The plane-hijacking attempt of last Monday 22 January, raised two very important issues: Pen Guns, and Fake IDs. The first issue, pen guns (or pen pistols) are an extension to the everlasting problem of weapon control in Yemen. At Yemen Times, we researched into where we could find these weapons, and where they are sold. We discovered that they are indeed available in many markets in the region. Jeyhana market, around 60 kms away from Sanaa is a market that contains many of these types of weapons (as seen in photos).
"Yemen has become a haven for market dealers of all weapons, from war tanks to the smallest pen guns imaginable," a weapon dealer told Yemen Times.
On another level, Yemen Times followed up closely the developments in the case of the failed hijacking attempt by Jabir Ali Sattar of the Boing 727 Yemenia airplane, which took place a week ago. It was reported in many newspapers and news agencies that the hijacker was Mohammed Yahya Sattar, but Yemen Times learnt that this was a fake name used to mislead and confuse investigation teams. It was also revealed that Jabir got the fake identification card on the sixth of January, less than two weeks before the incident, which resulted in the interrogation of the two men who guaranteed him when he obtained his ID.
The issue of fake IDs is the second issue that raises a lot of concern. It was also reported that six Sana'a airport inspectors were detained for questioning as to how an armed hijacker boarded a flight carrying 91 people, including the U.S. ambassador to Yemen.
"It is not an irregular thing. Yemenis are being issued thousands of fake cards every year, and yet the government does nothing about it. But when an incident like this happens, the authorities start to wake up, then go back to sleep again later," said a journalist who had looked into the question of fake IDs many times before.
This incident could help the government focus on two important issues for the sake of the country: law enforcement to prevent fake IDs, etc. and disarmament to limit the spread and use of weapons. Yemen Times is committed to follow the steps the government will take in this regard.

The whole incident began when Sattar went into the first class section on the plane and sat in one of the first class chairs. The IY 448 flight from Sanaa to Taiz seemed to be going smoothly, when suddenly Sattar, a Yemeni believed to be from the northern province of Sa'adah, pointed his 'pen' gun at the pilot of the plane and shouted that "the plane has been hijacked" and ordered the captain to go to Baghdad. According to Al-Ayyam, the captain explained the situation by saying, "The hijacker seemed to be nervous while he was giving orders, and didn't want anyone to respond or react to him. He was holding a pen gun against my head, with a bullet in his mouth, and a third in his pocket.. The hijacker didn't change his tone all the way, and kept on threatening to explode the bomb that he was allegedly carrying in the bag in his hand. He stood throughout the whole journey threatening to shoot me in the head." The captain added, "The way that we chatted on the way slowly comforted him, and convinced him that the fuel would not be enough to fly to Baghdad. Then I realized that there was a possibility to rescue the 91 passengers we had, of who many were women with children."The captain was able to convince the hijacker that he must stop for refueling, then "continue" to Baghdad.
Just as the airplane landed, the emergency exits opened, and realizing the point of weakness of the hijacker in not knowing English, the captain told the passengers to flee the airplane through the emergency chutes, all in English, so that the hijacker did not know what was going on.
When the hijacker found out that the passengers had already fled the airplane, he turned crazy. "In one or one and half minutes, all the passengers had fled the plane. Only then did the hijacker realize what had happened and his temper rose to such a level that I thought he may indeed try to execute his threat (exploding the bomb), because he had been deceived twice. First when we landed in Djibouti, second when the passengers fled the plane." Captain Anees Amer said.
Then the hijacker screamed, " I am dead, I am dead, but I will explode this head." Only then did the crewmembers jump to the rescue and spray foam from a fire extinguisher into the hijacker's face and wrestle him to the ground. One crewmember was slightly injured by a shot from the hijacker's small pen gun. Then it was all over.
No doubt, Captain Anees along with Female Captain Assistant Roza Mustafa were able to accomplish the remarkable task of saving the lives of more than 95 passengers on board during the flight of horror IY 448 from Sanaa to Taiz. The passengers on board included the US Ambassador, H.E. Barbara Bodine and the Yemeni Ambassador to the USA, H.E. Abdulwahhab Al-Hajri, along with members of a US delegation and US embassy staff members, including the Political AttachŽ of the US Embassy, Mr. Steve Walker.
Interestingly, it was later reported that an airport security source said that the hijacker set his cigarettes, a bottle of water and the pen gun on the table next to the walk through XÐray machine so that the gun was not scanned.
The bag in which the man claimed to have explosives was later determined to be packed with personal belongings and toys.

Yemen Times has learnt that the Yemeni government has agreed to postpone the trial of the suspects in the USS Cole Destroyer attack carried out on October 12 leaving 17 marines dead and 39 injured. The postponement resulted from a request by FBI agents who demanded more time for interrogations.
FBI agents have expressed their satisfaction with the cooperation of the Yemeni authorities in enabling the agents to question witnesses and suspects directly, despite a written agreement stating that questions can only be asked directly by Yemeni investigators.
Reports state that there is a common belief that is slowly gaining momentum that the Al-Qaeda group led by Osama bin Laden could be behind the attack.
"People that are in custody now in Yemen claim to have ties to Al-Qaeda. We know they are in Qaeda from what they have said about their dealings with other things." A US official said.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is also cooperating with US forces to investigate the links of the terrorists who attacked the Cole with Al-Qaeda. "The US is working with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on elements of the investigation.. There is no question that Al-Qaeda was involved.. The question is who gave the orders." A Bush administration official said.
The exact timing of the planned court hearings is not yet defined, and it is expected that it will only be announced days if not hours before the actual hearings take place.

According to sources in Aden, a gigantic Dutch container vessel arrived in the Aden Free Zone last Wednesday morning, marking the resumption of normal operations in the zone for the first time since the USS Cole incident.
The vessel, which was on its way to Singapore from Rotterdam, was 293 meters in length, had a carriage capacity of 51,931 tons and a depth of 12.5 meters and started to immediately load and unload containers to and from the container terminal according to the normal procedures.
General Manager of Saba Navigation Company, Mr. Hussein AL-Matloob told Yemen Times that this was the first time that such a huge vessel, traveling such a long journey, had stoped at the terminal. He also stated that there were going to be eight more such giant vessels stopping to load and unload containers to and from the Aden Container Terminal, three of which would be arriving in the first quarter. He concluded his statement by saying that the terminal is receiving ships of all sizes, with an average of 25 ships per month, from the Middle East and East Asia, and that the number is expected to grow to 35 once the new navigation routes are opened through Europe.
This indicates that the situation is slowly returning to normal, especially after extra measures were taken to secure the safety of all sorts of ships and vessels from all over the world, after the USS Cole incident had created dome doubts about security measures at the port.

After more than two weeks in captivity, Mohammed Hussein Al-Maswari, 32, the eldest son of the Capital's Secretary was freed last Friday January 26.
Yemen Times has learnt that he was released after tribal mediation was successful after promises had been given to the tribesmen of Bani Dhabian tribe in Mareb in regard to their claims that the kidnapped had bought weapons for YR 40 million and didn't pay for them. Another tribal source mentioned that among the demands was the release of six tribesmen from the same tribe held in the government's prisons.
Members of the Bani Dhabian tribe in Sanaa had kidnapped Mohammed Al-Maswari on January 10, and kept him in their tribal region for 16 days. Observers predict that the move of kidnapping individuals belonging to wealthy families may be an alternative for tribesmen if the latest incident proved to be successful.

The Attorney of Amran Governorate last week began the interrogation in preparation to take to court Jubran Ash-Shami, who had earlier confessed of shotting at worshippers at the Al-Hadi Mosque in Yanoor Village in Amran on January 10.
The bloodshed was caused when Jubran shot at worshippers during their Isha' prayers resulting in the immediate death of three and the death of six more from their injuries, and the injuring of more than 18 men. The Head of the Security Office in Amran Governorate told Yemen Times that there had been no political or creed-related motives behind the horrible act. He also stated that two more individuals were involved with Jubran in the planning of the massacre. According to the same source, the two others continuously encouraged Jubran to take revenge on the villagers, including his uncle, because they had expelled him from the village because of his unsatisfactory behavior and reputation, and because of the many thefts and robberies he had carried out in the past.
At the same time, seven of the injured are still being treated at the Military Hospital in Sanaa, three of whom are in the Intensive Care Unit with little hope of recovery. Two of the injured are expected to be partially paralyzed.