Salafis officially declare political party

July 15, 2012

Yemeni salafis officially declared on Sunday a political party, Al-Rashad, in which Salafis from various parts of the country took part.

Salfists had announced about their party in the mid of last March, but internal disagreements led to the delay of its declaration officially.

Minister of Information Ali Al-Amrani along with members of parliaments and representatives of political parties and civil society attended the declaration ceremony in the capital Sana'a.

In a speech, Al-Amrani called all Yemenis to renounce violence culture and adopt tolerance principles to build up a modern Yemeni nation.

Head of the party Mohammad Al-Amiri said that the party will take part in all areas of Yemen's political and economic life and cooperate with all Yemeni political parties in favor of Yemen.

He emphasized that the party will present its own visions about Yemen's stalemates, particularly the southern and Saada cases, singling out that the party is open to all Yemenis in line with Islamic Shariah law.

He denounced all violence acts committed against civilians and soldiers, decrying the incident of the Police College in which dozens of cadets were killed and wounded last week in Sana'a.

He called on the Yemeni government to shoulder its responsibilities to maintain security and stability, develop living standards of Yemenis, combat poverty and unemployment and food security.

Meanwhile, Salafis of Saada governorate boycotted the party, criticizing the formation of a salafi part and stressing that they refuse the participation in the political life.

Source: Yemen Post

Presidential decree forming Technical Committee for preparing for Comprehensive National Dialogue

By Yemen 24 News

July 15, 2012

SANA'A- The Presidential decree No. 30 for 2012 was issued forming a Technical Committee for the preparation of the Comprehensive National Dialogue, scheduled to take place in November.

The Presidential decree, which included 11 articles, determined the committee's tasks and its work.

The first article of the decree formed the Technical Committee from 25 members, who represent the political power components to participate in the dialogue conference in accordance with the executive mechanism of the GCC initiative.

The Technical Committee members as the following;

1- Ahmed Auadh Mabarek

2-Amel al-Basha

3-Tamam Mohmmed Ali Ba Sharehil

4-Tawekel Abdul Salam Karman

5-J'afar Saeed Ba Saleh

6-Hosam al-Sharjabi

7-Hussain Mohammed Arab

8- Raqiah Abdul Qader Homaidan

9-Radheia Mohammed Abdul Malek al-Motokel

10-Saltan Hezam al-Atwani

11-Dr. Saleh Ali Ba Sora

12-Saleh Ahmed Habra

13-Salah Mosleh Saleh Al-Sayadi

14- Abdul Qader Ali Hilal

15- Dr. Abdul Kareem Ali al-Eriani

16- Dr. Abdul Aziz Saleh bin Habtoor

17-Abdullah Abdul Majed al-Asnej

18- Abdul Wahab Ahmed al-Anisi

19-Majed Faesel Saeed al-Madhehaji

20- Mohammed Abdul Sallam

21-Mohammed Ali Abu Lohom

22-Lisa Haidra Mohammed

23- Nadia Abdul Aziz al-Saqaf

24- Naser Taha Mostafa

25-Dr. Yasin Saeed No'man;

Representing the political power components as the following;

1- the National Coalition (General People Congress and its allies)

2- the National Council (Joint Meeting Parties and its partners)

3- the Political parties and the other effective political sides

4-Youth Movements

5-Sothern Movement

6-Houthis 

7- Civil Society Organizations

8-Women's sector

According to the decree, the members of the committee have been selected based on their established abilities to represent their groups and the dialogue will provide a broad opportunity for those concerned across the republic to participate actively, the decree stated.

The committee will start its job in ten days since its formation, with the first step expected to be electing its head, first and second deputies and a reporter.

The second provision in the decree provided for the period of preparation for the dialogue, and formulating the constitution by a constitutional committee. The constitutional committee, to be selected later, will hold necessary deliberations about a new constitution draft and a public vote on it and then approval of the new constitution.

Furthermore, the provision included an item which concerns with preparations for free, transparent elections at the end of the two-year transitional period including the formation of a new electoral commission, preparing the voter rolls, issuing a new electoral law and finally holding the elections.

All measures to prepare for the dialogue, the constitution, the elections must be according to the power-transfer deal, which was brokered by the GCC and backed by the West in November, and its executive mechanism.

Under the decree, all concerned groups and movements shall have equal representation in the dialogue and active participation, transparency and adherence to the outcomes.

The committee's job is the first step of the four transition steps specified by the deal and which are as follows:

1- The dialogue preparation period which should enable all those concerned have their own decisions which in turn can help shape the dialogue process.

2- Holding the comprehensive national dialogue with the aim to give all Yemenis the opportunity to contribute to the vision of their country's future.

3- Formulating a new constitution to implement the dialogue outcomes and decisions as well as general deliberations about the new constitution draft, a public vote on it and its approval.

4- Preparations for free, transparent elections at the end of the two-year transitional period including the formation of a new electoral commission, preparing the voter rolls, adopting a new electoral law and finally holding the elections.

The dialogue is supposed to reach the following:

1- How to formulate a new constitution starting with the formation of the constitutional committee.

2- First constitutional reform elements including the state structure and other decisions about the regime.

3- Addressing the south issue.

4- Addressing all issues with national dimensions including the tension reasons in Saada.

5- Identifying additional steps to build a comprehensive democratic system including civil service, judicial and local governance reforms.

6- Identifying additional steps to achieve national reconciliation, transitional justice and other measures to ensure no more violations of human rights and human law in the future.

7- Suggesting lawful and other ways to enhance the protection of the weakest groups including the children and necessary measures to ensure women's empowerment development.

The fourth provision stated that the committee assumes its responsibilities until September 30 and then releases its final report.

This move came after more than a month of liaison with the groups mentioned in a power-transfer deal and its UN-sponsored implementation mechanism. The deal and its mechanism called for holding the dialogue in early stages of the second transition period, which started after electing the president in late February.

Yemen tribesmen prevent oil pipeline repairs

Sunday, 15 July 2012

SANAA: Yemen will be unable to resume oil exports as hoped this week because tribesmen have prevented repairs to the country's main crude pipeline which was sabotaged last year, an oil official said on Sunday.

Yemen's oil and gas pipelines have been repeatedly attacked by Islamic militants or disgruntled tribesmen since anti-government protests created a power vacuum in 2011, disrupting exports from the small producer.

The country's main Maarib oil pipeline carried crude to the Ras Isa export terminal on the Red Sea coast until a spate of attacks in late 2011.

Ongoing tension between the government and tribal leaders in the sparsely populated country is preventing one of the government's biggest revenue sources from being reopened.

"The technical teams fixed all the holes that were made by the tribesmen in the pipeline through the past year and half, but they could not fix two holes in the Al Shabwan area because the tribesmen would not grant the teams entry," the Oil Ministry official told Reuters.

The tribesmen want the government to prosecute whoever is responsible for the death of the deputy governor of Maarib province who was apparently killed in a US drone strike more than two years ago, the official said.

He did not give a date when oil exports could be resumed but said it would take time for the issue to be resolved.

Earlier this month, Yemen's Oil Minister said the country would resume oil exports from Maarib this week, ending a lengthy outage which has cost the impoverished country up to $15 million a day in lost revenues.

One person killed and four others wounded in Sana'a

By Yemen 24 News

July 15, 2012

SANA'A- At least one person was killed and four others were wounded when a blast blow up in the Yemeni capital of Sana'a.

Sources said that a bomb bag was planted at al-Waheda marketing, killing at least one and wounded four others. No one claims its responsibility.

No more details were reported.

Today's blast is the sixth attempt by al-Qaeda after the Yemeni army’s lighting campaign forced Al-Qaeda from its strongholds in the south of the country, AQAP is striking at the heart of the government. Assaults in Sana’a are on the rise. In the space of less than two months, five bombings have been attempted by Al-Qaeda-affiliates.

The first was Saba’een Street. Weeks later, a bomber wearing an explosive belt panicked moments before blowing himself up in a post office, throwing his belt over a wall and fleeing. Early this month, Colonel Mohammed Al-Qudami of Yemen’s Political Security was killed by a car bomb as he drove through the capital. Two days later a Sana’a police chief, Saleh Al-Mustafa, watched his car explode minutes after getting out. The police academy is only the latest target in a wave of attacks Al-Qaeda has vowed to keep up.

Kidnapped aid worker released

July 15, 2012

A French aid worker kidnapped in northern Yemen in April by armed men has been released and is in good health, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said yesterday.

"Benjamin Malbrancke, the delegate of the International Committee of the Red Cross abducted on April 21 by armed individuals near the town of Hodeida, in northern Yemen, is free," the humanitarian agency said in a brief statement. Referring to an al Qaeda-linked cell, ICRC spokesman Hicham Hassan told Reuters in Geneva: "He (Malbrancke) was handed over to ICRC representatives by Ansar al-Sharia on Friday. We don't know who the abductors were."