Yemen Times Organizes A Soirée [Archives:2001/18/Last Page]

Farouq Al-Kamali
On the margin of the Book Fair held in Hodeidah, the Yemen Times, one of the participants in the fair, organized a soirée inclusive of a seminar on the role of the YT’s founder, Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Saqqaf in the establishment of an independent press. 
As the seminar commenced, Farouq Al-Kamali briefed the participants on the life of Dr. Al-Saqqaf followed by a speech by YT Bureau Chief, Imad Al-Saqqaf in which he gave a brief account of the Yemen Times and its informative, educational and entertaining mission. He stressed the issue of human rights as the main commitment of the newspaper. As for its political concerns he said “We have been discussing the political situation and the parties’ affairs. We have discussed matters with Abdul Malik Mansour, Al-Qirbi, Ali Saleh Obad and Jarallah Omar. The Yemen Times is still a platform for serious dialogue presenting a true and impartial picture of Yemeni politics and politicians to the world.” And about its cultural role he said “The Yemen Times has been presenting the Yemeni civilization and tradition to the world. It has so far written about the Great Mosque of Sana’a, the Yemeni architecture, Al-Mudhaffar and Al-Ashrafiah Mosques, Al-Qahirah Fortress, Djabal Saber, Sirah Fortress, Zabid City, Hud Shrine, Soqutra, Al-Makha, etc. 
In his paper about the role of Dr. Al-Saqqaf in highlighting the issue of freedoms and human rights, Ali Al-Saqqaf, Managing Editor of Al-Wahdawi hailed the efforts of Dr. Al-Saqqaf to unveil corruption, defend freedom and protect human rights. “He devoted himself to the freedom of press and human rights,” he said. 
“He wasn’t running after establishing a political party nor was he blindly siding with a party against the other,” he added, commenting on the political role of the founder. The paper also dealt with the founder’s activities in the field of NGOs and charitable societies. 
Following the seminar, short-story writer Bushra Al-Maqtry delivered a lecture about the Yemeni culture, the reasons for its stagnancy as well as the role of the press in presenting the works of Yemeni authors to readers. Then a number of Yemeni poets, namely, Jaber Al-Shwafi, Vice Chairman of the Yemeni Authors Union in Hodeidah, Fare Al-Shaibani, Abdulrahman Ghailan, Nabil Moqbel, Ali Ibrahim, Thanaa Salah, Abeer Mohammed and Abdu Obeid enchanted the audiences with their lyrical compositions. The special night did not end with this. It was only a beginning for a prolonged evening of colorful events. Hodeidah’s most popular comedians Ali Al-Gandfadi and Fatimah Al-Khalidy made the spectators burst into laughter as they presented the issue of the immigration of Yemen intellectuals and artists to the Gulf and other countries in a very interesting format. After that it was the turn of girl students of the Adhban School to organize a marvelous show of traditional Yemeni dresses and a impressive performance of Yemeni dances. As the event was approaching its end, singers Essam Assad and Moamer Hussein performed a number of songs that won the applause of the participants. At the end, Mr. Imad Al-Saqqaf honored a number of authors and artists as a token of appreciation for their contribution to the general development of the cultural movement. 
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