First weapon count in the army [Archives:2007/1067/Front Page]
By: Ismail Al-Ghabri
SANA'A, July 10 ) Rashad Al-Alimi, Minister of the Interior, has revealed that the phenomenon of carrying weapons is a very obstinate problem that needs to be attacked from multiple angles. He also highlighted the commendable efforts exerted by the Ministry of Interior to mitigate such a phenomenon. In a session held by the consultative council on Saturday, July 8th in Sana'a, aimed at discussing the weapons carrying issue, Al-Alimi stated that committees have been formed to count and register both arms and ammunition of military forces during the next six months.
Moreover, information collected during these arms counts will be stored in a database to facilitate follow-ups and crack down on illegal weapons smuggling. He also said, “After this step we will set an announcement to give citizens a chance of six months to handover their medium-size arms and crack fires.”
Furthermore, the consultative council discussed the weapons carrying phenomenon in its first annual session for the current year. In the session, the Committee of Defense and Security presented a report on this issue. The report included a vision adopted by the committee about the phenomenon, based on official reports issued by the Ministry of Interior as well as meetings held by the officials of said ministry.
The report depicted the development of the phenomenon in Yemen, affected by a number of political and strategic changes as well as by the instability dominating relations between the two parts of Yemen before the country's unification.
The report stressed the importance of paying serious attention to the phenomenon according to what the current comprehensive development phase required. It also indicated that carrying weapons in the cities as well as the markets endangers public security, calling for shutting down the stores where arms and ammunitions are being sold.
Additionally, the report differentiated between the concepts of “carrying” and “possessing” arms. Current attention is focused on the phenomenon of carrying weapons, considering it a way of evil that breeds violence and harms public interests. The report emphasized the necessity of taking this issue into consideration. It also stated that there are some encouraging indicators of reducing such a phenomenon due to public awareness as well as the cultural and human experience of the Yemeni community.
Furthermore, the report recommended that there must be a law that distinguishes between possessing weapons and carrying them. It also emphasized the importance of an intensive media plan to educate community members about the costly burdens of carrying weapons, including the taking of innocent lives, human tragedy and hindering of development.
In conclusion, the document called for stopping the spread of weapons possession by imposing strict arms trafficking laws. It also pointed out that the judiciary must actively assume its role in adjudicating cases related to this issue. The judiciary must not prolong in carrying out lawsuits that might prevent the continued spread of weapons carrying violations.
——
[archive-e:1067-v:15-y:2007-d:2007-07-12-p:front]
