Category Archives: Yemen

The Yemen Protests and the Environment

"Arab Spring", Development, Environment, Yemen


The Dragon Blood Tree is native to Socotra. It gets its name from the red sap that the trees produce, which was used in the past by the locals for healing. Kay van Damme

Foreign researchers flee Yemen leaving conservation programmes in trouble

As the protests in Yemen intensify, foreign and local biologists are worried about the future of conservation efforts on the biodiversity rich island of Socotra.

by Mohammed Yahia, Nature Middle East, March 22, 2011

Public protests in Yemen that began on 27 January have escalated, with security forces now using extreme violence to disperse demonstrators. Snipers killed over 50 people last Friday with shots mostly in the heads and chests. Several generals and soldiers have defected and now side with the protesters. As Western countries warn their citizens against travel to the country and are evacuating those already there, biologists are worried that conservation efforts in one of the region’s richest areas for biodiversity, is under threat.

Socotra Archipelago, dubbed the Galápagos of the Indian Ocean, is one such place concerning biologists. It lies about 380 kilometres south of mainland Yemen in the Arabian Sea. The main island, Socotra, is the largest Arabian island. With over 300 unique plant species, a third of the island’s flora is endemic, found nowhere else in the world. More than 90% of the reptile species on the island are unique.

“In marine habitats, the extensive coral reefs bordering the island harbour a remarkably high biodiversity and provide an important source for local inhabitants. Both local culture and nature are strongly intertwined and mutually dependent,” says Kay van Damme, an ecologist at Ghent University, Belgium, and chairman of Friends of Socotra. Continue reading The Yemen Protests and the Environment →

Yemen’s future …

"Arab Spring", Ali Abdullah Salih, Yemen


Maj. Gen. Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar

Yemen’s future hinges on its two most powerful men
By Sudarsan Raghavan, The Washington Post, Thursday, March 31, 11:25 PM

SANAA, Yemen — They are from the same village, the same tribe and the same clan. Once as close as brothers, they rose together in Yemen’s military, shared the same political vision, the same lofty desires. One is a conservative Islamist with reputed links to Osama bin Laden. The other is one of America’s closest counterterrorism allies.

For 32 years, Ali Abdullah Saleh and Maj. Gen. Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar have controlled this poor but strategic Middle East nation, the former as its ubiquitous president and the latter as its invisible yet most influential military leader. Now, they are engaged in a highly personal battle to shape the future of Yemen and their own places in history.

“They are like Siamese twins, one body with two heads,” said Hassan Zaid, a top opposition leader. “Now, each head is trying to cut off the other’s head and take control of the whole body.”

Over the past two months, the momentous events in Yemen have echoed those around North Africa and the Middle East: a populist rebellion, fueled by decades of injustice, rising up to demand its leader’s ouster.

But the twist that has emerged in the past two weeks has injected a narrative of Shakespearean proportions, one tightly focused on the two rivals, shrewd men from humble beginnings who grew wealthy and powerful amid allegations of corruption and ruthlessness, and who have now turned on each other. Continue reading Yemen’s future … →

Round about Sanaa (really round about)

Architecture, Photography, Sanaa, Yemen


With all the protests making the news about Yemen, it is important to remember why Sanaa is such an extraordinary city. There is a fascinating 360º view of the old part of the old city of Sanaa in Yemen. Check it out at http://www.360cities.net/map#lat=13.70174&lng=50.23665&name=sanaa-sunset&zoom=5. There are also several other panoramic views of Yemen on the site, including scenes of Jibla, Shibam Hadramawt, Rayyan Beach along the Gulf of Aden coast, and of the Dragon’s Blood tree in Socotra.

My thanks to Dr. Mohammed Jarhoum for pointing out this site.

Talk on Yemen

"Arab Spring", Conferences and Talks, Terrorism Issue, Yemen, Zaydi


Abdullah Hamiddaddin will be providing a lecture entitle “Whither Yemen” on Thursday, March 31, 2011 at Columbia University in 208 Knox Hall from 12:30-2:00 pm. the discussion will be about how to frame the current struggle in Yemen, the importance of tribal politics, and the overrated threat of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. This is sponsored by Columbia’s Middle East Institute.

For more details, click here:

Oh Brother(hood)!

Apocalypse Watch, Islamophobia 101, Journalism and Media, Luke R. E. Publican, Terrorism Issue, Yemen


First, something positive: there is an excellent op-ed in today’s New York Times by Greg Johnson on the situation in Yemen.

And now for something completely different… Now the “duh” moment. Here is a headline that deserves all the possible bad things one can say about an ignorant and stupid headline:
“Yemen’s Government Poised to Fall to the Muslim Brotherhood and Al-Qaeda ?” The source I consulted is the Right Side News, where “right” certainly does not make “right”. It would be quite a major event if Yemen was taken over by the Muslim Brotherhood, since it does not have any kind of presence there. Of course if most Muslims are radical and all radical Muslims are the same, it hardly matters to someone like the ludicrous ranting of someone like Robert Spencer (whose Islamophobic magazine rag is the ultimate source of this story). The article was posted Wednesday at 5:38, but over a full day later the prediction that Ali Abdullah Salih would be ousted in 24 hours was unfulfilled. Back to the drawing board or the Book of Daniel, perhaps? Is this regime change supposed to be before or after all the bible believing Christians are raptured away? Continue reading Oh Brother(hood)! →