Al Qaeda goes underground in Yemen against U.S.-driven crackdown

Source: Reuters, By Andrew Hammond, 25/10/2012

ADEN -A U.S.-backed military onslaught may have driven Islamist militants from towns in Yemen they seized last year, but many have regrouped into "sleeper cells" threatening anew the areas they vacated, security officials and analysts say.

The resilience of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), despite increased U.S. drone strikes to eliminate militants, is worrying for top oil exporter Saudi Arabia next door and the security of major shipping lanes in the seas off Yemen.

When a nationwide uprising against autocratic rule erupted last year, tying up security forces and causing a power vacuum, militants charged into the major south Yemen towns of Zinjibar, Jaar and Shuqra and set up Islamic "emirates".

To broad their appeal, the militants renamed themselves Ansar al-Sharia (Partisans of Islamic Law), appointed spokesmen to deal with the media and put up signposts and flags. Poverty, unemployment and alienation from a central government seen as aloof and corrupt spurred some young men to join the cause.

Residents said the militants included Saudis, Pakistanis, Egyptians, Chechens and Somalis, hinting at the international scope of the jihadi threat to Saudi and Western interests.

After President Ali Abdullah Saleh finally bowed to popular revolt and stepped down in February, the U.S.-backed Yemeni military swept in and wrested back southern towns from the militants, sometimes after heavy fighting.

But the south, where resentment of tribal domination from the north has long run high and a separatist movement revived in 2007, has since become a more dangerous place, residents say.

STEALTHY SHIFT IN TACTICS

"After their sudden withdrawal from Abyan, it ended with no one victorious or defeated," said Aden-based commentator Madyan al-Maqbas. "They had suddenly come, they took over, then they fled to the hills, and they left behind sleeper cells."

A rash of deadly violence in the major southern province of Abyan ensued, indicating that Ansar militants were still lurking in the vicinity of the towns they had once controlled.

Nine jihadis including the head of the Jaar "emirate" Nader al-Shaddadi were killed by a U.S. drone missile fired into a farmhouse where they were hiding just outside town on October 19.

Five of the militants were teenagers from Jaar itself who had quietly moved into the farmhouse as a typical sleeper cell, a Yemeni security source told Reuters.

The next day, militants ambushed an army base in Shuqra, killing 16 soldiers, after apparently slipping out of lairs in the barren rugged mountains rearing up above the town.

"Most people are concerned about sleeper cells. We're aware of it and people have started to be more careful," said Hasan Ali Hasan, 35, from the Mansoura district of Aden where security forces raided some suspected "safe houses" this month.

In June, the commander of the army's southern division, a southerner who replaced a Saleh ally from north Yemen in March, was killed by a car bomb in a suburb of Aden, the sprawling main city and port in the south. Security forces subsequently uncovered numerous caches of suicide belts in the area.

There have been dozens of other attacks and kidnappings by undercover militants targeting security and military officials.

Yemeni security sources said the two leading figures in Ansar al-Sharia, Nader al-Shaddadi and Galal Bil-Eidy, are believed to be sheltering in mountains around Shuqra where they form the link between urban cells in Aden and AQAP commanders like Nasser al-Wuhayshi tucked away in mountains to the north.

They said such regional militant chieftains had activated sleeper cells to carry out assassinations of security officials in Aden and attacks like the one in Shuqra.

AL QAEDA IN THE ARABIAN PENINSULA

Formed in 2009, AQAP has carved out a reputation as al Qaeda's most formidable regional wing with suicide attacks on tourists, diplomats and operations against neighboring Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, and U.S. targets abroad.

The sudden spread of al Qaeda in south Yemen was seen by many Yemenis as a ruse by Saleh, a northerner, to warn Western and regional backers of what would happen if their trusted strongman was no longer around to keep militancy in check.

Interim President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi has begun replacing military and security chiefs in the south with southerners less connected to Saleh. The new command has been welcomed in Aden as more serious about challenging AQAP.

But the new commanders must still rely on tribal militias called "popular committees" inside southern towns and surrounding districts to stop militants returning in force.

Residents fear some militants could have infiltrated the committees, noting that the Ansar al-Sharia "emirate" in Jaar managed to negotiate a deal with the military that allowed many gunmen to leave unscathed.

Former President Saleh calls for revealing the spoilers of the transitional deal

By Nasser Arrabyee,23/10/2012  

The former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh called on the sponsors of the GCC Initiative (GCCI) to tell the UN Security Council who are the spoilers of this initiative. 

Saleh said that GCCI is not implemented as it was agreed upon by the 

signatories. Saleh said it is only his party that implemented everything, but other parties are only selecting what is best for them. 

The former President Saleh held responsible the sponsors of GCCI for any failure during the transitional period that is supposed to finish in February 2014 by free and fair presidential elections. 

In an article published Tuesday by Yemen today daily, owned by Saleh's party, Saleh said  his party and its allies are still the main party in the political equation and in the coming dialogue. 

"So, it is unfair to represent the People's General Congress and its allies in an equal way with the other parties," said Saleh in his article which was entitled

 "The GCCI should be implemented as one system".

Saleh  said the current government is failed and it  was not able to achieve anything for the people  despite the unprecedented  regional and international support.

CIA seeks expansion of drone fleet for more attacks in Yemen

CIA seeks expansion of drone fleet for more attacks in Yemen

Source: Washington Post, 21/10/2012

The CIA is urging the White House to approve a significant expansion of the agency's fleet of armed drones, a move that would extend the spy service's decade-long transformation into a paramilitary force, US officials say.

The proposal by the CIA director, David Petraeus, would bolster the agency's ability to sustain its campaigns of lethal strikes in Pakistan and Yemen and enable it, if directed, to shift aircraft to emerging al-Qaeda threats in North Africa or other trouble spots, officials said.

If approved, the CIA could add 10 drones, the officials said, to an inventory that has ranged between 30 and 35 during recent years.

The outcome has broad implications for counterterrorism policy and whether the CIA gradually returns to an organisation focused mainly on gathering intelligence, or remains a central player in the targeted killing of terrorism suspects abroad.

US officials said the proposal was submitted recently to the National Security Council but the White House had not made a decision. In the past, officials from the Pentagon and other departments have raised concerns about the CIA's expanding arsenal and involvement in lethal operations. But a senior Defence official said the Pentagon had not opposed this plan.

Officials from the White House, CIA and Pentagon declined to comment. Officials who discussed it did so on the condition of anonymity, citing the sensitive nature of the subject.

One official said the request reflected a concern that political turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa had created new openings for al-Qaeda and its affiliates.

"With what happened in Libya, we're realising that these places are going to heat up," the official said, referring to the attack on September 11 on a US diplomatic outpost in Benghazi. No decision had been made about moving armed CIA drones into these regions but officials had begun to map out contingencies.

White House officials are particularly concerned about the emergence of al-Qaeda's affiliate in North Africa, which has gained weapons and territory since the collapse of the governments in Libya and Mali. Seeking to bolster surveillance in the region, the US has been forced to rely on small, unarmed turboprop aircraft disguised as private planes.

Meanwhile, the campaign of US air strikes in Yemen has heated up. Yemeni officials said a strike on Thursday – the 35th this year – killed at least seven militants linked to al-Qaeda. The strike was near Jaar, a town in southern Yemen previously controlled by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula as the affiliate is known.

The CIA's proposal is being evaluated by a White House panel known as the counter-terrorism security group, which officials said was chaired by John Brennan, counterterrorism adviser to the President, Barack Obama.

The security group, which includes officials from the CIA, Pentagon, State Department and other agencies, is directly involved in deciding which alleged al-Qaeda operatives are added to "kill" lists. But present and former officials said the group also played a lesser-known role as referee in deciding the allocation of assets, including whether the CIA or the Defence Department took possession of new drones.

"You have to state your requirements and the system has to agree that your requirements trump somebody else," said a former official. "Sometimes there is a food fight."

The administration has touted the collaboration between the CIA and the military in counterterrorism operations, contributing to a blurring of their traditional roles.

In Yemen, the agency routinely "borrows" the aircraft of the military's Joint Special Operations Command to carry out strikes. The joint command is increasingly engaged in activities that resemble espionage.

The CIA's request for more drones indicates [retired] General Petraeus is convinced there are limits to those sharing arrangements, and that the agency needs full control over a larger number of aircraft.

The military's fleet dwarfs that of the CIA. A Pentagon report this year counted 246 Predators, Reapers and Global Hawks in the air force inventory alone, with hundreds of other remotely piloted aircraft distributed among the army, navy and marines.

General Petraeus, who had control of large portions of those fleets while serving as US commander in Iraq and Afghanistan, had had to adjust to a different resource scale at the CIA, officials said. The agency's budget has begun to tighten after double-digit rises during the past decade.

In briefings on Capitol Hill, General Petraeus often marvels at the agency's role relative to its resources, saying, "We do so well with so little money we have."

The official declined to comment on whether General Petraeus had requested the drones.

Early in his tenure at the CIA, General Petraeus was forced into a triage situation with the agency's inventory of armed drones. To augment the hunt for Anwar al-Awlaki, a US-born cleric linked to al-Qaeda plots, General Petraeus moved several CIA drones from Pakistan to Yemen. After al-Awlaki was killed in a drone strike, the aircraft were sent back to Pakistan, officials said.

The number of strikes in Pakistan has dropped from 122 two years ago to 40 this year, according to the New America Foundation. But officials said the agency had not cut its patrols there, despite the killing of Osama bin Laden and a dwindling number of targets.

The agency continues to search for bin Laden's successor, Ayman al-Zawahiri, and has carried out dozens of strikes against the Haqqani network, a militant group behind attacks on US forces in Afghanistan.

The CIA maintains a separate, smaller fleet of stealth surveillance aircraft, which were used to monitor bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

Their use in surveillance flights over Iran's nuclear facilities was exposed when one crashed there last year.

Any move to expand the reach of the CIA's armed drones probably would require the agency to establish extra secret bases. The agency relies on US military pilots to fly the planes from bases in south-western US but has been reluctant to share overseas landing strips with the Defence Department.

CIA Predators used in Pakistan are flown from airstrips along the border in Afghanistan. The agency opened a secret base on the Arabian Peninsula when it began flights over Yemen, although the Joint Special Operations Command's planes are flown from Djibouti.

Al Qaeda says killing soldiers was to take revenge for killing its leader, Al Shaddadi

Al Qaeda says killing soldiers was to take revenge for killing its leader Al Shaddadi 

By Nasser Arrabyee,20/10/2012

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) claimed responsibility for the suicide attack of Friday that killed and injured more than 30 soldiers of a military base in the coastal of Shuqrah of Abyan province. 

In a short statement sent as SMS to cell phones of some journalists late Friday, a group calling themselves "Ansar Al Sharyah" said the attack of Friday on brigade 115 was in retaliation for the leader Nader Al Shaddadi and eight others of his companions.

The brigade 115 is located 10 km east of the coastal town of Shuqrah, and it is surrounded by walls. It main gate can be opened easily by removing a piece of iron hanging over two empty barrels.

Earlier this year Al Qaeda killed more  than 90 soldiers and arrested  50 others from the same brigade 115 which was based in Dawfas at the outskirts of Zinjubar.   Before  being sent to Dawfas, the brigade 115 was based in Al Jawf province where Al Houthi Islah militants attacked it and looted its equipments. 

Late Friday, medical sources said that the death toll had  raised to 34 soldiers and 27 others were injured some of them seriously. 

Earlier in the day, at  least 14 soldiers and 12 Al Qaeda operatives were killed early morning Friday when Al Qaeda suicide bombers  attacked  a military base in south Yemen, said military and local sources.

The attack started at dawn of Friday when five suicide bombers from Al Qaeda infiltrated into the command of the brigade 115 which is based about 10 km east of Shuqrah town  of the southern province of Abyan, the sources said.

Two suicide bombers blew themselves  up and the three others were killed in clashes with the  soldiers and commanders in the building of the command.

A group of Al Qaeda operatives were helping the suicide bombers from the direction of the sea by firing at the base, the sources said. 

The commander of operations of the brigade, colonel Saleh Al Dahma, and colonel Mohammed Saleh Al Muhaya, and another colonel named Al Maleh, were among those 14 killed inside the building of the command of the brigade, the military sources said. 

In addition to the five suicide bombers who were all killed, seven dead bodies of Al Qaeda attackers were found around the base, local sources said. 

The military sources said that Al Qaeda operatives who were around the base were forced to escape by strong confrontation from the forces of the brigade.

Sources from Al Razi hospital in Jaar said that they received more than 20 injured soldiers after the attack of Friday. 

The ministry of defense on its website said later on Friday that A number of individuals of the brigade 115 were "martyred and injured". ( no specific number).

The heroes of brigade 115 killed all the attacking terrorists, eight of them were wearing military uniforms. The Ministry also said that the attackers  used a car bomb that exploded nearby a big room of soldiers inside the base. The statement described the operation ad "a terrorist and treacherous" 

Death toll raised to 34 soldiers and 12 terrorists, in suicide attack on military base

Death toll raised to 34 soldiers and 12 terrorists, in suicide attack on military base 

By Nasser Arrabyee,19/10/2012

The death toll raised to 34 soldiers and 27 others were injured some of them seriously, according to medical sources.

Earlier in the day, at  least 14 soldiers and 12 Al Qaeda operatives were killed early morning Friday when Al Qaeda suicide bombers  attacked  a military base in south Yemen, said military and local sources.

The attack started at dawn of Friday when five suicide bombers from Al Qaeda infiltrated into the command of the brigade 115 which is based about 10 km east of Shuqrah town  of the southern province of Abyan, the sources said.

Two suicide bombers blew themselves  up and the three others were killed in clashes with the  soldiers and commanders in the building of the command.

A group of Al Qaeda operatives were helping the suicide bombers from the direction of the sea by firing at the base, the sources said. 

The commander of operations of the brigade, colonel Saleh Al Dahma, and colonel Mohammed Saleh Al Muhaya, and another colonel named Al Maleh, were among those 14 killed inside the building of the command of the brigade, the military sources said. 

In addition to the five suicide bombers who were all killed, seven dead bodies of Al Qaeda attackers were found around the base, local sources said. 

The military sources said that Al Qaeda operatives who were around the base were forced to escape by strong confrontation from the forces of the brigade.

Sources from Al Razi hospital in Jaar said that they received more than 20 injured soldiers after the attack of Friday. 

The ministry of defense on its website said later on Friday that A number of individuals of the brigade 115 were "martyred and injured". ( no specific number).

The heroes of brigade 115 killed all the attacking terrorists, eight of them were wearing military uniforms. The Ministry also said that the attackers  used a car bomb that exploded nearby a big room of soldiers inside the base. The statement described the operation ad "a terrorist and treacherous" 

14 soldiers, 12 Al Qaeda operatives killed in suicide attack on military base

14 soldiers, 12 Al Qaeda operatives killed in suicide attack on military base 

By Nasser Arrabyee,19/10/2012

At least 14 soldiers and 12 Al Qaeda operatives were killed early morning Friday when Al Qaeda suicide bombers  attacked  a military base in south Yemen, said military and local sources.

The attack started at dawn of Friday when five suicide bombers from Al Qaeda infiltrated into the command of the brigade 115 which is based about 10 km east of Shuqrah town  of the southern province of Abyan, the sources said.

Two suicide bombers blew themselves  up and the three others were killed in clashes with the  soldiers and commanders in the building of the command.

A group of Al Qaeda operatives were helping the suicide bombers from the direction of the sea by firing at the base, the sources said. 

The commander of operations of the brigade, colonel Saleh Al Dahma, and colonel Mohammed Saleh Al Muhaya, and another colonel named Al Maleh, were among those 14 killed inside the building of the command of the brigade, the military sources said. 

In addition to the five suicide bombers who were all killed, seven dead bodies of Al Qaeda attackers were found around the base, local sources said. 

The military sources said that Al Qaeda operatives who were around the base were forced to escape by strong confrontation from the forces of the brigade.

Sources from Al Razi hospital in Jaar said that they received more than 20 injured soldiers after the attack of Friday. 

The ministry of defense on its website said later on Friday that A number of individuals of the brigade 115 were "martyred and injured". ( no specific number).

The heroes of brigade 115 killed all the attacking terrorists, eight of them were wearing military uniforms. The Ministry also said that the attackers  used a car bomb that exploded nearby a big room of soldiers inside the base. The statement described the operation ad "a terrorist and treacherous" 

Drone killed 9 Al Qaeda operatives including top leader

Drone killed 9 Al Qaeda operatives including top leader

By Nasser Arrabyee,18/10/2012

At least nine Al Qaeda operatives were killed when a US drone hit a group of terrorists readying to attack  a position of Yemeni troops in the southern province of Abyan, local and security sources said Thursday. 

After the drone attack early morning Thursday, the local residents found nine dead bodies including one of the top leaders of Al Qaeda in Abyan, Nader Al Shaddadi. The local residents mentioned the names of five dead bodies while four were unknown to them.   The targeted group was in the area of Al Jesr, north west of Jaar, only 2km from the military position of 119 brigade. 

The hand of Nader Al Shaddadi was cut by a shrapnel and an explosive belt was found wrapped on his waist, the local sources said. experts from the brigade of 119 brigade  defused the explosives. 

Meanwhile, huge explosions took place inside the the first armored division (FAD)  inside the Yemeni capital Sanaa Thursday morning.

 The explosions could be heard to a distance of more than 10 km and columns of smoke could be seen over the FAD headquarters in the northern part of the Sanaaa. The ministry of defense in its website said the explosions were in a weapons store and it was " accidental". The ministry also said there  were no casualties.    

Students in the university of Sanaa which is adjacent to the FAD and schools in the  neighboring areas took to the streets in panic. The FAD is led by the general Ali Muhsen who defected in march last year and supported the protests against President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

 The defected general  recruited more than  20,000 from those who were protesting mostly from the Al Eyman university, a religious university owned and run by cleric Abdul Majid Al Zandani, who is accused by US and UN of supporting global terrorism. 

Military experts did not exclude  that the explosions of today Thursday  might have happened because of misuse of explosives during training of the newly recruited men. 

(((((((((((((

Al Qaeda wants to rule south Yemen for 15 years, official says

By Nasser Arrabyee,17/10/2012

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) said it wanted to rule the south of Yemen for only 15 years after the socialists and communists ruled for 25 years, said a Yemeni military official.

The Minister of  Defense Mohammed Nasser Ahmed said he had received a letter from AQAP saying this. He was talking to military and security officials in presence of the governor of Aden, Waheed Ali Rashid,  on Tuesday in the southern city of Aden.

The minister also said he had received a number of phone calls from Al Qaeda operatives, and the last one was saying " You are most welcome to Aden".

Mohammed Aidarous Al Jafri, leader of the anti-Al Qaeda popular committees , in Lawdar, was killed when his car turned over early morning Wednesday when he was returning from Aden where he met the minister of defense, Mohammed Nasser Ahmed. 

The car of Al Jafri turned over in the high way of Shuqrah, Lawdar Aden. One of his companion named Ahmed Hassan Zaran was killed also and and seven others were injured. 

However,  a source close to Al Qaeda said that Mohammed Aidarous was killed by Al Qaeda conspiracy and not by car accident. The source said Al Qaeda was not defeated but changed its tactics.

"Al Qaeda killed the top commander of the southern region, and leaders of popular committees, and a number of intelligence officers after it withdrew from Abyan, and now I wonder how some people say Al Qaeda was defeated," said the sources. 

Meanwhile, a group of 12 Al Qaeda operatives were arrested when security forces stormed a house nearby the main office of Yemeni intelligence in Sanaa , said security sources late Tuesday. 

Some of those arrested were Syrians the sources said. The group was planning to attack the headquarters of the intelligence with the aim of releasing prisoners. 

In a separate incident, at least four people were killed and five others injured when a suicide bomber drove his car to a check point of anti-Al Qaeda tribesmen  known as popular committees in the southern town of Mudyah.

Local sources said that gunmen from Al Qaeda first attacked the check point of Al Kafalah, east of Mudyah, and when tribesmen assembled to retaliate,  a car bomb came and exploded killing and injuring at least 10 people. The sources mentioned the names of four killed and five injured. 

Earlier on Tuesday, an Iraqi senior military officer was killed in the middle of the Yemeni capital Sanaa by two masked gunmen riding a motorcycle.

The ministry of defense said in its website late Tuesday  that the slain Khaled Hatem AlHashimi was not working with the ministry   as media reports said. 

"The former officer of the Iraqi army was martyred in a terrorist and treacherous act," said the statement. The ministry did not accuse anyone or group, but said the investigations are still going on.  The slain Al Hashimi was hosted by Yemen after Saddam regime collapsed in 2003, the ministry said. 

However, eyewitnesses told me that Al Hashimi was wearing a Yemeni military uniform with the rank of brigade  when he was killed.  Military sources also said that he was working with the defected general Ali Muhsen before he was sent to the ministry of defense to work there as an expert. 

Al Qaeda wants to rule south Yemen for 15 years, official says

By Nasser Arrabyee,17/10/2012

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) said it wanted to rule the south of Yemen for only 15 years after the socialists and communists ruled for 25 years, said a Yemeni military official.

The Minister of  Defense Mohammed Nasser Ahmed said he had received a letter from AQAP saying this. He was talking to military and security officials in presence of the governor of Aden, Waheed Ali Rashid,  on Tuesday in the southern city of Aden.

The minister also said he had received a number of phone calls from Al Qaeda operatives, and the last one was saying " You are most welcome to Aden".

Mohammed Aidarous Al Jafri, leader of the anti-Al Qaeda popular committees , in Lawdar, was killed when his car turned over early morning Wednesday when he was returning from Aden where he met the minister of defense, Mohammed Nasser Ahmed. 

The car of Al Jafri turned over in the high way of Shuqrah, Lawdar Aden. One of his companion named Ahmed Hassan Zaran was killed also and and seven others were injured. 

However,  a source close to Al Qaeda said that Mohammed Aidarous was killed by Al Qaeda conspiracy and not by car accident. The source said Al Qaeda was not defeated but changed its tactics.

"Al Qaeda killed the top commander of the southern region, and leaders of popular committees, and a number of intelligence officers after it withdrew from Abyan, and now I wonder how some people say Al Qaeda was defeated," said the sources. 

Meanwhile, a group of 12 Al Qaeda operatives were arrested when security forces stormed a house nearby the main office of Yemeni intelligence in Sanaa , said security sources late Tuesday. 

Some of those arrested were Syrians the sources said. The group was planning to attack the headquarters of the intelligence with the aim of releasing prisoners. 

In a separate incident, at least four people were killed and five others injured when a suicide bomber drove his car to a check point of anti-Al Qaeda tribesmen  known as popular committees in the southern town of Mudyah.

Local sources said that gunmen from Al Qaeda first attacked the check point of Al Kafalah, east of Mudyah, and when tribesmen assembled to retaliate,  a car bomb came and exploded killing and injuring at least 10 people. The sources mentioned the names of four killed and five injured. 

Earlier on Tuesday, an Iraqi senior military officer was killed in the middle of the Yemeni capital Sanaa by two masked gunmen riding a motorcycle.

The ministry of defense said in its website late Tuesday  that the slain Khaled Hatem AlHashimi was not working with the ministry   as media reports said. 

"The former officer of the Iraqi army was martyred in a terrorist and treacherous act," said the statement. The ministry did not accuse anyone or group, but said the investigations are still going on.  The slain Al Hashimi was hosted by Yemen after Saddam regime collapsed in 2003, the ministry said. 

However, eyewitnesses told me that Al Hashimi was wearing a Yemeni military uniform with the rank of brigade  when he was killed.  Military sources also said that he was working with the defected general Ali Muhsen before he was sent to the ministry of defense to work there as an expert. 

Al Qaeda returns to operations

Al Qaeda returns to operations

By Nasser Arrabyee,16/10/2012

Assassinated Iraqi officer was not working with Yemeni army, ministry says

12 Al Qaeda operative arrested 

Four killed and five injured by car bomb

The Yemeni ministry of defense said it had nothing to do with  the high ranking Iraqi officer who was assassinated earlier Thursday in a street of the Yemeni capital by two gunmen riding a motorcycle. 

The Ministry said in its website late Thursday that the slain Khaled Hatem AlHashimi was not working with the ministry of defense as media reports said. 

"The former officer of the Iraqi army was martyred in a terrorist and treacherous act," said the statement. The ministry did not accuse anyone or group, but said the investigations are still going on.  The slain Al Hashimi was hosted by Yemen after Saddam regime collapsed in 2003, the ministry said. 

Earlier in the day, two gunmen riding a motorcycle shot Al Hashimi dead in Bab Al Salam street, one of the most crowded place in the capital Sanaa.

Eyewitnesses told me that Al Hashimi was wearing a Yemeni military uniform with the rank of brigade  when he was killed.  Military sources also said that he was working with the defected general Ali Muhsen before he was sent to the ministry of defense to work there as an expert. 

Meanwhile, a group of 12 Al Qaeda operatives were arrested when security forces stormed a house nearby the main office of Yemeni intelligence in Sanaa , said security sources late Thursday.  

Some of those arrested were Syrians the sources said. The group was planning to attack the headquarters of the intelligence with the aim of releasing prisoners. 

In a separate incident, at least four people were killed and five other injured when a suicide bomber drove his car to a check point of anti-Al Qaeda tribesmen  known as popular committees in the southern town of Mudyah.

Local sources said that gunmen from Al Qaeda first attacked the check point of Al Kafalah, east of Mudyah, and when tribesmen assembled to retaliate a car bomb came and exploded killing and injuring at least 10 people. The sources mentioned the names of four killed and five injured. 

Dialogue or war in Yemen?

By Nasser Arrabyee,16/10/2012

On November 15, 2012, all l Yemeni groups are supposed to sit for national dialogue about their new future, after two years of violent conflicts. 

If successful, the dialogue will  come out with a new order and state in which all rights and freedoms are guaranteed for everyone. But if dialogue is failed, a civil war is the most likely alternative to happen according to many indicators.

The expected state of law and order is supposed to start functioning by conducting presidential elections in February 2014,  according a new constitution approved by the national dialogue. 

As there are a number of challenges that might lead to failure of this dialogue, there are also a numbers of opportunities that might lead to its success. 

Among others, the first and foremost challenge is the issue of the south, locally known as Hirak, the southern separatist movement. The rebellious movement of Shiite Houthi in the north of the north is the second challenge of the coming dialogue.  The allegations that Al Houthi is receiving support from Iran makes it even more difficult to convince this group. Al Qaeda activity and its continuous  attempts to thwart any political success and return the country back to insecurity and chaos is also among the challenges. 

However, almost all parties and politicians in Yemen say if the south issue, Hirak, is solved, all other issues can be solved easily. 

"It's impossible to have a successful dialogue without the participation of Hirak," said Dr Abdul Kareem Al Eryani head of the technical committee for preparing for the dialogue. 

Al Eryani was talking in an event organized and financed by the American National Democratic Institute ( NDI) in the Yemeni capital Sanaaa on Tuesday October 16, 2012. The event, called the Council of City, the first of many similar events that aimed to help Yemenis to react with the coming dialogue. 

Al Eryani is the deputy chairman of the People's General Congress, PGC, party that was ruling before and during protests of 2011. And now  50 per cent of the ministers of the national unity government are from this party, PGC that is presided over by the former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

On his part, Mohammed Qahtan,leading and prominent member of the Islamist party, Islah said," to bring the dialogue to success, the problems of the south should be solved." 

Qahtan's party is  dominating the political coalition that led the protests against Saleh and his party PGC last year. The coalition, locally known as Joint Meeting Parties (JMPs), includes the Socialist party that was ruling the south before unity in 1990, and Arab nationalists (Nasserites), and  Ba'ath party, and two small Islamist parties.

The majority of southerners have been complaining from being politically and socially marginalized since after the civil war of 1994 that erupted less than four years after the unity between south and north. 

"To have a successful dialogue, the President should issue decrees to solve the problems of the lands and retirees," said Qahtan referring to the lands in the south that were unfairly taken by northern officials, and to southern officials who were forced to retire after the war of 1994.

The activist Afra Al Hariri, from the south, however, said that the problems of the south remained unchanged even after the new President came to power. The new President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi is from the south. Ms Al Hariri, who was participating in the even of Council of City, said nothing changed at all after Hadi came to power. 

" Insecurity, exclusion, marginalization, absence of  equal citizenship, and the same faces are still there being repeated," Al Hariri said. 

To make the dialogue successful,the  south should be fairly represented and to do that there should be immediate steps for  solving the problems of the south. Ms Al Hariri said two things at least should happen before the dialogue.

"The tribal speeches against the south should stop, and Fatwas, (religious decrees), should stop," said Ms Al Hariri, referring to two main things that abused and angered the southerners the most. 

The first thing was a Fatwa from a religious leader from  the Islamist party Islah,(Yemen brotherhood), during the war of 1994, from the north said that socialist southerners are Kafirs ( infidels). The second thing took place earlier this month when a tribal leader also from the north said he would lead a war against southerners who would not participate in the dialogue. Both statements were widely condemned by majority of people in the south and north. 

For opportunities of success of dialogue,  the most important one, among others, is the international and regional  support for the dialogue. The security and stability of Yemen is important not only for Yemen but also for the region and the international community. The most dangerous branch of Al Qaeda, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) is still taking advantage of the chaos and unrest that Yemen is still witnessing. 

Last week in the Yemeni capital Sanaa,  two  masked gun men from Al Qaeda  riding a motorcycle shot dead a Yemeni officer working at the American embassy in Yemen as a security coordinator between the Americans and the government.  The killed Kasem Aklan was investigating into who was behind the violence against the US embassy on September 13, 2012, after publishing an American film abusive to Islam. 

Later in the week, three   headless  bodies of security soldiers were found nearby  a check point at the entrance of Mareb city in eastern of Yemen.

The local sources said that Al Qaeda operatives kidnapped the three soldiers  from the same check point and returned them hours later after cutting their heads.

In the same city of Mareb in the same week, Al Qaeda beheaded three men and threw their bodies in three different streets of the city. Al Qaeda said the three men were spying for Yemeni intelligence and posing as Jihadists with Al Qaeda.

Yemen's new president still managing power struggles

By Atiaf Zaid Alwazir, The Guardian 

15/10/2012

With the support of the international community, President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi came to power in Yemen as the consensus candidate – when the opposition coalition and the former ruling party signed an agreement on political transition put forward by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

After months of turmoil, the agreement ended the 33-year rule of Ali Abdullah Saleh but it marginalised a large segment of Yemeni society, including those who led the movement for change.

Hadi's "election" in February – in a national poll where he was the only candidate – did not sit well with many, but others welcomed it as a symbolic step to steer Yemen away from a potential civil war.

Some of Hadi's initial decrees surprised critics, giving people hope that he would lead Yemen independently. His decisions to reassign military and security officials from their posts, and his appointments – such as replacing the governor of Taiz – were widely welcomed.

Also, on 22 September he signed a decree authorising the creation of a commission of inquiry to investigate human rights violations during the 2011 uprising – though with the immunity law, the chances of prosecution are near impossible.

The immunity law, stipulated in the GCC agreement, is not the only obstacle. A continuing problem is that the GCC's transition agreement places a lot of importance on President Hadi, without any reference to what would happen in his absence. Analysts worry that this makes him an easy target for those who would benefit from derailing the transitional process.

Fearing for his life, Hadi has been protected by the military's First Armoured Division (FAD) which supported opposition protests against Saleh last year. The head of the FAD, General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar (a kinsman of ex-president Saleh who eventually turned against him) is known for his bloody past, making him more valuable as a friend than an enemy. 

Hadi's relationship with Ali Mohsen is seen by many as one of convenience, where protection is exchanged for loyalty, and there are some worrying indicators that Ali Mohsen may be gaining influence through President Hadi's tacit and sometimes declared approval.

For example, people welcomed the creation of a new Presidential Protection Force made up of three brigades of the Republican Guard, headed by Saleh's son Ahmed Ali – and one brigade from the FAD – as essential first steps towards unifying the military.

However, the 314th brigade of the FAD that was affected by this decree was one that had refused to defect with Ali Mohsen during the uprising and always remained loyal to Saleh. Hence, this decree only reduced the power of Saleh loyalists, leaving intact Ali Mohsen's influence over the military.

The Hadi-Mohsen relationship instilled fear in people that the patronage system – one of the hallmarks of Saleh's rule – may continue under a different guise in favour of the Islamist party Islah, the dominant force in the traditional opposition, due to its close ties with Ali Mohsen.

According to reports by local newspapers, employees at the ministry of electricity filed an official complaint against the minister for employing his relatives and friends without merit. They listed 19 new employees all of whom are affiliated to Islah.

One government employee stated on condition of anonymity: "In the past, the minister would only employ his pro-regime friends. Today, the new minister brought his friends from the party to take over the leadership of some divisions without the required skills. It's like one mafia replaced another."

These practices might affect Hadi's credibility and thus affect the goals of the National Dialogue, which is one crucial test for the president.

Among other things, the dialogue intended to begin next month needs to build trust with the rebellious Houthis in the north and the separatists in the south. It is of vital importance for Hadi to address their grievances and include these marginalised yet powerful groups in the process for a successful dialogue.

So far, no members of the important technical committee for the National Dialogue are affiliated to the Southern Movement, though there is talk of the state issuing a public apology for past wars in the south and north – which may restore trust in the process and facilitate their involvement.

A widespread perception, though, is that the National Dialogue will only empower political parties and will neglect the people and their needs.

Last month, Hadi issued another decree to add six new members to the technical committee, four of whom are from the Islah party, shifting the balance. It also decreased the number of women to less than 30%, which has been commonly accepted as the minimum quota for women's participation in the various committees.

For Yemen to move forward, a sincere healing process needs to begin, and a bottom-up approach needs to replace the top-down elite model for the dialogue to succeed or else it will become just another political conference. If the National Dialogue fails, so will Hadi's legitimacy.

Another indicator that the leadership is not taking people's opinions into account is Hadi's recent statement praising the efficiency of drones and acknowledging his approval of the strikes which have resulted in many civilian deaths.

With no mention of the civilian casualties from his home province of Abyan, Hadi's legitimacy is slowly fading. A backlash against his statement was immediately felt in the country.

After his speech, Hadi quickly acquired new nicknames including "Abdu Drone Hadi", coined by activist Abdulrahman Alansy. "Exchanging local support with international glamour rather than striking balance between both will simply turn him into a Yemeni version of the weak and ineffective Karzai," said Ibrahim Mothana, youth activist and co-founder of the al-Watan party. 

More than seven months into his presidency, it appears that Hadi is not interested in bargaining with the masses, and instead is focused on pleasing the inner political circle, extending the exclusionary politics of the Saleh era into the new transitional government.

Hadi should take on this historic responsibility with a vision for the country and move beyond managing the power struggles, which is what Saleh did for 33 years and which cost him the presidency. With all the difficulties Yemen is facing, it is not to his advantage to sideline revolutionaries and other important and powerful groups in Yemen, from whom he should gain his legitimacy.

Gone are the days when legitimacy only comes from a small inner circle. The extent to which the people are able to push for reforms will demonstrate whether Yemen will move towards a more inclusive political process.

Yemen's Hadi urges all parties to join upcoming dialogue

Source : AFP, 14/10/2012

SANAA — Yemeni President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi has urged all parties to take part in the upcoming national dialogue, state news agency Saba reported on Saturday, after separatist factions vowed to boycott the talks.

"We want the national dialogue to establish a new Yemen through the participation of all Yemenis inside and outside the country," Hadi said in a statement commemorating the anniversary of the revolution against British occupation on October 14, 1963.

He said the talks set to begin in mid-November will discuss "the country's political system as well as the issue of the south, to which it will find a real, national and just solution."

Another subject will be tensions in Saada -- the stronghold of Zaidi rebels in the north, who have indicated they will take part in the dialogue.

But the Southern Movement, an alliance of groups that want autonomy or even independence for the south of the country, said on October 3 that it will boycott the talks.

They head called instead for a forum that takes place "under international supervision and aims at restoring the former (independent) southern state," that lasted until 1990.

The dialogue was stipulated in the Gulf-brokered and UN-backed deal under which former president Ali Abdullah Saleh officially stepped down in February, following a year-long uprising against his rule.

It is seen as a critical phase in Yemen's transition process where all parties, including the opposition, youth and the northern rebels are expected to come together and agree on a new constitution and on presidential and parliamentary elections.

Hadi, himself a southerner, had called on exiled Yemeni opposition figures, including leaders from the Southern Movement, to return home to participate in the transition process.

Residents in the south complain of discrimination by the Sanaa government, citing an inequitable distribution of resources.

After the 1990 union between North and South Yemen, the south broke away in 1994. The move sparked a short-lived civil war that ended with the region being overrun by northern troops.

Yemeni tribesmen free eight truck drivers including four Syrians

Yemeni tribesmen free eight truck drivers including four Syrians 

Source: Reuters,13/10/2012

Aden-Yemeni tribesmen freed four Syrian and four Yemeni truck drivers on Saturday five days after they were abducted in an attempt to pressure the government to release jailed kinsmen, a security official said.

The Sabbeiha tribesmen had seized the eight truck drivers as they passed through the province of Lahej in south Yemen while traveling from Aden to Hodayda on the Red Sea coast. "All eight drivers have been released and are on their way to the Lahej governorate building," the security official told Reuters.

The captors were demanding the release of 13 tribesmen arrested after clashes with security forces over land disputes, the official, adding that that the government would look into releasing the men.

"The condition for releasing the drivers was that officials would look into freeing the jailed tribesmen, and this is now under consideration," he added.

Tribesmen have previously kidnapped foreigners to put heat on the Sanaa government over rows often involving land or jailed compatriots, but captives have generally been freed unharmed.

Yemen's wealthier Gulf neighbours and the United States are concerned that continuing disorder may be exploited by al Qaeda and other Islamist militants to threaten the world's top oil producer Saudi Arabia next door and nearby shipping lanes. (Reporting by Mohammed Mukhashaf; Writing by Amena Bakr; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

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Al Qaeda accused of killing Investigation officer of US embassy, and beheading three soldiers

Al Qaeda accused of killing Investigation officer of US embassy, and beheading three soldiers

 

By Nasser Arrabyee,11/10/2012

A senior Yemeni officer working in the US embassy in Sanaa was killed early morning Thursday by gunmen, security sources and eyewitnesses said.

The eye witnesses said that two  gunmen riding a motorcycle  believed to be Al Qaeda operatives shot Mr  Kasem Aklan dead and escaped ran away. Mr Aklan was in the western  ring road in Sanaa when the gunmen killed him. 

Mr Aklan has been working in the US embassy for about 20 years and he was about to have an American citizenship. Aklan was working an investigative officer. He was  participating in the investigations of the incident of storming the US embassy last September. He was also the coordinator between the US embassy and the Yemeni government. 

Meanwhile, three   headless  bodies of security soldiers were found today Thursday nearby a check point at the entrance of Mareb city east of Yemen, local sources said Thursday. 

The sources said that Al Qaeda operatives kidnapped the three soldiers on Wednesday from the same check point and returned them early morning Thursday after cutting their heads.

This operation came only two days after Al Qaeda beheaded three men and threw their bodies in three different streets of the city of Mareb. Al Qaeda said the three men were spying for Yemeni intelligence and posing as Jihadists with Al Qaeda. All the three  slain men were Yemenis.

Born in Denmark, lived in Yorkshire, led the CIA to al-Qa'ida's leader in Yemen

Source: The Independent, By Jonathan Brown,

10/10/2012

When Morten Storm arrived in Luton ten years ago he cut quite a swathe. The beared former cage fighter had served a prison sentence in his native Denmark but said he had put a life of drugs and crime behind him. He had also converted to Islam.

At first the ex-biker appeared to embrace the moderate teachings of his Islamic centre, but before long he was an outspoken supporter of extremist groups such as al-Muhajiroun and a devoted follower of Osama bin Laden – even naming his eldest son after the late al-Qa'ida leader.

But the truth was far more complex. While posing as a radical Islamist known as Murad Danish, Storm was actually a CIA agent who played a crucial role in the US fatal drone attack on Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen, he claimed yesterday.

In a series of interviews with the Danish media, the 36-year-old said he had exploited his friendship with the US-born al-Qa'ida chief to help in the assassination of the radical cleric last year. Storm claims he located Awlaki using an encrypted USB device passed to one of the militant cleric's messengers during a visit to Yemen in 2011. Awlaki is alleged to have orchestrated attacks on Western targets including one involving underpants bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmuttalab.

According to the newspaper Jyllands-Posten, since 2006 Storm was under the command of a joint CIA, MI6 and the Danish Intelligence Service PET operation to infiltrate the highest echelons of al-Qa'ida. But he later fell out with his US handlers after they appeared to renege on the offer of a reward for killing Awlaki.

Storm is now thought to be in hiding, but attention is focusing on his life in Britain. The Independent has learnt that he rented an area of woodland near Wetherby, West Yorkshire, where he intended to carry out training on behalf of his outdoor pursuits company.

However, although he conducted a couple of exploratory exercises there, he disappeared without paying his rent last year. Locals described him as a plausible figure who never revealed his Islamic faith.

The website of his company, Storm Outdoors, refers to the founder's experience travelling in some of the world's "most hostile environments" and living among Bedouin tribes in North Yemen.

For much of his time in the UK, he lived in Luton, where he drew attention by proclaiming radical views at a time when community leaders were trying to keep a lid on extremism in the wake of 7/7. Storm also coached young Muslims to box, learnt Arabic and described himself as a "holy warrior" helping recruit members for groups such as the now banned al-Muhajiroun, it is claimed.

Farasat Latif of the Luton Islamic Centre said he initially found Storm to be "friendly and very jolly" but the pair rapidly fell out over his extreme views. "He loved the attention. He first introduced himself as an ex-member of a biker gang and told me about his escapades. But he said he wanted to put all that behind him and become a good Muslim," he said.

But within six months Storm was accusing mosque leaders of apostasy – while spying for the intelligence services.

"Morten Storm not only infiltrated extremist groups in Luton, he promoted them, helped them recruit members, and aided them in theologically refuting their opponents. In short, while he was doing the CIA's dirty work in Yemen, he gave religious extremism a huge boost in Luton," said Mr Latif.

Community members were baffled that the father of two, who had to borrow money to buy nappies for his children, was able to afford to travel to Yemen.

Storm claims to have first met Awlaki in 2006 in the Yemeni capital Sanaa. He said the intelligence organisations "knew that Anwar saw me as his friend and confidant. They knew that I could reach him, and find out where he stayed".

The first plan was to plant a tracking device on the militant cleric who by 2009 was living in the remote Shabwa province. Their final meeting was at the home of a sympathiser in September that year, during which Morten claims Awlaki discussed plans for "poison attacks" on Western shopping centres.

When he returned to Copenhagen he met PET and the CIA who identified the house where they had met using satellite pictures. The premises were later destroyed by Yemeni security forces. In April 2011 Storm claims to have held another meeting with agents at a hotel in Helsingor, eastern Denmark where the plan to pass a USB stick to Awlaki was hatched.

At a meeting with a US official after Awlaki's death, Storm claims he was told his work had been recognised. A recording he made caught the official saying: "I'm talking about the President of the United States. He knows you. So the right people know your contribution. And we are grateful."