...and Yemen!

[teqniq]

The dodgy deals have been on the table for ages.

The US response probably tells us all we need to know.

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/Yemen
From AlJazeera Yemen liveblog

yup

 

[elbows]

The USA doing a little bit of hand-wringing over letting Saleh into their country but I assume they will give it the green light soon enough.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/dec/27/us-yemen-president-medical-treatment

 

[teqniq]

SANAA, Yemen — Labor strikes spread through Yemen Wednesday as workers demanded reforms and dismissal of managers over alleged corruption linked to the country’s outgoing president.

Corruption was one of the grievances that ignited mass protests against the rule of President Ali Abdullah Saleh in February. After months of stalling, Saleh last month signed an agreement to transfer power.......

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world...8/gIQAjXs6LP_story.html?wprss=rss_middle-east

Also..

New York, December 28, 2011--The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the attacks on at least eight journalists on Saturday and Sunday by armed forces loyal to outgoing President Ali Abdullah Saleh. The clashes between pro-Saleh forces and protesters left nine people dead on Saturday, The Associated Press reported

http://cpj.org/2011/12/in-yemen-journalists-attacked-during-protests.php

 

[elbows]

More of what we have come to expect recently. US defending the immunity stuff, and Saleh showing a sign of possibly backtracking over his pledge to go to the US:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/10/us-backs-yemen-immunity-for-saleh

 

[butchersapron]

Blimey, how did i mis this:

Yemen's military has sent extra forces to a town Islamists seized last week, after negotiations with the militant group's leader broke down, residents and witnesses said on Monday.

 

[Riklet]

Saleh seems to 'sort of' be going too, wouldn't be surprised if the 'rebels' in the form of the armed forces take over for the moment in order to protect society at large from the Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula threat, oh and maybe cash in on all that lovely potential American military funding too...

 

[teqniq]

Saleh seems to 'sort of' be going too...

'sort of' being the operative phrase here

AFP - President Ali Abdullah Saleh has left the Omani capital Muscat after a brief layover and is en route to the United States for medical treatment, Yemen's official news agency reported on Monday.

The announcement came a day after Saleh pleaded for forgiveness from his compatriots for "any shortcomings" during his 33-year-rule, in a televised farewell speech which appeared to mark his official departure from power.

"The president...is on his way to the United States to continue what is left of his medical treatment" for wounds sustained during a June bomb attack on his compound, the official SABA news agency said in a statement on its website.

Saleh left Yemen Sunday evening for neighbouring Oman with his five youngest children and his wife, according to a source close to the president.

In his speech on Sunday, Saleh said he would return to Yemen but not as president, the strongest sign yet that the veteran leader intends to follow through with the conditions of a Gulf-brokered transition plan which calls for his ouster.

"I will go to the United States for treatment and will then return as head of the GPC party," he said referring to his General People's Congress party....

http://www.france24.com/en/20120123-yemen-president-en-route-us-report

 

[Riklet]

I read and interpreted it as him pre-empting and expecting some sort of military(or other) movement against his authority, and the possibility of finally getting the boot properly after 33 years.

...We shall see. It has to come soon, he's been clinging on a while. IIRC he's only get treated because of the attempt at blowing him up and killing him in that mortar/rocket attack last year?

Was reading this on Le Monde when there was fuck all on English press sites, the French seem more ahead on the news front, although i've not checked out Al Jazeera recently to see what's been the goings on since. Whilst I think the divisions and the conflicts are being exploited by various states n groups as to why Yemen needs some nice strong pro-western tough guys in charge to keep the Al Qaeda types out, it's also hard to deny that they do seem to have established quite a significant presence in Yemen. Probably helps that it's just over the fence from Saudi, and their wealthy n generous Wahhabi loon benefactors...

 

[teqniq]

I read and interpreted it as him pre-empting and expecting some sort of military(or other) movement against his authority, and the possibility of finally getting the boot properly after 33 years.

...We shall see. It has to come soon, he's been clinging on a while. IIRC he's only get treated because of the attempt at blowing him up and killing him in that mortar/rocket attack last year?...

Well yes. Its' the U.S. trying to keep all their interests sweet I reckon; debts, obligations, power, influence and suchlike. Plus all that oil in the region generally.

 

[butchersapron]

Video of Yemenis in Taiz protesting against Al Qaeda for murdering an American teacher (claimed for being a christian prosletysier - doesn't sound like he was)

 

[teqniq]

CIA seeks new authority to expand Yemen drone campaign

The CIA is seeking authority to expand its covert drone campaign in Yemen by launching strikes against terrorism suspects even when it does not know the identities of those who will be killed, U.S. officials said.

Securing permission to use “signature strikes” would allow the agency to hit targets based solely on intelligence indicating patterns of suspicious behavior, such as imagery showing militants gathering at known al-Qaeda compounds or unloading explosives.....

that's going to to go down really well with the locals

.....U.S. officials acknowledge that standard has not always been upheld. Last year, a U.S. drone strike inadvertently killed the American son of Anwar al-Awlaki, an al-Qaeda leader. The teenager had never been accused of terrorist activity and was killed in a strike aimed at other militants.

Some U.S. officials have voiced concern that such incidents could become more frequent if the CIA is given the authority to use signature strikes.

you don't say

 

[elbows]

Poor Yemen, reduced by the likes of the BBC once more to a country whose government and terrorists get to feature in grizzly war on terror stories, but whose people and protest movements don't even get a look in as a caricature, let alone in more fully fleshed form.

Oh look, todays attack quickly resulted in the removal of a Saleh nephew.

Most of the casualties were from the Central Security Organisation - a paramilitary force commanded by Yahya Saleh, a nephew of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Yahya Saleh was dismissed from his post just hours after the attack.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18142695

I'll have to look elsewhere for detail in regards this interesting aspect. In the meantime I'll try not to get too carried away, but not so easy since the bomb that wounded Saleh ages ago could also be said to have had something of an 'internal power struggle' smell to it.

 

[elbows]

Having dug around a bit it sounds like there has been some media confusion as to whether Yahya was sacked, but there was apparent confirmation that another nephew has been dismissed.

The Guardian live page earlier today has some stuff about the dismissals, including this Chatham House tweet that gives me something else to study:

@ginnyuk last week's US Treasury order was an important pre-condition for today's presidential decree dismissing Ammar. any clarity yet about Yahya?​

​

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/mid...sis-spills-beirut-live?newsfeed=true#block-21

 

[elbows]

Whoa, not sure how I missed this.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world...ets-in-yemen/2012/05/15/gIQALWPUSU_story.html

President Obama issued an executive order Wednesday giving the Treasury Department authority to freeze the U.S.-based assets of anyone who “obstructs” implementation of the administration-backed political transition in Yemen.
The unusual order, which administration officials said also targets U.S. citizens who engage in activity deemed to threaten Yemen’s security or political stability, is the first issued for Yemen that does not directly relate to counterterrorism.

The order provides criteria to take action against people who the Treasury secretary, in consultation with the secretary of state, determines have “engaged in acts that directly or indirectly threaten the peace, security or stability of Yemen, such as acts that obstruct the implementation of the Nov. 23, 2011, agreement between the Government of Yemen and those in opposition to it, which provides for a peaceful transition of power . . . or that obstruct the political process in Yemen.”
It covers those who “have materially assisted, sponsored or provided financial, material or technological support” for the acts described or any person whose property has already been blocked, as well as those who have acted on behalf of such people.

 

[elbows]

Aha, more signs of whats been happening, although at this rate I will soon lose track of the array of relatives that feature in these interwoven tales.

http://www.yementimes.com/en/1574/news/876/Saleh’s-nephew-leaves-for-UAE.htm

SANA’A — Major Gen. Tariq Maohammad Abdullah Saleh, the nephew of the former president left Yemen to join his family residing in Abu Dhabi, well-informed sources said, affirming that he did not hand over the 3rd Republican Guard Brigade to his successor Abudl-Rahman Al-Halili, who was appointed by the new president Abd Rabo Mansour Hadi last March.

Tariq’s family along with other families of Saleh, including Saleh’s son, Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh, resides in luxurious villas in Abu Dhabi,UAE.

Tariq rebelled against Hadi’s decrees for several weeks and refused to hand over the command of the 3rd Brigade, despite international pressure and the intervention of the UN envoy Jamal Benomar.

Meanwhile, the German Ambassador to Yemen, Holger Green, said that the former President, Ali Abdullah Saleh, did not abandon the political scene, saying that recent developments in Yemen showed that Saleh, his family, and his allies still use their influence to create obstructions to Hadi’s rule.

He further affirmed that the choices available to the European Union will be very painful if they are applied, hinting that those who intend to stall the transition process will experience serious repercussions from the EU.

Meanwhile the man himself had a minor operation, perhaps they were trying to permanently unclasp his hand from levers of power, an area where he seems to suffer frequent relapses.

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsCon...emen-exstrongman-Saleh-has-medical-tests.aspx

Yemen's longtime strongman, who resigned in February in the face of a bloody year-long uprising against his rule, has undergone "routine" tests and "minor operations," his party announced on Monday.

Ali Abdullah Saleh "was admitted to a hospital run by the Republican Guard (elite troops under the command of his son Ahmed) for routine tests on Sunday, and has left the facility," General People's Congress deputy secretary general Sultan al-Barakani told AFP.

The GPC's website almotamar.net said Saleh "was admitted to hospital for routine tests and minor operations."

The veteran president, in power in Sanaa since 1978, stepped down in February, handing power to his deputy Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi in accordance with a hard-won transfer of power deal brokered by impoverished Yemen's wealthy Gulf Arab neighbours.

Saleh's critics accuse him of seeking to undermine the accord. Significant parts of the security forces remain under the command of his relatives.

During the uprising against his rule that began in January last year, Saleh was wounded in a bomb attack in the presidential palace in Sanaa in June.

He was hospitalised in Saudi Arabia and in January received medical treatment in the United States.

Saleh stepped down after being given a controversial promise of immunity from prosecution. He remains leader of the GPC and his supporters have not ruled out his standing in presidential elections set for 2014.

 

[elbows]

Some earlier parts of the story from the end of April:

Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh, son of the former president, commands the powerful Special Forces and Republican Guard, among the country's best trained troops. His appointment of a relative, Tarek Mohammed, to head his father's security unit was direct insubordination to Hadi.

Hadi had already demoted Mohammed from head of the Presidential Guards to head a provincial military unit, an order Mohammed and the younger Saleh refused to obey.
The military official said Hadi has rejected the new appointment. In response, Mohammed refused to hand over his current job during a meeting attended by the U.N. representative to Yemen.
The official was speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Another relative rejected an order to resign as head of the air force for weeks, finally stepping down last week. That dispute forced a shutdown in Yemen's commercial airport for a day.

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Mi...enged-by-ex-presidents-son.ashx#axzz1vYaaNvUp

A much more recent piece that discusses several factions and has plenty of detail on the 2nd page, but is now a tad out of date already:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world...he-new-yemen/2012/05/19/gIQAgBk4cU_story.html

 

[elbows]

Yes its a busy week for Yemen.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/05/22/uk-yemen-aid-meeting-idUKBRE84L1DE20120522

(Reuters) - Two days after more than 90 Yemeni soldiers were killed in an al Qaeda attack, a donor group of Western and Arab Gulf nations meets in Riyadh on Wednesday to see how they can help Yemen push ahead with reforms and tackle its poverty and lawlessness.
The group will discuss political developments since President Ali Abdullah Saleh stepped down in February, his 33-year rule in the Arabian Peninsula state ended after nearly a year of protests.
"We see key outcomes from this meeting focusing on types of concrete assistance the group can give to support the Yemeni government's plans for long-term reform," said a British Foreign Office spokesman.

Wednesday's meeting is the group's first since Saleh stepped down to allow the election of a new president, Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, in February for a two-year transition period.
Yemeni Prime Minister Mohammed Basindwa and Planning and International Cooperation Minister Mohammed al-Saadi are expected to attend the Riyadh meeting, which will be co-chaired by Saudi Arabia and Britain.
Countries from the Gulf Cooperation Council, which includes Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Oman, are also likely to attend, as are the United States, the European Union, France, Egypt and Russia.

 

[elbows]

Oops I forgot that article didn't mention the outcome. Saudi Arabia is coughing up some billions.

$4 BILLION AID
Riyadh, which already provides oil and military aid to its impoverished neighbor, convened Western and Arab Gulf nations in a lavish new hotel hung with crystal chandeliers and adorned with bronze equine statues on tall marble pedestals.
Another meeting, specifically on aid pledges, will be held in Riyadh in late June, with a ministerial meeting to follow on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in September.
"The future for Yemen is not about one-off donations. The future for Yemen is about the process that's already been set in train for the transition of that country," British Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt said after the meeting.
Burt said Britain had pledged an additional $44 million on top of its existing aid to Yemen.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/23/us-yemen-idUSBRE84M13020120523

 

[elbows]

A Yemeni newspaper close to the former president Ali Abdullah Saleh stated on Tuesday that the suicide bomber of Al-Sabeen Square bombing in which hundreds of troops were killed and wounded was an Al-Qaeda prisoner.
Alyaman Alyawam Newspaper (Yemen Today) in which the former president Ali Abdullah Saleh wrote an article, said that the name of the bomber is Ameen-Addin Ali Al-Wirafi and that he is originally form Ibb governorate.
The newspaper said that Al-Warafi was imprisoned on charges of connection to Al-Qaeda.
Nashwan News, a Yemeni online newspaper, said that Al-wrafi was sentenced to five years in prison in 2007 after he was convicted of affiliation to Al-Qaeda, and preparation to carry out suicide bombings against government facilities in Marib and Hadhramout in 2006.
Nashwan News wondered how Al-Wirafi was recruited in the Central Security while he was an Al-Qaeda suspect.

http://yemenpost.net/Detail123456789.aspx?ID=3&SubID=5424&MainCat=3

 

[elbows]

And an article that covers some of what I was talking about the other day in regards to relatives and the US order to freeze assets of those who got in the way of the desired transition. It does sound like the news of Yahya Saleh being removed from his post was not true, possibly someone got confused about which nephew lost a post.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/letta-tayler/yemens-terrorism_b_1537325.html

Within hours of Monday's bombing, Hadi ordered a security force shakeup, but not at the top level. Ammar Saleh, the former president's nephew, was replaced as deputy of the National Security Bureau, a unit loyal to Saleh. Along with the Republican Guard and Central Security, the National Security Bureau has been implicated in abuses including unlawful detention and torture of opposition protesters during the uprising -- and in some cases after Hadi became acting president. But Ammar held two positions in National Security and Hadi only named a replacement for one post.

Hadi also replaced the commander of the Central Security Forces, which includes a U.S.-trained and funded counterterrorism unit -- but he did not remove Saleh's nephew Yahya Saleh as Central Security's de-facto leader. Hadi's previous efforts at sidelining Saleh's relatives and loyalists succeeded only after repeated efforts and international pressure; he's also had to coax errant commanders to dispatch scant reinforcements to battle Ansar al-Sharia in Abyan.

 

[butchersapron]

Hmmm

AFP reporting Yemen Republican Guard, led by son of fmr President Saleh, is attacking Defence Ministry.President Hadi is currently in Saudi.

That's from Tom Rayner at sky.

 

[butchersapron]

Reports (and that's all) they now have control of defence and interior ministry.

 

[butchersapron]

Something.

 

[elbows]

Interesting, not terribly surprising that there is trouble on this front given what I was getting a glimpse of in stories back in May. I'm out of date, will try to catchup now.

 

[elbows]

The only additional detail I've got so far is this from Bloomberg which mentions government troops protecting the central bank from the Republican Guard.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-14/yemeni-government-forces-battle-rebels-loyal-to-saleh.html

 

[elbows]

Nothing that confirms the current state of play, but AlJazeera have a little more background info:

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/08/2012814121644341624.html

 

[elbows]

Seems they had previously encircled the Defence Ministry in protest on Friday:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world...d9d452-e315-11e1-89f7-76e23a982d06_story.html

 

[butchersapron]

Seems like the usual fragmentation of military forces under different personal/factional leadership stuff again.

 

[elbows]

Yeah, with emphasis on the idea that one of the factions is a tool of the old Saleh leadership. The US obviously knows about this aspect because they brought in some sanctions against anyone 'standing in the way of the transition' quite a while ago now. But months of stalemate seem quite normal in Yemen, perhaps these fresh events will finally bring it to a head.

 

[elbows]

More interesting background from before the latest events, including what the political opposition are calling for, Saleh's meddling, and a previous attack on the interior ministry.

http://www.yemenonline.info/news-3349.html