National Yemen Issue 37 by National Yemen Newspaper

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The Facts As They Are

Yemeni Clerics Reject State of Emergency

Ambassadors Resigning increasing

Tensions Multiply After Killings

TUESDAY, Mar 22, 2011 I ISSUE 37 PRICE : YER 30 WWW . NAT IONALYEMEN. COM

The Revolution: the Dilemma of Yemenis

Yemen president says majority of Yemenis back Him (Reuters) Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh said on Monday he was "holding out" and the majority of Yemenis back him, Al Arabiya television said

Top military commanders defect from Saleh regime Commander Ali Mohsin al-Ahmer has resign from the ruling party defected Yesterday, deploying troops to protect demonstrators. Friday's unprecedented violence led eight diplomats and 13 lawmakers to resign. At Yesterday 's demonstration in Sanaa, crowds heaved armed and uniformed security forces onto their shoulders in celebration after Ahmar's announcement. But the major general is a polarizing ﬁgure in Yemeni politics. He has been a close Saleh ally for years, leading military campaigns in the north against the Shiite Houthi movement, which have thrown their weight behind Yemen’s uprising. “There are people in this movement that support the Houthis and do not accept Major General al-Ahmar,” says Salah al-Sharaty, a protester from the nearby province of Mahwuit. “They want to prosecute him for the crimes they feel he has committed during the wars in the north.” Eight ambassadors, 13 lawmakers resign The military defections come on the heels of a growing number of political resignations from Saleh’s ruling General People’s Congress Party in the wake of Friday's violence, when gunmen opened ﬁre on thousands of demonstrators from rooftops around the demonstra-

Commander Ali Mohsein Al-Ahmer tion area, killing at least 45. In the three days since then, at least three acting ministers – including Huda al-Ban, Minister of Human Rights – resigned from the party in protest of the use of force, which many have attributed to Saleh's regime. At least 13 members of parliament have also resigned from the GPC. In addition, eight foreign ambassadors, including Abdullah Alsaidi, Yemen's ambassador to the United Nations, have quit their posts in response to the violence. In what many see as a response to the resignations, Saleh dissolved the cabinet on Sunday. The current government is set to remain in place until Saleh is able to form a new cabinet. While many see the defections as the beginning of the end for Saleh, some demonstrators fear that the sudden inﬂux of high-proﬁle army members could threaten the outcome of the uprising.

Ofﬁcial JMP Statements Condemns “Massacre” “The JMP condemns what the authority and its media has been behaving, and the brutal massacre they committed last Friday in change square in Sana’a, which resulted in the death of 52 martyrs and hundreds of wounded. “The JMP rejects the constant distortions by the authority in indulging them in their accusations through the media on the investigation and the search for the anonymous perpetrators and the allegation of the presence of the JMP representatives in the committee in

charge of massacre investigation. “The JMP also conﬁrmed that the perpetrators are known and identiﬁed and the way the president and his associates talked after the massacre is another crime, added to the chain of crimes which he will be held to account. “The JMP presented their sincere condolences and sympathy to the families of martyrs, pray for a speedy recovery to the wounded and denounced murderers and tyrants who are perpetrators of murder.”

Mourners carry the body of those slain during Friday’s crackdown in Change Square

Yemen president sacks cabinet, protesters bury dead By Mohamed Sudam and Mohammed Ghobari SANAA (Reuters) - Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh ﬁred his government on Sunday after a string of allies broke ranks with him as he faces increasing pressure from street protests to step down. Mourners buried some of the 52 anti-government protesters shot dead by rooftop snipers after Muslim Friday prayers in the Arabian Peninsula state, where tens of thousands of

people have protested for weeks against Saleh's three decadeslong rule. "The president of the republic has dismissed the government," state media said, adding that efforts to form a new government were underway. No reasons was given for the move. Yassin Noman, rotating head of an opposition coalition, dismissed the move as "an attempt to diminish the repercussions that the regime faces after

Yemen expels two Al-Jazeera In the Friday violence, journalists Yemeni photojournalist Jamal SANAA — Yemen has ordered two Al-Jazeera television correspondents to leave the country, saying they were working illegally and had acted unprofessionally, Saba state news agency said Saturday. An information ministry ofﬁcial was quoted as saying Ahmed Zidan and Abdulhaq Saddah had "provoked the people of Yemen" with their news coverage. The report did not say exactly what it was the two men had done to merit their expulsion. The news comes a day after snipers killed 52 anti-regime protesters in Sanaa in the latest wave of protests that has killed at least 70 people since they erupted in January.

al-Sharaabi, who worked for the independent weekly Al-Masdar, was shot dead by Yemeni security forces, media rights groups reported. Saba reported on Wednesday that Yemen has expelled four foreign journalists whom it accused of violating its residency laws. Media rights watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has identiﬁed them as two Britons -- Oliver Holmes and Portia Walker -- and two Americans -- Haley Sweetland Edwards and Joshua Maricich. RSF has also said that another US journalist, Patrick Symmes, and his Italian photographer, Marco Di Lauro, were deported last week

the resignations of a number of ministers and ambassadors." Friday's bloodshed prompted Saleh, a key U.S. ally in the ﬁght against al Qaeda, to declare a state of emergency for 30 days that restricts freedom of movement and the right to gather. It also gives police more powers to make inspections and arrests. Yemen's ambassador to the United Nations Abdullah Alsaidi resigned on Sunday as defections picked up steam.

Photos: Mohammed Howais

France says Yemen president's departure inevitable

(Reuters) - French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said on Monday the resignation of the Yemeni president was now unavoidable, as unrest there escalated and a wave of top military ofﬁcers and envoys defected or resigned. "We say this to Yemen, where the situation is worsening. We estimate today that the departure of President (Ali Abdullah) Saleh is unavoidable," Juppe told a news conference in Brussels. (Reporting by Daniel Flynn, editing by Tim Pearce)

“Kifah” to Sue al-Jazeera for Sedition The “national organization for combating violence and terrorism awareness” “Kifah” stated that it is preparing a lawsuit against the a-Jazeerah channel, considering it the main reason for stirring sedition among Arab nations.

“It is agitating one sect against the other and exaggerating the events, which led to the death of thousands of people in many of the Arab Continued on Page (3)

Tuesday, Mar. 22, 2011 Issue 37 www.nationalyemen.com

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National Yemen Resigned Between Honor and Opportunities

Last Friday will be in the spotlight of modern history of the revolution in Yemen against the current ruling party (GPC), as University protestors have met their fate, slain by the cold hands of snipers. This awful day left 52 martyrs and 200 injured, which made the situation of the government harder than before to resign and mainly the president Saleh who is continuously called to step down before the end of his term in ofﬁce. The action has dramatically raised the passions of the Yemenis all over the country, whether they were pro-government or anti-government. This has given courage to many ofﬁcials, ministers, sheikhs, Islamic scholars, etc. to resign from the ruling party in response to the killing civilians in such an aggressive way. Those who resigned were accused of having problems in their works or at risk of being dismissed before they resign. In other cases, some are looking for better opportunities in the upcoming national government or the new ruling party if it will come to pass. Time will be the good judge to reveal the ill will or good will of those politics players. Yes it was a horrible

attack and may god mercy those martyrs and heal the patients in the hospitals. Yes, Yemenis are looking for change nowadays, but would those who are resigning will contribute to the future of Yemen, however it may look? The president has got it wrong when he gives them and himself lasting trust for so many years. Family members, relatives, and staff surrounding him want him to leave safely in order to protect their businesses that has been built with his blessings and help. Family members and tribal relatives have been divided into two groups and they are behind the current movement of Saleh situation. The honor of Saleh depends on not repeating the deeds of al-Gadhaﬁ, nor to ﬂee like Bin Ali, but it could be like Mubarak. Saleh should decide for history, and for the sake of his own legacy, how he would like this episode to be remembered. The president still holds on to the vestiges of a heroic image, but if he will continue obstinate, he will drive the country into bloody clashes and posterity will not look kindly upon him. Yemen is the country of faith and wisdom, enough killing, enough assassinations. Yes to development, yes for the future of Yemen and the new generation. People will love you more an respect you if you achieve progress for all. Time is not with you after the dark days Yemen has just seen. What would be the ideal solution for your long experience in power, other than handling these events gracefully and humbly. Do the right thing.

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along with more bloodshed.” Kifah also said, “We have irrefutable evidence that condemns Al-Jazeera, broadcaster of news and information, which proves that its officials deserve to be brought to the International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes as well as inflaming the civil and sectarian and regional wars through their media which they have produced to sow suppression and murder and destruction among brothers.” The Kifah organization demanded that civil society organizations at Arab or International levels stand with it until this media channel is prosecuted.

Fakhri Hassan Al-Arashi Publisher & Chief Editor

Tuesday, Mar. 22, 2011 Issue 37 www.nationalyemen.com

Tens of Thousands Protest in al-Dalea as Resignations Continue By Sale Almansoub / Al-dalea A massive rally walked today from the centre of Qotoba city heading to Sana’a, whose participants afﬁrmed their solidarity with the protestors in Sana’a and all anti-government protest squares throughout the country. Prior to this rally, a festival was held where thousands of participants attended from all al-Dalea directorates, including Damt, al-Haseen, Juban, alShu’aib, al-Azariq, and Qotoba. Director General of vocational and industrial education Mohammed al-Audi tendered his resignation from the ruling party and delivered a speech in which he called protestors to erect tents and to continue their protests. The lawyers syndicate branch in Al-Dalea issued a

statement in which they condemned the excessive use of force against peaceful demonstrations and sit-ins. They also demanded the state with all its agencies to take responsibility and called to halt the rampant violation of human rights. The syndicate also offered help and support to the protestors. A statement was issued after the rally in which protestors conﬁrmed that their protest is going to continue to be peaceful and includes all classes of people. The statement also saluted all resigned GPC members who joined the protests and called their brothers in the peaceful Hirak in the southern governorates to join the protests. They also conﬁrmed that the southern cause with all its

Al-Zindani Seeks Refuge in Home Village

political, national and human rights dimensions, is present in these protests and cannot be ignored. Dozens of GPC members as well as local council members have submitted their resignations and joined the revolutionary protests.

Sources also mentioned that the major general and the security directorate’s head were seen amidst the protestors, yet their presence was to investigate the protests’ audience and their number, and did not necessarily reﬂect their solidarity with the cause.

Secessionist Leader in Hadramaut Leads Rally

Political observers verified that Sheikh Abdulmajeed Al-Zindani after shocking the nation by declaring his loyalties to the anti-government demonstrators outside University of Sana'a, has now left to his hometown in Arhab, Sana’a governorate. Al-Zindani met the protestors at Change Square and delivered a speech in which he announced his solidarity with their cause and urged them to continue their sit-in until they achieved their goal of unseating the current government. Al-Zindani also supported the protestors with a number of Mujahideen “ikhwan al muslimin” whom are studying at al-iman University in addition to tuck a number of industry experts explosives

Thousands of demonstrators walked today in the “Day of Prisoners” which started from the “camp of freedom and dignity” located in Mukalla, and marched forth bearing aloft separatists’ flags and pictures of Ali Salem al-Beedh, the imprisoned Southern movement leader Hasan Ahmed Ba’um and the movement’s martyrs, while chanting secessionist slogans. Political activist and spokesman of the south-

ern Hirak of Hadramout Salem Bin Daghar delivered a speech in the freedom camp in which he confirmed that southern slogans will keep being chanted and repeated until “victory for the sons of Hadramout.” He added, “the liberation journey which started five years ago under the gunsfire and bullets of the occupiers is not going to stop until their land is returned to us.”

Hashed Tribe’s Man Suspended Mediation

Continued From Page (1) countries,” an official statement from the group read. The statement considered Al-Jazeerah an organization guilty of war crimes, which should be punished and held responsible for its supposed “crimes.” “Al Jazeerah media lost its professionalism as the rest of the Arab and foreign satellite channels to deal with the events impartially, without bias to one party against the other party,” the statement continued. “It deliberately stands with the destructive elements in these societies and as a main supporter of extremist and destructive thoughts in order to bring strife and conflict,

LOCAL

Noah Browning Deputy Editor

Sheikh Sadeq Al-Ahmar, an elder of the Hashed tribe suspended his position in the mediation committee that seeks to the convergence of views between the Yemeni president and the opposition and aims at containing their disputes, citing the current crisis. Sadeq al-Ahmar’s media office said that his decision came in protest of violent acts led by the ruling party to suppress peaceful demonstrations. Sadeq al-Ahmar is leading a committee that is consisted of several tribal sheikhs and was formed after the escalation of the protests In Yemen to create a solution to the crisis the Mohammed Al-Asaadi Editorial Consultant

Sheikh Sadeq Al-Ahmar Yemen has been witnessing for the last two months. The resignation also came after the bloody day which Hodeida witnessed in which more than 300 hundred

Fuad Al-Qadhi Business Editor

Shukri Hussein Abyan Correspondent

people were wounded last Wednesday after clashes between pro- and anti-regime loyalists. And according to eyewitnesses the clashes took place after a massive rally supporting the initiative issued by the president which pushed some elements from the opposition to provoke his supporters, causing clashes with sticks and daggers till the Yemeni security forces disengaged the clashes using smoke bombs. Yemen has been witnessing protests for a couple of months calling to overthrow the president who has governed the country for 32 years.

Jihan Anwar Staff Journalist

These protests are divided into pro- and anti-regime factions, and some are turning to violence in these conflicts. The opposition party issued a statement in which it accused the authorities of continuing to commit crimes and attacks on the peaceful protestors in several cities of the republic, most recently in Hodeida, and attempting to abort the revolution through thuggish acts that transgressed all values, norms, and laws. The statement also said that the blood shed in the entire republic will not be wasted and war criminals will be prosecuted before national and international courts.

Naila Bamehriz Translator & Coordinator

The Facts As They Are

Mohammed Abdalaleem Shabwah Correspondent e-mail: info@nationalyemen.com website:www.nationalyemen.com address:al-qiada st.

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LOCAL

Tuesday, Mar. 22, 2011 Issue 37 www.nationalyemen.com

American Ambassador to Yemen, Say What is Good or be Silent! By Dr. Nahla al-Huraibi In response to the Yemeni people’s wide and determined uprising to overthrow the current corrupt regime, the American Ambassador in Yemen has advised Yemenis to stop and pursue dialogue with Saleh. Yemen has been living under the miserable conditions resulting from the rule of Ali Abdullah Saleh and his family for 32 years. In the last 10 years, the unbearable political, economic and security crises of Saleh’s regime have been escalating and intensifying. The falsification of the elections results in Yemen’s presidential elections has intensified the vast majority of the population’s seething feelings of anger, deprivation and oppression. Ever since that election in 2006, protests have started—with a light and intermittent pattern that culminated in the

immense wave of protests that has been taking place in Yemen lately. The symptoms of corruption in Saleh’s regime have extended to all aspects of Yemeni society. From acquiring and monopolizing the wealth of the country to the benefit of his family, tribe and allies, and on to creating wars with the Houthis in the north as a tactic of his policy of “dancing on the head of snakes” (The president’s own description of the way in which he rules Yemen), Saleh has been cunningly using the “al-Qaida” Scarecrow to convince the West of supporting him—financially with millions of dollars and politically by turning a blind eye on his regime’s violations of human rights. Ironically, the more the West becomes enthusiastic and generous in backing that cursed regime, the stronger

and more wide-spread alQaida’s followers become. This is simply because our “dancing” president is playing on all parties: he is exploiting the West’s worries, obtaining more funds and support, and weakening Yemeni people by engaging them in artificial wars.

‘‘

president is playing on all parties: he is exploiting the West’s worries, obtaining more funds and support, and weakening Yemeni people

Yemeni youth and university students started the peaceful uprising which Saleh’s forces have attempted to end with violence and live bullets. The aspirations of Yemeni people are no less legitimate than those of the Egyptian and the Tunisian people. In response to Yemeni people’s legitimate demands, Saleh’s regime has been using all of the government’s powers of suppression. However, the more violent Saleh’s forces become, the larger, stronger and more persistent the opposition grows. Yemeni people are sure that there is no way back after so many peaceful and unarmed innocents have lost their lives to Saleh’s bullets. In the middle of all of this tumult, the American Ambassador speaks up. But he does so with a painfully disappointing statement, one that would have better been left unsaid:

he asks millions of protestors to give up their dream for the sake of one tyrant and his family; he asks these millions to give the dictator another chance after 32 years of evasiveness and oppression. Mr. Ambassador, it is far too late for negotiations. Saleh has had decades to show us these “negotiations” of his, as well as the sickeningly sweet goodwill he has been so effusive with in the past days; yet he has never taken the trouble to do so. That is because he thought he would never need to. He thought his rule would never end, and when he was unafraid he did not hesitate to treat us—the Yemeni people—with contempt and indifference. Now, when he sees his end is nigh, when he is scared and terrified, he wants to “negotiate”. Why should we give him a chance he never gave us?

He has run our country to the ground, into lowly poverty, sickness and corruption; its time he gave someone else a chance to rule. Mr. Ambassador, as an American who is affiliated to the United States which claims to be based on principles of freedom, democracy and human rights, according to which of these principles are you demanding the Yemeni people to negotiate with a tyrant who ruled for 32 years and now is preparing his son to take over? Wouldn’t it be rather more logical, based on your background, to advise Saleh to listen to his people and step down from his “Republican” throne? Mr. Ambassador, allow me to give you some advice from the Prophet Mohammad, peace be upon him: “Say what is good, or be silent.”

Yemeni Clerics Reject State of Emergency By Saddam Alashmory

Yemeni religious scholars announced last Saturday their rejection of the state of emergency declared by the president last Friday after the massacre targeting protestors in change square, Sana’a. They also called the president to respond to the demands of the people and to confront the national security bodies and bring its leaders and members to trial. The religious scholars in a very harsh speech after

Saturday’s meeting rejected the state of emergency for the absence of a law that regulates emergencies and the risk of having an individual political party in the House of Representatives to prepare a draft law to meet its demands and suppress freedoms guaranteed by the constitution and the law and ignite sedition among the Yemeni people. They also in their statement held the authority represented by president fully

responsibility for the blood that was shed and lives lost as well as the wounded and injured, by virtue of his general mandate. The denounced what they called as the massacre committed after Friday prayer against peaceful protestors. They gave the authority no excuses for the security lapse and warned the authority against hiring the judicial members to cover the bloody crime of Friday and targeting

Protestors Brieﬂy Storm al-Jawf Facilities According to local sources in al-Jawf governorate, several government facilities were seized after anti-government protestors broke into the political security, central security, and public security buildings in the governorate’s capital city. Sources also reported that there were clashes between the protestors and the security forces last Monday morning, which resulted in the injuries of many people. This event is considered an escalation which could motivate the opposition protestors in several governorates to

commit similar actions. In the same context, there were angry protestors in alMa’afer directorate, Taiz, who seized a government compound and briefly controlled it in solidarity with the martyrs and wounded who fell in the change square in the capital Sana'a on Saturday morning while protesting against the regime. The angry protestors walked around the directorate in massive rallies and entered the local security offices then the ruling party headquarters, where they took off the president’s pictures from the

buildings. They also maintained their protest in the nearby square as military forces headed from Taiz City to the directorate in order to suppress the uprising. The compound was cleared after notable personalities from the area interfered and the security forces ultimately did not face the protestors. Al-Ma’afer directorate is the home of Sultan al-Barakani, the chairman of the parliamentary bloc for the GPC, as well as of the deputy prime minister Rashad al-Aleemi.

protestors, fabricating false charges against them, harassing them, and creating a justification for committing further crimes of murder against them. They demanded the public prosecution to bear the responsibilities of the legitimate, constitutional and speedy urgent investigation to find out the perpetrators of the bloody massacre on Friday and hand them over to the judiciary, not to mention their

past crimes against the protesters in the various provinces. They also demanded the army and security forces not to execute any orders of killing or suppression and demanded to bring the Republican Guard units and brigades from the capital Sana'a to the account for the unnecessary presence of all these forces in the capital. In the time where they confirmed the protestors and Yemenis rights in protesting

they also denounced the official media for perpetuation of lies and misinformation and distorted facts, and urged them to be the representative of the people, not the ruling party. They also called upon protecting all journalists and correspondents and news agencies both internal and external and enabling them to practice their work in conveying the facts to the Yemeni people and the world.

Bajjash Al-Aghbari released after 15-year Detention Yemeni authorities released this week the political detainee Bajjash Al-Aghbari, who is considered longestimprisoned political detainee in the central prison in Sana’a, having been incarcerated for fifteen years. After his release, al-Aghbari said to the media that his release was one of the products of the revolution and sit-ins by the young protestors from all over the republic.

Al-Aghbari who hails from the Al-Ghabrah area in South Yemen, was one of the fighters in South Lebanon in the 80s and was arrested in al-Mahrah governorate after the summer of 1994 and accused of belonging to an underground militant cell. He was allegedly subjected to torture for a month and a half, then was moved to a political prison and imprisoned in an underground chamber

for four months, at which point he was transferred to a cell in the criminal investigation authorities for six months. Al-Aghbari was convicted of jeopardizing the state’s security and an execution verdict was levelled against him, then the verdict was cummuted to 20 years in prison, where he was transferred to the central prison in Sana’a and spent the remainder of his sentence.

Southern Movement Condemns Mukalla Crackdown A text of the state is reproduced below. The Peaceful Hirak assembly calls the sons of Hadramout to be careful and vigilant of the schemes the occupier and condemns the militarization of Mukalla city and prevalence of armored cars and armored vehicles at entrances. The Peaceful Hirak assembly for liberating the south was witnessing the events of March 15th anxiously. The city experienced heavy

gunfire in several neighborhoods and the authorities deployed armored vehicles and tanks, police and security teams to render the city into a veritable army base. The militarization of Mukalla city and the closure of its entrances are part of an old plan by the occupiers, since it undertook the military campaigns in Al-Dalea, Radfan, Lawder and al-Hawta

in Shabwa, yet it failed miserably because of the people’s resistance toward this new aggression. The assembly confirms their struggle for their occupied homeland and will continue a peaceful struggle. We denounce the stories made by the security forces, accusing the sons of Hadramout of possessing weapons and opening fire, and that they are

responsible for paving the way for military and security to spread within the city up to residential neighborhoods and repress families and citizens. The assembly calls organizations for human rights around the world, Gulf States, the Arab League, the European Union, the UN Security Council, Islamic Conference Organization, and the United Nations to consider seriously the risks

to Hadramout citizens and what they are exposed to by continuous military operations, killing of citizens and the arrest of politicians and journalists. It also calls upon international and Arab media, particularly Al-Jazeera, to shed light on what is going on in Hadramout and Mukalla city in particular, urging reporters to show honesty and conscience.

We also call upon the religious scholars and sheikhs, dignitaries and social personalities and civil society forces organizations in Hadramout to be vigilant and understand what’s happening and to condemn tyranny and the for security to be ensured for everyone. Peaceful Hirak Assembly for Liberating the South Hadramout March 16th, 2011

National Yemen

COMMUNITY

Tuesday, Mar. 22, 2011 Issue 37 www.nationalyemen.com

Resigning continually increasing from different level of Ambassadors, Ministers, governors, member of parliament, Shaikhs and military and government staff

Hamoud Al-Hattar (Judge), Minister of Islamic Trusts and Guidance

Hashed Al-Ahmer Deputy speaker of Parliament

Nabil Al-Faqih Minister of Tourism

Hussen Al-Ahmer

Dr / Jalal Faqqerah last Minister of Agriculture

Abdullah Almuntasir

Abdulmalik Almualimi

Huda Alban The Minister of Human Rights

Commander Ali Mohsein Al-Ahmer

Nasr Taha Moustafa Chairman agency of Saba news

Faisal Amin Abu Rass Yemen's ambassador in Lebanon

Marwan Abdullah Abdulwahhab Noman

Khaled Al- Rowaishanlast minister of culture and member of Al- Shura Council

Samir Al â&#x20AC;&#x201C;yousuďŹ editor of Al-Goumhuria Newspaper

Nabil Al-Khamiri

Sheikh Sadeq Al-Ahmar

Dr / Faris Al- Sakaf Head of the General Book Org

Dr / Mohammed Abdul Hamid Al- Koubati Chairman of the Foreign relations in the Ruling Party

Tuesday, Mar. 22, 2011 Issue 37 www.nationalyemen.com

SPECIAL

National Yemen

The ruling party continues to show its power and ability to bring pro-government partisans from the different governorates. The scenario is likely to continue.

National Yemen

SPECIAL

Tuesday, Mar. 22, 2011 Issue 37 www.nationalyemen.com

Martyrs of Change Square in Sana'a, Friday 18 March (There are five victims who have not yet been identified) 1 - Ismail Saleh Al- Ma'amari (Amran) 2 - Arafat Mohamed Ahmed Hamza (Albaida) 3 - Issa Ahmed Al-Shami (Ibb) 4 - Mohamed Kanaf Morshid Ghoneim 5 - Salah Abdullah Al-Sharmani 6 - Mohamed Yahya Mohamed Al-kamlani (Bani Matar) 7 - Khalid Ali Muhammad Al-Hazmi (Taiz) 8 - Mohamed Abdel Wahed Al-Arifi (Dhamar) 9 - Ali Ahmed Mohammed Al-Falahi (Dhamar) 10 - Qais shoei Al-Malaki (Hajjah) 11 - Mohamed Mohamed Motaher Alqaba (Amran) 12 - Mohammed Ali Mohammed Al-Tawil (Dhamar) 13 - Awad Ali Saleh Aliafee (Lahjj) 14 - Jamal Ahmad Al-Sharabi (Taiz) 15 – Mohamed Mohamed Ali El- Alaoui (Dhamar)

16 - Mohamed Hussein Althulaia(Amran) 17 - Abdul Baset Abdul Ghafoor Almashwali (Taiz) 18 - Omar Mohamed Said Albraihi (Taiz) 19 - Nazim Shihab Abdul Aziz 20 - Kamal Mohamed Hussein Saeed (Bani Matar) 21 - Amr Mohamed Hassan Al Shaibani (Taiz) 22 - Abdul Rahman Abdul Karim Nashwan 23 - Nur al-Din Ahmed Saleh Hassan 24 – Moneeb Yafuoz Al-Hakimi 25 - Alawi Ali Al-Shaheri 26 - Ibrahim Mohammed Al- Kadiri (Ibb) 27 - Hamed Abdullah Ali Shaif 28 - Adel Hussein Musa 29 - Mohammed. Morshed Ahmed Mouthana 30 –Maen or Hassan Al- Arifee

31 - Mohammed Yehia Al- Azab 32 - Mohammed Alawi Alusabi 33 - Sadiq Abdullah Abdu 34 - Sakr Ahmed Sheikh 35 - Amin Ahmed Ali Al- Ariﬁ (Mahweet) 36 - Anwar Abdul Wahid Saleh 37 – Himyar Mohamed Ali Nasr (Hodeidah) 38 - Yasser Hussein Al-Humaiqani 39- Ali Ali Al- Shahari 40-Hussein Ali Al- Ariqi 41-Mohammed Saleh Saeed Gareeba 42- Majed Abdullah Ali Al- Shaif 43-Ossama Ali Yahia Al-Ashwal

Tuesday, Mar. 22, 2011 Issue 37 www.nationalyemen.com

POLITICS

National Yemen

Tensions Multiply After Killings By Saddam Alashmory The Yemeni streets have been inflamed after weeks of pro- and anti-government protests in a number of Yemeni cities. The confrontations between the two parties resulted in the deaths of scores and the injury of hundreds, including a few soldiers. Despite the calls and initiatives presented by the president to the opposition parties, including the last initiative on preparing a new constitution and setting a new electoral system, the opposition rejected has rejected dialogue, saying that the initiatives came too late and are much lower than their expectations. The opposition also called to expand the protests area into all regions of the country, based on the president’s refusal to leave the office. It also pointed out that the time for negotiations with the government is over and the only choice is the street, where thousands of young protestors are demand the fall of the president whether in Sana’a or other directorates. The Opposition worked on agitating the streets and gathering as many followers as possible in order to undermine the legitimacy of the president. It was also insisted on using the street card as a solution, and committed to the people’s demands of overthrowing of the governance of president Saleh which lasted for three decades This step was answered with a rival move in Sana’a and other cities, which witnessed other rallies and sit-ins supporting the president and his call for national dialogue. This confirmed the popularity of the president which emboldened him to hold onto power as the opposition insists on overthrowing his regime. Ali Abdullah Saleh is the first president of the Yemeni republic since the unification in 1990, and before president of the Arab Republic of Yemen, “North Yemen,” since 1978 up to 1990 and considered to have the longest period of governance of any president in Yemen’s history. Yemen has passed through many changes; in the eighties it witnessed the war of the central regions by the national front that was backed by South Yemen.

Yemen then experienced the negotiations of unification achieved in 1990, four years later witnessing civil war against the separatists, which lasted 1,000 hours. A period of relative calm prevailed until the summer of 2004 which was the beginning of six wars against Houthi rebels in Sa’ada, North Yemen, which lasted for six years, in addition to a war on Al Qaeda which continues until still exist until today then the establishment of what is called the southern Hirak which calls for separation, all that affected the economical and social status of Yemen in general

joining to the protestors as well as the tribes’ attitude gave the opposition an incentive for achieving their demands that are legitimate, so they say. Its seems that the national pressure might has not reached the level which makes the regime deal with the youth’s

seriousness of this attempt and rushed into the fray, issuing a statement saying that the regime has lost its constitutional legitimacy and was to be replaced by a popular legitimacy. It also called upon the international community to

demands more seriously, and the official weakness has not reached that level which forces the regime to present any compromises that are commensurate with the peoples’ demands. Yet the pressure is increasing and that weakness is continuously increasing. And with the opposition’s insistence, the regime turned to suppress the demonstrators and intimidate them, and last week the streets witnessed the the heaviest clashes between the two parties, resulting in the murderer and injuries of hundreds in an attempt to break up the persistent sit-ins demanding the fall of the regime.

stop cooperating with them and to open an international investigation to monitor the war crimes committed by the President against the protestors and to call Yemenis to more resistance in the sit-in square. This made some sheikhs of Bakil tribe, the second largest tribe in Yemen, join the demonstrators in the change square in Sana’a after having thousands of its members led by Sheikh Amin Al-Ukaimi come to Sana’a, last Tuesday. According to some observers, they bypassed the security zone imposed at the entrances to the square and brought in weapons. The Islah party, led by Hameed al-Ahmar, called upon his allies from all provinces and Sana’a’s neighboring directorates, especially from Amran North West of Sana’a, to join the protestors in the change square supported with weapons from inside Sana’a.

The opposition confirmed that the protests will keep being peaceful and that there is no way for violence from their side, no matter how much the

tion that the security forces retaliate. In Marib governorate, clashes also erupted between demonstrators and army forces in a wide area which extended up to a governmental complex and caused the injury of 36 peopl,e including the governor

authority turns to violence. But apparently the Scenario changed and clashes erupted in various provinces and events are in a serious escalation and it is likely that the other option of armed confrontation is in the offing. Angry protestors have been able to take control of government facilities in al-Jawf province northwest of the Sana’a after storming into the political security building and public security central building. This escalatory step could be an incentive for demonstrators from the opposition in a number of directorates. Also angry protestors from Alma’afer directorate in Taiz last Sunday seized the governmental complex in the directorate and controlled in solidarity with the martyrs and injured who fell in the change square last Saturday morning demanding the fall of the regime. Yet they cleared the area after the mediation of notable persons from the area on condi-

Naji Alziyadi. Tribal groups have blocked the Sana’a-Marib main way protesting the suppression of the peaceful protests in Sana’a while other tribes attempted to blow up the oil pipeline in an area west of Marib. A source from the ministry of interior threatened the JMP block in a statement to Saba channel and warned them of persisting in illegal acts against citizens and their threat to stability and their harm of private and public property, banditry and sabotage of public services and spreading violence and chaos. Observes anticipate that the coming days are going to be the toughest for the ruling party, and the opposition is going to define the situation, so that their only option is to overthrow the regime. This remains an unlikely option for the ruling party, which announces publicly that it will fight until the last drop of blood.

Protests from Peaceful to revolutionary

Possibilities of overcoming the crisis Like many other Arab countries, Yemen is witnessing protests demanding reforms and fighting against poverty and unemployment, high prices and corruption as in Libya, Jordan, Algeria , Bahrain, Morocco, Iraq and Egypt and Tunisia, which led to the fall of the Egyptian and Tunisian presidents. Despite the confusion and fear which hit the Yemeni regime after the fall of both presidents and the closeness of the fall of the Libyan president, there remains the possibility of overcoming the crisis through the Yemeni president’s initiatives and calls for a national dialogue. Although the president’s regime has also witnessed a chain of resignations by the ruling party, including former minister, a current minister and party leaders where numbers of resigned members reached 21. Still, even despite the sacking of the entire government, the ruling party’s parliamentary members have 230 seats out of 301, the Yemeni president didn’t show any sign of stepping down before his stated period. Opposition leads the streets Events in the sit in squares continued, and the opposition pretended that they were wholly “youth protests,” but partially revealed its control over the situation after being provoked by the regime’s steps. The ruling party members’ resignations, or the soldiers

Turning to confrontations The regime has attempted to break up the sit-ins, and lately they clamped down on the protestors with the aid of the inhabitants of neighboring districts. The opposition realized the

Man Kills Brother Amid Political Standoff

Hashid and Bakil conﬁrms their stand with the army forces, security, and the Yemeni tribes in defense of legitimacy By Saddam Alashmory A man was killed by his brother in Amran governorate 50 kilometers away of the capital Sana’a, in an attack which left seven injured with various wounds. Local sources in Amran said that Omar Yahya Sinan Al-Sa’ar killed his elder brother Mohammed, 28-years old, over a partisan dispute. Omar who belongs to Islah party fired several gunshots at his brother after trying to stop him from attending a rally for the GPC party held in Amran last Saturday. Seven People from Habour

were also wounded on their way to attend the GPC’s rally in Amran. Tribal sources mentioned that a number of bodyguards of Sheikh Hussein al-Ahmar and Sheikh Hamid al-Ahmar have blocked the way to prevent the arrival of the participants, leading to the clashes resulting in the injury of another seven individuals. The Deputy Chairman of the Board of National Solidarity, Yahya Mujahid Abu Shawarib declared his resignation from the Board in protest of the JMP’s and the Board

acts of bullying resulting in the injury of many people. Abu shawarib expressed his condemnation for those acts targeting the homeland and its unity, and sacrificing innocent civilians by creating chaos and vandalism, bullying and disrupting community life. Amran governorate has witnessed unprecedented tension, where tribes are split into pro- and anti-government camps. Hussein al-Ahmar held an anti-regime rally two weeks ago, and the pro-government

factions of Hashid and Bakil held massive counter-rallies in support of the president’s initiative and the constitution’s legitimacy as well as the importance of security and stability. Abu Shawareb confirmed in the rally the honest position of Amran’s tribes and pointed that Yemen has repudiated calls for extremism and discrimination and conspiracy in all its forms. The Hashid and Bakil tribes confirmed their standing side by side with the army forces, security and the

Yemeni tribes to defend the unification and the governmental institutions and other National constants That came in the statement issued in the rally organized by Hashid and Bakil, which supported the president’s initiative The statement mentioned that all notable sheikhs of Hashid and Bakil in Amran governorate had discussed the current events as well as exchanged consultations and opinions on the irresponsible acts by the opposition parties which, they said, will lead

Yemen into peril if the notable personalities didn’t stand against them. They also called all opposition parties to negotiate, and to hold high all the interests of the nation and to help it realize its potential. They confirmed their absolute rejection of the calls for division by extremists of political partisanship and sectarian or tribal and regional groups, and that they will remain adhering to the principles, values and meanings of loyalty to God, homeland, and the Republic’s unity.

National Yemen

OPINION

Tuesday, Mar. 22, 2011 Issue 37 www.nationalyemen.com

The Revolution: the Dilemma of Yemenis By Dr. Murad Alazzany, A professor in Sana’a University Earlier this month, Yemenis with their different political trends were optimistic that their country's political leadership and opposition had reached “common ground” by which they would end weeks of unrest and protest all over the country. That common ground was reached through a group of influential religious clerics and tribal leaders who went in between the political rivals in an endeavor to resolve the political crisis. Through them, the opposition coalition parties presented a proposal of five points to President Ali Abdullah Saleh as a road map to get out of the crisis. Most significant among them is a point calling for the president to agree on handing over power peacefully by the end of this year. But the optimism of Yemenis over that common ground dissipated when the president defiantly rejected the opposition proposal calling its five-point plan vague and a violation for the constitution. He renewed his pledges to leave power only when his term ends by 2013. That increases Yemeni worries and to realize that the crisis that has been storming their country for weeks will be prolonged, and has caused them to lose their faith that any viable solution may be peering over the horizon. However, the president’s rejection of the opposition proposal did not only discourage Yemenis, but marked a new turn in the Yemeni political scenario. It has intensified a battle between the political rivals in the country. Since then, Yemeni streets have turned into competing rallying points between them. Each side exerts its effort to rally more supporters to show itself more powerful on the ground. The competitions between the opposition and the ruling party reached their peak on Fridays. That is when thousands of people, both supporters of the president and protesters, poured into the streets across the country on Fridays in what has become a weekly standoff event to display muscle on the streets. Prayers are not performed in mosques as usual but on the streets and main squares in cities. However, it seems that the battle between the Yemeni political rivals will not continue inclusively in terms of such power plays through demonstrations. The battle may turn into clashes on the streets between them, particularly once the ruling party starts to feel that the landscape of the opposition supporters is increasingly widening on its account. As of now, it is attracting more supporters and has reached places which were people had not previously been sympathetic. Though it is still difficult to predict how the situation in the country will evolve, one

can tell the coming weeks may witness bloody skirmishes between the political adversaries. The seeds of these clashes have began on a wide range all over the country since last Saturday. In Sana’a, the clashes escalated with security forces firing live and ammunition tear gas in a pre-dawn raid on a central square near the university.

‘‘ The streets echo with chants demanding the ouster of the president as much as they support his concessions

Four people were reported killed by snipers perched on the rooftop of a nearby building and hundreds were left wounded. What is odd is realizing that both sides of the political equation in Yemen are betting on time – the opposition to gain more supporters and the regime to assuage the protests. However, by observing closely the political situation in Yemen, one can tell time is on the side of the opposition rather than on the regime. Day by day, the opposition makes more gains on the ground; it attracts more people and rallies more consensus around its project of change. The opposition that has been known to be fractious appears to be unified around a single goal: ousting President Saleh. Unlike the opposition, the regime is under steadily growing pressure. Day by day, the regime becomes more isolated and burdened with new challenges and problems. More cracks are developing, as several members of its party keep resigning and declaring their solidarity with the opposition. In the midst of these events, the series of concessions the president made neither could quell the protesting youths nor mollify the opposition. His promise to create sixty thousand job opportunities for the youth this year and orders to set a dialogue with them led nowhere. His pledges not to run for president when his terms ends in 2013 and not to pass power

to his son were met with skepticism, and his offer of a unity government to the opposition was rejected promptly. His last gambit of proposing a new constitution that would be drafted by the end of year to establish the separation of legislative and executive powers failed too. The president is desperate to buy the support of the Yemeni street in any way and at any price. He even tried the tactic of blaming shadowy foreign powers, represented in cells run from Washington and Tel Aviv, for the problems afflicting his country. But that gamble appeared implausible and comical for the majority of viewers. In fact, the widespread protest has left Saleh and his regime under enormous pressure. It shocked the inner circle and made it look feeble at handling the situation. However, the president’s rejection of the early exit proposal suggests that he still believes he can ride out the revolt. But we do not know what exactly he is betting on. If it is on the security forces, the ongoing clashes prove that the more abuse of power the more intense grows the protest. Saleh may be betting on the force of the army as a potential buttress to support his rule as a president till his term ends by 2013. But the army the president has built through thirty years of his rule appears fragile and unable to burden the responsibility of securing the country and preventing it from descending into havoc. It failed six times to put down a small rebel force by Al-Houthis in the north of the country, let alone a widelyspread and publicly-supported protest. The culture of corruption has hollowed its institutions and weakened its loyalties. Removing senior generals from top positions and replacing them with the president’s family members affected the loyalty of its members. That makes the likelihood that the army will disband in the first encounter with clashes possible. That

increased by the Fatwa which was issued by a group of religious clerics which forbade soldiers from obeying the orders to kill or harm peaceful protestors. However, the card the president is potentially betting on is the division of Yemeni people and a rending of the social and political fabric of the country. This division appears prominent in Yemen’s streets, and many places are crowded with Saleh supporters as numerous as his opponents. The streets echo with chants demanding the ouster of the president as much as they support his concessions. It reveals the extent to which Yemeni loyalties are divided and the extent to which their views diverge. It shows that Yemenis do not know what exactly they want and are divided on how to achieve it. Perhaps all of them want to see fundamental political and economic reforms, but they disagree whether that could happen within the framework of Saleh's government or not. Even the tribal confederations, which are often used by both the president and the opposition to decide political power in the country, appears more vulnerable to this division. As there are many tents which were pitched by tribal men in rallying points supporting Saleh, there are at least as many constructed by tribal men in those areas which support the opposition. Thousands of these tribal men attended a rally in Amran province two weeks ago convened by Hussein al-Ahmar, a tribal chief widely known as a strong opponent of Saleh. Surprisingly, thousands of them attended another rally in the same province a week ago called by Kahlan Abu Shawareb, another tribal chief who is widely known as a strong supporter of Saleh. The possibility that the two rallies are attended by the same tribal men of the city stands strong. That is due to the fact that the politics of the tribes is quite complicated. They are well-known at

‘‘

The million dollar question that Yemenis, supporters and opponents, are asking now is what would happen to Yemen when Saleh leaves

excelling at the business of dividing political roles among themselves. Chiefs of the same tribe could have different political allegiances, some join the ruling party while others join the opposition. However, it is hard to tell that they are in anybody’s pocket. Historically, Yemeni tribes show their readiness to throw their weight behind any leader who seems most likely to lavish them with financial rewards and political privileges. It must be noted that the role of tribal allegiances in deciding the political power in Yemen is exaggerated by the opposition and media, too. 80% of Yemeni population belongs to non-tribal areas which are civilized and where tribal conventions are not dominant. These divisions have even infiltrated, though invisibly, the opposition camp. The opposition has become an umbrella for various groups that embrace political views it cannot accommodate. Its camp has been joined by the secessionists in the south and the Houthi rebels in the North. Members of the secessionist movement have replaced their slogans that often chant their demand for separation by those demand ousting the president. Similarly, the Houthi rebels have stopped their slogans accusing the regime of betrayal for its alliance with the US by those chanting the fall of the regime. That may have added a momentum to the protest of the opposition coalition parties and to make its movement appear temporally and outwardly inclusive. These groups have never declared their formal joining of the opposition coalition. That their chants demand the ouster of Saleh does not mean they have abandoned their previous agendas, but rather that they have frozen them. Once they dispose their in common enemy with the opposition, they will fight till the last breath to fulfill their agenda. The division of the people and the divergence of agendas put the coalition political parties in a difficult situation. In spite of joining the protest and using rhetoric that flares up their support of the youth, they appear unwilling to take their protest to a revolutionarily level. They only intend to increase pressure on Saleh to force him to accept their early exit proposal. However, the president’s defiant rejection of that proposal put the opposition in a real dilemma; they realize that it is not easy to topple a president who has endured wars and many rebellions like Saleh by protest and bloodshed. At the same time, they cannot withdraw their proposal due to the bloodshed and loss of souls among the youth. They are aware that if they accelerate their protest against Saleh, the country will descend into havoc and

Dr. Murad Alazzany turmoil. The opposition became convinced that without compromising a peaceful transition of power with Saleh, none will be able to rule a united Yemen after him. The political division of Yemenis and the diversity of their views make the revolution hard to accomplish, but their country is close to a conflict. It proves that Yemen is not like Tunisia or Egypt. A myth gains its resonance in the rhetorical discourse of the regime to frighten the people of a revolution. But that myth stands still a reality but it is the regime to blame for making Yemen not like Tunisia or Egypt. Through 33-years of the president’s reign, he did little to address the country’s desperate needs of education and development. Its policy and tactics of ruing the country contributed to empowering tribal Shiekhs, military generals and regional dignitaries on the account weakening country civil institutions. That paralyzed government ministries from playing any potential role to systematize the power hierarchy in the society. In the long run, the central government became weak in facing any challenge threatening the country. In turn, as power is dispersed among many players, the loyalty of people is as well. This explains well why a vacuum of power ensuing from Saleh’s removal will make the country descend into havoc. The million dollar question that Yemenis, supporters and opponents, are asking now is what would happen to Yemen when Saleh leaves. The opposition deems any attempt to answer this question as delaying the fall of the regime. But the opposition has to review its stand for a moment and find, based on real and given fact, a peaceful solution to the ongoing crisis. At the end, it should not forget that it is only the revolutionary fervor that triggers Yemenis’ yearn for change, otherwise the country is not ready to afford an abrupt revolutionary change, only a gradual one. Murad Alazzany is a professor in the department of English Studies at Sana'a University, Yemen. His main research areas are 'the representation of Islam and Muslims in the Western media' and 'the political discourse of Islamic movements in the media'.

Tuesday, Mar. 22, 2011 Issue 37 www.nationalyemen.com

REPORT

National Yemen

Libya; Why Not Yemen, Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Jordan, Syria, Saudi Arabia etc ? By Paul I. Adujie Today, France, Britain and the United States began a process which will culminate in the overthrow of Moamar Gadaffi, the dictator and tyrant who has dominated Libya’s political stage for far too long! In attacking Libya, western nations led by France, have argued that Moamar Gadaffi already has or is at the verge of massacring “his-own-people” as he repelled or took counter measures against legitimate uprising, rebellion and revolution against his more than 40 years dictatorships, tyranny and repression against the people of Libya. The truth is, the world is witnessing the onset of the invasion and occupation of Libya for her sweet crude oil. This is Iraq all over again, in which Weapons of Mass Destruction or WMD was used as smokescreen or camouflage and cottonwool over the eyes of the gullible, in the lead up to the invasion and occupation of Iraq. Libya is being attacked, Libya will be invaded and occupied with a regime change, under the guise of protecting Libyan people. It is false pretense. A dangerous and terrible precedent is being set, a slippery slope will ensue. Libya is at cusp of experiencing a regime change, engineered by western nations under some banal pretexts. Western nations have hated and loathed Moamar Gaddaffi forever, as a real and phantom or imagined enemy. Gaddaffi’s preachment and stance as anti colonialist, anti imperialist and anti apartheid endeared him to me in my youth and college days. Gaddaffi’s contradictions and inconsistencies were revealed to me, through an anti African migrant agreement which he entered with Italy and other European nations, in which Libya would be paid, to act as the gatekeeper for Europe against African citizens desperate to migrate to Europe through Libya, and other nations of North Africa. Secondly, Gaddaffi’s virulent anti African stance was proven to me beyond doubt, when he publicly suggested that Nigeria should be split into several component parts as separate nations, and along regional, ethnic or cultural and linguistic lines! All believers in the unity in diversity and indivisible plural one Nigeria, as I am were irked by Gaddaffi’s petulance and impertinence. Let it be known therefore, that my opinion is not anchored on defending Gaddaffi and his sons, as they are clearly indefensible, in equal measure as they are brutal, violent, repressive! Gaddaffi epitomized the worst form of dictatorship and tyranny in the world today. There is staggering hypocrisy and screeching-loud double standards in the actions of these western nations, particularly in the face of the massacre of more than 40 peaceful protesters in Yemen yesterday by the government of Yemen and it’s paramilitary or militia. Hypocrisies by western nations is legendary and even brazen now, in view of the fact that the were scores of deaths in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Jordan,

Syria, Saudi Arabia etc, all of which have witnesses protests and demonstrations and violence to varying degrees in these North African, Arabian and Middle Eastern nations since onset of these political upheaval in January. On the African continent, we witnessed and are still witnessing instances of rebellions and reprisals against rebels. Somalia is the worst example. Somalia is an anarchic nation state, a disintegrated and failed nation state which have not had a steady government since 1991. And yet, western nations have not intervened to save the lives of innocent civilians. If only Somalia had crude oil!? Somalia has since 1991 garnered the attention of western nations intermittently, only when pirates on Somalis waters, the Somali flank of the India Ocean, interferes briefly, with western commerce and merchandizing with ocean going vessels, have we noticed ad hoc reactions or seeming recognition of the existence of human life in Somalia. Western nations have had this episodic reactions to the humanitarian crises in Somalia which is the root cause of the Somali pirate phenomenon. In 1994, there were massacres in Rwanda of almost a million persons, a monumental disaster which was later adjudged to have been motivated by hatred and ethnic cleansing, and therefore, genocidal horrors, which arose in schism and chasm between Hutu and Tutsi. Western nations folded their hands, despite the presence of the United Nations troops! Since then, there have other genocidal horrors in Darfur Sudan, in which millions of Darfurians Sudanese met their untimely death, based primarily on their religion, race and southern origins in the Sudan. President Bashir’s government in Khartoum received criticisms, but there were not interventions, and Sudanese oil flowed even while the International Criminal Court indicted Bashir and Khartoum government. Libya is being attacked and invaded and Gaddaffi slated for overthrow and regime change, but Bashir is not! There have been frequent reports from the Congo, reports which suggests that civilians noncombatants have been massacred, raped and abused, with resultant dislocations and no

interventions has been suggested. Liberia and Sierra Leone had their own shares of conﬂicts, gratuitous violence and dislocations visited upon innocent civilians, but for ECOWAS led by Nigeria, during which Nigeria spent billions of dollars on peace keeping and stability, there were not murmur or hints of intervention on humanitarian grounds, to secure, protect and preserve innocent civilians in Liberia and Sierra Leone, perhaps because Liberia, and Sierra Leone, quite unlike Iraq and Libya, do not have hydrocarbon or fossil fuel oils? In recent times, France has corralled efforts and world opinion against Laurent Gbagbo, the incumbent President of Ivory Coast; Ivory Coast suffered an election impasse or deadlock. President Gbago petitioned the highest court of that nation, which resolved the petition upon adjudication in his favor. But the candidate preferred by France and other western nations, Alsance Qoutarra is being promoted as the winner of the November 28, 2010 elections. There are plans hatched outside Africa, to invade the Ivory Coast in order to install Alsance Qoutarra as stooge, this invasion would use Africans as tools, Nigeria being the arrow head or the apex of such military intervention in Ivory Coast. As oppose to the extreme measure which is what military intervention-invasion is, how about a recount of the ballots? Alternatively, why wasn't a repeat and a redo of the elections in Ivory Coast considered? Why the haste and what are the reasons for foreclosing these options in favor of the extreme measure of military invasion over election stalemate? How about the humanitarian crises and refugees and destabilization of the entire West African sub-region which will probably result from the planned military invasion? A repeat election is more cost effective and better for all parties concerned. Military invasion comes with unintended consequences, even when such invasion had any justiﬁcation... there are the known and unknowable of wars! What if there are elections deadlock in Nigeria in April 2011? What if there elections stalemate or impasse in Kenya or South Africa in those nations' next elections, there will be outside military interventions?

How does this promote democracy, due process and the rule of law, and other much vaunted democratic ideals? Libya, Iraq before it, and perhaps Ivory Coast is next, are supposed to be politically independent, sovereign nations with territorial integrity, inviolate and sacrosanct. And only extraordinary circumstances ought to trigger external intervention and interference in the internal affairs of a particular nation by another or by several other nations. This affront and breach of international law, conventions and protocols are particularly offensive in view of the fact that it is deployed and used selectively. Even most egregious examples and apt illustration of western nations’ staggering and jaw dropping hypocrisy and double standards is the fact that the attack against Libya and the Gaddaffi clan, is predicated, ostensibly, on the protection of “innocent-civilians” as Gaddaffi and his sons, the undeclared royal family and unconstitutional monarchy of Libya, have during the past several weeks engaged in violence and massacres directed at Kaddafi’s “ownpeople.” The glaring contradictions and inconsistencies by western governments in these matters are legendary! Yemen’s political leadership have through it’s militia and paramilitary massacred peaceful protesters and their “ownpeople” even as recent as yesterday, when over 40 Yemeni citizens were murdered by agents of the government of Yemen. But no planned intervention, invasion, and occupation of Yemen by western nations. After all, WikiLeaks and Julian Assange enlightened us as to how the American government compelled the government of Yemen to deceive it’s own people, by being the fall guy for American military operations inside Yemen, which have led to scores of deaths in Yemen. All this, not in pursuit of Yemen’s national or strategic interests. Yemen is a client nation state, eager to serve interests of western nations, so, no intervention in Yemen, no invasion and occupation or regime change for Yemen. In Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria, Algeria and Tunisia and Egypt before that, there were peaceful public

demonstrations, and protests, in these nations, which have been stereotyped populaces, culture and region with blood-lusts, where folks are liable to and prone to engage in mindless violence without logic or reason. Meanwhile, peacefulness have been the key word, and catchphrase in these protests which began in Tunisia, then Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain, Yemen, etc. Peacefulness have been exemplified in the tidal wave of revolutions, political upheaval and demands for individual rights, freedoms and a further demand for democracy, the rule of law and an end to political repressions. Mindless murderers and Political Islam which is dreaded by western nations never capitalized on these peaceful protest. And those who are supposed to be mindless murderers for pleasure in the in Islamic-Arab World, and North Africa, were nowhere to be found! Peacefulness or no peacefulness, it is the case that citizens who have engaged in legitimate demand for economic, political and constitutional reforms in the aforementioned North African, Middle Eastern-Arab and Persian nations, have subjected to brutal attack, extremely draconian and murderous attacks by the various dictatorships and tyrannies in Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain, and more particularly so, in Yemen. Western nations’ military armada are now engaged in direct intervention, invasion and occupation of Libya, predicated on the propaganda, neatly packaged, which insists that Moamar Gaddaffi and his sons are engaging in massacres of “their-own-people” innocent civilians and all! But, it must be pointed out, and these pretentious western nations should be reminded that the innocent civilians in Libya, those engaged in uprising and revolution or rebellion in Libya are not different in the plights, predicaments and fates when compared to equally beleaguered peaceful protesters and demonstrators in other North African Arab and Middle Eastern nations already mentioned above. What exactly is the criteria for selecting Libya? And how can western nations sustain reasonable argument which would convince anyone as to the difference between Libya, and most of the North African and Middle Eastern nations with similar uprisings? Why cherry pick Libya, as opposed to Yemen etc? Why is it that western nations are splendidly disinterested in economic and political reforms, or the establishment and promotion-advancement of democracy in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Dubai, Bahrain, Yemen, Syria, Egypt, etc? These are nations where single individuals and or families have dominated and colonized political space for decades, with winks and nods and active encouragements by and from western nations which are only interested in free flow of oil and the protections and preservation of their parochial and myopic interests. Western nations have historically and perennially mouthed so-called western ideals a la

democracy, due process, the rule of law and human rights etc, and yet, when the chips are down, and when it is time for these same western nations to put their monies where their mouths are, they have always preferred to undermine, subvert and rather truncate democracy and good governance in the hot pursuit of their national and strategic interests, based on expediencies and exigent and ad hoc worldview. This repeated concave and shortsightedness have often backfired historically. Think Cuba, Chile, Iran, Afghanistan etc. This shortsightedness, this myopia, this parochial worldview, measured only by fleeting and fluid western interest is root causes of all the troubles in the world. This invasion, occupation and regime change in Libya is again motivated by land grab and the new scramble for resources, particularly oil in the Middle East, Arabia, Persia, and in the case of Libya, you could say, North Africa, perhaps it is time to raise our collective alert to the fact that there is a new scramble for Africa and her resources, and Libya is the first step, and the first salvo was fired today, led by the French, Britain and America, albeit, with tacit and arguably feeble support from the Arab League and the African Union. It is extremely shameful to see how often expedient western interests trumps and trounces so-called ideals. All things considered and particularly in view of the situations in the various North African and Middle Eastern nations which are already referenced and outlined above, many are curious to know, why there are no plans to similarly intervene directly, invade, occupy and do regime changes in all the nations which are currently undergoing tidal waves of political upheaval by way of peaceful demonstrations and protests. Especially, as in Yemen where peaceful protesters have been murdered and massacred in large numbers! The question which should be on everyone’s lips, therefore, is, why Libya? If Libya, why not Somalia, Sudan, Bahrain, Yemen, Syria, Saudi Arabia etc? I hold all dictators and tyrants in equal contempt and disdain, and it is irrelevant whether such dictatorships or tyrannies are theocratic, monarchical or military. Libya possesses the highly valued crude oil, a particularly less sulfuric version, known as the sweet crude, a West Texas Intermediate sibling or equivalent. And only a fool and a communist would believe that crude oil in Libya has anything to do with western nations’ attacks, intervention, and planned invasion, occupation and regime change in Libya. Only a floozy conspiracy theorist, would as much as fathom the silly idea, that Libya’s resources and strategic geographic location, makes Libya a launching pad for the new scramble for resources on the African continent and Middle East region by western nations!

National Yemen