Yemen parliament demands US Marines leave Yemen

 The Yemeni Parliament called the American forces to leave the country immediately, after about 150 from the American Marines forces arrived to Sana’a after angry demonstrators  stormed and looted the US embassy in protest over American-Israeli film deemed abusive to Islam and prophet Mohamed.

"We do not accept any foreign forces in Yemen, be it small or big forces, and for any reason," said a statement by the Parliament on Saturday. The Parliament asked the government to protect all foreign missions in Yemen. The statement condemned the anti-Islam film ( the Innocence of Muslims) and called  for putting the film  makers on trial.

Meanwhile, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula called Muslims to kill more American diplomats saying that the film was only a new chapter of a Crusade war on Islam. " Follow the example of  the Libyans, grandsons of Omar Al Mukhtar," said the statement in a clear reference to the killing of American ambassador in Libya last week.

Four people were killed and 48 other injured including 10 soldiers last Thursday when angry protester stormed the US embassy in Sana’a. 61 cars were completely damaged, and 13 were burnt and one was stolen.

One of those killed was buried on Saturday in Sana’a and his father said during the funeral that the America Marines killed his son. This would create additional anti-American sentiment. 

The day the US Embassy in Yemen was looted

By:  Mohammed Humaid

 I live next to the bridge leading to the US Embassy. A number of windows of my house were shattered during an exchange of stone throwing between the protesters and the anti-riot police on Thursday afternoon, September 13, 2012.  We also had a dose of tear gas in our house that infiltrated from the shattered windows. Youths in their teens were hysterically throwing stones and chanting anti-American slogans. Youths too young to form any serious political opinion seemed thrilled with the prospects of throwing stone at police and chanting a mantra that promotes self-sacrifice.
Later in the evening we saw TV footage of horrific scenes of these youths, entering the US embassy and looting whatever can be carried. Scenes of protesters smashing wind screens of cars were particularly appalling.  This shameful conduct demonstrates an inherent character that we have tried to deny but failed repeatedly; it’s that tendency to seize the property of others by use of force, if it can’t be seized, it gets destroyed. This is not a transitory reaction to hap hazard events. It is becoming part of our modern identity. It’s true that the majority of people denounce it but the fact that it continuous unabated means that it defines who we are.
The issue is not against whom the violence is directed, nor to whom the property in question belongs, the question is why force and unlawful seizing of property has become a way to express our anger or discontent?
 The trouble is deeper than one might think at first instance. An incident such as the appalling film against the prophet served as a stimulant that incited anger and discontent. The interpretation of such response depends on the culture and set of values the respondent believes in. In Libya, it took the form of barbaric brutality that led to murder, In Egypt rioting and invasion of US embassy compound, in Morocco peaceful condemnation, in Asia burning of the US flag. In Yemen, violence and looting of property. We have experienced similar incidents when Sana’a was looted in 1948; when Aden was looted in 1994; when several ministries were looted in 2011 and when the Ministry of Interior was looted in 2012. The looting of the US embassy was thus not an act of animosity directed at the embassy as per ce, rather it is a form of expression of our anger and discontent.
The chief culprits are the youths who are themselves are victims of misgovernance. The youths, have little hope, little education and are frustrated with their lives. They lack the simplest forms of recreation; they have energy but don’t know how to expend it. You see them playing football in the roads, streets and alleys. No sports grounds, no places for them to discover their talents and improve their skills. They are jobless with little prospect of employment no matter how hard they tried. Scholarships, abroad and inside the country, are taken up by the small elite. The same elite that have confiscated the parks and recreation grounds and suffocated their hopes.  This practice is recurrent day in and day out and explains not only why Yemeni cities are deprived of green space and from trees and why most of our roads lead to nowhere. Disrespect of their rights translates into disrespect for the rights and property of others.

Relations between Yemen and the United States haven’t been better. The US has given Yemen hundreds of millions of dollars in aid, making it the second largest donor after Saudi Arabia. The United States played an indispensible role in brokering the Gulf Cooperation Deal and the Security Council resolution on Yemen that paved the way for restoration of peace in Yemen. The US ambassador used his good offices and shuttled back and forth relentlessly between warring factions with a view to securing the Gulf Cooperation initiative. In fact, the US played and continuous to play a critical role in defusing tension during and after the signing of the political settlement. US president Obama has denounced the film so has his secretary of State Hilary Clinton. Having said that, the US says that freedom of expression gives right to citizens to express themselves and there is nothing the government can do anything about it, yet US laws give individuals who become victims of slander or libel the power to prosecute the perpetrator when individual dignity and respect have been violated so there must be laws that punish people who show disrespect to the spiritual believes of other cultures, especially when the lives of many are at stake. May be when US laws were enacted situations such this one didn’t exist, but now require a fresh look. It can’t be that hard to enact a new law. After all respect goes both ways. 
Written by Mohammed Humaid  a Yemeni Fulbrighter and journalist

Yemen army kills AQAP number 2 along with 6 militants

By Mohamed al-Kibsi

Deputy leader of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) Saeed Ali al-Shihri was killed along with six other al-Qaeda insurgents in Hadramout valley on Monday, said the website of the ministry of defense 26sep.net.

The website quoted a high profile military officer as saying that the Yemeni military forces have killed Saeed al-Shihri and six al-Qaeda suspects in an identical military operation launched by the Yemeni military forces  targeting a house in al-Ain district in Hadramout  valley where al-Shihri and other militants were living on Monday.

The military source said that the killing of al-Shihri was a painful strike for the remains of al-Qaeda militants that fled from Abyan province due to the massive offensive launched by the Yemeni forces last June that resulted in expelling al-Qaeda fighters from Zinjubar, Jaa’r and other towns of Abyan province.

The Yemeni military took credit for the Sept. 2 airstrike in Hadramout that targeted a vehicle and is reported to have killed six AQAP fighters. However, the strike was carried out by the US's fleet of unmanned Predators and Reapers based in the area, a US intelligence official told The Long War Journal. US drones have zeroed in on Hadramout province over the past month. Of the seven recorded strikes since the beginning of August, five have taken place in the eastern province.

US officials have not commented on reports of al Shihri's death. AQAP has not released a martyrdom statement announcing his death. In the past, AQAP has announced the deaths of senior leaders quickly.

Al Shihri has been reported killed several times in the past. Most recently, In February 2011, he was rumored to have been killed while working with explosives. Al Shihri was also said to have been killed in a US cruise missile attack in December 2009. And in January 2010, Yemeni officials claimed that al Shihri was captured.

Said al-Shahri was the second man of AQAP after the leader of AQAP Nasser al-Wahaishi.

Al-Shahri is a Saudi national that was extradited by the US authorities to the Saudi authorities from Guantanamo prison in 2007. He was released by the Saudi authorities after he took part in the Saudi rehabilitation program. However few months after he was released al-Shahri lead the Saudi branch of al-Qaeda and decided to merge with the Yemeni branch to form AQAP.

In November 2007, Shihri was released from Guantanamo and placed into Saudi custody, where he then entered a government-run rehabilitation program for former jihadists. Less than a year later, Shihri played a direct role in al Qaeda's attack on the American embassy in Sana'a, Yemen's capital, in September 2008. That attack killed 10 civilians, along with six terrorists.

In February 2009, when Al Qaeda in Saudi Arabia and Al Qaeda in Yemen merged to form Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, Shihri was named as deputy to AQAP emir Nasir al Wuhayshi.

Al-Shahri was accused of being behind a number of terrorist operation in Yemen, among them was the terrorist attack that targeted the US Embassy in Sana’a.  

Yemen President decreases powers of ex-president's son and defected general Ali Mohsen

By Mohammed al-Kibsi

President Abdu Raboo Mansour Hadi has issued a decree stripping the ex-president’s son  and the commander of the first armor brigade of part of their military command, a measure seen as a step toward reforming the armed forces.

Monday’s decision by President Hadi transfers command of three brigades of the Republican Guards and one of the first armor brigades to his direct oversight to be considered as the presidency protection unit under the direct command of the president.

The Republican Guards, Yemen’s best trained forces, are commanded by Ahmed Ali, son of the former president and the first armor brigade are commanded by defected general Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar.

Another republican decree was indorsed, stripping other four republican guards brigades and four armor brigades and putting them under commander of regional military units.

Hadi’s move is expected to ease Ahmad Ali’s and Ali Mohsen’s influence over the military, giving Hadi more influence over the military forces.

The republican decree was preceded by holding a meeting between the military committee that was assigned by Hadi to restructure the military and security forces and between the ambassadors of the 5 permanent members of the  UN security council and ambassadors of the Gulf states to inform them about the reshuffle.

Al-Qaeda kills over 55 citizens in south Yemen

By Mohammed al-kibsi

An al-Qaeda suicide bomber killed at least 55 civilians at a funeral in Ja’ar town of Abyan province, the Defense Ministry said Sunday.

Other sources confirmed that over 95 were killed and injured among them 55 were killed.

The al-Qaida suicide bomber detonated the explosives around his waist among funeral guests in Ja’ar town in Abyan province late on Saturday night, the country's Defense Ministry said in a brief statement posted on its website.

"Latest reports coming from Abyan province indicate that at least 46 people were killed and about 48 others were wounded, some of them in critical conditions," the statement said.

A local pro-government tribal chief is among those killed in the funeral attended by other anti-al-Qaeda militiamen and social figures, the statement added.

Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for the deadly attack in an emailed statement obtained by Xinhua on Sunday. "One of our holly warriors carried out a successful jihadist operation on a compound in Jaar town," the statement said without giving more details.

It also threatened to launch further attacks on security officials and military bases across the country.

RI Yemen seeks help for famous child bride Nojoud

By Mohammed al-Kibsi

Nojoud Ali Al-Ahdal is the most famous Yemeni child bride and the first ever that revolted against the law and Yemeni tradition when approached a court in Sana’a demanding to be divorced from her 33 years old husband when she was only 9 years old.

Nojoud won the Glamour Magazine prize along with Condoleezza Rice to be the woman of the year in 2008.

A book about her life and her story was published by a French publication house in 2008. The publisher bought Nojoud a house in  al-Hasaba neighborhood Sana’a from her share of the book sales. He also pays her a US$ 1000 a month to her father’s account as Nojoud is under age and cannot have her own account.

This money is supposed to be spent for her living along with her family. However recently her father got married to a third wife that keeps making troubles to Nojoud and her brothers and sisters.

A day after day Nojoud  that is the symbol of Yemeni revolutionary women and children suffered a lot from her father and his new wife harassment a matter that forced Nojoud and some of her brothers to leave her own home for her father and his new wife. She preferred to go live with her father’s second wife in al-Qa’a neighborhood.

Last Sunday Nojoud went to her father on the same day he received the monthly 1000 dollars asking him to give her, and her mother and other family members a share of the money.

The father got mad at her and asked her to offer him half of the house and half of the book’s sales otherwise he would  kill her.

Fortunately her brothers prevented him from hurting her and they locked her in her room to protect her.

Her father kept trying to break the door threatening to kill her if she did not answer his demands.

On Monday Nojoud told her family she would go to her grandmother that lives near Tahrir in Sana’a.

She approached Relief International office in Sana’a, where she knows one of RI staff asking for help.

So far RI staffer contacted some lawyers. Lawyer Qais Sanabani promised to help her through the Justice and Development Center to provide her free legal assistance.

Nevertheless Nojoud that is revolting against her father’s harassment and against masculine supremacy this time that gives her father the right to spend her own money for entertaining himself is asking help from NGOs.

RI is approaching all NGOs in charge to help Nojoud live her own life and have access to education as she did not go to school last year due to security problems and family problems.

Nojoud is 15 years old now but she is still in 4^th grade due to family problems and threats from unknown people that have been texting her and calling her on her cell phone to never goes out of her home or else. 

The US Secretary of state Hilary Clinton met with Nojoud during her visit to Yemen last year, praised her courage and promised her dignitary life.

“All I want is to live an ordinary life and go to school like all children do and never be subjected to harassment or threats,” cried Nojoud  with tears dropping from her innocent childish eyes.

All RI could do was asking staff to donate for Nojoud to have dinner for the night, promising her to pass her complain to the NGO’s in charge to find her temporary solution.

Lawyer Qais Sanabani promised to cancel her father’s custody through the court but this cannot be achieved during Ramadan month as the Yemeni courts are in vacation till the 10^th of Shawal Islamic month that coincides the 2^nd of September 2012.

Nojoud has 15 brothers and sisters 10 of them are younger than her. They all used to live from the money she gets from the publisher of her book. But now they all live from food that her step mother collects from neighbors.

Armed gangs torture African border crossers in north Yemen

By Mohammed al-Kibsi

Yemen’s Interior Ministry has confirmed on its website that armed gangs in Haradh district, that borders Saudi Arabia,  in North Yemen have tortured African border crossers.

The ministry said it discovered 129 Ethiopians detained by armed groups. The Ethiopians had been physically tortured and forced to contact their families in Saudi Arabia with requests that money be transferred, upon which it would be seized by their captors.

Abdullah Abdu al-Wahsh and Khalid Mohammed Absi have been accused of leading the gangs, said the Interior Ministry, and noted that Al-Wahsh had detained 49 Ethiopians within the yard at his residence, with a further 79 held by Absi. The Ethiopians had arrived in Yemen illegally in order to then pass into Saudi Arabia.

A security document issued by security management in Haradh revealed the names of19 persons who have backyards that contain African border crossers, in several villages in the directorate.

Reports also revealed that African persons had had body parts cut off as part of attempts to force them to pay.

Security sources confirmed that jails and prisons existed in al-Sharifiya Department in Haradh directorate, referring to the imprisonment of a number of African victims.

The Interior Ministry said the hostages have been freed.

The ministry noted that after their release of the Ethiopian captives in a “rapid and unannounced operation,” they were transferred to hospitals and migrant centers of voluntary return. The centers are under the auspices of the International Organization for Migration in Haradh, and the Ethiopians’ presence there represents a prelude to deportations to their home countries in cooperation with the IOM.

The security apparatus referred the border crossers to the prosecutor in Haradh so that legal action may be taken against them.

According to security and human rights statistics, 170 cases of assault against African border crossers have been monitored from January 1, 2011 until January 24 of this year. The cases involved 90 young victims, 10 women, 50 children and 20 elderly persons.

Most of those attacks were of a physical nature, with many involving being burned and hit in the face, with many cases also involving hearing and sight loss.

Security statistics also revealed 156 cases involving smuggling by gangs, six cases involving border guards in Saudi Arabia, 4 cases with Yemeni border guards, 4 cases with bandits, as well as 12 cases of robbery and 4 cases of human trafficking.

A number of humanitarian organizations, as well as the Ministry of Human Rights and security authorities, have demanded an end to such crimes and those behind them be held accountable.

Security sources have also mentioned the involvement of sheikhs and other influential individuals in these crimes, whether through the adoption or protection of such gangs.