Yemen hails death of Osama bin Laden

(AFP)

DUBAI, May 2, 2011- Osama bin Laden's ancestral homeland Yemen on Monday welcomed his death as "the beginning of the end of terror" while his acolytes called it a "catastrophe" and vowed to keep up jihad, or holy war.

"We hope the killing of Bin Laden will be the beginning of the end of terror," a Yemeni government official said, asking not to be identified.

Saudi and Yemeni Al-Qaeda branches in January 2009 merged to form the Yemen-based Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), and have been posing a serious threat to US interests as well as to the embattled Yemeni government.

A member of AQAP on Monday admitted to AFP that the chief of the extremist network had been killed, calling it a "catastrophe."

"This news has been a catastrophe for us. At first we did not believe it, but we got in touch with our brothers in Pakistan who have confirmed it," a member reached by telephone told an AFP correspondent.

An Internet outlet for official messages from Al-Qaeda has been deleting posts of Osama's death and pledged that the jihad, or holy war, will continue, US monitoring group SITE reported on Monday.

It said the Shumukh al-Islam forum has been asking users to wait for confirmation of Bin Laden's death before making any more posts, but there was a heavy flow of messages offering prayers and vowing that jihad will continue.

Users also posted threats against the United States.

"America will reap the same if the news (of his death) is true (or) false," one read. "The lions will remain lions and will continue moving in the footsteps of Osama," said another.

In Jordan, the Muslim Brotherhood said it did not endorse the tactics of Al-Qaeda, but hailed Osama's "commitment and dedication to his ideology to his death."

Brotherhood spokesman Jamil Abu Bakr warned that another Al-Qaeda could emerge unless the international community changed its attitude towards Islam, the Palestinian issue and corrupt leaders in the Middle East.

Israel was quick to celebrate the assassination of Al-Qaeda leader at the hands of US forces in Pakistan, calling it a "resounding victory for justice."

"The state of Israel joins the American people on this historic day in celebrating the elimination of Osama Bin Laden," the Israeli premier said in a statement released by his office.

"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulates US President Barack Obama, the US military and its intelligence services on this great accomplishment.

"This is a resounding victory for justice, freedom and the common values of all democracies that are resolutely fighting shoulder to shoulder against terrorism."

In Iraq, there was no immediate reaction from the Baghdad government, but US forces there said they suspected that Osama's death may provoke retaliatory attacks against US interests.

"We recognise that the death of bin Laden may result in a violent reaction from Al-Qaeda in Iraq and other extremist organisations that loosely affiliate with the Al-Qaeda network," spokesman Colonel Barry Johnson said.

Three people Killed in Zabid City

By Fatik Al-Rodaini

Sana'a, May 1, 2011- At least three people, including a soldier, were killed and another was arrested in Yemen's eastern province of Al-Hodeida.

Local sources in Zabid district said that suspected Al-Qaeda militants threw a bomb toward a governmental patrol vehicle intercepted their car in their way to Al-Hodeida province with heavy weapons, killing the wanted man, Adel Al-Awelqi and two others among them a soldier.

The sources said that Yemen's security forces arrested Ali Al-Areqi a member of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, AQAP.

Gulf bid to end Yemen crisis nears collapse

By AHMED AL-HAJ and HAMZA HENDAWI, Associated Press Ahmed Al-haj And Hamza Hendawi, Associated Press –

SANAA, Yemen May 1, 2011 – A deal to end Yemen's political crisis neared collapse on Sunday after the country's embattled president refused to personally sign it, leaving a deadlock that threatens to plunge the impoverished Arab nation and key U.S. ally deeper into disorder and bloodshed.

An unraveling of the deal for Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down after nearly three months of protests against his rule would greatly increase the prospects of more bloodshed in a nation long beset by serious conflict and deep poverty and which is home to al-Qaida's most active offshoot.

At least 140 people have been killed in the government's crackdown on the protesters, who have nonetheless grown in number week after week. The violence, which has included sniper attacks, has prompted several top military commanders, ruling party members, diplomats and others to defect to the opposition, largely isolating the president.

Still, Saleh has clung to power, thanks in part to the key backing of Yemen's best trained and equipped military units, which are under the command of one of his sons and other close relatives.

"There will likely be more violence now," said analyst Fares al-Saqqaf. "In the end, we may have foreign intervention to end the chaos and bloodshed," he predicted.

Continued unrest in Yemen risks the stability of a region that is home to important shipping lanes at the southern mouth of the Red Sea. Yemen is also close to the massive oil and gas fields of the Gulf Arab region.

The country has over the years been wracked by rampant corruption, a weak central government, a Shiite rebellion in the north, a secessionist movement in the south and, since early February, the massive protests demanding Saleh's ouster.

Inspired by uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, the protests pose the most serious threat to Saleh's authoritarian rule. Saleh has sought to cling to power by offering the protesters concessions, pledging not to run again in 2013 elections or allow his son to succeed him. The protesters stood their ground, demanding his immediate resignation and his trial for the killing of protesters and corruption.

A mediation plan put forward by six U.S. allies grouped in the Gulf Cooperation Council, or GCC, looked close to fruition, with the established opposition political parties and Saleh himself agreeing to it. The plan called for Saleh to step down within 30 days and for a national unity government to run the country until elections are held.

The proposals also gave Saleh immunity from prosecution.

The street protesters, who say the opposition parties taking part in the talks do not represent them, rejected the deal and said nothing less than Saleh's immediate resignation would persuade them to halt their massive demonstrations. Still, the Gulf initiative held some promise, but that subsequently vanished when Saleh told a GCC envoy late Saturday that he would send representatives to sign the deal — rather than signing it himself — at a ceremony that had been scheduled for Sunday or Monday in Riyadh, the Saudi capital.

The opposition said it would not sign it unless Saleh did too and the GCC, a loose alliance of oil-rich Gulf Arab nations, said it was indefinitely postponing the ceremony, blaming Saleh's refusal to sign.

"President Saleh, like any dictator, does not want to leave power and is doing everything he can to win time and stay longer in power," said Mohammed al-Sabri, a spokesman for the opposition political parties. "He cannot be trusted."

The GCC nations' foreign ministers met Sunday in Riyadh and said they were sending the council's secretary-general, Abdullatif bin Rashid al-Zayani, back to Yemen to try to salvage the deal.

The council "hopes to remove the obstacles that are still hindering reaching a final agreement between the parties in Yemen," it said in a statement.

The GCC comprises Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain.

The Yemeni government said Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah and Saleh discussed the GCC proposals by telephone Sunday but gave no details.

Government officials said Saleh had told al-Zayani of the GCC on Saturday that he intended to ratify the deal after sending a close aide and a senior ruling party official to sign it. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media, said Saleh's ratification would be in his capacity as head of the ruling party and not as president.

The opposition feared Saleh was leaving himself room to stay in power and leaders of the street demonstrations said they planned to step up their protests to force Saleh out.

Tens of thousands of protesters were out Sunday in a number of Yemeni cities, including Aden and Taiz in the south, to demand that he step down.

"We will not pay attention to any mediation or foreign intervention," said protest leader Abdel-Hadi al-Azazi in Sanaa, the capital. "We will continue to march and protest until the uprising's goal is achieved — the ouster of the regime."

Despite gunfire, protesters in Aden pushed their way back into a central square that had been cleared by security forces a day earlier, said Shaher Masaabeen, one of the demonstrators. Medics said two protesters were injured by gunfire.

In the eastern province of Hadramawt, unknown gunmen firing from a moving car killed four soldiers and fled, said a security official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Gulf Arab meeting ends without Yemen transition deal

By REUTERS

05/01/2011

RIYADH - A meeting of Gulf Arab powers aimed at salvaging a deal to ease Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh from power broke up on Sunday with no agreement in place over a political transition.

"The council expresses its hope of removing all the obstacles that still block a final agreement, and its Secretary General will head to Sanaa for that purpose," a statement issued by ministers of the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council said.

Four Soldiers Killed and Four Wounded in Hadramout Province

By Fatik Al-Rodaini

Sana'a, May 1, 2011- At least four soldiers were killed and four others were wounded in Southern province of Hadramout.

Private sources said that the attack took place in the city of Saeon when suspected Al-Qaeda militants attacked a governmental patrol vehicle was guarding the telecom headquarters at the enterance of southern city.

Earlier this day, suspected Al-Qaeda militants attacked a new governorate headquarter in Yemen's southern province of Abyan on Sunday, killing three soldiers and injuring five others.

Analysts said that Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, AQAP, has increased its attacks against Yemen's forces since the rise of protests demanding President Saleh to step down.