Archive: yemen

21st December 2010
By: Brian Whitaker
It has emerged that the four people attacked in Sana'a last week (and described rather vaguely by the US embassy as "foreign residents" of Yemen) were in fact working for the CIA. Their vehicle, a Toyota Hilux pickup truck, had stopped near the Pizzaiola restaurant in the Hadda district around 8.30… Read more
20th December 2010
By: Brian Whitaker
Yemen's southern separatists kidnapped an army officer near Habilayn (Lahej province) at the weekend – apparently as a bargaining ploy for the release of prisoners. The officer, identified by the Yemen Post as Major Muhammad al-Khawlani and by AFP as Captain Mohammed Ali Abdullah Hadyan, is said to… Read more
18th December 2010
By: Brian Whitaker
As many as eight soldiers are reported killed in two separate incidents in southern Yemen. Arriving on three motorbikes and in two minibuses, a group of armed men attacked a military checkpoint in the Shahara area of Zinjibar (Abyan province) around 4.30am on Friday with machineguns, grenades and… Read more
13th December 2010
By: Brian Whitaker
A total of seven Yemeni soldiers, including an army major, weretaken hostage by southern separatists in two incidents on Saturday and Sunday. The kidnappers are apparently seeking to pressurise the authorities after a 25-year-old man, Fares Adbullah Saleh, was sentenced to death for two bombings.… Read more
6th December 2010
By: Brian Whitaker
Fifty Yemeni members of parliament have signed a petition calling on Rashad al Alimi, the deputy prime minister for defence and security, to explain himself after apparently lying to parliament about American airstrikes in Yemen that killed dozens of civilians. According to a Wikileaks document, at… Read more
4th December 2010
By: Brian Whitaker
A batch of US embassy cables relating to Yemen emerged yesterday, courtesy of Wikileaks. I have linked them below, in chronological order. The New York Times has a commentary on them here, as does the Guardian (here and here). The content isn't earth-shattering but it does provide some valuable… Read more
29th November 2010
By: Brian Whitaker
One of the new Wikileaks documents records a 90-minute meetingon January 4 this year between David Petraeus, commander of Centcom, and the Yemeni president, Ali Abdullah Salih.  Some interesting points: 1. Salih repeatedly asked for 12 armed helicopters ("a topic that he would… Read more
27th November 2010
By: Brian Whitaker
Just two days after a car bomb killed 17 or more Houthi supporters during a Shia religious festival in Yemen, a second car bomb attacked mourners attending a Houthi funeral yesterday. Reports of casualties vary wildly, from two including the suicide bomber (AFP) to 40 or more (UPI). The latest… Read more
25th November 2010
By: Brian Whitaker
An explosion said to be from a car bomb killed at least 17 people in the far north of Yemen on Wednesday, according to numerousreports. The bomb targeted a procession of Houthi supporters celebrating the Eid al-Ghadir holiday (a Shia festival) in the Zaher district of al-Jawf province. A local… Read more
24th November 2010
By: Brian Whitaker
The popular Egyptian preacher and televangelist, Amr Khaled, has arrived in Yemen for a government-sponsored "hearts and minds" campaign against al-Qaeda.  This could be an important development if, as the Yemen Observer suggests, it marks the start of a concerted effort to challenge the jihadists… Read more