Press Review [Archives:2001/35/Press Review]
Main Headlines:
-Parliamentarians Accuse the Government of Telling Lies
-Bajammal Attacks MP’s
-A Citizen Finds Thousands of Artifacts
-China Writes Off its Old Loans Payable by Yemen, Offers 5 Million yuans in Technical Grant
-Baath & Nasserite Parties Ratify Nechanism of Joint Action
-Interior Minister Entrusts Sheikhs to Search for Kidnapped German Citizen
-Economic Visit By Iraq’s Vice-President
-Yemen and Iraq Sign Agreement on Establishing Trade Free Zone
-Yemen Allows American Investigator to Interrogate High-ranking Yemeni Military Men
-Opposition Resumes Dialogue with Government
-Arab League Secretary-General: Resistance,the Only Palestinians’ Choice, Arabs Should Continue their Support
-Torture & Violence In Yemeni Prisons
-US$ 25 Million Worth British Loan For Rehabilitation of Al-Jumhuria Hospital.
Review of excerpts of articles and analyzes published in some Yemeni local newspapers. Al-Ayyam weekly 18 August 2001 Mr Abdulqawi Al-Ashwal said in an article that the illogical price rises of electricity fees had torpedoed any hope for tackling conditions of the poor segments in our society. He says that unfortunately those increases come at a time when the government is talking about curbing or rather limiting the volume of poverty. We wonder what kind of limiting poverty the government is talking about if prices rise of electricity services has reached an unacceptable extent. The increase equals the amount of the average income of those categorized as the most poor, given the fact that 90% of our population lives under the line of poverty.
Moreover the recent increase makes it difficult for owners of small trading shops and restaurants to keep working because costs of electricity fees would exhaust most of their incomes. This would consequently increase the volume of poor segments and more unemployment.
Al-Wahdawi weekly, organ of the Nasserite Unionist organization 21 August 2001.
An article by Zakaria Abdulrahman Al-Batheegi says the government’s recent move of raising the diesel prices by 70% is no doubt would lead to impoverish many farmers. The justifications brought forth by the government are absolutely illogical and impractical. Smugglers in this substance would care nothing for the difference in its price because they depend on abundant stockpiles and they possess huge amounts of money obtained from dealing with these crooked ways. Thus they did not care about the question of the increase of that material price. The decision has been actually at the expense of the citizens who depend on it for earning their living.
The writer further says that such policies would mostly have negative results, in other words it would aggravate the state of poverty inside the society. In the long run the Yemeni farmer would be the one who gets harmed and ultimately would lead to an additional shortage in production process in the country.
Ath-Thawri weekly, organ of the YSP 23 August 2001
Mr Saleh Al-Hameedi has written a front-page article on kidnapping incidents. He supposes that the incident of kidnapping the German trade attaché at the German embassy in Sana’a and its mystery is completely different from kidnapping phenomenon known in Yemen.
Despite the elapse of three weekly on the kidnapping incident, no clues are in offing on the kidnapped whereabouts, the kidnappers or their demands to release the 60-year-old victim. The more the mysterious the issue the more concern and annoyance the security authorities would feel. The day’s pass and security apparatus is unable to discover the man’s destiny or his whereabouts.
The article author concludes that the authorities’ failure in resolving the issue of the kidnapped diplomat confirms weakness of our security authorities. This questions forms a shock for both Yemeni and German authorities who deem the kidnapping incident as a strong death blow to Yemeni-German relations.
Al-Jamheer weekly, organ of the Arab Baath Socialist party (Syrian organization), 19 August, 2001.
The newspaper’s editorial manager published an article on the (Tribe and kidnapping premonition).
Tribe, as a terminology, may arouse a big controversy on the reality of our country. In the nineties the term of “tribe” and tribal conflicts in this country have been display Arab and foreign media as linked to the phenomenon has become an easy card in the hands of tribesmen is some Yemeni regions. The question is “where hoes the crisis lie?”
The writer says, in our own view, the crisis does mot lie in the concept of the term “tribe” but trying to play their own game through their investment of this concept. If we presume that kidnapping tops the Yemeni political agenda, the crisis is attributed to the economic situation in the first place. What our country had experienced in the past period made it live in a situation characterized by acute economic and social fluctuation. And that produced such incidents here and there. The concept of tribe is in reality not guilty of the all this violence. It is then necessary to work out bases creating harmony between the power of law and the institution of the state in a manner removing any kind of contradiction, as the present gap existing between the state and the society.
As-Sahwa weekly, 23 August 2001
Mr Zaid bin Ali Ash-Shami has published an article this week saying that we are leading a pitched battle where the two warring parties are the government and the people. It is an unbalanced war lacking all rules of war. The economic war waged by the government is unjustifiable. It h as raised goods and services prices and lifted subsidies on all commodities. And that has laid a heavy burden on the citizen under allegation of fighting smugglers and the corrupt.
It has been expected or supposed that the government would adopt its people and be with them in facing dictation of the world Bank and International Monetary various ways to torture the people. It goes too far in imposing “doses” and neglecting the provision of health care, medicine and education.
Official studies and statistics indicate that 30% of people of Yemen lives under food poverty live, 40% poor and 30% lives at an acceptable level, including the well-to-do minority, official statistics also show that the capital Amanat is the least poverty-stricken are, nonetheless, it is noticeable that victims of the war are more apparent there. They are represented by an increased number of those who are mentally disturbed and beggars swarming the streets and public places.
Now the people have declared their intention not to resist and surrendered to the situation of poverty and ignorance and illness. Would the government suspend this tyrannical war and begin reconstruction what it has destroyed?
Al-Ihya’a Al-Arabi weekly, organ of the Arab Baath Socialist party (Iraq organization) 21August 2001
The newspaper’s editorial, written by Dr.Qassim Sallam, discusses the role of the Arab league vis-à-vis developments on the Palestinian arena.
He begins by saying that implanting the Zionist entity in Palestine has created a new situation preponderating the nations enemies’ scale in the Arabs conflict with their enemies. Creation of the Zionist entity strategic map and a block on the road of achieving the Arab unity. We dare say that the Zionist entity poses a real threat to very existence of the Arab nation.
It is regrettable that some Arabs think that the Arab league would come at present with a miracle, forgetting that this institution has never any day been serious in its dealing with issues of the Arab nation and her historical and civilized existence on Palestine.
We would not be exaggerating in presuming that it has not been more than a stand by card in the hands of the Arab regimes that try to make it a “tranquilizer tablet” and a factor for keeping the state of division.
We dare assume that Palestine can not be liberated with neither “made by Arab league states nor the fabricated media tumult via most Arab Satellite Channels. These would not convince the Palestinian mujahideen on serious of majority of Arab regime on confront.
26 September weekly, organ of Yemen Armed Forces, 23 August 2001
Political editor of the newspaper wrote this week an article discussion Yemenis role in resolving Arab-disputes. He confirms that Yemen’s such stand is embodied by president Ali Abdulla Saleh’s calls and efforts aimed at finding solutions to Arab internal disputes within bilateral or Arab frameworks, away from foreign interference within this context was Yemen’s attitudes towards the dispute erupted between Kuwait and Iraq more than a decade ago. Objective of Yemen’s stand in this respect is to avoid aggravation of the crisis and its changing into a war that causes grave damage to the Arab nation and her issues of destiny.
President Saleh has renewed his call on solving the pending disputes between the brethren in Iraq’s vice president Taha Yessin Ramadhan in Sana’a last Monday or before that he received shiekh Sabah al-Ahmed, Kwuait’s deputy premier, the foreign minister. The political editor maintains that the Gulf war and inter-Arab disputes have been reflected in negative development of events in the region and their negative effects represented by the Arab inability versus what happens to the Palestinian people; killings, siege and violation of Arab an Islamic Sanctities.
The opportunity is still available now to overcome this deteriorated situation and start with actual steps to break the iniquitous blockade strangling the people of Iraq. This optimistic view has been express Iraq’s vice president Taha Yassin Ramadhan in this re cent visit to Yemen. The editor concluded that Yemen’s leadership and the people proceed in their stands towards their Arab brethren from the feeling of their sense of responsibility towards their brethren and nation.
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