Britain, US eye Yemen as next target

May 10, 2011

The British Prime Minister has offered the US government his country's SAS anti-terrorists units to get involved in hunting down prominent terrorists anywhere in the world.

David Cameron, who is apparently overjoyed by the claimed killing of al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden at the hands of US special troops, has agreed that the elite British troops be deployed beyond Afghanistan in order to assassinate al-Qaeda commanders.

This is while that Britain already has counter-terrorist teams located in the North West Frontier Province in Pakistan and in Yemen, where they are responsible for training indigenous troops in counter-insurgency, counter-IED and counter-intelligence techniques.

According to defence sources, Britain and the US have clinched agreement to expand their operations beyond Afghanistan and Pakistan and into Yemeni territories.

The hunt for prominent terrorists, such as Ayman al-Zawahri, al-Qaeda's second-in-command, and Mullah Omar, the former Taliban leader, would continue in and around the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region as well, defence sources said.

A senior officer warned that despite the death of al-Qaeda's leader, the terrorist organisation will still remain a potent threat for years to come.

"Al-Qaeda has lost momentum, and the death of bin Laden will only make it more difficult for the organisation to conduct attacks. It will hard for al-Qaeda to find another iconic figure but despite this we should avoid talk of 'winning'”, he said.

"This is a useful military event which should be used to help deter the threat. It demonstrates the reach and persistence of the US government to achieve justice. But, overall, I believe this is a case of 'situation, no change'. This was a significant event during a long campaign", added the unnamed officer.

Yemen's Youth Revolution Announces Final Plans to Force Saleh to Step Down

By Fatik Al-Rodaini

Sana'a, May 10, 2011- Yemen's youth revolution and the opposition coalition, the Joint Meeting Parties, announced on Tuesday their final plans to force Yemen's longtime embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down immediately.

In a statement posted in the internet, it said that the next Tuesday it will be the Day of Crawling to the republican palace where President Saleh lives in order to force him to step down.

''President Saleh takes benefit from the time in order to deplete the youth revolution,'' the statement said. "By escalating our reactions against him we can achieve the victory to our revolution," statement added.

The statement contented on ten steps which will accomplish the goal of youth revolution.

Youth revolution's statement coincided with the meeting of the leaders of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, Tuesday to discuss regional issues. The political crisis in Yemen between President Saleh and the opposition is on its agenda after a recent GCC plan to end the stalemate fell apart.

Youths in Yemen believed that the Saudi and US stance wanted to deplete their revolution in favor of President Saleh.

The GCC offered an initiative to solve the current crises in Yemen between the tuling GPC and the opposition, but it was stalled because Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh rejected to sign the agreement.

President Saleh has been facing nationwide protests since the beginning of February demanding his immediate ouster.

Yemeni Opposition Activists Rally as Gulf Leaders Discuss Stalemate

VOA News May 10, 2011

Yemeni opposition activists staged more rallies demanding the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh on Tuesday, as Gulf leaders met in Saudi Arabia to discuss Yemen's political stalemate.

Activists chanted anti-Saleh slogans in the Yemeni capital, Sana'a, and burned tires on a road in the country's third largest city, Taiz.

A day earlier, Yemeni security forces fired tear gas and live rounds at anti-government demonstrators blocking a road in Taiz, killing at least three people and wounding dozens more.

Leaders of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council gathered in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, Tuesday to discuss regional issues. The political crisis in Yemen between President Saleh and the opposition is on its agenda after a recent GCC plan to end the stalemate fell apart.

The group that includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates had proposed a plan for Saleh to step down within 30 days and hand over power to a deputy in return for legal immunity. The plan also called for the establishment of a unity government including the opposition.

But Saleh has refused to sign the deal in his capacity as president as the GCC requires, saying the he will sign only as leader of the ruling General People's Congress Party. Saleh told supporters on Friday that he will resist calls to resign until a solution comes forward that meets constitutional standards.

GCC envoys are attempting to intervene and mediate in the deadlock.

Yemeni opposition activists angered by corruption and poverty have been staging daily protests since January to demand an end to Mr. Saleh's 33 years in power.

Police fire on protest march in west Yemen, 20 injured: witnesses

SANAA, May 10 (Xinhua) -- The police forces opened fire to disperse an anti-government march of thousands of protesters in Yemen's western province of Al-Hodayda on Tuesday, injuring more than 20 protesters, witnesses said.
The police used live bullets and tear gas to put down the march demanding an immediate end to the 33-year rule of embattled President Ali Abdulla Saleh, one eyewitness told Xinhua.
More than 20 protesters were shot wounded. They were rushed to hospitals as several of them were in critical conditions, according to doctors.
The police late on Monday stormed a student anti-government sit- in inside the campus of Al-Hodayda University, injuring at least ten students.
The students demanded the postponement of classes in the university "until the regime of President Ali Abdullah Saleh falls, " the witnesses said.
Leaders of the opposition and youth-led protesters said on Tuesday they are considering to escalate their peaceful protests through marching forward all government ministries and presidential palaces in major cites to force Saleh's immediate ouster, two sources familiar with situation told Xinhua.
They said the escalation will take place based on the fruit of the consultative meeting of the foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in the Saudi Arabia capital of Riyadh on Tuesday.
Political stalemate in Yemen dominated the agenda of the six- nation GCC meeting.
On Sunday, the opposition gave President Saleh two days to sign the Gulf-brokered initiative for power transition, otherwise it would leave Saleh to face "the people's choice."
Yemen's security situation aggravated by the ongoing street protests since mid February, which repeatedly demanded of an immediate end to the rule of Saleh.

Bin Laden’s wife al Sada to return to Yemen

SANAA, May 10, 2011- The Yemeni widow of slain al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, Aml Ahmed Abdul al Fatah al Sada, will be repatriated back to Yemen from Pakistan after her husband was killed on May 2 by the US Special Forces in an operation in Abbottabad, Yemen Times reported.

Pakistani Deputy Ambassador to Yemen Dr Diyar Khan told the Yemen Times that the embassy in Sana’a received information from the government in Islamabad that some family members of Bin Laden were held in Pakistan after his assassination.

“They [Pakistani authorities] told us that they are in safe hands and when initial questions are completed, they will be sent to their home countries,” revealed Khan.

Al Sada was with Bin Laden in the room when US Special Forces stormed the house and was shot in the leg while attempting to defend her husband. She is currently being detained in a hospital in Pakistan, but authorities told her family that they will send her back to Yemen soon.

Khan said that the embassy in Sana’a, Yemen, has been told by officials in Islamabad that all of Bin Laden’s relatives held after the raid at the compound would be repatriated to their respective countries of origin after Pakistani authorities complete their initial investigation and questioning of them.

UPDATE: Nexen's Yemen Operations Hit By Strike; Buzzard Operating At Reduced Rates

By Edward Welsch

Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

CALGARY (Dow Jones)--Nexen Inc. (NXY) said oil production in Yemen has been shut down due to a worker strike, and that equipment problems at its offshore oil operations in the North Sea will reduce production rates.

Problems in Yemen and the North Sea add to Calgary-based Nexen's troubles, which have included production problems at a Canadian oil-sands operation and a negative outlook for its investment-grade credit rating by rating agency Moody's.

The strike at Nexen's Masila operations in Yemen began Sunday. With about 1,000 local workers represented by the Masila Labour Union making up more than 90% of Nexen's workforce, the company had to shut-in oil production there. The shut down is expected to affect between 28,000 and 35,000 barrels of oil a day, or as much as 15% of total production.

The strike is related to an ongoing dispute between workers and management, not the political unrest in Yemen's capital or the wave of protests against governments across the Arab world, Nexen spokesman Pierre Alvarez said.

The company also said production at its Buzzard offshore oil platform in the North Sea would be reduced due to problems with cooling equipment. A solution has been found, but production is expected to be reduced until the repairs are completed this summer.

Raymond James analyst Kristopher Zack said the strike in Yemen is likely factored into Nexen's stock price due to the unrest in the region, but that Buzzard's problems are more meaningful. Buzzard production was 80,500 barrels a day net to Nexen last year, or about a third of its total production. Zack estimated production at about 35,000 barrels a day during the second quarter, which could cut into cash flow per share by about 8%.

"This could be an overhang on the stock until the company demonstrates that the proper repairs are in place," he said.

Nexen shares declined 3.2% to $23.75 in recent trading on the New York Stock Exchange.