In other news, Lahj News website Sunday cited a “Yemeni official,” as saying “a number of al-Qaeda leaders in Yemen met on Sunday with a high-ranking military commander from the northwestern division in the presence of foreign intelligence officers,” adding “during the meeting, al-Qaeda leaders agreed to carry out suicide operations in the northern region of Sadaa in the coming days to assassinate leaders of the Houthi group.”  The official who spoke on condition of anonymity said “the United States is working to create a center of conflict in the region of Marib between members of al-Qaeda and members of the Shiite rebels.”  Meanwhile, Yemen’s Socialist Party (YSP) Sunday appealed to international humanitarian agencies to press the Yemeni government to end its military siege of al-Dhala and Radfan regions south of the country, eleshteraki net reported.  In a statement at the end of its eighth round, the YSP called for “urgent relief aid for those regions as stocks of food, medicine and fuel have dwindled because the military is preventing the flow of these items.”  The statement repeated

SANAA, 19 Dec -- American cruise missiles Thursday targeted two alleged al-Qaeda sites in the southern village of al-Majala in Abyan, 300 kilometers south of the capital killing civilians and several al-Qaeda suspects, the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) reported on Friday quoting officials at the U.S. administration.  Yemeni authorities have claimed responsibility for the strikes saying special operations forces backed by the airstrikes killed at least 29 al-Qaeda militants and captured 17 others in a pre-dawn assault on a training camp in al-Majala.  Official media cited security officials as saying the militants were planning suicide bomb attacks against Yemeni and foreign interests including oil installations and schools.

Yemeni soldiers in the frontline SADAA, 04 Dec – The defense ministry Friday said 8 Houthi rebels were killed in clashes with government forces in the northern regions of Sadaa and Harf Sufian.  The ministry said “the army waged offenses against the positions of the rebels in Harf Sufian, Sadaa and al-Malahid killing eight of their leaders including Zakaria Hassan al-Houthi, Yehya Muhammad Ali, Ali Deifallah al-Kholani, Abdullah Khater, Yehya Hassan Hawi, Masfer al-Namer, Sadaam Hassan Saleh Masra and Ahsan Aqba,” adding “the troops thwarted an attempt by the insurgents to sneak into high lands in Harf Sufian and killed a number of attackers.”  The ministry’s statement said the army destroyed a number of rebels’ hideouts and positions and stopped an attempt to attack military outposts.  Other reports said two civilians were killed Thursday when a landmine allegedly planted by the rebels blew off in Wadi Jubara in Sadaa while government reports said Yemeni warplanes bombed a factory and a warehouse near al-Naqa region used by the rebels to produce explosives

SADAA, 14 Nov -- The London-based Saudi owned al-Arabiya TV Saturday said Saudi soldiers fighting Yemeni Shiite rebels in the border arrested rebel leader, Abdullah Ahmad Abdul-Malik al-Huthi, adding “sophisticated surveillance equipment were found with him and he is being questioned.  Catching this field commander who has power over his followers is significant in dismantling

DOHA, 13 Nov -- Head of the state-commissioned anti-corruption authority, the Supreme National Authority for Combating Corruption (SNACC) Ahmad al-Ansi Friday said “Yemen felt the dangers of corruption from early on and made steps to fight it and avert its consequences.” 

Tareq al-Fadhli ABYAN, 07 Nov -- Security in the southern region of Abyan Friday arrested “eight terror elements affiliated with fanatic Jihadist groups belonging to extremist, Tareq al-Fadhli,” the ruling party official website, Al-Mithaq reported, adding “the group had committed acts of violence, sabotage, killings and looting of government offices and institutions in the district of Khanfar in Abyan.” 

Shiite rebels react, in a court cell in Sanaa Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009. SANAA, 31 Oct -- The state penal court Saturday sentenced 10 Zaydi Shiite rebels to death and six others to prison terms between five and 12 years.  The ten were convicted of forming an illegal armed gang to carry out a criminal plot and of killing and wounding several soldiers and carrying arms to commit acts of sabotage, rebellion and chaos in the district of Bani Hosish, 20 miles north of the capital, Sanaa in 2008. 

SANAA, 25 Oct -- Secretary General of Yemen’s Islamist Congregation for Reform (Islah), Abdul-Wahab al-Ansi Sunday said the opposition alliance, Joint Meeting Parties (JMP) is seeking to

Yemeni boys scavenging on garbage dump in Hodeida SANAA, 24 Oct -- A report by the Yemeni Centre for Studies and Media (YMS) Saturday said “poverty rates in Yemen are increasing as a segment of the society is falling beneath the poverty line,” adding “food for the destitute in Yemen remains out of reach and one out of three Yemenis suffers from chronic hunger.” 

President Saleh

SANAA, 18 Oct -- President Ali Abdullah Saleh Sunday said the war in north Yemen could end in a few days, stressing “we are determined to make this war with the rebels the last one.”  Saleh who was speaking to the Saudi London-based MBC Arabic satellite TV channel said “the rebels are in a bad situation as their weapons, ammunitions, supplies and fuel are running out,” adding “the troops’ moral is high and people are backing the army against the insurgents.”  In a reply to a question on why it has taken so long to subdue the rebellion, he said “this is because we are keen to preserve lives and we were hoping these outlaw elements would return to the right path but they are liars and deceivers and every time we implement a cease-fire and free their prisoners, they go back and re-group for battle.”  On the unrest in south Yemen, he said “it is not as threatening as al-Qaeda which puts the national economy at risk and threatens security and stability and the movement in the south is not as dangerous as the rebellion in Sadaa.”  He accused Iranian religious entities of supporting the Shiite rebels in north Yemen, but “we won’t accuse the Iranian regime of supporting them,” and slammed reports the war in Yemen is regional saying “Yemen is a sovereign nation and we won’t allow others to fight in our territories.”  “Al-Qaeda is supporting the Huthis and the Huthis are supporting al-Qaeda not because they have a common agenda but because both want to take revenge from the political regime.”