Archive: yemen

9th October 2010
By: Brian Whitaker
For some years now, Yemen has been seeking to join the Gulf Cooperation Council. There are good reasons for thinking this would benefit Yemen, though the GCC states – Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE – also have reasons to be wary. In the long term, though, continued exclusion… Read more
8th October 2010
By: Brian Whitaker
Following the attack on a British embassy vehicle in Sana'a on Wednesday, Asharq al-Awsat newspaper has some interesting titbits about the militants' choice of targets. "The British embassy in Yemen has suffered the most number of terrorist attacks of all the foreign embassies," it says. The Saudi… Read more
7th October 2010
By: Brian Whitaker
Violence, unfortunately, is part of the daily scene in Yemen and most attacks go unreported beyond the local press. When westerners are the target, though, there's more interest – as we saw yesterday. A vehicle carrying five British embassy staff, including the deputy ambassador, came under attack… Read more
29th September 2010
By: Brian Whitaker
The Committee to Protect Journalists has today released a damning report on the Yemeni government's efforts to restrict press freedom. It looks in some detail at the legislative and administrative measures as well as extra-judicial violence against journalists. In particular, it calls for the… Read more
25th September 2010
By: Brian Whitaker
The six-day siege of al-Hawta (Hota, Huta) in southern Yemen ended yesterday with an official announcement that the army had cleared suspected al-Qaeda fighters from the town. The huge operation, involving tanks, artillery, air strikes and 1,500 troops may have been intended to show donor countries… Read more
23rd September 2010
By: Brian Whitaker
More than 1,500 Yemeni troops launched a major offensive yesterday against the southern town of Hota (Huta, Hawta) which they have been besieging since Sunday. Xinhua news agencyquotes a local counter-terrorism official as saying: "The massive offensive started with ... air raids and a partial drop… Read more
22nd September 2010
By: Brian Whitaker
As many as 15,000 civilians have now fled al-Hota (Huta), the southern Yemeni town which has been besieged by the military since Sunday.  Between 80 and 100 al-Qaeda militants are said to be holed up in the town (estimated population 20,000-25,000) and the surrounding area. It appears that the army… Read more
21st September 2010
By: Brian Whitaker
Between 8,000 and 12,000 people have fled their homes in al-Hota, southern Yemen, in what is said to be a battle between government forces and al-Qaeda militants, according to Red Crescent sources in the area. The town, in Shabwa province, has reportedly been subjected to heavy shelling, with five… Read more
19th September 2010
By: Brian Whitaker
In Yemen, the deputy governor of Abyan province, Ahmed al-Rahawi, survived an assassination attempt yesterday when his convoy was ambushed in al-Rai district of Jaar. AFP says a roadside bomb exploded, injuring three soldiers and a fourth person who was in al-Rahawi's car. A civilian was reported… Read more
14th September 2010
By: Brian Whitaker
The international Friends of Yemen group must do more than fight terrorism and provide economic aid, Christophe Wilcke of Human Right Watch argues in an article for the Yemen Times. "If Yemen’s friends don’t tie economic assistance to improvements in the country’s rapidly deteriorating human rights… Read more