Aid Won’t Fix the Crisis in Yemen

On July 17, Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh celebrated the 31st anniversary of his ascension to power. The Sana’a regime, perverted by corruption, is largely unable to provide public services, including water, electricity, security, medical care and education. A third of Yemenis—7 million people—are malnourished. Police and military units act as enforcers for corrupt officials. The judiciary dispenses political retribution. Torture in Yemeni jails is systemic and brutal.

On his anniversary, Saleh published an essay calling for dialog and tolerance. The same week, 18 protesters were killed by police, a journalist sentenced to jail and an opposition party prevented from holding its conference. A four-year rebellion in the north and a two-year uprising in the south threaten to engulf the nation in violence. Known al Qaeda operatives roam the capital freely, and teenage suicide bombers routinely target elderly tourists.

Yemen’s donors believe stabilizing President Saleh’s regime will thwart the devolution of Yemen into a failed state and an al Qaeda safe haven. U.S. aid proposed for 2010 is at the highest levels in years. The Department of Defense allocated $66 million in military aid, mostly for patrol boats and armored pick-ups. Congress’ Foreign Operation Appropriation bill includes an additional $15 million in military aid and $40 million in development and economic aid. Other humanitarian aid is channeled through USAID. However, increased funding to Yemen is a questionable strategy that may escalate instability.

 

Aid Won’t Fix the Crisis in Yemen (Arabic)

جين نوفاك- ورد برس- 26 يوليو، 2009
ترجمة: عبدالله عبدالوهاب ناجي- ترجمة خاصة بيمنات
Yemenat

احتفل الرئيس اليمني علي عبدالله صالح في السابع عشر من يوليو بالذكرى الواحدة والثلاثين لتوليه السلطة. ويعتبر نظام صنعاء، المضلل بالفساد، غير قادر، إلى حد كبير، على تقديم الخدمات العامة بما فيها المياه والكهرباء والأمن، والرعاية الطبية والتعليم. حيث يعاني ثلث من اليمنيين- سبعة ملايين نسمة- من سوء التغذية. تعمل وحدات من الشرطة والجيش كمنقذين لمسئولين فاسدين. القضاء ينفذ عقوبات سياسية. كما أن التعذيب في السجون اليمنية شامل ووحشي.

نشر صالح بياناً يدعو فيه إلى الحوار والتسامح بمناسبة ذكرى توليه السلطة، وفي نفس الأسبوع قتلت الشرطة ثمانية عشر متظاهراً، وتم الحكم على صحفي بالسجن، ومُنع أحد أحزاب المعارضة من عقد مؤتمره. إن مضي أربع سنوات من حركة التمرد في شمال البلاد وسنتين من الانتفاضة في الجنوب يهدد بإغراق البلد في دوامة من العنف. ويتجول أعضاء معروفون في تنظيم القاعدة في العاصمة بحرية، ويستهدف مفجرون انتحاريون مراهقون سائحين مسنين بشكل متكرر.

 

Yemen on the Brink of Civil War, Arabic

Yemenat:

اليمن على شفا الحرب
كتبت: جين نوفاك/ ورد برس
ترجمة: عبدالله عبدالوهاب ناجي/ ترجمة خاصة بالمستقلة

أصدرت سفارة الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية يوم الأحد في صنعاء بيانا حول العنف السياسي في جنوب اليمن الذي أدى إلى مقتل ثمانية أشخاص في الأسبوع الماضي. وشددت الولايات المتحدة على أن “وحدة اليمن تعتمد على قدرتها على ضمان المساواة في معاملة جميع المواطنين بموجب القانون…” وما تدعوه الحكومة اليمنية بالوحدة فإن المتظاهرين يدعونه احتلالاً.

 

Yemen on the Brink of War

On May 3, the U.S. Embassy in Sana’a issued a statement on the political violence in South Yemen that claimed eight lives last week. The United States stressed that “Yemen’s unity depends on its ability to guarantee every citizen equal treatment under the law.” What the Yemeni government calls unity, the protesters call occupation.

Since protests erupted in South Yemen in May 2007, dozens were killed, hundreds injured and over a thousand arrested. As police shot into the crowds, Southern claims of institutionalized discrimination turned into calls for independence. After regional protest marches last week, Yemen began shelling the town of Radfan. Some Southerners took up arms for the first time.

 

Yemen Retakes Ja’ar

On March 28, Yemen launched a major security operation to regain control of Ja’ar in the governorate of Abyan. Yemeni authorities announced Monday that 45 of 56 wanted militants have been arrested during the operation.

 

Yemen’s three terror fronts

By Jane Novak March 28, 2009 3:18 PM

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula took credit in an internet statement Friday for a pair of suicide attacks that targeted South Koreans in Yemen.

A teen-aged suicide bomber killed four South Korean tourists in Shibam, Hadramout on March 15. A second terror attack three days later in Sana’a targeted a convoy of family members and South Korean investigators. The motorcade had left a military camp and was traveling along a highway when a suicide bomber detonated his device between two of the cars. There were no injuries to the passengers.

 

Yemen’s Multi Faceted Deals with Al Qaeda (Arabic GT)

اليمن تعقد صفقات متعددة الوجوه مع القاعدة

كتبت: جين نوفاك – فبراير/ 2009
عبدالله عبدالوهاب ناجي- ترجمة خاصة بالمستقلة

عقد الرئيس اليمني علي عبدا لله صالح مؤخرا صفقة مع أيمن الظواهري، حيث أن اليمن بصدد إفراغ سجونها من جهاديين معروفين. تقوم الحكومة اليمنية بتجنيد مجاهدين مؤسسين لمهاجمة أعداءها المحليين بينما تحجم عن تدابير جدية لمكافحة الإرهاب ضد تنظيم القاعدة الذي تم تشكيله مؤخراً في شبه الجزيرة العربية. حيث مكنت العلاقة ثلاثية الأطراف بين النظام اليمني وتنظيم القاعدة، جميع المشاركين على مواصلة تحقيق أهدافهم على حساب الأمن الوطني والإقليمي، و العالمي.

 

Yemen strikes multi-faceted deals with al Qaeda

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh recently struck a deal with Ayman Zawahiri, and Yemen is in the process of emptying its jails of known jihadists. The Yemeni government is recruiting these established jihadists to attack its domestic enemies as it refrains from serious counter-terror measures against the newly formed Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The tripartite relationship between the Yemeni regime and al Qaeda enables all participants to further their goals at the expense of national, regional and global security.

Yemen releases 95 jihadists

 

Arabian Peninsula al Qaeda groups merge

In the face of Saudi Arabia’s success against the al Qaeda organization, many Saudi operatives have fled to the more hospitable climate in Yemen, joining others who recently arrived from Iraq, Somalia, and Pakistan. Al Qaeda in Yemen announced its merger with Saudi Arabia’s al Qaeda organization to form al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP. The announcement came in its latest release of the online journal Sada al Malahim, or the Echo of Epics. A propaganda video was also released by the group on Friday.

 

US Sanctions Iran Based al Qaeda, Zawahiri Promises Fighters to Yemen

The US Treasury Department placed financial sanctions on Saad bin Laden, thought to be in Pakistan, and three alleged al Qaeda operatives in Iran including a Yemeni. The terrorist designation Friday froze their assets within US jurisdictions and prohibits Americans from financial dealings with the four.

Saad bin Laden, son of radical figurehead Osama bin Laden, facilitated communications between al Qaeda’s number two, Ayman Zawahiri, and the Iranian Qods Force after an al Qaeda attack on the US embassy in Sana’a last year, the Wall Street Journal reported.

 

Yemeni Weapons Fuel Somali Instability

Yemen the main source of illegal arms to Somalia: UN
———————————————-

Jane Novak for the Yemen Times

SANA’A, Dec. 27— A UN investigation found Yemen is the primary source of arms and ammunition to Somalia which has been under an arms embargo since 1992. The panel of independent experts monitoring the embargo also reported arms smuggling from Yemen intersects with acts of piracy and human trafficking. The findings were presented in a December 10 report to the UN Security Council.

The report notes commercial weapons imports from Yemen supply Somali retail markets as well as opposition and criminal groups. The Yemeni government’s inability to stem the large scale arms trafficking is “a key obstacle to the restoration of peace and security to Somalia,” the panel found. The UN Security Council extended the monitoring group’s mandate for another year.

 

Saleh’s Orders to Release Sa’ada Detainees Dated 12/08

If Saleh ordered the Sa’ada prisoners released on 12/08 and they are still in jail, then its either a ploy or he can’t get his own directives implemented.

The order:

 

Eid al-Ghadir Day, Saada Yemen 12/08

Eid al-Ghaidr Day, Sa'ada Yemen 12/2008

After several years of outlawing this Shia celebration, in 2008 the ban was lifted.

 

Interview with Nasser al-Nuba

Exclusive Interview

Brigadier General Nasser al-Nuba is the head of the Retired Military Consultive Association (MCA) in Aden and the southern governorates. The MCA under General al-Nuba organized demonstrations in South Yemen beginning in July 2007 to demand equal rights for military retirees and southerners in general. As the year long demonstrations began to swell to include hundreds of thousands, demonstrators were met with an increasingly repressive response on the part of security forces. Over twenty protesters were shot dead, hundreds severely beaten and over a thousand arrested.

 

The Yemeni Intelligence Concocts Terror Attacks for Political Gain

The leader of the Yemeni Soldiers Brigades claimed the Yemeni state participates in terror attacks for political gain. by Jane Novak for the Long War Journal

Yemen’s security forces have repeatedly orchestrated terror attacks within Yemen in order to manipulate US and international perceptions, the most wanted fugitive in September’s terror attack on the US Embassy in Sana’a said in an interview Tuesday.

Hamza Ali Saleh al Dhayani (also Aldhaini, al Dhajani) is a prime suspect in the September 17 suicide attack on the US Embassy that killed 16, including an American citizen. Yemen also named al Dhayani as a suspect in March’s mortar attack on the US Embassy.

 

Global crises, natural disaster shake Yemen’s economy

Jane Novak For the  Yemen Times

 SANA’A, Nov. 29 — Yemen’s oil-reliant economy is in trouble. Known oil reserves are depleting. Low global oil prices make economic diversification and budgetary rationalization urgent concerns. The outbreak of piracy in the Gulf of Aden harms potential growth sectors including Aden port, off-shore oil blocks and Yemen’s LNG project. Swelling numbers of Somali refugees, as well as Somali pirates, burden the economy. The struggling non-oil economy was dealt a blow from devastating floods in October. These factors combine to create an economic storm brewing on the horizon of 2009.

 

The roots of protest: Prior elections impact future polls

By: Jane Novak For the Yemen Times 

LAHJ, Nov. 22 — Voter registration committees triggered protests on Thursday that drew crowds estimated at hundreds of thousands. The registration process was launched November 11 in preparation for April’s Parliamentary election.

A teen was killed at a registration center in Radfan, Lahj on November 15 when police opened fire on protesters, an opposition MP said. Registration committees were forcibly ejected by residents in other southern towns. Radfan was the scene of four fatalities in September 2007 when security forces clashed with protesters. The year-long protest movement in the southern governorates culminated in the election of the Southern Liberation Council (SLC) on November 14, 2008. The SLC, purporting to represent hundreds of thousands of southern Yemenis, will boycott the election.

Yemen’s opposition party alliance, the Joint Meeting Parties (JMP), is boycotting the registration process. The JMP claims the registration committees were illegally formed and favor the ruling General People’s Congress Party (GPC). Security officials said on Thursday that hampering the committees’ activities is a crime. Dozens of JMP activists were arrested during otherwise peaceful protests.

 

Electoral Violence in Yemen Five Months Early

Violence is breaking out all over Yemen, especially in the Southern governorates, in advance of April’s Parliamentary elections. Angry citizens have repeatedly attacked and expelled voter registration committees, and security forces opened fire on several occasions.

Yemen’s opposition party alliance, the Joint Meeting Parties (JMP), is boycotting the registration process because the government reneged on implementing needed electoral reforms.  Southern Yemenis just elected their own representative body, the Southern Arabian Liberation Council (SALC), which has called for an electoral boycott claiming the central government, not just the election, is illegitimate in the south.

Yemen’s government deploys the institutions, processes and rhetoric of democracy to legitimize its rule and gain western support. In reality, the consolidation of democracy has made little progress since 1994 when Saleh’s forces re-imposed a unified state on southern Yemen by force. At the center of the national dynamic is greed. Saleh’s regime loots the state treasury at every step of administration. Brutal security forces, secret police, corrupt courts and systematic torture are the systems in place for those who do not succumb to bribery, blackmail and threats. While the forms of democracy have spread, the practice has not.

 

US Embassy Attacked in Yemen

Yemeni security forces repelled a complex attack on the US embassy in the capital of Sana’a. More than sixteen were killed after terrorists detonated multiple bombs then launched a ground attack in an attempt to breach the compound.

The attack begun after several bombs were detonated just outside the embassy. The terrorists then ambushed the first responders by using pre-positioned snipers. The terrorists were wearing uniforms of Yemeni security forces and driving what appeared to be police cars, which enabled them to get close to the heavily fortified compound.

 

Corruption Triggers Media Repression in Yemen

The level of media repression may be a determining factor in whether Yemen avoids the threat of state failure. The Yemeni government suffers from entrenched corruption in nearly every office, a legacy of traditional patron/client relationships. Demands for transparency threaten the substantial patrimonial networks associated with access to the government budget.

More than 20% of state funds go to the administrative expenses of the Presidency and Parliament. A quarter of the Yemeni budget is allocated to the military as a line item. Another third of the budget is spent on diesel subsidies. Beyond the misappropriation of state funds, members of the administration also spin off criminal enterprises using advantages gained from their official positions.

In Yemen’s pervasively corrupt environment, investigative reporting is challenging the conditions that undermine efforts at wider economic and political reform.

 

The spreading destruction of the Sa’ada War in Yemen

The boundaries of the war in Yemen war are expanding beyond the northern Sa’ada governorate. For the first time, bombing is audible from Sana’a, the nation’s capital. Recent battles are among the bloodiest in memory.

After four years of armed conflict between the government and a group of Zaidi rebels, the war’s impact is spread far beyond the combatants and the field of combat. Military, judicial and civil policies targeting the rebels have precipitated a humanitarian crisis in Sa’ada and a civil crisis in the nation with rights groups protesting mass arrests and other tactics.

 

Yemeni Security Forces Blanket Aden on War Anniversary

Aden, July 7- In the early morning hours Monday, Yemeni army units supported by Central Security forces blanketed Aden City, the former capital of southern Yemen, in advance of a planned civil rights demonstration.

By the end of the day, the fourteenth anniversary of the end of Yemen’s civil war, government forces had arrested over 300 in Aden and detained numerous reporters. Security blocked all the routes to the public square at al-Hashimi station, the site of the planned sit in.

 

Yemeni Hunger Striker, Hassan Baoum, Serously Ill

Southern Yemeni activist Hassan Baoum is seriously ill and has been transferred to a police hospital, his family reports. Baoum is on a hunger strike in protest of his “illegal arrest” on April 1, 2008. He has had a diabetic reaction, and his blood pressure is very high. Baoum has been held incommunicato since his arrest on April 1, 2008, restrained by leg irons and handcuffs.

 

Yemen Spirals Toward Disintegration

اليمن: حركات لولبية باتجاه التفكك

هجمات ارهابية تضرب العاصمة صنعاء ، مع تجدد الحرب شمالي اليمن وتحول الاحتجاجات إلى أعمال شغب جنوبي اليمن، والمعارضة تقاطع الانتخابات القادمة.

الحريات المدنية تقبع تحت الهجمات وينموالاتجاه التقليدي مع تحول الحكومة المركزية إلى متطرفين للتأييد، والاحتياجات الاساسية للسكان تستمر بلا تلبية.

الحرب في الشمال

يواجة البرنامج العالمي للغذاء نقصا حادا في الامدادت اللازمة لتوفير احتياجات 77.00 ألف مواطن من مشردي الحرب في الشمال،رغم الدعم الاخير المقدم من المملكة المتحدة بقيمة 1.4مليون دولار،لقي عدة الاف حتفهم في هذه الحرب التي بدأت منذ 2004م كما تدمرت آلاف المنازل والمساجد والمحال التجارية نتيجة القصف الحكومي بالقذائف.

 

Yemen Spirals Toward Disintegration

As war renews in Yemen’s North and protests turn to riots in the South, terror attacks have hit the capital, and the opposition is boycotting upcoming elections. Civil liberties are under attack and traditionalism growing as the central government turns to hard liners for support and the population’s basic needs go unmet.

 

Al-Qaeda In Yemen: Mercenaries or Terrorists

القاعدة في اليمن مرتزقة أم إرهابيون؟ [23/4/2008] ? : – جين نوفاك*- ترجمة خاصة بـ[يمنات]

لقد تم الإعلان عن تناقض وجهات النظر بين محللين سياسيين غربيين ويمنيين حول اندلاع الهجمات الإرهابية في اليمن حيث بينت إحدى المقالات في مركز مكافحة الإرهاب أنه«تم التغلب على القاعدة في اليمن بسبب التعاون الوثيق بين اليمن والولايات المتحدة أثناء المرحلة الأولى من الحرب (2000 – 2003) لكنها – القاعدة – تعلمت من هذه الخسارة»وكيفت تكتيكاتها وأهدافها.
الجيل الجديد من هذا التنظيم يرفض التفاوض مع نظام الحكم اليمني وتبشر به إستراتيجية جديدة ورقي مستمر،عبر الدعاية الخاصة بالشبكة العنكبوتية.

في الوقت الذي تستحوذ فيه الضغوطات الداخلية على اهتمام نظام الحكم اليمني، تأتي فيه السيطرة على هذا التنظيم في آخر الأولويات.

 

Al-Qaeda in Yemen, Mercenaries or Terrorists

The dichotomy of viewpoints between Yemeni and Western analysts on the recent outbreak of terror attacks in Yemen is pronounced. An article at the Counter Terrorism Center at West Point finds that “Al-Qa`ida in Yemen was defeated by the close cooperation of the United States and Yemen during the first phase of the war (2000-2003), but it learned from the loss,” and adapted its tactics and goals.

 

Violence Explodes on Multiple Fronts in Yemen

Twenty-one people died in political violence across Yemen this weekend, including southern protesters, northern rebels, tribal paramilitary fighters, and Yemeni soldiers. A mortar attack by al Qaeda in the capital heightened tensions.

 

Yemen Mobilizes Military to Quell Riots

Yemen has rounded up opposition political leaders in response to several days of riots that caused extensive damage to government buildings and vehicles. Over the last 48 hours, the Yemeni military deployed dozens of tanks, armored vehicles and fighter jets into the southern Yemeni governorates.

 

Massive Protest in South Yemen

A rally in the southern Yemeni governorate of Dhalie on Monday drew several hundred thousand protesters from the governorates of Hadramout, Aden, Abyan, and Shabwa. Some estimates put the crowd at more than a half million.

 

Unsteady Peace in War Torn North Yemen

A three-year war in Sa’ada, Yemen generated thousands of casualities, wide-scale destruction, tens of thousands of internal refugees and cost upwards of a billion dollars. Progress toward implementing a cease-fire agreement negotiated by Qatar reached an impasse this week as both the Yemeni military and several thousand Shia rebels refused to abandon their positions. Reports of a prison massacre are heightening tensions amid sporadic skirmishes in the province, which borders Saudi Arabia.

 

Internet Censorship in Yemen

The Internet has taken root in Yemen, functioning as it does everywhere, as a social network, as an electronic pamphleteer and as a purveyor of facts and ideas. The Yemeni government is intimidated by the public’s internet use and the resulting social and political progress. Consequently the Yemeni state dramatically increased internet censorship in the last months, as it is prone to do in times of crisis and negative publicity.

 

Yemen’s Illogical Logic of Repression

“When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty,” Thomas Jefferson.

As Yemenis struggle toward freedom from tyranny, the Yemeni government uses all means at its disposal to thwart the growing democracy movement. The regime simultaneously creates a façade of reform for the benefit of the western donors, often with depressingly good results.

 

Yemen’s Intifada

يواجه اليمن عدم استقرار غير مرئي منذ الحرب الأهلية في 1994م زادت من حدته الحرب التي خاضتها الدولة مع الثوار الشيعة

في محافظة صعدة الواقعة شمال اليمن، حيث خلفت تلك الحرب أكثر من 50000 لاجئ داخلي، ورغم أن التمرد انتهى في يونيو/ حزيران الماضي إلا أن التهديد ما زال قابلا للاشتعال بسبب عدم تطبيق أي من الطرفين لشروط وقف إطلاق النار.

التهميش السياسي والاقتصادي لقطاع واسع من المجتمع ساهم في التمرد وبالتالي خلق فسادا حكوميا مستوطنا.. قلة الخدمات الأساسية والتدابير الأمنية المتشددة كانت من أهم العوامل المحفزة لاحتجاجات جنوب اليمن واسعة الانتشار والتي جذبت أكثر من 100.000 محتج والتي راح ضحيتها حتى الآن عشرة محتجين زعم أن قوات الأمن هي من قتلتهم بالإضافة إلى ضرب واعتقال الكثير منهم.

 

Yemen’s Intifada

Yemen is facing instability unseen since its 1994 civil war. A war with Shiite rebels in the northern Sa’ada province left over 50,000 internal refugees. The rebellion ended in June but threatens to re-ignite as neither side has fully implemented the cease-fire conditions. The political and economic marginalization of vast segments of society contributed to the rebellion as did endemic governmental corruption, lack of basic services and draconian security measures. These factors are also the catalyst for widespread protests in southern Yemen, some of which attracted over 100,000 protesters. Ten protesters were killed, allegedly by security forces, and many were beaten and arrested.

 

Yemeni Officials Who Profited from Land Confescation

A Yemeni Parliamentary committee issued a report in 2006 naming 26 persons who illegally profited from land confiscated in Aden following Yemen’s 1994 civil war. The list includes Members of Parliament and the Shoura Council, military and security force commanders, current and former judges and ministers. The Parliamentary committee recommended that the land owners receive compensation for their losses, however none has been paid.

 

INTERVIEW: Colonel Naser Saleh Abdul Qawi, secretary general of Aden Military Retirees Society.

Colonel Naser Saleh Abdul Qawi is the secretary general of Aden Military Retirees Society. Col. Abdul Qawi was a member of the southern Air Force, and was stationed at the al-Anad military base before it fell to Sanaa’s forces in Yemen’s 1994 civil war. Abdul Qawi is one of hundreds of military retirees who were reinstated to the Yemeni military in response to months of protests that have rocked the southern Yemeni governorates.

 

One Killed, Four Wounded in Aden Protests

November 29, Aden: One person was killed and several wounded when Yemeni soldiers prevented thousands of protesters from reaching the site of an anti-regime demonstration.

 

INTERVIEW: Yemeni MP Ahmed Saif Hashed, “There Are No Human Rights In Yemen”

Mr. Ahmed Saif Hashed serves on the Yemeni Parliament’s Freedom and Human Rights Committee. An independent MP, Mr. Hashed represents constituency 70, which includes parts of Lahj and Taiz. Mr. Hashed is a prominent human rights activist with a special interest in the condition of Yemeni prisoners. He heads the Al-Tageer human rights organization and owns the Al-Mostakela newspaper. Jane Novak interviewed him for the Global Politician.

 

Yemen’s Truce with Al-Qaeda

THE AMERICAN ATTEMPTS to rehabilitate the Yemeni regime of Ali Abdullah Saleh have not succeeded. Yemeni authorities recently pardoned Jamal Al-Badawi, convicted mastermind of the 2000 USS Cole bombing. Almost all the terrorists who bombed the American warship and killed 17 American sailors are free, except those dead or in U.S. custody.

 

Bloody Protests Continue in Yemen

Since May, Yemen has witnessed widespread civil unrest in the southern governorates including Aden and Marib. Three protesters were killed during demonstrations in Mukallah, and two more were killed in Dhalie. On October 13, five people were shot dead at a sit-in in Radfan, Lahj when security forces opened fire on the crowd. Witnesses reported a dozen wounded. Over fifty thousand people gathered the next day in Radfan for a previously scheduled demonstration despite these brutal security practices.

 

INTERVIEW: Dr. Aidros Nasr Al Naqeeb, Head of the YSP Parliamentary Block, “The Yemeni regime has no desire for reforms in any field.”

Armies of Liberation conducted an interview with DR. AIDROOS NASR NASER AL NAQEEB, the chairman of the Yemeni Socialists Party’s (YSP) Parliamentary block. Dr. Aidroos represents three districts in the southern governorate of Abyan.

 

The USS Cole Bombing: A Seven Year Perspective

On October 12, 2000 two Yemeni suicide bombers rammed an explosives-laden dingy into an American destroyer, the USS Cole. Seventeen US service members were killed and forty-nine injured. The destroyer had been invited by the Yemeni government to refuel in the port of Aden.

In the light of historical perspective, several facts have become clear. Intelligence warnings generated prior to the attack were never forwarded to the commander of the Cole. The investigation afterwards was marred by turf wars within the US government, leaving links between the Cole bombing and the attacks of 9/11 unexplored. The Yemeni government worked diligently to limit the scope of the US investigation. Almost all the Yemenis involved in the Cole bombing are walking free. The involvement of some Yemeni officials in the bombing is documented; however, the scope of that involvement is not.

 

Yemen on the Brink of Civil War?

Tensions simmering since the Yemeni civil war in 1994 have flared into violence that may engulf the nation.

“We want equal rights,” retired Brigadier General Ali Moqbel stated. The simple declaration expressed the sentiment of tens of thousands of Yemenis who have repeatedly clashed with security forces in Aden, Makallah, Dahlie and other towns in southern Yemen since the spring.

 

INTERVIEW: General Ali Moqbel, Head of the Yemeni Retired Military Consultive Association, “We demand equality in citizenship.”

In an effort to enlighten our readership on the true nature of the growing civil unrest in Southern Yemen, Armies of Liberation obtained an exclusive statement from Brigadier General Ali Moqbel, organizer and member of the Yemeni Retired Military Consultive Association (MCRA). In the statement, General Moqbel clarified the goal of the protests, “We demand equality in citizenship and the return of all our officers to their positions.”

 

Disband the GPC

واجه اليمن حالة من عدم الاستقرار في عدة مجالات منذ الانتخابات الرئاسية الماضية، وتشمل جوانب الأزمة عودة حرب صعدة في شمال اليمن للمرة الرابعة، والاحتجاجات الشعبية في المحافظات الجنوبية سابقاً،والتحالف القبلي المواجه،وعودة الهجمات الإرهابية التي تستهدف الدولة.

كل تلك النزاعات لها عامل مشترك ومسبب واحد يتمثل في تأسيس حالة من عدم المساواة أو العنصرية الرسمية حالة هذه هي أيضاً متجذرة بفساد هائل يدمر اليمن ،ومع وجود نخب النافذين المتجذرة وتفشي الفساد، يبقى الإصلاح المؤسسي مستحلاً تقريباً، ربما يكون هناك حل واحد ، هو حل الآليات التي تعمل على إطالة أمد حالة عدم المساواة وتمكين الفساد،بدءا بحل الحزب الحاكم.

 

Yemen’s Ruling Party Subverts Democracy

Since Yemen’s presidential election, the nation is experiencing several areas of instability. Crisis areas include the fourth recurrence of the Sa’ada war in North Yemen, popular protests in the former South Yemen, hostile tribal posturing, and the resurgence of terror attacks directed at the state. One causal factor common to all these conflicts is institutionalized inequality or state discrimination. This inequality is also the foundation of massive corruption that is destroying Yemen. With elitism so engrained and corruption so pervasive, structural reform is nearly impossible. One solution may be to dissolve the national mechanisms that function to perpetuate inequality and enable corruption, starting with Yemen’s ruling party.

 

Reform in Yemen: Progress and Obstacles

Yemen is a country facing substantial problems. It is one of the most undeveloped, poverty stricken countries globally. Basic services are scarce, and corruption is rampant. Half of Yemen’s 20 million citizens are under 15. High fertility rates and early marriage mean the population will double within decades. Oil, a mainstay of the economy, is rapidly depleting. Both illiteracy and unemployment are high. International donors and many within the Yemeni administration recognize the urgency of the issues facing the nation. However some governmental strategies are undermined from within the regime itself. Both water management and corruption mitigation efforts have been limited by the failure of ministries to coordinate among themselves.

 

Leading Yemeni Journalist Abdulkarim al-Khaiwani Arrested

(Arabic, Al-Thawry pdf)

In 2004, prominent Yemeni journalist Abdulkarim al-Khaiwani wrote from jail, “I believe in democracy, freedom, equality and rights and am willing to suffer for their sake simply because I do not wish my children to suffer dictatorship and I will strive to provide them a better future.”

 

Ceasefire In Yemen

The Sa’ada war in northern Yemen may be coming to a close. The Yemeni government announced on June 15 that a cease-fire had been negotiated through the good offices of the Emir of Qatar. Shiite rebels agreed to lay down their arms after nearly three years of fighting. Hopes are high that an end to hostilities will allow immediate assistance to over a half a million Yemenis in Sa’ada province adversely affected by the fighting.

 

Tensions Flare in South Yemen

Demonstrations and armed conflict in southern Yemen are heightening fears of growing instability in the impoverished nation, already battling an insurgency in the North.

Yemen has experienced marked instability since September’s 2006 presidential election. In the northern Sa’ada province, about 60,000 soldiers have been embroiled in a guerrilla war with about 2000 Zaidi Shi’a rebels since January. Tens of thousands of civilians have fled the fighting and military bombing, and many are without shelter, food, water, and medical care.

 

Political Tribalism in al-Ja’ashen, Yemen

The winds of change may be sweeping across Yemen. President Ali Abdullah Saleh recently appointed Dr. Ali Mohammed Mujawar as Prime Minister. Formerly the Minister of Electricity, Mujawar comes to the post with a strong reputation as an academic and a technocrat. This change in leadership was followed by a cabinet shuffle in April that brought eleven new ministers on board. The enthusiasm of the new government is palpable. However, the Cabinet’s ability to act decisively is limited by countervailing authority seated outside governmental institutions.

The elite among President Saleh’s northern tribesmen have supplanted the jurisdiction of the state. Since Yemen’s 1994 civil war, power has become consolidated in a network of influential individuals who largely operate above the law. Weak central government is counterbalanced by strong tribal authority, resulting in a nearly feudal substructure. The glue that stabilizes this political system is entrenched governmental corruption and patronage.

 

Training Day

يوم تدريب
كيف يساعد اليمن ويحرض المتمردين العراقيين ؟
جين نوفاك
كاتبة ومحللة سياسية أمريكية
خبيرة في شؤون اليمن
5 أبريل 2007
ترجمة : حميد يحيى القطابري

يعمل اليمن بشكل كبير كداعم للإرهاب الدولي تحت مظلة الشراكة مع الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية في الحرب على الإرهاب ؛ حيث ركز كل من المسؤولين اليمنيين والأمريكيين على هذه الشراكة علنيا.
سفارة الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية في صنعاء وصفت هروب عناصر القاعدة الثلاثة والعشرين في فبراير من العام 2006 من سجن الأمن السياسي مُبررًا بطريقة ما ، معتبرةً الفساد المستشري في اليمن وضعف المؤسسات وعدم أهلية الحكومة. ( الهاربون يتضمنون عددا من مفجري المدمرة الأمريكية كول وأمريكيا مرتبطا بخلية اللاك أوانا الإرهابية في نيويورك)

 

Training Day, How Yemen Aids and Abets Iraqi Insurgents

YEMEN OPERATES LARGELY under the radar as a supporter of the global jihad. Both Yemeni and U.S. officials publicly tout Yemen’s partnership with the United States in the war on terror. The U.S. embassy in Sana’a described the February 2006 escape of 23 al Qaeda operatives from a maximum security jail as “understandable in a way,” considering Yemen’s rampant corruption, weak institutions, and bureaucratic incompetence. (The escapees included several Cole bombers and an American associated with the Lackawanna, New York terror cell.) Presidential assistant Frances Townsend has described the Yemeni regime as an “inconsistent” partner in the war on terror, but Yemen has been quite consistent in its appeasement and facilitation of al Qaeda and related jihadi groups, and, as a result, has played a significant role in the destabilization of Iraq.

 

From Nepotism to Jihad

The upper levels of the Yemeni military, judiciary and intelligence services are inculcated with hard core Salafists, and many aspects of Yemeni state institutions support jihaddist campaigns all over the world, including Iraq. It is in this context that the Yemeni Ministry of Defense recently published a fatwa on its website authorizing and obligating the use of deadly force against the Believing Youth, a small band of Shiite Zaidi rebels that has been battling the government on and off since 2004. Essentially Yemen’s military leadership declared a jihad on the group.

 

Democracy Without Minority Rights

ترجمة : سامي نعمان، الشورى نت:

تحصل اليمن على الكثير من المساعدات من الدول الغربية، وبشكل خاص الولايات المتحدة، وذلك مقابل تعاونها في الجهود العالمية في الحرب على الإرهاب.
وعلى نفس المنوال فإن جهود اليمن في (الدّمَقْرَطَة)، خصوصاً الاندفاع المتقدم في الذي شهدته في انتخابات سبتمبر/أيلول الرئاسية، ستفضي إلى زيادة مساعدات المانحين التي تعتبر اليمن في أشد الحاجة إليها.
ولكن، إثر الانتخابات، دشن النظام اليمني حملات تشويه السمعة، واعتقالات ومضايقات لزعماء المعارضة والناشطين والناخبين على السواء. في إحدى القضايا الغريبة، زعم النظام أن أحد ناشطي حقوق الإنسان مرتبط بالقاعدة، وهو أمر يثير الشكوك حول مدى إخلاص النظام في كلا الأمرين: تطوير الديمقراطية، والحرب على الإرهاب.

 

Democracy Without Minority Rights

Yemen extracts benefits from the West, notably the US , in return for its cooperation in global anti-terror efforts. Likewise Yemen’s efforts at democratization, especially the improved conduct of September’s presidential election, should result in an increase in badly needed donor funds. However, in the aftermath of the election, the Yemeni regime has begun discrediting, arresting and harassing opposition leaders, activists and voters. In one bizarre case, the regime has alleged a human rights activist is linked to al-Qaeda, casting doubt on the sincerity of both Yemen’s democracy promotion and its efforts against terrorism.

 

Yemen’s Natural Gas

al-Shoura

حكومة مالطا تعلم عن الغاز اليمني أكثر من البرلمان والشعب
الغاز الطبيعي في اليمن: لمنفعة من؟
جين نوفاك* ( 17/08/2006 )

مؤخرا، وضع بيت الحرية اليمن بين الدول النامية الأكثر فسادا في العالم. وكون المصالح الشخصية للنخبة الحاكمة التي تأخذ الأولوية على حساب التطوير الوطني، فإن قرابة نصف الأطفال اليمنيين يفتقرون إلى التعليم ويعانون من سوء التغذية. البطالة في مستويات عالية والخدمات الطبية غير متوفرة. فيما تلوح بوادر أزمة مياه مرتقبة تهدد بزعزعة البلاد.

ادعاءات التنمية لا تزيد عن كونها دعاية حكومية ترافقها فجوة تزداد رقعتها بين الغنى الفاحش والفقر المدقع مع بقاء مستويات وفيات الأطفال عالية سنة بعد أخرى.

وفي ذروة الأزمة الوطنية الحالية، يتوقع الخبراء أن احتياطيات اليمن من النفط – الذي يمثل قرابة 70 % من الإيرادات الحكومية- سيستنفد فعليا خلال عقد من الزمان.

 

Yemen’s Natural Gas: Who Benefits?

Freedom House recently noted Yemen as among the world’s most corrupt developing nations. With the personal interests of the ruling elite taking priority over national development, nearly half Yemeni children are malnourished and out of school. Unemployment is high and medical services scarce. A looming water crisis threatens to destabilize the country. Claims of development are little more than government propaganda with the gap between the extremely rich and the extremely poor widening and infant mortality remaining high year after year.

 

The Presidential Drama in Yemen, Act Two

Thursday could have been a historic day. That was when President Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen refused to accept his party’s nomination for the presidency, declaring “I am not a taxi to hire for a ride.” It was a good line in a bad play.

Saleh had spent nearly a year indignantly insisting that his sincere intention was to relinquish power in the presidential elections scheduled for September. He had made the same pledge only to renege in the 1998 election. Late Saturday Saleh announced, to the surprise of no one, he would keep his old crown after all and the palace and the purse and the other accouterments of his monarchy.

 

A Day in the Life of a Failing State

An outbreak of chickenpox in Yemen goes a long way in demonstrating the challenges of daily life for Yemeni citizens. The incident is also a snapshot of the factors that may lead Yemen toward state failure. Barhan is a typical village in Yemen where most villages have no electricity, no sewage system and no clean water. Nationally, one in ten kids dies by age five; contaminated water contributes to half their deaths. Of the millions of kids not in school, the highest percentage is among rural girls.

 

The Impossible is Possible in Yemen

Motorcyclists denied their right to work in Yemen engaged in a symbolic funeral procession for the main Yemeni political parties. It may have been an apt analogy: the multi-party system may be dead. The democratic institutions established over fifteen years ago in Yemen may shrivel up and blow away without anyone noticing. The country may sink further into chaos as it slowly implodes and the oil runs out.

 

Democracy or Failure

Ahmed Al-Rabei recently described the worst case for Yemen as, “an Afghan scenario and a civil war that will spread to the borders of GCC countries.” Al-Rabei, a columnist for Alsharq Alwasat, wrote with great affection for the Yemeni people of his concern for the future of Yemen. Al-Rabei is not alone in his assessment of an uncertain future for Yemen. A variety of international organizations and reports have highlighted increasingly dysfunctional Yemeni institutions and governance.

 

Al-Qaeda Escape in Yemen: Facts, Rumors and Theories

One theory circulating in Yemen these days is that the recent escape of 23 prisoners from a maximum security intelligence facility was orchestrated to transfer them to U.S. custody, circumventing Yemen’s extradition laws. Certainly the U.S. would have interest in obtaining custody of the escapees. Several were convicted of complicity in the bombing of the USS Cole which killed 17 US service members on October 12th 2000. Others include convicted bombers of the French oil tanker, the Lindburg, and an American, Gaber Elbaneh, convicted in the U.S. of involvement in an al-Qaeda cell in Lackawana, New York.

 

An Attack on All

Much discussion lately has been centered on what limits a responsible media should place on itself. At the other end of the spectrum remains the burning issue of censorship, propaganda and governmental limitations on the flow of information to the public. For some years the reformist posture of the Yemeni regime of Ali Abdullah Saleh had credibility internationally because of the existence of a lively Yemeni press. One reason confidence in Saleh’s commitment to democratization has diminished is a prolonged and systematic assault on Yemeni journalists, as an informative press is the bedrock of a government run by the people.

 

Jane Novak and the Democratic Bulwark

al-Shoura
تفاعلاً مع الحملة ضد نوفاك

من تعز.. “جين نوفاك وديمقراطية واق الواق”

محمد عزالدين ( 09/12/2005 )

كثيرون هم المهتمون في الكتابة عن الشأن اليمني لكن القلة منهم من وضع يده على مكامن الخلل بتشخيص الوضع القائم في البلاد.

ولعل الكاتبة والمحللة السياسية الأميركية جين نوفاك قد احتلت مرتبة متقدمة في قائمة المتخصصين في تحليل الأوضاع في اليمن رغم حداثة عهدها في ذلك.

وما من شك أن الحملة الإعلامية الموجهة ضد نوفاك من قبل الإعلام الرسمي وإعلام الحزب الحاكم ومن دار في فلكه قد دعمت مكانتها، بعد أن انشغلت بمهاجمة نوفاك والتشهير بها عوضاً عن توضيح خطأ ما تذهب إليه في آراءها، وهي تظن أنها بتهمها تقضي على أطروحاتها الموجهة ضد الفساد القائم في البلاد.

خبرة »نوفاك« بدت بمدى ما أحدثته من اهتزاز في الخطاب الرسمي الذي أعلن عن نفسه أمام الجميع في برنامج »من واشنطن الذي بثته الجزيرة قبل أكثر من ثلاثة أسابيع، وتكرم السكرتير الصحفي للرئيس بإطلاع العالم على الهواء مباشرة بمستوى صحافتنا الرسمية، رغم أن المرأة لم تقدم جديداً سوى أنها تكلمت بحصيلة تقارير وأخبار ودراسات استشهدت بها وسردتها بطريقة منظمة، وكثير من السياسيين والصحفيين وحتى العامة يكتبون ويتكلمون بصورة أقوى عن مواضيع متفرقة جمعتها دفعة واحدة دون أي اعتبار لخطوط حمراء أو خوف من أدنى مساءلة رسمية. عقدة الأجنبي أيضاً أسهمت في الإعلاء من شأن أطروحاتها لدى السلطة والمعارضة، وأيضاً لأنه لم يسبق لأحد قبلها أن تعامل مع القضايا اليمنية بنفس نفَس الجدية والتركيز الذي اعتمدته في فترة وجيزة.

 

Stop Attacking the American Journalist

October 2005Yemen Times by Abdulkarim Al-Khaiwani

Many official newspapers and others affiliated to the ruling party launched a fierce attack against the American writer and Journalist Jane Novak. The observer of current matters in the Yemeni scenario knows the secret of such an attack against Ms. Novak who publishes regular columns reflecting the Political situation in Yemen and the different types of harassments Yemeni journalists and opinion leaders of free speech are subjected to.

 

Drug Smuggling, Gun Running and Other Crimes

President Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen is scheduled to visit the United States in November for a round of meetings with President Bush and other high-ranking officials. As the representative of the Yemeni people, Saleh deserves a great deal of respect and hospitality. Yet it has become increasingly apparent that the regime, under the total domination of President Saleh, is engaged in a wide variety of criminal activities to the detriment of regional stability and the Yemeni people themselves.

 

The Battle for Truth in the Age of Terror

جين نوفاك*

قال تقرير صادر عن البرنامج الإنمائي للأمم المتحدة مؤخرا بأن اليمن «مليئة بالفساد» في كافة القطاعات بما في ذلك أجهزة الرقابة والمحاسبة، وتفتقر الحكومة اليمنية لنظام فعال لتعرية وكشف الفساد.

الفساد المنتشر نتيجة منطقية السلطة في اليمن.. فعلي عبدالله صالح هو الرئيس، وقائد الجيش، ورئيس القضاء، ورئيس الحزب الحاكم، إضافة إلى سيطرته الأساسية على البرلمان ووسائل الإعلام الرسمية. وهو مسيطر على السلطة منذ 27 عاما.

في ظل غياب الإشتراك في السلطة بين المؤسسات الفعالة التي توازن إحداها الأخرى، فإن الآلية الوحيدة التي تقتضي مسؤولية المسؤولين اليمنيين البارزين بالنسبة للشعب اليمني هي المعارضة وأجهزة الإعلام المستقلة.

 

A Fair Election in Yemen

قد يكون الأمر محزنا أن تكون من بين أفقر البلدان على سطح الأرض. وبالنسبة لمجتمع وقور كاليمن، تبدو الإشارة مضادة للبديهة. ولكن لسوء الحظ، فإن إساءة استخدام السلطة في اليمن تزحف لعقود وباتت تطال جميع مناحي الحياة. إن روح المقاومة اليمنية التي يمتلكها الشعب اليمني هي وحدها التي تحول دون ابتلاع فيضان الفساد للمجتمع بأسره.

طبقاً للبنك الدولي، فإن 46 بالمائة من أطفال اليمن بعمر الخمس سنوات يعانون من سوء التغذية. فيما نصف الأطفال اليمنيين لا يتلقون التعليم الابتدائي. كما أن حوالي 90 بالمائة من اليمنيين يعانون الحاجة إلى الماء الضروري. في المناطق الريفية البعيدة، 70 بالمائة من السكان لا يحصلون على الخدمات الطبية. أطفال اليمن غائبون بصورة شبه كاملة عن أجهزة الإعلام العالمية، ولا يظهرون -عالمياً- إلا كإحصائيات.

لذلك ربما تسلط الصور بعض الأضواء على ظلال الطفولة اليمنية: صورة لطفل جائع بعمر أربع سنوات يشرب ماءً قذراً، وصورة لآخر بعمر تسع سنوات لم يعرف المدرسة ويحترق جسمه بالحمى. وبملايين المرات المتكررة، فإن المدى الحقيقي للمأساة قد يظهر.

 

The Battle For Truth in the Age of Terror

A United Nations Development Program report recently said that Yemen is “infested with corruption” throughout all sectors including corruption monitoring agencies, and the Yemeni government lacks an effective system of exposing and checking corruption. Rampant corruption is a logical consequence of the concentration of power in Yemen: Ali Abdullah Saleh is the president, the head of the military, the chief judicial officer, the head of the ruling party, and essentially controls the parliament and the official media. He has been in power for 27 years.

 

Exciting New Possibilities for Yemenis

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh has decided to step down from office after 27 years, and the election to choose a successor has been scheduled for next year. This holds hope for a peaceful transition of power. Saleh has stressed the need for “young blood” to lead the country into a new era, and a new political configuration may begin to disentangle ensconced vested interests and revive a moribund bureaucracy.

 

A Fair Election in Yemen

It is an unhappy designation to be among the poorest countries on earth, but for a society as dignified as Yemen’s, the label seems counter intuitive. Unfortunately, abuse of power in Yemen has been creeping for decades and is pervasive. It’s only the indomitable spirit of the Yemeni people that prevents an avalanche of corruption from engulfing the nation entirely.

According to the World Bank, 46 percent of Yemen’s five-year-old children suffer from malnutrition. Half of Yemen’s children never attend primary school. About 90 percent of Yemenis lack access to the necessary water. In rural areas, 70 percent of residents have no access to a doctor. Yemen’s children are nearly invisible in the global media, and they appear internationally only as statistics.

 

Protests in Yemen

Widespread popular protests in Yemen grabbed attention in the West even though some international journalists were prohibited from broadcasting video of the violence via satellite. Tanks and military vehicles line the streets, giving Sanaa, Yemen’s capital, an eerie resemblance to Iraq. The protests were triggered by a reduction in governmental subsidies on many commodity items in this desperately poor nation. The price of petroleum has risen by around 90 percent and the price of gas has increased almost80 percent. In a country where the per capita G.D.P. is $508 a year and half the population is in poverty, the price increases mean more people will be starving. But there is a broader context to the protests than the lifting of subsidies: governmental corruption, brutality, and repression. Much of the anger on Yemen’s streets is directed toward the government itself. “Prices have risen and we’re afflicted while not one single corrupt official has been held accountable,” said Mohammaed al-Baazany, a 25-year-old unemployed university graduate.

 

Yemen’s Election: A Fraud in the Making

Yemen is a country in trouble. Recently ranked the 12th most unstable nation in the world, ahead of Haiti, Afghanistan, and Rwanda by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Yemen is teetering on failure. Among the top indicators of Yemen’s instability are factionalized elites, uneven development, and delegitimization of the state. The concentration of power in the executive branch has fostered rampant corruption and widespread human rights abuses, including the imprisonment of young children as retribution. Yemen has slid into a painful anarchy and the only consistent law is the supremacy of the personal interests of the ruling elites. Those acting in the public interest do so at great risk to themselves. The threat to regional stability of a failed Yemen could not be greater.