Yemen air force jet bombs bus by mistake; 4 dead

By AHMED AL-HAJ

The Associated Press

SANAA, Yemen — A Yemeni air force jet mistakenly bombed a bus Wednesday in a southern town controlled by Islamic militants, killing four people, as clashes between the fighters and government troops left 23 dead on both sides.

Government forces have been trying for days to drive out the fighters who seized Zinjibar last month. The takeover of the town signaled that Islamic militants are taking advantage of the political turmoil that has gripped Yemen since a popular uprising against President Ali Abdullah Saleh's rule began in mid-February.

The fighters — some of them believed to be linked to Yemen's al-Qaida branch — have taken over several towns in the south, far from the reach of the central government in the capital, Sanaa.

The airstrike that struck the passenger bus also wounded 12 people, security officials said.

A short while later, militants overran a soccer stadium on the city's outskirts and attacked government troops there, the officials said. The clashes killed 15 security troops. Government warplanes called in again bombed the stadium, killing eight militants.

Several government armored vehicles were destroyed and officials said scores of militants were wounded in the battle.

Also in Zinjibar, officials said militants seized 50 residents, accused them of passing information to the government and locked them inside the governor's office.

Mohammed al-Tumeisy, one of those seized and later released, said his captors had warned he would be executed if he made any contact with the government.

The officials also said government jets on Wednesday bombed the nearby town of Jaar, which was captured by militants in early April. And in the southern port city of Aden, a roadside bomb killed an army colonel late Tuesday.

All the officials giving the accounts of the fighting and casualties spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to talk to the media.

Residents in the south have accused government forces of showing little appetite for facing down the Islamist extremists. The militants in Zinjibar are operating openly there, training with live ammunition and controlling roads with checkpoints.

Their gains have fueled fears that they are successfully exploiting the power vacuum amid the uprising against Saleh.

Meanwhile, in the southern city of Taiz, activist Bushra al-Muktari said the Republican Guards shelled anti-Saleh protesters camped out at a central square early Wednesday, killing one and wounding four demonstrators.

Abdel-Karim al-Shayef, acting governor of Aden, was reported to have defected to Jordan, officials in the governor's office said Wednesday.

Saleh, who has ruled Yemen for nearly 33 years, left for neighboring Saudi Arabia on June 5 to for treatment of severe wounds he suffered when his compound in the capital, Sanaa, was attacked.

It is not clear when — or if — he will return, deepening uncertainty in the poor nation at the southern corner of the Arabian Peninsula.

The political crisis began with protests by largely peaceful crowds that endured a bloody government crackdown. At the end of May, days of street battles broke out in the capital between government forces and armed fighters loyal to Yemen's most powerful tribal leader, who turned against the president.

Both sides announced Wednesday that those battles claimed far more lives than initially reported.

The battles killed 118 policemen and security men and wounded 1,402, Yemen's state television quoted Interior Minister Gen. Mouthar al-Masri as saying.

The TV report said al-Masri was talking to a delegation from the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights that is visiting Yemen to investigate possible human rights violations.

The tribal leader, Sheik Sadeq al-Ahmar, also met with the delegation and said 104 of his men were killed and hundreds others were wounded.

Hundreds of thousands of Yemenis demonstrated Wednesday in Sanaa and six other major cities to demand Saleh's ouster.

(This version CORRECTS first name of Aden's acting governor to Abdel-Karim).)

UAE security court sentences 6 in plot to smuggle pistols to Yemen rebels

By Associated Press, June 28,

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Court officials in Abu Dhabi say six men have been sentenced to jail terms for trying to smuggle 16,000 pistols to violence-wracked Yemen.

The verdicts come three months after Dubai authorities uncovered the weapons in shipping containers from Turkey and allegedly bound for rebels in northern Yemen. Meanwhile, Yemen’s president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, has faced a growing uprising seeking to end his nearly 33-year rule.

The officials say Tuesday that the State Security Court gave five-year prison terms to five men: two from Oman and three Egyptians. A cargo clearance officer received a three-year sentence.

The Abu Dhabi-based newspaper The National reports five other defendants were acquitted in the Monday court session.

Kidnapped French aid workers 'located' and 'alive': Yemen

(AFP) June 28, 2011

SANAA — Three French aid workers kidnapped in southeastern Yemen a month ago have been "located" and are "alive," the deputy information minister told reporters on Tuesday.

"Security services have managed to locate the French. They are alive," Abdo al-Janadi said.

Yemeni authorities "cannot provide any information on the kidnappers or their demands to ensure the safety of the investigation and to secure their release as soon as possible," he added.

The three -- two women and a man -- were kidnapped in the Hadramawt town of Seyun, 600 kilometres (370 miles) east of Sanaa on May 28.

The trio are part of the French non-governmental organisation Triangle Generation Humanitaire, and were working with a group of 17 Yemenis in Seyun.

"They were kidnapped because they had written a letter to Yemeni security services asking not to be accompanied by anyone for protection," said Janadi, who added that their demand was accepted.

A Yemeni security official had said their car was found on the road some 20 kilometres (12 miles) from Shibam, a city known as the "Manhattan of the Desert" because of its spectacular high-rise mud-brick buildings.

Foreigners have frequently been kidnapped in Yemen by tribes who use the tactic to pressure the authorities into making concessions.

More than 200 foreigners have been kidnapped in Yemen over the past 15 years, with almost all of them later freed unharmed.

Yemeni president to address on TV soon: official

SANAA, June 28 (Xinhua) -- Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has been in Saudi Arabia for treatment of injuries from an attack on his palace earlier this month, will address the nation on television within days, an official said Tuesday.

"The president is in good health and he will deliver a speech to the nation soon and come back to Yemen within the next few days, " the Deputy Information Minister Abdu al-Janadi briefed a press conference Tuesday.

Al-Janadi did not provide specific dates for Saleh's speech or return. "We cannot set specific date neither for the president's speech nor for his return," he said.

However, Saleh's information advisor Ahmed al-Sufi reaffirmed to Xinhua on Tuesday that "Saleh's address on TV in 48 hours, which was announced on Sunday, has not been changed."

Saleh was wounded in a bomb attack on his presidential palace in Sanaa on June 3. He has not been seen in the public since then, as opposition leaders believe that Saleh has been unable to speak or died.

The 69-old-year president has faced five-month-long protests across the country, demanding him to step down and leave the country along with his sons and aides.

Water, fuel, power crises plague Yemen amid unrest

by Fuad Rajeh, Wang Qiuyun

SANAA, June 27 (Xinhua) -- Crises ranging from acute water and fuel shortages, day-and-night power outages to price hikes are deepening in Yemen as unrest continues in the country, alarming political vacuum and insecurity.

"There has been no water supply here for weeks and we used to buy water recently. The price of water is triply inflated," said Suad al-Salahi, a woman who lives in al-Hasaba district in Sanaa.

"Furthermore, I don't go to work these days because there are no taxis due to the acute fuel shortage. If I take a taxi I have to pay much more than I usually do," she added.

Al-Hasaba, the main battle field of clashes between the army and the tribesmen loyal to the opposition leader Sadeqal-Ahmer late last month, is still empty of people and suffering from the lack of all services.

Many families in the district have not returned to their homes yet and those who came back can't live normally, said al-Salahi.

The situation further worsens in outskirts of the capital because water truck drivers are refusing to supply water to homes, citing the fuel shortage or saying some people complained they are exploiting the situation to sell water for much higher prices.

Um Mahir, who lives in Asser district overlooking the western part of Sanaa, said the water and power crises have worsened to an unbearable extent. "There is no water supply and water truck drivers refuse to transport water to us here," she said.

"We can live without electricity but cannot without water," said Um Mahir.

Officials at the Public Water Corporation blamed the shortage on power outages.

"When we fix damages made to power towers, saboteurs carry out new attacks," said Ramzi al-Absi, an official at the Public Electricity Corporation, adding "though there are forces now guarding power towers and the gas-fired station in Marib, technical teams can't go there to repair damages because of road closures and bandits."

In the past few weeks, electricity has been cut off in Sanaa and many other provinces, forcing businesses to close and causing big losses to others, in coastal areas some patients died due to the lack of electricity.

Meanwhile, acute fuel shortage worsened crisis here. In the past few weeks, long queues of cars were seen at gates of gas stations, waiting for their turns to get some petrol or diesel.

"There is no fuel in my car ... not even a drop of oil. I was forced to park it here until the filling station gets something that we can use to go home or do something," said Nabil al-Maqtari, a driver in al-Daery Street.

"We have been here for four days. Two days ago, we were about to fill our cars, but a colonel from the republican guard came to fill his cars by force, triggering the closure of the gas station, " Nabil complained, adding that the price for 20 liter of petrol soared from 1,500 rial (some seven U.S. dollars ) to more than 10, 000 rial (some 47 U.S. dollars ) in the black market.

The crux of all crises lies in the fuel shortage, because when there is no fuel, prices increase and other services are not available, said Mustafa Nasr, head of the Studies and Economic Media Center.

In the meantime, the government blamed road closures and bandits for the fuel crisis, saying oil trucks have been held in many areas and some were attacked.

"The main oil pipeline in Marib was attacked and has not been repaired due to the continuous unrest," said Adam al-Ashwal, an official at the Oil and Minerals Ministry.