Sunday, November 7, 2010

YemenWatch: Sunday November 7, 2010

Anwar Al-Awlaki, his cousin, and another man are on trial in Yemen, although Al-Awlaki is still at large.

AQAP denied bombing the Wahda Sports Club in Aden.  You may remember this bombing from several weeks ago.  A group called al-Harak had already claimed credit (my post).  AQAP has claimed credit for the recent parcel bombs, including the bombing of a UPS flight on September 3rd off this year.  The UAE will investigate, although currently they are saying there was no sign of an explosion.

The UAE has banned air cargo from Yemen on its airlines, following the lead of other countries.

According to the Yemen News Agency, the Deputy Speaker of Parliament said that the US and Yemen have a great relationship, and the US ambassador returned the compliments.

The US says it could train Yemenis to fight AQAP, but this could backfire and feed AQAP or the insurrectionists.  Many Yemenis are already upset about US drones in their country (especially when civilians are killed).

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On Monday a conference starts in Sana'a.  It's the Djibouti Code of Conduct signatories.  The code is about stopping the rampant piracy off the coast of Africa and Yemen.  The following countries are taking part in the conference:  Yemen, Djibouti, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Eritrea, Sudan, Jordan and United Arab Emirates.  Observers include Kenai, Tanzania, South Korea, the Netherlands, France, and the European Commission.  There will also be experts from the EU and the International Maritime Organization.

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