Results of a limited survey carried out by Yemen Times in three main Yemeni cities revealed that the public is opposing the planned US strikes against Afghanistan. This comes after Yemen officially denounced and condemned the attack of last Tuesday, September 11. In the survey, the public also condemned the attack and considered it a clear act of ruthless terror that comes against Islam as a religion. However, they also pointed out the hatred that has resulted from the US stances regarding issues concerning the Third World. In addition, they criticized USA's biased position regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Yemeni officials refrained from responding to the Yemen Times' questions regarding whether Yemen will join the alliance called for by the USA against terrorism, and whether Yemen will support any military action against Afghanistan, claiming that the official response is "shaping up".
However, the main opposition party, the Yemeni Congregation for Reform Party (Islah) has clearly opposed any future action against Afghanistan or any Islamic or Arab country.
Sheikh Hamoud bin Hashim Al-Dharihi, Supreme Committee member of Islah, has clearly opposed any military action against any country. "The USA has to understand that it should not rush to reckless conclusions and accusations and commit a military action that it will later regret!," he said. As far as the official stand of Islah is concerned, Sheikh Al-Dharihi added, "Islah has condemned the terrorist attacks against the US, but at the same time, Islah openly opposes any uncalculated move or retaliation without collecting enough evidence about the culprits."
Being part of the survey, Faris Al-Saqqaf, Chairman of the Sana'a-based Future Studies Center, said, "Yemenis are all united in condemning the terrorist actions against the USA. However, they are also united in opposing any violence in the form of retaliation by the USA, which will not solve the problem. Fundamentalist Islamists seem to be the main target of the USA, regardless of Osama bin Laden, and any strike against Afghanistan alone will certainly add to the hatred of those fundamentalists who could seek revenge in even more ruthless attacks. The decision of the USA to use force at this time is definitely not at all wise. It will open a Pandora's box that will cause more troubles for this superpower. The USA should instead concentrate on realizing why this hatred has developed, and try to reconsider its strategies and actions."This comes after the U.S. President George W. Bush on Saturday, called Yemeni-born migrant to Saudi Arabia, millionaire Osama bin Laden, a "prime suspect" in Tuesday's terrorist attacks on the country, saying that he cannot "hide from the United States."The Yemen Times also learned that the cabinet, along with the leadership, have been holding meetings to discuss Yemen's stance regarding the "war" that has been declared by US President Bush, who urged U.S. troops to get ready to retaliate for America's worst terrorist attack. This is a clear-cut indication that attacking Afghanistan is now very much imminent.
On another level, members of the Yemeni community, including journalists, politicians, NGO representatives, and many citizens paid their condolences to the US embassy on Friday. Among the condolers was the Editor-in-Chief of the Yemen Times who said, "The large number of people who have come to pay their condolences reflects the sympathy of Yemenis toward the US, which has lost thousands of its citizens in this tragedy."

Tribal sources told the Yemen Times that the German Commercial Attaché, Rainer Burns, was moved last Wednesday to a mountainous area that is difficult for the government troops to reach. They added that moving the German hostage happened last Wednesday morning after five RPG missiles were fired at the government forces stationed in the area. "The German hostage was moved while the government's troops were watching him, but remained helpless as the kidnappers pointed guns at his head and threatened to kill him if the troops made any attempt to intervene," a source told Yemen Times.
The abductors then took the German diplomat on foot to a mountainous area amid news reports that his health condition has greatly deteriorated. A tribal source added that the kidnappers Mohammed Ali Al-Zaidi, Ahmed Ali Al-Zaidi and a third person, who all belong to Al-Zaidi tribe, refused to submit themselves or the hostage to Sheikh Rabish bin Ka'alan, Sheikh Sultan Al-Aradah and Sheik Tariq Al-Fathli. The same source added that negotiations and mediations of these sheikhs are underway, however, no solution has so far been reached.
On the other hand, security forces in the Mareb Governorate detained Hassan Al-Zaidi, a journalist of the Yemen Times, in Mareb on Saturday while he was heading to a certain area at the governorate. Al-Zaidi is said to be at a detention belonging to the Political Security Office in Mareb and no visits are allowed to him at the detention. In a press release addressed to the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate, the Yemen Times urged the immediate release of Mr. Al-Zaidi and described detaining him as a violation of human rights. The release further demanded that the governor of Mareb and all the authorities concerned promptly release him.

116 Sri Lankan passengers are still detained at Aden Sea Port for illegally arriving in the Yemeni territorial waters.
The passengers arrived in two boats on August 16 and 26, 2001 for refueling at Aden Sea Port. Yemen Times learned that security authorities at the Port detained the Sri Lankan passengers after entering it with their conventional boats.
The two boats, which are used for smuggling workers to neighboring countries, were overcrowded, and most of the passengers have no passports.
The source said that the boats lacked safety measures and were carrying a large number of passengers. He added that owner of the boats would be contacted to send a well-equipped ship to collect them.

A Yemeni Security official mentioned that the 12 US investigators probing the Cole incident left Yemen on Wednesday because of what appears to be fear of a near attack. The FBI agents left Yemen on orders from Washington following last Tuesday's attacks in New York and Washington. "Their departure is a routine precaution against possible attack," he added, affirming that there was no specific threat against them. The USS Cole incident on October 12, 2000 caused severe damage to the warship and the death of 17 mariners.

A Yemeni military returnee said that 24 Yemeni army officers and politicians returned Friday to Aden from Damascus, Syria after a seven-year exile. Lt. Col. Mahdi Shaush said that a group of 20 officers, four civilians and more than 75 family members returned from Damascus. The returnees were leaders in the abortive 1994 secession attempt by formerly South Yemen which had been unified with former Yemen Arab Republic in 1990. President Ali Abdullah Saleh earlier issued a pardon and gave his directives to ease the return of the exiles.

Yemen has officially requested Jordan to allow Yemeni flights to cross Jordanian airspace to Baghdad. The Al-Zawraa Newspaper mentioned that Yemen wanted to organize weekly flights from Sanaa to Baghdad to meet the increasing demands of travelers between the two cities.