Saudi Arab to hire Pakistani Tribes for protection of borders against Yemenis

Obama speaks to Saudi king, White House plans Camp David statement Mon, May 11 19:07 PM EDT image WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama spoke to Saudi Arabia's King Salman on Monday about preparations for the summit with Gulf leaders at Camp David this week, and the White House said the summit would result in a statement outlining commitments from all sides. The meeting would include an announcement on integrating ballistic missile defense architecture as well as more military exercises to address maritime, counterterrorism, air and missile defense challenges, U.S. officials told reporters on a conference call. The leaders would also discuss ways to work together to harden government infrastructure against cyber hackers, the officials said. (Reporting by Jeff Mason and Roberta Rampton; Editing by Doina Chiacu) =============== Tehran’s billboards are usually a place for commercials about the latest gadgets, household items and cheese-flavoured crisps. They also display portraits of martyrs from the eight-year war with Iraq in the 1980s, quotes from religious figures and the now less frequent “death to America” posters. Tehran’s billboards replaced with artworks – in pictures But, overnight, the Iranian capital has had a facelift. In a project which the city’s mayor hopes will encourage people to visit museums, the billboard ads have been replaced with artworks by renowned local and foreign artists. For 10 days, images by the likes of Pablo Picasso, René Magritte and Henri Matisse are turning the capital into a giant urban art gallery. The long, tree-lined Modarres highway, named after a famous Islamic cleric, now displays Edvard Munch’s striking masterpiece, The Scream. Another street hosts The Son of Man by Magritte, the Belgian surrealist, next to a painting by the famous Iranian poet and artist Sohrab Sepehri. Not far from it is a large landscape by David Hockney – the original was shown at the Royal Academy three years ago. Billboards in Tehran’s streets are now showing artworks by renowned Iranian and foreign artists. Photograph: Farshad Abbasi/hamshahriphoto.ir The pictures are among more than 1,500 billboards dotted across the capital’s streets, displaying a total of 700 works that also include reproductions of traditional Persian miniatures, carpets, calligraphy and various other art pieces. Advertisement The project, called A Gallery As Big As a Town, has been met with positive reactions online and by the Iranian press. Sadra Mohaqeq, an Iranian journalist with the reformist Shargh daily in Tehran, was delighted. “It’s pretty exciting. It’s wonderful to see billboard ads of laundry machines or big corporate banks being replaced by a Rembrandt or a Cézanne or a Picasso, what better than that?” he told the Guardian. “For 10 days, people have time off from the usual billboard ads just promoting consumerism. It is going to affect people’s visual taste in a positive manner.” Mohammad Babaee, another Tehrani citizen, said he was delighted to see works he had never seen before. “I had never heard of Barge Haulers on the Volga but now I get to see a big picture of it every day in Hemmat highway.” Elaheh Khosravi said she had to rub her eyes twice in disbelief. “When I woke up this morning, something strange had happened,” she wrote on the Iranian news website Khabaronline. “I thought I was dreaming, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Tehran had turned into a museum.” Shargh said the art had transformed Tehran into a giant canvas. “This is a very commendable move. It’s a festival of colour and movement,” it wrote. Officials hope the project will encourage more people to visit museums and galleries. Photograph: Farshad Abbasi/hamshahriphoto.ir Mojtaba Mousavi, the project manager, said most of Tehran’s billboard spaces were run by private companies. “They weren’t initially comfortable with the idea of closing down their advertising business for 10 days but they finally approved to give us their spaces because it was a cultural activity,” he told Khabaronline. “We were free in choosing the works but there was a general guideline. We wanted both Iranian and world art pieces and finally some 70% of the billboards are from Iran and the rest from the outside world,” he added. Among the artworks are images by Mahmoud Farshchian, a master of Persian paintings and miniatures. Jamal Kamyab, a municipality official involved in the project, said it was done to encourage people to go to museums and art galleries more often. “Unfortunately people don’t visit museums or cultural institutions as often so we wanted to encourage them to go,” he said, according to Mehr News Agency. The project is curated by Iranian artist and sculptor Saeed Shahlapour. Tehran also has a hidden treasure little known to the outside world. The city’s Museum of Contemporary Art holds the finest collection of modern art anywhere outside Europe and the US, boasting original works by Jackson Pollock, Francis Bacon, Andy Warhol, Mark Rothko, Munch and Magritte. But the pieces have been gathering dust in the basement of the museum for more than 30 years. Censors in Iran classed some as un-Islamic, pornographic or “too gay”, and they have never been shown in public. Others have been displayed only once or twice. In August 2012, a number of the collection’s paintings were put on show for the first time in Tehran as part of the museum’s Pop Art & Op Art exhibition, featuring works by Warhol, Hockney, Roy Lichtenstein, Victor Vasarely, Richard Hamilton and Jasper Johns. All billboards displayed in public have to be vetted by the authorities before they are put in place. In October 2013, a series of billboards questioning the US’s honesty in its dialogue with Iran made worldwide headlines. One showed an Iranian negotiator seated at a table talking face to face with his American counterpart. The US negotiator is half-civilian, half-military with a pump-action shotgun on his lap. “The US government styles honesty,” read the billboard. Tehran’s mayor, Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, has changed Tehran’s landscape significantly in recent years, building new bridges, tunnels and green spaces. The city’s budget has also increased under his watch. Billboards in Tehran showing artworks by Iranian and foreign artists. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Works by masters such as Picasso, Magritte and Matisse have turned the Iranian capital into a giant urban art gallery. Photograph: Hamed Khorshidi/hamshahriphoto.ir Last year, Ghalibaf unveiled a spectacular high-tech bridge that was designed by a young female architect, Leila Araghian. She recently won an international award for the structure, designed when she was 26. Art galleries in Tehran face huge difficulties in running exhibitions as all have to gain permission before they open doors to the public. In February, authorities shut down a gallery showcasing artist Nima Behnoud’s pop art exhibition of forms and calligraphic shapes at Shirin Art Gallery, although it had permission. The gallery owner was also briefly detained. Widespread censorship has forced many prominent Iranian artists to leave home, including sculptor Parviz Tanavoli, one of Iran’s leading living artists. A prominent Iranian art journal recently asked 100 art experts to name Iran’s top artists. Eight out of ten selected are exiled. ==== Saudi Arab to hire Pakistani Tribes for protection of borders against Yemenis Friday, 08 May 2015 Saudi Arab to hire Pakistani Tribes for protection of borders against Yemenis Saudi Arabian Ambassador has requested to Pakistani Kabaili Jarga to send their Kabaili Lashkar (Tirbal force ) to Saudi Arab for the protection of its border linked with Yemen. The Saudi diplomat met with the heads of Jirga at his office in Islamabad, the diplomat assured them for high fees for this job to protect Saudi border from any possible attack of Yemenis. After Pakistani government made decision to maintain neutrality in Yemen crisis, Saudi officials, including Deputy Minister of Islamic Affairs Dr. Abdul Aziz Abdullah, Imam-e-Ka’aba, have already started to influence banned religious outfits, religious political leaders, politicians, different heads of religious seminaries, journalists, NGOs on Yemen crisis, according to reports. Now they are influencing Kabaili Jarga to gain their force for the protection of Saudi borders. On the other hand, PML-N government is completely unconcerned toward the undiplomatic and illegal activities of Saudi officials, which shows that the government’s leniency toward Saudi Kingdom. The undiplomatic and illegal ambassadorial activities of Dr. Abdullah has exposed the PML-N Government’s leniency toward Saudi Kingdoms, as Pakistani authorities let the Saudi minister free to do whatever in Pakistan. It is pertinent to mention here that Saudi Deputy Minister of Islamic Affairs Dr. Abdullah has also presided over the Tahfuz-e-Harman-e-Sharifin Seminar, organized by the Jamiyat Ahle Hadith on April 11 in Islamabad. The seminar was attended by Molana Abul Khair, Jamat-ut-Dawa’s Hafiz Saeed, Pir Amin Hasnat, Pir Mehfoz Mashhadi, Molana Fazul-ur-Rahman Khalil of Ansar Ul Ummah, Owais Norani, Liaquat Bloch, Farzand Hamid-ul-Haq and Sami-ul-Haq, who is famous as the father of Taliban. ============ How Imam Mahdi's (ajtfs) Government Is Advanced Unlike Popular Beliefs In the name of Allah, The Most Compassionate, Most Merciful. Praise and benedictions be on Mohammad and his holy household (peace be upon them all). May Allah (swt) make us among those who fulfil the covenant of the father of this nation, namely Imam Mahdi (ajtfs), and aid us in being his most obedient children on the path of his ancestors, God willing. The reality of the scientific developments during the government of Imam Mahdi (ajtfs) did not escape from the traps and ideas that Wahhabism sought to plant in the Mahdism doctrine. There is a foisted idea that when the Imam (ajtfs) comes out, my our souls be ransomed for him, that technology and developments will stop and war is fought with swords and spears. These are popular ideas becoming prevalent among people and aim to turn our attention away from the true government of the Imam (ajtfs). Allah (swt) said in the Quran: وما أوتيتم من العلم ألى قليلا "And you (humanity) were not given from knowledge except a little". When the Imam (ajtfs) comes out, humans will witness the most advanced scientific developments within his government. أشارة الروايات ألى حيث ينتقل من مكه ألى الكوفة بسبع قباب من النور Hadiths have mentioned such a thing, when the Imam (ajtfs) arrives he will go from Mecca to Kufa with seven domes of light (maybe UFO aircraft's or some form of transportation that mankind has never seen before). This is a clear sign of the immense level in scientific developments during his time. العلم سبعه وعشرون جزءآ فجميع ما جاءت به الرسل جزءان فلم يعرف الناس اليوم غير جزءان فاذا قام القائم أخرج الخمسة والعشرون جزءآ فبثها في الناس وضم أليها الجزءين حتى يبثها سبعة وعشرون جزءآ According to Imam Sadiq (a.s) who stated: "Knowledge is contained in 27 letters. Two parts (of knowledge) were given to all apostles of God and mankind only knows up to these two parts. If Al-Qa'im arrives he (ajtfs) will reveal the rest of the 25 parts to the people above these two parts, until all 27 parts are revealed" Such a hadith indicates that all the prophets have two parts of this science. Moses (a.s.) overcame the magicians during his time by these two parts of knowledge and made his rod turn into a snake by the will of Allah (swt). Prophet Isa (a.s.) used to revive the dead when the science of healing and medicine was prevalent with these two parts of knowledge. This is evidence that the heavens provides messengers with knowledge that is superior to the knowledge a nation during any one time. How then can the Imam (ajtfs) who possess all twenty seven parts of knowledge go backwards in time? This is illogical and irrational. It is a part of the fake ideologies that many hold true when they are not even present in hadiths. أذا قام القائم أذهب الله عن كل مؤمن العاهه ورد أليه قوته Imam Ali Bin Al-Hussein: "If Al-Qaim rises, Allah (swt) will remove all melodies from the believer and return their strength". This is indicative of the medical progress during the Imams (ajtfs) time. From the Messenger of Allah (saws), he stated: "The people of the heavens and Earth will rejoice by him (the Imam), and the birds, beasts and whales in the ocean also. Water will become abundant in his government, rivers will flourish, and the ground will bring out its fruits and treasures". This is reference of the economical developments during the time of the Imam (ajtfs). أبشركم بالمهدي يبعث في أمتي على أختلاف في الناس وزلازل فيملأ ألارض قسطآ وعدﻵ كما ملئت جورآ وظلمآ ويرضى عنه ساكن السماء وساكن أﻷرض ويمﻷ الله قلوب أمة محمد غنى فلا يحتاج أحد إلى أحد The Holy Prophet (Saws) also stated, "I give you glad tidings with al-Mahdi (ajtfs), he will be sent to my nation that is full of differences between the people and earthquakes. He will fill the Earth with justice and equity as it was filled with injustice and corruption. The people of the heavens and Earth will rejoice by him, and Allah (swt) will place in the nation of Mohammad with richness that nobody shall need the other." These traditions speak about a global movement and controlling of nature, and discovery of the secrets of the universe, its blessings and treasures. ونريد أن نمن على الذين أستضعفوا في أﻷرض ونجعلهم أئمة ونجعلهم الوارثين "And we deemed to make those who were oppressed on the land its leaders and inheritors" Oh God, hurry the Redeemer of our time (ajtfs) and protect him with your angels and by the Holy Spirit. - See more at: http://www.qaimahlulbayt.com/how_imam_mahdi_s__ajtfs__government_is_advanced__unlike_popular_beliefs_#sthash.h5xgDgu0.YVjInMEM.dpuf

North Yemen fighting kills more than 120

Source: Reuters - Sun, 1 Dec 2013 04:52 PM Author: Reuters More on: War and Conflict Armed followers of Yemen's Shi'ite Houthi group sit on a truck patrolling the vicinity of a ceremony attended by fellow Shi'ites in Dhahian of the northwestern Yemeni province of Saada February 3, 2012. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah SANAA, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Fighting between Shi'ite Houthi rebels and Sunni Salafis in northern Yemen has killed more than 120 and a government official in charge of enforcing a ceasefire accused the Houthis of breaking the truce, a newspaper said on Sunday. The latest round of fighting between the Houthis and Salafis has added to the challenges facing U.S. allied Yemen, already grappling with a southern separatist movement and an insurgency by Islamist militants linked to al Qaeda. Amin al-Hemyari, head of government observers monitoring a ceasefire reached last month, said the death toll among Salafis in the town of Damaj had risen to more than 120, with dozens wounded, the government-run al-Thawra newspaper said. He said no casualty figures were available for the Houthis. Clashes started after Houthi rebels, who control most of Saada province, accused the Salafis of massing thousands of fighters, including foreigners, in a religious school in Damaj with the aim of attacking them. The Salafis say the foreigners are religious students who have travelled to study Islamic theology at the Dar al-Hadith academy, established in the 1980s. Al-Thawra also quoted the head of a presidential committee tasked with ending the fighting as saying Houthi fighters had seized two government soldiers monitoring the truce on Saturday on charges of delivering guns and ammunition to the Salafis. "Shooting with light weapons has not stopped throughout the past few days," al-Thawra quoted the committee head, Yehia Abuesbaa, as saying, adding the situation in Damaj was tragic, with bodies lying in the streets and residents suffering food shortages. A Houthi spokesman was unavailable to comment on the report. Abuesbaa also urged the leader of the Houthis, Abdulmalek al-Houthi, to enforce last month's truce, al-Thawra said. (Reporting by Sami Aboudi; editing by David Evans)

Yemen's main oil export pipeline shut after bombings

Yemen's main oil export pipeline shut after bombings Mon, Nov 12 03:12 AM EST By Mohammed Ghobari SANAA (Reuters) - Flows through Yemen's main oil export pipeline were stopped after the line was blown up in two places on Sunday night, the state news agency and local government sources said. The SABA news agency said the pipeline was attacked in two spots in the Wadi Abidah region of western Yemen. "Unknown assailants blew up the pipeline that carries crude oil to the main export terminal in the Red Sea in the middle of Sunday night, in the Damashka area of Wadi Abidah," a source in the area told Reuters. The 270-mile long Maarib pipeline used to carry around 110,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Marib light crude to the Ras Isa export terminal on the Red Sea coast until a spate of attacks in 2011 and 2012. SABA did not identify the attackers but Yemen's oil and gas pipelines have been repeatedly sabotaged by Islamist militants and disgruntled tribesmen since anti-government protests created a power vacuum in 2011. A long closure of the line last year forced the country's largest refinery at Aden to shut, leaving the small producer dependent on fuel donations from Saudi Arabia and imports. The Maarib oil pipeline was last blown up in September but Yemen's main gas export line was blown up again only last week. (Writing by Daniel Fineren; editing by Andrew Torchia and James Jukwey)

Gunmen kill Yemeni who worked at U.S. embassy in Yemen

Thu, Oct 11 15:27 PM EDT By Mohammed Ghobari SANAA (Reuters) - Masked gunmen shot dead a Yemeni man who worked in the security office of the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa on Thursday, in an attack a Yemeni security source said appeared to be the work of al Qaeda. The incident was the latest of a wave of attacks on officials in the impoverished Arab state, which is battling Islamist militants with Washington's help. The attackers, on a motorcycle, opened fire on Qassem Aqlan - who headed an embassy security investigation team - near his house in the center of Yemen's capital, the source told Reuters. "This operation has the fingerprints of al Qaeda which carried out similar operations before," said the source, who asked not to be named. Yemen-based Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and other militant groups strengthened their grip on parts of the country during an uprising that ousted veteran President Ali Abdullah Saleh in February. Washington, wary of the growing power of al Qaeda, has stepped up drone strikes on suspected militants, with the backing of Saleh's successor, President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. A neighbor who identified himself only as Fahad said he had noticed strangers roaming the streets over the past three days, suggesting Aqlan was being watched before the attack. "Once he (Aqlan) stepped out of his house the men shouted his name and when he replied, they shot him in the head and neck," he said. Aqlan, who was in his 50s and had worked at the embassy for more than a decade, was responsible for coordinating security information between the U.S. Embassy and the Yemeni authorities, the source added. In Washington, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said that his main duties included conducting personnel checks as head of the "foreign service national investigative unit" and serving as a liaison with Yemeni security services. He worked within the office of the embassy's "regional security officer," who is responsible protecting the embassy, its personnel and information. She also said initial reports that he was involved in the investigation into the attack last month on the U.S. Embassy by protesters angry over an anti-Islam film made in the United States were incorrect. "We condemn this vicious act in the strongest terms," the spokeswoman said but declined to comment on who may have been behind the attack or why Aqlan may have been targeted, saying it may or may not have had anything to do with his work. There have been a number of killings and assassination attempts on security officials and politicians since Yemen's army drove Islamist fighters out of several southern towns earlier this year. Last month Abdulilah Al-Ashwal, a senior intelligence official, was killed in a drive-by shooting in Sanaa. Restoring stability in Yemen has become an international priority due to fears that al Qaeda could become further entrenched in a country which flanks oil producer Saudi Arabia and lies along major international shipping lanes. AQAP, regarded as al Qaeda's strongest regional wing, has mounted operations in Saudi Arabia and tried to launch attacks against the United States. (Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick, Andrew Quinn and Arshad Mohammed in Washington; Writing by Rania El Gamal; Editing by Andrew Roche and Cynthia Osterman) ======== Bomb risk to U.S. troops heightened by contractor fraud Thu, Oct 11 17:41 PM EDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Investigators are warning U.S. commanders in Afghanistan about a heightened risk of attack because of shoddy work by an Afghan contractor paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to help strengthen defenses against Taliban bombings. The U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction, or SIGAR, said in a letter released Thursday that drains or pipes thought to have been sealed to prevent the Taliban from planting bombs were still accessible to the insurgents. It wrote in the October 10 letter to top U.S. commanders, a redacted version of which was released to the media, that although one particular region was potentially exposed "we are concerned that this problem may be more widely spread throughout Afghanistan." SIGAR did not name the contractor, but a SIGAR official said the contract was awarded in February 2011 for $361,680 and was meant to seal off 125 locations from potential placement of improvised explosive devices, or IEDs. SIGAR cited "potentially significant contract fraud." IEDs are the Taliban's weapon of choice against NATO forces and are responsible for about 60 percent of injuries or deaths among NATO forces for over a year, according to data from the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization, the U.S. defense department agency working to counter the bombs. Still, the number of killed or wounded between July and September of 2012 is down from the same period in 2009, JIEDDO said. Executed IED attacks fell by 14 percent in from January to August 2012, compared with the same period last year, according to data from the NATO-led forces in Afghanistan. U.S. forces in Afghanistan declined comment on the investigation but noted that the irregularities with the contract were first reported by a U.S. Navy contract oversight officer - suggesting that the SIGAR's information might have already been known to coalition forces. (Reporting by Phil Stewart; Editing by Cynthia Osterman) ========

Yemen shooting death toll at 50, may rise - doctor

Arab support for us military interventions!!!
The Arab governments have supported the American march on Baghdad to Israeli drums, the destruction of the country and the killing of between 500,000-1,000,000. For this reason, the Arab people want to topple these regimes. These Arab Sultans, Sheikhs, Emirs, kings and military dictators didn't ask the Americans to impose sanctions on Israel after committing war crimes in Gaza in 2008. The Americans may be able to salvage some of their image if they ask the International court of Justice to put Israeli war criminals on trials. These crimes have ben stipulated by Goldstone report. I feel really sorry for the position of Obama as he sounds like a preacher leading an international criminal outfit.
Adnan Darwash, Iraq Occupation Times

By AHMED AL-HAJ and ZEINA KARAM, Associated Press Ahmed Al-haj And Zeina Karam, Associated Press – Sat Mar 19, 12:05 am ET
SANAA, Yemen – A massive demonstration against Yemen's government turned into a killing field Friday as snipers methodically fired down on protesters from rooftops and police made a wall of fire with tires and gasoline, blocking a key escape route.

At least 46 people died, including some children, in an attack that marked a new level of brutality in President Ali Abdullah Saleh's crackdown on dissent. Medical officials and witnesses said hundreds were wounded.

The dramatic escalation in violence suggested Saleh was growing more fearful that the unprecedented street protests over the past month, set off by unrest across the Arab world, could unravel his 32-year grip on power in this volatile, impoverished and gun-saturated nation. The United States, which has long relied on Saleh for help fighting terrorism, condemned the violence.

The bloodshed, however, failed to dislodge protesters from a large traffic circle they have dubbed "Taghyir Square" — Arabic for "Change." Hours after the shooting, thousands demanding Saleh's ouster stood their ground, many of them hurling stones at security troops and braving live fire and tear gas.

They stormed several buildings where the snipers had taken position, dragging out 10 people — including some the protesters claimed were paid thugs. They said the men would be handed over to judicial authorities.

The protest in the capital, Sanaa, drew tens of thousands, the largest crowd yet in Yemen's uprising. It began peacefully. A military helicopter flew low over the square just as protesters were arriving after the main Muslim prayer services of the week.

A short while later, gunfire rang out from rooftops and houses, sending the crowd into a panic. Dozens were hit and crumpled to the ground. One man ran for help cradling a young boy shot in the head.

Many of the victims were shot in the head and neck, their bodies left sprawled on the ground or carried off by other protesters desperately pressing scarves to wounds to try to stop the bleeding.

Police used burning tires and gasoline to block demonstrators from fleeing down a main road leading to sensitive locations, including the president's residence.

"It is a massacre," said Mohammad al-Sabri, an opposition spokesman. "This is part of a criminal plan to kill off the protesters, and the president and his relatives are responsible for the bloodshed in Yemen today."

Witnesses said the snipers wore the beige uniforms of Yemen's elite forces and that others were plainclothes security officers. President Saleh denied at a press conference that government forces were involved, claiming that residents angry over the expanding protest camp had opened fire. He ordered the formation of a committee to investigate.

Doctors at a makeshift field hospital near the protest camp at Sanaa University confirmed at least 46 dead, three of them children. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

A Yemeni photojournalist, Jamal al-Sharaabi, was among the dead, medical officials said. He is the first journalist killed in the unrest.

Interior Minister Gen. Mouthar al-Masri, who is in charge of internal security forces, put the number of dead at 25 and the injured at 200.

Opposition groups in Yemen held an emergency meeting later Friday in which they defiantly called on all Yemenis to join in their peaceful protest. The groups denounced Friday's violence, which they said was ordered by Saleh. They also called on the international community and U.N. Security Council to take "political and moral responsibility with measures to protect civilians."

The United States, which supports Yemen's government with $250 million in military aid this year alone to battle one of al-Qaida's most active franchises, condemned the attack on protesters.

"Those responsible for today's violence must be held accountable," President Barack Obama said. He called on Saleh to adhere to his public pledge to allow peaceful demonstrations.

Instead, Saleh declared a 30-day nationwide state of emergency that formally gave his security forces a freer hand to confront demonstrators. The declaration bars citizens from carrying and using weapons.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was "deeply troubled," said his spokesman, Martin Nesirky. He "reiterates his call for utmost restraint and reminds the government of Yemen that it has an obligation to protect civilians."

Demonstrators are demanding jobs, greater political freedoms and an end to government corruption.

In the latest defection by a political ally of the president, Nabil al-Faqih, the Yemeni tourism minister, resigned Friday from his Cabinet position and from the ruling party to protest the killings.

"This is the least I can do," he said. Al-Faqih is the second minister to quit and the latest of several politicians to resign from Saleh's Congress Party.
Throughout the unrest, security forces and government supporters have used live fire, rubber bullets, tear gas, sticks, knives and rocks against the protesters, who have only grown in number in Sanaa and in many other cities around the nation. The protesters say they won't go until Saleh does and have rejected offers to discuss a unity government.

"They want to scare and terrorize us. They want to drag us into a cycle of violence — to make the revolution meaningless," said Jamal Anaam, a 40-year-old activist camping out in the protest site.

He said government opponents would not follow the example of their counterparts in Libya who took up arms against Col. Moammar Gadhafi. "They want to repeat the Libyan experiment, but we refuse to be dragged into violence no matter what the price," he said.

Friday's violence showed the government of Saleh and his family are increasingly worried about losing power, said Gregory Johnsen, an expert on Yemen at Princeton University.

"He has been in power for more than three decades and he's falling back on what he knows best, which is increasingly violent methods."

The tactic is unlikely to work, he predicted.

"Yemen does not have a population that's easily cowed, so I don't think they will be put out by fear of death," he said. "It's a heavily armed country. Many of the people there are quite confident and capable of putting security into their own hands."

Saleh and his weak government have faced down many serious challenges, often forging tricky alliances with restive tribes to delicately extend power beyond the capital. Most recently, he has battled an on-and-off, seven-year armed rebellion in the north, a secessionist movement in the south, and an al-Qaida offshoot that is of great concern to the U.S.
Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, which formed in January 2009, has moved beyond regional aims and attacked the West, including sending a suicide bomber who came terrifyingly close to blowing up a U.S.-bound airliner with a bomb sewn into his underwear. The device failed to detonate properly.

Yemen is also home to U.S.-born radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who is believed to have offered inspiration to those attacking the U.S.

___

Karam reported from Cairo.



=========
Yemen shooting death toll at 10, may rise - doctor
18 Mar 2011 11:49

Source: reuters // Reuters


SANAA, March 18 (Reuters) - At least 30 people were killed when Yemeni security men opened fire at an anti-government protest in Sanaa after Friday prayers and the toll may rise further, a doctor at said.

"Ten people were killed and the number is expected to increase because there are 30 people in a critical condition," said the doctor, at a field hospital at the protest camp at Sanaa University. (Writing by Cynthia Johnston)



==

Yemen forces open fire at protest, three dead
18 Mar 2011 11:14

Source: reuters // Reuters


A boy flashes the victory sign during a rally demanding the ouster of Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh outside Sanaa University March 17, 2011. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah

SANAA, March 18 (Reuters) - Yemeni forces opened fire at an anti-government protest in Sanaa after Muslim prayers on Friday, killing three people and wounding around 50 others, medical sources and witnesses told Reuters.

The firing broke out after Friday prayers when security forces were trying to prevent protesters from marching out of the square where they had gathered. (Reporting by Mohammed Ghobari and Mohamed Sudam; Writing by Cynthia Johnston)

Yemen sentences seven shi'ite rebels to death

06 Jul 2009 12:03:18 GMT
Source: Reuters
SANAA, July 6 (Reuters) - A Yemeni court sentenced seven rebels from a Shi'ite Muslim sect to death on Monday after convicting them of causing deaths in clashes with army in 2008.

Hundreds of people died in the conflict and thousands fled their homes in battles between government forces and the rebels in the north, which have raged on and off since 2004.

The state security court also jailed for terms of 12-15 years another five of the rebels accused of seeking to install Shi'ite Islamic rule in the country, which borders the world's biggest oil exporter Saudi Arabia.

In July 2008, President Ali Abdullah Saleh said the battles with the rebels, known as the Houthis, had ended and that dialogue should replace fighting. The rebels belong to the Shi'ite Zaydi sect and are led by Abdul-Malik al-Houthi.

Officials have often said the rebels want to restore a form of clerical rule prevalent in the country until the 1960s. The rebels, who want Zaydi schools and oppose the government's alliance with the United States, say they are defending their villages against government oppression.

Sunni Muslims form a majority of Yemen's 19 million population, while most of the rest are Shi'ite Zaydis.

One of the poorest countries outside Africa, Yemen is also grappling with a violent campaign by al Qaeda militants, dwindling oil and water resources, unemployment, corruption and a growing community of Somali refugees. (Reporting by Mohammed Ghobari; Editing by Inal Ersan; Editing by Jon Boyle)

--------------------

Yemen says kills 11 rebels

03 Sep 2009 09:27:47 GMT
Source: Reuters
SANAA, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Yemen said on Thursday it had killed 11 rebels in fighting in the north of the country, while the rebels posted footage on the Internet that appeared to show government troops withdrawing from one area.

Last month fresh fighting erupted between Shi'ite Zaydi Muslims in the mountainous Saad region bordering Saudi Arabia and the central government in Sanaa. Conflict first broke out in 2004.

On Wednesday, the rebels fighting in the north of the Arabian Peninsula country warned of a "long war" after the government rejected a truce offer. [ID:nLR537448]

A military spokesman said government forces had taken control of five rebel hideouts and "destroyed a number of locations where the rebels and terrorists were".

The rebels, led by Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, published footage on their website that showed dozens of what they said were captured government troops being escorted out of the Maran area.

Information about the conduct of the war has been hard to verify since northern provinces have been closed to media.

More than 100,000 people, many of them children, have fled their homes during the surge in fighting, a U.N. agency said last month, and aid groups have complained of poor access to the war zone. [ID:nN2184004]

The World Food Programme (WFP) said on Tuesday it had managed to distribute food aid to only 10,000 in Hajjah and Saada governorates in August compared to 95,000 people in July due to limited access.

The United Nations children's organisation UNICEF launched an appeal on Wednesday for $6.1 million to meet the needs of women and children affected by the fighting.

"Nearly half of the funding will help provide for the immediate water, sanitation and hygiene needs of the displaced population and the host communities," it said in a statement. Many are being housed in tented camps.

The rebels accuse Saudi Arabia of backing the government and the government sees an Iranian hand behind the rebels.

The government says the rebels want to restore a Shi'ite state overthrown in the 1960s and this week summoned the Iranian ambassador over Iranian media's coverage of the fighting.

The rebels say they want more autonomy, including Zaydi schools in their area. They oppose the spread of Saudi-influenced Sunni fundamentalism and accuse the government of indiscriminate bombing of villages. (Reporting by Mohamed Sudam; writing by Andrew Hammond and Tamara Walid)

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Yemen: ICRC and Yemen Red Crescent aid thousands as fighting continues
03 Sep 2009 08:07:32 GMT

The current armed clashes in northern Yemen have continued for almost three weeks, and the humanitarian situation is deteriorating.

Thousands have fled, taking refuge with relatives or host families.

Makeshift shelters have been set up in neighbouring areas, but some people have fled as far as the capital Sana'a, more than 300 km to the south.

The ICRC and the Yemen Red Crescent Society have registered over 25,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) in the provinces of Sa'ada and Amran and staff of the two organizations are working around the clock to respond to the most urgent needs.

"The dire humanitarian situation is hitting women and children especially hard,” said Daniel Gagnon, the ICRC's acting head of sub-delegation in Sa'ada.

But ICRC and Yemen Red Crescent aid is making a difference.

"Some of us have already received mattresses, gas bottles and food," said a displaced woman in Wadi Khaiwan.

She and her family had to flee al-Harf city in the north of Amran province.

"This helps us get along and makes us less of a burden to our host families and neighbours, who have very little themselves." In and around Sa'ada city, over 4,200 people are living in Al-Ihsa', Sam and Al-Talh camps, which are run by the ICRC and the Yemen Red Crescent.

But as Daniel Gagnon points out, "there are thousands more in Sa’ada governorate who need our help.” Over 5,500 people are staying with host families in Sa'ada city.

As the influx continues, the ICRC is looking for ways of accommodating more.

"What the people need most is clean water, food and shelter,” said Daniel Gagnon.

"With commercial traffic paralyzed because of the fighting, people find it difficult to get supplies.” The conflict makes it difficult to deliver urgently needed humanitarian aid, with fighting in parts of Sa'ada and Amran provinces hampering operations.

Despite the obstacles, ICRC and Yemen Red Crescent staff continue to bring help whenever the situation allows them to move safely.

How displaced people have benefited from ICRC activities in recent days

Medical supplie
A health centre in Wadi Khaiwan (Amran province) received basic medicines and a tent to act as a “waiting room”.

Yemen Red Crescent staff in Baqim (Sa'ada province) received ICRC support in the form of medicines for the treatment 400 patients.

The Yemen Red Crescent doctor based in Al-Azgoul received medicines.

Food and water
In Sa'ada province, 5,000 displaced people in the Al-Talh area received flour, rice and cooking oil, while more than 250 people in the Qataber area received flour.

5,500 people living with host families in Sa'ada city received flour, rice and beans.

Several dozen displaced families in Baqim and Al-Mahader (Sa'ada province) received daily water deliveries.

850 displaced people in Wadi Khaiwan (Amran province) received drinking water.

Shelter and other essential items
Over 3,500 families who fled to Sa'ada city are receiving basic household items.

ICRC and YRCS teams have been distributing blankets, mattresses, tarpaulins, jerrycans, soap, stoves, gas cylinders and other items to 2,500 people in the Wadi Khaiwan, Amran province.

Over 1,900 people from Al-Mahader, west of Sa'ada city, and more than 560 people in Sa'ada city itself received such essential household items as blankets, mattresses, tarpaulins, jerrycans, soap, stoves and gas cylinders.

7,000 people registered in the Baqim area should be receiving shelter and other essential items in the next few days.

The ICRC and the Yemen Red Crescent are working on accommodating 3,000 people as soon as possible.

The ICRC has been working in Yemen since 1962 and in Sa'ada governorate since 2004.

Its workforce has been increasing steadily since the beginning of the year; the organization currently has 111 staff based in the country – 69 in the capital Sana'a, including 19 expatriates, and 42 in Sa'ada, including five expatriates.


For more information, please contact:
Hicham Hassan, ICRC Sana'a, tel: +967 1 213 844 or +967 712 666 536
Dorothea Krimitsas, ICRC Geneva, tel: +41 227 346 001 or +41 792 519 318


See also ICRC media contacts

This article on www.icrc.org =============================== Oct. 4, 2014 3:07 AM ET Shiite rebels are Yemen's new masters By HAMZA HENDAWI, Associated Press THE ASSOCIATED PRESS STATEMENT OF NEWS VALUES AND PRINCIPLES AIM Hawthi Shiite rebels chant slogans at the compound of the army's First Armored Division, after they took it over, in Sanaa, Yemen, Monday, Sept. 22, 2014. Heavily armed Yemeni Shiite militiamen took over the headquarters and house of a powerful army general allied to Sunni Islamists on Monday and set up checkpoints across the capital, Sanaa, after sweeping across the city as the general and his allies fled and went into hiding. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed) Islamic State militants attack small Iraq town Oct. 2, 2014 3:40 PM ET Islamist-allied militias in Libya reject UN talks Sep. 30, 2014 12:07 PM ET Battle against Islamic State creates new alliances Sep. 29, 2014 4:20 PM ET Western Muslims, troubled, rally against extremism Sep. 26, 2014 2:34 PM ET Iraqi woman activist killed by Islamic State Sep. 25, 2014 3:02 PM ET SANAA, Yemen (AP) — The capital of Yemen, the Arab world's poorest and perhaps most chronically unstable nation, has new masters. Anti-American Shiite rebels man checkpoints and roam the streets in pickups mounted with anti-aircraft guns. The fighters control almost all state buildings, from the airport and the central bank to the Defense Ministry. Only a few police officers and soldiers are left on the streets. Rebel fighters have plastered the city with fliers proclaiming their slogan — "Death to America, death to Israel, a curse on the Jews and victory to Islam" — a variation of a popular Iranian slogan often chanted by Shiite militants in Iraq and supporters of Lebanon's Hezbollah. While the world has been focused on the fight against Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq, Yemen at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula has seen its own sudden, seismic upheaval when Shiite rebels known as the Houthis overran Sanaa two weeks ago. Now the Houthis, who many believe are backed by Shiite-led Iran, are poised to become Yemen's version of the Shiite Hezbollah in Lebanon — top powerbrokers dominating the government and running a virtual state-within-a-state. Their takeover of the capital also threatens to bring a violent backlash from hard-line Sunnis, creating a sectarian battle that would boost al-Qaida's branch in Yemen, which the United States has been battling for years in a drone campaign and in coordination with the Yemeni military. The rallying cry of fighting against Shiite power could turn Yemen into a magnet for Sunni jihadis from around the region, like Syria and Iraq. Last week, an al-Qaida suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden car into a hospital used by the Houthis in Maarib province, killing one person. The group, known as al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, vowed to fight the rebels and called on other Sunnis to support it. "You will see your bodies scattered and your heads flying," al-Qaida said in a statement, addressing the Houthis. The U.S.-backed president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, is largely helpless, struggling to form a new government to meet the Houthis' demands. Neighboring Saudi Arabia is worried over a potential pro-Iranian outpost on its border. In an interview with The Associated Press, Jamal Benomar, the U.N. special envoy who has been mediating among the government, the Houthis and other factions, warned that "this takeover of Sanaa by the Hawthis will widely reverberate in Yemen and the region." "Yemen will now be seen as linked to other situations in the region, with regional and international involvement," he said. The Houthis, who call themselves Ansar Allah, Arabic for "Supporters of God," are followers of the Zaydi faith, a branch of Shia Islam that is almost exclusively found in Yemen and makes up about 30 percent of the country's population. Zaydi religious leaders ruled much of northern Yemen for centuries — and the Houthis, backers of the Houthi family, a clan that claims descent from the Prophet Muhammad, have sought to revive Zaydi identity. The rebels, currently led by 33-year-old Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, fought a series of civil wars since the mid-2000s from their stronghold of Saada north of Sanaa. In 2011, they took complete control of Saada province. But their advances this year have been startling. They swept south, defeating Sunni tribesmen loyal to the conservative Sunni Islah party, and in July captured Amran province, which borders the capital. They then overran the capital itself on Sept. 21 as the military largely collapsed. The Houthis present themselves as seeking to achieve the goals of the 2011 Arab Spring uprising that led to the overthrow of longtime autocrat Ali Abdullah Saleh. They reject a Gulf-brokered deal that led to Saleh stepping down and Hadi taking his place because it largely splits power between Saleh's supporters and the Islah party, which is the Muslim Brotherhood's branch in Yemen. Instead, they say, they want a broader government that includes their movement and southern Yemenis, who have long sought independence. And they want implementation of a plan reached by political parties in January to give greater autonomy to Yemen's regions. "We are not a group isolated from the rest of the country. We are part of the social fabric," Abu Ali al-Hakam, the commander who led the Houthi assault on Sanaa, told AP. He spoke as he visited the captured headquarters of the army's 1st Armored Division, an elite outfit with close links to the Islah party. It had spearheaded army campaigns against the Houthis. "It is not just the Houthis who are controlling Sanaa now, its Yemenis from everywhere," said the diminutive al-Hakam after receiving a hero's welcome by his fighters. The Houthis were quick to tap on the widespread grievances to show themselves as a feasible alternative. "I and my family feel safer now," said Faraj al-Raeeny, a schoolteacher from mainly Zaydi Amran province. "The Houthis resolved many disputes and put right many injustices. They strictly enforce order." Still, not all Zaydis back the rebels, and the takeover is likely to only polarize a nation where the central government is chronically weak. Much of the country is out of government control, plagued by tribal divisions, al-Qaida militant violence, widespread corruption and deep poverty that breeds resentment or rebellion. The scene is further complicated by political rivalries. Hadi's supporters have long accused Saleh loyalists, who still hold key posts in the military, security forces and government, of undermining Hadi in a bid to return to power. Saleh and his loyalists in the army are widely believed to have helped the Houthis by standing aside as the fighters swept into Sanaa. Ali al-Imad, a senior Houthi official, denied there were any "understandings" struck with Saleh's camp, but he acknowledged in an interview with the AP that the two sides — bitter foes in six wars between 2004 and 2010 — shared "temporarily mutual interests." Hadi appeared caught off guard. After Amran was captured in late July, Hadi met with politicians who warned him that the Houthis would move on Sanaa next. "He said he was convinced that the Hawthis will not come near Sanaa," rights lawyer Baraa Shiban, who attended the meeting, told AP. A new, U.N.-brokered accord that was hurriedly signed on the day Sanaa fell to the Houthis calls for a new government, for all armed factions to put down their arms and for the rebels to leave the capital. But there is little sign that will happen. "This peace agreement must be implemented, otherwise the prospect of the disintegration of Yemen as we know it will become real," warned Benomar, who negotiated the accord. Many doubt the Houthis have the need or resources to grab more territory. But they have virtual veto power over who becomes the next prime minister and over the makeup of the next government. And they are locking in their forces' position in the capital — emulating the model of Iranian-backed Hezbollah, which in Lebanon is the de facto government in predominantly Shiite areas of southern Beirut and in the south and east of the country. In Sanaa, the Houthis have tightened their grip on the city's northern districts where Zaydis are dominant, as well as the nearby international airport. Tanks and armored vehicles looted from army bases have now been deployed in those areas. After the fall of Sanaa, Houthis staged a massive victory rally in the city, flying Hezbollah flags and portraits of Iran's late supreme leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. "It is very clear that Hezbollah is their model. They will never give up control of the airport or the northern districts," Mohammed Qahtan, a senior Islah leader, told the AP in a hotel apartment where he has lived since his Sanaa home was stormed by the rebels. Associated Press Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. =================