Two killed in clashes between pro, anti-Saleh forces in Yemen's Taiz

Sana'a, November 19, 2011- Military forces loyal to Yemen's Ali Abdullah Saleh have killed two civilians and injured several others in the southern city of Taizz, medics and witnesses say.

Medical sources said on Saturday that the casualties came after pro-Saleh forces attacked the office of an opposition party in the al-Hasab neighborhood of Taizz overnight.

"Two members from the opposition Islamic Islah (reform) Party were killed and several others injured, one of them was in critical condition, when a mortar shell hit the headquarters of the Islah Party," Xinhua quoted Sadiq al-Shuga'a, head of a field hospital set up by protesters in Taizz, as saying.

Witnesses also reported clashes between the rival forces late Friday in the al-Hasab neighborhood.

Taiz, about 200 kilometers south of the capital Sana'a, has been a focal point of anti-Saleh protests, and regime forces have attacked the city a number of times in the recent months.

Hundreds of thousands of people have turned out for regular demonstrations in Yemen's major cities since January, calling for an end to corruption and unemployment and demanding the ouster of Ali Abdullah Saleh, who took office in 1978.

Since the revolution began in Yemen, hundreds of pro-democracy protesters have been killed and thousands more wounded by forces loyal to Saudi and US-backed Saleh.

Tribesmen blow up oil pipeline in Yemen

Sana'a, November 19, 2011- A group of Yemeni armed tribesmen has blown up an oil pipeline in the impoverished Arab country's eastern province of Marib, a local Yemeni official says.

The incident took place in the Sirwah area on Friday, Xinhua news agency quoted the official as whose name has not been announced.

The motivation behind the pipeline explosion is not clear. The security authorities have launched an investigation into the incident.

The pipeline has been targeted a number of times in the recent months.

Besides tribal problems, Yemen has also been in the grip of political unrest.

Hundreds of thousands of people have turned out for regular demonstrations in Yemen's major cities since January, calling for an end to corruption and unemployment and demanding the ouster of Ali Abdullah Saleh, who took office in 1978.

Yemen gov’t announces power-transfer again

Chiara Onassis | 19 November 2011

SANA’A: According to government sources, the GCC proposal and its implementation mechanisms could be signed as early as next week, both in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, and in Sana’a, the Yemeni capital.

Vice-President Abdu Rabbo Mansoor Hadi is said to have been charged with the task of inking the agreement on behalf of embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

The news was however, received with caution from the opposition, as Saleh has already backed out on his promises no less than four times in a row, despite fervent promises that he was committed to solving the political deadlock and ease Yemen onto the road of recovery and national reconciliation.

Interestingly, nothing was said on the part of the regime on the “sticky points” which so far prevented Saleh from agreeing to the power-transfer, such as the restructuration of the military, the official handing over of the president’s official resignation from office and the matter of the early presidential elections.

UN special envoy to Yemen, Jamal Benomar is ending his visit in the country after a marathon negotiation round with the regime and the opposition as he is due to hand over his report on the situation on a few days back at the UN Security Council.

The regime is still accusing the opposition of stalling the signature process as some of its leaders are still out of the country, looking for yet more international support in the Arabic Peninsula.

As for Tawakkul Karman, the champion of the Youth Movement, she continues her lobbying of the immunity clause at the United Nations, urging nations to consider the negative effects such an agreement could have on International Laws as it would equate to condoning mass murder and crimes against humanity, negating the very foundations upon which the UN were built upon and swore to protect.

Yemeni police officer gunned down

Unknown gunmen riding on a motorcycle opened fire on Said Lardi, killing him and wounding another policeman in country's southeastern province

AFP , Saturday 19 Nov 2011

A Yemeni police officer was gunned down Saturday by unknown assailants in the country's southeastern Hadramawt province, a police official said.

Speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, the official said "unknown gunmen riding on a motorcycle opened fire on Said Lardi, killing him and wounding another policeman" in the provincial capital Mukallah.

He said the gunmen escaped after the shooting. Medical officials said the officer initially survived the attack but died later in hospital from severe injuries.

Security forces and government officials are regularly targeted in Yemen's restive southern and eastern provinces as Al-Qaeda linked militants and a long-standing separatist movement have been emboldened by months of anti-government protests that have crippled the central government.

Yemen’s Aden refinery stops due lack of crude

Saturday, 19 November 2011

By Reuters

Aden Yemen

Yemen’s Aden oil refinery stopped production on Saturday after crude supplies ran out due to an attack on a supply pipeline, a company official said.

The production stop was likely to bring back fuel shortages that hit the impoverished Arab country earlier this year.

The company official said the refinery had been trying to cope with crude shortages since the oil pipeline from Marib fields east of the capital Sana’a in central Yemen to the Red Sea port of Ras Isa was blown up by assailants about a month ago.

The refinery had cut production from 150,000 barrels per day to around 40,000 to keep the facility open.

“But we had to stop today after supplies ran out,” the official, who declined to be named, told Reuters.

The pipeline feeds an export terminal at Ras Isa, where some of the crude is also shipped to Aden for refining, company officials said.

Yemen has been paralyzed by 10 months of popular protests demanding that President Ali Abdullah Saleh steps down after 33 years in office. The protests have weakened state control on the country, resulting in increased attacks on public installations, including energy pipelines.

The refinery official said the company was conducting negotiations with companies outside Yemen to secure alternative supplies.

Angry tribesmen blew up the pipeline in mid-March and prevented repair work, causing severe fuel shortages. The refinery went back to production in July after Saudi Arabia donated three million barrels of oil to Yemen.

The pipeline has since been repaired, but tribesmen have repeatedly blew it up since then. The last time was on October 19.