While it may seem at first glance an absurd proposition, waging a war to weaken the general running it, it provides a logical explanation for many occurences over the last five years, including why the war never seems to be won. It was Ali Mohsen’s newspaper that disclosed the Chinese shipload of weapons for the rebels that was imported by the defense ministry. One should never underestimate the level of duplicity that the Sana’a regime is capable of, or its excellence at propaganda. President Saleh IS the King of Spin.

Yemen Herald:
SANAA, 07 Nov – Tribal leader and business tycoon, Sheik Hamid Abdullah al-Ahmar late Friday accused the Republican Guards of supporting the Shiite rebels in previous wars. He said “the Yemeni army is no longer capable of ending the war in north Yemen militarily because it lost trust in the political leadership in Yemen which plays around with peoples’ lives.” Al-Ahmar who was speaking to the Doha-based al-Jazeera satellite TV channel said “the Republican Guards headed by the President’s son supported the Shiite rebels in north Yemen in order to hit the First Artillery military division led by Brigadier General Ali Mohsen Al-Ahmar and hence get rid of him,” adding “a rebel leader is a friend of the President’s son, Ahmad Ali Abdullah Saleh.” Ali Mohsen is President Saleh’s half brother and al-Ahmar talked about “internal conflict between the various wings inside the army about the war in Sadaa,” and called on President Saleh to visit Abyan or Sadaa “in order to prove to us that he is still the President of all of Yemen,” adding “the President no longer has a state to rule.” “The state no longer exists except in the Presidential Palace and in the capital, Sanaa which is protected by 60 thousand troops,” Al-Ahmar said, adding “dialogue is the only hope to bring Yemen out of this situation,” stressing “dialogue with everyone is still possible to resolve the current crisis in Yemen.” He accused President Saleh of “wanting to turn the country into a monarchy through his pursuit to install his son in power,” and renewed his call for the President to step down, stressing “changing the head is the door to reforming the situations in Yemen.” “If President Saleh wants the people to stand by him against monarchism, then he should first get rid of his monarchy and if he wants people to stand by him to protect the nation’s unity, then he has to prove his patriotism by lifting injustice,” he said, and criticized the management of the war in north Yemen saying “the way this war is run has humiliated the army and caused it to lose its fighting moral.”

Yemen Post: MPs have urged to withdraw the confidence from the government, with MPs describing the current cabinet led by Prime Minister Ali Muhammad Mujawar as corrupt and ‘ reckless’.

MPs also urged to hold the ruling party accountable for wasting the public funds.

During Tuesday’s sitting devoted to discussing the electricity problems, being discussed for the third time this year, MP Sakhr Al-Wajeeh said the government through abandoning pledges and procrastination over building a train for the Marb Gas Power plant has caused losses estimated at more than a half billion dollars since 2007.

The train should have cost only $ 5 million, he said, pointing to a contract the government had signed with the Safer Company over its construction.

It, the government, has been borrowing money…much money….for the train but it avoids implementing it according to the contract, he added.

MP Abdul Razaq Al-Hagri, for his part, said influential brokers and barren plans to purchase power from outside were key reasons for the paralysis of the plant.

These brokers are the only beneficiaries from the halt of the plant as it brings billions of riyals for them.

Other MPs including those from the ruling party attributed the persistence of power problems to corruption and the absence of a clear strategy to solve the problems.

Others suggested that patching solutions were behind the failure in brining the plant into a success.

Earlier the Services Committee in Parliament revealed many violations at the plant as it was to start an experimental operation, urging a probe into the violations.

Aden Press
Hadramout – London “Aden Press” special: 4 – 11 – 2009
في الوقت الذي أعلنت وسائل الاعلام في صنعاء عن بدء فريق الادلة الجنائية بإجراء تحقيقا واسعا وجمع الاستدلالات عن منفذي الهجوم الارهابي الذي نفذته مجموعة من المهربين تنتمي للمحافظات الشمالية واستهدف حياة مسئولين أمنيين للامن العام والسياسي وإصابة (3) أخرين في العملية التي لم تعلن أي جهة مسئوليتها عن الحادث وسط معلومات ترجح أن تنظيم القاعدة في اليمن وراء العملية While the media announced in Sanaa, the start of forensic team to conduct an investigation and a wide collection of evidence and for the perpetrators of the terrorist attack carried out by a group of smugglers belonged to the northern governorates and the attempt on the life of the security officials of public security, political and injury (3) others in the process that no one has claimed responsibility about the incident, amid suggest that al-Qaeda in Yemen was behind the operation ، غير أن مصادر خاصة في حضرموت أكدت لـ” عدن برس ” بأن المنفذين للعملية جماعة تنتمي لمهربين من كبار قادة الاجهزة الامنية المحافظات الشمالية . , But private sources in Hadramout confirmed for “Eden Press” that the perpetrators of the process group belonging to smugglers top security chiefs to the northern governorates.

The sources said that smugglers were using the lessons through to smuggle drugs into Saudi Arabia and the Gulf countries, as they are intermittent cars the southerners who use the port to access the deposit to the province of Hadramout and Shabwa the southern.
وكانت وزارة الداخلية قد قالت إن مروحية نقلت اليوم فريق لجمع من الأدلة الجنائية مع معداته إلى مديرية سيئون بمحافظة حضرموت لمعاينة المكان الذي تعرض فيه العقيد علي سالم العامري مدير أمن الوادي والصحراء والعقيد أحمد باوزير مدير فرع الجهاز المركزي للأمن السياسي بسيئون و 3 آخرين من رجال الأمن للجريمة البشعة . The Interior Ministry had said that the helicopter was quoted today by the Panel for the collection of forensic evidence with the equipment to the Directorate of bad in Hadramout to inspect the location where Colonel Ali Salem Al Amri, director of security of the valley and the desert, Colonel Ahmed Bawazir, Director of the Central Organ for Political Security Bsiion and 3 other members of security for the heinous crime.
وقالت مصادر في حضرموت لـ ” عدن برس ” أن التضييق الامني الجاري الان في المناطق القريبة من الحادث هدفه صرف النظر عن المجرمين الحقيقيين وعصابات المخدرات الذين تعرفهم السلطة وبالاسم ومن بينهم كبار الضباط الشماليين المقربين للمجرمين الحقيقيين في السلطة بصنعاء ، موضحة أن تهريب المخدرات والمواد الغذائية من والى السعودية لا يقوم به الا من أناس محدودين تعرفهم السلطة والمقربين اليها . Sources in Hadramout for “Eden Press,” that the security crackdown now under way in the vicinity of the incident aimed at exchange of real criminals and drug gangs who know the name of authority and senior officers, including the North close to the real criminals in power in Yemen, pointing out that the smuggling of drugs and food to Saudi Arabia was carried out only by people who know limited power and close to it.

News Yemen: The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today condemned the conviction of Sameer Jubran, chief editor of weekly Al-Masdar, and Muneer Al-Maweeri, Washington based journalist, for insulting the President of Yemen in an article published by Al-Masdar in 2008.

Sameer Jubran was handed a one year suspended jail term during which he is also banned from practicing journalism. Al-Maweeri, convicted in absentia, was sentenced to two years in jail and a lifelong ban on his journalism.

“This verdict handed down by a court that has no standing in Yemeni law is a scandal and must be repealed” said Jim Boumelha, IFJ President. “It now seems as if the Yemeni authorities have declared war on their journalists and are determined to muzzle them. We call on the country’s president to order an immediate stop to this shameful onslaught on journalists.”

The prosecution was launched after Al-Masdar published an opinion piece by Al-Maweeri which described President Saleh as “Yemen’s Weapon of Mass Destruction”.

The Yemeni Journalists Syndicate (YJS), an affiliate of the IFJ, also condemned the sentencing which it described as an ‘escalation of the attacks on press freedom, confiscation of liberties and infringement of people’s rights to freedom of expression guaranteed by the constitution.’

The YJS also questioned the authority of the specialized ‘Press Court’ which handled the case. The Press Court was controversially established in May this year specifically to deal with ‘journalistic crimes’.

Yemen: The Problem and the Solution

The President of Yemen Ali Abdullah Saleh is certainly the problem. Before 31 years and following the assassination of the two previous Presidents Al Hamdi and Al Ghashmi, this junior military officer who never attained a standard of education beyond illiteracy alleviation programs, became the President with the help of the tribe of Hashid and regional financial support. Throughout the course of his 31 years of dictatorship the people of Yemen have suffered a lot under anti-democratic, unconstitutional policies, and the total absence of law and order. Several civil wars were waged by Ali Abdullah Saleh resulting in hundreds of deaths, detention camps full of freedom fighters, and prominent Yemeni politicians are forced to seek self exile in Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States as well as the UK, USA, Canada, and other European countries.

Today the dictator declared his sixth war against the people of the province of Sa’ada where hundreds of children, elderly, and women are amongst those killed or injured. Civilian targets including schools, mosques, and local markets have been destroyed by air raids and rocket launchers. The peaceful resistance in most, if not all, Southern Yemeni provinces is accelerating and causing hundreds of arrests and daily injury of protestors by armed security forces. The peaceful resistance in the Southern provinces is expanding to cover many Central Yemeni provinces including Taiz and Ibb. In view of the mounting economic and judicial failure, the entire country is on the verge of collapsing and at best the government is a total failure.

Under the circumstances, it is disgusting to note that the international opinion is adopting a “couldn’t care” attitude towards the tragedy in Yemen. Leading European and Middle Eastern governments influenced by USA CIA and FBI guidance, continue to show increasing reluctance to condemn the inhuman war caused by the dictator Ali Abdullah Saleh against the Yemeni people in the Northern province of Sa’ada and the Southern Yemeni provinces. The only explanation for such irresponsible policies by the USA, Europe, and several Arab governments is often connected to a wishful ray of hope that Ali Abdullah Saleh is supporting the campaign against terrorism.

As a matter of fact, the corrupt administration in Yemen has always been an incubator for terrorists since American involvement in Afghanistan against Soviet Union occupation of the country. Taliban, Bin Laden, etc. are natural outcomes of that era due to the failure of the USA, Europe, and supportive Arab governments in the Jihad against the Soviets to accommodate the victorious Jihadis. Such neglect caused a state of despair amongst the Jihadis, and ultimately led to grave consequences such as 9/11 and the current Pakistani Peshawir crisis.

The dictator of Yemen, realizing his ability to convey deadly ideas to his collaborates from the USA, Europe, and Arab countries, multiplied his temptation to rely on their support against opposition parties including the Hawthis in Sa’ada and keep a blind eye to his daily violation of human rights as well as basic constitutional and legal requirements. As a case in point is the President’s involvement in authorizing arms deals to businessmen attached to him and redirecting such shipments to feed terrorists in Somalia, Sudan, etc. There is no truth in the recent Yemeni security statement that a shipment of arms was seized by Yemeni security and the ship was owned by Iran. It is certain that the shipment and the ship is owned by Yemenis who include Faris Mana’a a business associate of the President, and Abu Miska as well as Okaimi both of whom are members of the Yemeni Parliament. The reference to Iran is made only to secure further sympathy from the US and Europe.

Consequently, the solution for the people of Yemen in both the North and South to continue their peaceful opposition against the regime and the President in particular and to call upon self-respecting governments in the region and elsewhere to join in calling for the step-down of such a notorious dictator.

SANA’A, Nov. 06 (Saba) – The Supreme Security Committee (SSC) has accused Yemeni opposition of involvement with al-Houthi rebellion and separatists in some southern governorates.

A source in the SSC said that the Joint Meeting Parties (JMPs) are engaged publicly in support with the rebels and separatists and justify all their sabotage acts that target the nation’s security and stability.

Amazing how the Yemeni government is unable to distinguish between criticism of tactics and policies and opposition to the political system itself. Just as a note, both Hussain and Yahya al Houthi were members of the GPC, so according to the SSC’s rudimentary logic, the GPC should be the first to be disbanded, which I suggested two years ago.

To follow, an Arabic article from al Masdar Online on the rather colorful SSC statement that the JMP is a “coalition of the devil.” Its Orwellian the way the Yemeni government deploys democratic terminology to do the most undemocratic things possible- as if shuttering al Ayyan, jailing journalists and targeting the opposition parties somehow strengthens the republic instead of just the elite.

اللجنة الأمنية العليا تتهم المشترك بالتورط في تأييد الحوثيين في صعدة والعناصر “الانفصالية” بالجنوب High Security Commission has accused of involvement in the joint support Houthis in Sa’ada and the elements “separatist” in the south
المصدر أونلاين- خاص Source Online – Special

في تطور خطير، وجهت اللجنة الأمنية العليا اتهامات مباشرة وغير مسبوقة لأحزاب اللقاء المشترك بالتورط والضلوع بشكل علني ومكشوف في تأييد ودعم المتمرديـن الحوثيين في صعدة، والعناصر “الانفصالية” في المحافظات الجنوبية. In serious development, the Committee made the supreme security charges direct and unprecedented JMP involvement and involvement in public and openly in favor of and support for the insurgents in Saada, and the elements “separatist” in the southern provinces.

وإذ عبر مصدر مسؤول في اللجنة عن أسفه، قال في بيان صحافي – تلقى المصدر أونلاين نسخة منه – “أن أحزاب المشترك تورطت في تقديم التبريرات والغطاء لتلك العناصر لارتكاب المزيد من الأعمال التخريبية والفوضوية المستهدفة أمن الوطن واستقراره ووحدته الوطنية وسلمه الاجتماعي وتجاوز الدستور والنظام والقانون”. Taking over the official source of the Committee expressed regret, said in a press statement – received a copy of the source online – “that the parties involved in the provision of common excuses and cover for those elements to commit more acts of sabotage and targeted chaotic homeland security and stability, national unity and social and handed him to override the Constitution and law and order” .

وأضاف البيان “تناست هذه الأحزاب بأن شرعيتها وممارستها لعملها السياسي مستمداً أساساً من الالتزام بالدستور والقوانين النافذة ومن النظام الديمقراطي التعددي الذي ينضوي تحت مظلته الجميع في الوطن ومن حالة الأمن والاستقرار والسلم الاجتماعي”. The statement added, “throwing these parties that the legitimacy and the exercise of its political commitment derives primarily from the Constitution and the laws in force and pluralist democratic system that falls under the umbrella at home and all the security and stability and social peace.”

وهددت اللجنة بحل الأحزاب وإلغاء التعددية والديمقراطية بالقول “إن أي تشجيع على الخروج على الدستور والنظام والقانون سوف يمس شرعية هذه الأحزاب وأساس وجودها قبل غيرها”. The Commission threatened to dissolve the parties and the abolition of pluralism and democracy, saying that “any encouragement to go out on the Constitution and law and order will affect the legitimacy of the parties and the basis of their existence before the other.”

ولم يوضح المصدر الأسباب الكامنة وراء هذه الاتهامات المفاجئة لأحزاب المشترك، واكتفى بالقول “من يستقرأ الخطاب السياسي والإعلامي لأحزاب اللقاء المشترك يستطيع الإدراك يقين حجم وطبيعة ذلك التماهي بين هذا الخطاب المشحون بالتأزم والتحريض وإثارة الأحقاد والضغائن والعنصرية والمناطقية والنفخ في كير الفتن وخطاب العناصر الإرهابية في محافظة صعده والعناصر الانفصالية في بعض المديريات في بعض المحافظات الجنوبية وما يتبعه من الأفعال الإجرامية الضارة بمصالح الوطن والمواطنين والتي تضع كل مرتكبيها تحت طائلة المساءلة القانونية”. It was not clear the reasons behind this sudden accusations JMP, only saying “stabilize the political discourse of the media and the JMP can cognitive sure the size and nature of the commonality between this distress and charged rhetoric of incitement and hatred, resentment, racism, regionalism, blowing into temptation and a letter CARE terrorist elements in the province Saada and the separatist elements in some districts in some southern provinces and the subsequent criminal acts harmful to the interests of the homeland and citizens, which places all the perpetrators under penalty of legal accountability. ”

وأكد المصدر بأنه “واهم وخاسر من يعتقد بأن اللجوء إلى سياسة إشعال الحرائق والفتن وتأزيم الأوضاع يمكن أن تحقق له أي فائدة تذكر أو توصله إلى تحقيق أي من أهدافه للنيل من الوطن وثورته ونظامه الجمهوري ووحدته ونهجه الديمقراطي ومكاسبه وانجازاته وأمنه واستقراره”. The source added that “The most important and losers are those who believe that the resort to a policy of arson, sedition, aggravating the situation could make him any benefit little or blocks to achieve any of its goals to undermine the revolution and the nation and its unity, and the Republican and Democratic approach and the gains and achievements, security and stability.” مضيفاً بأن “مثل هذا الأفعال غير المسؤولة سوف ترتد بالسوء والخسران وخيبة الأمل على أصحابها ومرتكبيها”. He said, adding that “such irresponsible acts will bounce evil and loss and disappointment to the owners and their perpetrators.”

ووصفت اللجنة الأمنية العليا أحزاب المشترك بـ”تحالف الشيطان” الذي قالت أنه تم “بين دعاة الردة والعودة إلى عهود الكهنوت الإمامي ودعاة التفرقة والتمزق ومن يناصرهم من عناصر الإرهاب في تنظيم القاعدة ومن يقدمون لهم الدعم والمساندة السياسية والمعنوية والإعلامية وغيرها من أحزاب اللقاء المشترك ومن يستطيع تحقيق أهدافه للزج بالوطن في أتون الفتنة والفوضى وعدم الاستقرار او إعاقة جهود البناء والتنمية والتقدم فيه والإضرار بمصالحه ومصالح المواطنين”. Commission described the high-security JMP “coalition of the devil”, which it said that it was “between the advocates of apostasy and return to the priesthood covenants front and the advocates of division and disintegration and their supporters of the terrorist elements of al-Qaeda and their supporters and political support, moral, and media and other parties of the joint meeting, and who can achieve its goals to put the nation in the midst of strife, chaos and instability or impede the efforts of construction, development and progress and damage the interests and the interests of citizens. ”

وأورد المصدر تهديدات ضمنية باللجوء إلى القوات المسلحة، وقال مستدركاً “لكن شعبنا اليمني الواعي ومؤسساته الدستورية وفي المقدمة مؤسسة القوات المسلحة والأمن سوف يتصدون بحزم وقوة لأي محاولة تستهدف المساس بأمن الوطن واستقراره ووحدته”. According to the source implied threats to resort to the armed forces, said afterthought, “but informed the Yemeni people and its constitutional institutions in the forefront of the armed forces and security will stand up firmly and vigorously to any attempt to prejudice national security, stability and unity.”

مؤكداً أن كل من أسمـاها بـ”الوجوه المأزومة النفوس” الحاقدة على الوطن والمتآمرة على أمنه واستقراره ووحدته ومسيرته التنموية ونهضته سوف تفشل وتلحق بها الهزيمة كما هزم من قبل كل المتآمرين”. He added that both he called “Faces of souls in crisis,” malevolent conspiracy against the homeland and its security, stability, unity, and career development and its improvement will fail and cause the defeat and defeated by all the conspirators.

DUBAI (Reuters) – Yemen’s Shi’ite rebels have captured an unspecified number of Saudi soldiers, a rebel spokesman told Al Jazeera television on Friday, following clashes near the border between the two countries.

“We will carry out interviews with them (for the media) … they will be treated with respect,” Mohammed Abdel-Salam told Al Jazeera television by telephone..

Saudi bombing run in Yemen, a video posted today with over 6000 views already. Another here with 4,000 views.

The quote of the day, “”After what happened yesterday, it is clear they have lost track of reality and it has got to a point where there is no other way. They have got to be finished,” he said. There are a great many groups and individuals in Yemen who have lost touch with reality.

The incident is significant in that this is the first admission by the Saudis that they are bombing northern Yemen. Their justification is the cross border attack by the rebels on the Saudi outpost yesterday. One Saudi soldier was killed and 11 wounded. However, the Saudi forces have been lending air support to the Yemeni military for quite some time, and the rebels presented photo documentation of Saudi missiles in Yemen. Saudi Arabia is also largely funding the war.

If anyone is interested in the back story of the military outpost, it had changed hands several times before. It was another secret deal gone bad.

According to the rebels website as of yesterday, all the encounters were in Jabal Al-Dukhan (Smoky Mountain!), and only with Yemeni troops, who were handed the former Saudi military post by the Saudis to fight the Houthis. After the Houthis took over the mountain. they agreed with the Saudi border troops to return the outpost to the Saudis, only to find that the Saudis gave it back to the Yemeni troops. The Houthis then again kicked out the Yemeni troops and took over the outpost. When the Saudis sent out a patrol to scout the area, the Houthis hit the patrol as they have warned that they will not allow the takeover of the outpost again by the Saudis to have it given back to the Yemeni forces.The Saudis then went on to shell the Houthis and other areas in Yemeni territory. killing one and wounding another of the Houthi fighters.

Meanwhile there is an extreme humanitarian disaster in northern Yemen among the civilian population and war refugees. Tens of thousands are without any support whatsoever, because the Yemeni government refuses to stop bombing long enough to create a humanitarian corridor.

Both Yemen and Saudi Arabia are in violation of international laws of war. Both are bombing residential areas. The Yemeni government is withholding international aid to Sa’ada since August, and Saudi Arabia is refusing entry by civilians fleeing the violence. The rebels are mingling among civilian populations, drawing fire.

Yemeni president Saleh is allowing Saudi Arabia to indiscriminately target villages in Sa’ada but refuses to allow the US to engage in targeted Predator strikes against al Qaeda.

BBC: Saudi jets ‘attack Yemen rebels’

WaPo, Saudi air force hits Yemen rebels after border raid

Yemen Observer, quasi-governmental.
Continuous confrontations between al-Houthi rebels and Saudi forces kill dozens

Cross Roads Arabia Saudi Airforce attacks Yemeni Rebel Villages

AOL Yemeni tanks and artillery demolish Sa’ada City

YEMEN – The army destroyed Tuesday with artillery and tanks a number of houses in the old city of Sa’adah where al-Houthi rebels were positioning, military sources participating in the attack said.

Before the attack, the army was calling through loudspeakers to the rebels inside the houses to surrender themselves giving them an ultimatum until mid night Monday.

The bombardment on their houses started immediately after the ultimatum ended at 12:00 and continued until early morning Tuesday. The houses in Najran zone, which are all rebels’ houses, were destroyed, the sources said.

We were pounding with artillery and tanks from meters away from the houses, so we did not miss any target, the sources said.

No one surrendered himself, and no one escaped because the old city is surrounded from all directions by the army, the sources said. The fate of the rebels inside the houses is still unknown.

Al-Houthi rebels are only in one neighborhood called Najran, and the other areas in the old city are lived by people loyal to the government and this is why it was difficult for the army to clean up the city from the rebels from the beginning of the war in August 10.

At least 20 al-Houthi rebels were killed when they tried to implement a suicide attack on the government offices inside Sa’adah city Monday, according to local sources in the city.

The army is determined to clean the whole city of Sa’adah from the rebels who hide among the people and implement attacks on the security forces.

The destruction of the rebels’ houses came after the rebels failed in attacking the house of the tribal sheikh Hussein Aidha in the middle of the city of Sa’adah early Monday.

More than 70 al-Houthi rebels and 25 tribesmen were killed also Monday in fierce battles between the rebels and tribesmen in Dammj area about 15 km southeast of Sa’adah city. The first Salafi School, Dar Al Hadith, in Yemen was established in the area of Dammaj. Salafis who came from Saudi Arabia in early 1980s are considered to be the historic opponents of the Zaidi- Shiite Houthis.

Use of military recruitment to co-opt tribesmen and of appointments to
reward personal loyalty among offi cers—especially in the army and police
force—has led to the development of a security sector that is seriously bloated,
lacking in basic equipment and specialist skills, and fraught with corruption.
The sector is widely regarded as little more than disparate “stovepipes” centered
on Saleh. Yemeni government and security institutions are completely
segmented, with minimal communication and coordination between, and
within, the ministries of interior, justice, and defense. Consequently there is
extensive overlap and duplication of functions between the police, army, and
Central Security Forces in urban areas, and rivalry that result in ineffective
policing in rural areas and along land borders…

Following the USS Cole bombing in October 2000, the United States
believed Yemen’s main information-gathering agency, the Political Security
Organization, to be heavily penetrated by al-Qaeda sympathizers and lacking
analytical capability. The United States was especially dissatisfi ed with
the level of information sharing and hoped that the new National Security
Bureau would fi ll these gaps and offset, possibly replace, the Political Security
Organization. It has provided the National Security Bureau with modern communication, surveillance and data-collection systems, and occasionally with
satellite images and data, but its attempts to secure “live control” through
direct access or embedded personnel have reportedly been denied.
Second, the United States has assisted the establishment within the Ministry
of Interior of a Counter-Terrorism Unit attached to the Central Security Forces,
which are commanded by Brigadier Yahya Saleh, the President’s nephew. The
Counterterrorism Unit, a “key focal point,” has received technical assistance,
equipment, and training from the United States, which regards it as “one of our
favorite security institutions to work with because it’s new and there is no corruption.”
————

Conceivably, an unabashedly narrow focus on counterterrorism might skirt
these tensions and allow the unity of purpose necessary for success. The
experience of the United States and the European Union in Yemen demonstrates
otherwise. There, the high premium placed on counterterrorism has
enabled the Yemeni government to pick and choose which donor initiatives
to allow or block. Donor offi cials, moreover, believe that President Saleh may
use the counterterrorism agenda to reinforce regime protection and suppress
dissidents. This concern is why the United Kingdom preferred the Central
Security Forces to play the main counterterrorism role from 2002 onwards,
instead of the Special Forces headed by Saleh’s son Ahmad.
On the other hand, the counterterrorism focus has resulted in the slow
progress of efforts to reform the Yemeni criminal justice system, which is
regarded by the general public as hopelessly slow, corrupt, and powerless to
enforce court decisions.