For six years, Yemen's Government has failed to convince Parliament to endorse the law to regulate arms possession. When the Parliament's term ended last Friday, the bill had still not been passed. It will have to be dealt with by the new Parliament to be formed after the parliamentary elections on April 27th. Political observers regard this as a major victory for Sheikh Abdullah bin Hussein al-Ahmar, Speaker of Parliament and leader of both the Hashid tribe and the Islah party.

Arms possession in Yemen is now a major headache for the Government, which believes that a law must regulate and control this issue, as arms have been causing violence and terrorism. Carrying arms is no longer a sign of manhood and a part of Yemeni culture. It has become a means of kidnapping, theft, and other crimes. In remote tribal areas like Marib, Al-Jawf, Sa'dah and Shabwa, possession of firearms has made it difficult for the Government to exercise control. Terrorists could carry out operations even near Sana'a airport, where they fired at the Hunt Oil Company plane.

The Ministry of Interior revealed that weapons help to spread crime too. Some 2000 people became casualties of armed conflicts. In some areas shooting is a way to settle accounts. Since 1997 the Government has unsuccessfully demanded that Parliament endorse a draft law to regulate arms ownership, replacing the law of 1992. The 1992 law does not impose strict criteria. It allows the possession and carrying of arms with a license issued by several authorities. If someone is caught with a gun, he can be fined YR 10,000, but there is no provision that the gun must be confiscated.

When Parliament rejected the new law, the government incorporated some amendments into the old law and presented it to Parliament for discussion and approval. Some tribal leaders suspected of having links with arms smuggling and trading have also strongly rejected the new law, which imposes some tough measures against arms traders. Most of the 60 million weapons in Yemen have reportedly been smuggled in. These include arms such as Kalashnikov machine guns, artillery, mortars and anti-aircraft guns from Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, France, Brazil, Korea, China and the United States. Yemenis prefer the Russian Kalashnikov as it is cheaper and they been using it for a long time. There are arms markets in Sadaa, Thamar, Marib and the Sana'a area.

The unstable political situation in Yemen and the wars between the South and the North are the main reason for weapon ownership. People feel a need for self-protection because they feel insecure. Besides, arms possession is part of the Yemeni tradition and has become a status symbol. Firing into the air at weddings, the birth of a baby boy or the arrival of a male guest is part of the culture. Though most people now think that the Government must give them security, the process of disarmament will take time. The most urgent question now is whether the new Parliament will pass the new law.

The region, including Yemen, fears a possible US war against Iraq, and new tensions have emerged between Sana'a and Washington about allegations that Yemenis are involved in terrorism. On Wednesday, Yemen ridiculed US charges that two Yemenis (including a prominent Islamic cleric) arrested in Germany supported al-Qaeda or Hamas and demanded that they be returned home. Two months after their arrest, a US court charged them in their absence with providing weapons, recruits and millions of dollars to al-Qaeda and the militant Palestinian group Hamas.

Sheikh Mohammed Ali Hasan Al-Moayad was arrested together with his aide, Mohammed Mohsen Yahya Zayed, in Frankfurt on January 10th, at the request of the United States. Anis Al-Duyais, who flew to Germany to meet Al-Moayad, told horrifying stories about his jail conditions. He added: "I would like to express to you my great satisfaction with the prompt reaction of President Saleh and the Foreign Ministry in supporting my cause." Al-Muayed said that he is ready to stand trial in Germany or in Yemen and to be sentenced if proved guilty. US officials had asked Germany to extradite the two men. Yemen had requested their repatriation. If found guilty in the United States of helping a foreign "terrorist" organization, Moayad faces a jail sentence of up to 60 years, and Zayed - up to 30 years.

The Yemeni official called Hamas, labeled by Washington as "terrorist" organization, a legitimate group resisting Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory. "We do not consider Hamas a terrorist group," he said. Since September 11th 2001, the US has sought to cut off money supplies to suspected Islamic "terrorist" groups by arrests and indictments. Both men belong to Yemen's Islamic opposition Islah party.

An 11-year-old Yemeni boy plus three more Yemenis were killed on March 21st in a shootout between police and anti-war protesters in the Yemeni capital of Sana'a. Three policemen and at least two more civilians were hurt in the same clash, which erupted after police prevented some 3,000 demonstrators from marching on the US embassy. Witnesses said the demonstrators set tires and garbage cans alight while chanting: "No to US hegemony and hypocrisy".

Yemen has seen some of the biggest anti-US rallies in the Middle East over the Iraq crisis. Anti-American sentiment has been running high in this impoverished Arab state, which the West considers a haven for Islamic militants, including members of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda. However, Yemen has closely cooperated with the US war on terror since the September 11, 2001 attacks.

In Sana'a, some preachers denounced the war on Iraq in fiery sermons, accusing Washington of trying to seize control of all that is sacred to Arabs. "We pray for victory for the Iraqi people and for the defeat of the invading forces. May an earthquake overturn the American and British forces in Iraq," one turbaned cleric told scores of worshippers at a Sana'a mosque.

Militants linked to al Qaeda have staged a series of attacks against Western targets in Yemen over the past three years, including the 2000 suicide bomb attack on the destroyer USS Cole and the October 2002 bombing of the French supertanker Limburg. On March 18th 2003, a Yemeni gunman killed an American and a Canadian working for a US oil firm. The incident increased tensions building up before the US-led war with Iraq.

47. We did indeed send, before thee, messengers to their (respective) peoples, and they came to them with Clear Signs: then, to those who transgressed, We meted out Retribution: and it was a duty incumbent upon Us to aid those who believed.
Holly Quran: Sarat Ar­R.m 30 - verse 47
It's The New Era Of Cyber War We Promised!
more is coming, just like the US do what it wants to the world, we will do what we want to the internet
stop the US terrorists and we will stop!
Justice For All.

Vintage Petroleum, Inc. of Tulsa, Oklahoma, announced that the fourth well of its second exploration drilling on the S-1 Damis block in Yemen, the An Nagyah #3, has successfully tested 42 degree API oil from the sub-salt Lam formation. The well was drilled to a depth of 4,238 feet; and the 162-foot interval from 3,346 to 3,508 feet in the Lower Lam sand was selected for testing. It yielded 205 barrels of oil per day and 80 thousand cubic feet per day of natural gas with a flowing tubing pressure of 20 psi. The company estimates the net reserve potential of its current exploration prospects at 500 billion to 1.0 trillion cubic feet of gas equivalent (Bcfe).