Press Scanner
Most local newspapers were not published during the Eid Al-Fitr holiday, and hence it was noticeable that news resources were scarce during last week. However, as the eid ended, some newspapers resumed publication. Most newspapers concentrated on the explosions that took place in Aden City last week. The focal points of Aden-based newspapers were the explosions that affected the Saba news Agency building and the Angelic Church of Aden and the developments in the investigation of the USS Cole incident. Other news articles covered miscellaneous events that happed in Eid Al-Fitr such as a remarkably high flow of local tourism to Aden. Government newspapers covered the Islah General Meeting that took place on the third of January. Most newspapers gave a lot of space to world and international events such as Middle East crisis, etc.
 

Here we highlight the main headline stories in some of the newspapers of last week.


26 September, Thursday January 4, 2001 (Military forces weekly):
The President in the Second General Congress of the Islah Party:
“We are in one ship, and the nation is a school we learn at”
The newspaper had its headline story on the President’s address at the first exceptional meeting of Islah’s Second General Congress that took place last Wednesday January 3. The paper brought excerpts from the speech of the president, in which he emphasized the “strategic” partnership between the PGC and Islah, and emphasized the importance of living with democracy as a way of life.
He was quoted saying, “Even though some may not accept democracy, and find it difficult to cope with, it has become an essential part of life, and it would be much worse not to have democracy at all.”

Bajammal to Visit Moscow at the End of this Month
Bajammal: “Rephrasing the Yemeni-Russian
Relationship According to Modern Criteria”
The second front-page article was about the Foreign Minister, Bajammal’s upcoming visit at the end of this month to Russia, in which he is expected to discuss ways of enhancing the bilateral relationship between Yemen and Russia. The newspaper quoted Bajammal saying that his visit is going to prepare for the president’s visit to Russia to discuss mutual cooperation in all levels.
According to the newspaper, one of the suspects in the explosions that rocked Aden City last week was arrested. The arrested suspect, Nasser Hawadh Al-Shaiba is thought to be involved along with two others in plotting the bombs that exploded near the Angelic Church. The newspaper quoted Interior Minister, Hussein Arab, saying that investigations are underway as there would be intensifying efforts to bring the ones who planned and carried out the attack to justice. He also mentioned that investigations in the USS Cole incident are still underway and that the investigating team that arrived to the scene after the incident would be coming back to perform further investigations in cooperation with the Yemeni police authorities.



Al-Ra’i Al-Aam, January 2, 2001 (Independent Weekly)

Special Security Arrangements to
Protect UK and USA in Sanaa and Aden
The newspaper provided striking information about tight local security and extra measures around UK and USA interests in Yemen. According to the paper, police vehicles and personnel are spread around the UK and USA embassies and their consulates in Sanaa and Aden. It also indicated that heavy security forces are protecting the Gold Mohr Hotel in Aden, in which the US investigation units are staying.

Justice System Suffers from Shortage in Qualified Judges and Legal Personnel as Students Refrain from Studying Law

The paper stated that reliable sources from the General Attorney indicated a shortage in the number of qualified judges and legal personnel and consultants as students in universities prefer not to study law at the university due to many reasons of which the financial aspect is the strongest. The source continued to assume that the limited budget of the General Attorney and the Legal Sector of the government is the main reason behind the discouraged students who turn into more profitable and promising careers.

Al-Ayyam, Wednesday January 3, 2001,
(Independent tri-weekly):
After 3 explosions rocking the city of Aden, Abdulkarim Shaif, 

the deputy assistant of Aden Governorate to Al-Ayyam:
“We are with the call of all heavenly religions to live together in peace as Islam encourages us to do that”
The newspaper’s main headline focuses on the late 3 explosions that rocked the city of Aden on Monday and Tuesday January 1-2. In its main headline, it focuses on the statements of Abdulkarim Shaif, the Deputy Assistant of Aden Governorate, who mentioned that efforts to capture the ones behind the incident are intensifying. He stressed that such an ugly act is not to be tolerated as he would not allow the bombing of any worshiping house of non-Muslims in Yemen just as much as Muslim would not accept mosques abroad to be bombed.
In another main article, Al-Ayyam said, “Even though the explosion did not cause casualties, it resulted in a huge hole in the ground with a diameter of 4 meters.” The article said that the explosions targeted Aden Continental Hotel, the Angelic Church, and the Saba News Agency building in a time the New Year celebrations had ended.

Al-Thawra, Friday January 5, 2001
(official daily)
“President Ali Abdullah Saleh among the most Prominent Arab Personalities in the year 2000”

The main headline story was about the nomination of President Ali Abdullah Saleh among the most prominent Arab Personalities by the survey results of the Saudi Okaz newspaper and the Regional Ahram Institute for Journalism. The president, according to the article, was elected among 1,500 other nominees representing the most influential and prominent Arab figures in the year 2000.
The article also said that the survey results stated that the two most important events of the year were the Palestinian Intifada and the Yemeni-Saudi border agreement. The newspaper indicated that President was selected because he was to accomplish many achievements in the local arena in enhancing democracy, human rights and freedom of press in the country. It also indicated that the president was able to settle the border issue with Yemen’s brotherly neighbor and strong stand in the support of the Palestinian cause towards building its own independent state with Jerusalem as its capital.

Follow-up Arab Committee Decides: Holding on to the Right of the Return of Refugees and Authority over the Holy Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem
The paper gave importance in its front page to the resolutions that came out of the Arab Meeting of 9 Arab Foreign Ministers attended by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat that took place last Thursday. The paper focused on the overall results of the summit that supported the Palestinian position in regards to the right of the return of Palestinian refugees and the city of Jerusalem.

Total Lunar Eclipse Next Tuesday:
Eclipse Starts at Sunset and Ends at nine in the Evening
The paper stated on its first page that a total eclipse of the moon would be visible on the 9th of this month in Yemen, and could be observed from sunset to 9:00 pm.
The eclipse’s exact time and date were given by the Astronomy League of the Emirates Heritage Club, which indicated that the moon would be covered totally at around 6:49 pm tomorrow (Tuesday October 9th.)

Al-Wahdah, January 3, 2001
(Official weekly)
Awadhs Continue their Sit-in Requesting the Approval of Radman as a Separate Province

The newspaper’s main headline was about the continuing sit-in of the 300 members of the Al Awadh tribe, representing sheikhs and citizens from the Radman region. The protesters demanded the reverting of the decision of not making Radman a separate province. The group sent a letter to the President and another letter to the Prime Minister demanding that their region be formally considered a province and see this as a legitimate cause that should be fulfilled. The group continued their sit-in until the time of printing the issue and attracted attention from the government, but it is still unknown whether their demand would be met or not.

Violations in the Tihama Development Committee Unveiled
Al-Wahdah’s second headline was about the violations that were discovered in the Tihama Development Committee, and that were noted by the memo issued by the Minister of Finance, Alawi Al-Salami. The memo described the financial transactions to be full of corruption and clear violations.
The newspaper indicated that the Minister’s stand in demanding a clarification of the violations in the management and financial aspects of the project were raised after several visits to the project that seems to have been going from bad to worse over the last months.