Abdulaziz Al-SaqqafDeparture of the dawn [Archives:2003/640/Opinion]

Prof. Mohammed Al-Maitami
The dawn has left us and never came back, leaving us drowning in darkness of multi dimensions, filling our surroundings with its brutality and despair. The departure of the dawn has allowed thieves to sneak in and take away the greenness from our fields.
Late dear Prof. Al-Sakkaf was the kind of man who believed in his country and was a true patriot. He was to us the dawn that we hoped and anticipated every day. The hope that was withheld by fate, depriving so many vulnerable hearts from the happiness they foresaw through him. He was a knight that would not descend to the ground but to reach for the needy and fight the cruel.
I knew him as an academic scholar in the university, a loyal professor who was dedicated to his work and a brilliant journalist. He was a defender of human rights and a bridge on which civilizations were carried through. He did not know what surrender was and did not stop his endless march for any thing. And in spite of all this struggle and fight against corruption and evil, he was gentle kind friend and a very modest man.
It's been three years since he has left us, leaving a sad emptiness in our lives and beings that could not be filled by anyone. And as we behold the fourth memorial of his departure, I take pleasure while seeing the giant project he had created grow and grow. The Yemen Times is the largest English media establishments in Yemen, and establishment that conveyed its message to the Yemeni man in all parts of the country and abroad. It has become an information reliable reference that is a luminous point for all Yemenis and Yemen interested people.
Not only was the Yemen Times the sole achievement of my friend Dr. Sakkaf, he has established throughout his career a number of civil societies, the Yemeni Institute for Democracy Development and the National Committee for Election Monitoring are two of the most distinguished ones. He was one of the prominent members of Al-Shouwra Council. He was the initiator and on of the founders of the Human Rights Committee in the Shouwra Council, which he personally funded and saw to life.
He was brave and courageous, to the extent that he threw fear in the hearts of all those wrong doers, those who hate the truth and work against it. It is so difficult to talk about this great man and put all that he is into simple words. Yemen has lost a hero, a gift that seldom comes in time. The whole country mourned his departure and hundreds of thousands walked in his funeral bidding him the last farewell. They all, while they walking him to his last destination on earth were mourning themselves as they realized that with this loss they have lost the hope of so many dreams that were just beginning to bloom. Now as they healed the sand on this really loved man they knew that the black curtains of the nights are set down forever, for the dawn has left us forever.
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