JMP acknowledges growing failure since loss of leader [Archives:2007/1115/Front Page]
Mohammed bin Sallam
SANA'A, Dec. 26 ) Five years have passed since the politically-motivated assassination of Jarallah Omar, Assistant Secretary General of the Yemeni Socialist Party (YSP). The Joint Meeting Parties (JMP) laments his loss, as he played the most vital role in forming the opposition bloc.
Had Omar escaped assassination, the opposition bloc's popularity would not have declined over time, since the man proved vital in bringing all the opposition parties together and unifying their lines, according to Mohammed Al-Mekhlafi, defense-advocate of Jarallah Omar's family.
Al-Mekhlafi said there were political reasons behind the assassination of the YSP leader; the authority predicted that he was bound to play a greater role in creating strong opposition to the ruling party in the country. “Had Jarallah Omar survived, all the Yemeni people would not have suffered such noticeable fragmentation and splits, as he used to do his best for the sake of restoring the spirit of solidarity among Yemeni people.” The lawyer added, “He surely would have worked hard on eliminating all the negative consequences of the 1994 civil war. He was able to improve and strengthen relations between citizens in the north and the south.”
Al-Mekhlafi went on to say. “Omar was a symbol for a nationwide movement toward creating national harmony in the political and social spheres. He represented YSP, a party that has advocated strong bonds between citizens in South and North Yemen since its formation.”
The human rights activist stressed that the Yemeni people currently live in a state of outrage, characterized by severe poverty, despair and fragmentation between community members. He is of the opinion that the country is gradually moving backwards due to government policies aimed at weakening the role of the opposition.
The nation is experiencing a forcibly-imposed bond between citizens in the south and the north following the 1994 Civil War, contrary to the efforts expended by Omar with the aim of maintaining a voluntary relationship among people nationwide, not only among YSP members.
“Omar's extensive effort in this respect was one of the motives behind his assassination, as there is no official desire for a voluntary bond among Yemenis,” the defense-advocate remarked. “Assassination of the YSP leader caused disintegration within the opposition parties at the national level, plus a breakdown of relations between the southern and northern parts of Yemen. Jarallah Omar managed to bridge a persisting gap within the opposition parties; his assassination could not destroy what he had built to bring the opposition forces together, unifying them under the “Joint Meeting Parties” banner.
Initially, some Yemenis speculated that Omar's murder could portend violence in advance of parliamentary elections scheduled for April 2003, while others assumed the shooting was connected to a string of al-Qaeda terrorist attacks in Yemen.
Many political, social and human rights organizations in five Yemeni governorates are preparing to hold a huge rally in Damt District of Al-Dhale' governorate today, commemorating the five year anniversary of Omar's death.
“On Thursday, Dec. 27, we will stage a huge rally in Damt District of Al-Dhale', which is due to involve participants from different governorates, all of whom have strong faith that Omar was the torch, glass, heart and symbol of the Yemeni opposition,” said Islah party leader Mohammd Qahtan. “The main goal of killing Omar was to fragment JMP members. Attributing Omar's murder to fatwas allegedly given by Islamic scholars Abdulmajeed Al-Zindani and Abd al-Wahhab Al-Dailami is incorrect and baseless because the victim was assassinated for political reasons that have nothing to do with the fatwas released by both clerics,”
The Yemeni Communities Coordination Council (YCCC) in North America declared its solidarity and support for those in charge of organizing the festival. In a statement distributed last Sunday, the council called on the Yemeni people to oppose the religious fatwas, which the regime exploits to violate human rights, and were allegedly the reason behind Omar's murder. “Assassinating Omar over his viewpoints and ideas is a dangerous precedent,” said the council.
Prior to his death, Omar focused on building a broad opposition front including Islamists, leftists and nationalists, as part of a program with specific tasks aimed at enhancing democracy and respecting pluralism. He had the conviction that a strong opposition bloc is necessary to help the nation avoid destructive conflicts based on its tribal structure.
Jarallah Omar was killed by Ali Ahmad Mohammed Jarallah, a mosque preacher in Sana'a, on Dec. 28, 2002, after the victim gave his speech at the Islah Party conference the same day. The gunman approached Omar and fired several shots at close range. Two bullets fatally wounded Omar, who died en route to the hospital. Islah bystander Saeed Shamsan was also injured. The assailant was apprehended on the spot and taken to the nearby home of Sheikh Abdallah Al-Ahmar, Speaker of Parliament and an Islah Party Chairman. There, in the presence of security officers and on videotape, he was interrogated by 16 representatives of Yemen's various political parties. In the afternoon, the assailant was transferred to the Criminal Investigation Bureau, and by evening was finally handed over to public prosecutors. By permitting this irregular procedure, the government apparently intended to make his uncoerced confession a matter of public record.
Omar's history:
Once a guerrilla fighter, Jarallah Omar became a prominent pro-democracy activist and early advocate of Yemeni unity who had the potential to lead a national opposition coalition. His life dramatized some of the classic fault lines in Yemeni politics and spoke to key events in contemporary Yemeni history. He was a Northerner but also a Southerner, a student of religion and of revolution. Born in the village of Kuhal in the Northern province of Ibb in 1942, he studied Islamic jurisprudence in Dhamar as an adolescent. Like many upwardly mobile male youths of his generation, he was then trained as an officer in Sanaa.
Credited as a force for Yemeni unification in 1990, Jarallah Omar served briefly as Minister of Culture in one of the post-unification governments, but resigned as partisan differences threatened the unity accords. Opposing both war and secession, he was forced to flee Yemen during the brief civil war of 1994 only to return a year later to play a vibrantly contentious role in Yemeni political life, speaking out against injustice and hosting debate sessions in his home. He became widely known as a liberal democrat devoted to the electoral process and respect for human rights.
Omar became Assistant Secretary General of the YSP in 2001, and pushed for reform within the party even as it prepared for parliamentary elections. He was a key broker of the 2002 alliance between the YSP and Islah. A popular politician prominent in a strengthened opposition, he challenged hard-liners in his own party as well as Islah's radical right wing, while also making the ruling General People's Congress uneasy.
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