Yemeni Army Advances on Third rebel-held Town

15 Jun 2012

REUTERS

Yemeni soldiers killed 40 Islamist militants and captured one of their outposts in heavy fighting in southern Yemen on Thursday, local Defence Ministry officials said.

The Interior Ministry warned in a statement it had put security forces on alert following warnings al Qaeda-linked militants might try to launch attacks against civilian and government targets following their defeat in southern Yemen, reports Reuters.

The Yemeni army is pushing ahead with a U.S.-backed offensive against the last stronghold held by the al Qaeda-linked Ansar al-Sharia (Partisans of Islamic Law) in Abyan province after they were driven out from the cities of Jaar and Zinjibar on Tuesday.

A local Yemeni official said heavy fighting had taken place during the capture of the outpost at Wadi Salam, some 20 kilometres (16 miles) west of Shaqra. An estimated 300 Islamist militants were besieged by the army after the outpost fell.

The report could not be independently verified.

Earlier on Thursday, a local Yemeni official and residents said Islamist militants were seen fleeing from the advancing Yemeni army.

Government troops and allied tribal fighters were a few kilometres from Shaqra after retaking an area held by the insurgents on the outskirts on Wednesday.

Many insurgents fled at dawn and headed towards the town of Azzan after setting fire to two tanks and other military equipment, Shaqra residents said.

The militants were forced out of their strongholds of Zinjibar and Jaar on Tuesday in the army's most significant victory against them in more than a year of turmoil that has taken Yemen to the brink of civil war.

Thousands of soldiers backed by tanks and war planes launched the offensive last month and were joined by local tribesmen opposed to the militants.

The United States has provided training and other support, including drone strikes, concerned its Islamist foes have gained a new foothold in the Middle East.

Their advance has fuelled fears about al Qaeda's presence in a country next to Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, and close to shipping lanes.

In Sanaa, the Yemeni Interior Ministry warned that Islamist militants could resort to attacks following its defeat in southern Yemen and said it was beefing up security in the capital and other cities against such attacks.

"Security forces have warned that al Qaeda, in light of the humiliating defeat, could resort to terrorist operations to take revenge for the great victory achieved by the armed forces in destroying the dens of terror in Jaar and Zinjibar," it said in a statement.

Ansar al-Sharia had earlier said it would seek to spread the war across Yemen after it was forced to abandon the towns, according to the SITE Intelligence Group which monitors militant websites.

President Hadi receives U.S. Congress delegation

June 14, 2012

SANA'A- President Abdrabuh Mansour Hadi received U.S. congress delegation led by Todd Platts, a member of the Committee of Oversight and Government Reform and the Chairman of the Subcommittee of Government Organization, Efficiency and Financial Management, who is visiting Yemen currently to express American's support for the political settlement in the country.

After welcoming the delegation president Hadi expressed his pleasure at this visit, which has a particular importance at the current, difficult, precise circumstances of Yemen history.

He indicated to the natural of the 2011 crisis, saying that crisis it could lead to a civil war due to the sharp difference and division, which included security and military components as well as the all components in the society.

The president reviewed with the American delegation efforts have been made locally, regionally, and internationally in order to avoid conflicts and civil war, stressing that the international community's cooperation has secured Yemen.

During the meeting President Hadi valued the efforts made by American Ambassador to Yemen and ambassadors of the permanent members of the Security Council and the European Union as well as Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)'s states, who made exceptional efforts for reaching these results which avert Yemen from dragging into civil war.

The President touched to the challenges Yemen has suffered at the security, political and economic levels, pointing out to the problem of Yemen economic which it was weak and it is aggravated as a result of the 2011 crisis, saying that needs aids for Yemen in order to get the country out of its delicate and sensitive condition.

"The procedures and decisions have been taken, reflected the framework of the Gulf initiative and its executive mechanism backed by the Security Council resolution 2014, stressing that we will continue with strong will in order to carry out all actions towards the hopeful future,'' Hadi added.

President Hadi also touched to what Yemen has suffered from over the past years, such as the internal wars and the social, in addition to al-Qaeda terrorist operations in some provinces in the south particularly in the province of Abyan, which target the security and stability there, praising the success of Yemeni army in forcing al-Qaeda militants to flee the scene of the battles.

For his part, American official highly appreciated the great efforts made by the President Hadi, in such critical stage, stressing that the U.S. would provide all kind of assistance to Yemen.

Yemen govt says poised to seize 3rd town from al Qaeda

Wed Jun 13, 2012

By Mohammed Mukhashaf

JAAR, Yemen (Reuters) - Yemeni government forces are poised to capture a southern coastal town from al Qaeda-linked insurgents who fled there after the army drove them out of two other cities, Yemen's defence minister said on Wednesday.

But Ansar al-Sharia, an al Qaeda offshoot, vowed to spread the war across Yemen after it was forced to abandon the strongholds of Zinjibar and Jaar on Tuesday, according to the SITE Intelligence Group which monitors militant websites.

Yemeni Defence Minister Mohammed Nasser Ahmed, touring the ruined city of Zinjibar said getting al Qaeda out of the south was a priority for the Yemeni army.

Asked about the coastal city of Shaqra, where militants fled after quitting Zinjibar and Jaar, the minister said:

"It will be over within hours."

Emboldened by waning government control over the impoverished country during last year's popular protests that ousted former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, militants seized Jaar in March 2011, before occupying Zinjibar and Shaqra.

U.S. officials say President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi - who came to power in February after Saleh signed a power transfer deal brokered by Gulf states - is more cooperative in the fight against Islamist militancy than his predecessor.

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) is believed to be the most active branch of the global network and has plotted a number of botched attempts against U.S. targets.

The group threatened to spread the fight all over Yemen.

"The battle had been far away from your palaces and administration, but you believed the falsehoods of American policy, and their money has made you arrogant," according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors Islamist websites.

"As for us, this has been a year of preparation for the leaders, experts, and martyrdom-seekers, so await the battle in your palaces. The Americans will not help you any longer," it added.

The recapture of Jaar and Zinjibar was the army's most significant victory against the militants in more than a year of political turmoil that has taken Yemen to the brink of civil war and fuelled fears about al Qaeda's presence in a neighbour of Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter.

Some residents of the two wrecked cities began to return to their homes on Wednesday.

Jaar residents, many of whom stayed throughout the fighting that destroyed large parts of the city of some 100,000, said they were awaiting the return of water and electricity services cut off during the offensive.

"The situation is bad. There is no money, no electricity and no water," one resident who declined to be identified said.

In the town of Azzan, northeast of Shaqra, two airstrikes targeted a building and two vehicles belonging to militants, killing at least 27 fighters, a senior Yemeni official said.

It was not immediately clear if Wednesday's strikes were carried out by Yemeni warplanes or U.S. drones. One local official in Azzan said at least one strike was by a drone.

Washington has repeatedly used drones to target Yemeni militants in order to try to contain a threat it has been urging the government to take more seriously.

Ansar al-Sharia said in a statement that U.S. drones had launched five attacks in Azzan on Wednesday morning, but denied any of its fighters had been killed or wounded.

Aseer Moves to Recover Alleged “Stolen Lands”

Elena White

Jun 12, 2012

A Yemeni-based rights group, Aseer announced on Wednesday it would seek to “recover Yemen’ stolen lands, reigniting with Saudi Arabia an old border feud.

Back in 2011 when Yemen uprising had the entire Arabian Peninsula glued to its seats, political analysts warned that Yemenis would bring the matter back to the forefront of the news.

Debka analysts told the Yemen Observer that Yemen - Saudi border issues had never been properly solved, leaving room for litigation. “Although former President Ali Abdullah Saleh signed an agreement with King Abdullah, it does not mean that Yemenis agreed….now that the old regime is gone, I would assume such a controversial treaty will find strong popular opposition.”

In its claim against Saudi Arabia, Aseer identified the districts of Najran, Jizan and Aseer – currently in southwest Saudi Arabia close to the Yemeni border – as occupied lands, prompting strong reactions in Riyadh with politicians already warning Saudi help should be delivered pending recognition of all pre-Saleh treaties.

The main legal base of the group’s claim is that former President Ali Abdullah saleh allegedly conceded the lands against a hefty sum of money - $18 billion – which were then distributed amongst officials at the signature of the Taif Treaty in 2000. “Regaining Yemeni lands is a first step towards regaining sovereignty and independence from Saudi hegemony,” the group said in a statement issued on Wednesday.

Aseer’s spokesperson, Abdulrahman al-Ashoul, considered the regaining of the lands a national issue that concerns all Yemeni people, adding that this “political fight should not be exploited in any political struggle between political parties.”

Beyond the territorial recovery, Aseer seeks to end Saudi Arabia’s hold over Yemen, rejecting the Kingdom’s influence over its state and tribal institutions. Political analysts Ahmed al-Sofy explained that such a reaction against the Kingdom was actually rather natural since the revolutionary movement born in 2011 in Yemen sought to reject all forms of authority to replace it anew. “Now that the regime is gone Yemenis will focus their anger on the authoritarian figure, Saudi Arabia and its Princes.”

He added “This is exactly why the Kingdom opposed Yemen’s uprising in the first place, it knew that freedom calls for more freedom.” According to local media the group is scheduled to meet with a number of legal consultants to discuss the possibility of filing a case against the Saudi occupation and recognizing Yemen’s right to the disputed regions.  These discussions will be held “with specialists in international law, geography, legal consultants and historians in Sanaa and Beirut to prepare a complete project and work plan.”  The Treaty of Taif –sources al-Bab.com - The Treaty divides the Yemeni-Saudi border into three parts.

The first part is the area originally covered by the 1934 Treaty of Ta’if. This runs from the Red Sea coast to Jabal al-Thar, the “moving mountain” whose identity had been hotly disputed.

It is now fixed in position with a grid reference. The main problem here has been relating the line described in the Ta’if treaty to actual points on the ground. Both sides have now agreed to employ a specialist company to survey the line and erect marker columns. There is also a continuing problem in relating ancient tribal boundaries and grazing rights to the Ta’if line. The Wa’ila tribe, for instance, reject the official border on the grounds that they have a 241-year-old document demarcating their own tribal boundary with the Yam tribe.

The new agreement provides for amendments to the Ta’if line where the border cuts through villages, and allows cross-border grazing (with special permits) for shepherds. One concern is that this area is also a traditional smuggling route, and Appendix 4 of the agreement seeks to prevent well-armed “shepherds” driving across the frontier in convoys of trucks stuffed full of consumer goods. The second part of the land border - the longest section - runs from Jabal al-Thar to the frontier with Oman but its precise legal status under the treaty is puzzling. The treaty says it has not yet been defined but “the two contracting parties have agreed to demarcate this part in an amicable way”.

The treaty does, however, define the starting and finishing points, and refers to Appendix 2, which is described as “tables defining distances of the border line”. The tables are not, in fact, “distances” but a set of 17 co-ordinates: Joining up these co-ordinates would produce a border very similar to the “Como Line” which was provisionally agreed in 1997 when President Ali Abdullah Salih met Prince Sultan bin Abd al-Aziz in Italy (see article in Middle East International).  What seems to have happened is that the two sides have agreed on a number of fixed points but not the line between them.

This may be an attempt to avoid the problems that can arise when borders are drawn in straight lines on a map without reference to the local geography.

Once the independent survey team have done their work it will be easier to see whether any adjustments should be made in the spaces between the fixed points.

It is worth noting that the provisional border in this area is well to the north of borders claimed by the Saudis between the 1930s and 1950s. Part of it appears to follow the Riyadh Line (offered by the British to Ibn Saud in 1935) but it dips south in the middle to avoid the Saudi city of al-Wadi’a.  The third part of the border is the maritime frontier.

The repeated and very precise references to its starting point on the coast - the quay of Ra’s al-Ma’uj Shami, Radif Qarad outlet (latitude 16, 24, 14, 8 north, and longitude 42, 46, 19, 7 east) - are obviously intended to leave no room for doubt … a sign that this has previously been contested. Yemen had earlier pointed out that the Ta’if line turned north-west before reaching the sea and regarded it as an indication that the maritime border should continue in the same direction. The Saudis appear to have won that argument, because the newly-agreed maritime line starts by heading due west.    

Security Council resolution on Yemen; Syria; Children and Armed conflict; and more

June 12, 2012

Category: UN Direct

Yemen: In a unanimously adopted resolution, the Security Council today called on all sides in Yemen to immediately reject the use of violence to achieve political goals, and demanded the cessation of all actions aimed at undermining the Government of National Unity and the ongoing political transition.

In its resolution, the Council emphasized the importance of conducting a “fully-inclusive, participatory, transparent and meaningful” national dialogue conference, including with youth and women’s groups and called on all stakeholders to participate in this process.

In addition to the convening of the national dialogue, the Council noted that the second phase of the transition process should also focus on restructuring the security and armed forces under a unified professional national leadership structure, and the ending of all armed conflicts; steps to address transitional justice and to support national reconciliation; and, constitutional and electoral reform and the holding of general elections by February 2014.

Syria: Following repeated efforts, UN observers were unable to reach the Syrian town of al-Haffeh today as angry crowds surrounded their vehicles, stopping them from proceeding any further, after which they were shot at as they departed. UNSMIS staff members have been trying to reach al-Haffeh since June 7, but have been impeded by the ongoing violence in the area.

Speaking with journalists in Geneva today, the Joint Special Envoy’s spokesperson addressed questions on the formation of an international contact group on Syria by Mr. Annan. “The objective of creating this group is to give teeth to the [six-point peace] plan… to convince the parties to implement the plan in its entirety. It is not to create a new plan, because, as we have said before, this is the only plan on the table at the moment,” the spokesperson, Ahmad Fawzi, said.

Children and Armed Conflict: The UN has named 52 parties on its annual ‘list of shame’ of those who recruit and use children, kill and maim, commit sexual violence or attack schools and hospitals, including four new parties in Sudan, Yemen and Syria. The SG’s yearly report to the Security Council on children and armed conflict gives an overview of the grave violations committed against girls and boys in conflict zones, the main perpetrators as well as measures taken for the protection of children.

Ms. Coomaraswamy, the SG’s Special Representative on the issue, called for stronger action against the growing list of persistent perpetrators of grave violations against children – those who have been listed for at least five years – which has doubled since last year to 32.  “We must put more pressure on these parties through sanctions, other Security Council action, and closer collaboration with national and international courts,” she stated.

DPRK: Amid funding concerns for ongoing activities, the United Nations seeks $198 million to address critical humanitarian needs in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) in 2012.

 “Sixteen million people continue to suffer from chronic food insecurity, high malnutrition rates, and deep-rooted economic problems,” the UN Resident Coordinator in the DPRK, Jerome Sauvage, said in a news release. “Inadequate medical supplies and equipment make the health care system unable to meet basic needs, while the water and heating systems need to be rehabilitated.”

According to the Resident Coordinators’ office, around two million people in the country’s most food insecure areas are currently receiving nutritious food assistance.

Child Labor: The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) today calls for stepping up efforts to eliminate child labor, as today is the World Day against Child Labor. According to the FAO, the internationally agreed target of eliminating the worst forms of child labor by 2016 will be missed if countries don’t step up their efforts to combat child labor in agriculture. Worldwide, 215 million children are child laborers, of whom around 130 million boys and girls between ages  5 and 17 work in agriculture.