Thousands of Somalis arrive in Yemen, says UNHCR

By Mohammed al-Kibsi

Somali refugees fleeing famine and violence are flocking into Yemen at an increasing rate, the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Friday.

Between January and July, Somali arrivals into Yemen averaged 1,600 people per month, but this increased to 4,500 in August and 3,292 in September, despite unrest in Yemen.

"The increased influx is adding pressure on Yemen and UNHCR," spokesman Andrej Mahecic told a news briefing, adding that the United Nations agency had received only half the $60 million it needs to fund its operations in Yemen this year.

"Our resources are currently strained by the increase of the Somali refugees but also by the internal displacement in Yemen," Mahecic told Reuters.

The UNHCR estimates around 196,000 Somali refugees are now in Yemen, most having risked their lives to cross the Gulf of Aden on smugglers' boats. A conflict in Yemen's Abyan governorate has displaced more than 97,000 Yemenis, in addition to some 318,000 from Sa'ada governorate in the north, it says.

So far this year, more than 318,000 Somalis were forced to flee their homeland due to the deteriorating situation, the majority going to Kenya and Ethiopia, according to the UNHCR.  

The UNHCR further warned that insecurity in Yemen would breed opportunities for human traffickers and smugglers along the country's Red Sea coast.

"Reports of abductions of migrants or refugees upon arrival to Yemen persist, mostly for ransom or extortion," Mahecic said. Another worrying trend is the prevalence of abuse and sexual assaults of female refugees and migrants while at sea, he said.

Yemen said that hundreds of Somalis contributed with al-Qaeda in the Arabian peninsula in the fights between Yemen forces and al-Qaeda in Abyan province.

Reports from Sana’a the capital of Yemen say that some Somalis took part in the fights in Sana’a as snipers recruited by defected army and Islamic militias.

Yemen: UN Calls for power transfer

UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. Security Council called Friday for Yemen's president to immediately accept a deal to transfer power to his deputy and end escalating violence in the strategically located Middle East nation.

The council unanimously adopted a resolution expressing serious concern at the worsening security and deteriorating economic and humanitarian situation in Yemen "due to the lack of progress on a political settlement and the potential for the further escalation of violence."

President Ali Abdullah Saleh has so far balked at a U.S.-backed plan proposed by Saudi Arabia and its five smaller allies in the Gulf Cooperation Council to hand over power to his deputy and step down in exchange for immunity. He is accused by many Yemenis of pushing the country toward civil war by clinging to power despite massive protests, the defection to the opposition of key tribal and military allies, and mounting international pressure to step down.

The resolution was the first adopted by the U.N.'s most powerful body since the Arab Spring uprising in Yemen began eight months ago. It was clearly aimed at stepping up international pressure on Saleh, who was president of North Yemen from 1978 until 1990 when he became the first president of a unified Yemen.

Yemeni activist Tawakul Karman, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize along with two Liberian women earlier this month, welcomed the resolution but said it didn't go far enough.

"We are asking for a trial" for Saleh, Karman told reporters at U.N. headquarters. "We are asking to send him to the international tribunal as a war criminal."

Mohammed al-Sabri, an opposition spokesman in Sanaa, Yemen, told The Associated Press the resolution was "largely positive" but it remains for the Yemeni people to force Saleh to sign the initiative.

"This is the beginning of putting Saleh and his sons and family out in the cold," he said. "At the end, it is up to the Yemeni people to force Saleh to sign the initiative. It must remain in the hands of the Yemenis."

Philippe Bolopion, U.N. director for Human Rights Watch, said the organization welcomed "the long overdue condemnation of Yemeni government abuses," but believed the council should have distanced itself from the council's impunity deal.

"By signaling that there would be no consequence for the killing of Yemenis, the immunity deal has contributed to prolonging the bloodshed," he said.

The White House said in a statement that the deal sends "a united and unambiguous signal to President Saleh that he must respond to the aspirations of the Yemeni people by transferring power immediately."

The resolution calls for Saleh, or those authorized to act on his behalf, to immediately sign the Gulf Cooperation Council deal "to achieve a peaceful political transition of power ... without further delay."

Although the deal would give Saleh immunity, the resolution also underlines the need for an independent investigation into alleged human rights abuses "with a view to avoiding impunity."

Saleh was gravely wounded in an explosion at his presidential palace in June and went to Saudi Arabia for treatment. During his absence, mediators and opposition groups sought to persuade him to stay away and transfer power, but he declined and returned abruptly to Yemen late last month.

Unlike the resolution on Syria that was vetoed by Russia and China on Oct. 4, the Yemen resolution makes no mention of sanctions or any other measures.

With fighting intensifying, there are concerns that a civil war would significantly hurt efforts by the United States and Saudi Arabia to fight Yemen's dangerous al-Qaida branch, and could turn the mountainous nation into a global haven for militants a short distance away from the vast oil fields of the Gulf and the key shipping lanes in the Arabian and Red seas.

The resolution raises fresh concerns "at the increased threat from al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula and the risk of new terror attacks in parts of Yemen."

Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, as the Yemeni branch is known, is considered by the U.S. to be the most dangerous of the terror network's affiliates after it plotted two recent failed attacks on American soil.

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Associated Press Writers Anita Snow at the United Nations and Sarah El Deeb in Cairo contributed to this report.

Yemeni Man Sentenced for Acts of Piracy Under the Law of Nations

NORFOLK, VA—Mounir Ali, a/k/a “Muner Ali,” 23, of Yemen, was sentenced today in Norfolk federal court to life in prison for acts of piracy against the S/V Quest, which resulted in the murder of United States citizens Scott Underwood Adam, Jean Savage Adam, Phyllis Patricia Macay, and Robert Campbell Riggle. Ali previously pled guilty to the piracy charge on July 7, 2011.

Neil H MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Janice K Fedarcyk, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s New York Field Office; Alex J Turner, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Norfolk Field Office; and Mark Russ, Special Agent in Charge of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) in Norfolk, made the announcement after Ali was sentenced by United States District Judge Mark S Davis.

“Despite being a victim of piracy himself, Mr Ali voluntarily joined his captors to attack and hold four Americans hostage for ransom,” said United States Attorney MacBride. “The greed for ransom money ultimately led to the cold-blooded murder of the hostages. Pirates who attack United States citizens on the high seas—whether successful or not, whether violent or not—must get the message that they will face lifelong consequences for their actions.”

“Even after being victimized by piracy himself, Mr Ali couldn’t resist the temptation to plunder another ship in search of a cash payout,” said FBI Assistant Director in Charge Fedarcyk.

“That selfish act resulted in the death of four Americans. Piracy is a scourge on our seas, disrupting trade and threatening Americans’ lives. The FBI will continue to do all in its power to maintain the rule of law and protect our citizens, wherever they may be.”

According to court documents, Ali is one of 14 defendants charged together with the piracy of the S/V Quest in February 2011 that resulted in the murder of four American citizens in the Indian Ocean. This defendant, the sole Yemeni, was part of the crew of another boat that was hijacked by a separate group of pirates some months earlier.

The defendant had been taken on at least two piracy outings in his captured ship. On the second outing, the defendant was with other pirates when the Yemeni fishing boat, used as a mothership for the Quest hijacking, was captured. The defendant transferred to the Yemeni fishing boat and then chose to go with the pirates when they located the Quest in exchange for a share of the ransom. Ali is the seventh of the defendants to be sentenced of the 11 who have pled guilty to offenses related to the Quest piracy.

The investigation of the case is being conducted by the FBI and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.

The case is being prosecuted by Eastern District of Virginia Assistant United States Attorneys Benjamin L Hatch, Joseph DePadilla and Brian J Samuels, and Trial Attorney Paul Casey from the Department of Justice’s National Security Division.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.justice.gov/usao/vae.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov or on https://pcl.uscourts.gov.

Reported by: FBI

Somali refugees flooding into Yemen despite unrest

By Amena Bakr

Source: Reuters

GENEVA Oct 21 (Reuters) - Somalis fleeing famine and violence are pouring into Yemen at an increasing rate, straining the already troubled host country and aid groups, the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Friday.

However, while rising numbers are crossing the Gulf of Aden, the Dadaab refugee complex across Somalia's land frontier in eastern Kenya has seen a sharp drop in the number of new Somali arrivals. This could be due to cross-border military operations or the onset of heavy rains, the UNHCR said in a statement.

Between January and July, Somali arrivals into Yemen averaged 1,600 people per month, but this increased to 4,500 in August and 3,292 in September, despite unrest in the Arab world's poorest country, it said.

"The increased influx is adding pressure on Yemen and UNHCR," spokesman Andrej Mahecic told a news briefing, adding that the United Nations agency had received only half the $60 million it needs to fund its operations in Yemen this year.

In total, the U.N. estimates around 196,000 Somali refugees are now in Yemen, most having risked their lives to cross the Gulf of Aden on smugglers' boats. A conflict in Yemen's Abyan governorate has displaced more than 97,000 Yemenis, in addition to some 318,000 from Sa'ada governorate in the north, it says.

"Our resources are currently strained by the increase of the Somali refugees but also by the internal displacement in Yemen," Mahecic told Reuters.

Since January, Yemeni protesters, inspired by revolts elsewhere in the Arab world, have demanded an end to President Ali Abdullah Saleh's 32 years of autocratic rule. On Friday, the U.N. Security Council is to vote on a resolution that condemns the government crackdown on the protests.

So far this year, more than 318,000 Somalis were forced to flee their homeland due to the deteriorating situation, the majority going to Kenya and Ethiopia, according to the UNHCR.  

Last week, gunmen kidnapped two Spanish women working for Medecins Sans Frontieres at Dadaab refugee camp and brought them to the rebel stronghold Kismayu in Somalia.

This was part of a series of kidnappings of foreigners in Kenya which prompted Kenya to launch a cross-border incursion into Somalia to flush out al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab rebels from its frontier area.

Refugee flows into Dadaab have slowed to a trickle, Mahecic said. "No newly-arriving refugees have approached the registration centre (in Kenya) in the last week."

Al Shabaab rebels withdrew from the Somali capital of Mogadishu in August, four years into their battle to overthrow the Western-backed government, an insurgency that has driven the chaotic country deeper into anarchy.

The UNHCR further warned that insecurity in Yemen would breed opportunities for human traffickers and smugglers along the country's Red Sea coast.

"Reports of abductions of migrants or refugees upon arrival to Yemen persist, mostly for ransom or extortion," Mahecic said. Another worrying trend is the prevalence of abuse and sexual assaults of female refugees and migrants while at sea, he said. (Reporting by Amena Bakr; Editing by Stephanie Nebehay)

Yemen’s Saleh Faces UN Action a Day after Despot Qaddafi Killed in Libya

By Flavia Krause-Jackson 

Source: Bloomberg

Oct. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Chris Stephen, a Bloomberg News reporter, talks about the outlook for Libya and the wider Arab world after the death of its deposed leader Muammar Qaddafi. He speaks with Francine Lacqua on Bloomberg Television's "Countdown." (Source: Bloomberg)

A day after the death of Muammar Qaddafi, the United Nations Security Council that authorized bombing over Libya plans action against another despot clinging to power: Yemen’s Ali Abdullah Saleh.

A vote is expected today on a proposed resolution calling on Saleh to implement a Gulf Cooperation Council-brokered deal, under which he would resign and transfer power to his deputy in return for immunity from prosecution for his family and inner circle.

The killing of the Libyan dictator yesterday resonated among the thousands of Yemenis who took to the streets of the capital Sana’a to renew calls for the end of Saleh’s 33-year rule.

“The end of Qaddafi has given us a strong boost that regardless of how much time our revolt will take, we will win and the fate of Saleh will be like that of Qaddafi,” Maher al- Haidari, a protester, said in an interview.

Almost a year after the Arab Spring got under way, three autocrats have fallen. Tunisia’s Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, fled to Saudi Arabia. Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak was carried out in stretcher and placed in an iron cage to stand trial. Qaddafi was killed as he attempted to escape from his hometown of Sirte.

Two authoritarian regimes facing widespread international condemnation remain standing.

Yemen and Syria

In Syria, President Bashar al-Assad has carried out a deadly crackdown against protesters that the UN estimates has killed more than 3,000 since March.

In Yemen, there have been protests almost daily since January to demand the removal of the president, a U.S. ally who has held power for more than three decades. Saleh returned to Yemen on Sept. 23 after three months in Saudi Arabia, where he received medical treatment following a rocket attack in the capital.

He has asked for increased guarantees from Gulf nations, the U.S. and Europe before agreeing to hand over power.

While the most powerful UN body acted fast against Qaddafi, it’s been unable to replicate that speed. Critics led by Russia argue that the Libya resolution, sold as a way to protect civilians, instead became a pretext for regime change and must not be repeated.

“For many in the council, what happened in Libya was very disturbing,” Jeff Laurenti, a UN analyst at the Century Foundation, a New York-based research group. Qaddafi’s death will only “add to the doubts and the caution.”

U.S., Britain and France convinced Russia and China to abstain from the March vote that allowed “all necessary measures” to protect civilians from Qaddafi’s forces.

Crippled Council

Since then, they have failed to get Russia and China to withhold their vetoes in a resolution condemning a seven-month crackdown on anti-government protesters in Syria. Instead they were met with a rare double veto not seen since 2008.

Russia won’t use its veto to block the UN resolution on Yemen, according to Mohammed Salem Basandwa, part of a Yemeni opposition delegation that met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow yesterday.

Syria ‘is Different’

“I can tell you 100 percent that Russia won’t use its veto,” Basandwa told reporters today in Moscow. Yemen “is different to Syria.” Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said in a phone interview today that his country has a “constructive view” of the proposed resolution.

The resolution for Yemen, which took a month to prepare and stresses that “all those responsible for violence, human rights violations and abuses should be held accountable,” is considered flawed by leading Yemeni activists who are demanding more.

Tawakkul Karman, one of three women to win this year’s Nobel peace prize, traveled to New York this week and met with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Surrounded by hundreds of supporters outside the UN headquarters, she called Saleh a war criminal who should be stripped of his immunity and be investigated by the International Criminal Court.

The UN Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Yemen, Jamal Benomar, returned from a two-week visit to the country having failed to persuade Saleh to give up power. He told reporters the situation had “deteriorated dramatically.”

-- With assistance from Mohammed Hatem in Dubai and Henry Meyer in Moscow. Editors: Steven Komarow, Jim Rubin.

To contact the reporters on this story: Flavia Krause-Jackson at the United Nations at fjackson@bloomberg.net