Yemeni Athlete Secures
1st Place in W.Asian Taekwondu Contests
It was getting
more difficult for Waddah. The clock was ticking away, and his foe, Khaled
Jabbar of Kuwait, was ahead in terms of points. It was the third (last)
round of the match.
Waddah Abdul-Malik Alwan Al-Maqramy was fighting for his chance, and
the glory of his country. This was the West Asian 50 kg Championship in
Taekwondu. The day was 26th of November. The time was a few minutes past
the hour of 6:00 pm.
Waddah was calling on all his skills and will power. He knew he had
to get over this guy. His foe was bulkier, taller, and had more dans (taekwondu
titles). But he had to do it, which he did. He knocked out Khaled Jabbar,
and the whole stadium roared. Before a shaken Jabbar could get up, it was
over.
Waddah, 20, was a one-dan athlete stuck up for the last match of the
championship with Khaled Jabbar who had three dans.
The first round ended with 1-0 points in favor of Khaled. The 2nd round
ended with 2-1 points in favor of Khaled. In the 3rd round, Waddah knocked
out his foe to clinch a victory and come home with the gold medal.
The UNESCO General Conference adopted last month the Sanaa Declaration
of Press Freedom. According to Paragraph 10 of document 29/C/24 which was
endorsed by delegates representing 186 member-nations of the organization,
the declaration firmly puts the Middle East in line with the world trend
that respects human rights and press freedom.
The Sanaa Declaration was issued by a Arab journalists following a
seminar held in Sanaa from January 7th-11th, under the theme "Promoting
Independent and Pluralistic Arab Media". It was this region's sequel
to a number of regional media gatherings (Windhoek, 1991, for black Africa;
Alma Ata, 1992, for Central Asia; and Santiago, 1993, for Latin America).
These series of meetings are sponsored by the UNESCO in collaboration with
the United Nations.
Mr. Alain Modoux, CIJ/FED Director at UNESCO, visibly upbeat about
the endorsement of the Sanaa Declaration, said such a decision represented
a "formidable thrust forward for democracy in the Arab World".
The Sanaa Delaration, now adopted by Arab Governments, commits them
to enact and/or revise laws with a view to:
- enforcing the rights to freedom of expression and press freedom and
legally enforceable free access to information;
- eliminating monopoly controls over news and advertising;
- putting an end toall forms of social, economic or political discrimination
in broadcasting, in the allocation of frequencies, in newspaper and magazine
distribution and in newsprint production and allocation; and
- abolishing all barriers to launching new publications and any form
of discriminatory taxation.
UNESCO in collaboration with the relevantUN departments will now follow-up
with measures to ensure that the commitments under the Sanaa Declaration
are observed. It plans a follow-up meeting with special emphasis on human
rights and the media.
As the Trial of the Alleged Terrorists
Proceeds:
Evidence of Torture?
The court house, full of people, was shocked on Tuesday, 2nd December,
1997, as some of the accused persons began to take off their clothes to
show marks on their bodies - evidence of the torture they had been subjected
to during interrogation. One after another, the 25 alleged terrorists,
said that the confessions presented to the court by the prosecutors were
taken under physical duress.
On their backs, sides, finger-nails and other parts of the body were
marks of severe beating, electrification, and other forms of physical abuse.
The accused, and their defending lawyers asked the judge, Mr. Faheem Abdullah
Mohsen, to order an immediate medical check up by a doctor or any specialist
to verify their claims. The judge declined.
The trial had began two weeks back and was resumed on the 4th. The
authorities allege that the accused persons are terrorists who are paid
by foreign interests in order to sabotage the regime. During July and October,
several bombs exploded in Aden.
The Netherlands Poised to Be Yemen's
Largest Aid Partner for 1997
The Netherlands Government has already disbursed some 100 million Dutch
guilders in 1997, making it, so far, Yemen's largest aid partner. "And
this amount does not include generous Netherlands contributions to Yemen
through multilateral organizations such as the UNDP, UNFPA, UNESCO, etc.,"
stated Mr. A. J. Meerburg, Ambassador of the Netherlands in Sanaa.
This would make it the largest aid partner of the year.
Although most of the bilateral aid program involves large projects, the
Dutch also offer small-scale assistance. On December 2, the ambassador
signed a grant agreement of $38,000 to renovate Bait Jarhoum, a 500-year
building in Shibam, Hadhramaut. "Another small program involves US$
5 million over 5 years to support the national museum," said Ms. D.
Koekkoek, 1st Secretary at the embassy. The team for the executing agency
for this last project arrived in Sanaa yesterday, December 7th.
In February, the Dutch embassy will organize a workshop, around which
contests will be built. "We will see who has the best cow, or the
highest output per hectare, or the best quality product, etc. The idea
is to create incentives for the farmers to excel in their work," explained
Ms. Koekkoek.
At another level, Mr. Henri Hubert Driesser, Head of the Gulf Division
(includes Yemen) at the Foreign Ministry of the Dutch Government concluded
a fact-finding mission to Yemen last week. He met with several government
officials and public figures to discuss Yemen's economic policies and how
Dutch aid can fit into it. "I want to know the general strategy of
the economic policies, and how Yemenis see them." He was also interested
in various vulnerable groups and the role of women in the development process.
