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Jeremy Scahill: U.S. Has Ignited Islamist Uprising in Impoverished, Divided Yemen

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - Feb. 16 (News Report) - Has U.S. counterterrorism policy in Yemen strengthened the very threat it sought to eliminate? We speak with journalist Jeremy Scahill, who reports in a new cover story for The Nation magazine that U.S. drone strikes, civilian drone casualties and deepening poverty in Yemen have all contributed to the rise of an Islamist uprising. "The arrogance of the U.S. was always thinking that whatever U.S. official was sent to Yemen was smarter than Ali Abdullah Saleh," Scahill says. "[Saleh] was a master chess player, and he milked counterterrorism as his cash cow... [U.S.-supplied] forces have almost never been used to actually battle anyone determined to be terrorists. They've existed primarily for the defense of the Saleh regime." [includes rush transcript]

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Yemen’s children pay the highest price in crisis - The Washington Post

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Washington Post - By Sudarsan Raghavan - Jan. 09 (Special Report) - Malnutrition rates are rising. Children are, more than ever, vulnerable to life-threatening illnesses and diseases.

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Yemen President, Saleh, Won’t Leave Country

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

New York Times - By Kareem Fahim - Jan. 04 (News Report) - There had been hopes that President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s departure might ease antigovernment protests.

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What's Happening in the Persian Gulf Explained

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Mother Jones - By Adam Weinstein, Hamed Aleaziz - Jan. 03 (Special Report) - The basics: Iran and the United States appear to be heading for a showdown in the Persian Gulf. Amid already-high tensions over Iran's advancing nuclear program, the US has imposed harsh new economic sanctions on the regime in Tehran and begun to move se

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Yemeni Uprising Opens a Door to Besieged Rebels in the North

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

New York Times - By Kareem Fahim - Dec. 16 (News Report) - After years of fighting, Houthis are expressing a willingness to participate in a new political process.

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"The Arab People Have Woken Up": Yemeni Activist Tawakkul Karman Accepts Nobel Peace Prize

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - Dec. 13 (Special Report) - Today we complete our coverage with the acceptance speech of Tawakkol Karman from Yemen, the first Arab woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, as well as its youngest winner to date. Karman, a 32-year-old mother of three and an outspoken journalist and activist, has agitated for press freedoms and staged weekly sit-ins to demand the release of political prisoners from jail. She founded Women Journalists Without Chains and has played a leading part in the struggle for women’s rights and for democracy in Yemen.

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Taiz Journal: Grasping at Peace, War Zone of a City Tests Yemen

Sun, 11 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

New York Times - By Kareem Fahim - Dec. 11 (Special Report) - This small, divided central Yemen city has been a war zone in recent weeks, with dozens killed, representing every segment of society: civilians, protesters, tribesmen and government soldiers.

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“They Just Started Shooting Us From Everywhere”: Scores of Protesters Killed in Yemen

Mon, 19 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - Sep. 19 (News) - In Yemen, the government's violent crackdown on protesters has intensified, leading to the bloodiest two days in several months. At least 21 protesters have been killed today in the capital of Sana’a. On Sunday, 26 demonstrators were gunned down and hundreds were injured. Demonstrators are calling for an end to President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s 33-year rule as he has repeatedly broken promises to step down. Last week, Saleh authorized his vice president to negotiate a transfer of power with the opposition. The initiative was proposed by the six-nation Gulf Co-operation Council and sets the path for a peaceful transition of power from Saleh, who has ruled Yemen since 1978. We go to Yemen for an update from Abdul Ghani al Iryani, a political analyst based in Sana'a and co-founder of the Democratic Awakening Movement. [Check back soon for complete transcript.]

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Aiming to Preserve Autocratic Mideast Rule, Saudi Arabia Helps Crush Uprisings in Bahrain, Yemen

Thu, 16 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - Jun. 16 (News Analysis) - While the United States remains heavily involved in the Libya conflict, it has been noticeably silent on the violent suppression of popular uprisings against autocratic regimes Bahrain and Yemen, both of which are close allies of Saudi Arabia. In March, Bahrain called in Saudi troops to help crush massive pro-democracy protests. We discuss the role of Saudi Arabia in recent regional uprisings with Toby Jones, assistant professor of history at Rutgers University and a former Persian Gulf analyst with the International Crisis Group.

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CIA Building Secret Mideast Base to Launch Drone Attacks in Yemen

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - Jun. 15 (News Report) - The CIA is building a secret air base in the Middle East to serve as a launching pad for armed drones to strike Yemen. Since December 2009, U.S. strikes in Yemen have been carried out by the U.S. military with intelligence support from the CIA. Now, the spy agency is preparing to carry out drone strikes itself alongside the military campaign. The Wall Street Journal reports the CIA, in coordination with Saudi Arabia, has been ramping up its intelligence gathering efforts in Yemen in recent months to support a sustained drone campaign. We speak with Gregory Johnsen, a former Fulbright Fellow in Yemen and now a graduate student in Near Eastern studies at Princeton University.

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Militants linked to al-Qaeda emboldened in Yemen

Mon, 13 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Washington Post - By Sudarsan Raghavan - Jun. 13 (News Report) - Islamist extremists, many suspected of links to al-Qaeda, are engaged in an intensifying struggle against government forces for control of southern Yemen, taking advantage of a growing power vacuum to create a stronghold near vital oil-shipping lanes, said residents and Yemeni and U.S. officials.

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Yemen's power struggle

Sun, 12 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Christian Science Monitor - By Jeb Boone - Jun. 12 (News Report) - In Yemen's capital, a dusty city of more than 2 million surrounded by rugged mountains, security forces roam the streets to keep a lid on the rebellion after President Ali Abdullah Saleh abruptly left the country. All along Sanaa's major thoroughfares, they stare down the barrels of Russian DShK heavy machine guns mounted in the back of camouflage-painted pickup trucks. Meanwhile, protesters chant, "Stay away, Ali Saleh!" Officials insist that the president, who was badly injured in a June 3 attack on his home and went to Saudi Arabia for medical treatment, will return to reassume the post he has held for 32 years. But how long that may take is uncertain. In the interim, an elite power struggle could profoundly shape the future of Yemen. "There are a lot of people who stand to benefit from continued violence," says Yemeni political analyst Abdul-Ghani al-Iryani. "Saleh's boys won't hesitate to use violence to honor their father and, of course, the political opposition is always looking for a way to keep themselves relevant."

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Yemenis Celebrate as President Saleh Flees to Saudi Arabia, Transfers Power to Vice President

Mon, 06 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - Jun. 06 (News Analysis) - Thousands of people in Yemen are rejoicing at the departure of President Ali Abdullah Saleh. The embattled leader is reportedly in Saudi Arabia for medical treatment after being injured in a rocket attack on his presidential compound. Saleh temporarily ceded power to his vice president on Saturday night. His nephew remains in command of the Central Security paramilitary forces, and his son, Ahmad Ali Abdullah Saleh, still heads the elite Republican Guard. To discuss the implications of Saleh’s departure, we’re joined from Sana’a by Abdul-Ghani al-Iryani, a political analyst and co-founder of the Democratic Awakening Movement.

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Yemeni crowds celebrate after president transfers power, flies to Saudi Arabia

Sun, 05 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Washington Post - By Ernesto Londono, Sudarsan Raghavan - Jun. 05 (News Report) - Hours after Yemen’s president flew to Saudi Arabia for treatment of wounds sustained in a rocket attack, thousands of demonstrators flocked to the streets of the capital Sunday to celebrate what they billed as the latest ouster of an Arab autocrat.

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Clashes Spread Across Yemen, Raising Fears of Civil War

Thu, 02 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Iona Craig, Amy Goodman - Jun. 02 (News) - Clashes are continuing across Yemen in the growing conflict over President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s refusal to step down. At least 15 people were reportedly killed in overnight clashes in the capital city of Sana’a. Dozens have been killed since Monday, when artillery explosions and machine-gun fire shattered a tenuous ceasefire that lasted less than 48 hours.

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Explosions and street fighting grip Yemen capital

Wed, 01 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Reuters - By Mohamed Sudam, Mohammed Ghobari - Jun. 01 (News) - Renewed fighting in Yemen's capital between a powerful tribal group and President Ali Abdullah Saleh forces this week has killed at least 19 people and rocked Sanaa with explosions, officials said on Wednesday.

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Islamist militants take over southern Yemen city

Mon, 30 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Christian Science Monitor - By Ariel Zirulnick - May. 30 (News) - Islamist militants took over the southern coastal city of Zinjibar (see map) this weekend, bolstering claims that Yemen's unrest, which borders on civil war, is leaving a vacuum that is allowing militants to gain strength. The clashes with the government have so far been concentrated in the north, around Sanaa.

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"Friday of Decisiveness in Yemen”: Tens of Thousands Protest as President Saleh Defiantly Rejects Demands to Resign

Fri, 13 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - May. 13 (News Report) - Tens of thousands of Yemenis have taken to the streets today for what organizers have called the "Friday of Decisiveness,” days after Yemeni forces opened fire on demonstrators. The death toll from weeks of protests has surpassed 160. The violence comes as Qatar has pulled out of international talks on a deal that would see Saleh voluntarily resign. We are joined on the phone by Iona Craig, a _Times of London_ correspondent, based in the Yemeni capital, Sana'a.

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Syria, Libya, Yemen and Middle East unrest

Fri, 13 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

The Guardian - By Matthew Weaver - May. 13 (Breaking News) - • Syrian regime deploys tanks to crush Friday prayer protests • Bashar al-Assad expected to be sanctioned by EU • Father of missing AJ journalist Dorothy Parvaz speaks out • North African migrant row prompts changes to EU travel 9.25am: Gaddafi, Assad or Saleh: who will go first? , asks the Guardian's Middle East expert Brian Whitaker. Following the comparatively swift exits of Ben Ali in Tunisia and Mubarak in Egypt, we now have three Arab leaders who face serious challenges to their power but are proving more much difficult to dislodge: Gaddafi in Libya, Saleh in Yemen and Assad in Syria. Which of them, I wonder will be the next to go – and when? The Syrian uprising is the most recent – it began in the middle of March – and my gut feeling is that it will not succeed quickly. The Assad regime could easily survive into next year, if not for longer, though it is unlikely ever to recover from the blow to its authority. "The regime will dig in its heels and fight to the end," Syria ...

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Yemen's women: out from the shadows | Nadya Khalife

Sat, 07 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

The Guardian - By Nadya Khalife - May. 07 (Opinion) - Despite great risks to them in a sexist society, thousands of women have stood up to demonstrate against President Saleh "Security forces in civilian clothes have threatened me with the jambiyya , not just during demonstrations, but everywhere I go," the protest leader and journalist Tawakkol Karman told me, describing the traditional dagger that Yemeni men wear strapped to their waists. In the past, any mention of Yemen's women in the news media has usually been about two issues, neither of them positive. The first is that they are more likely than most women in the Middle East to die in childbirth, and the second that they are among the least empowered women in the world. The second assumption has recently been shattered by the uprisings in Yemen. Since the beginning of the protests, women like Karman have come out in great numbers to demonstrate against President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has ruled in Yemen for more than 30 years. They have stood side by side with tens of thousands of ...

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Saleh refusal forces Yemen deal postponement

Sun, 01 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Aljazeera - May. 01 (News Report) - A signing ceremony for a Gulf-brokered deal to end Yemen's political crisis has been postponed after the embattled president Ali Abdullah Saleh refused to sign the agreement in Sanaa. "The signing of the agreement is postponed," a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) source told the Reuters news agency on Sunday, without giving details on whether it might be rescheduled or when. Gulf Arab foreign ministers will meet in the Saudi capital on Sunday to discuss future course of action, the source said. Yemen's opposition also said they will not go to Riyadh, where they had been expected to join GCC foreign ministers to sign the deal stipulating president Saleh's departure. "There is no longer an invitation. The general secretary of the GCC left yesterday without the president's signature, so the initiative has failed," Mohammad al-Sabri, an opposition official, told AFP.

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How to Arm a Dictator - Nick Turse | TomDispatch

Thu, 28 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Tomdispatch.com - By Nick Turse - Apr. 28 (News) - All told, over the past five years, the U.S. has provided more than $300 million in aid to Yemen’s security forces, with the dollars escalating precipitously under the Obama administration. In 2008, under President George W. Bush, Yemen received $17.2 million in baseline military assistance (which does not include counterterrorism or humanitarian funding). In 2010, that number had risen to $72.3 million while, overall, Yemen received $155.3 million in U.S. aid that year, including a “$34.5 million special operations force counterterrorism enhancement package.” These funds have provided Yemen’s security forces with helicopters, Humvees, weapons, ammunition, radio systems, and night-vision goggles.

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Yemen's president agrees to resign, official says

Sat, 23 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

CNN - Apr. 23 (News Report) - Yemen's embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh has accepted a deal brokered by neighboring Persian Gulf nations to step down, a senior Yemeni Foreign Ministry official said Saturday. Both Saleh and the Yemeni opposition have agreed to the deal in principle. But Saleh has yet to sign the agreement, which mandates that he leave office within 30 days and provides complete immunity for him and those who served in his regime, said the official.

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Yemen opposition to join Gulf-brokered talks

Sun, 17 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Aljazeera - Apr. 17 (News) - Yemen's opposition has said it would send a delegation to Saudi Arabia on Sunday to discuss with Gulf Arab ministers the transition of power in their country, as thousands rallied to demand Ali Abdullah Saleh, the embattled president, to step down. "We h

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The Yemen President's Pariah Family

Sat, 09 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

The Daily Beast - By Tom Finn - Apr. 09 (News Report) - After nearly three months of youth-led popular protests, defections by top generals, ambassadors and senior members of his government, Yemen's longtime ruler Ali Abdullah Saleh looks decidedly beleaguered. Earlier this week, American officials, who have previously backed him, discreetly admitted his rule is “untenable.” Even his most loyal backers, including members of his own tribe and longtime aid donors, including Saudi Arabia, are now ushering him toward the exit. Qatar’s Prime Minister, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani, tightened the screws further late this week, telling the state news agency that a coalition of Gulf States hoped “to reach a deal with the Yemeni president to step down.”

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