Showing posts with label Terror. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Terror. Show all posts
Monday, March 22, 2010
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Peace agreement eludes Yemen
Yemen's government has presented northern Houthi fighters with a detailed ceasefire agreement in a bid to end a six-year conflict.
Abdul-Karim al-Iryani, an adviser to Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh, said the peace deal issued on Saturday gives a "timetable" for a truce between the Houthis and the Yemeni government.
But heavy clashes between government forces and Houthi fighters continue to rock northern parts of Yemen.
Houthi fighters said they killed 23 Yemeni soldiers in two attacks on Saturday while the military said 11 Houthi fighters were killed in air attacks the same day.
Al-Iryani said the war will end if the group accepts to sign the truce.
"All this is happening while officials are trying to implement a new ceasefire deal," Al Jazeera's Hashem Ahelbarra, reporting from Sanaa, Yemen's capital, said.
"In a statement issued by the Houthis, they also accuse Saudis of attacks in many areas, firing more than 270 rockets and rounds of heavy artillery."
Discrimination alleged
The Houthis say their community of Shia Muslims from the Zaydi sect suffer discrimination and neglect and that the Yemeni government has allowed Sunni conservatives influenced by the Saudi religious establishment too strong a voice in the country.
Yemen has come under international pressure of late to end the conflict quickly and free up resources to confront a separate threat from an al-Qaeda offshoot that has set up operations there over the past year.
Last week, the Houthis accepted a conditional ceasefire first issued by the Saleh government in September.
The plan called on the Houthi fighters to disarm, free hostages and clear mountain hideouts.
However, the government dismissed the offer and said it would halt military operations against the fighters only "under a certain framework."
It also added a fresh demand that the fighters vow not to attack Saudi Arabia.
'Signature on deal'
Al-Iryani, the presidential adviser, said if Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, the Houthis' leader, "signs this document and accepts its mechanisms, the war will stop immediately".
Our correspondent said: "All that is required of Abdul-Malik al-Houthi is to put his signature on the deal, but now the problem lies within the details of the ceasefire."
The peace proposal calls for the formation of five committees made up of Houthi and government representatives that would implement the ceasefire, al-Iryani said.
The committee on border security would also include Saudi officials.
Neighbouring Saudi Arabia was drawn into the conflict in November after the Houthis crossed the border and killed two Saudi border guards.
At least 133 Saudi soldiers have died in the fighting.
Saudi connection
The fighters announced a unilateral ceasefire with Saudi Arabia in late January.
However, the Saudis responded cautiously to the group's announcement and demanded fighters pull back from border positions and return five missing soldiers.
Several earlier ceasefires quickly disintegrated, mainly because the Houthis said their demands were not addressed.
In what could deal a further blow to the peace process, a security court in Sanaa on Saturday sentenced Yahya al-Houthi, the brother of Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, in abstentia to 15 years in prison on charges of supporting the uprising.
Yahya al-Houthi has been living in Germany for the past three years.
Source: Al Jazeera
Abdul-Karim al-Iryani, an adviser to Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh, said the peace deal issued on Saturday gives a "timetable" for a truce between the Houthis and the Yemeni government.
But heavy clashes between government forces and Houthi fighters continue to rock northern parts of Yemen.
Houthi fighters said they killed 23 Yemeni soldiers in two attacks on Saturday while the military said 11 Houthi fighters were killed in air attacks the same day.
Al-Iryani said the war will end if the group accepts to sign the truce.
"All this is happening while officials are trying to implement a new ceasefire deal," Al Jazeera's Hashem Ahelbarra, reporting from Sanaa, Yemen's capital, said.
"In a statement issued by the Houthis, they also accuse Saudis of attacks in many areas, firing more than 270 rockets and rounds of heavy artillery."
Discrimination alleged
The Houthis say their community of Shia Muslims from the Zaydi sect suffer discrimination and neglect and that the Yemeni government has allowed Sunni conservatives influenced by the Saudi religious establishment too strong a voice in the country.
Yemen has come under international pressure of late to end the conflict quickly and free up resources to confront a separate threat from an al-Qaeda offshoot that has set up operations there over the past year.
Last week, the Houthis accepted a conditional ceasefire first issued by the Saleh government in September.
The plan called on the Houthi fighters to disarm, free hostages and clear mountain hideouts.
However, the government dismissed the offer and said it would halt military operations against the fighters only "under a certain framework."
It also added a fresh demand that the fighters vow not to attack Saudi Arabia.
'Signature on deal'
Al-Iryani, the presidential adviser, said if Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, the Houthis' leader, "signs this document and accepts its mechanisms, the war will stop immediately".
Our correspondent said: "All that is required of Abdul-Malik al-Houthi is to put his signature on the deal, but now the problem lies within the details of the ceasefire."
The peace proposal calls for the formation of five committees made up of Houthi and government representatives that would implement the ceasefire, al-Iryani said.
The committee on border security would also include Saudi officials.
Neighbouring Saudi Arabia was drawn into the conflict in November after the Houthis crossed the border and killed two Saudi border guards.
At least 133 Saudi soldiers have died in the fighting.
Saudi connection
The fighters announced a unilateral ceasefire with Saudi Arabia in late January.
However, the Saudis responded cautiously to the group's announcement and demanded fighters pull back from border positions and return five missing soldiers.
Several earlier ceasefires quickly disintegrated, mainly because the Houthis said their demands were not addressed.
In what could deal a further blow to the peace process, a security court in Sanaa on Saturday sentenced Yahya al-Houthi, the brother of Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, in abstentia to 15 years in prison on charges of supporting the uprising.
Yahya al-Houthi has been living in Germany for the past three years.
Source: Al Jazeera
Malaysia detains 'terror suspects'
Malaysian police have arrested 10 people for "acts of terrorism", saying they were members of an international terror organisation and a threat to national security.
The country's home minister confirmed that the arrests were made under the Internal Security Act (ISA), the British colonial-era law which allows for indefinite detention without trial.
Hishamuddin Hussein said in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday the detainees included nine foreigners, most of whom had arrived in Malaysia recently and were believed to have links to an international terrorist organisation.
"This is a very serious threat to the security of our country," he said.
"We have worked with international intelligence organisations in this operation," he said.
Hussein said all 10 were involved in international terrorism.
He did not reveal their nationalities, or whether they had planned or carried out any attacks.
Hishamuddin said that "if they are with an international terror organisation and if they are caught in Malaysia, then we will take action on them".
'Go to trial'
Rights activists condemned the new detentions and said that suspects should face the normal justice system.
"We oppose the new arrests. We are against detention without trial and the use of ISA on these 10 individuals. We want the government to charge or release them," Nalini Elumalai, co-ordinator of the Abolish ISA Movement, told the AFP news agency.
"If the government has evidence that they pose a threat to national security, please bring them to court and put them through an open trial, don't use ISA on Malaysian citizen or any other individuals."
The controversial ISA has in the past been used against suspected fighters, including members of Jemaah Islamiyah, a Southeast Asian group believed to be linked to al-Qaeda.
Malaysian authorities reportedly detained 50 people under the law last week although most of them were subsequently released, according to the advocacy movement, which said that 12 others were still in detention.
The detentions come at a time of raised religious and ethnic tensions over the use of the word "Allah" by Christians to denote their God in Malay language publications.
The government had threatened to use the ISA to keep tensions from boiling over.
Source: Aljazeera
The country's home minister confirmed that the arrests were made under the Internal Security Act (ISA), the British colonial-era law which allows for indefinite detention without trial.
Hishamuddin Hussein said in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday the detainees included nine foreigners, most of whom had arrived in Malaysia recently and were believed to have links to an international terrorist organisation.
"This is a very serious threat to the security of our country," he said.
"We have worked with international intelligence organisations in this operation," he said.
Hussein said all 10 were involved in international terrorism.
He did not reveal their nationalities, or whether they had planned or carried out any attacks.
Hishamuddin said that "if they are with an international terror organisation and if they are caught in Malaysia, then we will take action on them".
'Go to trial'
Rights activists condemned the new detentions and said that suspects should face the normal justice system.
"We oppose the new arrests. We are against detention without trial and the use of ISA on these 10 individuals. We want the government to charge or release them," Nalini Elumalai, co-ordinator of the Abolish ISA Movement, told the AFP news agency.
"If the government has evidence that they pose a threat to national security, please bring them to court and put them through an open trial, don't use ISA on Malaysian citizen or any other individuals."
The controversial ISA has in the past been used against suspected fighters, including members of Jemaah Islamiyah, a Southeast Asian group believed to be linked to al-Qaeda.
Malaysian authorities reportedly detained 50 people under the law last week although most of them were subsequently released, according to the advocacy movement, which said that 12 others were still in detention.
The detentions come at a time of raised religious and ethnic tensions over the use of the word "Allah" by Christians to denote their God in Malay language publications.
The government had threatened to use the ISA to keep tensions from boiling over.
Source: Aljazeera
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