SANAA, 30 Jul -- Speaking in a ceremony held at al-Afif cultural foundation on Thursday to mark the publication of a book titled: “Clergymen and Despotism” by researcher, Wadah Taher, intellectual Hamid Razq said “he was stunned as he was flipping the pages of the book to find out the ever-recurring painful and miserable state of the Muslims,” adding “what is troubling and distressful is that corruption has deeply penetrated the religious establishment and hijacked the clergyman making him an explicit accomplice in committing injustices, encroachments and abridgements of civil rights and freedoms.”

SANAA, 30 Jul -- In a statement to the media center of the ministry of interior, Deputy Interior Minister Brig. Gen. Saleh Hussein al-Zawari Thursday urged the opposition alliance, the Joint Meeting Parties (JMP) to “come out of its silence concerning the recurrent violations of the cease-fire by the Houthi rebels and denounce their repeated aggressions on civilians and military outposts,” adding “by their silence, the political powers in the country are encouraging the Houthi elements to persist on their infringements, and stalling to implement the six peace conditions.”

SANAA, 06 Jul -- Influential tribal chieftain, Sheik Muhammad Naji al-Shaif Tuesday said if the President is grooming his son to succeed him, then it is fine, stressing  “Ahmad Ali is the one suitable for leading the country and I am with him one million times,” but “we should amend the constitution to extend President Saleh’s term.  The constitution is not a Qur’an.  We made it and we will amend it.  We will zero the constitution and allow the President to rule for life,” and described the Yemeni people as “dead.”

SANAA, 04 Jul -- In a seminar held at Saba Center for Strategic Studies, Central Bank Vice President for Accounting, Ahmad Muhammad Sunday said the world financial crisis affected interest rate returns on Yemen’s foreign reserves in 2009, reduced Yemen’s ability to meet its commitments and led to a tumble in the flow of foreign aid but he said Yemen did not lose its foreign assets, News Yemen website reported.

former slave Qanaf Bin Siyarah talking to al-Masder Online reporter SANAA, 03 Jul -- In a press conference on Saturday, Yemen’s Committee for Defending Human Rights and Freedoms (HOOD) vowed to free all remaining slaves in Yemen and threatened to file lawsuits against those who still practice slavery and take people into bondage, al-Masder Online said.  Speaking at the conference, former slave Qanaf Bin Siyarah said “he ran away from his master to Saudi Arabia then returned to Yemen where a man bought him and let him go free,” adding “I had to run away from my master when he refused to let me get married after 30 years serving him.

SANAA, 03 Jul -- Member of Parliament, Abdul-Razaq al-Hajri Saturday called for closing down the parliament saying it is not capable of looking after people’s issues such as hikes in fuel prices, the new 50 percent rise in electricity fees, the deteriorating security situation, and because the government failed to submit a report to the assembly about the death of Marib’s deputy governor, Jabar al-Shabwani and several of his bodyguards.

Aden golden beach SANAA, 03 July -- The Arab 2009 investment report published by the Arab Corporation for Guaranteeing Investment Saturday said Arab direct investments in Yemen increased from $392.8 million in 2008 to $652.2 million in 2009, News Yemen website said.  Of the total investments, $585.0 million were invested in service sectors, $36.4 million in industrial sectors and $2.7 million in the agriculture sector while $28.1 million were spent in other sectors, said the report, adding “in 2009, Yemen received $527.5 million in investments from Qatar, $56.1 million from Iraq, $26.9 million from Libya, $21.7 million from Saudi Arabia, and $17.9 million from Kuwait.”

AMRAN, 01 June -- Six Shiite rebels and four tribesmen were killed on Tuesday in fierce clashes in the northern region of Harf Sufian, 70 kilometers north of the capital, the Sahwa Mobile service said.  The fighting broke out after a group of Houthi rebels attacked and seized the village of Dhu-Daqish taking six tribesmen hostage.  Among the dead is rebel leader Abu-Hidar as hundreds of armed rebels buried their dead.  On Monday, clashes erupted between Houthi elements and pro-government tribesmen from Bani Awiar in the northern area of Sahar in Sadaa amid reports four rebels and two tribesmen were killed in the fighting which was triggered by Houthis trying to take over a school in the area.  Al-Masder Online cited Houthi leaders as vowing to take revenge saying “the perpetrators will pay a heavy price.”  A statement by Abdul-Malik al-Houthi said “the state is fully responsible,” adding “the militias of the little parliamentarian, Hamoud Aziz are breaching the agreement, and setting up ambushes and that doesn’t serve peace.”  Houthi spokesman Muhammad Abdul-Salam accused the government of fomenting tensions just as life was gradually returning to some sort of normality in the war-ravaged north, a charge the government denied and lobbed back at the rebels.  Meanwhile, the national committee of dialogue called on a statement on Monday for resolving the underlying causes of the conflict.Meanwhile, serious fissures started to appear in the once rock-solid Shiite coalition in north Yemen as rifts and tension among its leaders escalated last week over theological interpretation and the killing of rivals, Marib Press said.  In a news statement published on Saturday, a number of Zaydi scholars claiming to be followers of cleric Majd al-Din Muhammad Bin Mansour al-Moayd accused followers of rebel leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi of attacking their mosques, schools and homes.  “We committed to silence in order to avoid spawning mayhem and problems but the followers of Abdul-Malik al-Houthi continued shedding blood and killed religion student Muhammad Bin Muhammad al-Naimi, and wounded his brother Ali in an outrageous aggression,” said the statement, adding “any attack against any follower of Majd al-Din al-Moayd is considered an attack on all.”