By Nasser Arrabyee, 24/05/2012
The suicide bombing that killed and injured about 400 soldiers last Monday was only a part of a wider plan to target military and security officials and installations, said security sources Thursday.
The terrorist plan aimed to retaliate for the ongoing troops attacks on Al Qaeda strongholds in Abyan and drones and airstrikes that killed their leaders such Fahd Al Qusu and Mohammed Saeed Al Omda, the sources said.
Meanwhile, the ministry of interior confirmed previous reports that the suicide bomber of Al Sabeen Monday massacre was Amir Al Deen Al Warfi, 25, from the neighborhood of Musaik in Sanaa.
The ministry of interior on its website said that Al Warfi was involved in many terrorist acts in Mareb and Hudhrmout.
The ministry also confirmed the previous reports that two suicide bombers were arrested immediately after the massacre of Al Sabeen.
The ministry identified the two suicide bombers as Mohammed Nahshal and Jihad Saeed Al Austa.
Earlier in the week, two suicide bombers with two motor cycles were arrested before they implemented a new terrorist operation against the Yemeni army after the massacre of Monday in which hundreds of soldiers were killed and injured, security sources said on Tuesday.
The two suicide bombers were supposed to ram their motor cycles into busses carrying the soldiers who were participating in the military parade held in Sanaa on Tuesday to celebrate the national day despite the massacre of Monday that aimed parly to foil the celebration.
The parade was not held in the square where the massacre happened but it was held in the air defence college, a closed place nearby by the house of President Hadi. Less than half of the parade forces participated in the celebration which was attended by Preisdnet Hadi and the State officials and diplomats.
Soldiers from the rival units ( Defected and loyal to former Preisdent Saleh) were excluded from participating in Tuesday's parade after the massacre of Monday.
There were only 2900 student soldiers in the parade who all were from military colleges and institutes. On the 22nd anniversary of the Unification Day on May 22, 1990, President Hadi vowed to eradicate Al Qaeda from Yemen.
The Al Qaeda in Yemen claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing of Monday saying it was in retaliation for the " American war" against them in the southern province of Abyan.
In the statement which was sent to local journalists as SMS from Al Qaeda elements who are always in contact with media, Al Qaeda said the target was the minister of defense Mohammed Nasser Ahmed and his deputies.
Neither the minister nor anyone of his deputies were harmed because they were watching the parade from the stage which is about 500 meters away from the middle of the square.
Observers say that Al Qaeda targeted as many as possible of soldiers not the minister, but after the wide local and international condemnation of their massacre, Al Qaeda wanted to absorb some of the people's anger by saying the target was the minister of defense who leads the battles against Al Qaeda in the south at the moment.
However, interviews with survivors from the soldiers showed that Al Qaeda actually was targeting both all the soldiers and all the officials including the minister of defense. Some soldiers said they saw an attacker with RPG aiming at the stage.
But the attacker with RPG was killed while he was trying to kill the minister of defense and other senior military officials, immediately after the suicide bomber blew himself up killing more than 100 and injuring more than 300 in the middle of the parade rehearsal.
"After the suicide bombing, our commander ordered us to lie on the ground, because he was seeing the attacker with RPG aiming at the stage of the officials," said Jamal, an officer who was participating in the parade rehearsal.
" We lay down to the ground, and after we heard three bullets, we were told to stand up and go away," said the survivor officer, Jamal.
"They told us then that one of the security men shot the attacker dead before he triggered the RPG," added the officer. The RPG attacker was wearing civil clothes not like the suicide bomber who was wearing a military uniform to divert the attention when he walked into the parade.
The soldiers of the parade were given about 10 minutes break at about 10 am on Tuesday. Some soldiers climbed tduring the break through the wall between parade square and the adjacent amusement parking, Al Sabeen Amusement Park. "I think the suicide bomber entered at the time of the break, it was easier for him because coming in coming out at that time was very random," said the officer Jamal.
The eye witness Abdullah Saeed, said he saw soldier alone in the amusement park getting closer and closer to the wall. " Then I saw many soldiers coming in and out through the wall, and this one joined them and jumped over the wall like the others, and seconds after that I heard the bombing," said Abdullah Saeed, who works as a vendor. " After the bombing I remembered that soldier passed beside me, and was alone for some time," he added.
It was a horrible day for the 25-year old officer, Jamal, along with more than 6000 colleague soldiers from all security and military units who were in the last minutes of the last parade rehearsal in Al Sabeen Square, the country's largest parade square in southern part of the capital Sanaa.
"All of a sudden and minutes before we finish, we heard a huge explosion, and then we heard the commander of the parade talking through the loud speaker, ' Do not move'! And seconds later he was saying ' go away, go away'!," said Jamal.
"As I was moving away from the middle of the square, I was seeing legs and arms in the air, only then I understood it was an attack against us," he said.
The massacre, which was condemned by almost the whole world, came two weeks after the top leader of Al Qaeda Eyman Al Zawahri called his followers in Yemen to overthrow the new President of Yemen, Hadi, who, he said, is even worse than Saleh.
One day before the massacre, Al Qaeda failed to assassinate American military trainers in the western province of Hodeida. On the same day, Al Qaeda kidnapped a Spanish security expert from the Spanish embassy. The Yemen security authorities found the dead body of the Spanish expert on Tuesday in Sanaa.
On Wednesday May 23rd, 2012, friends of Yemen are meeting in the Saudi capital Riyadh to discuss how to help Yemen stand on its own once again.
Thursday, 24 May 2012
Wednesday, 23 May 2012
As Friends meet today in Riyadh, aid agencies in Yemen warn of hunger catastrophe
Source: INGO press release, 23/05/2012
Yemen is on the brink of a catastrophic food crisis, seven aid agencies said today (23 May 2012) with 10 million people – 44 percent of the population – without enough food to eat. The aid agencies warned that malnutrition rates recorded by the UN in some parts of the country were alarming, with one in three children severely malnourished.
Ministers from the UK, Saudi Arabia and other countries are set to meet at the Friends of Yemen conference in Riyadh today. The agencies - CARE, International Medical Corps, Islamic Relief, Merlin, Mercy Corps, Oxfam and Save the Children – called on those attending the meeting to scale up efforts to tackle the crisis. The UN humanitarian appeal for the country is just 43 percent funded – a $262 million shortfall.
Penny Lawrence, Oxfam’s International Director, who is visiting Yemen, said:
“Yemeni families are at the brink and have exhausted their ways of coping with this crisis. A quarter of the population has fallen into debt trying to feed their families. Mothers are taking their children out of school to beg on the streets to get money to survive. Donors are focused on politics and security, but failure to respond adequately to the humanitarian needs now will put more lives at risk, further entrench poverty and could undermine political transition in the country.”
Yemen’s political crisis last year increased hunger in the country as food and fuel prices surged. Hunger has doubled since 2009. A quarter of the hungry – some 5 million people – are in need of urgent emergency aid. In Al Hodeidah and Hajjah, child malnutrition rates are double the emergency level. The UN estimates that 267,000 Yemeni children are facing life threatening levels of malnutrition.
Conflict in the north and south the country is also exacerbating the crisis. Over the last two months, nearly 95,000 people have been forced to leave their homes as a result of conflicts, bringing the number of people displaced in the country to close to half a million.
Women are particularly at risk, as they generally eat last and least. Oxfam partners have reported an increase in early marriage as families marry off their daughters young in order to ease the burden of the crisis.
Jerry Farrell, Save the Children's country Director in Yemen said:"Almost half of Yemen's population now does not have enough to eat. Political instability, conflict and high prices have left families across the country going hungry. We know that children always suffer the most when food is in short supply, and unless urgent humanitarian action is taken, Yemen will be plunged into a hunger crisis of catastrophic proportions."
Donors have justified their reluctance to respond swiftly and at the scale required by pointing to the security situation and the continued political instability in the country. However, the work of the aid agencies shows that assistance can be delivered at scale and in a manner that is transparent and accountable, despite the difficult context.
Hashem Awnallah, Islamic Relief Yemen (IRY) Country Director, said:
“The hungry of Yemen cannot wait. The aid community is ready and willing to scale up in Yemen. Donors need to heed the lessons of the Horn of Africa and respond now before the crisis further deepens.”
There is food in local markets in most parts of Yemen, but millions of people cannot afford to buy enough food for their families. Oxfam gave cash payments to 100,000 people in Al Hodeidah helping them to purchase food, with Save the Children running a similar programme in Sa’ada. Mercy Corps has implemented cash-for-work projects in Taiz City providing a fair wage to local people with little other means to earn income and buy food. CARE’s recent livelihoods project in Haradh reached 4373 people with 1794 internally displaced persons. In addition, government programmes like the Social Welfare Fund, which provides cash payments to millions of Yemenis, could be further supported and scaled up.
Yemen is on the brink of a catastrophic food crisis, seven aid agencies said today (23 May 2012) with 10 million people – 44 percent of the population – without enough food to eat. The aid agencies warned that malnutrition rates recorded by the UN in some parts of the country were alarming, with one in three children severely malnourished.
Ministers from the UK, Saudi Arabia and other countries are set to meet at the Friends of Yemen conference in Riyadh today. The agencies - CARE, International Medical Corps, Islamic Relief, Merlin, Mercy Corps, Oxfam and Save the Children – called on those attending the meeting to scale up efforts to tackle the crisis. The UN humanitarian appeal for the country is just 43 percent funded – a $262 million shortfall.
Penny Lawrence, Oxfam’s International Director, who is visiting Yemen, said:
“Yemeni families are at the brink and have exhausted their ways of coping with this crisis. A quarter of the population has fallen into debt trying to feed their families. Mothers are taking their children out of school to beg on the streets to get money to survive. Donors are focused on politics and security, but failure to respond adequately to the humanitarian needs now will put more lives at risk, further entrench poverty and could undermine political transition in the country.”
Yemen’s political crisis last year increased hunger in the country as food and fuel prices surged. Hunger has doubled since 2009. A quarter of the hungry – some 5 million people – are in need of urgent emergency aid. In Al Hodeidah and Hajjah, child malnutrition rates are double the emergency level. The UN estimates that 267,000 Yemeni children are facing life threatening levels of malnutrition.
Conflict in the north and south the country is also exacerbating the crisis. Over the last two months, nearly 95,000 people have been forced to leave their homes as a result of conflicts, bringing the number of people displaced in the country to close to half a million.
Women are particularly at risk, as they generally eat last and least. Oxfam partners have reported an increase in early marriage as families marry off their daughters young in order to ease the burden of the crisis.
Jerry Farrell, Save the Children's country Director in Yemen said:"Almost half of Yemen's population now does not have enough to eat. Political instability, conflict and high prices have left families across the country going hungry. We know that children always suffer the most when food is in short supply, and unless urgent humanitarian action is taken, Yemen will be plunged into a hunger crisis of catastrophic proportions."
Donors have justified their reluctance to respond swiftly and at the scale required by pointing to the security situation and the continued political instability in the country. However, the work of the aid agencies shows that assistance can be delivered at scale and in a manner that is transparent and accountable, despite the difficult context.
Hashem Awnallah, Islamic Relief Yemen (IRY) Country Director, said:
“The hungry of Yemen cannot wait. The aid community is ready and willing to scale up in Yemen. Donors need to heed the lessons of the Horn of Africa and respond now before the crisis further deepens.”
There is food in local markets in most parts of Yemen, but millions of people cannot afford to buy enough food for their families. Oxfam gave cash payments to 100,000 people in Al Hodeidah helping them to purchase food, with Save the Children running a similar programme in Sa’ada. Mercy Corps has implemented cash-for-work projects in Taiz City providing a fair wage to local people with little other means to earn income and buy food. CARE’s recent livelihoods project in Haradh reached 4373 people with 1794 internally displaced persons. In addition, government programmes like the Social Welfare Fund, which provides cash payments to millions of Yemenis, could be further supported and scaled up.
Tuesday, 22 May 2012
Al Qaeda aimed to assassinate both senior military officials and soldiers of the parade, survivors say
Al Qaeda aimed to assassinate both senior military officials and soldiers of the parade, survivors say
Two new suicide bombers arrested, and terrorist assigned to kill minister of defense killed before he triggers RPG.
Suicide bombings kill more than drones?
By Nasser Arrabyee,22/05/2012
Two suicide bombers with two motor cycles were arrested before they implemented a new terrorist operation against the Yemeni army after the massacre of Monday in which hundreds of soldiers were killed and injured, security sources said on Tuesday.
The two suicide bombers were supposed to ram their motor cycles into busses carrying the soldiers who were participating in the military parade held in Sanaa on Tuesday to celebrate the national day despite the massacre of Monday that aimed parly to foil the celebration.
The parade was not held in the square where the massacre happened but it was held in the air defence college, a closed place nearby by the house of President Hadi. Less than half of the parade forces participated in the celebration which was attended by Preisdnet Hadi and the State officials and diplomats.
Soldiers from the rival units ( Defected and loyal to former Preisdent Saleh) were excluded from participating in Tuesday's parade after the massacre of Monday.
There were only 2900 student soldiers in the parade who all were from military colleges and institutes. On the 22nd anniversary of the Unification Day on May 22, 1990, President Hadi vowed to eradicate Al Qaeda from Yemen.
The Al Qaeda in Yemen claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing of Monday saying it was in retaliation for the " American war" against them in the southern province of Abyan.
In the statement which was sent to local journalists as SMS from Al Qaeda elements who are always in contact with media, Al Qaeda said the target was the minister of defense Mohammed Nasser Ahmed and his deputies.
Neither the minister nor anyone of his deputies were harmed because they were watching the parade from the stage which is about 500 meters away from the middle of the square.
Observers say that Al Qaeda targeted as many as possible of soldiers not the minister, but after the wide local and international condemnation of their massacre, Al Qaeda wanted to absorb some of the people's anger by saying the target was the minister of defense who leads the battles against Al Qaeda in the south at the moment.
However, interviews with survivors from the soldiers showed that Al Qaeda actually was targeting both all the soldiers and all the officials including the minister of defense. Some soldiers said they saw an attacker with RPG aiming at the stage.
But the attacker with RPG was killed while he was trying to kill the minister of defense and other senior military officials, immediately after the suicide bomber blew himself up killing more than 100 and injuring more than 300 in the middle of the parade rehearsal.
"After the suicide bombing, our commander ordered us to lie on the ground, because he was seeing the attacker with RPG aiming at the stage of the officials," said Jamal, an officer who was participating in the parade rehearsal.
" We lay down to the ground, and after we heard three bullets, we were told to stand up and go away," said the survivor officer, Jamal.
"They told us then that one of the security men shot the attacker dead before he triggered the RPG," added the officer. The RPG attacker was wearing civil clothes not like the suicide bomber who was wearing a military uniform to divert the attention when he walked into the parade.
The soldiers of the parade were given about 10 minutes break at about 10 am on Tuesday. Some soldiers climbed tduring the break through the wall between parade square and the adjacent amusement parking, Al Sabeen Amusement Park. "I think the suicide bomber entered at the time of the break, it was easier for him because coming in coming out at that time was very random," said the officer Jamal.
The eye witness Abdullah Saeed, said he saw soldier alone in the amusement park getting closer and closer to the wall. " Then I saw many soldiers coming in and out through the wall, and this one joined them and jumped over the wall like the others, and seconds after that I heard the bombing," said Abdullah Saeed, who works as a vendor. " After the bombing I remembered that soldier passed beside me, and was alone for some time," he added.
It was a horrible day for the 25-year old officer, Jamal, along with more than 6000 colleague soldiers from all security and military units who were in the last minutes of the last parade rehearsal in Al Sabeen Square, the country's largest parade square in southern part of the capital Sanaa.
"All of a sudden and minutes before we finish, we heard a huge explosion, and then we heard the commander of the parade talking through the loud speaker, ' Do not move'! And seconds later he was saying ' go away, go away'!," said Jamal.
"As I was moving away from the middle of the square, I was seeing legs and arms in the air, only then I understood it was an attack against us," he said.
The massacre, which was condemned by almost the whole world, came two weeks after the top leader of Al Qaeda Eyman Al Zawahri called his followers in Yemen to overthrow the new President of Yemen, Hadi, who, he said, is even worse than Saleh.
One day before the massacre, Al Qaeda failed to assassinate American military trainers in the western province of Hodeida. On the same day, Al Qaeda kidnapped a Spanish security expert from the Spanish embassy. The Yemen security authorities found the dead body of the Spanish expert on Tuesday in Sanaa.
On Wednesday May 23rd, 2012, friends of Yemen are meeting in the Saudi capital Riyadh to discuss how to help Yemen stand on its own once again.
Two new suicide bombers arrested, and terrorist assigned to kill minister of defense killed before he triggers RPG.
Suicide bombings kill more than drones?
By Nasser Arrabyee,22/05/2012
Two suicide bombers with two motor cycles were arrested before they implemented a new terrorist operation against the Yemeni army after the massacre of Monday in which hundreds of soldiers were killed and injured, security sources said on Tuesday.
The two suicide bombers were supposed to ram their motor cycles into busses carrying the soldiers who were participating in the military parade held in Sanaa on Tuesday to celebrate the national day despite the massacre of Monday that aimed parly to foil the celebration.
The parade was not held in the square where the massacre happened but it was held in the air defence college, a closed place nearby by the house of President Hadi. Less than half of the parade forces participated in the celebration which was attended by Preisdnet Hadi and the State officials and diplomats.
Soldiers from the rival units ( Defected and loyal to former Preisdent Saleh) were excluded from participating in Tuesday's parade after the massacre of Monday.
There were only 2900 student soldiers in the parade who all were from military colleges and institutes. On the 22nd anniversary of the Unification Day on May 22, 1990, President Hadi vowed to eradicate Al Qaeda from Yemen.
The Al Qaeda in Yemen claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing of Monday saying it was in retaliation for the " American war" against them in the southern province of Abyan.
In the statement which was sent to local journalists as SMS from Al Qaeda elements who are always in contact with media, Al Qaeda said the target was the minister of defense Mohammed Nasser Ahmed and his deputies.
Neither the minister nor anyone of his deputies were harmed because they were watching the parade from the stage which is about 500 meters away from the middle of the square.
Observers say that Al Qaeda targeted as many as possible of soldiers not the minister, but after the wide local and international condemnation of their massacre, Al Qaeda wanted to absorb some of the people's anger by saying the target was the minister of defense who leads the battles against Al Qaeda in the south at the moment.
However, interviews with survivors from the soldiers showed that Al Qaeda actually was targeting both all the soldiers and all the officials including the minister of defense. Some soldiers said they saw an attacker with RPG aiming at the stage.
But the attacker with RPG was killed while he was trying to kill the minister of defense and other senior military officials, immediately after the suicide bomber blew himself up killing more than 100 and injuring more than 300 in the middle of the parade rehearsal.
"After the suicide bombing, our commander ordered us to lie on the ground, because he was seeing the attacker with RPG aiming at the stage of the officials," said Jamal, an officer who was participating in the parade rehearsal.
" We lay down to the ground, and after we heard three bullets, we were told to stand up and go away," said the survivor officer, Jamal.
"They told us then that one of the security men shot the attacker dead before he triggered the RPG," added the officer. The RPG attacker was wearing civil clothes not like the suicide bomber who was wearing a military uniform to divert the attention when he walked into the parade.
The soldiers of the parade were given about 10 minutes break at about 10 am on Tuesday. Some soldiers climbed tduring the break through the wall between parade square and the adjacent amusement parking, Al Sabeen Amusement Park. "I think the suicide bomber entered at the time of the break, it was easier for him because coming in coming out at that time was very random," said the officer Jamal.
The eye witness Abdullah Saeed, said he saw soldier alone in the amusement park getting closer and closer to the wall. " Then I saw many soldiers coming in and out through the wall, and this one joined them and jumped over the wall like the others, and seconds after that I heard the bombing," said Abdullah Saeed, who works as a vendor. " After the bombing I remembered that soldier passed beside me, and was alone for some time," he added.
It was a horrible day for the 25-year old officer, Jamal, along with more than 6000 colleague soldiers from all security and military units who were in the last minutes of the last parade rehearsal in Al Sabeen Square, the country's largest parade square in southern part of the capital Sanaa.
"All of a sudden and minutes before we finish, we heard a huge explosion, and then we heard the commander of the parade talking through the loud speaker, ' Do not move'! And seconds later he was saying ' go away, go away'!," said Jamal.
"As I was moving away from the middle of the square, I was seeing legs and arms in the air, only then I understood it was an attack against us," he said.
The massacre, which was condemned by almost the whole world, came two weeks after the top leader of Al Qaeda Eyman Al Zawahri called his followers in Yemen to overthrow the new President of Yemen, Hadi, who, he said, is even worse than Saleh.
One day before the massacre, Al Qaeda failed to assassinate American military trainers in the western province of Hodeida. On the same day, Al Qaeda kidnapped a Spanish security expert from the Spanish embassy. The Yemen security authorities found the dead body of the Spanish expert on Tuesday in Sanaa.
On Wednesday May 23rd, 2012, friends of Yemen are meeting in the Saudi capital Riyadh to discuss how to help Yemen stand on its own once again.
Sunday, 20 May 2012
American military expert attacked, and Spanish security expert kidnapped by Al Qaeda in Yemen
Source: Xinhua, 20/05/2012
SANAA- A group of U.S. counterterrorism experts were attacked by suspected al-Qaida militants in Yemen's western port city of al-Hodayda on Sunday, one expert being seriously wounded, officials said.
"A number of militants from suspected al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) opened fire on a group of U.S. counterterrorism experts when they were training Yemeni coastal guards in the western port city of al-Hodayda," a Yemeni security official told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
"One of them was hit in the neck and airlifted to the capital Sanaa for treatment," he said.
An official at the U.S. embassy in Sanaa confirmed to Xinhua the attack. "The attack took place on Sunday morning while the U.S. experts were training Yemeni coastal guards," the official said, denying reports that U.S. soldiers had arrived in the city to prepare for fighting against al-Qaida.
On the same day, an official from the Interior Ministry told Xinhua anonymously that "a newly-arrived Spanish security official at the Spanish embassy in Sanaa was snatched on Sunday by al-Qaida suspects." But he declined to provide further details.
Officials at the Spanish embassy in Sanaa could not be reached for comment.
With the support of U.S. experts and drones, the Yemeni government has launched an "all-out offensive" against al-Qaida militants for nine days in the southern province of Abyan.
The ongoing fighting has left more than two hundred people from both sides killed, while thousands of civilians have fled to neighboring provinces of Aden and Lahj.
The attack against U.S. experts came one day after chief of U.S. Special Operations Forces General Ken Tovo met with Yemeni officials in Sanaa to discuses ongoing joint-military operations against the AQAP which exploited one-year unrest to expand control over several cities in Yemen's southern regions.
Meanwhile, military officials said on Sunday that at least 10 anti-Qaida militiamen and 18 terrorists were killed during fierce battles overnight in the outskirts of the insurgents-controlled town of Jaar in Abyan.
However, witnesses and residents told Xinhua that more than 100 soldiers were killed during the overnight battles, as the al-Qaida militants forced the army to retreat about 30 kilometers from Jaar to areas near neighboring province of Lahj.
SANAA- A group of U.S. counterterrorism experts were attacked by suspected al-Qaida militants in Yemen's western port city of al-Hodayda on Sunday, one expert being seriously wounded, officials said.
"A number of militants from suspected al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) opened fire on a group of U.S. counterterrorism experts when they were training Yemeni coastal guards in the western port city of al-Hodayda," a Yemeni security official told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
"One of them was hit in the neck and airlifted to the capital Sanaa for treatment," he said.
An official at the U.S. embassy in Sanaa confirmed to Xinhua the attack. "The attack took place on Sunday morning while the U.S. experts were training Yemeni coastal guards," the official said, denying reports that U.S. soldiers had arrived in the city to prepare for fighting against al-Qaida.
On the same day, an official from the Interior Ministry told Xinhua anonymously that "a newly-arrived Spanish security official at the Spanish embassy in Sanaa was snatched on Sunday by al-Qaida suspects." But he declined to provide further details.
Officials at the Spanish embassy in Sanaa could not be reached for comment.
With the support of U.S. experts and drones, the Yemeni government has launched an "all-out offensive" against al-Qaida militants for nine days in the southern province of Abyan.
The ongoing fighting has left more than two hundred people from both sides killed, while thousands of civilians have fled to neighboring provinces of Aden and Lahj.
The attack against U.S. experts came one day after chief of U.S. Special Operations Forces General Ken Tovo met with Yemeni officials in Sanaa to discuses ongoing joint-military operations against the AQAP which exploited one-year unrest to expand control over several cities in Yemen's southern regions.
Meanwhile, military officials said on Sunday that at least 10 anti-Qaida militiamen and 18 terrorists were killed during fierce battles overnight in the outskirts of the insurgents-controlled town of Jaar in Abyan.
However, witnesses and residents told Xinhua that more than 100 soldiers were killed during the overnight battles, as the al-Qaida militants forced the army to retreat about 30 kilometers from Jaar to areas near neighboring province of Lahj.
US wants the strikes on Yemen to be less costly
Sources: Latimes, 20/05/2012
As the United States finally begins to wind down its military presence in Afghanistan, is the Obama administration poised to replicate that intervention in Yemen?
The administration insists it has no such plans, but it has been evident for months that it regards the Yemen-based group Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula as the most dangerous incubator of terrorist plots directed at America. And it is acting on that conviction.
This week The Times reported that U.S. special operations troops, which were withdrawn from Yemen last year amid political turmoil in that country, have returned and are providing technical assistance to Yemeni forces.
Meanwhile, at least 18 U.S. military and drone strikes have been reported against Islamist targets in Yemen since early March, a significant upsurge, and the CIA is active there.
The administration also is trying to bolster Yemen's new president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, by authorizing the U.S.
Treasury to freeze the assets of individuals who "threaten the peace, security and stability" of Yemen.
The number of American forces in Yemen is minuscule compared with the approximately 90,000 U.S. troops now deployed in Afghanistan (23,000 of whom will be withdrawn by the end of the summer).
Troubling as they are for other reasons, including the possibility of civilian casualties, drone strikes against Al Qaeda insurgents are not labor-intensive.
Moreover, the administration is adamant that the recent increase in U.S. activity in Yemen doesn't portend a major commitment of troops or resources.
"That would not serve our long-term interests and runs counter to the desires of the Yemeni government and its people," a spokesman for the National Security Council told The Times.
Given the experience of the U.S. in Afghanistan, where a mission to dislodge Al Qaeda and the Taliban morphed into a decade-long exercise in counterinsurgency and nation-building, it is hardly alarmist to worry that similar mission creep might occur in Yemen, especially as the U.S. becomes more invested in the Hadi government. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula isn't the only threat to the new regime. Islamic militants have established an "emirate" in southern Yemen.
No one should belittle the danger posed by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. There is clearly a need for intelligence operations such as the one that thwarted a conspiracy to construct a potentially undetectable bomb in the month before the anniversary of Osama bin Laden's death.
What President Obama — or Mitt Romney, if he is elected in November — must avoid is the sort of expansive intervention that has enmeshed this country in Afghanistan.
As the United States finally begins to wind down its military presence in Afghanistan, is the Obama administration poised to replicate that intervention in Yemen?
The administration insists it has no such plans, but it has been evident for months that it regards the Yemen-based group Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula as the most dangerous incubator of terrorist plots directed at America. And it is acting on that conviction.
This week The Times reported that U.S. special operations troops, which were withdrawn from Yemen last year amid political turmoil in that country, have returned and are providing technical assistance to Yemeni forces.
Meanwhile, at least 18 U.S. military and drone strikes have been reported against Islamist targets in Yemen since early March, a significant upsurge, and the CIA is active there.
The administration also is trying to bolster Yemen's new president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, by authorizing the U.S.
Treasury to freeze the assets of individuals who "threaten the peace, security and stability" of Yemen.
The number of American forces in Yemen is minuscule compared with the approximately 90,000 U.S. troops now deployed in Afghanistan (23,000 of whom will be withdrawn by the end of the summer).
Troubling as they are for other reasons, including the possibility of civilian casualties, drone strikes against Al Qaeda insurgents are not labor-intensive.
Moreover, the administration is adamant that the recent increase in U.S. activity in Yemen doesn't portend a major commitment of troops or resources.
"That would not serve our long-term interests and runs counter to the desires of the Yemeni government and its people," a spokesman for the National Security Council told The Times.
Given the experience of the U.S. in Afghanistan, where a mission to dislodge Al Qaeda and the Taliban morphed into a decade-long exercise in counterinsurgency and nation-building, it is hardly alarmist to worry that similar mission creep might occur in Yemen, especially as the U.S. becomes more invested in the Hadi government. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula isn't the only threat to the new regime. Islamic militants have established an "emirate" in southern Yemen.
No one should belittle the danger posed by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. There is clearly a need for intelligence operations such as the one that thwarted a conspiracy to construct a potentially undetectable bomb in the month before the anniversary of Osama bin Laden's death.
What President Obama — or Mitt Romney, if he is elected in November — must avoid is the sort of expansive intervention that has enmeshed this country in Afghanistan.
Friday, 18 May 2012
Al Qaeda escaping to the last stronghold,after training camp destroyed by shelling from the sea
By Nasser Arrabyee,18/05/2012
A training camp for Al Qaeda was destroyed by shelling from the Sea on the coastal town of Shuqra, said local sources Friday.
The camp was located in the area of Shaka at the outskirts of Shukra, one of the last strongholds of Al Qaeda on the Gulf of Aden,
Several militants were killed and injured by the shelling before militants moved to hide in a girls school at the eastern extreme of the town, said the sources.
No militants from Al Qaeda could be seen on Friday in any of the check points previously deployed in and outside of the town, said the sources.
The shelling was coming from warships in the Arabian Sea,local people believe that American warships participate in the unprecedented ongoing campaign against Al Qaeda from the sea and the air drones.
" We expect that Al Qaeda fighters would move to Azzan in Shabwah, especially after their defeats in Lawdar and Jaar," said Mohammed who fights with the Anti-Al Qaeda popular committees in Lawdar.
Likewise,6 Al Qaeda operatives were killed including one of the leaders when loyal tribesmen attacked a position of Al Qaeda in Batais area at the outskirts of Jaar.
Ahmed Abdu Al Nabi,( brother of the leader Khaled Abdul Nabi) , Nader Al Shadadi, Jihad Al Azzani, and Hamada Al Shadadi were killed Friday in Jaar in clashes with loyal tribesmen, who started to form committees like those in Lawdar.
These clashes come only hours before the end of the 48- hour ultimatum given on Thursday by the army to civilians to get out from Jaar to protect themselves from a comprehensive attack on Jaar.
The army is already controlling the areas of Al Rawa, Husn, Batais, and October 7 at the outskirts of Jaar. The distance from the middle of the town to October 7 area is only about 1 kms, according to the local residents.
A training camp for Al Qaeda was destroyed by shelling from the Sea on the coastal town of Shuqra, said local sources Friday.
The camp was located in the area of Shaka at the outskirts of Shukra, one of the last strongholds of Al Qaeda on the Gulf of Aden,
Several militants were killed and injured by the shelling before militants moved to hide in a girls school at the eastern extreme of the town, said the sources.
No militants from Al Qaeda could be seen on Friday in any of the check points previously deployed in and outside of the town, said the sources.
The shelling was coming from warships in the Arabian Sea,local people believe that American warships participate in the unprecedented ongoing campaign against Al Qaeda from the sea and the air drones.
" We expect that Al Qaeda fighters would move to Azzan in Shabwah, especially after their defeats in Lawdar and Jaar," said Mohammed who fights with the Anti-Al Qaeda popular committees in Lawdar.
Likewise,6 Al Qaeda operatives were killed including one of the leaders when loyal tribesmen attacked a position of Al Qaeda in Batais area at the outskirts of Jaar.
Ahmed Abdu Al Nabi,( brother of the leader Khaled Abdul Nabi) , Nader Al Shadadi, Jihad Al Azzani, and Hamada Al Shadadi were killed Friday in Jaar in clashes with loyal tribesmen, who started to form committees like those in Lawdar.
These clashes come only hours before the end of the 48- hour ultimatum given on Thursday by the army to civilians to get out from Jaar to protect themselves from a comprehensive attack on Jaar.
The army is already controlling the areas of Al Rawa, Husn, Batais, and October 7 at the outskirts of Jaar. The distance from the middle of the town to October 7 area is only about 1 kms, according to the local residents.
Thursday, 17 May 2012
'Supporters of Vice' defeated, tribesmen rejoice after cleansing Lawdar of terrorists
Is Al Qaeda enemy or ally with US?
By Nasser Arrabyee,17/05/2012
Celebrations and cheering and firing to the air filled the southern town of Lawdar since early morning Thursday after the army and loyal tribesmen defeated Al Qaeda fighters and forced them to leave the town and neighboring places, according to local sources in the town.
The remnants of the terrorists could be seen escaping in the direction of the coastal town Shuqrah, 70 km south of Lawdar, said the sources.
" Tens of terrorists in military vehicles and two tanks and one artillery being pulled behind one of the cars, were seen early morning Thursday moving in the direction of Shuqrah," said Mohammed Saleh, one of the tribesmen who fight with the army against Al Qaeda in Lawdar.
"People of Lawdar are very happy to get rid of the supporters of vice," said Mohammed Saleh referring to Al Qaeda terrorists who call themselves supporters of Shariah, or Answar Al Shariah.
Commenting on what is happening now in Abyan, the political analyst, Ahmed Al Sufi,said Al Qaeda is trying to play a role to help the brotherhood to take power.
Al Sufi who was the press secretary of the former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, said what is happening now in Abyan is one of the fruits of what is called the Arab Spring.
" Is Al Qaeda an enemy to US or a strategic ally used to destroy the Arab counties under the pretext ofArab Spring," Al Sufi wondered in a symposium on Al Qaeda held in Sanaa Wednesday.
Al Sufi was obviously referring to the American support for the brotherhood movement in Yemen and other Arab countries.
He said Al Qaeda focussed on Abyan in particular only to foil and obstruct the implementation of the political transition under the GCC deal and overthrow the new president Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi who is originally from Abyan.
Al Sufi cited the recent statement of the top leader of Al Qaeda Ayman Al Zawahri who called this week upon Yemenis to revolt and rebel against the new president Hadi as they did against the former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Al Sufi said that the brotherhood in Yemen, the Islah party, promoted the statement of Al Zawahri as an important decree that must be implemented.
Car bombs or drones, which would win in Yemen?
Earlier this week, Yemeni troops supported with local tribesmen and US drones nearly defeated Al Qaeda in its Taliban-style places in south of the country after about one month of unprecedented military and popular campaign.
The Yemeni flag was raised on Tuesday in Yasof Mount which overlooks the southern town of Lawdar, one of the most important strongholds of Al Qaeda. 6 Al Qaeda operatives, 4 tribesmen and 2 soldiers were killed in the operation which was like the last straw that broke the back of Al Qaeda in Lawdar.
The defeat was recognized by Al Qaeda which said it was a tactic withdrawal after ammunition ran out. At least four of the escaping fighters were arrested in the same day in the neighboring province of Al Baidha according to security sources there.
Such an unprecedented camping against Al Qaeda comes before the Friends of Yemen meet in the Saudi capital Riyadh on May 23rd, 2012. The biggest concern of the Friends of Yemen ( mainly Americans, Europeans, Gulf countries) is the terrorism of Al Qaeda.
Yemen says it needs at least about 10 billion dollars to restart its essential economic and development projects after the one-year unrest. The " Friends" would not pay any money before Al Qaeda is defeated.
The troops are only less than 8 km away from Jaar, the strongest and the oldest Taliban-Style emirates in the southern province of Abyan. Late Tuesday May 15, 2012, air strikes killed at least 12 in an attack on a house where Al Qaeda operatives were staying . Before the air strikes, helicopters dropped leaflets telling civilians to stay away from Al Qaeda.
Local sources however, said only five Al Qaeda operatives were killed in the first air strike, and others were civilians who came after the strikes to rescue Al Qaeda.
" The strike was on the house of Al Mansouri, where Al Qaeda operatives usually meet, and the first strike killed all the five who were in the house," said Mansour, a local resident. " When local people saw the house being destroyed, they went to see and rescue, but another air strike came killing 7 of them."o
More than 100,000 people displaced from Jaar and Zinjubar after the two towns were declared Taliban-Style Islamic Emirates early last year. The majority of them are still staying Aden in very bad humanitarian conditions.
Zinjubar, the capital of Abyan, has been surrounded from all directions.
" We expect to take control over Jaar and Zinjubar over the coming 24 hours, and we will declare Abyan as free province from Al Qaeda," said military sources. " Al Qaeda try to escape from Jaar and Zinjubar in Abyan to Shabwah, and from Lawdar ( of Abyan also) to Al Baidha, but our troops and security agents will follow them wherever they go," said the military source.
US drones and US military and security experts are participating the ongoing campaign. The advisor of Barack Obama for counter-terrorism, John Brennan, paid one day visit earlier this week to Yemen where he met the newly elected President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi who said eradication of Al Qaeda is irreversible.
Suicide bomber with car bomb in Sanaa to retaliate the US drone attacks
The security forces are searching for a suicide bomber who has already entered Sanaa where he intends to blow himself up, said the ministry of interior on Tuesday.
The ministry said in a statement published on its website that the suicide bomber Abdullah Mohammed Jabir Al Shabwani, is now in Sanaa with his car bomb ( Land-cruiser, Jeep, model 2009, without number, but has the emblem of Republic of Yemen).
The would-be suicide bomber Al Shabwani is originally from Abeidah tribe of Mareb province.
Al Shabwani may want to take revenge for the 16 Al Qaeda terrorists who were killed earlier this week in two different attacks on three cars in Mareb by US drones . The majority of those killed were from Mareb especially his tribe Abeidah.
On Saturday May 12, 2012, US drones attacked three cars laden Al Qaeda operatives in two different places in the eastern province of
Mareb.
Six operatives were killed in the first car which was hit in the area of Husoon Al Jalal, in Wadi Abiedah of Mareb. Those who were killed in this strike were identified by the ministry of interior as 1)Mohsen Abdul Rehman Al Yosufi, 2) Saleh Mohammed Jabir Al Shabwani, 3) Abu Mutab Al Yamani,4) Abu Al Laith Al Hudhrami in addition to two other Saudi nationals who were not identified.
In the second drone attack, which happened about one hour later in the area of Muksarah, between Huraib of Mareb and Baihan of Shabwah.
A total of 10 terrorists were killed in the two cars and they were identified by the ministry of interior as 1) Ali Hassan Ali Gharaib Al Shabwani, from Abeidah tribe of Mareb, 2) Hassan Suod Hassan Bin Mueli, from Abeidah tribe,3) Hamid Nasser Al Akra'a, Jedaan tribe of Mareb, 4) Muhsen Saeed Kharasan, Jedaan tribe, 5) Ahmed Saleh Mohammed Al Fakeer, from Murad tribe of Mareb, 6) Mohammed Saleh Bakir Al Fakeer, Murad tribe, 7) Abdullah Ali Mohammed Al Kuti, Abeidah, 8) Aref Aisi Shabwi, from Shabwah,9) Mubarak Saleh Al Nasiri, from Shabwah, 10) Abu Obaidah Al Mesri, from Egypt.
By Nasser Arrabyee,17/05/2012
Celebrations and cheering and firing to the air filled the southern town of Lawdar since early morning Thursday after the army and loyal tribesmen defeated Al Qaeda fighters and forced them to leave the town and neighboring places, according to local sources in the town.
The remnants of the terrorists could be seen escaping in the direction of the coastal town Shuqrah, 70 km south of Lawdar, said the sources.
" Tens of terrorists in military vehicles and two tanks and one artillery being pulled behind one of the cars, were seen early morning Thursday moving in the direction of Shuqrah," said Mohammed Saleh, one of the tribesmen who fight with the army against Al Qaeda in Lawdar.
"People of Lawdar are very happy to get rid of the supporters of vice," said Mohammed Saleh referring to Al Qaeda terrorists who call themselves supporters of Shariah, or Answar Al Shariah.
Commenting on what is happening now in Abyan, the political analyst, Ahmed Al Sufi,said Al Qaeda is trying to play a role to help the brotherhood to take power.
Al Sufi who was the press secretary of the former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, said what is happening now in Abyan is one of the fruits of what is called the Arab Spring.
" Is Al Qaeda an enemy to US or a strategic ally used to destroy the Arab counties under the pretext ofArab Spring," Al Sufi wondered in a symposium on Al Qaeda held in Sanaa Wednesday.
Al Sufi was obviously referring to the American support for the brotherhood movement in Yemen and other Arab countries.
He said Al Qaeda focussed on Abyan in particular only to foil and obstruct the implementation of the political transition under the GCC deal and overthrow the new president Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi who is originally from Abyan.
Al Sufi cited the recent statement of the top leader of Al Qaeda Ayman Al Zawahri who called this week upon Yemenis to revolt and rebel against the new president Hadi as they did against the former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Al Sufi said that the brotherhood in Yemen, the Islah party, promoted the statement of Al Zawahri as an important decree that must be implemented.
Car bombs or drones, which would win in Yemen?
Earlier this week, Yemeni troops supported with local tribesmen and US drones nearly defeated Al Qaeda in its Taliban-style places in south of the country after about one month of unprecedented military and popular campaign.
The Yemeni flag was raised on Tuesday in Yasof Mount which overlooks the southern town of Lawdar, one of the most important strongholds of Al Qaeda. 6 Al Qaeda operatives, 4 tribesmen and 2 soldiers were killed in the operation which was like the last straw that broke the back of Al Qaeda in Lawdar.
The defeat was recognized by Al Qaeda which said it was a tactic withdrawal after ammunition ran out. At least four of the escaping fighters were arrested in the same day in the neighboring province of Al Baidha according to security sources there.
Such an unprecedented camping against Al Qaeda comes before the Friends of Yemen meet in the Saudi capital Riyadh on May 23rd, 2012. The biggest concern of the Friends of Yemen ( mainly Americans, Europeans, Gulf countries) is the terrorism of Al Qaeda.
Yemen says it needs at least about 10 billion dollars to restart its essential economic and development projects after the one-year unrest. The " Friends" would not pay any money before Al Qaeda is defeated.
The troops are only less than 8 km away from Jaar, the strongest and the oldest Taliban-Style emirates in the southern province of Abyan. Late Tuesday May 15, 2012, air strikes killed at least 12 in an attack on a house where Al Qaeda operatives were staying . Before the air strikes, helicopters dropped leaflets telling civilians to stay away from Al Qaeda.
Local sources however, said only five Al Qaeda operatives were killed in the first air strike, and others were civilians who came after the strikes to rescue Al Qaeda.
" The strike was on the house of Al Mansouri, where Al Qaeda operatives usually meet, and the first strike killed all the five who were in the house," said Mansour, a local resident. " When local people saw the house being destroyed, they went to see and rescue, but another air strike came killing 7 of them."o
More than 100,000 people displaced from Jaar and Zinjubar after the two towns were declared Taliban-Style Islamic Emirates early last year. The majority of them are still staying Aden in very bad humanitarian conditions.
Zinjubar, the capital of Abyan, has been surrounded from all directions.
" We expect to take control over Jaar and Zinjubar over the coming 24 hours, and we will declare Abyan as free province from Al Qaeda," said military sources. " Al Qaeda try to escape from Jaar and Zinjubar in Abyan to Shabwah, and from Lawdar ( of Abyan also) to Al Baidha, but our troops and security agents will follow them wherever they go," said the military source.
US drones and US military and security experts are participating the ongoing campaign. The advisor of Barack Obama for counter-terrorism, John Brennan, paid one day visit earlier this week to Yemen where he met the newly elected President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi who said eradication of Al Qaeda is irreversible.
Suicide bomber with car bomb in Sanaa to retaliate the US drone attacks
The security forces are searching for a suicide bomber who has already entered Sanaa where he intends to blow himself up, said the ministry of interior on Tuesday.
The ministry said in a statement published on its website that the suicide bomber Abdullah Mohammed Jabir Al Shabwani, is now in Sanaa with his car bomb ( Land-cruiser, Jeep, model 2009, without number, but has the emblem of Republic of Yemen).
The would-be suicide bomber Al Shabwani is originally from Abeidah tribe of Mareb province.
Al Shabwani may want to take revenge for the 16 Al Qaeda terrorists who were killed earlier this week in two different attacks on three cars in Mareb by US drones . The majority of those killed were from Mareb especially his tribe Abeidah.
On Saturday May 12, 2012, US drones attacked three cars laden Al Qaeda operatives in two different places in the eastern province of
Mareb.
Six operatives were killed in the first car which was hit in the area of Husoon Al Jalal, in Wadi Abiedah of Mareb. Those who were killed in this strike were identified by the ministry of interior as 1)Mohsen Abdul Rehman Al Yosufi, 2) Saleh Mohammed Jabir Al Shabwani, 3) Abu Mutab Al Yamani,4) Abu Al Laith Al Hudhrami in addition to two other Saudi nationals who were not identified.
In the second drone attack, which happened about one hour later in the area of Muksarah, between Huraib of Mareb and Baihan of Shabwah.
A total of 10 terrorists were killed in the two cars and they were identified by the ministry of interior as 1) Ali Hassan Ali Gharaib Al Shabwani, from Abeidah tribe of Mareb, 2) Hassan Suod Hassan Bin Mueli, from Abeidah tribe,3) Hamid Nasser Al Akra'a, Jedaan tribe of Mareb, 4) Muhsen Saeed Kharasan, Jedaan tribe, 5) Ahmed Saleh Mohammed Al Fakeer, from Murad tribe of Mareb, 6) Mohammed Saleh Bakir Al Fakeer, Murad tribe, 7) Abdullah Ali Mohammed Al Kuti, Abeidah, 8) Aref Aisi Shabwi, from Shabwah,9) Mubarak Saleh Al Nasiri, from Shabwah, 10) Abu Obaidah Al Mesri, from Egypt.
Tuesday, 15 May 2012
Car bombs versus drones, which would win?
By Nasser Arrabyee,15/05/2012
Yemeni troops supported with local tribesmen and US drones nearly defeated Al Qaeda in its Taliban-style places in south of the country after about one month of unprecedented military and popular campaign.
The Yemeni flag was raised on Tuesday in Yasof Mount which overlooks the southern town of Lawdar, one of the most important strongholds of Al Qaeda. 6 Al Qaeda operatives, 4 tribesmen and 2 soldiers were killed in the operation which was like the last straw that broke the back of Al Qaeda in Lawdar.
The defeat was recognized by Al Qaeda which said it was a tactic withdrawal after ammunition ran out. At least four of the escaping fighters were arrested in the same day in the neighboring province of Al Baidha according to security sources there.
Such an unprecedented camping against Al Qaeda comes before the Friends of Yemen meet in the Saudi capital Riyadh on May 23rd, 2012. The biggest concern of the Friends of Yemen ( mainly Americans, Europeans, Gulf countries) is the terrorism of Al Qaeda.
Yemen says it needs at least about 10 billion dollars to restart its essential economic and development projects after the one-year unrest. The " Friends" would not pay any money before Al Qaeda is defeated.
The troops are only less than 8 km away from Jaar, the strongest and the oldest Taliban-Style emirates in the southern province of Abyan. Late Tuesday May 15, 2012, air strikes killed at least 12 in an attack on a house where Al Qaeda operatives were staying . Before the air strikes, helicopters dropped leaflets telling civilians to stay away from Al Qaeda.
Local sources however, said only five Al Qaeda operatives were killed in the first air strike, and others were civilians who came after the strikes to rescue Al Qaeda.
" The strike was on the house of Al Mansouri, where Al Qaeda operatives usually meet, and the first strike killed all the five who were in the house," said Mansour, a local resident. " When local people saw the house being destroyed, they went to see and rescue, but another air strike came killing 7 of them."o
More than 100,000 people displaced from Jaar and Zinjubar after the two towns were declared Taliban-Style Islamic Emirates early last year. The majority of them are still staying Aden in very bad humanitarian conditions.
Zinjubar, the capital of Abyan, has been surrounded from all directions.
" We expect to take control over Jaar and Zinjubar over the coming 24 hours, and we will declare Abyan as free province from Al Qaeda," said military sources. " Al Qaeda try to escape from Jaar and Zinjubar in Abyan to Shabwah, and from Lawdar ( of Abyan also) to Al Baidha, but our troops and security agents will follow them wherever they go," said the military source.
US drones and US military and security experts are participating the ongoing campaign. The advisor of Barack Obama for counter-terrorism, John Brennan, paid one day visit earlier this week to Yemen where he met the newly elected President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi who said eradication of Al Qaeda is irreversible.
Suicide bomber with car bomb in Sanaa to retaliate the US drone attacks
The security forces are searching for a suicide bomber who has already entered Sanaa where he intends to blow himself up, said the ministry of interior on Tuesday.
The ministry said in a statement published on its website that the suicide bomber Abdullah Mohammed Jabir Al Shabwani, is now in Sanaa with his car bomb ( Land-cruiser, Jeep, model 2009, without number, but has the emblem of Republic of Yemen).
The would-be suicide bomber Al Shabwani is originally from Abeidah tribe of Mareb province.
Al Shabwani may want to take revenge for the 16 Al Qaeda terrorists who were killed earlier this week in two different attacks on three cars in Mareb by US drones . The majority of those killed were from Mareb especially his tribe Abeidah.
On Saturday May 12, 2012, US drones attacked three cars laden Al Qaeda operatives in two different places in the eastern province of
Mareb.
Six operatives were killed in the first car which was hit in the area of Husoon Al Jalal, in Wadi Abiedah of Mareb. Those who were killed in this strike were identified by the ministry of interior as 1)Mohsen Abdul Rehman Al Yosufi, 2) Saleh Mohammed Jabir Al Shabwani, 3) Abu Mutab Al Yamani,4) Abu Al Laith Al Hudhrami in addition to two other Saudi nationals who were not identified.
In the second drone attack, which happened about one hour later in the area of Muksarah, between Huraib of Mareb and Baihan of Shabwah.
A total of 10 terrorists were killed in the two cars and they were identified by the ministry of interior as 1) Ali Hassan Ali Gharaib Al Shabwani, from Abeidah tribe of Mareb, 2) Hassan Suod Hassan Bin Mueli, from Abeidah tribe,3) Hamid Nasser Al Akra'a, Jedaan tribe of Mareb, 4) Muhsen Saeed Kharasan, Jedaan tribe, 5) Ahmed Saleh Mohammed Al Fakeer, from Murad tribe of Mareb, 6) Mohammed Saleh Bakir Al Fakeer, Murad tribe, 7) Abdullah Ali Mohammed Al Kuti, Abeidah, 8) Aref Aisi Shabwi, from Shabwah,9) Mubarak Saleh Al Nasiri, from Shabwah, 10) Abu Obaidah Al Mesri, from Egypt.
Yemeni troops supported with local tribesmen and US drones nearly defeated Al Qaeda in its Taliban-style places in south of the country after about one month of unprecedented military and popular campaign.
The Yemeni flag was raised on Tuesday in Yasof Mount which overlooks the southern town of Lawdar, one of the most important strongholds of Al Qaeda. 6 Al Qaeda operatives, 4 tribesmen and 2 soldiers were killed in the operation which was like the last straw that broke the back of Al Qaeda in Lawdar.
The defeat was recognized by Al Qaeda which said it was a tactic withdrawal after ammunition ran out. At least four of the escaping fighters were arrested in the same day in the neighboring province of Al Baidha according to security sources there.
Such an unprecedented camping against Al Qaeda comes before the Friends of Yemen meet in the Saudi capital Riyadh on May 23rd, 2012. The biggest concern of the Friends of Yemen ( mainly Americans, Europeans, Gulf countries) is the terrorism of Al Qaeda.
Yemen says it needs at least about 10 billion dollars to restart its essential economic and development projects after the one-year unrest. The " Friends" would not pay any money before Al Qaeda is defeated.
The troops are only less than 8 km away from Jaar, the strongest and the oldest Taliban-Style emirates in the southern province of Abyan. Late Tuesday May 15, 2012, air strikes killed at least 12 in an attack on a house where Al Qaeda operatives were staying . Before the air strikes, helicopters dropped leaflets telling civilians to stay away from Al Qaeda.
Local sources however, said only five Al Qaeda operatives were killed in the first air strike, and others were civilians who came after the strikes to rescue Al Qaeda.
" The strike was on the house of Al Mansouri, where Al Qaeda operatives usually meet, and the first strike killed all the five who were in the house," said Mansour, a local resident. " When local people saw the house being destroyed, they went to see and rescue, but another air strike came killing 7 of them."o
More than 100,000 people displaced from Jaar and Zinjubar after the two towns were declared Taliban-Style Islamic Emirates early last year. The majority of them are still staying Aden in very bad humanitarian conditions.
Zinjubar, the capital of Abyan, has been surrounded from all directions.
" We expect to take control over Jaar and Zinjubar over the coming 24 hours, and we will declare Abyan as free province from Al Qaeda," said military sources. " Al Qaeda try to escape from Jaar and Zinjubar in Abyan to Shabwah, and from Lawdar ( of Abyan also) to Al Baidha, but our troops and security agents will follow them wherever they go," said the military source.
US drones and US military and security experts are participating the ongoing campaign. The advisor of Barack Obama for counter-terrorism, John Brennan, paid one day visit earlier this week to Yemen where he met the newly elected President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi who said eradication of Al Qaeda is irreversible.
Suicide bomber with car bomb in Sanaa to retaliate the US drone attacks
The security forces are searching for a suicide bomber who has already entered Sanaa where he intends to blow himself up, said the ministry of interior on Tuesday.
The ministry said in a statement published on its website that the suicide bomber Abdullah Mohammed Jabir Al Shabwani, is now in Sanaa with his car bomb ( Land-cruiser, Jeep, model 2009, without number, but has the emblem of Republic of Yemen).
The would-be suicide bomber Al Shabwani is originally from Abeidah tribe of Mareb province.
Al Shabwani may want to take revenge for the 16 Al Qaeda terrorists who were killed earlier this week in two different attacks on three cars in Mareb by US drones . The majority of those killed were from Mareb especially his tribe Abeidah.
On Saturday May 12, 2012, US drones attacked three cars laden Al Qaeda operatives in two different places in the eastern province of
Mareb.
Six operatives were killed in the first car which was hit in the area of Husoon Al Jalal, in Wadi Abiedah of Mareb. Those who were killed in this strike were identified by the ministry of interior as 1)Mohsen Abdul Rehman Al Yosufi, 2) Saleh Mohammed Jabir Al Shabwani, 3) Abu Mutab Al Yamani,4) Abu Al Laith Al Hudhrami in addition to two other Saudi nationals who were not identified.
In the second drone attack, which happened about one hour later in the area of Muksarah, between Huraib of Mareb and Baihan of Shabwah.
A total of 10 terrorists were killed in the two cars and they were identified by the ministry of interior as 1) Ali Hassan Ali Gharaib Al Shabwani, from Abeidah tribe of Mareb, 2) Hassan Suod Hassan Bin Mueli, from Abeidah tribe,3) Hamid Nasser Al Akra'a, Jedaan tribe of Mareb, 4) Muhsen Saeed Kharasan, Jedaan tribe, 5) Ahmed Saleh Mohammed Al Fakeer, from Murad tribe of Mareb, 6) Mohammed Saleh Bakir Al Fakeer, Murad tribe, 7) Abdullah Ali Mohammed Al Kuti, Abeidah, 8) Aref Aisi Shabwi, from Shabwah,9) Mubarak Saleh Al Nasiri, from Shabwah, 10) Abu Obaidah Al Mesri, from Egypt.
Suicide bomber with car bomb in Sanaa to retaliate the US drone attacks
By Nasser Arrabyee,15/05/2012
The security forces are searching for a suicide bomber who has already entered Sanaa where he intends to blow himself up, said the ministry of interior on Tuesday.
The ministry said in a statement published on its website that the suicide bomber Abdullah Mohammed Jabir Al Shabwani, is now in Sanaa with his car bomb ( Land-cruiser, Jeep, model 2009, without number, but has the emblem of Republic of Yemen).
The would-be suicide bomber Al Shabwani is originally from Abeidah tribe of Mareb.
Al Shabwani may want to take revenge for the 16 Al Qaeda terrorists who were killed earlier this week in two different attacks on three cars in Mareb by US drones . The majority of those killed were from Mareb especially his tribe Abeidah.
On Saturday May 12, 2012, US drones attacked three cars laden Al Qaeda operatives in two different places in the eastern province of Mareb.
Six operatives were killed in the first car which was hit in the area of Husoon Al Jalal, in Wadi Abiedah of Mareb. Those who were killed in this strike were identified by the ministry of interior as 1)Mohsen Abdul Rehman Al Yosufi, 2) Saleh Mohammed Jabir Al Shabwani, 3) Abu Mutab Al Yamani,4) Abu Al Laith Al Hudhrami in addition to two other Saudi nationals who were not identified.
In the second drone attack, which happened about one hour later in the area of Muksarah, between Huraib of Mareb and Baihan of Shabwah. 10 terrorists were killed in the two cars and they were identified by the ministry of interior as 1) Ali Hassan Ali Gharaib Al Shabwani, from Abeidah tribe of Mareb, 2) Hassan Suod Hassan Bin Mueli, from Abeidah tribe,3) Hamid Nasser Al Akra'a, Jedaan tribe of Mareb, 4) Muhsen Saeed Kharasan, Jedaan tribe, 5) Ahmed Saleh Mohammed Al Fakeer, from Murad tribe of Mareb, 6) Mohammed Saleh Bakir Al Fakeer, Murad tribe, 7) Abdullah Ali Mohammed Al Kuti, Abeidah, 8) Aref Aisi Shabwi, from Shabwah,9) Mubarak Saleh Al Nasiri, from Shabwah, 10) Abu Obaidah Al Mesri, from Egypt.
The security forces are searching for a suicide bomber who has already entered Sanaa where he intends to blow himself up, said the ministry of interior on Tuesday.
The ministry said in a statement published on its website that the suicide bomber Abdullah Mohammed Jabir Al Shabwani, is now in Sanaa with his car bomb ( Land-cruiser, Jeep, model 2009, without number, but has the emblem of Republic of Yemen).
The would-be suicide bomber Al Shabwani is originally from Abeidah tribe of Mareb.
Al Shabwani may want to take revenge for the 16 Al Qaeda terrorists who were killed earlier this week in two different attacks on three cars in Mareb by US drones . The majority of those killed were from Mareb especially his tribe Abeidah.
On Saturday May 12, 2012, US drones attacked three cars laden Al Qaeda operatives in two different places in the eastern province of Mareb.
Six operatives were killed in the first car which was hit in the area of Husoon Al Jalal, in Wadi Abiedah of Mareb. Those who were killed in this strike were identified by the ministry of interior as 1)Mohsen Abdul Rehman Al Yosufi, 2) Saleh Mohammed Jabir Al Shabwani, 3) Abu Mutab Al Yamani,4) Abu Al Laith Al Hudhrami in addition to two other Saudi nationals who were not identified.
In the second drone attack, which happened about one hour later in the area of Muksarah, between Huraib of Mareb and Baihan of Shabwah. 10 terrorists were killed in the two cars and they were identified by the ministry of interior as 1) Ali Hassan Ali Gharaib Al Shabwani, from Abeidah tribe of Mareb, 2) Hassan Suod Hassan Bin Mueli, from Abeidah tribe,3) Hamid Nasser Al Akra'a, Jedaan tribe of Mareb, 4) Muhsen Saeed Kharasan, Jedaan tribe, 5) Ahmed Saleh Mohammed Al Fakeer, from Murad tribe of Mareb, 6) Mohammed Saleh Bakir Al Fakeer, Murad tribe, 7) Abdullah Ali Mohammed Al Kuti, Abeidah, 8) Aref Aisi Shabwi, from Shabwah,9) Mubarak Saleh Al Nasiri, from Shabwah, 10) Abu Obaidah Al Mesri, from Egypt.
Saturday, 12 May 2012
20 Al Qaeda fighters, 8 soldiers killed in preparation for 'bigger battle'
By Nasser Arrabyee,12/05/2012
A total of 28 people were killed Saturday in clashes and shelling between Al Qaeda fighters and Yemeni army that says it is preparing for the " decisive and historic" battle for eradicating terrorism in the south, said military and local sources.
At least 8 soldiers were killed including colonel Mohammed Al Bukhaiti, and 12 others were injured in the preliminary clashes that happened as the army advanced towards Zinjubar and Jaar, said the military sources. .
And 20 fighters from Al Qaeda were killed air strikes and artillery shelling in addition to the clashes with troops that started to advance towards the two Al Qaeda-held towns of Zinjubar and Jaar, according to local sources.
The local sources also said that helicopters dropped leaflets and publications urging the residents to stay away from the places where terrorists stay to save their lives.
The 25the Mechanized brigade advanced to the area of Husn Shaddad, to help the troops in Dafwas and Al Kud at the outskirts of Zinjubar, which became almost surrounded from all directions.
And Al Huror area the troops advanced 10 km west of Jaar to the area of Al Abadi, the sources said.
American military experts are participating in preparation for the " decisive battle".
A total of 28 people were killed Saturday in clashes and shelling between Al Qaeda fighters and Yemeni army that says it is preparing for the " decisive and historic" battle for eradicating terrorism in the south, said military and local sources.
At least 8 soldiers were killed including colonel Mohammed Al Bukhaiti, and 12 others were injured in the preliminary clashes that happened as the army advanced towards Zinjubar and Jaar, said the military sources. .
And 20 fighters from Al Qaeda were killed air strikes and artillery shelling in addition to the clashes with troops that started to advance towards the two Al Qaeda-held towns of Zinjubar and Jaar, according to local sources.
The local sources also said that helicopters dropped leaflets and publications urging the residents to stay away from the places where terrorists stay to save their lives.
The 25the Mechanized brigade advanced to the area of Husn Shaddad, to help the troops in Dafwas and Al Kud at the outskirts of Zinjubar, which became almost surrounded from all directions.
And Al Huror area the troops advanced 10 km west of Jaar to the area of Al Abadi, the sources said.
American military experts are participating in preparation for the " decisive battle".
Thursday, 10 May 2012
Al Qaeda kidnapped 8-year old boy, as drone attacks continue
By Nasser Arrabyee,10/05/2012
Al Qaeda is holding an 8-year old boy who was kidnapped with his father, relatives of the boy said Thursday.
Ezat Ghalib was living with his father who was working as cook for the troops in Dawfas, said the relatives.
The father Ghalib, from Ibb province, was kidnapped last Monday when Al Qaeda attacked two military positions at the outskirts of Zinjubar, killing at least 20 and kidnapping about 25.
Earlier in Thursday, 10 Al Qaeda operatives were killed in a US drone attack and a number of air strikes by Yemeni air forces on the areas of Al Husn in the Al Qaeda-held town of Jaar. Abu Huthaifa Al Sanani was one of those killed, according to local sources.
Sources from Al Qaeda side said Kheldoon Al Sayed, the second man in Abyan after the Emir Al Khadir Hussein Al Jadani, was killed with three others by another US drone on the area of Al Mashro in Shaqrah, 50 km east of Zinjubar.
Al Qaeda is holding an 8-year old boy who was kidnapped with his father, relatives of the boy said Thursday.
Ezat Ghalib was living with his father who was working as cook for the troops in Dawfas, said the relatives.
The father Ghalib, from Ibb province, was kidnapped last Monday when Al Qaeda attacked two military positions at the outskirts of Zinjubar, killing at least 20 and kidnapping about 25.
Earlier in Thursday, 10 Al Qaeda operatives were killed in a US drone attack and a number of air strikes by Yemeni air forces on the areas of Al Husn in the Al Qaeda-held town of Jaar. Abu Huthaifa Al Sanani was one of those killed, according to local sources.
Sources from Al Qaeda side said Kheldoon Al Sayed, the second man in Abyan after the Emir Al Khadir Hussein Al Jadani, was killed with three others by another US drone on the area of Al Mashro in Shaqrah, 50 km east of Zinjubar.
Al Qaeda threatens to strike back American, Saudi and Yemeni interests
Religious and tribal leaders try to rescue army from Al Qaeda
By Nasser Arrabyee,10/05/2012
Al Qaeda threatened to strike the interests of the American , Saudi and Yemeni governments in retaliation for the killing of Fahd Al Qusu, said relatives tribal leaders on Thursday.
Tribal leaders from Abdullah Bin Daha tribe, Fahd Al Qusu tribe which is one of Al Awlaki tribes , met on Wednesday with a delegation from Al Qaeda who came to Habban in Shabwah to pay tribute on the death of Fahd Al Qusu.
" Al Qaeda told us they would take revenge for the killing of Fahd Al Qusu who was killed by American-Saudi-Yemeni conspiracy," said a tribal leader who is relative to Fahd Al Qusu.
Earlier in the week, Al Qaeda comitted a new masscare against Yemeni army in retaliation for a top leader who was assassinated by a US drone hours after the newly elected President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi vowed to cleanse his country of terrorists.
To help help the repeatedly disappointed army, tribal and religious leaders from Hadi's tribes came to his Palace Monday May 7th, 2012, to show support against Al Qaeda which controls many areas in the south particularly Abyan, Hadi's home province.
Mohammed Al Shaddadi, deputy speaker of Parliament, originally from Abyan, came with representatives of tribesmen from all districts of Abyan. The cleric Ahmed Al Mualem, came with a group of clerics and mosque speakers from Abyan.
The two groups, who separately met Hadi, had different things to do for helping the government to defeat Al Qaeda. The tribesmen agreed with the President to form popular committee to help the army fight Al Qaeda like the committees already working in Lawdar district of the same province.
"Our ami is to deport all the foreigners from our areas, and then help the army to control," said Kasem Khaleel, one of the tribal leaders who attended the meeting.
"We would not allow any foreigner to stay in our villages and districts, and when we are done with this, we will call our people who are with Al Qaeda to surrender the heavy weapons by hook or by crook," he said.
"When they are like us, without heavy weapons, then dialogue can be held with them, and this is what was agreed upon in the meeting," Khaleel said.
The religious leaders would help to convince as many as possible of Al Qaeda supporters and sympathizes thoughtfully. "We will deliver to them the conditions of the government to stop the war on them, and we will do our best to convince them to give up and return to normal citizens," said Abdullah Noman, one of the clerics who attended the meeting.
On Sunday May 6th, 2012, one day after Hadi's speech in which vowed to defeat Al Qaeda, the most wanted senior leader of Al Qaeda was killed by a US drone attack in the souhern province of Shabwah. In retaliation , at least 22 soldiers were killed and 25 others detained in a surprise attack on two military positions at the outskirts of Zinjubar.
Al Qaeda implemented this attack almost in the same place where it attacked last March 4th, killing 185 soldiers and injuring 200 others and detaining 73.
The US officials said the assassinated Al Qaeda leader Fahd Al Qusu was plotting to bomb an airline over US in early May which marks the first anniversary of assassinating Osama Bin Laden.
The Al Qaeda senior leader Fahd Al Qusu was buried very early morning Monday in his village in Wadi Al Abyadh, Rafadh, Saeed district in Shabwah province, said the tribal leader Al Ahmar Salfoh, who attended the funeral and burial.
After the burial, the local tribal leaders decided not to make condolence ceremony in the same area of Rafadh in fear of more US drone attacks, according to Salfoh.
So, the condolence ceremony was held in Ataq, the capital of Shabwah, where the cousins of the slain Fahd Al Qusu are based.
The tribal leader said that Fahd Al Qusu arrived in Rafadh on Sunday at 10 am and stayed in the mosque nearby his house where he had lunch with his friend Nasser Salem Ali Al Akdam. " airplanes ( drones) were flying over the area all the time since he arrived," said Salfoh.
At about 5 pm they started to walk out from the mosque in the direction of the farm of Fahd in Wadi Al Abyadh which was only 1 km away.
At about 5:30 pm and when Al Qusu and his friend Al Kdam were about to arrive the farm, two missile were fired at them killing both of them. " One of the missiles hit Fahd directly cutting his body into pieces," said Salfoh.
"But the dead body of his friend Al Akdam was found as a whole, but also completely burnt," he said.
Fahd Al Qusu has two sons and one daughter who are living now with the mother in Azzan in the border of Hudrmout. And his father and mother and brothers and sisters are living in Al Buraikah, Aden. His cousins are living in Ataq, the capital of Shabwah.
US has been hunting Fahd Al Qusu for about twelve years . Al Qusu was involved in the USS Cole bombing in 2000 when 17 sailors where killed. Al Qusu was the one who was assigned to film the bombing but he overslept and did not film.
In his last press interview last month, Al Qusu said they would continue fighting to restore "their" revolution that was hijacked by the political parties, referring to the protests for change in Yemen.
"The situation in Yemen has not changed, it is still as it was,...the parties hijacked the revolution of the Muslim people against the tyrant," said Al Qusu.
The new President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi is still a doll and the same troops are still killing Mujahideen, he said.
When he was killed on Sunday May 6, Al Qusu came to Rafadh from Azzan to negotiate with tribal medaitors about releasing Swiss woman and Saudi diplomat who were kidnapped by Al Qaeda last March.
One of the local trbal leaders who who mediates told the Weekly that Fahd Al Qusu put the conditions for relaseing the two hostages.
"Before Fahd Al Qusu died, he told me that Al Qaeda wanted 15 million dollars for releasing the Swiss woman, and they want eight women to be released from Saudi prisons to release the Saudi diplomat," said the tribal leader who preferred not to be named.
By Nasser Arrabyee,10/05/2012
Al Qaeda threatened to strike the interests of the American , Saudi and Yemeni governments in retaliation for the killing of Fahd Al Qusu, said relatives tribal leaders on Thursday.
Tribal leaders from Abdullah Bin Daha tribe, Fahd Al Qusu tribe which is one of Al Awlaki tribes , met on Wednesday with a delegation from Al Qaeda who came to Habban in Shabwah to pay tribute on the death of Fahd Al Qusu.
" Al Qaeda told us they would take revenge for the killing of Fahd Al Qusu who was killed by American-Saudi-Yemeni conspiracy," said a tribal leader who is relative to Fahd Al Qusu.
Earlier in the week, Al Qaeda comitted a new masscare against Yemeni army in retaliation for a top leader who was assassinated by a US drone hours after the newly elected President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi vowed to cleanse his country of terrorists.
To help help the repeatedly disappointed army, tribal and religious leaders from Hadi's tribes came to his Palace Monday May 7th, 2012, to show support against Al Qaeda which controls many areas in the south particularly Abyan, Hadi's home province.
Mohammed Al Shaddadi, deputy speaker of Parliament, originally from Abyan, came with representatives of tribesmen from all districts of Abyan. The cleric Ahmed Al Mualem, came with a group of clerics and mosque speakers from Abyan.
The two groups, who separately met Hadi, had different things to do for helping the government to defeat Al Qaeda. The tribesmen agreed with the President to form popular committee to help the army fight Al Qaeda like the committees already working in Lawdar district of the same province.
"Our ami is to deport all the foreigners from our areas, and then help the army to control," said Kasem Khaleel, one of the tribal leaders who attended the meeting.
"We would not allow any foreigner to stay in our villages and districts, and when we are done with this, we will call our people who are with Al Qaeda to surrender the heavy weapons by hook or by crook," he said.
"When they are like us, without heavy weapons, then dialogue can be held with them, and this is what was agreed upon in the meeting," Khaleel said.
The religious leaders would help to convince as many as possible of Al Qaeda supporters and sympathizes thoughtfully. "We will deliver to them the conditions of the government to stop the war on them, and we will do our best to convince them to give up and return to normal citizens," said Abdullah Noman, one of the clerics who attended the meeting.
On Sunday May 6th, 2012, one day after Hadi's speech in which vowed to defeat Al Qaeda, the most wanted senior leader of Al Qaeda was killed by a US drone attack in the souhern province of Shabwah. In retaliation , at least 22 soldiers were killed and 25 others detained in a surprise attack on two military positions at the outskirts of Zinjubar.
Al Qaeda implemented this attack almost in the same place where it attacked last March 4th, killing 185 soldiers and injuring 200 others and detaining 73.
The US officials said the assassinated Al Qaeda leader Fahd Al Qusu was plotting to bomb an airline over US in early May which marks the first anniversary of assassinating Osama Bin Laden.
The Al Qaeda senior leader Fahd Al Qusu was buried very early morning Monday in his village in Wadi Al Abyadh, Rafadh, Saeed district in Shabwah province, said the tribal leader Al Ahmar Salfoh, who attended the funeral and burial.
After the burial, the local tribal leaders decided not to make condolence ceremony in the same area of Rafadh in fear of more US drone attacks, according to Salfoh.
So, the condolence ceremony was held in Ataq, the capital of Shabwah, where the cousins of the slain Fahd Al Qusu are based.
The tribal leader said that Fahd Al Qusu arrived in Rafadh on Sunday at 10 am and stayed in the mosque nearby his house where he had lunch with his friend Nasser Salem Ali Al Akdam. " airplanes ( drones) were flying over the area all the time since he arrived," said Salfoh.
At about 5 pm they started to walk out from the mosque in the direction of the farm of Fahd in Wadi Al Abyadh which was only 1 km away.
At about 5:30 pm and when Al Qusu and his friend Al Kdam were about to arrive the farm, two missile were fired at them killing both of them. " One of the missiles hit Fahd directly cutting his body into pieces," said Salfoh.
"But the dead body of his friend Al Akdam was found as a whole, but also completely burnt," he said.
Fahd Al Qusu has two sons and one daughter who are living now with the mother in Azzan in the border of Hudrmout. And his father and mother and brothers and sisters are living in Al Buraikah, Aden. His cousins are living in Ataq, the capital of Shabwah.
US has been hunting Fahd Al Qusu for about twelve years . Al Qusu was involved in the USS Cole bombing in 2000 when 17 sailors where killed. Al Qusu was the one who was assigned to film the bombing but he overslept and did not film.
In his last press interview last month, Al Qusu said they would continue fighting to restore "their" revolution that was hijacked by the political parties, referring to the protests for change in Yemen.
"The situation in Yemen has not changed, it is still as it was,...the parties hijacked the revolution of the Muslim people against the tyrant," said Al Qusu.
The new President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi is still a doll and the same troops are still killing Mujahideen, he said.
When he was killed on Sunday May 6, Al Qusu came to Rafadh from Azzan to negotiate with tribal medaitors about releasing Swiss woman and Saudi diplomat who were kidnapped by Al Qaeda last March.
One of the local trbal leaders who who mediates told the Weekly that Fahd Al Qusu put the conditions for relaseing the two hostages.
"Before Fahd Al Qusu died, he told me that Al Qaeda wanted 15 million dollars for releasing the Swiss woman, and they want eight women to be released from Saudi prisons to release the Saudi diplomat," said the tribal leader who preferred not to be named.
Wednesday, 9 May 2012
Religious and tribal leaders try to rescue army from Al Qaeda
Religious and tribal leaders try to rescue army from Al Qaeda
By Nasser Arrabyee,09/05/2012
Al Qaeda comitted a new masscare against Yemeni army in retaliation for a top leader who was assassinated by a US drone hours after the newly elected President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi vowed to cleanse his country of terrorists.
To help help the repeatedly disappointed army, tribal and religious leaders from Hadi's tribes came to his Palace Monday May 7th, 2012, to show support against Al Qaeda which controls many areas in the south particularly Abyan, Hadi's home province.
Mohammed Al Shaddadi, deputy speaker of Parliament, originally from Abyan, came with representatives of tribesmen from all districts of Abyan. The cleric Ahmed Al Mualem, came with a group of clerics and mosque speakers from Abyan.
The two groups, who separately met Hadi, had different things to do for helping the government to defeat Al Qaeda. The tribesmen agreed with the President to form popular committee to help the army fight Al Qaeda like the committees already working in Lawdar district of the same province.
"Our ami is to deport all the foreigners from our areas, and then help the army to control," said Kasem Khaleel, one of the tribal leaders who attended the meeting.
"We would not allow any foreigner to stay in our villages and districts, and when we are done with this, we will call our people who are with Al Qaeda to surrender the heavy weapons by hook or by crook," he said.
"When they are like us, without heavy weapons, then dialogue can be held with them, and this is what was agreed upon in the meeting," Khaleel said.
The religious leaders would help to convince as many as possible of Al Qaeda supporters and sympathizes thoughtfully. "We will deliver to them the conditions of the government to stop the war on them, and we will do our best to convince them to give up and return to normal citizens," said Abdullah Noman, one of the clerics who attended the meeting.
On Sunday May 6th, 2012, one day after Hadi's speech in which vowed to defeat Al Qaeda, the most wanted senior leader of Al Qaeda was killed by a US drone attack in the souhern province of Shabwah. In retaliation , at least 22 soldiers were killed and 25 others detained in a surprise attack on two military positions at the outskirts of Zinjubar.
Al Qaeda implemented this attack almost in the same place where it attacked last March 4th, killing 185 soldiers and injuring 200 others and detaining 73.
The US officials said the assassinated Al Qaeda leader Fahd Al Qusu was plotting to bomb an airline over US in early May which marks the first anniversary of assassinating Osama Bin Laden.
The Al Qaeda senior leader Fahd Al Qusu was buried very early morning Monday in his village in Wadi Al Abyadh, Rafadh, Saeed district in Shabwah province, said the tribal leader Al Ahmar Salfoh, who attended the funeral and burial.
After the burial, the local tribal leaders decided not to make condolence ceremony in the same area of Rafadh in fear of more US drone attacks, according to Salfoh.
So, the condolence ceremony was held in Ataq, the capital of Shabwah, where the cousins of the slain Fahd Al Qusu are based.
The tribal leader said that Fahd Al Qusu arrived in Rafadh on Sunday at 10 am and stayed in the mosque nearby his house where he had lunch with his friend Nasser Salem Ali Al Akdam. " airplanes ( drones) were flying over the area all the time since he arrived," said Salfoh.
At about 5 pm they started to walk out from the mosque in the direction of the farm of Fahd in Wadi Al Abyadh which was only 1 km away.
At about 5:30 pm and when Al Qusu and his friend Al Kdam were about to arrive the farm, two missile were fired at them killing both of them. " One of the missiles hit Fahd directly cutting his body into pieces," said Salfoh.
"But the dead body of his friend Al Akdam was found as a whole, but also completely burnt," he said.
Fahd Al Qusu has two sons and one daughter who are living now with the mother in Azzan in the border of Hudrmout. And his father and mother and brothers and sisters are living in Al Buraikah, Aden. His cousins are living in Ataq, the capital of Shabwah.
US has been hunting Fahd Al Qusu for about twelve years . Al Qusu was involved in the USS Cole bombing in 2000 when 17 sailors where killed. Al Qusu was the one who was assigned to film the bombing but he overslept and did not film.
In his last press interview last month, Al Qusu said they would continue fighting to restore "their" revolution that was hijacked by the political parties, referring to the protests for change in Yemen.
"The situation in Yemen has not changed, it is still as it was,...the parties hijacked the revolution of the Muslim people against the tyrant," said Al Qusu.
The new President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi is still a doll and the same troops are still killing Mujahideen, he said.
When he was killed on Sunday May 6, Al Qusu came to Rafadh from Azzan to negotiate with tribal medaitors about releasing Swiss woman and Saudi diplomat who were kidnapped by Al Qaeda last March.
One of the local trbal leaders who who mediates told the Weekly that Fahd Al Qusu put the conditions for relaseing the two hostages.
"Before Fahd Al Qusu died, he told me that Al Qaeda wanted 15 million dollars for releasing the Swiss woman, and they want eight women to be released from Saudi prisons to release the Saudi diplomat," said the tribal leader who preferred not to be named.
By Nasser Arrabyee,09/05/2012
Al Qaeda comitted a new masscare against Yemeni army in retaliation for a top leader who was assassinated by a US drone hours after the newly elected President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi vowed to cleanse his country of terrorists.
To help help the repeatedly disappointed army, tribal and religious leaders from Hadi's tribes came to his Palace Monday May 7th, 2012, to show support against Al Qaeda which controls many areas in the south particularly Abyan, Hadi's home province.
Mohammed Al Shaddadi, deputy speaker of Parliament, originally from Abyan, came with representatives of tribesmen from all districts of Abyan. The cleric Ahmed Al Mualem, came with a group of clerics and mosque speakers from Abyan.
The two groups, who separately met Hadi, had different things to do for helping the government to defeat Al Qaeda. The tribesmen agreed with the President to form popular committee to help the army fight Al Qaeda like the committees already working in Lawdar district of the same province.
"Our ami is to deport all the foreigners from our areas, and then help the army to control," said Kasem Khaleel, one of the tribal leaders who attended the meeting.
"We would not allow any foreigner to stay in our villages and districts, and when we are done with this, we will call our people who are with Al Qaeda to surrender the heavy weapons by hook or by crook," he said.
"When they are like us, without heavy weapons, then dialogue can be held with them, and this is what was agreed upon in the meeting," Khaleel said.
The religious leaders would help to convince as many as possible of Al Qaeda supporters and sympathizes thoughtfully. "We will deliver to them the conditions of the government to stop the war on them, and we will do our best to convince them to give up and return to normal citizens," said Abdullah Noman, one of the clerics who attended the meeting.
On Sunday May 6th, 2012, one day after Hadi's speech in which vowed to defeat Al Qaeda, the most wanted senior leader of Al Qaeda was killed by a US drone attack in the souhern province of Shabwah. In retaliation , at least 22 soldiers were killed and 25 others detained in a surprise attack on two military positions at the outskirts of Zinjubar.
Al Qaeda implemented this attack almost in the same place where it attacked last March 4th, killing 185 soldiers and injuring 200 others and detaining 73.
The US officials said the assassinated Al Qaeda leader Fahd Al Qusu was plotting to bomb an airline over US in early May which marks the first anniversary of assassinating Osama Bin Laden.
The Al Qaeda senior leader Fahd Al Qusu was buried very early morning Monday in his village in Wadi Al Abyadh, Rafadh, Saeed district in Shabwah province, said the tribal leader Al Ahmar Salfoh, who attended the funeral and burial.
After the burial, the local tribal leaders decided not to make condolence ceremony in the same area of Rafadh in fear of more US drone attacks, according to Salfoh.
So, the condolence ceremony was held in Ataq, the capital of Shabwah, where the cousins of the slain Fahd Al Qusu are based.
The tribal leader said that Fahd Al Qusu arrived in Rafadh on Sunday at 10 am and stayed in the mosque nearby his house where he had lunch with his friend Nasser Salem Ali Al Akdam. " airplanes ( drones) were flying over the area all the time since he arrived," said Salfoh.
At about 5 pm they started to walk out from the mosque in the direction of the farm of Fahd in Wadi Al Abyadh which was only 1 km away.
At about 5:30 pm and when Al Qusu and his friend Al Kdam were about to arrive the farm, two missile were fired at them killing both of them. " One of the missiles hit Fahd directly cutting his body into pieces," said Salfoh.
"But the dead body of his friend Al Akdam was found as a whole, but also completely burnt," he said.
Fahd Al Qusu has two sons and one daughter who are living now with the mother in Azzan in the border of Hudrmout. And his father and mother and brothers and sisters are living in Al Buraikah, Aden. His cousins are living in Ataq, the capital of Shabwah.
US has been hunting Fahd Al Qusu for about twelve years . Al Qusu was involved in the USS Cole bombing in 2000 when 17 sailors where killed. Al Qusu was the one who was assigned to film the bombing but he overslept and did not film.
In his last press interview last month, Al Qusu said they would continue fighting to restore "their" revolution that was hijacked by the political parties, referring to the protests for change in Yemen.
"The situation in Yemen has not changed, it is still as it was,...the parties hijacked the revolution of the Muslim people against the tyrant," said Al Qusu.
The new President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi is still a doll and the same troops are still killing Mujahideen, he said.
When he was killed on Sunday May 6, Al Qusu came to Rafadh from Azzan to negotiate with tribal medaitors about releasing Swiss woman and Saudi diplomat who were kidnapped by Al Qaeda last March.
One of the local trbal leaders who who mediates told the Weekly that Fahd Al Qusu put the conditions for relaseing the two hostages.
"Before Fahd Al Qusu died, he told me that Al Qaeda wanted 15 million dollars for releasing the Swiss woman, and they want eight women to be released from Saudi prisons to release the Saudi diplomat," said the tribal leader who preferred not to be named.
Monday, 7 May 2012
Al Qaeda closed 66 schools and killed children in south Yemen
Source: UNICEF, 07/05/2012
All 66 schools in Lawder district, Abyan governorate, have been closed since 9 April due to fighting between government forces and Ansar Al-Sharia militants, following an attack on Lawder town by the Al-Qaida affiliated group.
· Four children (4 girls) were reportedly killed in Abyan and Sa’ada and five children (4 boys and 1 girl) were injured in Abyan, Lahj and Hajjah governorates. Out of these incidents, three girls were killed in Lawder district, Abyan, in alleged mortar fire by Ansar Al-Sharia, and one girl was killed and one boy and one girl were injured in mine/UXO incidents in Sa'ada and in Ahim, Hajjah governorate.
· Urban water and sanitation systems are facing continuous deterioration in service quality and coverage, especially in Aden and Taiz, as a result of power cuts and a lack of financial resources and maintenance.
· The integrated measles, polio and vitamin A supplementation campaign targeting over 8.2 million children (6 mo. to 10 years) achieved a coverage rate of 94%, 90% and 85% for measles, polio and vitamin A, respectively. The number of reported measles cases fell to 106, with zero death.
All 66 schools in Lawder district, Abyan governorate, have been closed since 9 April due to fighting between government forces and Ansar Al-Sharia militants, following an attack on Lawder town by the Al-Qaida affiliated group.
· Four children (4 girls) were reportedly killed in Abyan and Sa’ada and five children (4 boys and 1 girl) were injured in Abyan, Lahj and Hajjah governorates. Out of these incidents, three girls were killed in Lawder district, Abyan, in alleged mortar fire by Ansar Al-Sharia, and one girl was killed and one boy and one girl were injured in mine/UXO incidents in Sa'ada and in Ahim, Hajjah governorate.
· Urban water and sanitation systems are facing continuous deterioration in service quality and coverage, especially in Aden and Taiz, as a result of power cuts and a lack of financial resources and maintenance.
· The integrated measles, polio and vitamin A supplementation campaign targeting over 8.2 million children (6 mo. to 10 years) achieved a coverage rate of 94%, 90% and 85% for measles, polio and vitamin A, respectively. The number of reported measles cases fell to 106, with zero death.
In a new massacre, Al Qaeda kills 20 soldiers
By Nasser Arrabyee, 07/05/2012
A total of 21 dead bodies of soldiers were found today after Al Qaeda implemented a surprise attack on two military positions at the outskirts of Zinjubar, said local medics sources Monday.
10 dead bodies of soldiers were found in the position of Husn Jafar, and 11 other dead bodies were found at the position of Isteraht Mashhoor. The two positions are located between Al Kud and Zinjubar, said military sources.
About 40 killed and injured soldiers arrived in the hospital of Ba Suhaib in Aden this morning, said medical sources in the hospital.
At least 25 soldiers were detained, three tanks were looted, three vehicles, artillery and machine guns were also looted in this attack.
Only one day after President Hadi vowed to cleanse the whole country of terrorists, Al Qaeda implemented this attack almost in the same place where it attacked last March 4th, killing 185 soldiers and injuring 200 others and detaining 73.
The attack came only hours after the senior Al Qaeda leader Fahd Al Qusu was killed in a US drone attack in the area of Rafadh, in the neighboring province of Shabwah.
A total of 21 dead bodies of soldiers were found today after Al Qaeda implemented a surprise attack on two military positions at the outskirts of Zinjubar, said local medics sources Monday.
10 dead bodies of soldiers were found in the position of Husn Jafar, and 11 other dead bodies were found at the position of Isteraht Mashhoor. The two positions are located between Al Kud and Zinjubar, said military sources.
About 40 killed and injured soldiers arrived in the hospital of Ba Suhaib in Aden this morning, said medical sources in the hospital.
At least 25 soldiers were detained, three tanks were looted, three vehicles, artillery and machine guns were also looted in this attack.
Only one day after President Hadi vowed to cleanse the whole country of terrorists, Al Qaeda implemented this attack almost in the same place where it attacked last March 4th, killing 185 soldiers and injuring 200 others and detaining 73.
The attack came only hours after the senior Al Qaeda leader Fahd Al Qusu was killed in a US drone attack in the area of Rafadh, in the neighboring province of Shabwah.
Top Al Qaeda leader buried after attacked by US drone
By Nasser Arrabyee, 07/05/2012
The Al Qaeda senior leader Fahd Al Qusu was buried very early morning Monday in his village in Wadi Al Abyadh, Rafadh, Saeed district in Shabwah province, said the tribal leader Al Ahmar Salfoh, who attended the funeral and burial.
After the burial, the local tribal leaders decided not to make condolence ceremony in the same area of Rafadh in fear of more US drone attacks, according to Salfoh.
So, the condolence ceremony is to be held today Monday in Ataq, the capital of Shabwah, where the cousins of the slain Fahd Al Qusu are based.
The tribal leader said that Fahd Al Qusu arrived in Rafadh on Sunday at 10 am and stayed in the mosque nearby his house where he had lunch with his friend Nasser Salem Ali Al Akdam. " airplanes were flying over the area all the time since he arrived," said Salfoh.
At about 5 pm they started to walk out from the mosque in the direction of the farm of Fahd in Wadi Al Abyadh which was only 1 km away.
At about 5:30 pm and when Al Qusu and his friend Al Kdam were about to arrive the farm, two missile were fired at them killing both of them. " One of the missiles hit Fahd directly cutting his body into pieces," said Salfoh.
"But the dead body of his friend Al Akdam was found as a whole, but also completely burnt," he said.
Fahd Al Qusu has two sons and one daughter who are living now with the mother in Azzan in the border of Hudrmout. And his father and mother and brothers and sisters are living in Al Buraikah, Aden. His cousins are living in Ataq, the capital of Shabwah.
An Al Qaeda top leader was killed with three other terrorists in a US drone attack in the southern province of Shabwah late Sunday, said sources from the site of the attack.
Fahd Al Qusu, the third most wanted for US after bin Laden and Anwar Al Awlaki, was killed with three other operatives when US drone attacked them in the area of Rafadh, in the southern province of Shabwah. US has been searching for Fahd Al Qusu for about twelve years .
Al Qusu was involved in the USS Cole bombing in 2000 when 19 sailors where killed. Al Qusu was the one who was assigned by to film the bombing but he overslept and did not film.
In his last press interview last month, Al Qusu said they would continue fighting to restore "their" revolution that was hijacked by the political parties, referring to the protests for change in Yemen.
"The situation in Yemen has not changed, it is still as it was,...the parties hijacked the revolution of the Muslim people against the tyrant," said Fahd Al Qusu, one of the top leaders of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsular AQAP).
The new President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi is still a doll and the same troops are still killing Mujahideen, he said.
"So, for us, we will not stop Jihad, until Islamic Shariah becomes the ruler," said Al Qusu in an interview conducted with by the Aden-based journalist Anis Mansour, who sent some quotes to 'Nasser Arrabyee' website.
Al Qusu, who is wanted for the CIA for involving in the USS Cole bombing in 2000 in Aden harbor, said that the tribesmen who are fighting them now in Lawdar are only "mercenaries".
" It is the mercenaries of the Lawdar committees who started the war against our Mujahideen," Said Al Qusu in an obvious reference to the Anti-Al Qaeda popular committees in Lawdar, where fierce battles have been going on for about one month now.
The Al Qaeda senior leader denied the reports about hundreds of Al Qaeda fighters were killed during the ongoing war in Lawdar over the few last weeks.
"Only 11 Mujahideen won the martyrdom, some of them are from Mujahideen of Lawdar," he said.
Al Qaeda asked for 15 million dollars as a ransom for releasing a Swiss woman, said a source close to the kidnappers on Sunday.
And Al Qaeda also asked for the release of eight women in Saudi prisons in return for releasing the Saudi diplomat. Al Qaeda kidnapped the Swiss woman and Saudi diplomat last March.
Earlier on Sunday, the deputy minister of interior Mohammed Abdullah Al Kawsi, said the two hostages the Saudi and the Swiss would be released within 24 hours.
" What I know is Al Qaeda wants 15 million dollars for releasing the Swiss woman, and they want the release of eight women from prisons of Saudi Arabia for them to release the Saudi diplomat," said one the rival leaders in Shabwah who is in contact with the kidnappers.
"This is what they told me yesterday, if the hostages are released today as Al Kawsi said this means that their conditions were met," said the tribal leader.
Meanwhile, two American military airplanes arrived Saturday in Al Anad Base in Lahj province, with Marines and equipments on board, said military sources Monday.
A group of well-trained snipers arrived in Lawdar to participate in the battles against Al Qaeda which started early last month, the sources said.
The Al Qaeda senior leader Fahd Al Qusu was buried very early morning Monday in his village in Wadi Al Abyadh, Rafadh, Saeed district in Shabwah province, said the tribal leader Al Ahmar Salfoh, who attended the funeral and burial.
After the burial, the local tribal leaders decided not to make condolence ceremony in the same area of Rafadh in fear of more US drone attacks, according to Salfoh.
So, the condolence ceremony is to be held today Monday in Ataq, the capital of Shabwah, where the cousins of the slain Fahd Al Qusu are based.
The tribal leader said that Fahd Al Qusu arrived in Rafadh on Sunday at 10 am and stayed in the mosque nearby his house where he had lunch with his friend Nasser Salem Ali Al Akdam. " airplanes were flying over the area all the time since he arrived," said Salfoh.
At about 5 pm they started to walk out from the mosque in the direction of the farm of Fahd in Wadi Al Abyadh which was only 1 km away.
At about 5:30 pm and when Al Qusu and his friend Al Kdam were about to arrive the farm, two missile were fired at them killing both of them. " One of the missiles hit Fahd directly cutting his body into pieces," said Salfoh.
"But the dead body of his friend Al Akdam was found as a whole, but also completely burnt," he said.
Fahd Al Qusu has two sons and one daughter who are living now with the mother in Azzan in the border of Hudrmout. And his father and mother and brothers and sisters are living in Al Buraikah, Aden. His cousins are living in Ataq, the capital of Shabwah.
An Al Qaeda top leader was killed with three other terrorists in a US drone attack in the southern province of Shabwah late Sunday, said sources from the site of the attack.
Fahd Al Qusu, the third most wanted for US after bin Laden and Anwar Al Awlaki, was killed with three other operatives when US drone attacked them in the area of Rafadh, in the southern province of Shabwah. US has been searching for Fahd Al Qusu for about twelve years .
Al Qusu was involved in the USS Cole bombing in 2000 when 19 sailors where killed. Al Qusu was the one who was assigned by to film the bombing but he overslept and did not film.
In his last press interview last month, Al Qusu said they would continue fighting to restore "their" revolution that was hijacked by the political parties, referring to the protests for change in Yemen.
"The situation in Yemen has not changed, it is still as it was,...the parties hijacked the revolution of the Muslim people against the tyrant," said Fahd Al Qusu, one of the top leaders of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsular AQAP).
The new President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi is still a doll and the same troops are still killing Mujahideen, he said.
"So, for us, we will not stop Jihad, until Islamic Shariah becomes the ruler," said Al Qusu in an interview conducted with by the Aden-based journalist Anis Mansour, who sent some quotes to 'Nasser Arrabyee' website.
Al Qusu, who is wanted for the CIA for involving in the USS Cole bombing in 2000 in Aden harbor, said that the tribesmen who are fighting them now in Lawdar are only "mercenaries".
" It is the mercenaries of the Lawdar committees who started the war against our Mujahideen," Said Al Qusu in an obvious reference to the Anti-Al Qaeda popular committees in Lawdar, where fierce battles have been going on for about one month now.
The Al Qaeda senior leader denied the reports about hundreds of Al Qaeda fighters were killed during the ongoing war in Lawdar over the few last weeks.
"Only 11 Mujahideen won the martyrdom, some of them are from Mujahideen of Lawdar," he said.
Al Qaeda asked for 15 million dollars as a ransom for releasing a Swiss woman, said a source close to the kidnappers on Sunday.
And Al Qaeda also asked for the release of eight women in Saudi prisons in return for releasing the Saudi diplomat. Al Qaeda kidnapped the Swiss woman and Saudi diplomat last March.
Earlier on Sunday, the deputy minister of interior Mohammed Abdullah Al Kawsi, said the two hostages the Saudi and the Swiss would be released within 24 hours.
" What I know is Al Qaeda wants 15 million dollars for releasing the Swiss woman, and they want the release of eight women from prisons of Saudi Arabia for them to release the Saudi diplomat," said one the rival leaders in Shabwah who is in contact with the kidnappers.
"This is what they told me yesterday, if the hostages are released today as Al Kawsi said this means that their conditions were met," said the tribal leader.
Meanwhile, two American military airplanes arrived Saturday in Al Anad Base in Lahj province, with Marines and equipments on board, said military sources Monday.
A group of well-trained snipers arrived in Lawdar to participate in the battles against Al Qaeda which started early last month, the sources said.
Sunday, 6 May 2012
US drone killed one of the most wanted terrorist for CIA in Yemen
By Nasser Arrabyee, 06/05/2012
An Al Qaeda top leader was killed with three other terrorists in a US drone attack in the southern province of Shabwah late Sunday, said sources from the site of the attack.
Fahd Al Qusu, the third most wanted for US after bin Laden and Anwar Al Awlaki, was killed with three other operatives when US drone attacked them in the area of Rafadh, in the southern province of Shabwah, said sources from the site of the attack.
US has been searching for Fahd Al Qusu for about twelve years .
Al Qusu was involved in the USS Cole bombing in 2000 when 19 sailors where killed. Al Qusu was the one who was assigned by to film the bombing but he overslept and did not film.
In his last press interview last month, Al Qusu said they would continue fighting to restore "their" revolution that was hijacked by the political parties, referring to the protests for change in Yemen.
"The situation in Yemen has not changed, it is still as it was,...the parties hijacked the revolution of the Muslim people against the tyrant," said Fahd Al Qusu, one of the top leaders of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsular AQAP).
The new President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi is still a doll and the same troops are still killing Mujahideen, he said.
"So, for us, we will not stop Jihad, until Islamic Shariah becomes the ruler," said Al Qusu in an interview conducted with by the Aden-based journalist Anis Mansour, who sent some quotes to 'Nasser Arrabyee' website.
Al Qusu, who is wanted for the CIA for involving in the USS Cole bombing in 2000 in Aden harbor, said that the tribesmen who are fighting them now in Lawdar are only "mercenaries".
" It is the mercenaries of the Lawdar committees who started the war against our Mujahideen," Said Al Qusu in an obvious reference to the Anti-Al Qaeda popular committees in Lawdar, where fierce battles have been going on for about one month now.
The Al Qaeda senior leader denied the reports about hundreds of Al Qaeda fighters were killed during the ongoing war in Lawdar over the few last weeks.
"Only 11 Mujahideen won the martyrdom, some of them are from Mujahideen of Lawdar," he said.
Al Qaeda asked for 15 million dollars as a ransom for releasing a Swiss woman, said a source close to the kidnappers on Sunday.
And Al Qaeda also asked for the release of eight women in Saudi prisons in return for releasing the Saudi diplomat. Al Qaeda kidnapped the Swiss woman and Saudi diplomat last March.
Earlier on Sunday, the deputy minister of interior Mohammed Abdullah Al Kawsi, said the two hostages the Saudi and the Swiss would be released within 24 hours.
" What I know is Al Qaeda wants 15 million dollars for releasing the Swiss woman, and they want the release of eight women from prisons of Saudi Arabia for them to release the Saudi diplomat," said one the rival leaders in Shabwah who is in contact with the kidnappers.
"This is what they told me yesterday, if the hostages are released today as Al Kawsi said this means that their conditions were met," said the tribal leader.
Meanwhile, two American military airplanes arrived Saturday in Al Anad Base in Lahj province, with Marines and equipments on board, said military sources Monday.
A group of well-trained snipers arrived in Lawdar to participate in the battles against Al Qaeda which started early last month, the sources said.
An Al Qaeda top leader was killed with three other terrorists in a US drone attack in the southern province of Shabwah late Sunday, said sources from the site of the attack.
Fahd Al Qusu, the third most wanted for US after bin Laden and Anwar Al Awlaki, was killed with three other operatives when US drone attacked them in the area of Rafadh, in the southern province of Shabwah, said sources from the site of the attack.
US has been searching for Fahd Al Qusu for about twelve years .
Al Qusu was involved in the USS Cole bombing in 2000 when 19 sailors where killed. Al Qusu was the one who was assigned by to film the bombing but he overslept and did not film.
In his last press interview last month, Al Qusu said they would continue fighting to restore "their" revolution that was hijacked by the political parties, referring to the protests for change in Yemen.
"The situation in Yemen has not changed, it is still as it was,...the parties hijacked the revolution of the Muslim people against the tyrant," said Fahd Al Qusu, one of the top leaders of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsular AQAP).
The new President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi is still a doll and the same troops are still killing Mujahideen, he said.
"So, for us, we will not stop Jihad, until Islamic Shariah becomes the ruler," said Al Qusu in an interview conducted with by the Aden-based journalist Anis Mansour, who sent some quotes to 'Nasser Arrabyee' website.
Al Qusu, who is wanted for the CIA for involving in the USS Cole bombing in 2000 in Aden harbor, said that the tribesmen who are fighting them now in Lawdar are only "mercenaries".
" It is the mercenaries of the Lawdar committees who started the war against our Mujahideen," Said Al Qusu in an obvious reference to the Anti-Al Qaeda popular committees in Lawdar, where fierce battles have been going on for about one month now.
The Al Qaeda senior leader denied the reports about hundreds of Al Qaeda fighters were killed during the ongoing war in Lawdar over the few last weeks.
"Only 11 Mujahideen won the martyrdom, some of them are from Mujahideen of Lawdar," he said.
Al Qaeda asked for 15 million dollars as a ransom for releasing a Swiss woman, said a source close to the kidnappers on Sunday.
And Al Qaeda also asked for the release of eight women in Saudi prisons in return for releasing the Saudi diplomat. Al Qaeda kidnapped the Swiss woman and Saudi diplomat last March.
Earlier on Sunday, the deputy minister of interior Mohammed Abdullah Al Kawsi, said the two hostages the Saudi and the Swiss would be released within 24 hours.
" What I know is Al Qaeda wants 15 million dollars for releasing the Swiss woman, and they want the release of eight women from prisons of Saudi Arabia for them to release the Saudi diplomat," said one the rival leaders in Shabwah who is in contact with the kidnappers.
"This is what they told me yesterday, if the hostages are released today as Al Kawsi said this means that their conditions were met," said the tribal leader.
Meanwhile, two American military airplanes arrived Saturday in Al Anad Base in Lahj province, with Marines and equipments on board, said military sources Monday.
A group of well-trained snipers arrived in Lawdar to participate in the battles against Al Qaeda which started early last month, the sources said.
Al Qaeda wants 15$ million for releasing Swiss hostage, and even harder conditions for releasing the Saudi diplomat
Al Qaeda wants 15$ million for releasing Swiss hostage, and even harder conditions for releasing the Saudi diplomat
By Nasser Arrabyee, 06/05/2012
Al Qaeda asked for 15 million dollars as a ransom for releasing a Swiss woman, said a source close to the kidnappers on Sunday.
And Al Qaeda also asked for the release of eight women in Saudi prisons in return for releasing the Saudi diplomat. Al Qaeda kidnapped the Swiss woman and Saudi diplomat last March.
Earlier on Sunday, the deputy minister of interior Mohammed Abdullah Al Kawsi, said the two hostages the Saudi and the Swiss would be released within 24 hours.
" What I know is Al Qaeda wants 15 million dollars for releasing the Swiss woman, and they want the release of eight women from prisons of Saudi Arabia for them to release the Saudi diplomat," said one the rival leaders in Shabwah who is in contact with the kidnappers.
"This is what they told me yesterday, if the hostages are released today as Al Kawsi said this means that their conditions were met," said the tribal leader.
Meanwhile, two American military airplanes arrived Saturday in Al Anad Base in Lahj province, with Marines and equipments on board, said military sources Monday.
A group of well-trained snipers arrived in Lawdar to participate in the battles against Al Qaeda which started early last month, the sources said.
By Nasser Arrabyee, 06/05/2012
Al Qaeda asked for 15 million dollars as a ransom for releasing a Swiss woman, said a source close to the kidnappers on Sunday.
And Al Qaeda also asked for the release of eight women in Saudi prisons in return for releasing the Saudi diplomat. Al Qaeda kidnapped the Swiss woman and Saudi diplomat last March.
Earlier on Sunday, the deputy minister of interior Mohammed Abdullah Al Kawsi, said the two hostages the Saudi and the Swiss would be released within 24 hours.
" What I know is Al Qaeda wants 15 million dollars for releasing the Swiss woman, and they want the release of eight women from prisons of Saudi Arabia for them to release the Saudi diplomat," said one the rival leaders in Shabwah who is in contact with the kidnappers.
"This is what they told me yesterday, if the hostages are released today as Al Kawsi said this means that their conditions were met," said the tribal leader.
Meanwhile, two American military airplanes arrived Saturday in Al Anad Base in Lahj province, with Marines and equipments on board, said military sources Monday.
A group of well-trained snipers arrived in Lawdar to participate in the battles against Al Qaeda which started early last month, the sources said.
Thursday, 3 May 2012
In Yemen: The coming regime: a civil or religious state?
Source: Bitterlemons-International,
By Nasser Arrabyee,03/05/2012
Yemen now faces a new political reality, but one not yet better than before. Yemenis' long-wished-for dream of establishing a civil state where liberties and rights are guaranteed to every citizen has not yet been realized.
Former President Ali Abdullah Saleh is now gone from power, but his party still holds 50 percent of the ministerial seats in the unity government and a majority of the parliament. President Hadi himself is still secretary general of Saleh's party. And Saleh remains the head of that party (even though he is trying to be solely "honorary"--busy with sports, socializing with normal people, and writing his memoirs). He is now writing his life story about the 33 years he spent "dancing on the heads of snakes" (which was how he always used to refer to ruling Yemen).
This means that the parties that conflicted during the political crisis are those same parties that will establish the civil state--if they remain balanced through regional and international support. Maintaining Saleh's semi-secular party is at the heart of this balance and prevents Islamist-extremist dominance.
On November 23 last year, Saleh and his opponents signed in Riyadh a deal sponsored by Saudi Arabia and strongly supported by the United States for a peaceful, smooth, orderly and constitutional transfer of power by Saleh. The United Nations Security Council issued Resolution 2014 to support the deal's implementation and sent special envoy Jamal Bin Omar to help end the crisis.
Both Saudi Arabia and the US did not want al-Qaeda (which mainly threatens both of them) to exploit ongoing chaos to expand and recruit. They were and remain the key supporters of this political solution for Yemen's crisis.
The deal, known as the Gulf Cooperation Council Initiative, or GCC Initiative, calls for a step-by-step plan over two years and gives immunity from future prosecution to Saleh and all key conflicting players in Saleh's regime. A unity government was then formed between Saleh's party and the opposition coalition behind the anti-Saleh protests. Early elections were held on February 21, 2012, about two years before the true end of Saleh's term.
Now elected President Hadi has to complete three more major steps before the end of the transitional period in February 2014. The most important of these is a comprehensive national dialogue including even those who did not sign the GCC initiative, such as the Houthis in the north and separatist groups in the south.
The army is to be reformed under one leadership and a new constitution drafted before the 2014 presidential elections. These elections must be truly free and fair and open to all, not like the elections this year, which had only one consensus candidate--Hadi, Saleh's deputy for 18 years--crowned by the exhausted political parties.
Without sincere cooperation from all political parties and influential tribal, religious, and military figures, President Hadi will not be able to finish implementation of the GCC initiative. Only completion of all steps of the deal will rescue Yemen from a slide into civil war and utter chaos.
As such, Yemen faces three possible scenarios from now until February 2014. The best and most desirable to the majority, especially the modern forces, is the establishment of a civil state with real constitutional guarantees. All problems facing President Hadi can be solved if he can contain the military defectors under leadership of General Ali Muhsen and the tribal defectors under leadership of Hamid Al-Ahmar and his family.
These two leaders were the main pillars in Saleh's regime before they hijacked the "change revolution" to replace Saleh and exclude his son. Saleh's son, Ahmed, remains the commander of most of the army and the highly-trained republican guards and special forces.
As such, this scenario will not come easily. It faces almost the same big "snakes" that prevented former President Saleh from establishing the real institutions of a civil state. Tribal, religious, and military figures continue to wait to reap the spoils of this "civil state" to their advantage or that of their relatives. (With the exception of the terrorist al-Qaeda, almost all parties advocate for the civil state--but with different visions.)
The worst scenario would be the failure of the GCC political settlement, resulting in an uncontrollable civil war. This failure, if it happens, will be a victory for the enemies of the civil state and those who want to establish a religious state, or the "Islamic Caliphate" called for by cleric Abdul Majid al-Zandani, an influential religious leader who also publicly rejects the civil state. Al-Zandani is also a key leader of the country's largest Islamist party, Islah, which dominates among the six main parties that share in the current government with Saleh's party.
Al-Qaeda will take the lead in establishing this purported caliphate by expanding and recruiting as it did in the absence of the state during the 2011 protests. Al-Qaeda will use its sympathizers more than its operatives to achieve its goals, which is more dangerous than recruiting direct affiliates. A sympathizer with al-Qaeda is not necessarily ideologically supportive, but supportive as a result of social and economic problems.
The third scenario lies between the best and worst, and is the most likely to happen. The conflicting parties may maintain the current balance until 2014 and even beyond--not in order to establish the civil state but to reproduce themselves as "snakes" creeping under and around a new dancing president who will either do their bidding or impose himself on them as Saleh did in the past. This scenario is more plausible, being easier, less costly and more familiar to the traditional forces (tribal, religious, and military) trying to reproduce themselves under the banner of the "civil state".-Published 3/5/2012 © bitterlemons-international.org
By Nasser Arrabyee,03/05/2012
Yemen now faces a new political reality, but one not yet better than before. Yemenis' long-wished-for dream of establishing a civil state where liberties and rights are guaranteed to every citizen has not yet been realized.
Former President Ali Abdullah Saleh is now gone from power, but his party still holds 50 percent of the ministerial seats in the unity government and a majority of the parliament. President Hadi himself is still secretary general of Saleh's party. And Saleh remains the head of that party (even though he is trying to be solely "honorary"--busy with sports, socializing with normal people, and writing his memoirs). He is now writing his life story about the 33 years he spent "dancing on the heads of snakes" (which was how he always used to refer to ruling Yemen).
This means that the parties that conflicted during the political crisis are those same parties that will establish the civil state--if they remain balanced through regional and international support. Maintaining Saleh's semi-secular party is at the heart of this balance and prevents Islamist-extremist dominance.
On November 23 last year, Saleh and his opponents signed in Riyadh a deal sponsored by Saudi Arabia and strongly supported by the United States for a peaceful, smooth, orderly and constitutional transfer of power by Saleh. The United Nations Security Council issued Resolution 2014 to support the deal's implementation and sent special envoy Jamal Bin Omar to help end the crisis.
Both Saudi Arabia and the US did not want al-Qaeda (which mainly threatens both of them) to exploit ongoing chaos to expand and recruit. They were and remain the key supporters of this political solution for Yemen's crisis.
The deal, known as the Gulf Cooperation Council Initiative, or GCC Initiative, calls for a step-by-step plan over two years and gives immunity from future prosecution to Saleh and all key conflicting players in Saleh's regime. A unity government was then formed between Saleh's party and the opposition coalition behind the anti-Saleh protests. Early elections were held on February 21, 2012, about two years before the true end of Saleh's term.
Now elected President Hadi has to complete three more major steps before the end of the transitional period in February 2014. The most important of these is a comprehensive national dialogue including even those who did not sign the GCC initiative, such as the Houthis in the north and separatist groups in the south.
The army is to be reformed under one leadership and a new constitution drafted before the 2014 presidential elections. These elections must be truly free and fair and open to all, not like the elections this year, which had only one consensus candidate--Hadi, Saleh's deputy for 18 years--crowned by the exhausted political parties.
Without sincere cooperation from all political parties and influential tribal, religious, and military figures, President Hadi will not be able to finish implementation of the GCC initiative. Only completion of all steps of the deal will rescue Yemen from a slide into civil war and utter chaos.
As such, Yemen faces three possible scenarios from now until February 2014. The best and most desirable to the majority, especially the modern forces, is the establishment of a civil state with real constitutional guarantees. All problems facing President Hadi can be solved if he can contain the military defectors under leadership of General Ali Muhsen and the tribal defectors under leadership of Hamid Al-Ahmar and his family.
These two leaders were the main pillars in Saleh's regime before they hijacked the "change revolution" to replace Saleh and exclude his son. Saleh's son, Ahmed, remains the commander of most of the army and the highly-trained republican guards and special forces.
As such, this scenario will not come easily. It faces almost the same big "snakes" that prevented former President Saleh from establishing the real institutions of a civil state. Tribal, religious, and military figures continue to wait to reap the spoils of this "civil state" to their advantage or that of their relatives. (With the exception of the terrorist al-Qaeda, almost all parties advocate for the civil state--but with different visions.)
The worst scenario would be the failure of the GCC political settlement, resulting in an uncontrollable civil war. This failure, if it happens, will be a victory for the enemies of the civil state and those who want to establish a religious state, or the "Islamic Caliphate" called for by cleric Abdul Majid al-Zandani, an influential religious leader who also publicly rejects the civil state. Al-Zandani is also a key leader of the country's largest Islamist party, Islah, which dominates among the six main parties that share in the current government with Saleh's party.
Al-Qaeda will take the lead in establishing this purported caliphate by expanding and recruiting as it did in the absence of the state during the 2011 protests. Al-Qaeda will use its sympathizers more than its operatives to achieve its goals, which is more dangerous than recruiting direct affiliates. A sympathizer with al-Qaeda is not necessarily ideologically supportive, but supportive as a result of social and economic problems.
The third scenario lies between the best and worst, and is the most likely to happen. The conflicting parties may maintain the current balance until 2014 and even beyond--not in order to establish the civil state but to reproduce themselves as "snakes" creeping under and around a new dancing president who will either do their bidding or impose himself on them as Saleh did in the past. This scenario is more plausible, being easier, less costly and more familiar to the traditional forces (tribal, religious, and military) trying to reproduce themselves under the banner of the "civil state".-Published 3/5/2012 © bitterlemons-international.org
Tuesday, 1 May 2012
Why Al Qaeda changes mind over killing in Yemen?
By Nasser Arrabyee,01/05/2012
The Yemen-based Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsular(AQAP) retracted to execute 73 Yemeni soldiers who were supposed to be killed by firing squads at the end of April if the Yemeni government did not release Al Qaaeda detainees.
Instead, all the 73 soldiers were released unharmed earlier this week without any releasing of any Al Qaeda detainees from the government prisons in return.
Al Qaeda detained the soldiers on March 4 after it killed 185 of their colleagues when it surprisingly attacked troops positions at the area of Dawfas, at the outskirts of Al Qaeda-held twon of Zinjubar, in the southern province of Abyan.
The retraction of Al Qaeda was viewed by analysts as a weakness signal because of the great pressures on it, not only from outside but also from inside the organization and its sympathizers.
"A lot of soldiers were killed by Al Qaeda, and some leaders of AQAP and its sympathizers say these soldiers are Muslims and can be fighters with us," Said Saeed Obaid, the chairman of the Al Jemhi Center for Studies, a think-tank on Al Qaeda.
" By the release , Al Qaeda wanted to gain sympathy from the people because it failed to kill them or to keep them," Obaid said "and it was also impossible to swap with them."
The release took place in Jaar, the first Taliban-style Emirate declared early last year and some of the well- known AQAP leaders were present to speak to soldiers and their families. This incident has strongly proved that there is no difference between those who call themselves " Ansar Al Al Shariah" and AQAP.
In Al Qaeda-declared emirates like Jaar , Zinjubar, and Rada'a, AQAP fighters call themselves Ansar Al Shariah just to deceive naive young people and recruit them. Some uneducated but religious parents would bar their sons from joining Al Qaeda as dangerous or terrorist but would encourage them to joint " Ansar Al Shariah", because the term is new and looks really religious and not terrorist.
Kasem Al Raymi, AQAP military commander, and Tarek Al Fadhli, attended the speech ceremony. Al Raimi is the third most important leader after the Yemeni Nasser Al Wahaishi and the Saudi Saeed Al Shihiri. The order of releasing the 73 soldiers came from Nasser Al Wahaishi, according to the statement that was read before the release and distributed to all journalists.
Some of the detainees' families and journalists, and human rights activists from Hood and Al Karama organizations, and the cleric Awadh Ba Najjar were in the ceremony.
Al Qaeda also released 13 others from local people who were detained in different times for allegedly cooperating with the government and the army.
Kasem Al Raymi, AQAQ military commander, was masked while he was speaking to tribal and religious scholars and journalists and right activists.
He came masked with tens of bodyguards around him, and sat next to the leaders of "Ansar Al Ashariah", like Jalal Beleidi, and Tarek Al Fadhli, said journalists who attended the ceremony. Kasme Al Raymi was the only one masked, even though he was not introduced as Kasem Al Raymi.
"The local people of Jaar told us, the masked man was Kasem Al Raymi," said Anis Mansour, one of the journalist who attended.
"We released the detainees today, although our detainees are still languishing in the prisons of the Sanaa government," said a statement distributed to journalists.
The release came in respect to the mediation and intercession of some clerics who came to us like Shiekh Awadh Ba Najjar, and those who came with him of the journalists and human rights," said the statement which was signed by AQAP.
" Our battle is with America and the Crusaders, so do not be tools in their hands against Islam and Muslims and, and do not be obstacles in the road of the establishment of the rule of Allah," said the statement, addressing the released soldiers and the Yemeni army in general.
" The US ambassador in Sanaa is the real ruler in Yemen, and he interferes even in your salaries and appointments of your commanders," the statement said.
" The Sanaa government will never ever care for you, and the issue of 73 detainees is good evidence that it never cares for you, it only implements the orders and wishes of America and its ambassador in Sanaa," said the statement, addressing the army.
"You are victims for the American policies, it's Zionism- Crusade policy, so do not lose your religion and your lives for very few in return " said the statement.
The Al Qaeda- specialized analyst Saeed Obaid said the message was clear that Al Qaeda wanted to say to the new government that the enemy is America not Yemeni army or government.
"Al Qaeda wanted to say : we are not against the new government, we are not against the army, but we are against America and the crusaders and zionists," said the analysts Saeed Obaid.
$20 million for terror-related mosque in Yemen
The recently formed government of Yemen has a plan to spend 20 million dollars for building a mosque inside a religious and fundamentalist university owned and run by an extremist cleric accused of supporting global terrorism.
Last week, the minister of finance Sakhr Al Wajeh, approved an amount of 1 million dollars ( 200 million Yemeni Rials) as the first payment for building the first stage of the mosque of Al-Eman university of Sheikh Abdul Majid Al Zandani.
The first stage will cost 5 million dollars (1 billion YR), and the overall cost of the whole mosques in all stages will be 20 million dollars (4 billion YR), according to documents at the ministry of finance.
When he was an opposition figure, the minister of finance was one of the most critical members of Parliament of the government's expenditures far from urgent needs of the poor people.
Al Wajeeh is also the chairman of the Yemeni parliamentarians against corruption (Yemen PAC).
A lot of Yemenis got angry for spending this much money from very poor budget on a mosque while Yemen has more than enough mosques, but has very few schools and hospitals.
The government which is chaired by the Islamist-dominated coalition,(JMP), justifies spending this much money on Al Zandani's mosque, by saying it was the former president Ali Abdullah Saleh who approved the budget of the mosque when he visited Al Eman university during his elections campaign in 2006.
The same minister Al Wajeeh, would refuse or at least obstruct any order from the former president Saleh. But he did not stop this huge amount of money for the mosque, said some sources from the ministry.
But the political analyst Faisal Al Sufi,said the new government should have corrected Saleh's mistakes not do even worse and worse mistakes.
"I was expecting that this new government would turn Al Eman university into a normal scientific university concerned with strategic studies about development and combating terrorism," said Al Sufi.
"The biggest mistake taken by Saleh was that he supported Al Zandani and his university,and now the new government needs to correct this mistake not to develop it," Al Sufi added.
The Yemen-based Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsular(AQAP) retracted to execute 73 Yemeni soldiers who were supposed to be killed by firing squads at the end of April if the Yemeni government did not release Al Qaaeda detainees.
Instead, all the 73 soldiers were released unharmed earlier this week without any releasing of any Al Qaeda detainees from the government prisons in return.
Al Qaeda detained the soldiers on March 4 after it killed 185 of their colleagues when it surprisingly attacked troops positions at the area of Dawfas, at the outskirts of Al Qaeda-held twon of Zinjubar, in the southern province of Abyan.
The retraction of Al Qaeda was viewed by analysts as a weakness signal because of the great pressures on it, not only from outside but also from inside the organization and its sympathizers.
"A lot of soldiers were killed by Al Qaeda, and some leaders of AQAP and its sympathizers say these soldiers are Muslims and can be fighters with us," Said Saeed Obaid, the chairman of the Al Jemhi Center for Studies, a think-tank on Al Qaeda.
" By the release , Al Qaeda wanted to gain sympathy from the people because it failed to kill them or to keep them," Obaid said "and it was also impossible to swap with them."
The release took place in Jaar, the first Taliban-style Emirate declared early last year and some of the well- known AQAP leaders were present to speak to soldiers and their families. This incident has strongly proved that there is no difference between those who call themselves " Ansar Al Al Shariah" and AQAP.
In Al Qaeda-declared emirates like Jaar , Zinjubar, and Rada'a, AQAP fighters call themselves Ansar Al Shariah just to deceive naive young people and recruit them. Some uneducated but religious parents would bar their sons from joining Al Qaeda as dangerous or terrorist but would encourage them to joint " Ansar Al Shariah", because the term is new and looks really religious and not terrorist.
Kasem Al Raymi, AQAP military commander, and Tarek Al Fadhli, attended the speech ceremony. Al Raimi is the third most important leader after the Yemeni Nasser Al Wahaishi and the Saudi Saeed Al Shihiri. The order of releasing the 73 soldiers came from Nasser Al Wahaishi, according to the statement that was read before the release and distributed to all journalists.
Some of the detainees' families and journalists, and human rights activists from Hood and Al Karama organizations, and the cleric Awadh Ba Najjar were in the ceremony.
Al Qaeda also released 13 others from local people who were detained in different times for allegedly cooperating with the government and the army.
Kasem Al Raymi, AQAQ military commander, was masked while he was speaking to tribal and religious scholars and journalists and right activists.
He came masked with tens of bodyguards around him, and sat next to the leaders of "Ansar Al Ashariah", like Jalal Beleidi, and Tarek Al Fadhli, said journalists who attended the ceremony. Kasme Al Raymi was the only one masked, even though he was not introduced as Kasem Al Raymi.
"The local people of Jaar told us, the masked man was Kasem Al Raymi," said Anis Mansour, one of the journalist who attended.
"We released the detainees today, although our detainees are still languishing in the prisons of the Sanaa government," said a statement distributed to journalists.
The release came in respect to the mediation and intercession of some clerics who came to us like Shiekh Awadh Ba Najjar, and those who came with him of the journalists and human rights," said the statement which was signed by AQAP.
" Our battle is with America and the Crusaders, so do not be tools in their hands against Islam and Muslims and, and do not be obstacles in the road of the establishment of the rule of Allah," said the statement, addressing the released soldiers and the Yemeni army in general.
" The US ambassador in Sanaa is the real ruler in Yemen, and he interferes even in your salaries and appointments of your commanders," the statement said.
" The Sanaa government will never ever care for you, and the issue of 73 detainees is good evidence that it never cares for you, it only implements the orders and wishes of America and its ambassador in Sanaa," said the statement, addressing the army.
"You are victims for the American policies, it's Zionism- Crusade policy, so do not lose your religion and your lives for very few in return " said the statement.
The Al Qaeda- specialized analyst Saeed Obaid said the message was clear that Al Qaeda wanted to say to the new government that the enemy is America not Yemeni army or government.
"Al Qaeda wanted to say : we are not against the new government, we are not against the army, but we are against America and the crusaders and zionists," said the analysts Saeed Obaid.
$20 million for terror-related mosque in Yemen
The recently formed government of Yemen has a plan to spend 20 million dollars for building a mosque inside a religious and fundamentalist university owned and run by an extremist cleric accused of supporting global terrorism.
Last week, the minister of finance Sakhr Al Wajeh, approved an amount of 1 million dollars ( 200 million Yemeni Rials) as the first payment for building the first stage of the mosque of Al-Eman university of Sheikh Abdul Majid Al Zandani.
The first stage will cost 5 million dollars (1 billion YR), and the overall cost of the whole mosques in all stages will be 20 million dollars (4 billion YR), according to documents at the ministry of finance.
When he was an opposition figure, the minister of finance was one of the most critical members of Parliament of the government's expenditures far from urgent needs of the poor people.
Al Wajeeh is also the chairman of the Yemeni parliamentarians against corruption (Yemen PAC).
A lot of Yemenis got angry for spending this much money from very poor budget on a mosque while Yemen has more than enough mosques, but has very few schools and hospitals.
The government which is chaired by the Islamist-dominated coalition,(JMP), justifies spending this much money on Al Zandani's mosque, by saying it was the former president Ali Abdullah Saleh who approved the budget of the mosque when he visited Al Eman university during his elections campaign in 2006.
The same minister Al Wajeeh, would refuse or at least obstruct any order from the former president Saleh. But he did not stop this huge amount of money for the mosque, said some sources from the ministry.
But the political analyst Faisal Al Sufi,said the new government should have corrected Saleh's mistakes not do even worse and worse mistakes.
"I was expecting that this new government would turn Al Eman university into a normal scientific university concerned with strategic studies about development and combating terrorism," said Al Sufi.
"The biggest mistake taken by Saleh was that he supported Al Zandani and his university,and now the new government needs to correct this mistake not to develop it," Al Sufi added.
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