Spectrum network – report – and a serious public

حقيقة ما يدور في جعار..!! The truth of what is going on in Jaar ..!!

ما أن تطال قدماك مدينة جعار وشوارعها ينتابك إحساس وشعور غريب ما يجري في دهاليزها المخيفة, مع تعتيم على حقيقة الوضع هناك، فهي تعاني كثيراً من المشاكل والصراعات “الكيدية” بين اتهامات السلطة ومقاومة المجاميع المسلحة التي تنتقم لجماعاتها وأقاربها الذين قتلوا في مواجهة حطاط”2003″م وما لحق بهم من أضرار بين ما كان يسمى بجماعة خالد عبد النبي المتهم بزعيم جماعات الجهاد الإسلامي جيش عدن أبين, وبين قوات الأمن والجيش في ضل غياب الحقيقة واعتماد الرأي العام على المصدر الرسمي , وتعتمد عليه الكثير من وسائل الإعلام المختلفة, دون البحث عن حقيقة ما يجري في أرض الواقع. What your feet do not reach the city of Jaar and streets you just get a strange feeling and a sense of what is happening in the corridors frightening, with blackout reality of the situation, they have a lot of problems and conflicts, “malicious” charges between power and resistance to armed groups that are retaliating to their own and their relatives who were killed in the face of Hatat “2003 “M and the damage suffered what was called the group Khalid Abdul Nabi, the accused leader of the militant groups Islamic Army of Aden-Abyan, and between security forces and the army lost in the absence of truth and public opinion on the adoption of the official source, and depend upon a lot of different media, without searching for what is happening on the ground.

المثير للدجل أن تسمع عن تنظيم القاعدة والجماعات الجهادية في أبين والخلط بين هذا وذاك ،رغم الفرق الشاسع بين الاسمين ، كما أنه لا يوجد اسم حقيقي لهذه الجماعة التي تتعرض للانتهاك والابتزاز السياسي وقد يصل الحال إلى أن تكافئ بالقتل والاعتقالات والتعسف ثم فجأة يصدر بحق أفرادها العفو والتعويض، وكان ما جرى كان عبارة عن (بروفة مصحوبة بالإثارة والآكشن)، يقول بعض المراقبين أن الأمر كان عبارة عن مسرحية ألفتها السلطة لتحقيق أهداف ومأرب سياسية للداخل ولابتزاز الخارج بمثل هذه البروفات المتكررة والكروت والأوراق التي تعود الحاكم على اللعب بها واستخدامها بين الحين والآخر. Interestingly hanky to hear about al-Qaeda and the jihadist groups in Abyan and the confusion between this and that, despite the vast difference between the two names, as there is no real name for the group that had been violated and political blackmail has been the case up to the equivalent of murder, arbitrary arrests and then suddenly their right to issue pardons and compensation, and what happened was a (rehearsal accompanied by excitement and Action English), some observers say that it was a play she encountered the power to achieve political objectives and purposes of blackmail and abroad within such repeated rehearsals and cards and papers belonging to the ruling and use of play between now and then.

ويعتبر بعض الأهالي أن شعور الشباب في جعار بالظلم والاضطهاد والابتزاز السياسي وتعذيبهم في السجون بتهم ليس اقلها الإرهاب, ولد شعور التمرد والانتقام عند هذه الجماعات لما لحق بها من ضرر لتنحرف , سلوكياً واجتماعياً وترتكب بعض الجرائم وهي دون وعي وخصوصا أن البعض من أفرادها يتعاطون المخدرات في أوقات القات- حسب مصادر محلية- لا تستغرب ونحن نستمع إلى البعض من هؤلاء ـ كانوا أفرادا أو جماعات- وهم يقدمون أنفسهم كدعاة عدل ومساواة وسعيهم بكل ما يقومون به لتغيير الواقع القائم الذي بسببه نالهم الكثير من التعذيب النفسي والجسدي فترة القبض عليهم خلف قضبان السجون, وتمت محاكمتهم بقضايا عالمية لا تستوعبون حتى أبعادها ولا يدركون مقاصدها غير أنها استغلت من قبل بعض من يعملون في أجهزة الأمن لتنفيذ مسلسل هزلي لن يدرك المنفذ حقيقته وأبعاده وعقوبته ليكون الضحية ذلك الشاب البريء, كالأطرش في الزفة ومؤطر في مسميات لا ناقة له فيها ولا جمل, غير أنها مخططات لبرجوندا أجنبية. The feeling that some parents of young people in Jaar, injustice, persecution and political blackmail and torture in prison on charges of terrorism, not least, the feeling born of rebellion and retaliation for these groups to the damage caused to deviate, behavioral, social, and committed some crimes which, without being aware, especially since some of its members to use drugs at times of khat – According to local sources – and we are not surprised to hear some of these individuals or groups – they present themselves as advocates of justice and equality and pursuit of all what they are doing to change the status quo because of whom had suffered a lot of psychological and physical torture the captured behind prison bars, and tried not Tstoabbon global issues and do not realize until the dimensions of its purposes is it used by some of the work of the security services for the implementation of a comic will realize the reality and dimensions of the port and the punishment of the victim is the young man innocent Kalotrc in weddings and framed in the names had no part and which are not sentences, However, it plans to Bergunda foreign.

لماذا انقلب الشباب على خالد عبدالنبي؟! Why do young people turned to Khaled Abdel Nabi?!

يقول الكثير من الشباب في جعار أنهم اكتشفوا حقيقة السيناريو الذي كانوا أحد المنفذين له وبطله خالد عبد النبي ، تبينت الحقيقة لهم أن ما كان يقوم به خالد عبدالنبي، هو استخدامهم كفزاعة فقط لإعطاء السلطة الذريعة لتنفيذ حلقاتها المتكررة واستغلال الخارج بهم. Says a lot of young people in Jaar, they discovered the fact scenario in which they were one of the implementing his hero and Khaled Abdel Nabi, found them the truth that what he was doing Khaled Abdel Nabi, scarecrow is used only to give a pretext for the implementation of the power circles, and repeated use them abroad.

وبعد أن اتضحت الحقيقة لهؤلاء الشباب الأتباع، شنوا الحرب ضد خالد عبد النبي بعد أن قضوا سنوات في المعتقلات, ليتضح لهم جلياً بأنه يعمل لدى جهاز الأمن السياسي برتبة عقيد, وأن السلطة قد كافأته, بعد أنتهاء المعركة لصالحها في جبال “حطاط”, وقد اعتقلت من تبقى منهم ولم تعتقله, وبعد أن ساد الهدوء يظهر انه قد سلم نفسه وتاب عن شر أعماله ليكافئ بالمال والأراضي ويستضيف قيادة المحافظة في منزله, في الوقت الذي لا يزال من ناصروه رهن الاعتقال, كما أنهم مطالبين بالاعتراف والإقرار أنهم ينتمون لتنظيم القاعدة, ثم عليهم أن يعلنوا التوبة ليتم بعدها الإفراج عنهم. Having recognized the truth of these young followers, waged war against Khalid Abdul Nabi, having spent years in detention centers, to reveal them clearly that he was working with the PSO the rank of colonel, the Authority had rewarded him, after a battle in their favor in the mountains “Hatat,” was arrested the rest of them did not arrest him, and after that was quiet show that he has turned himself in and repents of its evil to reward with money and land and the leadership of conservative hosts at his home, while still Nasroh custody, and they demand the recognition and acknowledgment that they belong to al-Qaeda, then they to declare repentance to be later released.

ليس الأمر عند هؤلاء الشباب فحتى شقيق خالد عبد النبي، احمد عبد النبي وهو طيار متقاعد، هو الآخر حدد موقفه من خالد وشر أعماله, لكنه لم يسلم من اتهامات خالد الكيدية للتخلص منه. It’s not even when these young brother of Khaled Abdel Nabi, Ahmad Abdel-Nabi, a retired pilot, is also set forth his position by Khaled evil work, but it was not safe from the malicious charges of Khalid to get rid of it.

وكان خالد عبد النبي يصرح بتعمد لإعطاء السلطة ذريعة باستهداف بعض الشباب الذين قطعوا صلتهم به, وكان يظهر بشكل حصري على صفحات إحدى الصحف المستقلة وبالذات أثناء الأزمات،وكأنه على علاقة بالقائمين عليها. Khaled Abdel Nabi deliberately permitted to give some power as a pretext to target young people who cut off ties to him, and would appear exclusively on the pages of an independent newspaper, particularly during crises, like the relationship-making.

التحول الكبير..كيف حدث؟ The Great Transformation .. How did it happen?

يرى مراقبون أن ما يحدث في “جعار” أبين اليوم, وخاصة بعد ظهور قوى معارضة قوية ضد صنعاء, أنه مسلسل هزلي لم يبدأ أصلاً حتى ينتهي لتبسط حينها الدولة سيطرتها بالقوة تجاه كافة من تخشى نفوذهم في المنطقة، إلا أن هناك من يرجح أن فتنة قادمة لمحافظة أبين يصعب إخمادها. Observers believe that what happens in “Jaar” show today, especially after the emergence of strong opposition against the forces of Sanaa, a comic that originally did not start until the end of time to extend state control to force all of the fear their influence in the region, but there are likely to come sedition Abyan governorate difficult to suppress.

بدأت في جعار وستنتهي في زنجبار لمخطط قادم المقصود منه “زنجعار” وما يراد من تنفيذ ذلك المسلسل القادم, تحت مبرر ملاحقة تنظيم القاعدة والجهاد إلا أن هذا في اعتقادي لن يجعل جنوبيو اليوم متعاطفين مع السلطة, في استمرار بطشها بذرائع القاعدة والجهاد, وخاصة لإدراكهم المبكر أن هذا الجسر ليس إلا للوصول إليهم, والقضاء على الحراك الجنوبي أو إخماده, كما أن هذه السلطة تجيد خلط الأوراق واللعب على أوتار التناقضات, لكنها غير قادرة على المواجهة بنفسها إن لم تستجلب أموال الخارج وتبتزهم بالتعاطف معها, وهي أذكى مما تتصور بهذا الجانب. Jaar started and will end in Zanzibar of the scheme is intended to come “Zenjar” and the intended implementation of the next series, under the pretext of pursuing al-Qaeda and Islamic Jihad, however, I believe that this will not make today Jnobio sympathetic with the Palestinian Authority, the continuation of tyranny pretexts al-Jihad, in particular the awareness of early that this bridge is not only to reach them, and the elimination of the southern movement or extinguished, and that this authority are able to shuffle the deck and play on the strings of contradictions, but they are not capable of self-confrontation, if not elicit funds abroad and Tbtzhm sympathy with her and smarter than you think on that side.

لكنها تبقى فاشلة في تعاملها مع مطالب الناس وتناقضها الإعلامي والأمني فقد فشلت السلطة من فرض نفسها في عاصمة أبين “زنجبار” وخاصة بعد محاولتها إجراء عملية جراحية لإعادة ترتيب قواها بعد أن خسرت الكثير من حلفاءها في أبين حليفة الأمس عدوة اليوم, وكان أبرزهم الشيخ طارق ألفضلي,وهو العمود الفقري لأبين,كونه زعيماً قبلياً لأبين وأصبح يتمتع بزخم جماهيري في الحراك الجنوبي, وهو من بيت سليل حكم في سلطنات الجنوب, إلا إن محاولتها في 23يوليو 2009م. But remain unsuccessful in dealing with the contradictory demands of the people and the media and the security authority has failed to impose itself in the capital of Abyan, “Zanzibar”, especially after trying an operation to rearrange its forces after losing many of its allies in Abyan ally yesterday enemy today, most notably Sheikh Tariq best , the backbone of the show, being a tribal leader to show, and enjoys the momentum of a mass movement in the South, a scion of the house of a provision in the sultanates of the South, but its bid in July 23, 2009. كانت نكبه لما تبقى لديها من هيبة, وكان نجاحاً لقوى الحراك الجنوبي, ونصراً للشيخ طارق ألفضلي المستهدف الأول من تلك الضربة, لتلتحق زنجبار عاصمة “أبين” بمناطق جنوبية أخرى، باتت خارج سيطرة الدولة، ولعل الإشارة التي تطرق إليها الشيخ حميد الأحمر في أخر لقاء له مع قناة الجزيرة، عندما طلب من رئيس الجمهورية فيما يشبه التحدي، أن يقوم بزيارة أبين – وقد ذكرها في المرتبة الثانية بعد صعدة- ليثبت أنه رئيسا لكل اليمن، وهي إشارة واضحة أن أبين هذه المحافظة التي كانت الحليف الأهم لتحقيق النصر في حرب صيف 1994م وإليها يعود الكثير من قيادات الدولة والجيش وبحسب معلومة من وزير رفيع- فإن محافظة أبين تحتل المرتبة الأولى بين كل محافظات الجمهورية اليمنية في نسبة القيادات في وزارة الدفاع ، لكن اليوم لم تعد مكانا آمنا حتى لزيارة وعبور سريع . Has been catastrophic for the remainder of its prestige, and was a success for the forces of the southern movement, and a victory for Sheikh Tariq best first target of the strike, to join the capital of Zanzibar, “Eben” other southern regions, are outside the control of the State, perhaps the signal that he dealt with Sheikh Hamid al-Ahmar on the last meeting him with the Al-Jazeera, when he asked the President what seemed like a challenge, to visit the show – has been mentioned in the second after Saada – to prove that the president of all Yemen, a clear signal to show the province that were most important ally to achieve victory in the war of summer 1994 and it is by many leaders of state and army, according to information from the senior minister – the Abyan governorate ranked first among all the provinces of the Republic of Yemen in the proportion of the leadership in the Ministry of Defense, but today is no longer a safe place to visit and even a quick passage.

محافظ أبين ينقل مقر عمله إلى عدن Abyan governor transferred his headquarters to Aden

مصادر محلية تؤكد أن (90%) من قيادة المحافظة هم من أبناء أبين وتجمعهم روابط اجتماعية تتغلب على المواقف السياسية, وهو الأمر ربما- جعل محافظ أبين المهندس احمد “الميسري” في موقف لا يحسد عليه ومحتاراً بين خيارين إحداهما أمر من الآخر، فإما أن ينفذ الإجراءات المطلوبة ويصطدم بأهله وبالتالي يخسرهم ، أو يقف إلى جانبهم فيخسر منصبه ووظيفته. Local sources confirm that (90%) of the leadership of conservative people are in show-sharing, social ties to overcome the political positions, which is perhaps – to make the Governor of Abyan Engineer Ahmed “Maisari” in an untenable position and perplexed between the two options is one of the other, either to implement the actions required and collides with his wife and thus Ikhosrhm, or standing on their side Vijsr office and function.

نقلا عن صحيفة”الوطني” الأسبوعية الصادرة من عدن Quoted by the “national” of downloads of Eden

Demonstration will be held at City Hall in Dearborn, MI 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm every Sunday. Click the link for more photos.

YAATC: Yemenis, Iraqis and Lebanese يتظاهرون امام مبنى بلدية ديربون الامريكية للمطالبة بوقف الحرب والتدخل السعودي في اليمن Demonstrating outside the Dearborn City Hall to demand the U.S. stop the war and intervention in Yemen, Saudi Arabia

تظاهره اليوم الاحد 15 من نوفمبر2009 امام مبنى بلدية ديربون في ولاية مشيغان الامريكية العشرات من ابناء الجالية اليمنية والعراقية واللبنانية والامريكين من اصول يمنية وعربية للمطالبة بوقف الحرب في اليمن فورا واطلاق سراح كافة المعتقلين والسياسين والكتاب والصحفيين المخطوفين الى سجون الامن السياسي والقومي وعلى راسهم صلاح السقلدي ومحمد المقالح وعسكر جبران وفؤاد راشد والدكتور حسين العاقل وغيرهم كما طالبوا بجلب مجرمي الحرب في اليمن الى العداله ومساعدة النازحين جراء الحرب .وادان المتظاهرون التدخل السعودي في الحرب على اليمن وحذروها من عواقب Sunday’s protest 15 November 2009 in front of City Hall Dearborn, Michigan U.S. dozens of people from the Yemeni community and Iraqi, Lebanese and Americans of Yemeni descent and Arab demand an end to the war in Yemen and immediately release all detainees and politicians, writers and journalists kidnapped to jails political and national security, led by Mohamed Salah Alsaglde Maqaleh and Askar Gibran and Fouad Rashid, Dr. Hussein rational and others as demanded by bringing war criminals to justice in Yemen and assistance to persons displaced by the war. The demonstrators condemned the Saudi involvement in the war on Yemen and warned her of the consequences of الاستمرار في اذكا نار الفتنة بين الاهل كما تعاهدوا على مواصلة التظاهر كل يوم احد حتى وقف Continue awareness-fire of strife between the parents and committing themselves to continue to demonstrate every day until one stop الحرب في اليمن وهتفوا لاسقاط سلطة الدكتاتورية والفساد والارهاب بقيادة علي صالح ودعوا ابناء الشعب اليمني الى الاستمرار في مظاهراتهم السلمية والى توحيد الجهود نحو التغيير وان لاحل في اليمن الابتغيير شكل النظام السياسي الذي ادت سياساته الخاطئة الى دفع اليمن نحو الاحتراب الداخلي والفقر والى حافة الهاوية The war in Yemen, and shouted to overthrow the power of dictatorship, corruption and terrorism under the leadership of Ali Saleh, called on the Yemeni people to continue in their protests peaceful and to unify the efforts towards change and to solve in Yemen Alaptgier form of political system in which policies have led to erroneous payment of Yemen towards the internal fighting poverty and to the brink of the abyss وطالبوا كل الخيرين في العالم وعلى راسهم امريكا بوقف الحرب فورا في اليمن وكما جاءاعلاه: وقد حضر على رأس المتظاهرين سماحة الشيخ هشام الحسيني مرشد وامام مركز كربلاء الاسلامي And demanded all the good in the world, led by America to stop the war immediately in Yemen and also Jaeaalah: I have attended at the head of the demonstrators Shaykh Hisham al-Husseini told the informant and Karbala Islamic Center والاستاذ شريف الشامي مدير البرامج الاخبارية والسياسة في اذاعة صوت العراق الجديد و الاستاذ عجمي السعيدي And Mr. Sharif Al-Shami news director and radio voice of politics in the new Iraq, Ajami, a professor and Saidi كماحضر الاخوه يحيى المرسي ومانع الجبري وصالح عبيد ومصلح احمد راشد وناجي عامر وفوزي الشعيبي وعبد الملك المثيل وزيد الدورشي ومحمد الزبيدي Kmahoudr brotherhood Yahya Marina’d forced and Saleh Obaid and Ahmed Rashid Al Musleh, Naji Amer Shuaibi Fawzi Abdul Malek Aldhorshi instance, Zayd, Muhammad al-Zubaidi واحمد بنما ومحمد حسن وجمال الشحطور ومسعد علي وغيرهم من الخيرين على رأس ابناء الجالية اليمنية وقد اختتم المتظاهرون Panama, and Ahmed Hassan and Mohamed Gamal Aahtor and Massad Ali and other good people at the top of the sons of the Yemeni community has concluded protesters التظاهره بقراءة الفاتحة على ارواح شهدا ء اليمن والعراق ولبنان Demonstration read Fatiha for the souls witnessed Ä Yemen, Iraq and Lebanon

المركز اليمني لمكافحة الارهاب Yemeni Center for combating terrorism

An earlier report here. As an aside, the reason the 22 year old was held by the state without charges after fighting in Iraq is that jihad (murder) abroad is not illegal in Yemen and is often encouraged by the President on national TV, for example during the Lebanon crisis.

Hammoud Mounassar, AFP Al-Qaeda gunmen have seized a Japanese engineer from his tribal kidnappers in Yemen, a tribal source who has been seeking to negotiate his release said on Saturday.

“The hostage was seized by elements of Al-Qaeda, who took him to an unknown destination in the Maarib region,” east of the capital, Sanaa, one of two tribal mediators told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The man, identified by Japanese media as 63-year-old Takeo Mashimo, was kidnapped on Sunday in Arhab, northeast of Sanaa, by tribesmen seeking to exchange him for one of their relatives being held by police.

He was seized by Al-Qaeda on Friday night, with a second mediator saying Al-Qaeda became involved after being approached by someone close to the detained tribesman who was opposed to the Japanese hostage’s release.

The 22-year-old man whose release was being sought by the tribesmen was imprisoned by US forces for a year in Iraq, according to a source in Yemen.He was later arrested in Syria before being held in Sanaa, where he was sentenced to two years in prison without charges, the same source said….

Jalil said they (the tribesmen) had agreed to release the hostage in exchange for their relative within 15 days. But at the last minute, they came back saying they want him liberated in three days,” the sheikh said. The kidnappers were distrustful because a previous promise by President Ali Abdullah Saleh to release a detainee was not fulfilled, sources close to them said….

Yemeni tribes habitually kidnap foreigners to put pressure on local authorities. More than 200 foreigners have been seized during the past 15 years, with most being freed unharmed.

But five Germans and a Briton who were taken captive in June in the north of the country are still missing and with no word on their fate.

They were among nine people seized in the northern Saada region, the stronghold of Shiite rebels at war with the Sanaa government. The three others in the group — two Germans and a South Korean — were killed.

Saudi Arabia’s Attack on Yemen by Rannie Amiri

The Saudi attack on northern Yemen is the epitome of military adventurism and opportunism. It allows them to use – for the first time – advanced weapons purchased from the United States against an ill-equipped band of rebels in the midst of a destitute, malnourished, and displaced population, notes Rannie Amiri.

“We are upset and saddened by the recent bombings by the Saudi army to harm the much loved Yemeni people. Saudi Arabia’s intervention does nothing but feed the useless bloodshed on its border with Yemen.” – Mahdi Akef, Chairman of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, 9 November 2009.

“How can the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques of Islam [King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia] bring himself to permit the killing of innocent Muslims in the forbidden months?” – Ali Larijani, Speaker of Iran’s Parliament, 15 November 2009 (Islam forbids waging war during four months in the lunar calendar, one of which is Dhu al-Qidah, coinciding with November of this year).

If there was any question about which country was interfering in Yemen’s civil war, Saudi Arabia provided the answer when its F-15 and Tornado fighter jets struck Zaidi rebel positions two weeks ago in the mountainous border region between the two countries, and beyond.

The Zaidi fighters, known as Houthis, have been engaged in an on-and-off struggle with Yemen’s government since 2004; a conflict which most recently flared again this August (for additional background, see my previous article “Saada Under Siege”).

The Saudi assault was allegedly in retaliation for the killing of a border guard by the rebels in early November. The Houthis however, charge Saudi Arabia with allowing Yemen’s army to launch attacks from Saudi territory and participating in cross-border raids themselves.

Iran or Saudi Arabia?

Indeed, the most traded accusation between the Houthis and the government of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh has been which third-party country is providing material support to the other. A longstanding – and as yet unsubstantiated – allegation made by both Yemen and Saudi Arabia is that Iran is bankrolling the Houthi insurgency, providing money, arms and training.

In reality, most of the weapons that have found their way into the northern governorate of Saada and into rebel hands have likely come from disaffected Yemeni soldiers (many of whom are Zaidi) ambivalent about fighting their countrymen, or from those who have simply abandoned their positions and fled.

In late October, Yemen purportedly seized an Iranian ship carrying arms to the Houthis and arrested five of its crewmen. Although vowing to make details of the subsequent investigation public, little has been heard of it since. The Iranian government denied any of its vessels were captured off Yemen’s waters, describing the entire incident as a “media fabrication.”

In a Nov. 11 Christian Science Monitor article entitled “Does Iran play role in Yemen conflict?” Joost Hilterman, deputy Middle East program director for the International Crisis Group in Washington D.C., said, “There is probably next to no Iranian involvement. I have seen no evidence for it [and] it’s really a bit too far afield.” He went on to say, “The Iranians are just brilliant. [They play] no role whatsoever, but they get all the credit … ”

But who most assuredly does get credit for their meddling is Saudi Arabia.

Worried that the Houthis – in their quest to end political and socioeconomic discrimination of the Zaidi community as a result of an encroaching Wahabi and Al-Qaeda presence – may transform themselves into a Hezbollah-like group, the Saudis have resorted to using sophisticated weaponry against them and the impoverished people of north Yemen. These include jets, attack helicopters, surface-to-air missiles, and possibly ones more sinister.

White phosphorus?

There are now claims by the Houthis that the Saudi military has been firing white phosphorus shells into civilian areas. As reported by the AFP, an unnamed Saudi government advisor said they were merely flares (much like the Israelis said in the Gaza war).

In response, Amnesty International issued the following statement:

“Allegations that the Saudi Arabian air force dropped phosphorus bombs have been carried by news reports. It is unclear whether anyone was killed in the bombing and, if so, whether they included civilians, but some 300 families are reported to have fled the area afterwards.

“Phosphorus bombs are highly incendiary weapons and pose grave risks to civilians. They should never be used in the vicinity of civilians.

“The day after the bombing raid, Amnesty International wrote to Saudi Arabia’s Defense Minister, Crown Prince Sultan bin ‘Abdul ‘Aziz Al-Saud, asking whether phosphorus bombs were used and, if so, in what manner and what precautions were taken to ensure that civilians were not put at risk. As yet, the organization has received no response.”

The human toll

The Saudi attack on northern Yemen is the epitome of military adventurism and opportunism. It allows them to use – for the first time – advanced weapons purchased from the United States against an ill-equipped band of rebels in the midst of a destitute, malnourished, and displaced population. The humanitarian consequences of this reckless offensive are already evident.

UNICEF indicates that 240 villages on the Saudi Arabian side of the border have been evacuated and the civilian residents forced to settle in refugee camps. On the Yemeni side, the number of internally displaced persons has increased in a matter of weeks by 25,000, and now totals 175,000 since the conflict began. It is impossible to know the number of people killed due to a government-enforced media blackout.

Despite this, there are all the hallmarks of an impending disaster. Signad Kaag, UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, said, “During the past three months, children affected by the conflict in the north have seen all their basic rights violated. Lack of safe water, nutrition and hygiene is exerting a heavy toll on their health and well-being and threatening their very survival – a situation that will only get worse with the coming of winter.”

Saudi Arabia shows no sign of letting up. They have voiced their intent to create a “buffer zone” 10 km deep into Yemeni territory and have imposed a naval blockade on its north coast.

Taking sides

Shortly after the Saudi airstrikes, US State Department spokesman Ian Kelly stated:

“It’s our view that there can be no long-term military solution to the conflict between the Yemeni government and the rebels.”

Yet, the US signed a cooperation agreement on military intelligence and training with Saleh’s government last week, thus making them party to the conflict. This ironically puts them on the same side as elements of Al-Qaeda, employed by Saleh to fight the Houthis.

Although the Gulf monarchies and other Arab dictatorships have voiced support for Yemen and the “territorial integrity of Saudi Arabia,” the tone adopted by both Shia and Sunni Muslim groups in the Middle East, such as Iran’s Society of the Seminary Teachers of Qum and the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, has been one lamenting the hostilities and stressing the need for reconciliation (this is in stark contrast to the overtly hostile, anti-Iranian, anti-Shia vitriol of the Saudi religious establishment, which called on their government to strike the “deviant” Houthis “with an iron fist”).

Saudi Arabia’s irresponsible muscle-flexing only exacerbates regional and sectarian tensions, and puts a solution to the conflict further out of reach. It is clear the only solution to be had is a diplomatic one. The time for the Arab League, the Organization of the Islamic Conference, and the UN Security Council to intercede before the conflict and its attendant humanitarian costs spiral out of hand is long overdue.

And if the Saudis are worried the Houthis have, or will, become another Hezbollah, they would be wise to remember what Hezbollah did to the Israeli army when they decided to attack, and leave Yemen alone.

Rannie Amiri is an independent Middle East commentator.

The US later denied Yemen’s claims of a new military and intel deal.

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has opened a new training camp in the South. The new camp highlights Yemen’s value to al Qaeda in waging its global terror campaign.

The camp is based in the Al Jaza area in the district of Mudiyah in the southern province of Abyan. The camp is said to house more than 400 local and foreign fighters. Yemenis, Saudis, and Somalis make up the vast majority of the fighters.

The camp was established with the approval of the central government, according to a report in Saru Hamyir, an Arabic-language Yemeni news website. The existence of the camp was confirmed by US military and intelligence officials familiar with the region.

The weak Yemeni government is known to support al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula while targeting jihadi groups that do not adhere to a peace agreement signed in January.

The government supports the group in exchange for trained fighters to battle the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Sa’dah in the North. The government is currently battling the Houthi rebels in a fight that dragged in the Saudis when the Houthis attacked and took control of a border checkpoint.

This is the second known camp in operation in Abyan. In the spring, al Qaeda opened a camp in the Ahboosh mountains, north of the city of Ja’ar.

Earlier this week, the government claimed to have detained Sami Dayan, al Qaeda’s leader in Abyan province, along with six other al Qaeda operatives. Dayan was captured at the border with Saudi Arabia while attempting to flee Yemen, The Yemen Post reported.

The military launched a major operation in Abyan in the spring under the guise of restoring its writ in the province, but targeted only the groups that deviated from the January peace agreement.

Yemen has become one of al Qaeda’s most secure bases as well as a hub for activities on the Arabian Peninsula and on the Horn of Africa.

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is based in Yemen and carries out its attacks against the Saudi government from there. The group is also known to operate terror camps in Aden, and in the Alehimp and Sanhan regions in Sana’a. It has conducted attacks on oil facilities, tourists, Yemeni security forces, and the US embassy in Sana’a.

The terror group has also been instrumental in supporting al Qaeda’s operation in Somalia, US intelligence officials told The Long War Journal. Yemen serves as a command and control center, a logistics hub, a transit point from Asia and the Peninsula, and a source of weapons and munitions for the al Qaeda-backed Shabaab and Hizbul Islam.

“Yemen is Pakistan in the heart of the Arab world,” one official said. “You have military and government collusion with al Qaeda, peace agreements, budding terror camps, and the export of jihad to neighboring countries.” Read more: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2009/11/al_qaeda_opens_new_t.php#ixzz0XPzotQNe

One explains: ‘Because she wasn’t registered, she wasn’t security checked for several months — this was a foreign journalist, with close contacts among pro-government Yemeni journalists, living in the Ambassadorial residence. Daily Mail

Jamestown

Earlier this year Tariq al-Fadhli, the prominent jihadist leader from South Yemen, broke his 15 year alliance with the Yemeni government of President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Al-Fadhli, who was a member of the anti-Soviet Mujahideen movement in Afghanistan, is often described as the founder of the jihadi movement in Yemen. His break with the government was reported in the mainstream Arab and Yemeni media but was also noted on pro-jihadist websites (Alflojaweb.com, April 18). Al-Fadhli’s new position provided momentum to the Southern Movement (SM) and its struggle for secession and he soon became a leading figure in the alliance.

Tariq al-Fadhli’s father, Nasir bin Abdullah al-Fadhli, was the leader of the powerful al-Fadhil tribe and a sultan who owned and ruled wide areas of the southern province of Abyan. After the British pulled out of South Yemen in 1967, the elder al-Fadhli lost his lands and power to the new rulers of South Yemen, the Marxists of the Yemen Socialist Party (Al-Hizb al-Ishtiraki al-Yamani – YSP). Tariq’s family moved to Saudi Arabia where he grew up. In the late 1980s, he abandoned his education and joined the mujahideen movement in Afghanistan fighting against the Soviet forces (Yemen-Sound, July 29).

Since joining the SM, al-Fadhli has presented himself as a nationalist from the south calling for the rights of South Yemenis. The terminology he uses in his statements and speeches is more patriotic than Islamist. He talks about his time in Afghanistan as something from the past. About a month after he joined the SM, al-Fadhli was interviewed by a pan-Arab daily. In response to a question about his experience in Afghanistan, he stated, “You are talking about something from 20 years ago… We now live on our lands and have no links with Afghanistan. Let anyone who accuses us of terror present his accusation in front of the whole world and the international community. I will be ready to take responsibility if anything was proven against me. Otherwise those who accuse me should be held responsible… We [in South Yemen] have been invaded 15 years ago and we are under a vicious occupation. So we are busy with our cause and we do not look at any other cause in the world. We want our independence and to put an end to this occupation” (Al-Sharq al-Awsat, May 14).

On the same day al-Fadhli’s interview was published, the regional organization of al-Qaeda declared its support for the people of South Yemen. In an audiotape released on the internet, Nasir Abdul Kareem al-Wahayshi (a.k.a. Abu Basir), leader of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, expressed his sympathy with the people of the southern provinces and their attempt to defend themselves against their “oppression.” Al-Fadhli declared that what the people of the South need is not a call for secession but a call for ending the oppression. “What is happening in Lahaj, Dhali, Abyan and Hadramaut and the other southern provinces cannot be approved. We have to support and help [the southerners],” said al-Wahayshi. He went on to address the South Yemenis, promising retaliation. “The oppression against you will not pass without punishment… the killing of Muslims in the streets is an unjustified major crime” (al-Jazeera.net, May 14).

Al-Fadhli and Bin Laden

In his book Da’wat al-muqawamah al-islamiyyah al-’alamiyyah (The Call of the Global Islamic Resistance), Syrian jihad strategist Abu Musa’ab al-Suri indicated Osama bin Laden intended to initiate a major jihadist movement in southern Yemen, taking advantage of the internal rivalries of the YSP leaders. According to al-Suri, Tariq al-Fadhli was chosen and trained by Bin Laden to practice jihad in Yemen, but President Saleh managed to convince him to join the government (Minbaralhurriyya.org, September 16). Al-Fadhli denies any special relationship with Bin Laden. “Osama was not as famous at that time [in 1980s Afghanistan] as he is now. We were with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, whom many Arabs were comfortable to fight with. I was in an area west of Kabul called Maidan Warda. I did not meet Bin Laden till the last battle of Jalalabad and only for short and staggering times. My relationship with him was like any other one in the field, very normal with nothing special” (Al-Sharq al-Awsat, May 14).

After the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, al-Fadhli returned to Saudi Arabia and then to North Yemen. When the unification of Yemen was declared in 1990, al-Fadhli saw his socialist enemies becoming partners in the power structure. The YSP accused him of being behind the assassination of one of their leaders. He was arrested after the attacks on two hotels in Aden where American soldiers participating in Operation Restore Hope in Somalia were staying. Al Fadhli denies any involvement in the attacks or the assassination. He spent three years in jail on the charges.

The Civil War

By the time the fourth anniversary of unification arrived, relations between President Saleh and the YSP were at their worst. The YSP leaders waged a war in the south calling for secession. They accused the north and president Saleh of dominating the government. Upset by Saleh’s support for Iraqi president Saddam Hussein during the first Gulf War, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia supported the South. [1]

President Saleh turned to the YSP’s ideological enemies, the jihadis, for help. Who else but Tariq al-Fadhli could provide the best assistance against the socialists? According to al-Fadhli’s account, he was released at 2:30 in the morning and asked to join the fight immediately (Al-Sharq al-Awsat, May 14). The role of the jihadis led by al-Fadhli was vital in winning the war for the north (see Terrorism Monitor, July 13, 2006). Al-Fadhli was then rewarded by becoming a senior member of President Saleh’s ruling party, the General People’s Congress (al-Mo’tamar al-Sha’by al-’Am). He also got part of his father’s lands back (Albaisanews.com, May 14).

Yemen has been, and will always be, a country of symbolic importance for the Islamists, especially its southern part. The family of Saudi-born Osama bin Laden is originally from Hadramaut province in South Yemen and he once aimed to eventually settle there. Yemen is also mentioned in an apocryphal hadith as a place for believers to go when there is a threat. Aden-Abyan is specifically mentioned in the hadith as the place where an army of 12,000 men will arise to fight for the religion of Allah in the last days (see Terrorism Monitor, February 23, 2006; May 4, 2006; July 13, 2006). Yemen is also of crucial strategic importance. Its geographic location places it close to vital shipping lanes, as well as Sudan, Somalia and Saudi Arabia, countries of high interest for al-Qaeda.

The unification of Yemen denied jihadis the battle they wanted to fight—a pure battle against the deteriorating pro-Soviet YSP, a scenario that would be similar to Afghanistan. When the 1994 civil war broke out, they fought for Saleh against the YSP, whom they considered to be unbelievers.

The defeat of the south in 1994 did not end the secessionist cause of its people. Frustration led to the emergence of the SM, formed by secular groups and led by the YSP. The deterioration in south Yemen has reached a point where ideological enemies have put their differences behind them for a common cause. Tariq al-Fadhli became a leading figure in the SM and recognized the former president of South Yemen, Ali Salem Al-Beedh, as the legitimate leader of the south Yemeni people. Al-Fadhli also claimed that he continues to maintain his influence over the jihadis, but tries to separate this role from al-Qaeda, whose existence postdates the anti-Soviet Afghan jihad. “It is impossible that I let [the jihadists] down. Al-Qaeda is new. These are jihadists who fought in Afghanistan and I was with them fighting the Soviets in the 1980s. I have strong relations with all of the jihadists in the north and the south and everywhere, but not with al-Qaeda” (Albaidanew.com, May 14). President Saleh’s old tactic of manipulating competing groups seems to be of diminishing value. In his last meeting with President Saleh, al-Fadhli refused to cooperate with the government on the jihadi issue or the southern issue.

The situation in the south is of interest to al-Qaeda as well. After the declaration of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (formed by the Saudi and Yemeni branches of the organization), the 33-year-old al-Wahayshi emerged as the leader of the new organization. His statement expressing support for South Yemen came from a man who knows the area and its people. Like al-Fadhli, al-Wahayshi comes from the southern province of Abyan. The link between al-Fadhli’s and al-Wahayshi’s support for the people of the south has not been proven yet, but the pro-government media has already put both men in one basket as leaders of al-Qaeda (Althawra, October 17). With his senior position among jihadis and tribesmen, al-Fadhli’s loyalties and policies will play an important role in shaping the future of South Yemen.

GENEVA, Nov 20 (Reuters) – The United Nations Committee against Torture called on Yemen on Friday to end the widespread torture of detainees and investigate allegations of unlawful killings by its security forces.

It voiced concern at reports of grave violations “committed in the context of (Yemen’s) fight against terrorism”. They included extrajudicial killings, disappearances, mass arrests, indefinite detention without charge or trial, torture, and the deporting of foreigners to states where they may face torture.

Political activists, journalists and rights defenders have been arrested arbitrarily and held incommunicado during fighting between the army and Shi’ite rebels which began in August, the committee said.

The rebels say they suffer religious, economic and social marginalisation and neglect. Their Nov. 3 cross-border raid into Saudi Arabia, the top oil exporter CLc1, has raised concern about the wider impact of instability in Yemen, one of the world’s poorest nations. [ID:nLJ386106]

Allegations of torture in Yemen are seldom investigated or prosecuted and there appears to be “a climate of impunity” for the perpetrators, the U.N. body said.

“The committee expresses its grave concern at allegations of extrajudicial killings by security forces and other serious human rights violations in different parts of the country, in particular the northern Saada province and the south of the country,” it said.

The committee’s recommendations were issued after its 10 independent experts examined the records of seven countries including Yemen at a three-week meeting which ended on Friday.

Detainees are frequently held incommunicado in Yemen for prolonged periods without judicial process, it said.

Children as young as seven or eight are jailed and girls of about the same age have been forced into marriage, it said.

It urged Yemen to raise the legal age for marriage to 18 from the current 15 for girls and to ensure that the death penalty is not imposed on anyone under 18.

“We have strongly urged Yemen not to sentence children to the death penalty nor execute children because we have had reports that it happens,” committee member Nora Sveaass told a news briefing.

Relatives of alleged criminals, including children, are sometimes held as “hostages, sometimes for years at a time” in order to compel suspects to surrender, the committee said.

The U.N. body said it regretted the fact that Yemen had failed to send a delegation to the meeting, and invited the government to submit written comments.

That’s it, the little one. Its not actually a ship, now is it? It looks like a fishing boat. Not that anyone should be smuggling anything into (or out of) Yemen, but the story is overly hyped. A refresher from Radio Free Europe:

On 26 October an Iranian-crewed ship allegedly carrying weapons was seized by Yemen. This provided Yemeni authorities with an apparent direct link between the insurgents and their Iranian supporters, whom the Yemeni government referred to as “religious institutions.”… According to the Yemeni navy, the ship was intercepted in the Red Sea, west of Midi, a port in the northwestern province of Hajjah that adjoins the territory controlled by the insurgents. Confirming that five Iranians on board the ship were arrested by Yemeni security forces,

One of the Saudis recent bombing runs was quite near Midi Island. Also see this.

Yemen Tribune HAJJA, 16 Nov — Saudi fighter jets Monday night bombed a number of targets near the port of Midi in Hajja, the Islamist website, Alsahwa said quoting sources at Yemen’s coastguard in Midi. The sources said “the air strikes hit targets in Yemen’s Small Ashaq island near the Saudi Large Ashaq island,” adding “the shelling hit some areas near the island of Midi and intelligence officers from the Political Security Organization and military intelligence rushed to the scene to investigate.”

The intelligence officers were probably all running to see if their illegal contraband got hit.

The Twenty-Fourth Sit-In to Demand the Release of Alayyam Newspaper and Journalist Mohamed Almaqaleh and journalists Alsaglade and Rashid

On Tuesday 17/11/2009 hundreds of lawyers, politicians , journalists and relatives of kidnapped and forced hidden people, sit in the twenty-fourth protest in Freedom Square to demand the release of Alayyam newspaper and the release of journalist Mohamed Almaqaleh and journalists Alsaglade and Fouad Rashid, and for the lifting of the violations of Almasdar and Aldiar newspapers.

In the sit-in called by the Organization of Women Journalists Without Chains Sultan Alsamaee the parliamentary spokesman for the Movement for Justice and Change said the express of solidarity with freedom of expression, and with all the journalists against violations under scrutiny, and emphasized the importance of continuing the peaceful sit-ins in order to reach the rights and punish those who violated the rights of the people of this nation; journalists, jurists and citizens.

President of the Women Journalists Without Chains Tawakul Karman confirmed the invitation of the Governor , the President’s party and government to remember their duty to care and protect freedom of expression and press freedom, which is the most sacred duties of legal and constitutional and that they occasionally negligent when they left the most important duties and violating the most sacred rights of their citizens.

She added we are here today to announce the firm and unswerving solidarity with all fellow journalists and opinion leaders whose rights are violated to custody of opinion and publication. My dear unfortunate that there is a large room in the home of lead , gunpowder , blood, skulls and body parts, but narrows for newspapers, their editors , opinion leaders, thought, art and political activists.

She also said today, under a blackout distasteful media, and to prevent strictly to all journalists and human rights activists to attend the trial in the unconstitutional State Security Court of a group of the finest our national symbols, at the disposal of lead-ins and the movement of peaceful protest in the south and there are dozens and hundreds of their comrades in the southern provinces forcibly disappeared in the police cells of this power. We wonder today, dear brothers and sisters to when this power would be able to prevent the people of their right of peaceful expression ,of their right to protest and claim their rights? How long the power will go in their way putting their heads in the sand ignoring the fact that there is the issue of South and South need the recognition and speedy and responsible resolution and not oppression, murder, imprisonment and terror.

She emphasized that a group of the pioneers of the word whom we defend them with our colleagues here in Liberty Square are in trial., They are Salah Alsagalde, Fuad Rashid, and Ahmed Alzubairi Their accusation is that they had covered th event of the southern movement in press. They wrote about the suffering of the South by corruption, looting and feeds. They published articles and news on their Web sites . She also mentioned the suffering of Mohammed Almaqaleh , Alayyam and Almasdar newspaper.

She said that in the twenty-fourth protest for the freedom of expression we send a message to President Ali Abdullah Saleh, and send a message to the President of the National Security Alanesi, and send a message to the President of the PSO to execute our demands.

In the protest Naif Alqans official spokesman of JMP,and the editor of Almasdar Sameer Jobran said;

Women Journalists Without Chains: Non-governmental organization works towards promoting rights, especially freedom of expression and democratic rights. We also promote utilizing different media outlets to promote development by encouraging independent thought, advocating women and children’s rights adopt youth activities and work towards a transparent and just rule.
Tel : 00967 1 210543
Fax : 00967 1 210523

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God bless them and give them strength. I don’t know how they do it for 22 weeks in a row, but when its your friend, its hard to turn away. That much I know.