the transition, even as "revolutionary youth" complain that it has hijacked the revolution.
Sensitive to such critiques, Islah's leadership appears to have been willing to leave other players in the front row. It did not claim the position of prime minister of the national unity government that was announced in November 2011.
But there should be no doubts about Islah's capacity to mobilize electors massively when general elections are organized.
The movement, with its tribal allies, is also trying hard to challenge the narrative according to which alternatives to Saleh are inexistent or are lacking responsibility.
A less well-understood trend is the quietist Salafis, with Yahya al-Hajuri of Dar al-Hadith institute in Dammaj at their head, who have reasserted their stance of loyalty to the regime in order to fight what they describe as a chaotic situation.
This branch of Salafism has played hard to delegitimize in religious terms the popular uprising, stigmatizing the "revolutionary youth" as well as the Muslim Brotherhood for encouraging a process whose main beneficiaries are, in their eyes, the "enemies of Islam."
Appearing as the last supporters of the regime may end up being costly in the long run but could also see the quietist Salafis emerge as the popular advocates of stability should the situation deteriorate significantly. Indeed, while precise data is hard to come by, it appears that the quietist Salafis have been losing ground over the past year.
But the Salafis too are changing in the face of popular revolution.
An offshoot of the quietist branch of Salafism has been increasingly engaging in political activities for the last few years, neglecting issues of loyalty and criticism of party politics (hizbiyya).
These politicized Salafis see the Yemeni revolutionary process as a new opportunity for overt engagement in the political sphere.
With the revolution, members of the Hikma and Ihsan associations, likely emboldened by the success of al-Nour party in Egypt, have announced projects to create parties and participate in upcoming elections.
Among them, Aqil al-Maqtari, with important support in Taiz, has established the League for Renaissance and Change.
Despite being fragmented along regional lines, these initiatives are significant and politicized Salafis are likely to emerge as a new political force, one that analysts will need in the near future to understand beyond criminalizing stereotypes.
Another trend are the jihadist movements, which are more or less linked to AQAP.
They have engaged in a variety of processes that have to a certain extent normalized them, fully embedding these actors in the Yemeni context and in what can be labeled a continuum of violence, particularly in the southern governorates.
They have used the revolutionary events to legitimize their own historical narrative. This process has changed the meaning of an "al Qaeda" militant in Yemen and leaves space for possible interactions and dialogue with other social and political actors.
Jihadi sympathizers have gained some control over territory in part because of the growing disorganization of the central state and of its shrinking military resources.
Effective control over territory (in Jaar for instance) has favored a change in focus toward fighting a guerilla war against the regime and its allies and, at the local level, developing public policies addressing grievances of the population.
Such a shift (which should not only be understood as the result of the assassination in September 2011 of Awlaki, the so-called mastermind of the transnational outreach of AQAP) has in a way transferred militant energy and resources on the Yemeni agenda.
This process, which is not necessarily centralized or self-conscious, is likely to gain momentum and highlights that confrontation, repression, and the drone attacks strategies are hardly able to address the complexity of the issues that are at stake in revolutionary Yemen.
At another end of the Islamist spectrum, Zaydi revivalists (drawing from a Shiite background) with the so-called "Houthi movement" have also been directly affected by the revolutionary process.
Over the course of 2011, the diminishing military capacity of the regime has forced it to focus on the capital, Sanaa, and therefore, in effect, to abandon much of the Saada governorate and its surroundings to the Houthi rebels it had been fighting since 2004.
The Houthi leadership has simultaneously taken divergent options -- claiming to accept to play the institutional game including, for instance, by favoring the initiative of Muhammad Miftah to establish the Ummah party or letting some of its sympathizers reach out on Change Square in Sanaa toward non-Zaydi activists, while at the same time engaging in violence with competing Sunni Islamist groups, particularly quietist Salafis in Dammaj or members of Islah in al-Jawf.
The long-running, intense Yemeni crisis is thus radically reshaping the opportunities and the challenges to all Islamist trends.
These movements are likely to continue being central actors at the national level and to emerge as necessary interlocutors at the international level. The most significant trend today appears to be one drawing, in the long run, the various Islamist movements toward greater institutionalization, inclusion in the political process, and eventually participation in future elections.
But if that political process fails to take hold, the potential for mayhem and armed confrontation should not be neglected, including in the form of inter-sectarian warfare.
Both diverging outcomes obviously depend on internal variables and on the attitudes of Yemenis.
But international actors can make a difference. The West should acknowledge the popular legitimacy of these Islamist movements, as well as their great internal diversity, and be prepared to engage with them as an important part of Yemen's future.
Laurent Bonnefoy is a researcher based in the Levant at the Institut français du Proche-Orient, and author of "Salafism in Yemen: Transnationalism and Religious Identity" (Columbia University Press).
By Lauren Bonnefoy,10/02/2012
Islamist movements did not start Yemen's revolution, but they have loomed large over its fate.
Tawakkol Karman, an ex-member of Islah, a coalition party that includes Yemen's Muslim Brotherhood, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011 for her tireless political campaigning.
Backers of outgoing President Ali Abdullah Saleh warned of the inexorable rise of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), even after the killing of ideologue Anwar al-Awlaki by a U.S. drone.
But as in much of the Arab world, the Yemeni revolution has presented both opportunities and challenges to its Islamists.
At least five different Islamist trends have played important roles in the unfolding events -- and some have fared better than others.
Those struggling to help Yemen's political transition must recognize the diversity and internal struggles among these Islamist trends, and be prepared to engage with them as part of the country's political landscape.
The Islamist trend most directly involved in the popular revolution is undoubtedly the Islah party.
Islah qualifies as the Yemeni branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, but should be understood as a coalition that includes conservative tribal leaders and prominent businessmen.
Islah began as a rather reluctant supporter of the "revolutionary youth" which was calling for the departure of Ali Abdullah Saleh in the early days of 2011.
As a key part of the Joint Meeting Parties (JMP), the platform of the unified opposition established since the early 2000s, Islah appeared to be willing to make compromises and accept dialogue with the regime, then becoming its main interlocutor.
As Saleh appeared to be losing grip in the late spring, however, Islah moved to capture a position as a central actor of the revolutionary process.
Its mobilizing capacity through its mosques, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and activists ended up restructuring much of the revolution, both physically on Change Square in Sanaa, and in terms of agenda.
No other structure or movement seemed able to compete with it.
This has made Islah a key broker in the political gamesmanship unfolding over the transition, even as "revolutionary youth" complain that it has hijacked the revolution.
Sensitive to such critiques, Islah's leadership appears to have been willing to leave other players in the front row. It did not claim the position of prime minister of the national unity government that was announced in November 2011.
But there should be no doubts about Islah's capacity to mobilize electors massively when general elections are organized.
The movement, with its tribal allies, is also trying hard to challenge the narrative according to which alternatives to Saleh are inexistent or are lacking responsibility.
A less well-understood trend is the quietist Salafis, with Yahya al-Hajuri of Dar al-Hadith institute in Dammaj at their head, who have reasserted their stance of loyalty to the regime in order to fight what they describe as a chaotic situation.
This branch of Salafism has played hard to delegitimize in religious terms the popular uprising, stigmatizing the "revolutionary youth" as well as the Muslim Brotherhood for encouraging a process whose main beneficiaries are, in their eyes, the "enemies of Islam."
Appearing as the last supporters of the regime may end up being costly in the long run but could also see the quietist Salafis emerge as the popular advocates of stability should the situation deteriorate significantly. Indeed, while precise data is hard to come by, it appears that the quietist Salafis have been losing ground over the past year.
But the Salafis too are changing in the face of popular revolution.
An offshoot of the quietist branch of Salafism has been increasingly engaging in political activities for the last few years, neglecting issues of loyalty and criticism of party politics (hizbiyya).
These politicized Salafis see the Yemeni revolutionary process as a new opportunity for overt engagement in the political sphere.
With the revolution, members of the Hikma and Ihsan associations, likely emboldened by the success of al-Nour party in Egypt, have announced projects to create parties and participate in upcoming elections.
Among them, Aqil al-Maqtari, with important support in Taiz, has established the League for Renaissance and Change.
Despite being fragmented along regional lines, these initiatives are significant and politicized Salafis are likely to emerge as a new political force, one that analysts will need in the near future to understand beyond criminalizing stereotypes.
Another trend are the jihadist movements, which are more or less linked to AQAP.
They have engaged in a variety of processes that have to a certain extent normalized them, fully embedding these actors in the Yemeni context and in what can be labeled a continuum of violence, particularly in the southern governorates.
They have used the revolutionary events to legitimize their own historical narrative. This process has changed the meaning of an "al Qaeda" militant in Yemen and leaves space for possible interactions and dialogue with other social and political actors.
Jihadi sympathizers have gained some control over territory in part because of the growing disorganization of the central state and of its shrinking military resources.
Effective control over territory (in Jaar for instance) has favored a change in focus toward fighting a guerilla war against the regime and its allies and, at the local level, developing public policies addressing grievances of the population.
Such a shift (which should not only be understood as the result of the assassination in September 2011 of Awlaki, the so-called mastermind of the transnational outreach of AQAP) has in a way transferred militant energy and resources on the Yemeni agenda.
This process, which is not necessarily centralized or self-conscious, is likely to gain momentum and highlights that confrontation, repression, and the drone attacks strategies are hardly able to address the complexity of the issues that are at stake in revolutionary Yemen.
At another end of the Islamist spectrum, Zaydi revivalists (drawing from a Shiite background) with the so-called "Houthi movement" have also been directly affected by the revolutionary process.
Over the course of 2011, the diminishing military capacity of the regime has forced it to focus on the capital, Sanaa, and therefore, in effect, to abandon much of the Saada governorate and its surroundings to the Houthi rebels it had been fighting since 2004.
The Houthi leadership has simultaneously taken divergent options -- claiming to accept to play the institutional game including, for instance, by favoring the initiative of Muhammad Miftah to establish the Ummah party or letting some of its sympathizers reach out on Change Square in Sanaa toward non-Zaydi activists, while at the same time engaging in violence with competing Sunni Islamist groups, particularly quietist Salafis in Dammaj or members of Islah in al-Jawf.
The long-running, intense Yemeni crisis is thus radically reshaping the opportunities and the challenges to all Islamist trends.
These movements are likely to continue being central actors at the national level and to emerge as necessary interlocutors at the international level. The most significant trend today appears to be one drawing, in the long run, the various Islamist movements toward greater institutionalization, inclusion in the political process, and eventually participation in future elections.
But if that political process fails to take hold, the potential for mayhem and armed confrontation should not be neglected, including in the form of inter-sectarian warfare.
Both diverging outcomes obviously depend on internal variables and on the attitudes of Yemenis.
But international actors can make a difference. The West should acknowledge the popular legitimacy of these Islamist movements, as well as their great internal diversity, and be prepared to engage with them as an important part of Yemen's future.
Laurent Bonnefoy is a researcher based in the Levant at the Institut français du Proche-Orient, and author of "Salafism in Yemen: Transnationalism and Religious Identity" (Columbia University Press).
Thursday, 9 February 2012
Two killed in south Yemen anti-elections protests
Source: AFP,09/02/2013
ADEN — Yemeni security forces shot dead two southern Yemeni activists during a demonstration Thursday in Daleh against presidential elections to be held later this month, witnesses and activists said.
"Southerner wake up, no more elections," chanted the protesters referring to a referendum-like election in which Vice President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi stands as a sole candidate based on a Gulf brokered deal signed by departing President Ali Abdullah Saleh in November.
"Revolt revolt south," they shouted waving the flag of the formerly independent South Yemen, witnesses said.
"Clashes erupted and security forces opened fire killing two activists," said one witness.
The protesters marched towards the headquarters of the electoral committee in the city of Daleh in an attempt to drive its members out of the city of Daleh when security forces opened fire, witnesses said.
Activists from the separatist Southern Movement who say the election fails to meet their aspirations for autonomy or southern independence, confirmed the deaths.
Some factions of the movement have been campaigning for a boycott of the election, while others who follow the Yemen Socialist Party's former leader Ali Salem al-Baidh openly call for preventing the election from taking place at all.
A similar incident took place on February 5 when southern activists overran a police station in Hadramut province and two of them were killed when security forces intervened to evacuate the station.
Two days earlier, armed clashes between supporters and opponents of the presidential election wounded dozens of people in the main southern city of Aden.
Nationwide protests erupted against Saleh's regime in January 2011, triggering months of bloodshed.
Residents in the formerly independent southern region complain of discrimination by the Sanaa government in the distribution of resources since the union between north and south in 1990.
The south broke away again in 1994, sparking a brief civil war that ended with the region overrun by northern troops.
Hadi, himself a southerner, is the sole candidate in the election to succeed the veteran strongman who is standing down after more than three decades in power.
On Tuesday, he launched his campaign for the presidential poll.
The consensus candidate between the former opposition, which now leads a national unity government, and Saleh's party, the General People's Congress, had said the poll represented a "first step towards a secured future."
Saleh has been in New York since late last month to receive medical treatment for wounds suffered in a June bombing at the presidential palace.
US officials have said he will not return to Yemen until after the election but state news agency Saba reported on Tuesday that Saleh had told visitors he would "participate" in the elections scheduled to take place on February 21.
ADEN — Yemeni security forces shot dead two southern Yemeni activists during a demonstration Thursday in Daleh against presidential elections to be held later this month, witnesses and activists said.
"Southerner wake up, no more elections," chanted the protesters referring to a referendum-like election in which Vice President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi stands as a sole candidate based on a Gulf brokered deal signed by departing President Ali Abdullah Saleh in November.
"Revolt revolt south," they shouted waving the flag of the formerly independent South Yemen, witnesses said.
"Clashes erupted and security forces opened fire killing two activists," said one witness.
The protesters marched towards the headquarters of the electoral committee in the city of Daleh in an attempt to drive its members out of the city of Daleh when security forces opened fire, witnesses said.
Activists from the separatist Southern Movement who say the election fails to meet their aspirations for autonomy or southern independence, confirmed the deaths.
Some factions of the movement have been campaigning for a boycott of the election, while others who follow the Yemen Socialist Party's former leader Ali Salem al-Baidh openly call for preventing the election from taking place at all.
A similar incident took place on February 5 when southern activists overran a police station in Hadramut province and two of them were killed when security forces intervened to evacuate the station.
Two days earlier, armed clashes between supporters and opponents of the presidential election wounded dozens of people in the main southern city of Aden.
Nationwide protests erupted against Saleh's regime in January 2011, triggering months of bloodshed.
Residents in the formerly independent southern region complain of discrimination by the Sanaa government in the distribution of resources since the union between north and south in 1990.
The south broke away again in 1994, sparking a brief civil war that ended with the region overrun by northern troops.
Hadi, himself a southerner, is the sole candidate in the election to succeed the veteran strongman who is standing down after more than three decades in power.
On Tuesday, he launched his campaign for the presidential poll.
The consensus candidate between the former opposition, which now leads a national unity government, and Saleh's party, the General People's Congress, had said the poll represented a "first step towards a secured future."
Saleh has been in New York since late last month to receive medical treatment for wounds suffered in a June bombing at the presidential palace.
US officials have said he will not return to Yemen until after the election but state news agency Saba reported on Tuesday that Saleh had told visitors he would "participate" in the elections scheduled to take place on February 21.
Tuesday, 7 February 2012
Non-competitive but necessary and historic elections in Yemen
By Nasser Arrabyee,07/02/2012
The early presidential elections on February 21st, will be almost the last major step for Yemenis to move to the new Yemen.
A new President will be elected, and a new reign will start.
On Tuesday, February 7th, 2012, the Vice President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi, launched his election campaign in a big gathering in Sanaa attended by senior State officials, ministers, members of parliaments and Arab and international diplomats.
Mr Hadi will be the only candidate as it was agreed by all conflicting parties and approved by the parliament and highly welcomed by the international community as the only possible solution for longstanding crisis.
"The February 21 elections will be the way out from the crisis that was nearly to turn to a civil war," said Mr Hadi in his first rally.
"The elections will be the first step towards the good and safe future," he added.
After elections, Mr Hadi said a comprehensive national dialogue will be opened and no one would be excluded from that dialogue.
All political issues will be addressed including the most difficult two: the rebellion attempts in the south and in the north, which locally are known as Hirak and Houthi.
"There will be no red lines in the dialogue," Hadi said referring that all groups would participate.
Abdul Kareem Al Eryani, the second man in President Saleh's party said," the February 21 elections will not only be confirming the principle of peaceful transfer of power and confirming the constitutional legitimacy, but it will also be the solution of the crisis."
And the prime minister, Mohammed Salem Ba Sundaw, who was representing the opposition in that rally, said," the February 21 is the day of the peaceful transfer of power, so we should recognize the reality and vote for Mr Hadi."
In a common statement issued on the same day, the five ambassadors of the permanent members of Security Council and ambassadors of EU and ambassadors of the gulf countries in Sanaa called on Yemenis to do their best for making the elections a success.
On his part, the outgoing President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who is currently in a short visit in US for medical treatments, repeatedly said on Tuesday February 7th, 2012, that he will return to Sanaa to participate in the installation ceremony of his deputy Mr Hadi.
Almost every one in Yemen is looking forward to that historic date despite concerns and worries of possible violence to thwart such an internationally,regionally, and nationally supported step to end the one-year political crisis.
Al Qaeda among the groups that refuse the elections and try to keep the chaos as a guarantee for them to continue. But crackdown is at its highest level.
Although the elections will be not competitive because only one consensus candidate will be running, but the majority of Yemenis see the step as the only possible way to transfer the power peacefully.
They say it's a great and unprecedented lesson to be learnt by the coming generations.
If it's bad,it is avoiding Yemen the worst, which is the war over who will rule and why this or that person?
The early presidential elections on February 21st, will be almost the last major step for Yemenis to move to the new Yemen.
A new President will be elected, and a new reign will start.
On Tuesday, February 7th, 2012, the Vice President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi, launched his election campaign in a big gathering in Sanaa attended by senior State officials, ministers, members of parliaments and Arab and international diplomats.
Mr Hadi will be the only candidate as it was agreed by all conflicting parties and approved by the parliament and highly welcomed by the international community as the only possible solution for longstanding crisis.
"The February 21 elections will be the way out from the crisis that was nearly to turn to a civil war," said Mr Hadi in his first rally.
"The elections will be the first step towards the good and safe future," he added.
After elections, Mr Hadi said a comprehensive national dialogue will be opened and no one would be excluded from that dialogue.
All political issues will be addressed including the most difficult two: the rebellion attempts in the south and in the north, which locally are known as Hirak and Houthi.
"There will be no red lines in the dialogue," Hadi said referring that all groups would participate.
Abdul Kareem Al Eryani, the second man in President Saleh's party said," the February 21 elections will not only be confirming the principle of peaceful transfer of power and confirming the constitutional legitimacy, but it will also be the solution of the crisis."
And the prime minister, Mohammed Salem Ba Sundaw, who was representing the opposition in that rally, said," the February 21 is the day of the peaceful transfer of power, so we should recognize the reality and vote for Mr Hadi."
In a common statement issued on the same day, the five ambassadors of the permanent members of Security Council and ambassadors of EU and ambassadors of the gulf countries in Sanaa called on Yemenis to do their best for making the elections a success.
On his part, the outgoing President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who is currently in a short visit in US for medical treatments, repeatedly said on Tuesday February 7th, 2012, that he will return to Sanaa to participate in the installation ceremony of his deputy Mr Hadi.
Almost every one in Yemen is looking forward to that historic date despite concerns and worries of possible violence to thwart such an internationally,regionally, and nationally supported step to end the one-year political crisis.
Al Qaeda among the groups that refuse the elections and try to keep the chaos as a guarantee for them to continue. But crackdown is at its highest level.
Although the elections will be not competitive because only one consensus candidate will be running, but the majority of Yemenis see the step as the only possible way to transfer the power peacefully.
They say it's a great and unprecedented lesson to be learnt by the coming generations.
If it's bad,it is avoiding Yemen the worst, which is the war over who will rule and why this or that person?
Monday, 6 February 2012
Preparations for Presidential Elections in full swing
Source: Reuters, 06/02/2012
By Mohammed Ghobari
SANAA (Reuters) - Yemen has begun a publicity campaign to get citizens to vote in the upcoming presidential election, officials said on Monday, part of a deal to ease President Ali Abdullah Saleh out of office and pull the country back from the brink of civil war.
With Vice President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi the only candidate in the February 21 vote, Yemeni officials fear that a low turnout will dent the legitimacy of the man expected to lead Yemen during a two-year interim period when crucial decisions, dealing with restructuring the armed forms and introducing constitutional reforms, are expected to be taken.
"Your vote protects Yemen," read a giant poster hung in the capital Sanaa, depicting a smiling woman in a pink headscarf as she places her ballot into a voting box.
Abdul Wahhab al-Qudsi, head of the electoral commission's external relations, said preparations for the vote were in full swing. "(Our) main committee has gone to different provinces and the subcommittee will go off this weekend," he told Reuters.
It will be the first time in 33 years that a candidate other than Saleh -- now in the United States for treatment of injuries sustained in an assassination attempt last year -- will head the impoverished Arab state, located along key oil shipping routes.
Yemen is trying to recover from months of mass anti-Saleh protests and factional fighting that have allowed al Qaeda's regional wing to seize swathes of south Yemen and Shi'ite Muslim Houthi rebels to carve out their own domain in the north.
The United States and top oil exporter Saudi Arabia, fearing that instability will allow al Qaeda to expand its base of operations in Yemen, are counting on elections to bring security back to the country and avert the threat of outright civil war.
Many Yemenis feel the same way. "We will vote in order to avoid war," Abdullah Mutlah said as he sold his customers qat -- a mild narcotic plant used widely across Yemen.
CHEATED
Others said they felt cheated by the election, regarding it as a waste of time and money.
"Why are there elections if there is no competition?" shopkeeper Saddam Abdullah said. "Why are millions of riyals being spent on elections whose results are already known?"
Despite all the preparations and costs, some Yemenis worry that the elections may not spawn a peaceful transition.
Analysts said that some of the governments that backed the transition accord worry that a national unity government, comprised of Saleh's People's Congress Party and the opposition's Joint Meeting Parties, would like a low turnout.
"Some of the countries that promoted the initiative feel that both sides want a weak win for Hadi so that they can blackmail him," Yemeni political analyst Ali Hasan said.
Yemeni officials said Washington would not tolerate attempts to upset Hadi's ascension to the presidency.
"The American administration told representatives of (both sides within the unity government) that... the U.N. Security Council will strongly confront any attempts to keep Hadi from being elected as the country's president," a Yemeni minister who attended a meeting with U.S. officials last week told Reuters.
By Mohammed Ghobari
SANAA (Reuters) - Yemen has begun a publicity campaign to get citizens to vote in the upcoming presidential election, officials said on Monday, part of a deal to ease President Ali Abdullah Saleh out of office and pull the country back from the brink of civil war.
With Vice President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi the only candidate in the February 21 vote, Yemeni officials fear that a low turnout will dent the legitimacy of the man expected to lead Yemen during a two-year interim period when crucial decisions, dealing with restructuring the armed forms and introducing constitutional reforms, are expected to be taken.
"Your vote protects Yemen," read a giant poster hung in the capital Sanaa, depicting a smiling woman in a pink headscarf as she places her ballot into a voting box.
Abdul Wahhab al-Qudsi, head of the electoral commission's external relations, said preparations for the vote were in full swing. "(Our) main committee has gone to different provinces and the subcommittee will go off this weekend," he told Reuters.
It will be the first time in 33 years that a candidate other than Saleh -- now in the United States for treatment of injuries sustained in an assassination attempt last year -- will head the impoverished Arab state, located along key oil shipping routes.
Yemen is trying to recover from months of mass anti-Saleh protests and factional fighting that have allowed al Qaeda's regional wing to seize swathes of south Yemen and Shi'ite Muslim Houthi rebels to carve out their own domain in the north.
The United States and top oil exporter Saudi Arabia, fearing that instability will allow al Qaeda to expand its base of operations in Yemen, are counting on elections to bring security back to the country and avert the threat of outright civil war.
Many Yemenis feel the same way. "We will vote in order to avoid war," Abdullah Mutlah said as he sold his customers qat -- a mild narcotic plant used widely across Yemen.
CHEATED
Others said they felt cheated by the election, regarding it as a waste of time and money.
"Why are there elections if there is no competition?" shopkeeper Saddam Abdullah said. "Why are millions of riyals being spent on elections whose results are already known?"
Despite all the preparations and costs, some Yemenis worry that the elections may not spawn a peaceful transition.
Analysts said that some of the governments that backed the transition accord worry that a national unity government, comprised of Saleh's People's Congress Party and the opposition's Joint Meeting Parties, would like a low turnout.
"Some of the countries that promoted the initiative feel that both sides want a weak win for Hadi so that they can blackmail him," Yemeni political analyst Ali Hasan said.
Yemeni officials said Washington would not tolerate attempts to upset Hadi's ascension to the presidency.
"The American administration told representatives of (both sides within the unity government) that... the U.N. Security Council will strongly confront any attempts to keep Hadi from being elected as the country's president," a Yemeni minister who attended a meeting with U.S. officials last week told Reuters.
Saturday, 4 February 2012
Al Qaeda fighters clash with government troops in south Yemen
Source: Reuters, 04/02/2012
ADEN- Militants attacked a Yemeni army base in the country's south, a local official said on Saturday, highlighting a security breakdown just weeks ahead of a presidential election aimed at ending a year of political upheaval.
One militant was killed in the attack on Friday night on the base on the outskirts of Lawdar in Abyan province, the official said. Explosions and heavy exchanges of gunfire were heard throughout the city, residents said.
Lawdar was the site of a U.S. drone strike that killed at least 12 militants earlier this week amid a swell of violence in the south, where Islamist fighters suspected of links to al Qaeda have seized several towns.
Weakened by a year of protests against outgoing President Ali Abdullah Saleh, Yemen's government is facing challenges from al Qaeda-linked militants who have seized territory in the south and frequently attack state troops and offices.
The United States and Saudi Arabia fear al Qaeda's regional wing is strengthening its foothold there, near oil shipping routes through the Red Sea.
Separately but also in Abyan, gunmen opened fire on a group of tribesmen, killing one and wounding two. Some tribes have joined forces with the army to try to regain territory grabbed by militants.
Saleh's opponents accuse him of manipulating the threat of militancy to scare Washington and Riyadh into backing him as the only bulwark against an al Qaeda takeover in the impoverished state.
An election to choose Saleh's successor is scheduled to take place later this month. Both southern separatists and rebels in the north have said they will boycott the vote, and militants last week attacked an office of the electoral committee.
ADEN- Militants attacked a Yemeni army base in the country's south, a local official said on Saturday, highlighting a security breakdown just weeks ahead of a presidential election aimed at ending a year of political upheaval.
One militant was killed in the attack on Friday night on the base on the outskirts of Lawdar in Abyan province, the official said. Explosions and heavy exchanges of gunfire were heard throughout the city, residents said.
Lawdar was the site of a U.S. drone strike that killed at least 12 militants earlier this week amid a swell of violence in the south, where Islamist fighters suspected of links to al Qaeda have seized several towns.
Weakened by a year of protests against outgoing President Ali Abdullah Saleh, Yemen's government is facing challenges from al Qaeda-linked militants who have seized territory in the south and frequently attack state troops and offices.
The United States and Saudi Arabia fear al Qaeda's regional wing is strengthening its foothold there, near oil shipping routes through the Red Sea.
Separately but also in Abyan, gunmen opened fire on a group of tribesmen, killing one and wounding two. Some tribes have joined forces with the army to try to regain territory grabbed by militants.
Saleh's opponents accuse him of manipulating the threat of militancy to scare Washington and Riyadh into backing him as the only bulwark against an al Qaeda takeover in the impoverished state.
An election to choose Saleh's successor is scheduled to take place later this month. Both southern separatists and rebels in the north have said they will boycott the vote, and militants last week attacked an office of the electoral committee.
Thursday, 2 February 2012
Al Qaeda top leader kisses and bids final farewell to slain mid-level leader
7 Al Qaeda fighters killed in Zinjubar after the US drone attacks on Mudyah
By Nasser Arrabyee ,02/02/2012
The top leader of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsular (AQAP), Nasser Al Wahayshi, alias Abu Basir,was very keen on Wednesday to have the final look at his comrade Abdul Mumen Al Fathani who was killed one day earlier along with a number of fighters in an American air strike in Mudyah of the southern province of Abyan, mourners said on Thursday.
Abu Basir stopped hundreds of mourners of Al Fathani in an area between Azzan of Shabwah and Mudyah of Abyan, for about half an hour to say the final goodbye to his commander, said sources who participated in the funeral.
Abu Basir kissed the face of Al Fathani with tears shedding down his cheeks.
" Congratulations for martyrdom, Abu Kaidah," said Abu Basir to the dead body.
Abu Kaidah is the alias of Al Fat-hani, and it refers to his grandfather, Abu Kaidah.
Then, the cars of the mourners drove towards Mudyah and Abu Basir drove in another mountainous road with his bodyguards, said the sources in the funeral.
The slain Al Fat-hani was admitted to the hospital of Azzan, AAQP- controlled town in Shabwah, early Tuesday January 31, 2012, after he was seriously injured with a shrapnel in his neck in a US drone attack on his two cars nearby Mudyah.
Al Fat-hani, who is originally from Mudyah, was the top leader of AQAP in Mudya for years. He was accused of being involved in the terrorist attacks on USS Cole in 2000, and the attack on the French oil Tanker Lumberge in 2002.
Hundreds of people from Mudyah and Azzan participated in the funeral with tens of Al Qaeda fighters chanting Jihad slogans and threatening to take revenge against the Americans and their agents.
Al Fat-hani was buried in the cemetery of Thawabah, north of Mudyah.
Meanwhile, 7 Al Qaeda operatives were killed Wednesday in the city of Zinjubar, the capital of Abyan.
Three were killed by snipers in the coasts of Zinjubar.
And the other four were killed when a car bomb, they were still making, exploded on them.
According to the sources, two of those killed were Pakistani and Afghani. The terrorists were planning to implement a suicide bombing against the government troops which surround the city of Zinjubar since September 10, 2012.
By Nasser Arrabyee ,02/02/2012
The top leader of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsular (AQAP), Nasser Al Wahayshi, alias Abu Basir,was very keen on Wednesday to have the final look at his comrade Abdul Mumen Al Fathani who was killed one day earlier along with a number of fighters in an American air strike in Mudyah of the southern province of Abyan, mourners said on Thursday.
Abu Basir stopped hundreds of mourners of Al Fathani in an area between Azzan of Shabwah and Mudyah of Abyan, for about half an hour to say the final goodbye to his commander, said sources who participated in the funeral.
Abu Basir kissed the face of Al Fathani with tears shedding down his cheeks.
" Congratulations for martyrdom, Abu Kaidah," said Abu Basir to the dead body.
Abu Kaidah is the alias of Al Fat-hani, and it refers to his grandfather, Abu Kaidah.
Then, the cars of the mourners drove towards Mudyah and Abu Basir drove in another mountainous road with his bodyguards, said the sources in the funeral.
The slain Al Fat-hani was admitted to the hospital of Azzan, AAQP- controlled town in Shabwah, early Tuesday January 31, 2012, after he was seriously injured with a shrapnel in his neck in a US drone attack on his two cars nearby Mudyah.
Al Fat-hani, who is originally from Mudyah, was the top leader of AQAP in Mudya for years. He was accused of being involved in the terrorist attacks on USS Cole in 2000, and the attack on the French oil Tanker Lumberge in 2002.
Hundreds of people from Mudyah and Azzan participated in the funeral with tens of Al Qaeda fighters chanting Jihad slogans and threatening to take revenge against the Americans and their agents.
Al Fat-hani was buried in the cemetery of Thawabah, north of Mudyah.
Meanwhile, 7 Al Qaeda operatives were killed Wednesday in the city of Zinjubar, the capital of Abyan.
Three were killed by snipers in the coasts of Zinjubar.
And the other four were killed when a car bomb, they were still making, exploded on them.
According to the sources, two of those killed were Pakistani and Afghani. The terrorists were planning to implement a suicide bombing against the government troops which surround the city of Zinjubar since September 10, 2012.