By Zaid al-Alayaa
For the fourth day in a raw, fighting between government troops and opposition armed groups backed up by the defected army of the First Armored Brigade continue leaving behind several deaths and hundreds injured from both sides and civilians, said residents in University area and al-Qa’a.
Taiz is no exception and has witnessed bloody clashes between government troops and armed tribes loyal to opposition. The clashes in Abyan are back, said eyewitnesses. According to a number of experts the biggest beneficiary from all this chaos is al-Qaeda.
Dr.Saeed Obed al-Jamhi, an expert on al-Qaeda and Islamic Groups and the author of “Al-Qaeda in Yemen” published in 2008 said in light of what is happening in Yemen that al-Qaeda is benefiting greatly from what is happening in Yemen and the political crisis that Yemen is going through.
Al-Qaeda as an entity grows, feed and become strong in places that are not stable. Where there are chaos, disorders, political conflicts, economic crises, al-Qaeda foster and societies like that give reasons and space to al-Qaeda to exist and finds supporters for the organization ideas, said He said that al-Qaeda prevail in chaotic societies that they say do not apply Islamic Law, that is what they say about Yemen give them their power to exist.
In responding to a questions on how strong al-Qaeda is he said that all the strikes that al-Qaeda has suffered in Yemen, most recent one what happened in Abyan where al-Qaeda militants were defeated and the districts was cleared from the militants of al-Qaeda. Al-Qaeda in Yemen received many strikes by Yemeni military and army, air strikes, from the sea with also logistical and intelligence and arms support given to Yemeni military from the KSA and the US all these things are evidence that al-Qaeda in Yemen is very strong.
“If al-Qaeda were weak, the tribes and citizens in Abyan could have defeated them, but no, al-Qaeda is very strong. Nobody knows until now the human power of al-Qaeda in Yemen, in 2010, I gave a rough number that al-Qaeda members in Yemen can be 2,000-3,000. But when I saw the reports after the fights in Abyan, where more than three hundred of the militants were killed and more than that injured, I am not sure how many members or fighters al-Qaeda has, said al-Jamhi.
He thinks that what happened in Abyan is not a slide victory but only proves that al-Qaeda is very strong, it is not victory. Al-Qaeda were only defeated in this district and they escaped to Lahj, Aden and other places. This is not the end. The strongest areas of al-Qaeda are Abyan, Shabwah and Marib. These are the three areas that are the strongest existence of al-Qaeda. But al-Qaeda do exist in other places and I think it is very strong and Aden still under threat.
Concerning the role of the KSA and US in Yemen, he said that they both see Yemen as a place of political conflicts which is a good environment for al-Qaeda to grow. The role of both is still not very clear but I can say that there is a strong intelligence support with Yemen and Yemen’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Abu Bakr al-Qirbi said that. But people also talk about US air strikes.
“They both-KSA and US do not have a clear position on what is happening in Yemen and do not have a clear vision for a resolution to what is happening in Yemen whether with the government or with the opposition that leads the so-called revolution,” said al-Jamhi. There are three things that can lead to a peaceful solution to the political crisis in Yemen.
The first; responding to the youth needs of change. The second thing, this change should keep the balance in all the key participating powers in Yemen. Balancing powers mean that any reform or change must not mean excluding other political forces.
The third thing is the slogan that the demonstrators use “go out” is not the solution. If president Saleh will leave power, it does not mean leaving political life, said Ahmed al-Sofi, President Saleh Media Advisor. “People all over the world especially Western media should look at Yemen from a completely different perspective.
It is true that Yemen is not like Tunisia, or Egypt, or Libya, or Syria. Yemen has a culture and society of its own that is still deeply-rooted in its old norms. Modernity is prevailing in all the other countries that I said before but in Yemen it is still crawling,” said al-Sofi.
“What is happening now is that one thing has been imposed that change is inevitable, even those who support the President now talk about change and recognize it as something important and talk about the transfer of power and the importance of adopting the Gulf Cooperative Council (GCC) Initiative.
They talk about change but in a different way from the protesters,” said Zuhair Ali Ahmed, Independent protestors. He said that the protests were the first and real driving force behind the recognition of the importance of change, but still can not reach its utmost.
However, protesters could not until now achieve their goals first because they are not united in their views. The ruling parties still see the differences in its best interest and would adopt change that will keep their interests.
“This will be a sort of political solution that will change the president, but not his party whose members will adopt change and engage in dialogue,” he added. He then said that there are couple of scenarios for the situation in Yemen. The first one is a resolution, the second is dialogue among the two battling sides and the third one is armed clashes and it happened in al-Hasbah and is happening in Arhab district.
“I think the obstacle in solving the problem is the excluding the main fighting leaders in both sides in the government and the opposition and then political powers engage in real dialogue,” he added.
Ahmed al-Zurqah, a freelance journalist and political analyst, thinks that the only solution to the situation Yemen is to oust the battling figures in both sides, government and opposition, namely the president and his sons and relatives, the defected general Ali Muhsen, who supports the protests, and al-Ahmar family lead by the billionaire business man Hamid al-Ahmar.
“The Gulf Initiative is solution if it were not signed; the result would be catastrophic and human crisis. The political parties are the ones that would lead Yemen to its downfall. It is enough Yemen needs a civilized state lead by a civilian not military leaders and also does not need a religious scholar,” said al-Zurqah In the economic level, as a result of the escalation of violence in Sana’a and many other governorates in Yemen, prices for food, water and fuel have continued to rise.
Fuel is limited because of the acts of sabotage committed by tribesmen against refineries in Marib. The Yemeni government is unable to import sufficient replacement quantities – cars have run dry, generators have stopped generating and pumps have failed to coax water from the ground, said Mostafa Nasser, head of Economic Center for Strategic Studies and Research. Consequently, this has led to a three-to-sevenfold increase in water prices, where in Sana’a for example a truck of water that cost YR 1,000-1,200, now cost 6,000-9,000.
The political situation has its very direct effects on the economy. Because of this unstable environment, difficulties in transport occurred and food prices tend to regularly overshoot for some days.
The Yemeni Rial (YR) continues from weak to weaker and exchange rate is currently at 237 YR to the dollar in the black market, while the official government exchange rate is 218 YR. Oil prices highly increased which led to a stop in importing depriving the country from taxes and increased the prices of the already available in the market.
Many factories have stopped working, also working in some sectors like tourism, construction where around seven million Yemenis work were stopped. This also led to a large number of layoffs, reducing salaries, doubling unemployment rate in Yemen and a total stop of production. Poverty in Yemen has reached its peak.
The political crisis that has pushed Yemen to the rim of civil war has cost the economy as much as 8 billion dollars and immediate aid is needed to prevent a collapse and failure of the state, said Hisham Sharaf, minister of Trade and Industry.
Dr. Mohamed al-Maytami, economics professor at Sana’a University, said If there is no injection from outside, the economy in Yemen will collapse and poverty in Yemen can reach 75 %. The President has issued the decree to authorize his VP to engage in dialogue with the opposition and carry on with the implementation of the GCC Initiative.
The opposition lead by the Islah party rejected this and insists on immediate resignation of Saleh. Every side holds to his position put Yemen in a political dilemma and political deadlock.
Both sides in the government and the opposition are playing with the al-Qaeda to gain political gains and the only beneficiary from this difference is al-Qaeda itself. Both sides should look at fighting terror as a national issue.
There is a need from all sides in Yemen government and opposition to recognize the real threat of al-Qaeda and deal with the issue away from all political differences. Any information given about al-Qaeda from official side or the other should be based on facts and truth.
Al-Qaeda in Yemen since the beginning of the political crisis in Yemen has changed their strategy. Instead of striking some targets and run, they know occupy and seek to control some areas.
Al-Qaeda in Yemen is fighting in different front, Abyan, Shabwah, Arhab in Sana’a and Marib. Al-Qaeda in Yemen is now presenting itself is the best replacement and a true heir of al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.
The media officer in the US embassy said that the cooperation with Yemen in the war against terror will continue but did not commit in any US air strikes. Observers and experts believe that the US war against terror is still very long especially in Yemen.
Source: Yemen Observer
For the fourth day in a raw, fighting between government troops and opposition armed groups backed up by the defected army of the First Armored Brigade continue leaving behind several deaths and hundreds injured from both sides and civilians, said residents in University area and al-Qa’a.
Taiz is no exception and has witnessed bloody clashes between government troops and armed tribes loyal to opposition. The clashes in Abyan are back, said eyewitnesses. According to a number of experts the biggest beneficiary from all this chaos is al-Qaeda.
Dr.Saeed Obed al-Jamhi, an expert on al-Qaeda and Islamic Groups and the author of “Al-Qaeda in Yemen” published in 2008 said in light of what is happening in Yemen that al-Qaeda is benefiting greatly from what is happening in Yemen and the political crisis that Yemen is going through.
Al-Qaeda as an entity grows, feed and become strong in places that are not stable. Where there are chaos, disorders, political conflicts, economic crises, al-Qaeda foster and societies like that give reasons and space to al-Qaeda to exist and finds supporters for the organization ideas, said He said that al-Qaeda prevail in chaotic societies that they say do not apply Islamic Law, that is what they say about Yemen give them their power to exist.
In responding to a questions on how strong al-Qaeda is he said that all the strikes that al-Qaeda has suffered in Yemen, most recent one what happened in Abyan where al-Qaeda militants were defeated and the districts was cleared from the militants of al-Qaeda. Al-Qaeda in Yemen received many strikes by Yemeni military and army, air strikes, from the sea with also logistical and intelligence and arms support given to Yemeni military from the KSA and the US all these things are evidence that al-Qaeda in Yemen is very strong.
“If al-Qaeda were weak, the tribes and citizens in Abyan could have defeated them, but no, al-Qaeda is very strong. Nobody knows until now the human power of al-Qaeda in Yemen, in 2010, I gave a rough number that al-Qaeda members in Yemen can be 2,000-3,000. But when I saw the reports after the fights in Abyan, where more than three hundred of the militants were killed and more than that injured, I am not sure how many members or fighters al-Qaeda has, said al-Jamhi.
He thinks that what happened in Abyan is not a slide victory but only proves that al-Qaeda is very strong, it is not victory. Al-Qaeda were only defeated in this district and they escaped to Lahj, Aden and other places. This is not the end. The strongest areas of al-Qaeda are Abyan, Shabwah and Marib. These are the three areas that are the strongest existence of al-Qaeda. But al-Qaeda do exist in other places and I think it is very strong and Aden still under threat.
Concerning the role of the KSA and US in Yemen, he said that they both see Yemen as a place of political conflicts which is a good environment for al-Qaeda to grow. The role of both is still not very clear but I can say that there is a strong intelligence support with Yemen and Yemen’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Abu Bakr al-Qirbi said that. But people also talk about US air strikes.
“They both-KSA and US do not have a clear position on what is happening in Yemen and do not have a clear vision for a resolution to what is happening in Yemen whether with the government or with the opposition that leads the so-called revolution,” said al-Jamhi. There are three things that can lead to a peaceful solution to the political crisis in Yemen.
The first; responding to the youth needs of change. The second thing, this change should keep the balance in all the key participating powers in Yemen. Balancing powers mean that any reform or change must not mean excluding other political forces.
The third thing is the slogan that the demonstrators use “go out” is not the solution. If president Saleh will leave power, it does not mean leaving political life, said Ahmed al-Sofi, President Saleh Media Advisor. “People all over the world especially Western media should look at Yemen from a completely different perspective.
It is true that Yemen is not like Tunisia, or Egypt, or Libya, or Syria. Yemen has a culture and society of its own that is still deeply-rooted in its old norms. Modernity is prevailing in all the other countries that I said before but in Yemen it is still crawling,” said al-Sofi.
“What is happening now is that one thing has been imposed that change is inevitable, even those who support the President now talk about change and recognize it as something important and talk about the transfer of power and the importance of adopting the Gulf Cooperative Council (GCC) Initiative.
They talk about change but in a different way from the protesters,” said Zuhair Ali Ahmed, Independent protestors. He said that the protests were the first and real driving force behind the recognition of the importance of change, but still can not reach its utmost.
However, protesters could not until now achieve their goals first because they are not united in their views. The ruling parties still see the differences in its best interest and would adopt change that will keep their interests.
“This will be a sort of political solution that will change the president, but not his party whose members will adopt change and engage in dialogue,” he added. He then said that there are couple of scenarios for the situation in Yemen. The first one is a resolution, the second is dialogue among the two battling sides and the third one is armed clashes and it happened in al-Hasbah and is happening in Arhab district.
“I think the obstacle in solving the problem is the excluding the main fighting leaders in both sides in the government and the opposition and then political powers engage in real dialogue,” he added.
Ahmed al-Zurqah, a freelance journalist and political analyst, thinks that the only solution to the situation Yemen is to oust the battling figures in both sides, government and opposition, namely the president and his sons and relatives, the defected general Ali Muhsen, who supports the protests, and al-Ahmar family lead by the billionaire business man Hamid al-Ahmar.
“The Gulf Initiative is solution if it were not signed; the result would be catastrophic and human crisis. The political parties are the ones that would lead Yemen to its downfall. It is enough Yemen needs a civilized state lead by a civilian not military leaders and also does not need a religious scholar,” said al-Zurqah In the economic level, as a result of the escalation of violence in Sana’a and many other governorates in Yemen, prices for food, water and fuel have continued to rise.
Fuel is limited because of the acts of sabotage committed by tribesmen against refineries in Marib. The Yemeni government is unable to import sufficient replacement quantities – cars have run dry, generators have stopped generating and pumps have failed to coax water from the ground, said Mostafa Nasser, head of Economic Center for Strategic Studies and Research. Consequently, this has led to a three-to-sevenfold increase in water prices, where in Sana’a for example a truck of water that cost YR 1,000-1,200, now cost 6,000-9,000.
The political situation has its very direct effects on the economy. Because of this unstable environment, difficulties in transport occurred and food prices tend to regularly overshoot for some days.
The Yemeni Rial (YR) continues from weak to weaker and exchange rate is currently at 237 YR to the dollar in the black market, while the official government exchange rate is 218 YR. Oil prices highly increased which led to a stop in importing depriving the country from taxes and increased the prices of the already available in the market.
Many factories have stopped working, also working in some sectors like tourism, construction where around seven million Yemenis work were stopped. This also led to a large number of layoffs, reducing salaries, doubling unemployment rate in Yemen and a total stop of production. Poverty in Yemen has reached its peak.
The political crisis that has pushed Yemen to the rim of civil war has cost the economy as much as 8 billion dollars and immediate aid is needed to prevent a collapse and failure of the state, said Hisham Sharaf, minister of Trade and Industry.
Dr. Mohamed al-Maytami, economics professor at Sana’a University, said If there is no injection from outside, the economy in Yemen will collapse and poverty in Yemen can reach 75 %. The President has issued the decree to authorize his VP to engage in dialogue with the opposition and carry on with the implementation of the GCC Initiative.
The opposition lead by the Islah party rejected this and insists on immediate resignation of Saleh. Every side holds to his position put Yemen in a political dilemma and political deadlock.
Both sides in the government and the opposition are playing with the al-Qaeda to gain political gains and the only beneficiary from this difference is al-Qaeda itself. Both sides should look at fighting terror as a national issue.
There is a need from all sides in Yemen government and opposition to recognize the real threat of al-Qaeda and deal with the issue away from all political differences. Any information given about al-Qaeda from official side or the other should be based on facts and truth.
Al-Qaeda in Yemen since the beginning of the political crisis in Yemen has changed their strategy. Instead of striking some targets and run, they know occupy and seek to control some areas.
Al-Qaeda in Yemen is fighting in different front, Abyan, Shabwah, Arhab in Sana’a and Marib. Al-Qaeda in Yemen is now presenting itself is the best replacement and a true heir of al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.
The media officer in the US embassy said that the cooperation with Yemen in the war against terror will continue but did not commit in any US air strikes. Observers and experts believe that the US war against terror is still very long especially in Yemen.
Source: Yemen Observer
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