Security Official Killed in Southern Yemen, al-Qaida Blamed

February 9, 2012

A senior Yemeni security official was shot dead Thursday evening in Yemen's southern restive province of Lahj in an attack probably carried out by al-Qaida militants, a provincial police official told Xinhua.

"Major Alkadr al-Humaidy, head of the Criminal Investigation Department in al-Houta, the capital city of Lahj, was gunned down Thursday evening by motorcycle(-riding) gunmen when he was on his way home on the outskirts of the city," the official said on condition of anonymity.

"Initial investigations showed that the attack bore the hallmarks of al-Qaida militants," he said.

Several members of the state security and intelligence units in a number of southern provinces have been killed over the past few months in similar attacks that were probably carried out by the Yemen-based regional terrorist network, al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

The terrorist group has stepped up attacks on the government security personnel and seized several cities in the country's lawless southern regions, where the central government's control has been weakened by one-year protests against the 33-year rule of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

The continued attacks showed the country's fragile security situation just less than two weeks ahead of the presidential election that aimed at ending the months-long unrest.

Earlier this week, Yemen's acting President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi launched his advertising campaign as the sole presidential candidate for the Feb. 21 polls, under a UN-backed power transfer deal brokered by neighboring oil-rich Gulf countries to end months of protests.

In a meeting with foreign diplomats to Yemen on Wednesday, Hadi reaffirmed his government's position towards combating terrorism. "We will not negotiate or seek compromise with terrorist groups... and our battles will continue to eliminate them with all possible ways," he was quoted by official Saba news agency as saying.

Two Separatists Killed in Anti-election Protest in Southern Yemen

February 9, 2012

At least two protesters were killed Thursday in Yemen's southern province of al-Dhalee in clashes between security forces and hundreds of separatists who called for boycotting the upcoming presidential elections, a Yemeni security official and witnesses said.

The clashes broke out when the demonstration of the separatist Southern Movement turned into riot as dozens of protesters surrounded the provincial office of the election committee and attempted to break into it, a security official told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Witnesses said security forces opened fire to foil the attack on the election committee's office and its employees, killing two protesters identified as Abdulsalam Ahmed and Jiyad Motahar.

Several other pro-separatism protesters were wounded, they said.

Al-Dhalee, some 245 km south of the capital Sanaa, is a key stronghold of the Southern Movement which seeks to end north-south union deal signed in 1990 and restore the south state after they accused northerners of seizing their oil resources and discriminating against the southerners.

Last week, the movement's leaders called for their followers to "burn voting cards and boycott the presidential elections in non- violent protests."

The riot showed the country's fragile security situation just less than two weeks ahead of the elections that would end the rule of outgoing President Ali Abduallah Saleh who is currently in the United States for medical treatment.

On Tuesday, Yemen's acting President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi launched his advertising campaign as the sole presidential candidate for the Feb. 21 polls, under a UN-backed power transfer deal brokered by neighboring oil-rich Gulf countries to end months of deadly protests.

Hadi pledged to launch national dialogue involving all Yemeni political forces, including the southern separatist group, after he takes power. He said the talks would be based on openness, equity and mutual respect.

Yemen tribesmen clash with northern rebels, 10 dead

SANAA, Feb 8 (Reuters) - At least 10 tribesmen were killed in northern Yemen during clashes with Shi'ite rebels, the Defence Ministry said on Wednesday, less than two weeks before a presidential election aimed at ending a year of unrest.

An uprising against outgoing President Ali Abdullah Saleh has severely weakened central government control over swathes of Yemen, allowing the rebels, known as Houthis, to seize the governorate of Saada, which borders oil-exporter Saudi Arabia.

The latest clashes took place in Hajja province, which neighbours Saada, after tribesmen accused the Houthis of trying to grab more territory.

"Security reports say there was fierce fighting between the two sides ... The clashes between the Houthis and the tribesmen took place in and around a technical college and other areas," said a statement on the Defence Ministry's website.

The number of Houthis killed was not known.

Saudi Arabia briefly fought the Houthis in Saada after they seized Saudi territory in 2009.

The Houthis have said they will boycott an election later this month to pick a successor to Saleh, who is in the United States receiving medical treatment for injuries sustained during an assassination attempt last year.

Saudi Arabia and the United States fear protracted political upheaval in the impoverished state is giving al Qaeda's regional wing room to gain a foothold near oil shipping routes through the Red Sea.

Report: Yemen killed 120 in Arab Spring protest

By PETER JAMES SPIELMANN

The Associated Press

NEW YORK, February 8, 2012 — Yemen's president, who is in New York protected by diplomatic immunity while he receives medical treatment, ordered a crackdown on Arab Spring protesters last year that killed at least 120 people just in one city, Human Rights Watch said in a new report Wednesday.

The report, based on interviews with more than 170 Yemeni experts and witnesses, provides more detail than the sketchy reports of deaths that trickled out of Yemen last year.

People in Yemen have been protesting President Ali Abdullah Saleh's 33-year dictatorship as part of the broader anti-authoritarian wave that swept the Mideast and North Africa last year, bringing down regimes from Tunisia to Egypt.

Yemen's second largest city, Taiz, became a hotbed of protest. Saleh's security forces beat and shot demonstrators, shelled neighborhoods, bulldozed a public square occupied by protesters and stormed into hospitals, evicting patients and attacking medical officials, the New York-based Human Rights Watch said.

"They had tanks and bulldozers. They were throwing petrol bombs into the tents and firing from many directions," the new report quoted 32-year-old protester Arif Abd al-Salam as saying. "I saw with my own eyes a man with a loudspeaker calling on the security forces to stop attacking and killing their brothers. He was shot dead with a bullet."

Human Rights Watch said its interviews confirmed 120 killings just in Taiz, with 57 protesters and bystanders killed in attacks on rallies and 63 civilians killed in shellings and other attacks on opposition tribal fighters. At least 22 of the dead were children, the group said.

It said it counted at least 270 deaths nationwide in Yemen last year but said the true total might be far higher.

Saleh has blamed the violence in Yemen on terrorists. After months of protests demanding his ouster and mounting international pressure, he signed a deal in November brokered by Gulf neighbors and backed by the U.S. to pass power to his vice president. That was the first step in a process meant to give the country a new constitution, president and elected parliament.

To persuade Saleh to sign, a clause protecting him and those associated with his government from prosecution was added.

"Saleh is entitled to medical treatment, but he and his aides have no right to immunity from prosecution for international crimes," said Letta Tayler, Yemen researcher at Human Rights Watch.

An election is scheduled for Feb. 21 to select Saleh's successor. As a head of state, Saleh has diplomatic immunity until then.

While Saleh has been an anti-terrorism ally of Washington, allowing U.S. air strikes on al-Qaida militants, the United States has not officially welcomed him. President Barack Obama's administration allowed him in only after internal debate about whether his exile would help advance democracy in Yemen.

Saleh is now staying in New York.

Human Rights Watch called on Washington, Europe and the Gulf states to encourage Yemen's caretaker government to revoke Saleh's immunity in his own country.

"The US, and EU and Gulf states should make loud and clear that the immunity is no good abroad and should be revoked at home," Tayler said. "No one responsible for grave international crimes should get a free pass."

Yemen says Eritrea holds Yemeni boats in fishing row

Tue Feb 7, 2012
SANAA (Reuters) - Eritrea's navy has seized five Yemeni fishing boats in the Red Sea in an area where the two countries have had a territorial dispute, a Yemeni official said on Tuesday.
The incident is part of a dispute between Yemen and Eritrea over water rights around the Red Sea's Hanish Islands, which the two countries briefly fought over in 1995.
An international court gave Yemen sovereignty over some of the archipelago's islands, but the two countries have disagreed on interpretations of the ruling regarding fishing rights.
Eritrea has repeatedly captured Yemeni fishing boats that it says were fishing in its territorial waters, Fisheries Ministry Undersecretary Nabil Sajam told Reuters.
"Eritrean forces captured these boats. They do this regularly and accuse the Yemeni fishermen of entering Eritrean waters," Sajam said.
Eritrean officials could not be immediately contacted to comment.
Yemen says both countries' territorial waters are open to Eritrean and Yemeni fisherman, while Eritrea says that Yemenis are not allowed to fish in its waters.
Yemeni fishing boats caught by Eritrean forces are usually confiscated, while the fishermen on board are given jail sentences lasting for a few months before being returned to their home country, Sajam said.

Yemen's Incoming Leader Promises Reconciliation

February 7, 2012

By MARGARET COKER

Yemeni Vice President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi told his divided nation on Tuesday that his priority as the country's next head of state will be to foster national reconciliation among separatists in the south and insurgents in the north and usher in more democratic political reforms.

Mr. Hadi is set to officially take over as Yemen's new leader after Feb. 21, a date outlined in the internationally negotiated power transfer agreement that ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh, created a new coalition government between opposition and former ruling party members and named the vice president as the agreed successor to the longtime leader.

Yemen's new government and the international community want to add a legal veneer to the handover of power with a referendum scheduled for Feb. 21. All Yemenis over the age of 18 will have a chance to select Mr. Hadi for a two-year term, a duration stipulated by the power-transfer agreement. His name will be the only one on the ballot.

Yemeni officials and international diplomats concede that Mr. Hadi's candidacy won't be affected by a low turnout, leaving many in the country questioning why the government is spending the nation's scarce financial resources on organizing and staging the referendum in the security-challenged country.

Outside the capital, Sana', the government has little control in the outlying provinces, where armed separatists and other insurgents, as well as a fearsome branch of the al Qaeda terrorist network, hold sway. Some of the domestic insurgents have called on their supporters to boycott the poll on Feb. 21.

The United Nations Development Program, which is helping Yemen organize the poll, says that ballots will be distributed to all provinces, despite security concerns.