Yemen's opposition parties met Oct. 27 for a press conference to discuss what they call election registration violations of the government.
The statement issued by the MPs focused on violations committed by the ruling party and SEC and some government officials in the central and local authorities. They say the violations show Yemen's ruling GPC party wants to win the 2003 election by all means.
They say there has been distortion of new registration records in electoral constituencies, forcing security forces to register voters outside their constituencies.
They also say security has attacked opposition representatives in many constituencies, and that the GPC has used public money, public officials and media for their own gain.
Yemen's President Saleh has been requested to use his powers to deal with the violations.
The opposition statement also warns of legal and political action they may take in response to broken rules.

At the same time, the opposition said it believes the parties can deal with their differences, if both sides are committed to the country.
Abdulwahab Al Anesi, Islah representative, confirmed that the his party has had no private talks with the ruling party. He called all parties to work together using all means to guarantee correct data is used in the electoral register. Al Anesi suggested an election boycott.
Abdulghani Abdulqader, the Chairman of the Political Division of the Yemeni Socialist Party, stressed the importance of dialogue.
"There is no boycotting whenever there is a chance to negotiate," said Abdulqader. He said that his party came to fruitful results with the ruling party in the previous talks. He also rejects any misuse of democracy.
Abdulmalik Al Mekhlafi, secretary general of the Nasseri Party, said the ruling party avoids dialogue for the time being. He complained the ruling party is practicing all kinds of pressure over opposition parties through the media and other means.
Al Mekhlafi also noted the importance of exchanging information and suggests a meeting between any of the JMPs and the GPC to a void any misunderstandings and accusations. He said the ruling party is pushing some opposition parties into boycotting.
Abdulkareem Al Khaiwani, of Al Haq party and editor-in-chief of Al Uma newspaper, said it is important for the JMPs to have a specific criteria. He stated that JMPs should know the how to overcome bargaining in the political arena.
Regarding violations, he said it is not enough to denounce it, rather the opposition needs to take a serious position toward it. He suspects the opposition parties position against the ruling party is a "decoration or a mask".
Mohammed Al Mekhlafi, a lawyer, said that there are two kinds of violations. The first occurred during the registration phase and can be noted to registration committees or turned to the judiciary.
"The other kind is more serious and we first have to recognize those who violated the law and constitution. We are confronting serious political strategies dedicated to violating law and order," said Al Mehklafi.

The Modern Eritrea Magazine apologized Friday for an item published in its column "opinion" in the last Thursday issue under the title " Background of the Political Regime in Yemen."

The writer of the article referred impolitely to the president of the republic. The magazine said that the article did not represent the magazine opinion or any official Eritrean view, and it apologizes on this technical error which resulted in passing such phrases which should be filtered.
"Such phrases do not reflect the respect and estimation of the Eritrean people and government o Yemen leader and nation" the magazine said.
The Yemeni government had filed a protest note for Eritrea delivered by the Yemeni foreign deputy minister, Mr. Abdullah Al Radi last Thursday through the Eritrean ambassador to Yemen Mohammed Othman Rido.
The protest note condemned what has been published in the Eritrean media of "offense to the Yemeni government and leader and the Eritrean accusation of Yemen of being in league with Khartoum, Addis Ababa against Asmara and toppling the Issyas Aforgi regime."
The Saba News agency said that the Yemeni protest concentrated on the fact that what has been published represents a serious indication of disrespect and would damage the historical relation between the two neighboring countries and at odds with all the international norms specially in indicating to the presidents and political figures.
Meanwhile, the Eritrean foreign ministry, in statement published in Modern Eritrea on Friday, called on the international community to condemn what it called "the conspiracy of Sudan, Ethiopia and Yemen against Eritrea"
The Eritrean statement indicated that "such conspiracy against an independent country is an evident violation for the international laws and UN impacts".
It said, "The irresponsible practices of these three regimes, regardless their potentials, must be condemned as it threatening peace and stability in the region, specially in the time Ethiopia is confronting starvation and dryness, and it seriously damage the nations of the regions," also said the Eritrean foreign ministry, in a press statement issued in Thursday.
The tri-Sana'a summit held October 13-14 called in its final proclamation on Eritrea for being responsible in dealing with the neighboring countries and to avoid interfering in others affairs and repeating the past mistakes.
The countries called Eritrea to be an active member in its regional area in order to obtain the security and stability in the region.

TAIZ - Students at Yemeni universities have taken part in the first training course for human rights and political participation.
The Oct. 26 to 31 event was organized by the National Cultural Center for Youths.
The training course was sponsored by the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, the British Cultural Council, and the Women's Forum for Researches and Studies.
In this regard, Ameen Addoba'ee, the Program Manager said the program was to teach participants about basic notions and principles of human rights.
"A number of lectures revolved around the historical development of human rights and the setback resulting from the September 11 terrorist attacks, including its resulting economical, social, and political impacts," Addoba'ee said..
Abdullah Abdul Elah, Manager of the National Cultural Center for Youths, told The Yemen Times that about 40 students from Yemeni universities took part. "This training course is considered to be a beginning towards establishing a very strong base of youth capable of participating in the democratic process and development," the manager said.
Manal Abdussalam, a female participant at the National Cultural Youth Center for raising legal awareness, said she had made use of such training courses as they relate to rights guaranteed by the constitution and law.
Ibraheem A. Ashara'abi, a university student said, "During this course I have learnt many things including the basic notions of the human rights."
"This has of course broadened my horizons for knowing all there is to know about the basic rights. Life without real practice rights is not life," he added.
The National Cultural Youth Center is a non-governmental organization founded in Taiz in 1997 and spares no efforts for raising awareness among youths.

"Ushering in a strong comeback to the Yemeni aviation market, Lufthansa has decided to resume it flights Sana'a by operating two weekly frequencies to the Yemeni capital as of December 5, via Cairo", declared Werner Heesen, general manager for Lufthansa Egypt and director for Northeast Africa and Yemen.
Addressing a press conference Oct. 31, Heesen attributed this decision to the Lufthansa's commitment to the Yemeni market.
From December 6 2002 to March 28, 2003, Lufthansa will operate two weekly flights on the Sana'a-Cairo-Frankfurt route. The aircraft will be a state-of-the-art Airbus A 340 offering First, Business and Economy Class with a total seat capacity of 247. Departures from Sana'a will be on Wednesdays and Fridays at 02:10 and arrivals in Frankfurt at 09:15.

As many as 300 refugees from Africa have been arrested by Yemeni authorities after they attempted to land on Yemen's shores this week.
"Security forces arrested the infiltrators at the coasts of Shabwa governorate upon their arrival from the African Horn aboard boats owned by unknown people," said deputy minister of interior Mutahar Al Mesri to the Gulf News.
"This falls within the framework of the continuous collective displacement of the citizens from some African Horn countries to the Yemeni beaches," the deputy minister added.
He said the arrested immigrants were taken to Kharaz camp for refugees in Lahej governorate, 320km south of Sanaa.
Refugees from the African Horn to Yemen are estimated at 150,000 with most of them from Somalia.
The ministry of interior has imposed new security procedures on the boat owners operating in Yemeni harbors.

EnCana celebrated the opening of its office in Yemen Oct. 27 at the Taj Sheba Hotel.
The opening ceremony hosted businessmen, diplomats, ambassadors and investors to discuss their views and exchange ideas regarding oil business in Yemen.
The Canadian ambassador to Yemen, Nelcyn MacDonald, said "We are very excited about the future of oil and gas relations between Canada and Yemen."
He said the company is happy to be another Canadian oil firm in Yemen, and a meeting with president Saleh was very positive. "He was very encouraging to EnCana and to Canada in general. We discussed many issues related to the investments opportunities," said MacDonald.
General manager of the EnCana, Paul S. Carr, said EnCana operates two blocks in Yemen at this time and its hopes to grow up business.""There is no impact of the Limburg incident on our business in Yemen," he said.
Gerry Macey, president of Offshore & New Ventures Exploration, said "We are celebrating the opening of the office and we are thankful to the authorities in Yemen for offering all the facilities and a good reception."About the plans of the company said Macey, "We already have two blocks and we will do seismic surveys by the border with Saudi Arabia, Block 60 against the frontier. Our program is about 25 % underway.
"We already drilled a well in Block 47 in Hadramout and by February of this year it will be ready. Sometime in 2003 we will have a well results."
He also said the company needs a "stable environment as much as possible and the environment here is very supportive."Danna Coffield, vice-president of Middle East Exploration, said while the Limburg blast increases risks, "the incident has no specific impacts on our business.
"We were very excited to have the opportunity to meet with the Yemeni president yesterday. We discussed our ambitions in the country. We have two blocks and we hope getting more opportunities in the future.
"The president was very supportive and in general it was very positive meeting," Coffield added.