Reliable resources indicated that the Manager of Middle East Department of the International Monetary Fund, Mr. Paul Chabrier, who ended his visit to Yemen last Monday, stressed that the amounts which will be appropriated to help Yemen amounted to US $ 220,000,000. But he said that the Fund will not give any money unless he gets reports about the achievements in the field of financial and administrative reforms.
He discussed with some officials in the Cabinet and the Ministry of Civil Service the retiring of about 30,000 employees on pension. He indicated that there must be a solution to the problem of employees who have more than one occupation.


The resources illustrated that the representative of the World Bank was not pleasant on the way that the government is following on privatizing a number of public corporations. Due to the agreement of partnership between the government and the International Monetary Fund, 10% of government's shares in the Yemeni Bank for Establishment and Reconstruction will be devoted to economic and administrative reforms in the next year. Political analysts indicated that privatizing companies according to the instructions of the World Bank represents the critical challenge that the government faces. They doubt that the government will take useful measures inside the public institutions.
The Prime Minister met Mr. Chabrier and Mr. Klaus Enders, and they discussed the relationship between Yemen and the International Monetary Fund. The manager of the Middle East Department of the Fund indicated that inflation had decreased up to 4-5%, and the economy had witnessed better development.

A new newspaper will be issued under the name "Sawt Sana'a". It will be issued on February 01, 2000. It will be the mouthpiece of the Associations Coordination Council of the old city of Sana'a, which was founded in 1997. This Council was founded to be a private means with interests in the historical, tourist, environmental, social, economic, cultural, artistic, architectural and all traditional things of the city. The Chief Editor will be Mr. Motahar Mohammed Motahar and the Managing Editor will be Mr. Abdulbaqi Ismail Haeil.

Yemeni Journalists Syndicate issued a press release relating to the problems which have faced the syndicate lately. The members of the syndicate held a meeting on December 23, 99, and issued separate decisions accepting the resignation of Mr. Motahar Al-Ashmori, the Secretary General of the syndicate.
The staff of the syndicate elected Mr. Yassine Al-Masodi as Secretary General of the syndicate.
They decided to refer all reports which include the campaign of journalistic cards to the staff of the syndicate in order to present them in the meeting which will be held next Tuesday, December 28, 1999.
At the end of the meeting, all members praised the activities of the government, which increased the annual assistance to the syndicate to reach YR 1,500,000 a year. The annual assistance by the advent of the year 2000, will be YR 10,000,000.

The British Ambassador, Mr. Victor Henderson, will appoint Mr. AbdulWahab Thabet, a leading Yemeni businessman, as Honorary British Consul in Hodeidah today, Monday 27 December. The ceremony will take place at the Thabet Guest Hose in Hodeidah, at approximately 17.30.

At the meeting which was held on December 12, 99, the Opposition Coordination Council elected new leadership to the Council. All members of the Council attended the meeting. They elected Mr. Kasim Sallam, Secretary General of Arab Ba'ath Socialist Party as the Secretary General of the Council who will take the place of Mr. Ali Saleh Obad Moqbal, Secretary General of Yemeni Socialist Party. Mr. Tariq Al-Shami, Vice-Secretary General of Federation Popular Forces was elected as the Vice-Secretary of the Council and Mr. Abdulkareem Al-Khairani, Secretary of the Political Circle of Al-Haq Party was elected as the Spokesman of the Council.

An official source said Yemen's government on Wednesday, December 22 endorsed an agreement on oil production in Block Two of the Shabwa oilfield, concluded with the Italian company Agip, a subsidiary of Eni.
The official source also said the agreement had been submitted to the parliament to be approved before getting presidential ratification. In September, the Agip Yemen B.V. concluded an agreement on transferring a 40 percent interest in Yemeni Garden Block Three to Algerian oil and gas company Sonatrach.
It is expected that crude oil production in Yemen will reach 412,000 barrels per day by the end of 1999, compared to 385,000 barrels per day last year. By concluding oil deals, Yemen attempts to develop and consolidate its economy and to fund its development projects.

The Yemeni government has recently approved a new law giving the central bank independence in monetary and administrative affairs, the Yemen's central bank governor Ahmed Abdul Rahman Al-Samawi said in statements published last Friday. He said the move came in keeping with the state's reform program.
In his remarks published in September 26 newspaper, Mr Al-Samawi has further said that the law restricted the government from requesting loans from the central bank "with the exception of extraordinary circumstances and only for limited amounts and periods.''
Mr Al-Samawi has added that the new law stresses non-interference in the bank's operations by any party , and that one of the goals is to provide enough monetary liquidity for a stable monetary system based on market fundamentals, without government interference.
Yemen began carrying out economic reforms in 1995. The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund offered help to the country with the aim of improving tax and financial systems as well as to eliminate subsidies.

An armed pirate group assaulted three Europeans last Friday 17.12.99 while they were on their way to Mokala from Aden. The three Europeans; 2 Frenchmen and a woman set out on a tour at sea Saturday 11.12.1999 heading towards Al-Mokala and while they were near the coasts of Balhaf, Shabwah, they were attacked by a 6-7m boat carrying seven men of whom two were armed.
These pirates plundered them of their money and stole some of their equipment: a radio for receiving and sending messages (VHF), a special radio for weather forecast and a special apparatus for checking the depth of the sea. The three Europeans tried to send messages for help through another radio which was not seen by these pirates, however, they received no reply. Then, they continued on their way to Al-Mokala and reached it last Sunday evening at 5 o'clock.

Yemen Times has learnt from special sources that the fundamentalist wing of the Yemen Congregation for Reform ( Islah) under leadership of Sheikh Abdul Majeed Al-Zandani is making these days its preparations and arrangements for an imminent visit to Yemen by Dr Hassan Al-Turabi, speaker of the Sudanese dissolved parliament, the secretary general of the ruling National Party. Sources close to Al- Islah party say that Al-Turabi would meet his friend Al-Zandani in an Arab Gulf State to inform him on the visit program.

The same source has described Al-Turabi visit to Yemen as representing an element of embarrassment to the tribal wing in the party under leadership of Sheikh Abdulla Ben Hussein Al-Ahmer, speaker of the parliament and president Ali Abdulla Saleh, both of whom had expressed their support for the measures taken by the Sudanese president Omer Al-Bashir on December 12. President Al-Bashir had ousted Al-Turabi from his post, dissolve the parliament, suspended the constitution and declared the state of emergency in Sudan.
The source has also said that during his stay in Yemen, Al-Turabi is to meet the President and the parliament speaker to explain his party's point of view versus president Al-Bashir's measures. Al- Turabi's expected visit is scheduled to include visiting the Yemeni cities of Aden, Hajja, Saada and other areas.