SANAA, 27 Jul -- In an audio recording published by Jihadist websites on Tuesday, al-Qaeda second in command, Ayman al-Zawahiri mocked Yemeni clerics who warned in January of calling for jihad if foreign troops joined Yemen’s war against so-called terrorism saying that US missiles had already killed Yemeni civilians in the south. “Sadly, these clerics do not have the courage of Human Rights Watch organization which said in its report early June that US Tomahawk missiles, carrying heads of cluster bombs, were used in the attack on Abyan,” he said, adding “it is known that such missiles are guided from a control room in the United States. What more do they need to see to call for Jihad? Are they waiting for missiles to rain on them to realize then that America had intervened? Or are they waiting to see American soldiers roaming around in Sanaa in their tanks?” In other news, US General James Mattis told the American Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday that “al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, as well as local insurgents and a deteriorating economy have stretched Yemen’s government and its military to the breaking point,” adding “to date, President Ali Abdullah Saleh has managed these crises through negotiation and by co-opting his opponents, but there are signs his ability to exert control is waning.”Hot News
Zawahiri Mocks Yemeni Clerics for not Calling for Jihad against America
SANAA, 27 Jul -- In an audio recording published by Jihadist websites on Tuesday, al-Qaeda second in command, Ayman al-Zawahiri mocked Yemeni clerics who warned in January of calling for jihad if foreign troops joined Yemen’s war against so-called terrorism saying that US missiles had already killed Yemeni civilians in the south. “Sadly, these clerics do not have the courage of Human Rights Watch organization which said in its report early June that US Tomahawk missiles, carrying heads of cluster bombs, were used in the attack on Abyan,” he said, adding “it is known that such missiles are guided from a control room in the United States. What more do they need to see to call for Jihad? Are they waiting for missiles to rain on them to realize then that America had intervened? Or are they waiting to see American soldiers roaming around in Sanaa in their tanks?” In other news, US General James Mattis told the American Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday that “al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, as well as local insurgents and a deteriorating economy have stretched Yemen’s government and its military to the breaking point,” adding “to date, President Ali Abdullah Saleh has managed these crises through negotiation and by co-opting his opponents, but there are signs his ability to exert control is waning.”Riyal Continues Downward Trend as CBY Pledges Action
SADAA, 27 Jul -- As the Yemeni riyal continued its downward plummet on Tuesday against the US dollar, a number of economists called on the Governor of the Central Bank, Muhammad Awad Bin Humam to “uncover the real secrets behind the plunge of the riyal or admit failure and resign,” al-Sahwa Net said. In a statement to the state official Saba news agency, Bin Humam attributed the sharp decline of the riyal to rising demands of the dollar to import commodities for Ramadan but economist Saed Abdul-Moman said “the justifications offered by the governor on the tumble of the riyal are not satisfactory and everyone knows that imports shoot up to 100 percent in Ramadan but this does not explain the plunge of the riyal against the US dollar,” adding “the problem of Bin Humam is that he does not run the bank or determine the monetary policies.Military, Security Forces Pull out of Northern Regions
SADAA, 27 Jul -- In a surprising move and one day after Shiite rebels took over two military outposts in Harf Sufian, the army stationed in al-Malahid region started on Monday withdrawing to the border region of Harad, the Islamist al-Sahwa Net reported. Local sources said “the army completely evacuated its position in the strategic region of al-Malahid where it entered after three months of fighting during the sixth round of war with the rebels.” Central security forces in the districts of Shada, Razeh and al-Daher in Sadaa also pulled out as other units stationed in Saher, al-Dalah and other regions withdrew back to the city of Sadaa. It is not clear what actuated the withdrawals amid conflicting reports the military and security units received higher orders to leave but security sources told al-Sahwa “the withdrawals on Tuesday came after instructions from the nation’s highest security committee,” adding “the government decided to pull out its forces in response to violations of the truce committed by the rebels and a reaction to Monday’s rebel attack on the al-Zalaa military outpost in al-Amashiah area in Harf Sufian and the subsequent capture of soldiers.”GCC Chief: Conflict in Yemen is Not Pleasing, Urges Dialogue
UN to Open Office in Yemen to Fight Terrorism, Crime, Drugs
SANAA, 12 Jul -- The United Nations is planning to open an office in Yemen to fight terrorism, crime, human trafficking and drugs, the government official daily, al-Thawra said on Monday. Interior Minister Brig Gen Rashad al-Masri welcomed the move during a meeting with a UN delegation headed by the coordinator of the UN programs in the middle east and north Africa, Life Vilatson saying “the opening of the office will have positive results for Yemen and neighboring countries,” and voiced his ministry’s “willingness to provide all necessary facilitations to establish the office and facilitate its mission.” The UN delegation hailed “the successes made by Yemen in combating terrorism and drugs,” and expressed gratitude for “Yemen’s complete cooperation and facilitations for the success of UN programmes in the field of battling crime and drugs.”Speaker Threatens Vote of no Confidence on Government
SANAA, 12 Jul -- Speaker of Parliament Yahya al-Raei Monday threatened to call for a vote of no confidence on the government if a number of ministers failed to attend Wednesday’s session to answer MPs questions. Member Abdul-Aziz Jubari told the assembly’s session on Monday “we should review the reply of the government and then take legal actions for vote of no confidence,” and member Nabil al-Basha said “the government is violating the constitution, holding MPs at airports and it must attend Wednesday’s session or this arrogant government must go.” MP Abdul-Razaq al-Hajri said “what is happening today inside the parliament is the result of the Speaker’s attempts to weaken it,” but the Speaker said “if the ministers answered the questions of the members and attended the sessions, we would not have arrived at this phase,” and told the council “why don’t we leave and attend the horse race celebrations instead.”Nexen, Total Refuse to Publish Oil Production, Revenue, Says Economist
SANAA, 06 Jul -- Member of the Transparency Alliance to Monitor Extractive Industries, Dr. Saed Abdul-Momen Tuesday criticized Nexen and Total oil companies for refusing to reveal details of their activities in Yemen and told al-Jazeera net: “The government pressured both companies not to unveil the details of oil production, cost, exports and revenues,” adding “the position of the government and oil companies about oil revenues remains vague,” but a source at the ministry of oil denied any government reservations about the process of oil production, marketing and exports saying “every month, the oil marketing committee headed by Prime Minister Ali Muhammad Mojour reveals how much was produced and exported and revenues go to the central bank regularly,” adding “companies have the right to publish or not publish information about their activities.”GPC-led Alliance Accuses Opposition of ‘Conspiratorial Plots’
SANAA, 06 Jul -- The national alliance parties led by the ruling General Peoples Congress (GPC) Tuesday accused the opposition alliance, the Joint Meeting Parties (JMP) of “conspiring against their own country, and hampering development through their support of elements of sabotage, chaos and terrorism and via attempts to tarnish the efforts of the government to obtain aid for development and strategic projects that would reduce unemployment and poverty.”Interior Ministry Says Explosive Belt, Bombs Seized in al-Qaeda Raid
SANAA, 06 Jul -- In a statement posted on its media center website, the ministry of interior said on Tuesday security forces that raided a house used by al-Qaeda militants in the southern region of Fawah west of Mukala city a day before found an explosive belt, hand grenades, a laptop, phone chips, video tapes, and scraps of papers. “On Monday, four security jeeps surrounded a house in the area of Fawah where al-Qaeda members were hiding including a Saudi man.Page 1 of 7
