Archive: yemen

12th September 2009
By: Brian Whitaker
The Economist is the latest publication to raise serious questions about the future of Yemen.  It says (rightly, I think) that much of the reason for the Houthi rebels' success lies with the Yemeni army: "Its aerial bombing and artillery fire have proved better at enraging locals than at subduing… Read more
12th September 2009
By: Brian Whitaker
Four men in two cars were stopped near the US embassy in Sanaa on Tuesday and found to have in their possession nine grenades, a machine gun, 296 bullets, five detonators, a siren device as used by ambulances and 20 fuel containers. According to a security source they were just passing through and… Read more
8th September 2009
By: Brian Whitaker
Socotra, Yemen’s exotic island outpost in the Indian Ocean, witnessed its first-ever riot on Sunday when hundreds of people took to the streets protesting about “an acute shortage of wheat and flour”. The Yemen Post says they hurled stones at one of the Economic Corporation's stores and police… Read more
7th September 2009
By: Brian Whitaker
A letter from President Obama confirming US support "for the unity and security of Yemen" was delivered to President Salih on Saturday, according to the official news agency, Saba. The letter allegedly promised "an initiative to support Yemen to face all its development obstacles and enhance… Read more
6th September 2009
By: Brian Whitaker
While the Houthi conflict dominates the news from Yemen there’s a risk of other issues being ignored. One that certainly should not be ignored is corruption, and last week Alistair Lyon wrote an excellent report about it for Reuters AlertNet. As Lyon notes, “Corruption is rampant in Yemen, whether… Read more
5th September 2009
By: Brian Whitaker
The Yemeni government announced yesterday that it "does not view any objection" to suspending military operations against the Houthi rebels if the rebels will do the same. The rebels appear to have responded positively. The "suspension" offer came into effect at 9am on Friday, with no specified… Read more
4th September 2009
By: Brian Whitaker
The war between the Yemeni government and the Houthi rebels, as regular readers will have gathered, has multiple dimensions: local grievances, tribal/religious conflicts and international rivalries among them. One further dimension – which I haven't mentioned so far – is a struggle to succeed… Read more
2nd September 2009
By: Brian Whitaker
The UN refugee agency issued a new warning yesterday about the situation around Saada city in northern Yemen where fighting between government forces and rebels has displaced more than 35,000 people during the last three weeks. "The situation is deteriorating by the day," UNHCR spokesman Andrej… Read more
31st August 2009
By: Brian Whitaker
Nine tribesmen who were "fighting alongside the Yemeni army" have been killed in a mortar attack by the Houthi rebels in northern Yemen, tribal sources told AFP on Sunday. Sixteen other fighters from the Hashed tribe (the largest tribe in Yemen) were wounded on Saturday. These are the first… Read more
30th August 2009
By: Brian Whitaker
Saudi involvement in Yemen’s affairs seems likely to grow following last week’s suicide attack that slightly injured Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, the kingdom’s assistant interior minister. On Saturday, Yemen’s foreign minister revealed that the attacker – a known al-Qaeda militant – had travelled… Read more