Al-Wahdawi [Archives:2007/1084/Press Review]
Tuesday, September 4
Main Headlines
-Protestors in Al-Shu'aib district denounce crackdown on citizens, confirm continuity of efforts for peaceful change
-Awaleq tribesmen block Aden-Shabwa highway, demand detainees be released
-Aden Security authorities arrest BG Nasser Al-Nuba, take him to unidentified place after raiding his home in plainclothes
-As attaches exercise corruption, Yemeni scholars in Cairo ask Cultural Attache there to return home
-At least ten people reported injured as fence collapses in Sa'awan area, northeast of Sana'a
-Security Authorities seizes over 2,500 firearms, enforce arm-bearing ban
The weekly paper reported that Yemeni police confiscated more than 2,500 firearms in the first week of a nationwide campaign to enforce a ban on carrying weapons in cities. It quoted the Interior Ministry as saying that weapons have been seized at checkpoints outside the capital Sana'a and other major cities since August 23. The campaign was aimed at reducing the visibility of arms that discourage tourism and investments in the country.
The weekly went on to say that the ban includes bodyguards of high-ranking officials, legislators and influential tribal chieftains. The government launched a campaign in last April to collect heavy and medium weapons from local markets through a buy-back program. Estimated 12 arms markets and about 300 light weapon shops are spread across the country. . Unofficial estimates put the number of firearms in circulation in Yemen at around 60 million. A UN-sponsored small arms survey, released on August 29, concluded that Yemenis own between six and 17 million firearms.
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