Yemen President urges dialogue as separatists uprise in the south

Yemen President urges dialogue as separatists uprise in the south 

Sources: AFP, 26/02/2013

President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi said Monday that dialogue was the only way to solve Yemen's problems, as violence marred the third day of his visit to the south where security forces clashed with activists. 

Hadi arrived Saturday on a surprise visit to the south, his first since becoming president in February 2012. 

On Monday he met officials in Aden as four protesters were wounded when police opened fire to disperse a demonstration in the southeastern city of Mukalla, reports and witnesses said. 

"Dialogue is the only way to solve all pending issues," Hadi told the officials, the state news agency Saba said. 

The national dialogue is stipulated in the UN-backed Gulf initiative that eased former president Ali Abdullah Saleh out of office after more than three decades in power. 

It is scheduled to convene on March 18 and aims at drafting a new constitution and electoral law for parliamentary and presidential polls in 2014. 

But hardliners in the south have refused to take part in the dialogue and have called for civil disobedience, insisting on a secession of the regions of the formerly independent south. 

"There are many good forces that want dialogue. But there are also people with narrow interests that do not want dialogue," and are based in Beirut, Hadi said, in reference to exiled leader Salem Baid who heads a hardline faction within the Southern Movement. 

Most other factions of the Southern Movement have agreed to take part in the dialogue. 

Protesters, meanwhile, blocked roads in Aden and Mukalla forcing shops and schools to close, witnesses said. 

In Aden, masked activists blocked streets with burning tyres and rocks in several neighbourhoods, including the Crater, Mansura, Dar Saad and Sheikh Osman, an AFP correspondent reported. 

Four activists were wounded when security forces opened fire to disperse a demonstration in the southeastern city of Mukalla, witnesses said. 

Protests have intensified in the south after five pro-independence protesters were killed on Thursday, when the deeply divided country marked a year since the ouster of Saleh. 

South Yemen broke away in 1994, sparking a civil war, before it was overrun by northern troops. 

Violence and assassinations continue in volatile south Yemen

Violence and assassinations continue in volatile  south Yemen 

Source: Reuters, 24/02/2013

South-Yemen- A Yemeni security chief survived an assassination attempt on Saturday in the south of the country, where three people were killed in clashes between his forces and separatists.

The Defence Ministry said Abdulwahab al-Wali, head of the central security forces, escaped the attack by unknown gunmen in the town of Mukalla, but two of his bodyguards were wounded.

Southern Yemen, which was an independent state until 1990, is troubled by both separatist unrest and an insurgency led by Islamist militants linked to al Qaeda, a source of concern to Gulf states and the West.

Wali survived a previous assassination attempt last year, one of a string of attacks on military, political and militia leaders and officials. Many have been blamed on the Islamists, but the authorities did not say whether any group was suspected of Saturday's shooting.

In other developments, medical and security sources said three people were killed and 14 wounded in clashes between Yemeni security forces and separatists in the south.

Separatist leaders had called for a day of civil disobedience in major southern towns and cities after the deaths of six people in protests on Thursday.

The resurgent movement for a south Yemen state has aggravated political instability in the Arabian Peninsula country, where Washington fears political chaos is giving al Qaeda space to operate.

Shops, bakeries and schools were closed in many southern cities and transport was paralyzed after roads were blocked with stones and burning tyres, witnesses said. Many government employees did not turn up for work.

PARTY HQ ON FIRE

In Aden, capital of the former South Yemen, one person was killed and nine were wounded in clashes on Saturday, medical sources said. Witnesses said armored vehicles patrolled the streets.

One person was killed in Mukalla and another in Ghayl ba Wazir district in eastern Yemen, while five were wounded, the sources said. The Islah party, one of the most powerful in Yemen, said separatists had set fire to its headquarters in Mukalla.

North and south Yemen were unified in 1990 after the Communist-led southern government collapsed. Northern forces won a brief civil war four years later after the south tried to secede from the union.

The secessionist movement gained strength during mass, nationwide street protests against former president Ali Abdullah Saleh in 2011, which forced the veteran strongman from office a year ago.

Southern Yemenis complain of discrimination by the government in the north. Yemen, which borders the world's top oil exporter, Saudi Arabia, is also facing a northern rebellion by Shi'ite Muslims.

(Reporting by Mohammed Mukhashaf; Writing by Angus McDowall; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)

Yemen, Hailed as Model, Struggles for Stability

Yemen, Hailed as Model, Struggles for Stability

Source : The New York Times, By  ROBERT F. WORTH, 21/02/2103

SANA, Yemen — The tents at the heart of this city’s Change Square are now almost empty of protesters, and the canvas flaps quietly in the breeze. Two years after the start of its democratic uprising, Yemen has a new president and is in the midst of a lumbering transition process that has been held up by the Obama administration as a model for resolving Syria’s bloody civil war.

In some ways, the transition here has achieved a relative calm, while Egypt and Syria are in violent upheaval. Yemen, having pulled back from the brink of war in 2011, is slowly embarking on a national dialogue aimed at reconciling its rancorous political factions, under the watchful eyes of Arab and Western monitors.

Yet many Yemenis now doubt that anything substantial has changed and fear that the much-hailed “Yemen model” is enshrining a fragile stability at a time when decisive action is needed.

Beyond the capital, the country is more rudderless than ever. The south is in the grip of a surging independence movement, and sectarian tensions are rising dangerously in the north. The economy is a shambles. All of the same troublesome political players — including the still-powerful former president, Ali Abdullah Saleh — remain, and the new president, Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, has struggled to assert himself against them.

“I have never felt the anxiety I feel now,” said Sami Ghalib, a political analyst and former newspaper editor. “There was always geographical conflict, but now it is turning ideological. There are assassinations taking place everywhere. And at the helm, we have a leader who behaves like Saleh but doesn’t even have his political skills.”

Unlike his predecessor, Mr. Hadi is a virtual recluse who rarely speaks in public and has failed to offer a clear vision for addressing any of the crises afflicting the country. His fierce praise for the American drone-strike program, which is unpopular here, has further eroded his small base of public support. He is widely said to fear for his life and has appointed many family members and old allies to security positions.

Some progress has been made. A military campaign last year recaptured several southern towns from the jihadist militants who had controlled them for more than a year. But most of the fighters seem to have melted back into the population, and in the wake of the military’s withdrawal, large areas of the south remain a checkerboard of mysterious armed groups with no government presence.

Meanwhile, Al Qaeda’s Yemeni affiliate has adopted a new tactic: a ruthless campaign of assassinations that has left 74 military and intelligence officers dead since the start of last year, according to Interior Ministry officials. Almost all of the killings have been carried out by masked gunmen on motorcycles — often with pistols equipped with silencers — and only a few suspects have been arrested.

Mr. Hadi’s supporters point out that he inherited a fearsome set of challenges. He took office a year ago under the terms of a phased transition plan brokered by the Gulf Cooperation Council, a Saudi-led regional body, with the support of the United States and other Western powers. He was the consensus candidate inside Yemen largely because he lacked an independent power base and was therefore inoffensive to the tribal and military chiefs who wield real influence. His primary task was to undermine those chiefs, whose corrupt systems of patronage constitute one of the main obstacles to any real change.

Some analysts and diplomats give Mr. Hadi credit for a slow, steady effort to disarm his rivals. “He understood that the only way to undermine Saleh was by initially allying himself with Ali Muhsin,” the powerful general who defected to the opposition during the 2011 protests, said a European diplomat who spoke on the condition of anonymity, under diplomatic protocol.

Mr. Hadi has removed a number of military commanders loyal to the former president. In December, he announced a broad restructuring of the military that reassigned both Mr. Saleh’s son, Ahmed Ali Saleh, and Gen. Ali Muhsin al-Ahmar — two of the most powerful military figures in Yemen. However, both men wield power mostly through networks of patronage and tribal influence. It remains to be seen whether Mr. Hadi, who lacks such networks, will follow through on his efforts to weaken them.

He must also contend with a southern independence movement that has grown so large over the past year that some Yemeni officials say they fear it will lead to war, if left unchecked. On Jan. 13, a rally in the southern coastal city of Aden drew tens of thousands of angry protesters. Although the movement’s leaders are divided, they all reject the Gulf Cooperation Council’s transition plan as a northern document, and almost all have refused to take part in the national dialogue.

Actual secession by the south — which was a separate country until 1990 — is unlikely in the absence of firmer leadership and foreign support. But the movement has grown more radical by the day, complicating efforts to restore governance.

In a paradox, Mr. Hadi is a southerner and was chosen in part on the premise that this would help him to placate the secessionists. Instead, he is widely hated in the south, in part because he is seen as a pillar of the northern political system after serving for 18 years as Mr. Saleh’s deputy.

“Hadi could still win back the south, or at least calm the situation there, if he made the right gestures,” said Abdel Ghani al-Iryani, an expert in Yemeni politics. “But he is not a bold political actor.”

Another rising threat is the growth of an increasingly violent and sectarian confrontation between two of Yemen’s largest political groups. One of those groups, known as the Houthi movement, is led by radical adherents of a variant of Shiite Islam and has been accused of receiving support from Iran. Its followers have clashed repeatedly with youths from Islah, Yemen’s main Sunni Islamist party and the local equivalent of the Muslim Brotherhood.

This conflict has taken on aspects of a proxy war between Saudi Arabia — which supports Islah — and Iran, with troubling Sunni-Shiite overtones. The Houthis have grown increasingly strident, holding vast public rallies modeled after those of Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite movement. The two groups regularly malign each other in sectarian terms — a new occurrence in Yemen — and on several occasions, rallies have devolved into rock-throwing and even gun battles between members of the two camps.

“Everybody is worried about this,” said Najib Ghalib, the chairman of the Jazeera Studies Center in Sanaa. “Hadi needs to cool things down, but he hasn’t.”

Instead, Mr. Hadi is said to be placing his energy and hopes in the national dialogue, an unwieldy political conference that was mandated in the transition plan.

The dialogue, which has been repeatedly delayed, will bring together 565 representatives of Yemen’s various political groups, in numerous subcommittees and plenary sessions over a six-month period. The idea, diplomats say, is to undertake a group process that will itself be therapeutic, even if the dialogue yields few consensual decisions about Yemen’s political future.

Skeptics abound, in part because some of the most intransigent political groups, like the Houthis and the southern separatists, refuse to participate.

Mr. Hadi, like his predecessor, appears to have paid little attention to the economy, despite some dire indicators. The deficit for the coming year is $3.17 billion out of a total budget of $12.6 billion. Half of that deficit remains unfinanced, and the government paid $2.8 billion in subsidies alone in 2012, mainly to offset the cost of fuel for Yemen’s desperately poor population. Last year, Saudi Arabia donated $2 billion in fuel products, and “that saved us,” said one senior Finance Ministry official, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “But can we count on that in the future?”

On a recent afternoon, a Yemeni political activist named Radhia al-Mutawakel watched as images of violent protesting in Egypt flared on a television screen.

“I envy the Egyptians,” Ms. Mutawakel said. “There, the independent activists at least have a voice. Here, we have none. There, they have a unified army. Here, everything is divided, and nothing has changed.”

Death toll raised to 15 in military plane crash over Yemeni capital, surprise breakdown behind incident

By Nasser ArrAbyee,19/02/2013

A surprise breakdown was behind the crash of the military plane over Sanaa said the the ministry of defense before investigations are finished. 

Three rescue soldiers were killed  to raise the death toll to 15 at least including three women and two children as a result of a crash of Russian-made fighter jet over residential area in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, said officials and eyewitnesses and medics Tuesday. 

The plane, Sukhoi 22, which was allegedly in training trip at the outskirts of Sanaa, crashed over Al Qadsyah street, few meters away from the remaining tents and ruins of the Change Square at the rush hour of the day. 

 Dead body of the pilot, captain Mohammed Shaker 34, who was only on board, was found charred. Four houses  at least were damaged one of them completely and four cars and one motor cycle were seen in the street damaged one of them completely burnt with the driver  charred inside.  The pilot was father of a son and daughter, and he graduated from aviation air defense college in 2004. 

This is the second Russian-made military plane to be crashed over the capital within about three months.  The army and security institutions are being restructured after relatives of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh were replaced. 

The black box of the the crashed plane was taken to the command of the air base in Sanaa.  Thousands of people were came to the site obstructing policemen and rescue teams despite warnings from loudspeakers to stay away.  The panic spread over in the whole city as local TV channels were covering live from roof of houses.  Children and women were crying.

 " I and my family waging for lunch, when heard buildings being destroyed, and then we saw the flames and smoke rising," said Mohmmed Saleh after he took his wife and his daughter to  hospital for treatment from injuries. 

A lot of anger could be observed in the faces of people in the site and the whole city and some was saying this is not accidental it is premeditated by the conflicting parties over army and security. 

 A lot of questions remain unanswered about this incident. And whether  the plane was really in training trip or participating in the ongoing confrontations with Al Qaeda fighters in Al Manaseh stronghold in Radaa about 300 km southeast of Sanaa. Why the pilot was alone on board, if it was in training, some were wondering. 

A total of 10 officers including high ranking commander were killed last November  when the Russian-made antonove crashed over empty market in the middle of Sanaa. The black box information indicated later that the plane was hit with a number of bullet from the lands.

Death toll raised to 15 in military plane crash over Yemeni capital, surprise breakdown behind the crash

By Nasser ArrAbyee,19/02/2013

A surprise breakdown was behind the crash of the military plane over Sanaa said the the ministry of defense before investigations are finished. 

Three rescue soldiers were killed  to raise the death toll to 15 at least including three women and two children as a result of a crash of Russian-made fighter jet over residential area in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, said officials and eyewitnesses and medics Tuesday. 

The plane, Sukhoi 22, which was allegedly in training trip at the outskirts of Sanaa, crashed over Al Qadsyah street, few meters away from the remaining tents and ruins of the Change Square at the rush hour of the day. 

 Dead body of the pilot, captain Mohammed Shaker 34, who was only on board, was found charred. Four houses  at least were damaged one of them completely and four cars and one motor cycle were seen in the street damaged one of them completely burnt with the driver  charred inside.  The pilot was father of a son and daughter, and he graduated from aviation air defense college in 2004. 

This is the second Russian-made military plane to be crashed over the capital within about three months.  The army and security institutions are being restructured after relatives of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh were replaced. 

The black box of the the crashed plane was taken to the command of the air base in Sanaa.  Thousands of people were came to the site obstructing policemen and rescue teams despite warnings from loudspeakers to stay away.  The panic spread over in the whole city as local TV channels were covering live from roof of houses.  Children and women were crying.

 " I and my family waging for lunch, when heard buildings being destroyed, and then we saw the flames and smoke rising," said Mohmmed Saleh after he took his wife and his daughter to  hospital for treatment from injuries. 

A lot of anger could be observed in the faces of people in the site and the whole city and some was saying this is not accidental it is premeditated by the conflicting parties over army and security. 

 A lot of questions remain unanswered about this incident. And whether  the plane was really in training trip or participating in the ongoing confrontations with Al Qaeda fighters in Al Manaseh stronghold in Radaa about 300 km southeast of Sanaa. Why the pilot was alone on board, if it was in training, some were wondering. 

A total of 10 officers including high ranking commander were killed last November  when the Russian-made antonove crashed over empty market in the middle of Sanaa. The black box information indicated later that the plane was hit with a number of bullet from the lands.

Former president Saleh delayed planned trip for necessary treatments for the sake of his supporters

By Nasser Arrabyee,  19/02/2013

Thousands of Yemenis assembled inside and outside the house of the former president Ali Abdullah Saleh asking him not to leave Yemen for treatments in Saudi Arabia or anywhere else  as planned because he is helping the fragile transition as a safety valve as they were saying. 

The supporters came from almost everywhere inside and outside Sanaa carrying banners  some of them read " you must not leave the country now for any reason"  and " you are a safety valve". Saleh told the crowds from a  balcony that he will be always with them. 

Observers say that the Islamists ( brother hood) insisting that Saleh leave his party and the country so that they can dominate everything in the country including President Hadi.

 " They gave Hadi promises to extend his term or elect him again as a consensus candidate if Saleh leaves the country and Hadi becomes head of the party," said Abdul Salam Al Bahri in press interview on Tuesday. 

 " The brotherhood want Hadi to be  like a king who owns but not rules," said Al Bahri who recently defected from the party of brotherhood, Islah.  

Yemenis told not to spoil dialogue!

The Yemen conflicting parties have no other option but to sit for dialogue after the UN Security Council warned spoilers of sanctions.The national dialogue starts on March 18th, and is expected to come out with new constitution according to  which presidential elections to be held on February 2014. 

To support the Yemeni transitional President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi, the UNSC issued last week a presidential statement warning politicians from former regime and former opposition and other influential persons of imposing sanctions on them if they undermine the dialogue.

The statement, however, mentioned by name only two possible spoilers, one from the north and the other from the south:The  former president Ali Abdullah Saleh and former president of the south Ali Salem Al Beidh who has been in exile for  more than 17 years.  Al Beidh retracted the unity between south and north only 3 years after he and Saleh declared it in 1990.

 Reactions on considering Saleh a possible spoiler were various and on Al Beidh there was only one reaction from almost every one including Al Beidh himself. 

That reaction was why Ali Salem was mentioned while  he is not a party of the transition deal, GCCI. He has been demanding separation of the south since he was exiled after 1994 civil war when he failed to separate. 

Al Beidh  is accused of receiving support from Iran to realize separation. Leaders of separation groups inside Yemen support Al Beidh as top leader of the south. 

 " In fact,Iran is not supporting us, but we want it to support our southern issue, and we will be honored with that," said Tarek Al Fadhli, one of the separation leaders who support Al Beidh.  Al Fadhli, said that Al Beidh is the legal president of the south and the statement of UNSC is " biasing against the east ( Russia, China, and Iran) from the west.

As for reactions on mentioning Saleh as a possible spoiler, some observers say the others should have been mentioned by names as well not only implicitly.

"The problem with the statement is that it did not mention general Ali Muhsen by name although he is now even more dangerous than Saleh. The only difference is that Muhsen pretends he is supporting the revolution and he is not," said the political activist Ali Al Bukhaiti.

"He ( general Muhsen)  is actually working with tribal and religious forces to prevent any change or any progress'" he added "These forces ( tribal, religious and military) will definitely be in conflict with President Hadi, if Saleh is not there."

The former president Saleh keeps saying he and his party were behind the transitional deal and they are adhering to it word by word and they are doing their best to  bring the dialogue to success.

Although the UNSC statement did not refer  to Saleh's staying in or leaving Yemen or keeping as a head of his party PGC. The UNSC considers Saleh's staying in Yemen as something up to him only and keeping as a head of PGC is something up to the party itself. All what UNSC  want from Saleh or any other influential person  is not to spoil or undermine the transition deal and the coming dialogue. 

However, Saleh and his party accused the ruling Islamist party Islah ( Yemen brotherhood) of misinforming the UNSC with the purpose of getting more support to dismiss Saleh from his party and his country as a strong opponent who might inspire and guide new faces from his party to take power again in the coming elections.

"The brotherhood do everything they can to dismiss me from my party and from my country, our telephones are monitored and even our sons are monitored and even though we keep silent so that they get reassured we are not conspiring against them," Saleh said in a meeting with his important aides of the  political bureau of his party, PGC, after the UNSC statement.

Saleh and his party feel they have a problem inside their party regardless of what their opponents say or do. The PGC is seen from outside with two heads, two presidents.  Saleh is the formal  president, and Hadi, the President of the country, is  still formal vice president of PGC.

Saleh says he is ready to solve this problem but only by elections as a principle for the future generations and he is willing to recommend Hadi and not to stand for election any more. 

" If my being as a head of PGC undermines the transition and dialogue,  then our party should hold its 8th general congress, and the current leadership should all resign and new leadership should be elected," said Saleh in the meeting with his party.

And even more, Saleh formed a committee made up of his highest aides and their allies from other parties to go and submit an official request to President Hadi and the 10 ambassadors of countries who sponsor the transitional deal,  GCCI. 

Saleh and his party want to know why the presidential statement of UNSC expressed concerns that Saleh might undermine the transition deal while Saleh was the first to propose it and formulate it. 

The secretary of Saleh, Ahmed Al Sufi, said " the UNSC statement  disappointed the opponents of Saleh especially the Islamists by   closing the file of Saleh leaving Yemen or leaving politics."

  Al Sufi  was referring to the position of UNSC regarding Saleh's political activity and his desire to leave or to stay in Yemen, as both have nothing to do with the UNSC.

The statement of UNSC says " the Security Council expresses concern over reports of interference in the transition by individuals in Yemen representing the former regime, the former opposition, and others who do not adhere to the guiding principles of the Implementation Mechanism Agreement for the transition process, including . former President Ali Abdullah Saleh and former Vice President Ali Salim Al-Beidh."

The Security Council reiterates its readiness to consider further measures, including under Article 41 of the UN Charter, if actions aimed at undermining the Government of National Unity and the political transition continue. 

The Security Council expresses concern over reports of money and weapons being brought into Yemen from outside for the purpose of undermining the transition

70 skydivers over Dubai in solidarity with Yemen

70 skydivers over Dubai in solidarity with Yemen

Source: The National, 19/02/2013

DUBAI- Dozens of skydivers leapt from an aircraft circling high over Dubai yesterday to help thousands of people affected by the humanitarian crisis in Yemen.

The group of mostly nervous first-timers, in tandem with instructors, took part in the UN World Food Programme (WFP) backed Jump for Yemen initiative that helped to raise Dh63,000 - enough to feed 28,000 people for a day.

"I am so excited to do this," said Reva Kassis, 23, a Lebanese expatriate who was experiencing skydiving for the first time. "It is my lifetime dream. I'll do it for a good cause," she said as she waited to board the aircraft dressed in a T-shirt that read: "I jumped for Yemen!"

Ms Kassis was among 70 people and WFP officials who signed up for the 13,000-feet jump over Skydive Dubai in Dubai Marina.

The first group of five took off at about 11am and were quickly out of the aircraft as it flew over the Palm Jumeirah before their instructors opened the parachutes, landing smoothly on the grassy dropzone. From boarding the plane to landing, the entire experience lasted about 20 minutes.

Each tandem jump was sold for Dh900, about half the usual price, by Skydive Dubai on the deals website Groupon UAE on February 4.

"The idea was to raise enough funds to feed 28,000 people a day," said Elise Bijon, WFP spokeswoman, who also skydived.

"Seventy people was the limit set by Skydive Dubai. The jumps were sold out in a day. Many were disappointed they couldn't participate. We hope we can do this again."

According to the WFP, more than 10 million people, or almost half of Yemen's population, is either hungry or "on the edge" of hunger.

The agency said child malnutrition rates were among the highest in the world with more than two million youngsters under five affected. Another one million children are already acutely malnourished.

Delicia Murugan, 24, said she had been inspired to skydive because it helped such a good cause.

"I signed up for a combination of reasons. I really wanted to do this, plus it is for charity, which is a big bonus," said the South African.

Another first-time jumper said she snapped up the offer as soon as it was announced. "It was a good deal for a good cause," said Vaishali Shah, 24.

The jumps were stopped for about an hour in the afternoon because visibility dropped below 3,000 metres. They resumed at about 3pm with the remaining 20 people parachuting safely to the ground.

Alan Gayton, general manager at Skydive Dubai, said they would consider organising similar initiatives for charity.

In its 2013 Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said its funding requirements had significantly risen by 22 per cent with the country urgently needing around US$716million (Dh2.6billion) in aid.

Yemen is one of the poorest countries in the world with nearly half of its 24 million people living in poverty. About 7 million do not have the money for three meals a day, according to Oxfam.

Three Albanians were sentenced to 6 years in prison for bringing more than 170 tons of weapons to Yemen

Three Albanians were sentenced to 6 years in prison for bringing more than 170 tons of weapons to Yemen

Source: AFP,17/02/2013

A Yemeni court on Sunday sentenced three Albanians arrested in the eastern Hadramawt province to six years in prison for smuggling arms and explosives into the country, a judicial source said. 

The three were arrested in December as they smuggled 179.5 tonnes of ammunition in a ship and were found guilty of trafficking military equipment into Yemen, the source said. 

The judge "read the verdict in which the defendants were sentenced to six years and the ship and explosives confiscated," the source added, saying their case was heard by a court specialised in terrorism cases. 

The defendants, whose trial began in January, said they will appeal the verdict, and insisted that they had stopped in the port city of Mukalla to refuel the ship, the source said. 

The ship, with flags of Kenya and Moldova on it, had arrived from Monte Negro. 

The charge sheet says the boat remained in international waters before entering Yemen's territorial waters where its crew claimed they wanted to refuel. 

In a separate case Yemeni authorities last month seized what they say is a ship loaded with Iran-linked arms. The eight-member Yemeni crew of the shiap are being questioned. 

The same Yemen's traditional forces rule after " Revolution"

Yemen’s powerful families still  cast shadows 

Source: Washington Post, By Sudarsan Raghavan, 16/02/2013

SANAA, Yemen — In the northwest enclaves of this capital, a renegade general’s forces control the streets. In the southern reaches, Yemen’s former president exerts influence from his mansion. And in a neighborhood nestled in the middle, a powerful tribal family wields authority on the ground and in political circles.

A year after President Ali Abdullah Saleh stepped down in a deal brokered by the United States and Yemen’s Arab neighbors, the country’s three most influential families continue to cast a large shadow over the political transition. Unlike leaders of other nations altered by the Arab Spring revolutions, Yemen’s elites were neither jailed nor exiled, and they have remained inside the country, free to operate as they will.

The continuity has helped prevent Yemen from descending into a Syria-like civil war or erupting into the violent political turmoil seen in Egypt and Tunisia. But the elites’ lingering influence has also impeded Yemen’s progress, say activists, analysts and Western diplomats.

“We don’t want to be pulled back to the past and its conflicts,” said Tawakkol Karman, Yemen’s Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

Yemen’s political stability is vital to the United States and its allies at a time when al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the terror network’s most dangerous wing, continues to pose a threat to the West and Yemen’s government. The group, operating next to vital oil shipping lanes in one of the world’s most strategic regions, has asserted responsibility for several attempted attacks on the United States. The Obama administration has responded with a controversial drone war characterized by “kill lists” of terrorism suspects.

Today, Saleh and his family, Maj. Gen. Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar and the influential al-Ahmar tribal family — which is not related to the general — are all seeking to dictate the path of this impoverished Middle Eastern country as it heads toward elections next year.

“The reason why Ali Abdullah Saleh and his family are still present in the political life is because the other sides, General Mohsen and the Ahmars, are still present,” said Ali al-Bukhaiti, 36, a youth activist leader who participated in Yemen’s 2011 uprising.

Power and connections

For more than three decades, Saleh and Mohsen controlled Yemen, the former as its omnipresent autocrat, the latter as its most powerful military leader. They watched each other’s backs, even as they became rivals. Mohsen was widely seen as Saleh’s successor until Saleh tried to anoint a son to the position.

In a nation where tribes make up the central social unit, Saleh also relied heavily on the Ahmar family to maintain his power. The family’s late patriarch headed the tribal federation to which Saleh’s tribe belongs.

In exchange for their support, Saleh allowed Mohsen and the Ahmars to “run their affairs with informal armies, courts and economic empires” and made “direct payments from the treasury to the . . . tribal and military constituencies,” then-U.S. Ambassador Thomas C. Krajeski wrote in a 2005 diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks.

The symbiotic relationship dramatically changed on March 18, 2011, after government-backed snipers killed dozens of protesters. Mohsen joined the populist uprising, triggering a wave of defections in the military, government and tribes. By then, many of the Ahmars were supporting the revolution, particularly Hamid al-Ahmar, a billionaire businessman. He is now a senior leader in al-Islah, the country’s most powerful Islamist party, which is part of the coalition government.

Saleh’s 33-year reign formally ended in February 2012, when his vice president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, succeeded him for a transitional period of at least two years. In return, Saleh and his family received immunity from prosecution for alleged crimes, according to the power transfer deal.

Many Yemenis hoped Saleh would live in exile outside Yemen. Instead, he has stayed in the capital and remained the head of his party, the General People’s Congress, now also part of the coalition government. Hadi remains Saleh’s deputy in the party.

“The jury is still out on whether Hadi’s government will bring significant change or whether his rule is Saleh-lite,” said Letta Tayler, Yemen researcher for Human Rights Watch, the watchdog group.

Saleh’s critics and Western diplomats say he is using his position, his connections and his vast wealth to influence ministers, parliament members and other officials of his party. Saleh and his loyalists have launched a television station to promote their views. Some critics accuse him of using thugs to cut electricity lines and destroy oil pipelines to make Hadi’s government appear ineffective.

“The ousted president is still playing a political role. He is still practicing games of revenge against the Yemeni people,” Karman said.

Saleh’s aides deny the allegations. They, in turn, accuse the Ahmars and Mohsen of trying to grab power by having political allies appoint al-Islah-affiliated governors and hire loyalists in the military and security forces.

“Ali Abdullah Saleh is not in control of everything,” said Yasser al-Awadhi, a senior official in the General People’s Congress. “He is not interfering. It’s the Ahmars, Ali Mohsen and the Islah party that are causing obstacles.”

Mistrust omnipresent

The mistrust is visible everywhere. A long-delayed national conference to address issues critical to Yemen’s future, such as preparations for a draft constitution, is scheduled for next month. But already there are accusations that Saleh’s camp is stacking the summit with its supporters. Groups crucial to political progress, such as southern separatists, who have a long list of grievances against Yemen’s northern rulers, are considering not participating.

Reuniting the armed forces is also widely seen as essential, but they remain divided. Hadi has managed to remove Saleh’s son, Ahmed Ali Saleh, and other Saleh relatives from key security posts. But many security officials remain loyal to the family, said analysts and diplomats.

Mohsen’s forces remain in the northwest of the capital and control Sanaa University, near Change Square, the encampment erected by the protesters two years ago. Last week, local news reports said Saleh’s son addressed Republican Guard troops as if he were their leader, even though they are nominally under Hadi’s command. The Ahmars have positioned their tribal fighters in strongholds.

“The president does not have the power. He is not in control of the security of the country,” Karman said. “In reality, Ahmed Ali is still heading the Republican Guards, and Ali Moh­sen is still in control of the 1st Armored Division.”

Even some members of al-Islah, dominated by the Ahmars and Mohsen, said all elites have to leave the political and military landscape for Yemen to progress.

“They should not participate,” said Saeed Shamsan, head of the political department of the party. “They have all been rejected by the Yemeni people.”

Security Council threatens sanctions on spoilers of Yemen transition

Spoilers from former regime, former opposition and others including ex-presidents Saleh and Al Beidh.

Source: UN News Center, 16/02/2013

The United Nations Security Council today welcomed Yemen’s decision to launch the National Dialogue Conference on 18 March and threatened to use economic sanctions to stop reported spoilers aiming to derail the political transition.

In a presidential statement, the 15-member Council said that the Conference should be conducted in an “inclusive manner involving the full participation of all segments of Yemeni society, including representatives from the South and other regions, and the full and effective participation of youth and women.”

Yemen has been undergoing a democratic transition, with a Government of National Unity under the leadership of President Abdrabuh Mansour Hadi, who came to power in an election in February 2012 following protests that led to the resignation of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

The national dialogue is meant to feed into a constitution-making progress, and pave the way for general elections to be held in 2014.

In today’s statement, the Council cautioned against interference from the former regime, former opposition, and others “who do not adhere to the guiding principles of the Implementation Mechanism Agreement for the transition process,” including former president Saleh and former vice president Ali Salim Al-Beidh.

It was also concerned about reports of money and weapons being brought into Yemen from outside for the purpose of undermining the transition.

The Council said it is ready to “consider further measures,” including under Article 41 of the UN Charter, if actions aimed at undermining the Government of National Unity and the political transition continue.

Article 41 falls under Chapter VII of the Charter, which deals with threats to the peace, breaches of the peace and acts of aggression. It states that the Council may decide what measures – not involving the use of armed force – are to be employed to give effect to its decisions, and it may call on UN Member States to apply such measures.

These may include complete or partial interruption of economic relations and of rail, sea, air, postal, telegraphic, radio, and other means of communication, and the severance of diplomatic relations.

Last week the UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Jamal Benomar, said that the situation in the country remains fragile and many tasks lie ahead for the transition to succeed.

“While progress has been made and the transition remains largely on track, it is clear that there has been active resistance to the transition,” Mr. Benomar said, adding that “it is clear to whom these are attributable to.”

The Council also urged the international community to continue support for Yemen. The next Friends of Yemen meeting is slated for 7 March in London. At the last meeting in September in New York, participants pledged $1.5 billion, in addition to $6.4 billion already pledged, to support the two-year transition process in Yemen.

UNSC fails to issue statement on Yemen dialogue over criticism against Saleh

Politics over Yemen in UNSC almost the same as politics in Yemen

Source: KUNA, 15/02/2013

UNITED NATIONS-- The UN Security Council failed on Thursday to issue a presidential statement that would have welcomed the launch of the National Dialogue Conference in Yemen on 18 March which would lead to elections by February 2014.

The Council President, the Republic of Korea, was to read the statement in a Council open meeting today, but Russia, diplomats said, broke the silence procedure, therefore the statement is now shelved since there was no consensus to issue it.

Diplomats said Russia objected to a paragraph in the statement which would have noted, "in particular, persistent allegations against (former Yemeni President) Ali Abdullah Saleh," and others who receive "money and weapons from outside of Yemen for the purpose of undermining the transition," in an indirect reference to Iran.

Russia, diplomats added, also objected to another paragraph in the statement which would have reiterated its "readiness to consider further measures, including under Article 41 of the UN Charter, if actions aimed at undermining the Government of National Unity and the political transition continue".

A diplomat told KUNA that according to the UN, the "biggest challenge" facing Yemen is former President Ali Abdullah Salah's continued presence in Yemen where he has a "powerful" impact in the country and uses his own fortune, 

estimated at USD 7 billion, to interfere in Yemeni current President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi's decisions and hamper his efforts towards the National Dialogue.

According to the diplomat, Hadi wrote a letter to the Council insisting that Saleh's continued presence is an obstacle to peace and reconciliation in the country, and urged the members to therefore adopt a resolution asking him to leave the country.

He said that cannot be done, because Saleh remains a Yemeni citizen, adding that while some members believe this would be an interference in Yemeni internal affairs, others believe that the implementation of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) initiative is more important.

He dismissed the idea that the Council impose sanctions on Saleh. The ideal would be to discourage him from getting involved in the political life in the country or just encourage him to leave the country for medical treatment or tourism.

According to the presidential statement blocked by Russia, the Council would have also expressed concern over reports of interference in the transition by "individuals" in Yemen representing the former regime and who do not adhere to the guiding principles of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) transition agreement.

It would have emphasised the need for the National Dialogue Conference to be conducted in an inclusive manner involving the full participation of all segments of Yemeni society, including representatives from the South and other regions and called upon all parties to act in good faith.

It would have reiterated the need for the transitional period to be a Yemeni-led process, underpinned by a commitment to democracy, good governance, rule of law, national reconciliation and respect for the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all people in Yemen.

It would have finally welcomed the GCC efforts in pursuing a peaceful political transition in Yemen. 

Clamor about alleged Iranian weapons and silence about Turkish weapons in Yemen.

Selective Silence in Sanaa

Source: The Majalla, By Nasser Arrabyee, 14/02/2013 

http://onswipe.com/majalla/#!/entry/selective-silence-in-sanaa,511cec9fd7fc7b56702c8a7d

Yemeni and Iranian relations witness  unprecedented tensions and strains.

The last straw for such tension was on January 23rd, 2013 when American navy helped Yemeni coast guards to catch a mysterious ship laden with more than 40 tons of weapons and explosives including a number of land-to air missiles made in Iran,  Misagh2.

 Emboldened by American desires and feeling to point to Iran, Yemeni officials say now that the ship,  Jihan1, came from Iran and was heading to Al Houthi Shiite rebels in Saada  north of Yemen. Before investigations with the 8 Yemeni sailors are finished. 

On February 9, 2013, I was invited as a  journalist to attend a reception party made by Iranian embassy in Sanaa on the occasion of the 34th anniversary of the Islamic revolution of Iran. A lot of Yemenis and Arab and international diplomats attended the party. 

But Yemenis and Iranians were all still under the effect of such tense and strained official relations. The ambassador Mohamoud Hassan Ali Zada, and the honor representative of the Yemeni government, minister of State, Hassan Sharaf Al Deen, did not deliver speeches before having dinner as usually.  They just listened to national anthem  of the two countries and left guests for dinner and private conversations. 

Privately talking, one of the Iranian diplomats told  me along with a group of journalists over dinner that the controversial  ship Jihan1 came from Spain not from Iran.

The most important thing in Yemen now is who was going to take that huge of weapons and what for? And why all this clamor about this alleged Iranian shipment, while there was only very little if not at all about 3 shipment of Turkish weapons seized in Yemen over the second half of 2012. And no results of alleged investigations. 

The political activist Ali Al Bukhaiti did not exclude that Jihan 1 came from Iran  but he said not to Yemen but to Gaza in Palestine.

" My observation is that this huge quantity of weapons was heading to the Islamic movement of Jihad which is closer to Tehran now," said Al Bukhaiti who is in the list of Al Houthi representatives in the Yemen national   dialogue scheduled to start next March 18, 2013.

He excluded that the shipment was for Al Houthi rebels in Saada. " Iran did not send weapons to Al Houthi in the sixth war of 2010 when Al Houthi was in war with Yemeni troops  and Saudi   Arabia, the enemy of Iran," He said.

"Iran is not this stupid to send this big quantity of weapons to provide evidence easily  about itself. Iran could have sent money to Al Houthis who would buy any weapons they want  from local markets or from African smugglers." 

However, some observers look at the whole issue as an American game in the region. They cite the Russian and Chinese positions that refused to condemn Iran in a statement from UNSC after the spread of the alleged Iranian shipment. These observers blame also  Yemeni officials for accusing Iran without evidence. 

Yemen does not need  to make  enemies with  the  regional powers  like Iran, but it needs to build its institutions and its army and security, observers say. 

"Yemen is losing Iran to appease Saudi Arabia and US," said Hassan Zaid, secretary general of Al Haq party.

A lot of people and politicians and activists  are surprised why all this clamor about the alleged Iranian cargo while at the same time  at least 3 Turkish shipments of weapons  being ignored. The Turkish seized weapons  included silencers that were used in political assassinations. A total of 74 military and security officials were assassinated by motor-cycle riding gunmen with silencers during 2012 and beginning of this year.

 The last one ( number 74) was, Khaled Sewari, counter-terrorism officer who was killed by gunman riding a motor cycle with  silencer on Wednesday February 13, 2013, in the middle of the Yemeni capital Sanaa. 

" I am wondering why all this clamor about this shipment of weapons,  and we all know that Yemen is full of weapons now from everywhere," said the activist Rashed Murshid.

" The government now is talking day and night to convince us that this shipment came from Iran, but it did not tell us anything about at least three cargos of weapons  that came from Turkey," He added "  Is that because the rulers  in Yemen now are brotherhood, and the rulers in Turkey are brotherhood too?"

Yemen economy starts to recover from political crisis

Source: Reuters, By Martin Dokoupil and Mohammed Ghobar,

14/02/2013

* Firms report jump in sales, still below pre-crisis levels

* Construction, tourism remain paralysed, job market idle

* Inflation fell sharply, currency stabilised

* Government faces budget strains, unemployment high

* Pipeline attacks cost up to $500 mln every month

DUBAI/SANAA- When political turmoil drove Yemen to the brink of economic collapse in 2011, Jumaan Trading & Investment Co saw its sales plunge by more than 60 percent, prompting the company to shift part of its operations to neighbouring Saudi Arabia.

But the ouster of strongman president Ali Abdullah Saleh a year ago, and a partial improvement of security in the poverty- and militancy-stricken country, are now helping to revive the economy, boosting JTI's sales.

"There is definitely an improvement in the situation, especially compared to 2011," said Ahmed Jumaan, general manager of JTI, which focuses on agriculture, power generation and construction.

Sales at JTI, founded in 1958, jumped 55 percent to about $24 million in 2012, although that is still 5-10 percent below levels seen before the political crisis began, he told Reuters.

Yemen's fledgling economic recovery is good news for efforts to restore political stability in the country, which is important for the entire region because it lies near major oil shipment routes.

The recovery is also a positive omen for other Arab Spring states which are struggling to rebuild their economies after political turmoil in the past two years.

The economy of Yemen, the second poorest Arab state after Mauritania, shrank 10.5 percent in 2011, the International Monetary Fund estimates, as the unrest caused fuel and power shortages and oil pipelines were attacked.

The IMF says the economy stabilised in 2012, and after a business revival toward the latter half of the year, it predicts growth of around 4 percent in 2013.

Other key indicators have drawn back from crisis levels. Inflation eased from a peak of 25 percent in October 2011 to 5.5 percent last November, the latest available official data shows.

The Yemeni rial has stabilised around 215 to the U.S. dollar after sinking to about 243 in 2011. This has allowed the central bank to cut its key interest rate twice in four months to aid the economy, by a total of 5 percentage points to a still-high 15 percent.

SUBSISTENCE

Much of Yemen's economy is operating close to subsistence, so it would not take much to stifle the recovery. The country faces dwindling oil and water reserves, and per capita income was $2,232 in 2012, just 8 percent of the level in neighbouring Oman, according to the IMF.

A third of the 25 million people live under a poverty line of $2 a day and unemployment is estimated at around 35 percent - with youth unemployment at 60 percent.

Watheq al-Hamadi, manager of a large grocery store in Sanaa's upscale neighbourhood of Hidda, said that despite the economy's improvement, few Yemenis could afford to buy any form of luxury item.

"The only thing that has come back is power supplies and petrol. The purchasing power is still weak," Hamadi said as he warned his staff to look out for shoplifters.

Since the tourism and construction industries remain paralysed - Jumaan said his company's construction equipment sales were still only about 30 percent of normal - economic growth will not necessarily create many jobs.

"I've been living off my friends since the revolution started," said Ali Abdul Rahman, who used to work as a translator, teacher and assistant to foreign aid agencies, but now spends most of his time reading at Sanaa cafes.

"I was hoping that electing a new president and forming a new government would improve the situation, but nothing has changed so far," he said

.

Finding jobs outside Yemen, which could be a safety valve to limit unemployment, is difficult since countries in the region restrict the entry of Yemeni workers.

Yemen's labour market "can absorb barely 20,000-30,000 from this huge number of unemployed", said economist Mohamed al-Maytami, chairman of the Khobara Centre for Development and Consulting Services, which provides services to foreign aid donors, the government and the business sector.

AID

JTI and tens of other Yemeni firms moved their construction businesses to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states during the 2011 turmoil. If Yemen's construction sector starts to recover, many of these companies will return and the sector could absorb 150,000-200,000 local workers, Jumaan said.

A construction recovery will require the cash-strapped Yemeni government to issue a large number of infrastructure tenders, however. And for that to happen, at least two conditions will have to be met.

One is further improvement in security. Yemen depends on crude oil exports for about 60-70 percent of its state budget income, and its finances are still being sapped by bombings of oil and gas pipelines by insurgents or disgruntled tribesmen.

"You are talking about a $400-500 million loss every month because of the sabotage, which is big money for Yemen," Maytami estimated.

In the latest incident, attackers last week blew up the country's main oil export pipeline, which carries 110,000 barrels per day.

The government is mounting a two-pronged campaign to secure the oil infrastructure, at times attacking tribesmen with tanks and rockets and at other times negotiating with them, but a solution lasting more than a few weeks has not yet been found.

The second condition for a construction recovery is larger inflows of foreign aid. Last autumn wealthy Gulf Arab countries, Western governments and other donors pledged $7.9 billion over several years to Yemen, but only a small fraction of that money has so far arrived; Maytami estimated under $750 million. The Yemeni government is seeking $12 billion.

Other countries hit by Arab Spring uprisings have found that pledged aid can be slow to arrive. Donors are due to meet in London next month to assess the situation in Yemen.

The IMF estimates Yemen posted a state budget deficit of about 5.5 percent of economic output last year, and that the deficit will widen slightly this year.

"I do not think the budget itself is enough to confront challenges facing the country. That's why in the short term, there is concern about the financial commitment from donors," Maytami said.