A tribesman and a child were killed and several injured when tense confrontations took place last week between brigade 25 mechanized of the military forces and tribesmen from Serwah in Mareb governorate. The military forces destroyed several houses with missiles and tank fire, injuring a woman and two children after heavy fire caused the collapse of 10 houses. Among the houses that were destroyed was the house of Hassan Al-Zaidi, a journalist for the Yemen Times. All the families were taken to caves in the nearby mountains. The male members of the tribesmen stayed in the area, as eyewitnesses say, to defend their property from the robbery attempts of the military forces. Around 2,000 missiles were said to be taken to the area for the attack..
The whole situation exploded when security forces set up a number of checkpoints between the capital and the Mareb governorate following the kidnapping of 5 teenagers of Sanhan, three of who are the sons of one of the Sheikhs of Sanhan, Hadi Al-Hushaishi. Apart from that, tribesmen from Sanhan established their own tribal checkpoints to prevent tribesmen from Khawlan from passing through.
The Sanhani tribesmen also captured 5 from Bani Jabr of the Jahm tribe, which is the tribe of the abductors. In one of the checkpoints, some tribesmen drove away without waiting for inspection, resulting in a crossfire that resulted in the injury of one soldier. The abductors took the 5 men to Al-Mihjizeh in Serwah, located 170 km east of Sanaa City, and continued to hold the hostages until the time the newspaper went to press.
The situation continues to be tense, especially in that the kidnappers refused to release the hostages until the government compensates them for the damage inflicted to their houses in this latest attack. This in addition to similar attacks organized in June 2000 in a similar fashion. As the kidnappers claim, they along with their families continue to live in tents and valleys since June 2000 until this very day
The kidnappers explained that this kidnapping is in retaliation of the security forces' destruction of their homes immediately after releasing the 6 kidnapped police officers, also from Sanhan, who were released after intense tribal mediation by Sheikhs Al-Dammani, Duwaid, and Al-Ghadir. Yemen Times covered the kidnapping incidents and its consequences in its issue of June 2000.
According to tribal sources, the government allocated YR 12 million as compensation to the tribesmen whose houses were destroyed. However, the amount has not yet been received.
Several prominent sheikhs from Khawlan are currently involved in tribal mediation with the kidnappers who belong to Aal Al-Zaidi in hope that they will release the kidnapped teenagers. The sheikhs are also requesting an end to the random firing from the military forces and the withdrawal of the military tanks that continue to target the area where the kidnappers are supposed to be hiding.
Villagers whose houses were destroyed demanded swift action by local and international organizations dealing with human rights and the press, and invited them to inspect the area and assess the damage that has been caused by the confrontations. They requested an immediate intervention so as to let the families, who escaped the confrontations to caves and valleys go back to their homes safely
A Yemen Times correspondent arrived in the area where the confrontations took place and tried to meet the kidnappers, but failed due to the intense firing on both sides. However, he was able to meet one of the kidnappers' relatives who was holding certain types of mosquito protecting shields. Asked about what he is doing, he said, "Not only are we treating the kidnapped well and keeping them secure as our guests, but we are also providing them with mosquito protecting shields so that they wouldn't suffer from mosquito bites. The military forces took advantage of the fact that we cannot practice our tribal ethics, and harm the kidnapped. Hence they mounted a wave of attacks against our homes and villages. They know that no matter what they do, even if they kill us all, we will never harm our 'guests'. But if they continue to destroy our homes, we will be forced to destroy Sanhan's homes as a measure of self-defense."

Reliable official sources told Yemen Times that the latest threats of certain tribes to resist any demarcation efforts and the apprehension of possible violence on the borders on this issue resulted in the decision of the government hold its session tomorrow, Tuesday May 15 to discuss the issue. The government is expected to come out with a detailed report about the impending problems including, the threats of some tribes to disregard the Jeddah treaty. They will release the latest maps of the demarcation efforts, which will be submitted to the leadership of the country.
Meanwhile, Yemen Times has received enormous complaints from different tribal leaders from Dahm and Waile opposing the demarcation efforts by the two countries.
Tribesmen on the borderline near "Jabal Al-Thar" along with Wadi Al-Fari mountain range are reported to have thwarted Saudi lead efforts to demarcate the border. The team resumed work only after the Yemeni leadership intervened and ordered the surrender of the equipment so as to have the Saudi teams continue their work.
Yemen Times reporters have witnessed several Saudi camps on the demilitarized zone near the border about 20 km inside Yemeni territory while Yemeni forces have withdraw several kilometers to the south.
It was reported earlier that Dahm and Waile tribes had urged upon the leadership of both countries to withhold of the demarcation efforts until their demands were met. Letters protest were also sent to the German Embassy to press withdrawal of the demarcating company German Hanza Luft Bild entrusted with the task. The tribes stressed that these letters of protest should be considered as for warning to avert any eventualities in future.
Yemen Times managed to visit the disputed area to assess the legitimacy of the claims of the different tribes involved and compare the set of maps approved by the Jeddah treaty with the ground realities. A complete report with photos of the disputed areas will be published in coming issues.
It was earlier reported that Saudi Arabia arrested and imprisoned. Since the signing of the Jeddah treaty, around 833,000 persons on the charge of trying to infiltrate into the Kingdom through the borders. Most of those were alleged to be Yemenis.

'Travel around Yemen is feasible and advisable", the former British Ambassador to Yemen Vic Henderson told the British Yemeni Society.
At the society's monthly lecture held last week Henderson reflected on his posting to Yemen and said that his wife and he would return in October to see some of the places they missed'. He said that Yemen could be divided into three zones: those where travel was perfectly safe such as Sana'a, Hodeida, Socotra and Wadi Hadramaut, those where the approval of the embassy should be sought and excursions should only be made if there are two vehicles and those where the protection of the authorities should be sought. Mareb and Saada fall into the last two categories.
In response to questions from the floor Henderson said that Yemen would gain as much from good bilateral relations with Saudi Arabia as it would from membership of the GCC.
Henderson did not comment on the chances of the British citizens in prison in Aden getting a presidential pardon, but said that apart from Islamic extremists the Yemenis are conservative but tolerant Muslims.

The United Nations Office of Resident Coordinator issued last week its Common Country Assessment (CCA) Report for Yemen. The CCA, which was prepared through a participatory process including all UN organizations in Yemen and consultations with agencies outside Yemen, assesses the country's development situation and key challenges from an integrated human rights and human development perspective.
On the results of the CCA, the UN Resident Coordinator James Rawley said, "The Challenges facing Yemen in this new century are formidable. While significant progress has been made towards national unity and building democratic institutions in the last decades, millions of Yemenis still live in poverty."
The report mentioned the key development challenges that Yemen needs to address. Those are strengthening economic reforms, ending food insecurity, ensuring universal basic education, improving public and reproductive health, addressing the water crisis, ensuring justice, strengthening decentralization, enhancing national capacity for policy analysis, monitoring and evaluation.

An armed group of tribesmen kidnapped a Bulgarian medical doctor from a hospital in the city of Rada' in the governorate of Al-Baidha last Thursday. The kidnappers took the hostage to Jabal Al-Sahl in Murad between the governorates of Mareb and Shabwa 300 km east of Sanaa City.
Reliable sources told Yemen Times that the kidnappers are from the tribe of Murad (Al Abu Asha) who are demanding the release of a group of prisoners in Sana'a.