29 Nov. - 5 Dec. 2001
Issue No.562
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 29 Nov. - 5 Dec. 2001 Issue No.562 |
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Profession of fealty
Yemen is leaning over backwards to prove its loyalty to the American war against terrorism, reports Nasser Arrabyee from Sana'a
Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh arrived in the United States on Saturday, at the start of a diplomatic tour during which he will sign a security and intelligence cooperation agreement with the US. The agreement will allow Washington to broaden its probe into last year's suicide attack on the USS Cole, a US destroyer, which killed 17 US sailors. Government officials said that the agreement -- which is officially dubbed a "memorandum of understanding" -- will allow US investigators to re- examine some suspects.
Until now, US investigators have only been allowed to question suspects through Yemeni interrogators. The new agreement removes this restriction. In return, the US is agreeing to provide development assistance for the remote Yemeni provinces in which religious extremism has been flourishing.
The US is also offering support to the Yemeni Special Forces, which were formed in 1999 to combat terrorism. The commander of the Special Forces is President Saleh's eldest son, Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Yemen is holding several people in connection with the attack, but none have yet been tried. The trials have been repeatedly postponed in response to US requests for the joint US-Yemeni probe to be expanded. The attack on the Cole occurred when a boat laden with explosives pulled alongside it and detonated while the vessel was docked in Aden for refuelling. In Washington's eyes, Saudi- born dissident Osama Bin Laden is a key suspect in the bombing.
Yemeni opposition newspapers have described the "memorandum of understanding" as a violation of the country's sovereignty and have urged Saleh not to concede to Washington's demands.
Following the 11 September attacks, Yemen pledged its support for the US-led campaign against terrorism. In the ensuing months, the Yemeni government has detained many people as part of a probe into possible links to Bin Laden, Washington's key suspect in the attacks.
The Yemeni opposition newspaper Alwahdawee reported that the Yemeni authorities had detained seven people believed to be connected with Bin Laden's Al-Qa'eda organisation. The report, which quoted "well-informed sources," said that four of the seven were Arab veterans of the Afghan war, two were Yemeni, and one was Pakistani. The seven had previously asked for protection from tribal chiefs in Yemen's Marib and Al-Jawof provinces which are close to the border with Saudi Arabia.
Officially, however, the Yemeni government is denying that the detentions took place. The weekly 26 September, mouthpiece of the armed forces, denied the Alwahadee reports, calling them "baseless."
The Yemeni government has also cracked down in other ways. Last week, authorities ordered all foreign residents in Yemen to register at immigration offices within a month, in an attempt to seek out any Islamists suspected of having links to Bin Laden.
According to press sources, more than 400 people -- most of them Arab Afghan veterans -- have been arrested in Yemen since the 11 September attacks.
The campaign of arrests has even extended to cassette salesmen. Sources in the Islah Party, the largest Islamic opposition party, said that authorities have detained 10 shop owners who have been selling cassette recordings of Osama Bin Laden's speeches and communiqués. The crackdown on the cassette sellers took place in the capital Sana'a, and in the southern city of Aden. And it is not only the cassette shop owners. The boys who tour the streets selling cassettes have not been spared, either.
At the Al-Eman establishment for Islamic recordings, "Police stormed into the main centre and detained the owner, Abdul- Wahab Al-Wesabi, along with two employees," said one of the establishment's employees. He added that employees from eight more Islamic cassette shops had been detained. They were not released until they agreed that they would not deal with Bin Laden tapes any more. "All cassette shops in Sana'a and Aden have been individually warned not to circulate or promote Bin Laden tapes," he said.
This step is one of a series of measures being taken by the Yemeni government to crack down on the activities of Arab Afghan veterans who are believed to be in Yemen.
President Saleh's diplomatic tour de force will include Holland, Germany, and France as well as the United States. In Washington, he will hold talks with President George W Bush, as well as with the US vice-president, the secretary of state and the defence secretary.
Saleh will be accompanied by a high-level delegation, including Minister of Defence Abu Bakr Al-Querbi, intelligence chief Abdullah Aliwa, Minister of State Ghalib Al-Kamish, and Abdullah Al-Bashiri, who is the secretary-general of the presidential office.
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