Register your weapon, or Drop your guns [Archives:2005/826/Front Page]

Mohammed Al-Qadhi
The ruling Party (GPC) caucus in the parliament voted with majority Saturday in favor of debating the firearms possession control draft law that has been crippled by the tribal figures for more than six years.

The draft bill which the Speaker of the Parliament Sheikh Abdullah bin Hussien al-Ahmar has been rejecting was transferred to the Security and Defense committee to discuss and then forward the law for debate and voting.

Ammended of this law allows police to confiscate any unlicensed firearms which are commonly carried and spread all over the country. The last government failed to convince the Parliament in a six-year tenure to endorse the law to regulate arms possession.

The bill necessitates the control of arms possession and if endorsed by the parliament, every Yemeni citizen possessing any sort of guns has to get it registered at the Ministry of Interior,else to just leave it at home.

Al-Ahmar led a group of MPs from both the Islah party and the GPC rejecting the articles concerning the arms possession control while agreeing that arms carrying should be controlled. Other religious clerics like Shekh Abdulmajeed al-Zindani used to tell the people that they should be armed so that the government or political regimes cannot force non-Islamic laws into their lives.

They have claimed that “armed people can defend their religion better than those without arms.” Such preachers have encouraged flooding the country with weapons of different colors and hues.

Member of Parliament Sultan al-Barakani, head of GPC caucus in the parliament, said that putting the draft bill on the present agenda of the parliament is a good step towards debating and endorsing the bid.

“This draft law provides the police with power to seize and confiscate the unlicensed firearms,” al-Barakani said. He earlier said that there are some figures who rejected the draft law.

The question of arms possession in Yemen has become a major headache for the government, which believes that there must be a law to regulate and control this issue, as arms have been a main source of violence and terrorism.

The government feels it's part of its campaign against terror, as the country has been embroiled into the tumult of tribal revenge and other sorts of disputes, something, which boosted the zest for obtaining weapons for personal protection.

It also feels that free-rein on guns is curbing its efforts to achieve security and stability, as well as development.

Arms possession is no longer a sign of manhood and a part of the Yemeni culture as tribesmen used to think, but it has rather become a means to kidnapping, theft, and all sorts of crimes.

The possession of firearms in some remote tribal areas has made it difficult for the government to control these areas such as Marib, Al-Jawf , Saddah and Shabwa. It has made it possible for terrorists to carry out their operations even inside the capital city, Sana'a.

The question of arms possession in Yemen has even made the international community fear that illegal arms trade between Yemen and war-torn Somalia could take place, and the possibility of these arms falling into hands of terrorist militants.

A UN report submitted in November 2003 to the Security Council indicates Yemen as the source of weapons to a number of East African countries, particularly Somalia, and often ending up in Ethiopia and Kenya.

The U.N. report said it was relatively easy to obtain surface-to-air missiles and import them to Somalia, noting that the missiles used in the failed attack on an Israeli airliner leaving Mombasa last November were brought to Somalia from Yemen.

The report was an attempt to unveil needed information about the flow of light weapons from the Arabian Peninsula to the Horn of Africa, which adds to the insecure conditions of this vulnerable region of the world.

The report also highlighted the mysterious trips by ships docking at Bosasa at Yemen, apparently without passengers. And it identified the need to track the sources of weapons in Yemen and the region, and then work on preventing arms dealers from easy access to such arms.

According to non-official estimations, there are almost 17 million pieces of weapons in the hands of the civilian population, yet former minister of interior Yahia al-Mutawakil said in 1995 that the light and heavy weapons that people own range between 50-60 million pieces.

Yemen's government in collaboration with the US bought heavy weapons from tribesmen with a cost of YR 6 billion ($32 million) as a part of its attempt to reduce the amount of heavy arms the people obtain.
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