Friday, August 19, 2011

Father kills his son to stop tribal revenge

By Fatik Al-Rodaini

Sana'a, August 19, 2011- One person was killed by his father gun after weeks of killing his wife's father in Yemen's southern province of Dhamar.

The father of the murder killed his son on Thursday night in a public market after of being and his sons pursuing from his son's father- n-law family who seek to revenge to their father.

The father killed his son to stop the pursuing of the Al-Hada tribe who the killed belonged to.

Yemen claims opposition figures behind assassination attempt

August 19, 2011

Sanaa, Yemen (CNN) -- The Yemeni government officially accused Friday two of the biggest opposition figures in the country of planning the assassination plot on President Ali Abdullah Saleh two months ago.

They are Hamid al-Ahmar, the opposition's wealthiest businessman, and Ali Mohsen, the most powerful military leader in the country.

In a news conference held Thursday night, Abdu Ganadi, the government spokesman said that al-Ahmar and Mohsen planned the attack.

"After a long investigation, we have strong accusations against Hamid al-Ahmar and Ali Mohsen and believe that they stand behind the attack on President Saleh and senior government officials at the presidential palace mosque," said Ganadi.

He did not reveal what proof the government investigation uncovered against the two.

This is the first time the Yemeni government officially accused a side for standing behind the attack since the presidential palace bombing on June 3.

Hamid Al-Ahmar, is a famous business tycoon, and has spent millions of dollars since the start of the Yemeni revolution to ruin Saleh's reputation through his satellite network Suhail TV.

Mohsen defected from the Yemeni military on March 18 and since then has joined the call for Saleh to leave power.

The opposition Joint Meeting Parties (JMP) warned the international community against believing the "fabrications" the Saleh regime continues to spread and said that JMP and its partners would soon come up with a statement rejecting the accusations against its leaders.

Mohammed Basendowah, the president of the opposition dialogue committee, said that the government has no proof against the two opposition leaders. "We ask the government to bring forward concrete evidence on what it is claiming," he said.

Legal expert Hizam al-Muraisi, who is based in Sanaa, called the government's accusations a tool the government is using against anyone who opposes its regime. "You don't accuse anyone without evidence. By accusing two opposition leaders without proof weakens the government's credibility and transparency," said al-Muraisi.

Al-Muraisi said that the government claims will be ignored by concerned sides until evidence is put on the table. "Over the last three months, the government has not been very honest and tries to hurt the opposition in any way. So this was expected," he said.

In a televised speech by Saleh from Riyadh on Monday, he announced that he would be coming back to Yemen soon.

Saleh has been in Saudi Arabia receiving medical treatment since the beginning of June when he suffered severe burns in the assassination attempt.

Sidelined Qaeda awaits ‘spring’ harvest

By: Mariann Ormholt | Published: August 19, 2011
Sidelined Qaeda awaits ‘spring’ harvest
Taken by surprise by the Arab Spring, Al-Qaeda and its associated movements have been struggling ever since to try and make themselves relevant to unfolding events, experts say.
With the goals of the uprisings at odds with how Al-Qaeda envisages the Muslim world, the militants may continue to be sidelined unless the revolutions collapse, leaving a new generation of disillusioned and disenfranchised youth in the region.
Al-Qaeda’s ideology has to a certain degree lost ground as it fails to appeal and accurately represent the wider mood in the region, essentially a response to decades of political, economic and cultural stagnation.
Popular, non-violent uprisings across the Middle East and North Africa have managed to bring about the kind of significant change that Al-Qaeda and its affiliates had been trying to achieve for decades, said Paul Pillar, a professor of security studies at Georgetown University and a former Central Intelligence Agency analyst.
“It has shown that you don’t need to go to extreme violent efforts to accomplish political change,” he added.
A study on Al-Qaeda in the Arab Spring by Juan Zarate and David Gordon of Washington’s Center for Strategic and International Studies, CSIS, suggests a number of other reasons why Al-Qaeda has been sidelined in the uprisings.
The Al-Qaeda core, formerly led by Osama bin Laden, who was assassinated in May, was set up in Pakistan’s tribal regions, geographically distant from the Middle East and North Africa, it says.
The capacity and resources of Al-Qaeda and its affiliates in the Middle East have been under strain, the study continues, as security services have managed to break up its cells and networks - and its fortunes in the Maghreb, led by Al-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb, have also deteriorated, losing most of its support base in Algeria and failing to carry out major attacks in the region.
Nonetheless, Al-Qaeda leaders have quickly sought to try and position their movement as having a role to play in the revolutions.
Abu Yahya al-Libi, a leading Al-Qaeda figure, linked the rebellions with its efforts to challenge the United States. He said this had inspired the Arab world to demand change.
Other prominent Al-Qaeda figures such as current head Ayman al-Zawahiri and Anwar al-Awlaki, a Yemeni-American cleric, have also attempted to claim credit for the revolutions.
Noman Benotman, senior analyst at the Quilliam Foundation, a counter-extremism think tank in London, noted that such statements are mere tactical moves, intended to make sure the Al-Qaeda movement is not marginalized by the Arab Spring.
“They have tried to defend themselves from anyone who has described them as detached from the uprisings,” he said.
At the same time, Benotman said that it was difficult for Al-Qaeda to find a role in the revolutions. While the militants blame Western powers for the hardships faced by Muslims, the popular protests addressed ineffective governance and local grievances, such as unemployment and corruption.
In addition, while the protesters are mostly driven by temporal concerns, Al-Qaeda continues to be driven by religious imperatives.
“Al-Qaeda has its own well-established ideology and concepts about jihad and the establishment of an Islamic state,” Benotman continued. “Its system is based on being the vanguard of the armed struggle, of a group who knows better than ordinary people and knows more about Islam and how to enlighten the masses.
“Al-Qaeda can’t be politicians. They can’t renounce violence. Their whole narrative, their ideology and culture is about struggle and sacrifice.”
He argues that the Arab Spring may have changed Al-Qaeda’s tactics, by making the substance of their propaganda message a little softer - but not their strategy.
Pillar agrees, arguing that if the revolutions do not deliver the changes that people want, then Al-Qaeda and its affiliates are likely to become the beneficiaries of popular discontent.
Paul Rogers, professor in the department of peace studies at Bradford university, agrees with this assessment. “[The militants] could argue that non-violent mass protests do not work, therefore there has to be a more radical alternative,” he said.
Rogers fears that if Western actions in Libya continue for many months, there is a real risk that this will be perceived as yet another example of the West attacking an Arab country. “That might be quite useful for Al-Qaeda propaganda,” he said.
Benotman told the Institute for War and Peace Reporting that Al-Qaeda leaders have already identified Libya as an opportunity, urging people there not to put their trust in the rebel leadership because they have allied with the West.
In Yemen, the uprising has reportedly allowed Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) to take advantage of ungoverned territory.
Even though AQAP does not enjoy a significant degree of popular support, the CSIC study suggests that the organisation’s influence is on the rise within certain communities.
The southern region of Yemen is also the base for a separatist insurgency that has been operating for several years, although Al-Qaeda is usually deemed to be only a small player in this complex web of power struggles.
Pillar does not believe that Al-Qaeda will disappear completely, even if the Arab Spring succeeds. As a very diverse group, he believes it will continue to exist in different forms.
“There will always be dead-enders - people who are just too committed,” he said. “If you have a successful Arab awakening and a just settlement for the Palestinian cause, I think the prospects for Al-Qaeda are extremely low.” –Asia Times Online

Arms are becoming the FAD

Yemeni opposition parties have formed yet another umbrella council as the military stakes rise, reports Nasser Arrabyee

Sana'a, August 19, 2011

This is not the first time -- similar councils were previously declared by opposition groups but failed to do anything or have any kind of recognition.

The new feature in this council is that it has relatively big support from former military commanders and tribal leaders, in addition to a key politically ambitious and wealthy businessman.

This man is Hamid Al-Ahmar, who has been grooming himself for the presidency since 2006, and has been orchestrating and financing the anti-Saleh protests since early this year.

Hamid Al-Ahmar is accused of playing an essential role in the failed assassination attempt against President Ali Abdullah Saleh and several other senior officials in June. Hamid Al-Ahmar and his brother Sadeq have been in military confrontation with President Saleh's forces since last May.

Hamid and a senior official from Saleh's regime exchanged accusations just two days before the council was declared. Hamid said Saleh's sons were behind the failed assassination to justify their inheritance of the power after their father.

However, Sultan Al-Barakani, assistant secretary-general of the ruling party, said it was Hamid. "There is no longer room for doubt that Hamid Al-Ahmar is the prime suspect in the sinful assassination attempt to which the president of the republic and a number of officials were subjected," said Al-Barakani. The results of the investigations, in which American specialists are participating, are not yet in.

The majority of Al-Ahmar's fighters come from Hashed tribe, the country's most powerful tribe. President Saleh belongs to Hashed tribe. Earlier this month, Sadeq Al-Ahmar, who is one of Hashed's leaders, threatened that Saleh would not rule any more as long as he is still alive.

And with support from ex-general Ali Mohsen, Sadeq claimed that all the tribes of Yemen are with him. General Mohsen, Saleh's cousin, belongs to Hashed tribe as well.

To respond to Al-Ahmar brothers and the so-called national council, tribal leaders loyal to President Saleh from Hashed and all other tribes in Yemen held a meeting in the Yemeni capital Sanaa on Monday.

About 5000 tribal leaders from all over the country rejected violence and all attempts to overthrow the constitutional legitimacy. They declared their stand with Saleh. Like Sadeq Al-Ahmar, they claimed that they represent all tribesmen of Yemen.

Al-Shayef is the leader of the Bakil tribe, the second largest tribe after Hashed.

Earlier this week, Yemeni TV showed President Saleh carrying out various political activities in the Saudi capital Riyadh after he was released from hospital. In an extensive meeting with his top aides, Saleh said he was ready to implement a US-backed and Saudi-led GCC deal to solve the crisis if a mechanism for implementing is found.

The meeting brought together the prime minister, Ali Mujawar, and speaker of parliament Yehia Al-Rayee, who both were recovering from injuries they sustained in the failed assassination attempt 3 June. Other senior officials came from Sanaa to attend the consultative meeting.

Meanwhile, tensions remain high in Sanaa and many other places where clashes happen from time to time despite all efforts exerted by the vice president, Abdu Rabu Mansor Hadi, to pacify the situation.

The government called on the protesters camping out at University of Sanaa to go home like those in other cities. "We call on these protesters camping out at the gate of Sanaa University to return to the right path and go hone like their colleagues in other cities who left squares and went home, Only those wanted for security reasons remained," said the Ministry of Interior on Tuesday.

Some of the protesters have either joined Al-Ahmar fighters or the army rebels after they lost hope that peaceful means would achieve their goals.

Earlier this week, the Yemeni Ministry of Defence warned jobless young people not to join army units led by ex-general Ali Mohsen. The ministry said that those recruited in the first armored division (FAD) will be breaking the law.

About 25 per cent of the young protesters camped out at the gate of Sanaa University since February this year have already joined the first armored division of ex-general Ali Mohsen said sources inside FAD. FAD headquarters are located in the area of Sanaa University.

The majority of those already recruited were students in the religious University of Al-Eman which is also located in the same area. Al-Eman university is funded and run by the cleric Abdel-Majid Al-Zandani, who is wanted by UN and US as a global terrorist.

Mohsen and Sheikh Al-Zandani have been allies since the late 1980s when they worked together to send young people to Afghanistan to fight the Soviet Union. "We accepted every willing student from Al-Eman University first, and then we accepted other young people," said an officer working in the personnel department of FAD. The officer confirmed that all those newly recruited are already working and participating in defending their colleagues, the anti-government protesters.

And they get paid monthly but not from the budget of the Ministry of Defence. "The salaries come from the budget of FAD," said the officer. The salary they get is 50 per cent less than their counterparts in the army. Furthermore, FAD cannot pay those individuals who defected from central security and the republican guards and are now without income.

To encourage detections from FAD, the Saleh government has declared that personal weapons of those who defect become their own possession and their salary is immediately transferred from the payroll of FAD to the republican guards, the highly qualified and trained units led by President Saleh's son, Ahmed.

Warplanes strike al-Qaida hideouts in south Yemen, 5 killed

August 19, 2011

Warplanes of the Yemeni air forces launched strikes Thursday evening targeting al-Qaida hideouts in the southern province of Abyan, leaving five members of the terrorist group killed, local army officers said.

A police station where the militants gathered in the coastal city of Shakra in Abyan was pounded in the airstrike, killing at least five al-Qaida militants, an officer and local residents told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, another army officer said that dozens of the al- Qaida militants carried out violent attacks at units of the government troops stationed in Dovas area, the outskirts of Aden province, in an attempt to make progress towards Aden.

Fierce battles were still going on in the area between the two sides, he added.

Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) recently took advantage of the fragile situation in Yemen amid continuous anti- government protests and insecurity to expand its military operations against the army forces in Yemen's southern and eastern main provinces.

Warplanes strike al-Qaida hideouts in south Yemen, 5 killed

August 19, 2011

Warplanes of the Yemeni air forces launched strikes Thursday evening targeting al-Qaida hideouts in the southern province of Abyan, leaving five members of the terrorist group killed, local army officers said.

A police station where the militants gathered in the coastal city of Shakra in Abyan was pounded in the airstrike, killing at least five al-Qaida militants, an officer and local residents told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, another army officer said that dozens of the al- Qaida militants carried out violent attacks at units of the government troops stationed in Dovas area, the outskirts of Aden province, in an attempt to make progress towards Aden.

Fierce battles were still going on in the area between the two sides, he added.

Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) recently took advantage of the fragile situation in Yemen amid continuous anti- government protests and insecurity to expand its military operations against the army forces in Yemen's southern and eastern main provinces.