Two killed in south Yemen anti-elections demo

ADEN: Yemeni security forces shot dead two southern Yemeni activists during a demonstration Thursday in Daleh against presidential elections to be held later this month, witnesses and activists said.

“Southerner wake up, no more elections,” chanted the protesters referring to a referendum-like election in which Vice President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi stands as a sole candidate based on a Gulf brokered deal signed by departing President Ali Abdullah Saleh in November. AGENCIES

Yemen’s Saleh says to leave for treatment in United States

DUBAI: Yemen’s outgoing president Ali Abdullah Saleh said on Sunday he would leave for medical treatment in the United States and return to continue leading the ruling party, but gave no indication of when he would leave the troubled country.

A source close to Saleh said he was set to leave within the next few hours for the United States via neighboring Oman.

“God willing, I will leave for treatment in the United States and I will return to Sanaa as head of the General People’s Congress party,” Saleh was quoted by the state news agency Saba as telling a meeting with party officials.

Saleh, who was granted immunity from prosecution under a law passed by parliament on Saturday, also asked Yemenis to forgive him for mistakes made during his rule.

“I ask for pardon from all Yemeni men and women for any shortcoming that occurred during my 33-year rule and I ask forgiveness and offer my apologies to all Yemeni men and women,” he said. “Now we must concentrate on our martyrs and injured.”

Thousands of Yemenis protested on Sunday against Saleh’s immunity and demanded he be put on trial for offences they say he committed during his rule.

Saleh was granted immunity as part of measures to persuade him to resign after a year of protests against him which have ground the impoverished Arabian Peninsula nation to a halt.

Demonstrators accuse security forces controlled by Saleh and his aides of killing hundreds. Many fear some of his followers will cling to power even once Saleh is gone.

At the capital’s airport, dozens of members of Yemen’s airforce held a sit-in on the runway to demand the resignation of their commander, Saleh’s half-brother, accusing him of corruption. AGENCIES

Yemen: Drone kills Al-Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaqi

The defence ministry in Sanaa said he was killed along with several other suspected Al-Qaeda operatives on Friday, and tribal sources said he died in a strike on two vehicles in Marib province, an Al-Qaeda stronghold in eastern Yemen.

Awlaqi was charged in November in Yemen for alleged ties with Al-Qaeda and incitement to kill foreigners.

Washington had linked the imam and son of a former Yemeni government minister to a shooting rampage in November 2009 at a US army base and to a botched Christmas Day attack that year on a US airliner.

A Yemeni court, under mounting US pressure to fight Al-Qaeda after a foiled air cargo bomb plot in late October last year, had ordered his arrest by any means for his alleged Al-Qaeda links.

“Mr Awlaqi is a problem,” US President Barack Obama s counter-terrorism adviser John Brennan said in January, 2010. “He s clearly a part of Al-Qaeda in (the) Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). He s not just a cleric.”

Brennan directly accused Awlaqi of having links with Major Nidal Hasan who is suspected of shooting dead 13 people at Fort Hood military base in Texas, and who is set to face trial in a military court on March 5, 2012.

Awlaqi may also have had contact with Nigerian student Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, accused of trying to blow up the Christmas Day plane, Brennan said.

Obama has accused AQAP of arming and training Abdulmutallab and said the group was also responsible for last October s parcel bomb plot, which originated in Yemen.

Two parcels addressed to Jewish institutions in Chicago and containing the explosive PETN hidden in ink toner cartridges were found to have been freighted from Sanaa on commercial airlines.

In July, 2010, Washington placed Awlaqi on its list of terrorism supporters, freezing his financial assets and banning any transactions with him.

In a video tape posted by AQAP on jihadist websites in May last year Awlaqi, who is in his late 30s, urged Muslims serving in the US army to follow Hasan s example and also defended Abdulmutallab.

Awlaqi, in a later Internet posting in November, went a step further and called for the murder of any US citizen. “Do not consult anyone in killing Americans,” he said, the US monitoring group SITE Intelligence reported.

“Killing the devil does not need any fatwa (religious edict),” he added. “It s either us or you,” Awlaqi said, addressing Americans in the video.

In May last year, the United States said it was actively hunting Awlaqi. “He has an agenda just like Al-Qaeda to strike targets in Yemen, throughout the world including here in the United States,” the White House spokesman said.

But an Awlaqi relative has insisted the imam “is not a fighter of Al-Qaeda.” “He is just a preacher,” he said.
Awlaqi comes from a well-off family. His father is a former minister of agriculture and was the president of the university of Sanaa.

He was born in the US state of New Mexico in 1971, attended school in Yemen and graduated from Colorado State University in civil engineering. He also holds a master s degree in education leadership from San Diego State University.

He made a name for himself delivering sermons in English in mosques across the United States, where he also worked for a charity association founded by Yemeni cleric Abdul Majeed al-Zendani, whom the US government has identified as a “global terrorist.”

Awlaqi met two of the bombers on the plane that crashed into the Pentagon building in the United States on September 11, 2001, according to the 9/11 Commission Report.

Awlaqi was arrested in Yemen in 2006 for his role in kidnapping the son of a rich Yemeni family and demanding ransom money “to finance Al-Qaeda,” Yemeni security sources said.

Two years later he was set free on condition that he report to police daily, but he fled to the eastern Shabwa region.
Awlaqi went to ground after an air raid on December 24, 2009 struck a meeting of Al-Qaeda leaders in Wadi Rafadh, in Shabwa province, killing 34.

In May this year, a Yemeni tribal source said Awlaqi narrowly escaped a US drone attack three days after American commandos killed Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.

The strike in Shabwa was the first reported US targeting of other key figures in the terror network after a commando raid killed bin Laden inside Pakistan on May 2.

Awlaqi was married with five children.

Drone attack kills 10 Al Qaeda suspects in Yemen

Ten Al Qaeda suspects were killed while a top leader in the network escaped death as US drones carried out several air strikes on their strongholds in Yemen s south, local officials said Wednesday 21/9/2011.

“US drones carried out two air strikes on Al-Mahfad (in the southern Abyan province) where Al-Qaeda militants — among them Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula s (AQAP) number two Saeed al-Shehri — are present,” said a local official in the village.

Four suspected militants were killed while Shehri escaped, said the well-informed official who requested anonymity.

Another local official from the town of Shaqra — controlled by the militants since June — said that six other “Al-Qaeda gunmen” were killed and three were wounded in two separate air raids on the town.

Since anti-government protests swept Yemen in late January, militants have taken advantage of the weakening of central authority to set up base in several southern provinces as well as Marib province in the east.

In May, a group who name themselves the Partisans of Sharia (Islamic Law), believed to be affiliated with Al-Qaeda, seized control of many regions across Abyan province.

Washington and other Western governments have repeatedly expressed growing concern about the role Al-Qaeda might play in Yemen if the regime of veteran President Ali Abdullah Saleh collapses and a power vacuum ensues.

Late on Tuesday, the Washington Post said that the United States is building an array of secret new drone bases to conduct strikes against Al-Qaeda targets in Somalia and Yemen.

The Post said the United States is also conducting drone missions over Yemen and Somalia from Djibouti, seeking to weaken Al-Qaeda affiliates in both countries.

“It s a conscious recognition that those are the hot spots developing right now,” it quoted a former senior US military official as saying.

The United States regularly launches drone strikes against suspected militants along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, where it claims to have greatly degraded Al-Qaeda s core leadership.

At least 26 killed in anti-Saleh march in Yemen

SANAA: At least 26 people were shot dead and hundreds wounded on Sunday when security forces fired on demonstrators who charged police lines in Yemen’s capital Sanaa, in a dramatic escalation of protests against President Ali Abdullah Saleh.  

Gunfire and explosions were heard late into the night and protesters vowed to continue demonstrations on Monday morning.

A Reuters witness earlier saw security forces fire at protesters from buildings and use water cannon and tear gas to hold back tens of thousands of demonstrators.

Some of the protesters were wielding batons or throwing petrol bombs at police cars.

“Why are you still sitting here? Get moving everyone, move.

Go defend the martyrs’ honor,” blared a voice on loudspeakers in Change Square, where thousands have camped out in tents for eight months to demand an end to Saleh’s 33-year rule.

Hundreds still in the ramshackle camp answered the call, running and chanting “God is great, freedom!” as they streamed down the street.

“This is the worst day I’ve seen in three months. We’re expecting more dead to come in,” said doctor Jamal al-Hamdani, who was treating dozens of patients with bullet wounds.

The injured were rushed in on stretchers and laid out on blood-streaked floors in a mosque being used as a makeshift hospital.

Medics there estimated some 342 had suffered gunshot wounds, with 36 in a critical condition.

The face of one dead man was torn away from an injury medics said appeared to be caused by a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) fired at his head. AGENCIES

Yemen PM to return from Riyadh after attack on Saleh

RIYADH: Yemen’s prime minister will return home later on Tuesday from Saudi Arabia, where he has been recovering from injuries suffered in a June assassination attempt on President Ali Abdullah Saleh, a government source said.

Saleh vows return to Yemen, US urges him to stay away

DUBAI: The United States has urged Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh not to return home from Saudi Arabia, where he has been recovering from injuries suffered in an assassination attempt during a popular uprising, diplomatic sources said on Tuesday.

Yemeni president Saleh agrees to exit within 30 days: officials

SANAA: Yemen’s embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh has accepted a deal brokered by neighboring Persian Gulf nations to step down, Yemeni officials said Saturday.

Both Saleh and the Yemeni opposition have agreed to the deal in principle. But Saleh has yet to sign the agreement, which stipulates he leave office within 30 days and provides complete immunity for him and those who served in his regime, said a senior foreign ministry official, who requested anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media.

Mohammed Albasha, spokesman for the Yemeni Embassy in Washington, said the opposition has to accept the final deal before Saleh will sign.

The agreement also calls for a unity government to be formed within seven days.

Yemen’s state-run media quoted Deputy Minister of Information Abdu al-Janadi as saying that the political crisis will “have a solution which appeases all parties to take the country to a better democracy.”

He told the Saba news agency that Saleh “welcomed the initiative presented by foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council and showed readiness to positively deal with it according to the Yemeni constitution.”

The bloc of six oil-producing Gulf nations, known as the GCC, has been working to ease tensions between Saleh and an increasingly restive opposition.

Previously, Yemen’s largest opposition group, the Joint Meeting Parties (JMP) bloc, had objected to the Gulf initiative for failing to state clearly that Saleh must stand down.

Even after agreeing to the deal, Saleh lashed out at the opposition, accusing them of “receiving dirty money to topple the government.”

“We are very interested in preventing bloodshed because the Yemeni blood is very precious and the opposition can’t drag us to killing each other,” Saleh said. “Civil war will not only affect Yemen, but also the whole region and the international security.
He said the JMP was trying to grab power outside the framework of democracy.

“I am ready to quit, but according to the constitution, which stipulated change through the ballot boxes and free elections,” he said.

The JMP agreed to a unity government that included Saleh’s ruling General People’s Congress on the condition that protests be allowed to continue on the streets, said spokesman Muhammad Qahtan.

Violent anti-government demonstrations have erupted for many weeks across Yemen and the chorus calling for Saleh’s ouster has grown louder.

U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said he was aware of press reports around Saleh’s acceptance of the GCC proposal and called on all sides to refrain from violence.

“There must be genuine participation by all sides including youth in an open and transparent process that addresses the legitimate concerns of the Yemeni people, including their political and economic aspirations and their calls to quickly bring all perpetrators of violence against protesters to justice,” he said.

“A solution to Yemen’s problems will not be found through security measures, including the recently adopted emergency laws.”

Saleh has been in power since 1978 and served as a staunch U.S. ally in the fight against al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. He has argued he should stay in power because he is best equipped to fight Islamic militancy.

He has also said he accepts opposition demands for constitutional reforms and holding parliamentary elections by the end of the year. He promised not to run for president in the next round of elections.

But earlier this month, Saleh said he would not offer any more concessions to those demanding reforms.

Gulf Arabs to try to draw Yemen opposition to talks

SANAA: Gulf Arab ambassadors were to meet Yemen opposition figures on Wednesday to urge them to join mediation talks as protesters around the country again demanded an end to President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s 32-year rule.

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) invited government and opposition representatives on Monday to talks in Saudi Arabia, at a date yet to be set, while the United States pressed the veteran political survivor to negotiate with his opponents.

U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates visited Saudi Arabia on Wednesday and was to discuss the unrest sweeping the region with King Abdullah, whose kingdom borders Yemen and is grappling with internal pressures of its own.

Saleh, who ignored a transition-of-power plan offered by the opposition on Saturday, accepted the GCC invitation on Tuesday and urged the opposition to follow suit. So did Ali Mohsen, the prominent general who turned against Saleh last month. There was no sign of a shift in position by Saleh despite the pressure. He has insisted for weeks he will leave once he has overseen parliamentary and presidential elections this year.

“The president will not leave his historic role early, before the transition of power… This issue is important,” Saleh adviser Ahmad al-Soufi told Al Arabiya television.

The ambassadors of Qatar, Oman and Saudi Arabia were to meet the government side on Wednesday as well as representatives of the opposition coalition, which has been non-committal so far.

“We welcome the (GCC) position on respecting the Yemeni people’s choices and we will also welcome any efforts made for the sake of President Saleh’s speedy departure,” Joint Meeting Parties coalition spokesman Mohammed al-Sabri said on Monday.

On Tuesday, an opposition source said security forces in the southern port city of Aden detained six people for mobilising students to join a civil disobedience campaign that has kicked off in South Yemen in recent days, with shops, schools and some government offices closed for part of the day in some towns.

Tension has risen this week in a standoff that began in February when protesters began camping out outside Sanaa University. Saleh, a wily political survivor who has been in power since 1978, said then he would run for re-election in 2013 but that did not persuade sceptical activists to go home.

On Monday, security forces and armed men in civilian clothes fired on protesters in Taiz, south of Sanaa, and the Red Sea port of Hudaida, killing 21 people.

On Tuesday, security forces and armed men again attacked a crowd of tens of thousands of protesters in Taiz, residents said, and protesters responded by hurling rocks.

Doctors told Reuters around 30 protesters were wounded by gunfire and beatings. Around 300 were injured in total, they said, most suffering from tear gas inhalation.

Saleh supporters clashed with protesters and army units protecting them in Sanaa on Tuesday, resulting in three deaths. The government said a mediation team sent to General Mohsen had been set upon, while Mohsen said it was a trap to assassinate him.

U.S. CHANGES TACK

Washington has long seen Saleh as a pivotal ally in its fight against al Qaeda, which has used its Yemen base to stage attacks on Saudi Arabia and the United States. In return for billions of dollars in military aid, he has pledged to fight militants and allowed unpopular U.S. air strikes on their camps.

But on Monday, U.S. officials said Washington was ratcheting up pressure on Saleh to work towards a power transition plan.

On Tuesday, the Pentagon said the United States was calling for a negotiated transition in Yemen “as quickly as possible.”

“Obviously the situation right now is a difficult one. The longer it festers, the more difficult it becomes,” Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said.

Some diplomats in Saudi Arabia have suggested Riyadh wants Mohsen to replace Saleh, though the general has said he is not interested in taking power. Civil society opposition groups say Mohsen, 70, an Islamist, is tainted by his kinship and long-time association with the veteran ruler.

More than 100 people have been killed since anti-government protests began in Yemen, including the March 18 killings of 52 anti-government protesters by rooftop snipers in Sanaa.

That incident, which led Saleh to declare a state of emergency, prompted top Yemeni generals, ambassadors and some tribes to back the protesters, in a major blow to the president.

Opposition sources say talks stalled because Saleh was manoeuvring to ensure he and his family do not face prosecution over corruption accusations raised by the opposition. Many demonstrators are sceptical about the GCC talks.

Frustration with Saleh’s intransigence may push Yemenis, many of them heavily armed and no strangers to wars and insurgencies, closer to a violent power struggle. AGENCIES

Egypt chaos: Mubarak refuses to step down

Breaking News Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak refused to bow to demands that he resign after ordering troops and tanks into cities in an attempt to quell protests against his 30-year rule. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is due to appoint a new government after firing his previous administration amid a wave of protests against his rule. Demonstrators were still out in the streets in the early hours of the morning, as were looters.

Parts of Cairo resembled a war zone, filled with smoke, rubble and the smell of tear gas. Mubarak dismissed his government and called for national dialogue to avert chaos after a day of battles between police and protestors. Medical sources said at least 24 people had been killed and over a thousand injured in clashes in Cairo, Suez and Alexandria. ‘It is not by setting fire and by attacking private and public property that we achieve the aspirations of Egypt and its sons, but they will be achieved through dialogue, awareness and effort,’ he said in a televised address, his first public appearance since the protests began four days ago.US President Barack Obama said he had spoken with Mubarak and urged ‘concrete steps that advance the rights of the Egyptian people’.The army, deployed for the first time in the crisis, cleared Cairo’s Tahrir square towards midnight. Shortly after Mubarak’s speech, protestors returned in their hundreds, defying a curfew. They said sacking the cabinet was far from enough.’It was never about the government, by God. It is you (Mubarak) who has to go What you have done to the people is enough’ said one protestor.

Shots were heard in the evening near parliament and the headquarters of the ruling National Democratic Party was in flames, the blaze lighting up the night sky. Cars were set alight and police posts torched. More than half of the dead in yesterday’s clashes were reported in Suez, the eastern city which has been ground zero for the most violent protests over the past four days.Mubarak, 82, has been a close ally of Washington and beneficiary of US aid for decades.The protests were triggered by the overthrow two weeks ago of Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Al Ben Ali. Street protests in Tunis focused on similar issues of poverty and political repression. Demonstrations have also flared in Yemen, Algeria, Sudan and Jordan in recent weeks.

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