On Thursday, January 8th, US Senator Arlen Specter left Yemen following
a short visit to Sanaa. The Senator told Yemen Times that he was impressed
by the level of tolerance and the progress that has been achieved towards
democracy.
Mr. Specter and his assistants spent three days in Yemen, the longest
stay in any country he has visited. He has passed through Germany, Bosnia,
Israel, Palestine, Syria, Jordan, Eritrea and Yemen. He left for Addis
Ababa.
The Senator's emphasis on his talks with Yemeni officials, including
President Ali Abdullah Saleh, has been on human rights, especially minority
rights.
Sheikh Al-Ahmar Recovering Well
Sheikh Abdullah Bin Hussain Al-Ahmar, Speaker of Parliament and Chairman
of the Islah Party, has left hospital and is on his way back to Yemen.
He is already in Washington DC on his way to Europe and then Yemen.
Sources told the Yemen Times that he will be back in Yemen for Eid
Al-Fitr.
The Yemen Times takes this occasion to wish the sheikh a speedy recovery.
YSP in Aden:
Rank and File Mutiny
or Call for Change
According to a circular issued by members of the Aden branch of the Yemeni
Socialist Party (YSP), calls for immediate change of the branch leadership.
204 leader-members of the party signed a document calling for sacking of
the branch leadership and for holding elections immediately. The document
also accuses the leadership of the party of self-serving actions without
care or interest in the party's welfare. "It is time for change,"
it said.
El-Nino Strikes in Yemen
According to meteorological sources, the eye of a major storm is approaching
Yemen from the Arabian Sea. The authorities have been alerted by international
meteorological centers of the approaching potential disaster. Some precautionary
steps have already been taken.
Information indicates that the Abyan-Hadhramaut coast will face most
of the danger. This is the first tangible impact on Yemen of the El-Nino
global weather phenomenon.
Illegal Immigrants Pour into Yemen
Yemen Times learned that some 1,000 illegal economic migrants come every
month into Yemen from Somalia, Eritrea, and Ethiopia. The majority of these
people are males, although, there are few females.
Civil wars and political strife in these countries are to blame for
the deteriorating economic standards which drive these people away from
their countries.
They cross the narrow sea divide into Yemen with the aid of criminal
elements in return for money.
Most of them tell Yemen Times that Yemen is not their final destination.
They have their eyes set on Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries, using
Yemen as a stepping stone. Whoever among them falls in the hands of the
Yemeni authorities, he or she ends up in jail awaiting repatriation. At
this moment, there are some 300 Eritrean, Somali, and Ethiopian illegal
immigrants in the Hodeidah and Taiz prisons awaiting repatriation to their
countries. Given the financial burdens, embassy officials of the countries
have not been involved.
Zubaidi Clan Appeal to President
Saleh
The elders of the Zubaidi clan have contacted the Chairman of the Human
Rights and Liberties Committee of the Consultative Council and asked him
to present their appeal to President Ali Abdullah Saleh. The group have
been in prison for over four months. They are charged with complicity in
the Aden bombings of July 1997.
The group deny the charges and say that there is yet one little evidence
to be presented against them. "We hope the president will see that
justice is being done by ordering our release, if at least for the sake
of this blessed month of Ramadhan."
