Sunday, Aug 8, 2010Volume 01 - ISSue 10

PrIce: yer 30

www.natIonalyemen.comNationalYemenThe Facts As They Are

The Facts As They Are

AUTISM REPORT Yemen’s Foreign Exchange Reserve Falls

Heaven of Grapes in Yemen 04 06 08 10

Seven people were killed and 79 others injured in 36 differ-ent traffic accidents on various roads of the governorates yes-terday.

According to the reports the traffic accidents were as fol-lows: ten accidents involving pedestrians, resulting 10 inju-ries; nine overturned vehicle accidents, resulting in four

deaths and 31 injuries; seven-teen car crashes resulting in the death of 3 people and the inju-ry of 38.

Traffic services attributed the causes of these accidents to speeding, inappropriate pass-ing, negligence and being dis-tracted by such things as chew-ing Qat and using a cell phone while driving.

Seven Die in Traffic Accidents

High Prices a Major Concern in Ramadan

Prices of basic foodstuffs shot up an average of 25% just be-fore the holy month of Rama-dan. Traders attributed this rise to the high demand for con-

sumer goods.Just before Ramadan every

year, prices begin to rise and

Continued on ( 10 )

YOUR NEW NEWSPAPER

Yemen is famous for its grapes, honey and coffee. In rural areas the harvest keeps the whole family busy gathering the seasonal fruit. Yemeni farmers, like this one, seem very satisfied with with quality of the grapes this year.

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A report released by Parlia-ment’s Agriculture and Fisher-ies Committee revealed Min-istry of Agriculture violations. According to the report the Ministry exploited financial al-locations for foreign loan proj-ects.

The committee’s report men-tioned that the financial state-

ments from agricultural de-velopment projects showed discrepancies between the ministry, the investment pro-gram and the final accounts. The discrepancies were dis-covered by comparing the ap-proved financial allocations and actual expenditures across

Parliament’s Latest Report Reveals Violations in the Ministry of Agriculture

Yemen Arrests Four al-Qaeda Suspects

Suicide Bombing Suspect Captured

Lawyers Win Right to Aid U.S. Target

SANA’A, Aug. 07 - Security forces have arrested four sus-pected al-Qaeda members ac-cused of killing three Yemeni soldiers on Thursday in Abyan province. The Interior Ministry made clear that suspected al-Qaeda gunmen opened fire on a security patrol.

The Ministry said the attack was the result of a lack of nec-

essary security precautions. Therefore, Major General Mo-hammed Bin Abdullah Al-Qa-wsi said that the commander of the Abyan police has been sus-pended from work and is sub-ject to investigation for ne-glecting of his duty. He emphasized that the Ministry of Interior will continue to hold security chiefs responsible for negligence.

Security services in Al-Dhale’ governorate arrested a suspect accused of being in-volved in last Tuesday’s sui-cide bombing at the Al-Dhale’ security services headquarters, which injured 9 security men. They said that

the suspect, Ahmed Al-Dar-wish, is currently under in-vestigation.

Darwish is a 27 year-old owner of cell phone shop in Al-Dhale’ and a resident of Al-Kharbah Directorate.

WASHINGTON — The Trea-sury Department on Wednesday granted permission to a group of human rights lawyers who want to file a lawsuit on behalf of a radical Muslim cleric thought to be hiding in Yemen. The Obama

administration has authorized killing the cleric as a terrorist de-spite his American citizenship.

The department approved a li-cense to the American Civil Lib-erties Union and the Center for Constitutional Rights to chal-lenge the targeting of the man, Anwar al-Awlaki, who was born in New Mexico and is accused of having ties to Al Qaeda.

Last month, Mr. Awlaki’s fa-ther retained the two groups to

An executive delegation from Calgary based Nexen Inc, head-ed by President and CEO Mar-vin Romanow, paid a five day visit to Yemen. The official visit began last Wednesday with a visit to facilities in al Masila and the power plant in Mukalla.

On Saturday Mr. Romanow met with President Saleh to dis-cuss future business opportuni-ties in Yemen. The discussion included the extension of the Nexen contract and new joint ventures in the oil and gas fields.

The delegation also met with

the Prime Minister Ali Moham-med Mujuar , Minister of Oil and Minerals, Ameer Al Aida-rous and Shura Council Chair-man, AbdulAziz Abdul Ghani and other governmental offi-cials.

Nexen has been operating in the Yemen since 1987 and is the country’s largest producer and exporter of oil and it operate blocks 14 and 51. Nexen is look-ing forward to future coopera-tion with Yemen and they hope to reach a new agreement with the Government.

How involved is the U.S. mil-itary in Yemen, and is the Obama Administration laying the groundwork for a new for-eign adventure? According to several news agencies, includ-ing Agence France Presse, UPI and the Washington Post, very involved and likely to be more so in the future,

“U.S. military teams and in-

telligence agencies are deeply involved in secret joint opera-tions with Yemeni troops,” says Dana Priest, the Post’s ace intelligence and military af-fairs reporter, including “the U.S. military’s clandestine Joint Special Operations Com-mand, whose main mission is tracking and killing suspected terrorists.”

The US and Yemen

Conn Hallinan for NY

Continued on ( 7 )

Nexen Inc. Discusses Future with President Saleh

In Yemen, spiritualityis in the air

Sunday, Aug 8, 2010 Issue 10 www.nationalyemen.com2 National YemenADVERTISMENTS

Sunday, Aug 8, 2010 Issue 10 www.nationalyemen.com 3National Yemen LOCAL

1

The French government announces its decision to allocate $150,000 for the French non-governmental organization Doctors of the World for its work in northern Yemen.

The French government de-cided to allocate $150,000 in aid for the French non-gov-ernmental organization Doc-tors of the World. This money will go toward a program for

people affected by the humani-tarian crisis in the governorates of Sa’ada and Hajjah. The aim of this aid is to support mobile clinics that will improve ac-cess to primary health care for

citizens in six districts (three in both Sa’da and Hajjah). The new humanitarian and food aid granted to Yemen reaches a to-tal of US$158,7500.

The first microfinance net-work in Yemen was launched on Sunday, August 1st at the Movenpick Hotel in Sana’a. The Conference was chaired by the Managing Director of the Social Fund for Development (SFD), the Deputy Minister for Economic Affairs and the Min-ister of Planning and Interna-tional Cooperation, Abdul Karim Al- Arhabi, who gave a speech in support of the Gov-ernment sustaining the microfi-nance project. Other partici-pants at the official inauguration included high profile dignitar-ies, businessmen, NGOs, and foreign donors.

The National Microfinance Network, which officially reg-istered as an NGO in 2009, was initially conceived by the UNDP and the SFD. The Gov-

ernment has shown a willing-ness to contribute to the devel-opment of YMN by improving its transportation and commu-nication infrastructure. Cur-rently, the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Moham-med Al Lae’e, supervises this non-profit, member-based asso-ciation consisting of banks and microfinance institutions.

The objective of YMN is to al-leviate poverty by providing the entrepreneurial poor with the ability to carry out their projects. Small and medium sized businesses are given an opportunity to develop and contribute to the financial growth of the nation. The Ex-ecutive Director of YMN Sha-rar Mahyub said that the Net-work has been growing steadily,

with a 35% increase in the number of active clients be-tween January 2009 and July 2010.

The YMN offers various ser-vices (including loans and sav-ing accounts), and will follow a variety of different strategies to overcome the difficulties of starting a microfinance sector in Yemen. For example, women are especially encouraged and supported, and currently make up 70% of the customer base.

During the Conference the YMN team also honored mem-bers with Achievement Ac-knowledgment Awards. The recipients were the SFD Man-aging Director Al Arhabi, UNDP representative Ratiba Mahta and Sanabel Executive Director Raniya Abdulbaqee.

OFFICIAL LAUNCH OF YEMEN MICROFINANCE NETWORK

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National Yemen

Newspaper

Fakhri Hassan Al-ArashiPublisher & Chief Editor

Mohammed Al-AsaadiEditorial Consultant

Mansoor Al-RdaeiNews Editor

Fuad Al-QadhiBusiness Editor

Dr. Ahmed Al-QoyadhiEducation Editor

Najla’a Al-ShaibaniSocial Editor

Ali lah AjlanIT Editor

Wardah Al-shaweshGraphic Designer

Najeeb AbdulwahedTechnical Director

Abdul-Karim MufadhalSports Editor

Khaled Al-SofiSeniorTranslator

Collin StevensonAssistant Copy Editor

Hind Al-EryaniP.R & Marketing

Jihan AnwarStaff Journalist

In 1984 I learned the ex-change rate between the YR and the US Dollar for the first time. Back then, one dollar was worth 3.2 Yemeni riyal but now the exchange rate has climbed to over 250 YR/USD. At that time, I had no idea that an appreciation of the dollar could affect the economy of Yemen so negatively.

The US Dollar has witnessed

a rapid growth against the YR since the first gulf war, when over 2.5 million Yemeni work-ers returned from gulf coun-tries. The civil war in the sum-mer of 1994 pushed the exchange rate even higher, to 140 YR/USD. Before the new sales tax law was announced, the riyal was stabile (at 220 YR/USD) for nearly 9 months, but since then the rate has gradually increased to peak of 255 YR/USD. The history of the exchange rate indicates that the economy suffers when the government fails to respond an economic threat. .

Economic analysts expect the

exchange rate to reach 300 YR/USD and believe that the in-crease is due to factors such as

a weak domestic economy, a shortage of natural resources, limited investment, and a lack of government intervention.

It is even easy to blame this

crazy dollar on the revenge of business people against the government or a Houthi plan to damage the economy and make people angry with the govern-ment.

My opinion is that the prob-lem is a result of a multiparty political battle, where excuses such as the global economic re-covery, terrorism, local dis-putes, al-Qaeda and others are used to explain the deteriorat-ing situation. But where are the experts who should be prepar-ing better solutions? Why does everyone stand by and watch as if the matter does not con-cern them?

I agree with President Saleh’s,

who stated to Al-Arabia that “hidden hands” are behind the currency fluctuations. Many Yemenis are facing rising food prices, simply because no seri-ous action is being taken against these economic play-ers.

All attempts by the central

bank to inject foreign currency into the market have failed to strengthen the riyal. The solu-tion now may be for the gov-ernment to find the hidden eco-nomic players and investigate them for interfering with the national economy and the live-lihoods of the citizens. Such a policy may be hard to imple-ment in the short term, but will be very affective in the long run.

Fakhri al-ArashiPublisher & Chief Editor

T h e C r a z y D o l l a r

Following press specula-tion and rumors of an attack against the British Embassy on the evening of 26 July, we can confirm that an in-cident took place opposite the British Embassy at about 21:30 on the evening of Monday 26 July. The in-cident appears to have been an altercation between two Yemeni security officials responsible for the protec-tion of the Embassy.

A number of shots were fired. This was not an at-tack against the Embassy. No Embassy staff were in-volved, nor hurt in the inci-dent. No damage was done to Embassy property.

We have taken the mat-ter up with the Yemeni au-thorities. Further inquiries should be directed to them.

On August 4th Safer Explora-tion and Production Operation Company recognized its retiring employees at the Movenpick hotel. The group consisted of 31 employees from different man-agement levels who reached re-tirement age. Last year, the company retired 41 employees

just in accordance with Yemeni law.

Mr. Mohammed Husein al-Haj, Executive Manager of SE-POC, Deputy Executive Man-ager Abdul Rahman al-Akwa’a and company staff attended the ceremony.

SEPOC is the first national company to produce oil and gas from Marib block 18. The com-pany was founded on March 23rd, 1997 and assumed oil field operations on the 14th of No-vember, 2005, with one hundred percent Yemeni management.

According to a senior official, the Yemeni Interior Ministry has recruited 500 high-school graduates from southern prov-inces to secure the Arab regional football championship that Ye-men is scheduled to host in No-vember.

The security official said that the 500 new soldiers were re-cruited from Abyan and Aden

provinces, where the champion-ship is due to take place. “The 500 news soldiers are being well prepared and are now undergo-ing a high-level security and anti-terrorism training pro-gram,” the official added.

Despite political and security instability in the southern prov-inces, where armed separatist rebels and resurgent al-Qaida

militants are highly active, Ye-men was recently confirmed as the host of the twentieth Gulf Cup football championship.

As scheduled, the tournament will be held from November 22nd to December 4th. Partici-pating nations include six Arab Gulf states as well as Iraq and the host, Yemen.

British Embassy in

Sana’a

SANA’A, Aug. 04 – On Wednesday the Central Bank of Yemen said in an official report that Yemen’s oil revenue through May totaled US $1.132 billion, a sharp rise from the $483.24 million earned during the same period last year,

The CBY’s report said the government’s share of Ye-men’s exports amounted to 14.46 million barrels, at an average sales price of US$78.28 per barrel. This compared with 10.16 mil-lion barrels at an average price of US$47.56 per bar-rel for the first five months of 2009.

The report added that do-mestic consumption through the end of May was 8.65 million barrels, down 25.4 percent from the 11.59 million barrels con-sumed in 2009.

Oil production is current-ly at 300,000-350,000 bar-rels per day from 12 oil fields, down from a peak of more than 420,000 in 2002.

Last September, Yemen’s petroleum exploration and production authority said the country was evaluating nine new oil discoveries on seven fields and expected new oil discoveries in 42 other oil sectors between 2010-15.

Yemen relies on the oil sector for 70 percent of its general budget and the sec-tor accounts for 92 percent of exports and 30 percent of GDP.

National Yemen would like to sincerely apologize to the Mr. Abbas Ahmed al-Basha and those affected by an edit-ing error that occurred in the 9th issue of National Yemen. The interview with Mr. Al-Basha reflected the progress towards establishing a stock market in Yemen. The title of the article did not accurately reflect its content, and should have instead read “the pro-cess of drafting the Yemen Securities Law is underway and gaining rapid momen-tum.”.

CORRECTION

bring a lawsuit seeking to stop the government from trying to kill his son without a trial. But on July 16, the Treasury De-partment labeled Mr. Awlaki a “specially designated global terrorist.” That made it illegal for lawyers to work on his be-half without a license.

The groups applied for a li-cense on July 23, and on Tues-day they filed a lawsuit arguing that the licensing regulation was unconstitutional. In a statement, the groups said they appreciated the “quick re-sponse to our lawsuit” but would press forward with seek-ing to have the licensing re-quirement system struck down.

Lawyers Win Right to Aid U.S. Target

Safer Company Recognizes Retiring Employees

Yemen Oil Revenue Totals US $1.132 billion

Yemen Trains 500 Soldiers for Gulf Cup

Yemen recently retrained a group of young Somali refu-gees in a variety of special-ties. The group graduated with certificates of Professional Di-ploma in electricity, electron-ics, carpentry, auto mechanics

and plumbing. This program is aimed at increasing the ca-pacity of young Somalis so that they can provide for their families and rebuild their country when they return home.

Yemen Retrains of Somali Refugees

Sunday, Aug 8, 2010 Issue 10 www.nationalyemen.com4 National YemenSOCIALAUTISM:REMARKABLE PROGRESSES IN HARD SITUATIONS

Mohammed is 7 years old, and until the age of two he resem-bled any other infant: he smiled, cried in order to get his mother attention and displayed a level of curiosity and communication typical of his peers.

But when he reached the age of three everything unexpected-ly started to change. He smiled less, called for his parents less and was frequently absorbed with a single toy-car for an en-tire day.

Even though he was able to talk, Mohammed mostly re-mained silent. When he did speak, it was usually repetitive and his tone sounded mechanic. Often, he did not acknowledge the presence of his parents, sib-lings, or even new kids visiting the house. Sometimes his moth-er would even catch him hitting his head against the wall, appar-ently oblivious to pain. When she embraced him, he only stared at her, unable to under-stand the little drops of salty water in her eyes.

According to recent statistics, autism affects 1 out of every 110 children, but the number is estimated to rise because of both a higher rate of occurrence and an increase in diagnosis the disease usually occurs before the age of three, and boys more are likely to be affected (1 every 70) than girls.

The Yemen Center for Autism and Early Intervention, which was founded in 2005, is the only recognized autism organization in the Republic of Yemen. The center deals with the families of patients as a parallel means of treatment. It gives information to parents on how to deal with PDD children so that they can

cooperate in improving the child’s well being.

“When the Center opened we had only one child, not because PDD is absent in Yemen but due to the lack of knowledge parents and people in general have about this disease”, said Sakee-na Ali Al Eyrani, a member of the Center. Currently the center is treating 55 cases at its facility, and approximately 100 more from their homes.

PDD is more difficult to rec-ognize than other types of men-tal illness because there are few physical features or defects that signal a problem. Furthermore, there is no universal autism be-havior; although common symptoms include a lack of physical affection, refusal to make eye-contact, poor creative play, and difficulty in sustaining a conversation.

“We had the case of a small girl who simply loved listening to the sound of the electrical vacuum cleaner. She could spend hours simply contemplat-ing it, and it seemed to relax her completely and made her un-mindful to anything else includ-ing eating and drinking. Oppo-sitely, a simple knock could enormously upset her for no ap-parent reason,” said Khadyhj Al Yessany, an expert in autistic cases recognition at the Center.

Even today the causes for this brain disorder are unknown. “We were taught nothing about Autism in the University,” says Al Yessany sorrowfully waving her head,” at best a couple of lines mentioned it in our books.”

One previously accepted theo-ry is called the “Cold Mother

hypothesis” because it points to the negligence of mother as the principal cause. However, this was discredited when PDD was shown to affect children regard-less of family conditions. The current medical opinion is that various factors - biological or genetic- contribute to the onset of autism.

A taboo exists in Yemeni Soci-ety that has resulted in many people hiding the fact that there is a case of mental illness in their family. In regards to Au-tism, some even refuse to accept a positive diagnose. Even if par-ents do turn to the Autism Orga-nization, they usually know very little about the implica-tions of a PDD. Al-Yessany emphasized that when “Parents ask: ‘Is he going to be all-right if he takes this pill or this medi-cine?’ it is hard to explain to them that autism usually ac-

companies an individual for their entire life.”

The center offers various pro-grams and activities to help au-tistic children integrate into so-ciety. Autistic children are very sensitive to changes and are therefore given a detailed sched-ule that will provide a comfort-able routine without excluding them from normal life experi-ences. Patients are involved in classes that help them develop their motor skills and speaking ability.

A father of two children, who has been diagnosed as autistic, confessed when he was a child his parents thought he suffered from mental retardation. Today he leads a normal life with a family, an enviable job, and even the ability to fluently speak four languages.

This year the Minister of Health has cut the funding for the Center even though autism (according to AustismSpeaks.org) is more common than childhood cancer, juvenile dia-betes and pediatric AIDS com-bined. The center is in urgent need of support for even basic functions such as transporta-tion: there is only one bus to pick up and return all the staff and kids. Other needs include trained staff, volunteers, and most of all medicine, which is extremely costly.

Several individual donors give what they can to the Center, and the Autism Organization sent a proposal for an information campaign to the UNICEF, but as Al-Arashi describes, “the facili-ty is [currently] too small to host all patients, and yet we are struggling to pay the rent.”

Autism consists of a group of complex brain disorders collectively known as Pervasive Development Disorder (PDD). There is no medical test that recognizes a patient as autistic, but specially designed psychological tests as well as observed behavior are used in making a diagnosis.

Sana’a, 31 July 2010 – On Tuesday Save the Children, in partnership with UNHCR, will launch a campaign to help chil-dren in two districts of Sana’a receive free birth certificates. The campaign will have the slogan “getting a free birth cer-tificate is the right of every child.”

According to the UN Con-vention on the Rights of Chil-dren, all children have the right to a name and nationality. The protection program specialist at Save the Children, Aisha Saeed, emphasized the impor-tance of the birth certificates as a necessary document for the protection children’s rights and future.

The campaign aims to raise the awareness of Yemeni and refugee parents about the im-portance of getting a birth cer-tificate for their children. The campaign aims to convince parents to go to the Civil Reg-istration Center, which is fund-ed by Save the Children and

UNHCR, to get a birth certifi-cate.

This campaign is part of the “birth registration project” that was started in January by Save the Children. The campaign targets both Yemenis and non-Yemenis and aims to raise awareness about the law state-ment of the Council of Minis-ters No. 120 (2006) which en-sures that birth certificates are free for everyone.

In another step to protect chil-dren, Save the Children con-ducted a July 21st workshop on reducing violence in schools. The workshop trained 28 teachers, parents, and local leaders on alternatives to vio-lence. Another training was also organized (in coordination with HCMC) on July 20th to promote the reporting of child protection issues. Overall, Save the Children fights for children’s rights, influences public opinion and aims to cre-ate a world in which all chil-dren’s’ rights are respected.

Save the Children Launches Campaign to Ensure Free Birth Certificates for Every Child

Amnesty: Yemen – complicity in tribal extrajudicial execution

Amnesty International has urged the Yemeni authorities to launch an immediate indepen-dent investigation into the ex-trajudicial execution of a man accused of murdering a tribal sheikh.

‘Ali ‘Abdullah Muhsin al-Ra-jhi had been accused of murder-ing the sheikh, but instead of being arrested and brought to trial by the authorities, he was handed over to the victim’s family and summarily killed.

He is reported to have been shot dead by a relative of the murdered sheikh on 18 July 2010 in front of a crowd outside a mosque in the village of al-Hajfa, south-east of the capital Sana’a.

Amnesty International under-stands that the authorities, in-cluding the police, were aware of what was happening but did nothing to intervene and have taken no action against the per-petrators.

“This killing was nothing less than “lynch law”, carried out apparently by agreement be-tween the families of the sheikh and his alleged murderer and with the complicity of the po-

lice and local authorities,” said Malcolm Smart, Director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Program.

“It must not be allowed to pass

unpunished. The Yemeni au-thorities must ensure that those who carried out this unlawful killing are promptly brought to justice.”

According to reports, ‘Ali ‘Abdullah Muhsin al-Rajhi was not handed over to the authori-ties because his family and rela-tives of the murdered sheikh decided that the process would take too long and prove costly for them.

Instead, ‘Ali ‘Abdullah Muh-sin al-Rajhi was made to sit fac-ing the wall of the mosque in al-Haifa village, and then shot in the back at close range by a member of the murder victim’s family.

The killing reportedly took place in front of a large crowd of villagers. ‘Ali ‘Abdullah Muhsin al-Rajhi was shot three times in the back and then fur-ther bullets were fired into his chest. His body was then re-moved by his family and bur-ied.

“Those accused of crimes must be treated in accordance with the law and their human rights must be respected, what-ever they are alleged to have

done,” said Malcolm Smart.

“They must be arrested, charged and given a fair trial by the Yemeni judiciary and if con-victed should have a right of ap-peal and should not be liable to the death penalty.”

Following the murder of the sheikh, ‘Ali ‘Abdullah Muhsin al-Rajhi is said to have sought refuge in the nearby Hawlan re-gion but to have been handed back by tribal leaders there to his family and tribal leaders from his village.

There were then negotiations between his family and that of the sheikh, who are related, about a possible pardon and reconciliation but the sheikh’s relatives are said to have de-manded that he be executed im-mediately.

“This case is all the more shocking because of the alleged complicity of the police and other local authorities,” said Malcolm Smart.

“Their role too must be inves-tigated and they too must be held to account if they are found to have been allowed, and ef-fectively condoned, this crime.”

The center offers various programs and activities to help autistic chil-dren integrate into society. Au-tistic children are very sensitive to changes and are therefore given a detailed schedule that will provide a comfortable rou-tine without ex-cluding them from normal life experi-ences. Patients are involved in classes that help them de-velop their motor skills and speaking ability.

The killing report-edly took place in front of a large crowd of villag-ers. ‘Ali ‘Abdullah Muhsin al-Rajhi was shot three times in the back and then further bullets were fired into his chest. His body was then re-moved by his fam-ily and buried.

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Sunday, Aug 8, 2010 Issue 10 www.nationalyemen.com 5National Yemen

YEMEN IN TOKOYO

YEMENIS AbROAD

The people were waiting for about 30 min to drink Yemeni coffee The people were waiting for about 30 min to drink Yemeni coffee

The head of the Yemen-Japanese friend association, HE Fukoda, the former Japanese prime minister during the arab-day.

First assembly of all Yemenis in Japan. Organized and sponsored by the Yemen embassy in Tokyo.In the center of the photo, HE Marwan Noman the ambassador, far right, the Consul Tariq Mo-

tahar.

HE Marwan Noman the ambassador to Japan and Mr. Nambu the COE of the PASONA human resources company, top of the human resources companies in Japan.

The Mocha coffee event during the arab-day bazar. The people were waiting for about 30 min to drink Yemeni coffee

The workshop organized by the Yemen friendship association for updating its members with the current situation in Yemen and possible ways to enhance the Yemen-Japanese relations via NPO activities. In the workshop, Dr. Marwan Dhamrin give a 30 min talk about the recent situation in Yemen and the need for NPO activities for the after war scenario.

Pepsi has launched a major media campaign this year that consists of events in various entertainment and business centers. The goal of the media campaign and promotional activities are to give back to the community.

Sunday, Aug 8, 2010 Issue 10 www.nationalyemen.com6 National YemenTourism

In Yemen, spirituality is in the air

The race to save Yemen’s ancient wonders

In her book Forty Days and Forty Nights in Yemen: A Jour-ney to Tarim, the City of Light,Ethar el-Katatney beauti-fully describes her experience in south Yemen, where she at-tended a course in traditional Islamic sciences. With its in-depth discussion of Islam, stun-ning photographs, personal ru-minations, and daily anecdotes, Forty Days and Forty Nights in Yemencaptures a momentous time in the 23-year-old’s life, and is a meditative, thought-provoking experience for the reader.

A writer for Egypt Today and Business Today,last year el-Katatney received CNN’s Mul-tiChoice African Journalist award for a piece called “The Business of Islam,” as well as the prize in the print category of the Anna Lindh Euro-Mediter-ranean Journalist Award for her article “Identity Crisis 101.” She contributes to Muslimah Media Watch, a blog that ana-lyzes the representation of

Muslim women in media and popular culture, and she holds conferences around the world to promote dialogue between different religions and cultures.

El-Katatney graduated from the American University in Cairo (AUC) with a bachelors degree in business administra-tion and a minor in Arab and Islamic civilization. Currently, she is pursuing both an MBA and an MA in TV and digital journalism, also at AUC.

Tarim is a holy town in Islam, considered to have the highest concentration of descendants of the Prophet Mohamed in the world. “Spirituality is in the air,” el-Katatney says. The young author spent six weeks in Tarim, hoping to deepen her knowledge of herself and her religion. She was with 30 other women, half of them from the UK and half from the US, some recent converts to Islam.

The sheikh Habib Ali Zain el-Abdeen el-Jifri wrote the fore-word to the book, which is printed on glossy paper and in-cludes dozens of color photo-graphs. It describes the people el-Katatney met, the historic places she visited, and the scholars she spent time with.

“I love dedicating my sum-mers to learning more about my religion,” El-Katatney ex-plained to Al-Masry Al-Youm. Tarim wasn’t her first such ex-perience, though it was the first she decided to chronicle. In 2006, el-Katatney traveled to the UK for a three-week “sum-mer training program” with re-

ligious lectures and outings, and a year later she attended the Rihla program in Saudi Arabia.

But her experience in Yemen was so profound that el-Katat-ney decided to blog the details. “When I wrote the blog, I was aiming more at non-Arabs and non-Muslims, to show them what is behind the niqab and the beards, what these people are really like. In a land com-monly associated with terror-ism and Al-Qaeda, I wanted to show its humanity. I wanted to show that living life as a Mus-lim and as a modern citizen of the world are not mutually ex-clusive.”

But the book also addresses the Arab and Muslim public. “I aimed to show Muslims that there is more to life than prayer and the hijab. There are levels of faith, and we shouldn’t only focus on the rules and rights which make up less than one percent of the Quran. The rest deals with values and behav-iors, which is what Tarim was about. Spiritual discipline, and not physical discipline.”

Writing about Yemen was “as easy as breathing,” and el-Katatney enjoys both writing about personal experiences and journalism, though for different reasons. “As a journalist, I write not to inform, but to pro-voke thought and debate, and to raise awareness of important is-sues. As a writer, I write fore-most for myself. As the writer Anais Nin said: ‘We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospection.’

The sprawling metropolis that is modern Sana’a is the bustling capital of Yemen. But it occu-pies a site that has been inhabit-ed for more than 2,000 years, and it boasts a historic quarter as beautiful as any in the world.

The Old City is made up of some 8,000 buildings, including its distinctive multi-storey tow-er houses. Built of earth, they are adorned with painted white “filigree” motifs that look like icing sugar on fairytale ginger-bread houses.

Most buildings are between 200 and 500 years old, but some are much older, such as the Great Mosque, said to have been constructed in the seventh century, while the Prophet Mu-hammad was still alive.

Declared a World Heritage Site in 1986, the Old City is now threatened by urban growth, modernization and the unavoidable realities of ageing.

Dr. Abdullah Zaid Ayssa is president of Yemen’s General Organization for the Preserva-tion of Historic Cities, and he is tasked with restoring Sana’a’s fading beauty.

“The Old City is really unique, with unique architecture and buildings,” he told CNN.

“It is an old city, but it is alive, and we are planning to keep it alive without harming its archi-tectural fabric and value.

It’s very difficult -- it’s a living city, it’s not a monument.

Dr. Abdullah Zaid Ayssa , Yemen

“You have growing families, you have to think about expan-sion and how you deal with that. It’s very difficult -- it’s a living city, it’s not a monument.”

It’s that need to preserve the Old City without turning it into a museum piece that provides Ayssa with his most difficult challenge.

UNESCO reports that new homes and public buildings have been constructed in gar-dens and green spaces, increas-ing the building density in the area. Fountains and wells have been abandoned and demol-ished, and incongruous water tanks and satellite dishes have begun to appear on traditional homes.

It also noted a widespread “soukization” of residential quarters, with the introduction of new retail areas at street level

“The ground floor [of homes] used to be used as a stable or for animals but some people are opening the ground floor as a shopping area,” said Ayssa. “And we are trying to control that and organize that.”

Efforts to preserve the Old

City include increasing aware-ness of its fragility among the estimated 80,000 people who live there. That includes encour-aging locals to use traditional materials when making altera-tions to their homes.

Many houses have collapsed after their shallow foundations were weakened by water seep-age from pipes installed in re-cent decades.

“People understand and are very proud of their heritage but we have to convince them that the protection of the city is im-portant,” said Ayssa.

“If they don’t realize that con-cept they won’t care about it when it comes to the reality and economics of daily life.

“It costs money to preserve the Old City. It is very expensive but the challenge is how to cre-ate an income from it. We need to create internal income for preservation of the city, not just rely on outside support.”

One way preservation and eco-nomics can go hand in hand is by encouraging tourism to the region. But ongoing concerns over security mean Sana’a has yet to attract visitors in the num-bers its beauty merits.

The Yemeni government is working to improve the coun-try’s reputation abroad, hiring foreign PR companies to help

and recently launching a series of tourism projects to worth $1 billion to be rolled out over the

next five years.

But if it can retain its historic

splendor, the Old City could still be charming visitors for centuries to come

Re-port on - CNN

In Yemen, there is a race against time to save the historic Old City of Sana’a from the forces of modernization.

Sunday, Aug 8, 2010 Issue 10 www.nationalyemen.com 7National Yemen POLITICS

Parliament’s Latest Report Reveals Violations in the Minis-try of Agriculture1

How involved is the U.S. mili-tary in Yemen, and is the Obama Administration laying the groundwork for a new foreign adventure? According to several news agencies, including Agence France Presse, UPI and the Washington Post, very in-volved and likely to be more so in the future,

“U.S. military teams and intel-ligence agencies are deeply in-volved in secret joint operations with Yemeni troops,” says Dana Priest, the Post’s ace intelli-gence and military affairs re-porter, including “the U.S. mili-tary’s clandestine Joint Special Operations Command, whose main mission is tracking and killing suspected terrorists.”

The quarry of these assassina-tion teams are supposed leaders of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Pen-insula (AQAP), but the deepen-ing U.S. alliance with the au-thoritarian government of Yemen may soon entangle it in two complex civil wars—a ris-ing by disenfranchised Shiites in the north, and an increasingly powerful succession movement in the country’s south.

According to UPI, the White House is quietly expanding “the footprint” of “elite forces inside Yemen.” One military official told the news agency, “The

numbers are definitely going to grow.” The Obama administra-tion increased “security” funds for Yemen from $67 million to $150 million.

Navy Seals, Delta Force troops, and intelligence units are working closely with the government of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, providing weapons, training and intelli-gence. And sometimes more.

On Dec. 17, 2009, a U.S. BGM-109D Tomahawk cruise missile attacked the village of al-Maajala in south Yemen, kill-ing 55 people, the bulk of them women and children. The Tom-ahawk—launched from a U.S. surface ship or submarine— was armed with a cluster war-head that spread a storm of ra-zor sharp steel and incendiary material over 500 square feet.

Amnesty International’s Mike Lewis said his organization was “gravely concerned by evidence that cluster munitions appear to have been used in Yemen,” be-cause “cluster munitions have indiscriminate effects and unex-ploded bomblets threaten lives and livelihoods for years after-wards.”

The target was a supposed al-Qaeda training camp, but the Saleh government draws no dis-tinction between AQAP and the

Southern Movement (SM), a group advocating an indepen-dent south Yemen. The SM has a long list of grievances reflect-ing problems going back to 1990 when North Yemen and the southern Democratic Peo-ple’s Republic of Yemen were unified.

That merger between the con-servative north and the better educated and socialist south was never a comfortable one and led to a particularly nasty civil war in 1994. The north won that war by using jihadists freshly returned from fighting the Russians in Afghanistan. Since the end of that four-month war, the SM charges that the north siphons off the south’s oil without adequate compensa-tion, discriminates against southerners on access to jobs, and has cornered the country’s vanishing water supplies. Southern protests are met with tear gas and guns, and, accord-ing to SM leaders, some1500 “secessionists” have been im-prisoned and more than a hun-dred killed.

According to UPI, “The [Saleh] regime’s heavy-handed response to the southerners has only fueled the demand for in-dependence and encouraged the disparate southern groups to come together.”

Saleh claims the SM is closely tied to AQAP, which immedi-ately gets Washington’s atten-tion, and has allowed his gov-ernment to tap into the resources of the American “war on terror-ism.” Southern independence leaders, like Tariq al-Fadhli, deny any ties to AQAP and say the Southern Movement is non-violent. Whether it will remain so under the Saleh govern-ment’s continued assaults is an open question. The December cruise missile strike is not likely to encourage pacifism.

The fighting in the north be-tween the Saleh government based in the capital, Sanaa, and the Shiite Houthi, who inhabit the north’s forbidding terrain, is long-standing. While Saleh and his supporters in Saudi Arabia say Iran is stirring up the trou-ble, there is no evidence for ties between Iran and the Houthi. The tensions between the Saleh government and the Houthi are local and generally have to do with access to political power. But by bringing Iran into the picture, Saleh can claim he is fighting terrorism, thus making his regime eligible for arms, in-telligence, and training.

The U.S. is ratcheting up the use of Special Operations Forc-es (SOF) worldwide. The ad-

ministration has increased the number of countries in which SOFs are deployed from 60 to 75, and upped the SOF budget 5.7% to $6.3 billion for 2011. The White House also added an additional $3.5 billion for SOFs to its 2010 budget.

One military official told the Washington Post that the Obama administration had given the military “more access” than for-mer President George W. Bush. “They [the Obama administra-tion] are talking publically much less but that are acting more. They are willing to get aggressive much more quickly.”

In a recent talk that sounded very much like the Bush admin-istration’s doctrine of pre-emp-tive war, the White House’s counterterrorism expert John Q. Brennan said that U.S. strategy was not to just “respond after the fact to terrorism,” but to “take the fight to al-Qaeda and its extremist affiliates, whether they plot and train in Afghani-stan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, and beyond.”

If the U.S. does increase its military footprint in Yemen, it will be expending hundreds of millions of dollars in the poorest country in the region, a country where 40 percent of its 22 mil-lion residents are jobless and

where water is becoming a scare commodity. The U.S. shares much of the blame for the cur-rent economic crisis in Yemen. When Yemen refused to support the 1991 Gulf War against Sad-dam Hussein, Saudi Arabia ex-pelled 850,000 Yemeni work-ers, and the U.S. cute $70 million in foreign aid. The ef-fect of both actions was cata-strophic, and Yemen never re-covered from the one-two blow.

U.S. support for the Saleh re-gime will inevitably draw it into the conflicts in the north and the south, with disastrous results for all parties.

“In Yemen the U.S. will be in-tervening on one side in a coun-try which is always in danger of sliding into a civil war,” says re-porter Patrick Cockburn. “This has happened before. In Iraq the U.S. was the supporter of the Shia Arabs and Kurds against the Sunni Arabs. In Afghanistan it is the ally of the Tajiks, Uz-beks and Hazara against the Pushtun community. Whatever the intentions of Washington, its participation in these civil con-flicts destabilizes the country because one side becomes la-beled as the quisling supporter of a foreign invader. Communal and nationalist antipathies com-bine to create a lethal blend.”

Under the slogan ‘No to the Flagrant Violation of Right to Peaceful Assembly and Free-dom of the Civil Society Orga-nizations and Association to Establish and Practise Activi-ties’, a number of lawyers, jour-nalists and human rights activ-ists protested in support of the Yemeni Organization for Hu-man Rights and Freedoms (Sa-wasya).

The protest took place in front of the Taiz branch of the Minis-try of Social Affairs and Labor (MSAL) after the Ministry re-fused to grant Sawasya a license because it is classified as a sus-pended human rights organiza-tion. A statement issued by the head of the organization, Rafiqa Al-Kohali, clarified the reasons for the protest.

“Today we are holding this protest against the Ministry’s violation of one of the most im-portant civic and political rights, which is the right to peaceful assembly and to form and establish organizations and institutions, which aim at devel-oping the community political-ly, judicially, legally, culturally, socially and economically. We have come to condemn the pol-icy that seeks to take away rights, suppress freedom, gag the press and cripple change. The Ministry has committed many illegal violations, while supposedly being the legal su-pervisor of civil society organi-zations. It is supposed to en-force the law, not violate it.”

The statement than detailed the violations committed by the

ministry: “When we were try-ing to found an organization for human rights and freedoms, we encountered endless obstacles and lame excuses that were not legally relevant.”

We, at the Sawasya Organiza-tion for Human Rights and Freedoms, strongly condemn the MSAL in Sana’a and its of-fice in Taiz for the abuse and violation of the citizens’ right to assemble peaceful and establish social development organiza-tions.

We denounce the practice of granting permits on the condi-tion that the organization re-mains loyal to the ruling re-gime. The organization condemns the Ministry’s viola-tion of the Constitution (Article 58), which states that citizens have the right to organize them-selves politically, professional-ly and in unions. The article af-firms that the state shall protect this right and ensure the free-dom of political, cultural, scien-tific and social institutions and organizations.

We also condemn the minis-try’s grave breaches of law no. 1 for 2001. In particular the breaching of Article 3, which states that the ministry has to

facilitate the founding of insti-tutions and allow them to func-tion properly, and Articles 8, 9, 10 and 11, which relate to regis-tration, publicity.

The ministry and its office in Taiz also violated the Interna-tional Conventions on Civil and Political Rights, particularly Articles 21 and 22, which state that everyone has the right to peaceful assembly and that the state cannot restrict this right except to maintain national se-curity and public order or to protect the rights and freedoms of others.

None of these exceptions ap-ply to our organization because it is a human rights organization seeking to strengthen, consoli-date and defend rights and free-doms. It is seeking to create a society in which the law is based on equal citizenship and where the community partici-pates in development and deci-sion-making.

Unfortunately, the ministry and its office in Taiz still im-peded the Sawasya Organiza-tion, beginning with rejecting the organization’s name. They also rejected the organization’s human rights objectives and re-quested deletion of the words

‘rights’ and ‘freedoms’ from or-ganization’s statute. They even requested that we delete the phrase ‘We are seeking equal citizenship and efficient com-munity partnership’.

We have been rejected and all we were told is that the Minis-try, under the direction of senior officials, suspends human rights and political organizations when there is apprehension and fear about the their quality.

We at the Sawasya Organiza-tion for Human Rights and Freedoms deplore the official stance and herein declare that we are practicing our constitu-tional, international and legal right to publicize ourselves as a civil society organization. We are in full support of the Awn Society for Human Rights in Taiz province, which also suf-fered the fate of rejection and has therefore been closed for over a year.

We would like to call upon all political parties, civil society organizations (domestic and abroad), the media, and politi-cal and social figures to support us so that justice will prevail and all people can enjoy the rights and freedoms guaranteed by both the Sharia and the law.

The US and Yemen

Say ‘No!’ to the Flagrant Violation of the Right to Peaceful Assembly

Conn Hallinan for NY

a number of projects.

The report said that over-all actual expenditures were 17,730,655,000 riyals, while the approved finan-cial allocations amounted to 27,029,166,000 riyals; a 34% discrepancy. The committee concluded that these failures resulted from the inability of the ministry’s economic de-partment to properly adminis-

ter foreign loans.

The report underscored the importance of conducting investigations and holding those responsible for the fail-ure accountable. The report also stressed that Parliament should be notified of the re-sults of investigations within three months of approving the report.

Yemen Gets $370 Million IMF Loan to Help Reduce Budget Gap, Combat Poverty

The International Monetary Fund approved a $370 million loan for Yemen to support a three-year plan aimed at cutting the budget deficit and reducing poverty.

The Washington-based lender made an initial disbursement of $53 million available immedi-ately, according to a statement posted on its website yesterday.

Yemen’s government aims to rein in the fiscal deficit to 3.5 percent of gross domestic prod-uct while generating annual eco-nomic growth of 5 percent, the IMF said. The government is set to introduce a general sales tax and abolish exemptions on tax and customs duties to boost rev-enue. However, tax evasion in Yemen is estimated at 80 per-cent.

“Yemen is confronted with a

range of difficult economic chal-lenges related to its heavy de-pendence on declining oil reve-nues, widespread poverty, and water shortages,” Naoyuki Shi-nohara, the fund’s deputy man-aging director, said in the state-ment. “The global financial crisis has aggravated these chal-lenges through a reduction in world oil prices, resulting in mounting macroeconomic im-balances.”

Growth may accelerate to 8 percent this year from 3.9 per-cent last year, with non-oil out-put increasing 4.4 percent, ac-cording to IMF forecasts. The inflation rate may also rise to 9.8 percent, the IMF said.

This support comes at a time when the central bank has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to support the Yemeni Riyal, which this week fell to a record low of 239.5 per dollar accord-ing to Bloomberg data.

Oil Running Out

Yemen, which relies on oil rev-enue for 70 percent of its budget, expects reserves to run out over the next decade. Crude produc-tion may drop to 260,000 barrels a day in 2010 from 440,000 bar-rels a day in 2001, according to U.S. Energy Department data. The country has turned to lique-fied natural gas as a potential al-ternative export to oil.

Attacks by a branch of al-Qae-da based in Yemen, including an attempt to blow up a U.S. airlin-er in Detroit on Dec. 25, prompt-ed Western countries to organize an aid conference hosted by the U.K. in January, at which donors promised to increase economic assistance.

Sunday, Aug 8, 2010 Issue 10 www.nationalyemen.com8 National Yemen

The foreign assets of the Central Bank of Yemen have fallen dramatically in May to 5.918 billion riyals, covering 7.9 months of imports, com-pared with 6.134 billion dollars from last month, covering 8.2 months of imports. This signifi-cant decline in foreign assets is largely seen as due to the Cen-tral Bank’s interventions in the market.

Data suggests that the Central Bank has pumped more than 900 million U.S. dollars into the market this year to increase liquidity in meeting the needs of banks and foreign currency exchanges

Economic experts have

warned that continued inter-ventions of the Central Bank will lead to a huge decline in reserves, which affects the Ye-meni economy as a whole. The decline in reserves was associ-ated with a decrease in the total budget of the Central Bank in May by 4.8 billion riyals.

A recent report issued by the Central Bank indicated that the government share of crude oil during last May had reached 226 million dollars compared with 239.7 million dollars in April this year. Thus, the gov-ernment’s share of total oil exports from January through May of 2010 reached 14.46 million barrels at a value of 131

million dollars (average price per barrel USD 78).

The government’s share dur-ing January to May in 2009 reached 10.16 million barrels worth 483 million dollars (aver-age price per barrel 47 dollars).

The statistics indicate that the domestic consumption from January to May this year reached 8.65 million barrels, compared with a larger domes-tic consumption in 2009 which reached 11.59 million barrels. The decline in the domestic amount of oil is due to recent rationalization policies adopted by the government, as reduction in the oil share, and the choice among some citizens to use

public transportation instead of private transportation due to increased fuel prices. These prices have risen do to the grad-ual lifting of oil subsidies in the beginning of this year.

The report pointed to the 34 billion riyals rise in consoli-dated balance sheets of com-mercial and Islamic banks at the end of May this year, from 1.9% up to 1.807 trillion riyals. This is compared to an increase of 16.5 billion riyals from the previous month. The total con-solidated balance sheet of com-mercial and Islamic banks was 1.573 trillion riyals at the end of 2009.

Yemen’s Foreign Exchange Reserve Falls to 5.918 Billion Dollars, Government Share of Crude Oil Rises to 1.131 billion dollars from January to May 2010

The British International De-partment announced an annual budget of 50 million pounds ($80 million) for Yemen, mak-ing the U.K. the largest donor to Yemen. The announcement co-incided with the visit of the British Minister of International Development, Alan Duncan, to Yemen. The minister held a press conference at which high ranking diplomats were present; including the British Ambassa-dor to Yemen, Tim Torlon, the Deputy Prime Minister for Eco-nomic Affairs and the Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, H.E. Abdulkarim Al-Arhabi.

Duncan also met with the Prime Minister Ali Mujawar, the Deputy Prime Minister, For-eign Minister AbdulKarim Al Gharabi and spoke with Presi-dent Saleh for the fifth time. In the prolonged meeting, the two men frankly discussed critical issues concerning both coun-tries, including security, politi-

cal stability and the economy.

The main focus was the ‘Friends of Yemen’ organiza-tion, which intends to strength-en the state by fighting poverty and combating terrorism. The program will promote the de-velopment of the security forc-es, the police department and the judicial system. The first Ministerial level ‘Friends of Ye-men’ meeting (to be chaired jointly by Yemen and the U.K.) is scheduled to take place in New York on September 24th 2010. The goal of the meeting will be the review of the coun-try’s progress and set concrete objectives for what ‘Friends of Yemen’ can achieve in the fu-ture.

The agreement is the first of its kind to be signed between Ye-men and one of its traditional donor countries. Under the aus-pices of the government, this may pave the way for similar agreements with other coun-

tries. Duncan explained that ‘many GCC countries pledged money but they need to find programs on which they are happy to spend that money on.’ He added that it was crucial for donors to see their support con-

tributing directly to the strength of the nation.

The Minister of State suggest-ed that resources should be di-rected toward preventing ado-lescents from falling prey to

radical organizations. However, if the government is incapable of reestablishing order, and al-leviating turmoil, tension and dissatisfaction, then no external support will be sufficient.

26 July 2010 – An EU-fund-ed project of euro 18.3 million to support Yemen’s safety net was launched today at the Movenpick Hotel in Sana’a. The project is implemented by the World Bank and de-signed to address poverty in the most affected communi-ties and contribute to creating temporary job opportunities for thousands of households through more than 100 com-munity projects.

“The EU funding for this important intervention came as part of an EU sustained support to the social safety net given the importance of this scheme in mitigating the suffering of the poorest people in the country,” said EU Head of Delegation Am-bassador Michele Cervone d’Urso

“The project includes two components: community projects through the SFD and cash flow to the hands of the poor through SWF. More than 100 projects will be imple-mented by SFD to create tem-porary jobs to at least 12,000 households for communities most affected by food crisis, drought and floods. These ba-sic infrastructure projects will cover soil protection, mainte-nance and improvement of feeder roads, and other types of labour-intensive interven-tions. The SWF will seek to ensure direct cash transfers to 41,000 poorest households in flood affected areas (Hadra-mout and Mahara), conflict affected areas (Saada and Amran), and areas with high prevalence of child traffick-ing (Hajja, Al-Mahweet and Hodeidah), covering 58 dis-tricts in 7 Governorates.

The launching ceremony of this project was held on 26th of July 2010 with attendance of Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, Minister of Social Affairs, European Union’ Ambassa-dor to Yemen Michele Cer-vone D’Urso and the World Bank Country Manager.

EU provides euro 18.3 million to support Yemen safety net

bUSINESS

The average per capita income in Yemen has increased to $1260 at the end of last year. A recent report issued by the Cen-tral Bureau of Statistics said the average income rose from $582 in 2000, to $863 in 2005, to $1200 at the end of 2009.

A government source said the rise was part of an economic re-form program adopted by Ye-men aimed at improving the in-come per capita in Yemen to level it with the income per cap-ital of other Gulf States in an at-tempt at joining the GCC coun-tries.

However, the difference be-tween the incomes per capita of Yemen and the other GCC na-tions remains stark. Recent sta-tistics indicate that there has been an increase in the average per capita income in the GCC over the past two years. This is largely attributed to large reve-nue streams resulting from high oil prices .

The average per capita income in Qatar is $38,290. It stands at around $20,660 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and about $18,460 in Kuwait annually. Qatar ranks first in this regard, the UAE second, and Kuwait

ranks third in the Gulf. These are followed by Bahrain $13,650, $9,490 in Saudi Ara-bia, and $8,080 in the Sultanate of Oman.

The average income is calcu-lated out of the GDP. Statistics indicate that Yemen’s gross do-mestic product last year in-creased to 5.7 trillion riyals

from 2.4 trillion riyals in 2005.

A source in the Ministry of Fi-nance expects the total GDP to increase to 6.3 trillion riyals.

Per Capita Income in Yemen Rises to $1,260 and Per Capita Income in Qatar exceeds $38,000 a Year

U.K ALLOCATES 50 MILLION POUNDS FOR YEMEN

The Ministry of Civil Service (MCS) provides 18,000 posts a year, but the number of em-ployment applications reached 160,000 in 2009. A report said that females filed 54,330 of these applications and with males accounting for the rest.

The report said applicants with a bachelors degree num-

bered 56,080 from the Faculty of Education, 15,522 from the Faculty of Commerce and Economy, 7,964 from the Fac-ulty of Arts, 2,254 from the Faculty of Science, 212 from the Faculty of Oil, 640 from the Faculty of Legal Sciences, and 4,107 from the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. Applicants who have a two-

year diploma numbered 11,116 from technical specializations, health sciences and computer. The number of applicants who have a secondary school di-ploma numbered 26,614 from education, 4,738 from health sciences, 13,665 from man-agement and development and 1,622 from computer and other specializations.

It is evident from the report that the MCS does not have a clear policy regarding employ-ment. This can be seen in the fact that the country is lacking specialized medical personal. Most rural hospitals complain of a lack of doctors and nurses despite the having over 6,000 applicants.

The Ministry of Civil Service provides 18,000 posts a year

Sunday, Aug 8, 2010 Issue 10 www.nationalyemen.com 9National Yemen

The retired Yemeni football referee Mohammed Noman said the refereeing situation in Ye-men is on the verge of collapse with catastrophic implications should the Football Association fail to intervene with appropri-ate solutions.

He said, “We lack qualified new referees. We only rely on experienced referees like the in-ternational referee Ahmed Qa’ed, Hussein Shaqran, Mukhtar Al-Yarimi, Fouad Al-said, Qais, and others who are becoming older and are on the verge of retirement”.

He predicts, “Local football tournaments will be in a precari-ous spot if there is a gap created by the lack of new hires. Then we will not find efficient refer-ees to manage these tourna-ments”.

Noman suggests, “In order to avoid this situation, I would like

to express hope, through your highly-regarded newspaper, that the Yemeni Referees Board fo-cus its attention on rapidly rais-ing the professionalism and ca-pabilities of young Yemeni referees through intensified ref-eree workshops. The priority for these workshops should be for match management and competence. The ministry should lose the strategy of seek-ing balanced representation from various provinces (in hopes to avoid favoritism), as it’s come at the expense of skill and competence”.

He continues, “many good ref-erees are located in Sana’a and Aden, but they have been de-nied workshops, international badges, and management of matches critical to their devel-opment. There needs to also be a focus on continued follow-up assessments and creating a bet-ter mechanism for sorting matches. Opportunities to man-

age important matches must be given to young referees as per their merit, not per their prov-ince. I also hope the board of the Yemeni Football Associa-tion rapidly restructures the Referees Board, not according to provinces, but according to prudent decisions made on the basis of members’ competence.”

Last Thursday Al-Shuhada’a Stadium in Taiz hosted a cer-emony honoring the Al-Saqr Club’s champions in football, volleyball and table tennis. The Director of the ceremony, Mr. Zaid Al-Nihari, played a key role in making it successful.

During the ceremony an op-eretta titled ‘Al-Saqr operetta’ was performed, and documen-tary film on the club’s achieve-ments was screened. The Min-ister of Youth and Sports, the Governor of Taiz and leaders of the Football Association were also recognized. The champi-ons were honored at the end of the ceremony. Overall, the ceremony was legendary and unique.

Abdul Kadir (General Direc-tor of the Office of Youth and Sports in Taiz), Abdel Nasser Al-Akhali (Al-Saqr Club board member) and Dr. Homaid

Shaibani (Secretary General of the Football Association)

opened the Abu Walad Stadium for the Al-Saqr Club. The stadi-

um was built by the Abu Walad Biscuit Company.

The Yemeni Football Referee Mohamed Noman

Al-Saqr Club Organizes a Ceremony for Champs

SPORT

Salam Ma’bar won the title of the Republic Tournament for both the beginner and youth categories. The tournament was organized by the Yemeni Fed-eration of Field and Track, and took place on the track of the late Ahmed Alru’aeini in Al-Thowrah Sports City in Sana’a

from July 25 to the 28th. In the beginners’ competitions, Salam Ma’bar runners earned 5 gold medals and Al-Tilal took sec-ond place with 4 gold, 3 silver and 2 bronze medals. Fath Dhamar came in third with 2 gold, 4 silver and 4 bronze medals. In the youth competi-

tions, Salam Ma’bar runners won 4 gold, 4 silver and 2 bronze medals, while Shabab Al-Jeel took second place with 4 golds and 1 silver. Al-Tilal came in third with 3 gold, 3 sil-ver and 3 bronzes.

Salam Ma’bar wins the Republic Field and Track Tournament

According to a senior official, the Yemeni Interior Ministry has recruited 500 high-school graduates from southern prov-inces to secure the Arab re-gional football championship that Yemen is scheduled to host in November.

The security official said that the 500 new soldiers were re-cruited from Abyan and Aden provinces, where the champi-onship is due to take place. “The 500 news soldiers are be-ing well prepared and are now undergoing a high-level secu-

rity and anti-terrorism training program,” the official added.

Despite political and security instability in the southern prov-inces, where armed separatist rebels and resurgent al-Qaida militants are highly active, Ye-men was recently confirmed as the host of the twentieth Gulf Cup football championship.

As scheduled, the tournament will be held from November 22nd to December 4th. Partici-pating nations include six Arab Gulf states as well as Iraq and the host, Yemen.

From Sep. 22nd to Oct. 1st Sana’a will host the Asia Cup qualifiers for the World Junior Basketball Championship. Six-teen teams from five regions will be qualifying for three places in the championships.

Parliamentarian Al-Khadher Al-Azzani, Chairman of the Yemeni Basketball Federa-tion, said that the federation is working hard to complete all preparations for hosting Ye-men’s first continental basket-ball championship. He pointed out that Yemen is facing prob-lems with the courts on which tournaments will be held. The official matches will be held on the International 22 May Court and the Bilqis Club Court, while the rest of the courts in Sana’a will be used for train-ing.

As per the instructions of Hackob Khageran, Assistant Secretary General of the Asia Federation, the courts’ tartan floorboards must be replaced

with wood ones as per interna-tional standards. The Minister of Communication and Infor-mation Technology has agreed to this in return for placing advertisements for Yemen Mo-bile Company.

Due to Steroids, the World Weightlifting Federation (WWF) Freezes Yemen’s Membership

The WWF banned the mem-bers of the Yemeni Weight-lifting Federation from par-ticipating in international tournaments, froze Yemen’s membership for 2 years, and also imposed a fine of US $100,000. These penalties came after the some of the na-tional team players tested posi-tive for steroids in examina-tions conducted by the World Committee for Anti-Steroids. This ban is particularly note-worthy because Yemen won more than 50 medals at the last Arab championship.

Yemen Trains 500 Soldiers for Gulf Cup

Yemen Hosts the Asian Basketball Qualifying for the World Junior ChampionshipsNational Yemen/ Exclusive

Eighty-Six cyclists represent-ing the republic’s governorates will compete in the Republic cycling race in Taiz next Wednesday. It will last for 4 days and will consist of 3 stag-es: the first is 25 kilometers, the second is 80 km and the third is 60 km. Each team will consist of 4 cyclists competing for the title in the various distances. Based on the results, the first Yemeni Cycling Team will be selected to participate in the Arab Championship in Tunisia next October.

An extended meeting of the board of directors of the Yemeni Cycling Association and the heads of branches in the gover-norates will also be held to dis-

cuss several issues related to the sport. Among the issues that

will be discussed is the organiz-ing of future tournaments in the

form of a regular tour instead of individual stages.

Launch of Republic’s Tournament for Elite Cyclists

The WWF banned the members of the Yemeni Weightlifting Fed-eration from participating in in-ternational tournaments, froze Yemen’s membership for 2 years,

and also imposed a fine of US $100,000. These penalties came after the some of the national team players tested positive for steroids in examinations conduct-

ed by the World Committee for Anti-Steroids. This ban is particu-larly noteworthy because Yemen won more than 50 medals at the last Arab championship.

The Capital Secretariat team won the ten team annual swim-ming championship organized by the Yemen Federation for Swimming at the Officers Club of the Armed Forces. The Sec-retariat team placed first in all

four 100m competitions (free - breast - back - butterfly). Sana’a Governorate’s team finished as a runner-up and the Aden team came in third. Medals and tro-phies were presented to the champions by the undersecre-

tary of the Ministry of Youth and Sports (Mu’ammar Al-Iry-ani), the assistant undersecre-tary for the sports sector (Ab-dul-Hamid Al-Sa’eed), and the Chairman of the Federation for Swimming (Ahmed al-Hada).

The Yemeni government de-fended its right to host the Gulf 20 after spending one billion U.S. dollars to build courts and accommodations. Many minis-ters welcomed the Gulf Foot-ball Federation’s decision that the country is ready to host the competition. Minister Abbad said that the Gulf delegation’s

recent visit has resolved the is-sue whether Yemen or Bahrain should host Gulf 20. He also said that the Board of Trustees have voted to choose Aden in-stead of Kuwait for the Gulf event, after being convinced of Yemen’s preparations.

He called on all to support this event, particularly the various

Yemeni sports media outlets. He praised the role played by National Yemen newspaper in support of Yemen’s bid to host the tournament. Abbad called on other sports media outlets to follow the example set by Na-tional Yemen.

Due to Steroids, the World Weightlifting Federation (WWF) Freezes Yemen’s Membership

Capital Secretariat Wins 16th Annual Republic Swimming Championship

Board of Trusties of the Gulf Federations Settle on Gulf 20 in Yemen

Sunday, Aug 8, 2010 Issue 10 www.nationalyemen.com10 National YemenREPORT

Vast Cultivated Areas

According to official statistics, between 20.4 and 80.9 thousand hectares in Yemen are cultivated for fruit. Of this, between 11.7 and 21.2 thousand hectares are used for grape production. Grape cultivation is growing relative to other fruits, with an estimated increase of 26.2% since 1997.

However, an official report by the Central Statistical Organiza-tion showed a decline in overall Yemeni grape production from 130.7 to 83.1 thousand tons be-tween 2001 and 2005. Also, the cultivated area shrunk to 9.6 thousand hectares (compared to18.4 in 2001) because Qat, which provides a greater return to farmers, is replacing grapes. This decline can also be seen in Saudi Arabian grape imports, which declined from 2000 tons in 2004 to 1376 tons in 2004.

Grapes are Sana’a’s primary fruit crop, making up an annual average of about 80.3% of all fruit planted. Sana’a is the lead-er in terms of both area culti-vated and production of grapes in the republic. The region ac-counted for 131, 000 of 159, 953 tons of grapes produced in Yemen last year; an increase of 20% since 2004.

Bani Hushaish is one of the most fertile grape-growing re-gions in Yemen, followed by Sa’ada region. It has the most

variety in Sana’a province, in-cluding grapes such as Al-Asi-mi, Alraziki, Aswad (Black), Hatimi, Irqi and Bayadh (white).

Harvest Season

The grape season in Yemen begins in mid-June and ends in November, but the harvest time of the approximately different 40 types of Yemeni grapes var-ies. Early kinds of grapes, such as Al-Bayadh (white) and Al-Jabri, appear in the market be-ginning mid-June and last until almost the end of August. Pro-duction of Al-Raziki grape be-gins by the end of July until Au-gust The Al-Aswad and Aasimi varieties are available between mid-August until November. Grape farmers make raisins out of seedless grapes like Al-Ra-ziki and Al-Aswad.

Marketing

Few services exist to market the wide variety of grapes, and a recent study has examined pos-sible solutions to this dilemma. The study says that there is a complex relationship between marketing strategies and the Ministry of Agriculture, Minis-try of Supply and Trade, Minis-try of Planning and Develop-ment, Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning, Ministry of In-dustry, Chamber of Commerce, agricultural cooperatives, Ye-men Economic Corporation (YECO), exporters, importers

and distributers. The study showed that only 6% of farmers sell their product to YECO with a fixed contract because of the complicated procedures. The study also proved that farmers are burdened with all market-ing, packing and shipping costs. The process of sorting and grad-ing is also disregarded and packing is conducted primitive-ly in wooden or plastic boxes that do not specify weight or ex-piration date. These problems are exacerbated because trans-portation is done using cars that are not intended for this pur-pose. Furthermore, there is a lack of records that track the quantity of grapes sold in the market.

Despite these issues, Yemeni grapes still enjoy a good reputa-tion and great marketability. Ye-meni grapes have a wonderful and unique taste, and receive praise from consumers in both Arab and foreign markets. The Ministry of Agriculture and Ir-rigation (MAI) in Sana’a places a great importance on making grapes its number one economic crop.

The office provides guidance to farmers and shows them sci-entific methods to improve quality and productivity. In ad-dition, it assists them in the marketing process (especially in foreign markets). Engineer Ya-hya Shuja’a Al-Din, Director of

the Agriculture and Irrigation Office in Sana’a says, “We have good cooperation with agricul-tural cooperatives in Sana’a re-garding production and market-ing. We are greatly concerned with applying modern methods in exporting grapes according to international specifications in terms of packing, cooling and transport.” He says that no chemical pesticides are used; instead, farmers put dust or dirt on grape trees, which makes grapes rich, nutritional and de-

sirable for consumers.

The office is trying to expand this method and bring it to the rest of farms in governorate. The office also seeks to expand grape cultivation, promote in-vestment in the industry and avoid chemical treatments. The end goal is to become a grape exporter. The MAI calls on the farmers not to harvest grapes before they are ripe, and also warns against indiscriminate use of chemical pesticides. Al-

Din says that, “agricultural as-sociations must do their part in supporting the official efforts in improving production to keep pace with international stan-dards regarding aspects of ex-port.” He expects grape produc-tion to increase 25% this season, indicating that modern methods and cooperation have begun to help preserve this vital crop.

Heaven of Grapes in Yemen “ Bani Hushaish is a directorate of Sana’a, located about 25 kilometers to the east of Sana’a Province, with a population of about 200,000”. It includes regions like Sarf, Sawan and Al-Hataresh, which are famous for growing grapes.

Abdul Al-Hameed Al-Hgaze

Journalist Mona Safwan is preparing for her first appear-ance on a TV talk show, which she will prepare and present from Cairo. The show will be broadcast on the Yemeni chan-nel “Al-Aqiq” (onyx).

The weekly show, “From Cairo with Mona”, is intended for Yemeni and Arab audiences and aims to be a link between the Yemeni viewer at home, and Arab stars. The program will host a number of movie and media stars who will be appearing on Yemeni televi-sion for the first time. These icons are likely to include the filmmaker Khaled Youssef, broadcaster Mahmoud S’ad, journalist Ibrahim Issa, the Iraqi Lute-player Naser Sham-ma, and a number of other prominent Arabs.

In addition to discussing

these stars’ relationship with Yemen, a number of cultural and political issues will be ad-dressed. In particular, the show will attempt to break through the informational isolation that Yemeni culture experiences.

The new Yemeni channel Al-Aqiq produces the program, and the first episode is due to air during Ramadhan. Al-Aqiq initiated its test broadcast at the end of May, and currently broadcasts a variety of pro-grams on NileSat with fre-quency 11 219 horizontal.

Cairo: The First TV Appearance for Journalist Mona Safwan some foodstuffs begin to disap-

pear due to lack of real control by the state and also due to rise of the dollar against the lo-cal currency, which lost nearly 15% in recent days. The value of the riyal against the dollar is now nearly 240 riyals. Another cause is that, unfortunately, traders who do not fear Allah practice all kinds of forgery like renewing expiration dates on food products.

The Central Bank had attribut-ed the strong dollar to the high import bill during Ramadan, which economists consider a pretext for the failure of fiscal policies pursued by the bank. National Yemen newspaper visited a number of shops and investigated the citizen’s opin-ions.

Many described the situation as catastrophic. “It is disastrous, especially with the arrival of Ramadan,” says Mohammed Hamoud, an employee. “My salary, for example, has lost more than 10%. It used to be equal to $200, but with the col-lapse of our currency, it is worth no more than $170. Similarly, all employees with limited in-come like me suffer the same predicament.”

Khalid Al-Matari, who we ran into at Shumaila Harry, said that shopping in supermarkets is much better than in small shops due to price reductions and the ability to find many goods under one roof. However, the strength of the dollar, volatile prices and people’s rush to buy more than necessary has caused prices to surge.

Yet because the holy month of

Ramadan still remains a month of generosity, Al-Matari does “not believe that anyone will suffer from hunger during Ra-madan.”

Mohammed al-Hassani, a shop-owner, said prices have risen remarkably in comparison with previous months. “When we ask wholesalers why, they say it is due to the current rise of the dollar, although they have abundant quantities of these stuffs from previous months but, unfortunately, the greed of some of them fuels just before Ramadan.”

Al-Hababi said, “unfortu-nately, the rise of foodstuff prices coincided with the gov-ernment’s gradual lifting of subsidies on oil derivatives, whose prices rose in one year by around 100%. Yet, there has been no raise in Yemeni employee’s wages for a year, let alone the 50% deduction of bonuses and incentives last year and this year due to serious budget deficit.” All of this coin-cides with the government’s in-

tention to begin implementing a general sales tax.

The Date MarketThere are more than 500 types

of dates, most of which come from Saudi Arabia, but only ap-proximately 293 are popular. Some types, like Assaree’ As-sofri, Assuccari, and Al-Ikhlas, come into Yemen in large quan-tities. These types of dates are in high demand because they are grown in areas near Yemen.

High pricesAn importer of dates said that

the rise of date prices in Saudi Arabia was due to the drought in some date-cultivated areas. In Yemen, however, the rise was due to lack of diesel, high transport costs and the deterio-ration of the riyal against for-eign currency.

As for the prices of dates this season, he said, “they are as follows: Assoccari weighing 4 kg is 2700 riyals, Assaree’ 4 kg 2500 riyals (approximately 675 riyals a kilo). However, if the dates are from last year’s

crop, they are sold at a discount and their prices vary. If they are wholesaled, the price ranges from 50 to 100 riyals a package below retail.

He also said that this year the Yemen Standardization, Me-trology and Quality Control Or-ganization (YSMO) developed a number of measures to bring dates to Yemen. Only large fac-tories in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia can meet the new stan-dards and specifications, which has prompted traders to import a good selection of high-quali-ty dates. The packages, which vary in size, type and quality, have expiration dates engraved on the package as a guaranteed specification.

Overall, a low turnout of peo-ple in comparison to previous years is expected due to fluctu-ating prices, and a deterioration of the local currency, which af-fects the purchasing power of the consumer.

High Prices a Major Concern in Ramadan 1

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Seventh Al-Baldah Tourist Festival Finishes in Khor al-Mukalla

The Seventh Al-Baldah Tour-ist Festival concluded in Khor al-Mukalla last Sunday eve-ning. According to various me-dia reports the 2010 Al-Baldah Festival was the best since the former governor of Hadram-out, Abdul-Qader Hilal, launched it in 2004. The re-ports indicated that festival was remarkable in terms of ar-tistic, cultural, religious and sporting events.

The festival was honored by the presence of HE President

of the Republic. Attending the closing ceremony were Dr. Ahmed Salem Al-Qadhi (Dep-uty Minister of Culture), Sheikh Al Abdullah, Ahmad Buqshan and a number of other governorate officials and social figures. At the ceremony Ahmed Bin Dwois delivered a speech in which he reviewed the major events of the festival. He said that the Al-Baldah Fes-tival is an event that exempli-fies Hadramout’s cultural tour-ism and heritage.

Sunday, Aug 8, 2010 Issue 10 www.nationalyemen.com 11National Yemen CONGRATULATIONS

National YemenSunday, Aug 8 , 2010 Issue10 www.nationalyemen.com ADVERTISMENTS