Last week, President Ali Abdullah Saleh inaugurated two of the largest and most important projects in Yemen. The first is the Safir-Hadhramaut highway, which will be linking all the towns and cities between Safir City in Mareb Governorate and Hawrah in Hadhramaut. The highway will be 310 km in length and cost the country YR 6,293,000,000.
The other giant project was the Soqotra International Airport

The violent confrontations that began last Tuesday between the military/police forces and the citizens of the village of Quradah in Saber, Taiz governorate are still going on, but the fighting has become less intense. Reports from Taiz say that artillery, bazookas and other heavy battle equipment were being used in the conflict. The thundering sound of the shelling, which has destroyed a number of houses is heard all over the city of Taiz and neighboring villages. The number of military and civilian casualties is still difficult to determine.

The reason for the flare up of violence in the area is due to Colonel Abdullah Al-Qadhi, the President's uncle and Director of the Security Office in Taiz insisting on giving some of the wells owned by the people of Quradah to the people of another village.
Before the flare-up of the military confrontation, Mr. Al-Qadhi was chosen as an arbitrator to settle the differences between the people of the two villages. The people of Quradah have put up 50 weapons as the traditional symbol of willingness to accept the arbitration, but he insisted on getting more.
At another level, the shiekhs and social figures of Saber held a meeting last Saturday to discuss the implications of the military operations, which have evoked the anger and protest of the people of Taiz.

Exactly two week's after Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Saqqaf's tragic death in the same street, in exactly the same place and at the same time of the day someone else was killed, but this time by the sharp cold blade of the dagger. As witnesses described the incident, an argument between Qais and another man lead to heated tensions in a cafe near Al-Shaibani Restaurant in Hadda Street. As Qais was walking away from the cafe, the man stabbed him in his upper back with his "jambia." Eyewitness accounts state that Qais fell dead immediately. The killer ran and found refuge in a Sheikh's villa. However, by 8:00 pm of the same day, the Sheikh has submitted another person as hostage, until the time when he will hand over the killer. However, at this writing, the killer has not yet been turned over to authorities. The victim's father sent a letter to the president pleading for help in bringing justice to this case, and in arresting the killer.

As a result of the memorandum of understanding signed between the Ministry of Electricity and Water and the German State of Hesse on Jan. 30, 1999, a workshop on photovoltaic, solarthermic and wind energy will be held in Sana'a on 22 - 23 June 1999.
The delegation, headed by Dr. Alfred Berger of the Ministry of Economics, Urban and Regional Development of the German State of Hesse, will hold talks with the Ministry of Electricity and Water, as well as with high officials in the private industrial and commercial sector.

A violent fight between the tribes of Al-Jaridah and Al-Arabija took place in the governorate of Dhamar, 100 km south of Sanaa on Saturday, June 19. The fight was over a piece of land. The Vice Director of the Dhamar Security Office was killed when the police tried to bring the fight between the two tribes to an end. According to reports from Dhamar, the estimated casualties are 8 killed and 9 injured.

A ceremony was held in Aden on Monday, June 14 to celebrate the graduation of 160 deminers from the Yemeni National Demining Training Center (YNDTC). This is the third class of miners to graduate. The ceremony was attended by Mr. Mutahar Al-Saidy, Minster of State for Cabinet Affairs, the Governor of Aden, Mr. Taha Ahmad Ghanim, Vice Admiral Charles W. Moore, Commander of the U.S. Naval Forces of the Central Command and Commander of the Fifth Fleet, the American Ambassador, Ms. Barbara Bodine and Major General Mohammed Ali Mohsen, Commander of the Southern Region and Colonel Mohammed Saleh Al-Tureq, the Head of Security in Aden. The program of demining in Yemen is being implemented with the American trainers.

In the beginning Mr. Mutahar Al-Saidy expressed his satisfaction with the excellent results the trainees had achieved, and said: "The fruitful results achieved are attributed to the efforts of the American trainers." He also said that the program is a reflection of taking the proper way towards development.
Ms. Bodine also expressed her happiness and said: "We gathered here nine months ago to celebrate the inauguration of the YNDTC, and today we are celebrating the achievements of the two teams. I have been following your progress during the past few months, and our military advisers kept me informed about your excellent performance and that some of you have already started the process of diffusing the explosives, which is the toughest job in demining. This should be done in cooperation with the integrated program to assist the people, who need to be educated about the hazards of mines. Coinciding with your daily training were other related activities in Sanaa."

The US Ambassador also indicated that the National Technical Unit is ready to begin work, and that the United Nations provided the help of Mr. Phil Louis, who has substantial experience in this field, to assist those people in the National Human Committee for Demining. Other countries that supported this program include The Federal Republic of Germany and Japan.
"The United Nations is trying to establish a monetary fund for Yemen, through which the donor countries can present their help. On this occasion I am very delighted to announce that the Congress in the United States agreed to donate US$ 500,000 for the Demining Program of Yemen. In the coming weeks, we will discuss with the Yemeni authorities and the United Nations how to use this money in the best possible way for the benefit of the Yemeni people." Ms. Bodine added.

Vice Admiral Moore also said: "I feel happy to be here with you today at your training center and I am proud to participate in your graduation ceremony. You have worked hard and have finally arrived to the end. Over the past five months, you have achieved very positive results and are now in a position to carry out your job of defusing the dangerous land mines."
"The American team is now preparing for their departure from the country, which will be within the coming two weeks. I feel confident, particularly because I have seen, in my previous visit, that you could handle the job of demining all by yourselves. Mines have partially been removed from the (C6) field, and more than 1700 explosives were safely defused near the town of Bir Ahmed. You will have to proceed with this job and collect the statistical information about the number of mines and victims of mines, in addition to educating people who are near these sites about the hazards of mines. We are eager to see the activities of the program increasing and the diffusion of mines taking place all over Yemen. That is why we hope you don't consider this to be the end because the trainers are leaving. On the contrary, it's a sign of new beginning. The friendship that we developed and the long obligation for the success of the program is evidence that we will always be close to each other." After that, Vice Admiral Moore gave a Toyota Land Cruiser to the trainees. This car is one of the 17 cars that were purchased for the program. By the end of the ceremony, certificates of graduation were presented to all of the graduating trainees.

Radwan Al-Saqqaf
Aden Bureau Chief, Yemen Times

A delivery ceremony was held on Tuesday, June 15 to deliver a CT-scan unit to the Al-Kuwait University Hospital in Sana'a. The machine is worth 500,000,000 Japanese yen, and was procured under a Japanese Debt Relief Grant Aid extended to the government of the Republic of Yemen in 1996.

This delivery ceremony was attended by Mr.. Ahmed Mohammed Sofan, Minister of Planning and Development, Mr. Mohammed Al-Batani, Minister of Insurance and Social Affairs, Dr. Abdulla Abdul-Wali Nasher, Minister of Public Health, Dr. Abdul-Aziz Al-Magaleh, Rector of Sana'a University and Mr. Kenjiro Mori, Charge de Affairs, Embassy of Japan in Sana'a.

It is worth noting that the Government of Japan extends Debt Relief Grant Aid to the Government of the Republic of Yemen based on the resolution made by the Trade & Development Board (TDB) of the United Nations Conference on Trade & Development (UNCTAD), in order to adopt debt relief measures for countries which have been facing serious difficulties in repaying their debts.
The Government of the Republic of Yemen will make the best use of these grants for the purchase of products that contribute to the development of Yemen's economy and the enhancement of the welfare of its people.

Since 1979, when Yemen started to repay its yen loans which had financed the rural water supply projects, the Project for the Construction of Ras Katneeb Power Station and the Project for the Construction of the 7th Berth of Hodeidah Port, Japan has been providing the Republic of Yemen with grants in amounts equal to the total interest and principal repaid. The total amount of these grants has reached 11,187,142,000 Japanese yen, and the loan repayments have been extended 27 times.

A ten year old girl, Amal Ahmed Alhaj, also a student in Sa'awan preliminary school, has won a painting competition over 150 other children in the Child's Painting Event organized by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. The competition, held under the title: My World in the Year 2000, was to paint the best representation of their wishes for the year 2000. Amal Alhaj will now compete in a more important event, the International Child Carnival, to be held in Washington DC from June 27th- July 20th. The Carnival is organized by the World Foundation for Child Arts, and also commemorates the United States Independence Day.
The painting by Amal is about the fetters of racism and the hope that humanity will be able to throw off these chains. Amal's father will accompany his daughter during the happy event. We wish Amal and all other talented children in Yemen good luck..
Although the Yemen Times was not able to get the painting due to copy right violation, we plan to have a comprehensive article about this talented artist and her painting once she comes back from the States next month.

A letter of understanding between UNICEF and Red Sea Mills with Iron and Folic Acid was signed on Wednesday, June 16. Most of the women and children in Yemen are suffering from iron deficiency anemia, which is a major threat to the health of children and women especially during pregnancy and lactation. UNICEF will facilitate the free provision of an International Technical Expert on Wheat flour fortification, from the Micronutrient Initiative, based in Canada. He will assist the Red Sea Mills in identifying the proportions of micronutrient multimix, and feeder, and will assist in contacting suppliers. The expert will also conduct on-site training of staff on quality control. It is worth noting that Red Sea Flour Mills is the third largest flour producing company in the world with a production capacity of 2000 tons of flour per day. Mr. Habib Hammam, the Representative of UNICEF in Yemen, and Mohammed A. Hajer, GM of Red Sea Flour Mills-Hodeidah, signed the letter of understanding. This initiative is one example of successful cooperation between UNICEF and private sector in Yemen.