Press Review [Archives:2003/01/Press Review]

In the few find days of the outgoing year 2002, Yemen was violently shaken by two powerful explosions that left Yemeni society spellbound and astound. The first astounding explosion was the incident of the assassination of the assistant secretary-general of the Yemen Socialist party Jarallah Omar in Sana’a inside the hall where the Islah party conference was being held Saturday, December 28. The second shocking incident was shooting dead of three American physicians and wounding a fourth inside an American missionary hospital in Jibla, the governorate of Ibb, 170 km south of the capital Sana’a.
Al-Wahdawi weekly, organ of the Nasserite Unionist Organization, 31 Dec. 2002.
Main Headlines:
-Large-scale arrests following killing three Americans in Jibla
-Jarallah Omer, typical example of sincerity & courage
-Wide- range condemnation of Omer assassination
-Washington demands protection for its nationals in Yemen
-Islah party demands the government to disclose the side behind assassination of Omer.
Columnist Mohammed Saleh al-Hadhiri discusses the phenomenon of political assassination in Yemen.
He says the assassination incident of the late Jarallah Omer has not been the first, but rather complementary of an habitude outdoing the tendency towards democracy and peaceful dialogue. Political assassination in Yemen represents a reflection of backward relations inside the society. It is a material political action intended for ending for good the contradiction with the other.
As a phenomenon in Yemen, the political assassination tempo maybe has faded during the past few years.
But now we are fact to face with one of the cases of ”ideological”
assassination , which is also a political action. It has incomplete political vision as long as it is non-analytical and is not reliant on development of political stands of the goal that would contradict its fixed image. Many elements culture continued to prevent development of understanding of others and nature of developments related to this other. Nonetheless, the incident of Jarallah assassination must not change in to a phenomenon of ideological assassination, added to political assassination that befell some prominent Yemeni personalities in the past.
Al- Jamaheer weekly, organ of the Arab Baath Socialist party, Dec. 29, 2002.
Main Headlines:
-Arab Baath Socialist party: we condemn terror, continue struggle for enhancing democracy
-The ABSP strongly condemns Jarallah Omer assassination
-Indian authorities apprehend Yemeni students, accuse them of terror
-Iraqi scientists refuse to be questioned outside Iraq
-Corruption scandal at Fish Wealth Ministry
-Hands of car stealing gangs amputated
-Zionist occupation troops continue oppressive acts against Palestinian citizens
Editor in chief of the newspapers says the assassination of Jarallah Omer, the national patriot who has his own national sole and one of the prominent figures of Yemen’s unity, has dangerous meanings and implications. The incident needs deep thinking about the reason for choosing the Islah party conference as an occasion for carrying out the assassination.
Such a dangerous incident and the choice of its time and venue means:
-It is an attempt to attach the charge of terror to the Islah party,
-An attempt to effect a rift in the national rank and disrupt alliance between the YSP & the Islah leading it to a state of conflict,
-It is an attempt to about the charges the Islah party is seeking to make through its conference, and
-An attempt to accuse the government and its intelligence organizations as trying to dismember the two parties, alliance for electoral aims.
 

Al-Balagh Weekly, 31 Dec. 2002.
Main Headlines:
-Perpetrator of Jibla killings and Jarallah assassin are members of a 5- member cell
-Kenyan police accuses a Yemeni of implementing Mombassa attack
-Political observers warn of American exploitation of Jibla incident
In his editorial Mr. Abdulla Ibrahim al- Wazeer wonders how would the state deal with what has happened to our political life in our country after assassination of a leading politician at the hand of extremism culture?
Some may try to ascribe the incident to a certain political party while the other some may seek to accuse another side, as if we are facing a political stance or a political game played by this party or that. The apparent fact is that Yemeni destiny relies on the way of dealing with this incident and this phenomenon.
The writer maintains that we are not facing a political stance or before election we are looking for how to win its round. We are really in front of pending danger threatening Yemen and its people. We are facing bloodbaths if we do not know how to tackle this phenomenon.
Al-Mithaq Weekly, organ of the General people’s congress party, 30 Dec. 2002.
Main Headlines:
-President Ali Abdulla Saleh : Jarallah, a victim of extremism and wrong mobilization
-GPC cells for mustering the people’s efforts to face extremism and uproot terror
Interrogation continues with the assassin columnist Hael said Mahyoud says in an article that extremism is an abnormal phenomenon for the Yemeni society. Fighting extremism by all is a national and religious duty. The president’s call in more than one meeting with citizens and all political parties and political forces came from the suffering and damage the country sustain at the hands of terrorist elements. Protection and hiding of extremist elements by some influential personalities have aborted security efforts aimed at fighting terror and extremism, and inflicted on the country material damage against the national economy and offended the country’s reputation in international circles.
 

ATTARIQ Weekly,31 Dec. 2002.
Main Headlines:
-Islah denies the killer’s affiliation with it
-Three American physicians killed, one wounded at a hospital in Jibla
killer of the Americans confesses coordination with Jarallah killer
-Wednesday, Jarallah Omer funeral
-YSP demands the attorney- general for comprehensive investigation with the killer
-Eleven women, members of Islah shoura council columnist Khalid Ali Tuaiman says the history of Arab conferences and meetings has become linked to many setbacks and failures. It has become something taken as granted that after each Arab summit there must be directly a new setback or disaster than concord.
Arab policies seem today weak and contradicting more than any time before. They are dominated by an illusion that bowing before and submission to uncle Sam would spare parties of official Arab regime of being excluded from paying bills of the new American strategy in the region. This new strategy, in its present stage, contains a good number political military scenario.
Al- Ray A’am Weekly, 31 Dec. 2002.
Main Headlines:
-Who is conspiring against this country?
-Jihad cells that implemented assassination of Jarallah Omer and the American physicians, discovered
-Assassin of Jarallah asks speedy execution
-An extremist kills American doctors in Jibla
-Fears from outsides to exploit Omer’s assassination
The newspaper editorial mentions that unexpected incidents have taken place at a time the country is preparing for the democratic election battle on 27 of next April. It says there incidents pose dangers and target security and stability of the country.
The paper says it has warned beforehand of possibility of changing the political crisis represented in elections preparations into terrorist or military events depending physical liquidations and fears of instigation a new war similar to tat of 1994.
The editorial does not rule out the link between the assassination of Jarallah Omer and the killing of American doctors in the missionary hospital in Jibla.
The editorial demands the government to take more strict and responsible measures, not for confronting such incidents and punishing their perpetrators but also to stop them even before their happening.
Al- Wahda weekly, 1 January 2003.
Main Headlines:
-Different reactions to Government’s report on terror
-State minister for parliament and shoura:
-Parliament responsible for postponement of weapons and money laundering draft laws
-America warns its nationals against possible terrorist attacks
-Group of detainees to be set free soon
In his editorial the editor in chief say the terrorist acts happening on the Yemeni arena since the early days following May 22,1990. Have been organized crimes in the stark meaning of this term. They have been the crimes that preceded and followed establishment of the unity state constitution and later the 1st legislative elections of this state.
Regretfully, he who overlooks this fact, would not the danger of his attitude till after he suffers from it. Still remains that real sources of all dangers is that the terror seen in Yemen. It is specifically of the harbor or encouragement or finding of terror. Such an act is no less serious than the crimes of perpetrating a terrorist act.
26 September Weekly, organ of Yemen Armed forces, 2 January 2003.
Main Headlines:
-Council of minister calls for joining efforts to encounter acts of violence, terror and extremism
-Yemeni armed forced ready to protect the homeland, repel elements of sabotage and terror
-The Yemen?s mourn Jarallah Omer
-Killer of Jarallah Omer: I coordinated with Kamel for Jibla operation
-Security source: what has been mentioned on American team to interrogate killer of American doctors in Jibla, groundless
-Yemen signs economic, trade and security agreements with Tanzania mid of this month The newspaper editorial says what really causes surprise and astonishment for those following Yemen affairs, is what regrettably attempted by some opposition parties offer a deformed image on reality of democracy in this country by alleging that the democratic margin is narrowing. The latest of such allegation were included in the closing statement of the Yemeni Islah party third conference.
The pluralist democracy in Yemen is not merely a motto for political and media consumption. It is in fact an actual practice taking root in our reality every day. It is a national irrevocable choice for construction and embodiment of the principle of peaceful transfer of power via voting ballots, not through gun barrels.
The democratic diversity, partisan and intellectual, also necessitates learning from events and changing the political and information address towards what enhances unity of visions and stands of parties and social forces in the war against violence and terror.

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