Category: Yemen

LONDON (Reuters) – Conflict in Yemen risks spilling out into the busy sea lanes that pass it and potentially disrupt the narrow Bab el-Mandeb passage through which nearly 4 million barrels of oil are shipped daily to Europe, the United States and Asia. Oil prices rose as much as 6 percent on Thursday after neighboring Saudi Arabia and its allies launched air strikes on Yemen that targeted Iran-backed Houthi rebels fighting to oust Yemen’s president. The development is a gamble by the world’s top oil exporter to check Iranian influence in its backyard. "The collapse of Yemen as a political reality and the power of the Houthis will enable Iran to expand its presence on both sides of the Bab el-Mandeb, in the Gulf of Aden and in the Red Sea. Already discrete numbers of Iranian naval vessels regularly sail these waters," J. Peter Pham of U.S. think tank […]

Click here to view full article at www.reuters.com

A Houthi fighter in front of the U.S. Embassy in San’a, Yemen’s capital. ENLARGE Photo: Associated Press The political upheaval in Yemen has dealt a powerful blow to the country’s oil industry, forcing companies to abandon productive oil patches and evacuate staff as a rebel group consolidates power. Houston-based Occidental Petroleum Corp. , which has been operating in Yemen for nearly three decades, flew its staff out of the country in January, executives and local officials said, after gunmen stormed its compound in the capital, San’a, where Houthi militants have tightened their grip on power. Since then, executives and local officials said, Norway’s DNO AS A, Dove Energy Group of Dubai and Nexen Inc., which is owned by China’s Cnooc Ltd. , are all moving to relinquish their rights to blocks that produce thousands of barrels of crude a day. Meanwhile, Austrian energy company OMV AG , which produces […]

Click here to view full article at www.wsj.com

SANAA (Reuters) – Clashes between Shi’ite Houthi militiamen and Sunni tribesmen fighting alongside Al Qaeda militants killed 26 people in Yemen, local officials said, as the United Arab Emirates joined Saudi Arabia and Western countries in closing its embassy in the country. Heavy fighting was ongoing in the southern mountainous province of al-Bayda, leading to the death of 16 Houthi rebels along with 10 Sunni tribesmen and militants, security officials and tribal sources told Reuters. The state faces collapse in Yemen two weeks after the Houthi group took formal control of the country and continued an armed push southward. France, the United States, Britain, Germany, Italy and Saudi Arabia have closed their missions in the capital Sanaa and withdrawn staff, citing security concerns. The United Arab Emirates announced the closure of its embassy in Sanaa on Saturday, state news agency WAM said. It cited "the increasing deterioration of the […]

Click here to view full article at www.reuters.com

AP Photo/Hani Mohammed World Video Latest News Buy AP Photo Reprints SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Yemen’s Shiite rebels proclaimed a formal takeover of the Arab nation Friday, dissolving parliament in a dramatic move that completes their power grab in the region’s poorest nation where an al-Qaida terrorist offshoot flourishes. Angry demonstrators protested the rebels’ move in street rallies in several cities, raising fears of a full-blown sectarian conflict between Yemen’s new Shiite tribal rulers, known as Houthis, and the disenfranchised Sunni majority. The unrest could strengthen Yemen’s al-Qaida branch, considered the world’s most dangerous wing of the terror movement, and complicate U.S. counter-terrorism operations in Saudi Arabia’s southern neighbor. While Houthi rebels are bitter enemies to al-Qaida, they also are hostile to the United States, and frosty to the predominantly Sunni Saudis. The region’s Shiite powerhouse, Iran, looms as a potential key backer. White House spokesman Eric Schultz said […]

Click here to view full article at hosted.ap.org

SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Shiite rebels armed with knives and batons have attacked and detained demonstrators trying to protest against them in Yemen’s capital. The Houthi rebels seized Sanaa in September and last week put the president, prime minister and top Cabinet members under house arrest. On Monday, Houthi militiamen attacked protesters and journalists at Sanaa’s Change Square. It wasn’t clear how many people they detained, though witnesses said they saw rebels attack those gathered there. Last week, the standoff in the capital grew violent and Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi resigned as the country’s president. His Cabinet also resigned, though parliament has yet to accept their resignations. In the time since, demonstrations against the Houthis have grown across the country.

Click here to view full article at hosted.ap.org

SANAA (Reuters) – No sooner had Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi announced his resignation than his country’s tenuous political fabric began to disintegrate.     Provinces across a nation barely held together by a complex web of tribal and religious alliances said they would no longer take military commands from Sanaa after the Iranian-allied Shi’ite Houthi group besieged Hadi’s home and palace this week. The emerging fragmentation of the Arabian Peninsula country has sparked fears of the "Somalization" of a state which is home to a revitalized al Qaeda insurgency as well as a neighbor to top oil exporter Saudi Arabia.     For Washington, Yemen’s splintering would make it hard to carry out a counter-terrorism strategy against al Qaeda plotters who have targeted it and its ally Saudi Arabia and claimed responsibility for the Jan. 7 Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris. Through Hadi, a supporter of U.S. drone […]

Click here to view full article at www.reuters.com

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States has pulled more staff out of its embassy in Yemen, U.S. officials said on Thursday as Washington scrambled to cope with the collapse of a government that had been a key ally in the fight against al Qaeda. The scaling down of its presence in Yemen is the first sign that the latest turmoil there will affect U.S operations in a country that President Barack Obama hailed just four months ago as a model for “successful” counter-terrorism partnerships. The U.S. diplomatic contingent in Sanaa was drawn down due to the deteriorating security situation in the Yemeni capital, the officials said. They insisted there were no plans to close the embassy, which could been seen as erosion of U.S. resolve in counter-terrorism operations in the volatile Arab country. However, current and former U.S. officials say the chaos engulfing Yemen has already threatened the administration’s […]

Click here to view full article at www.reuters.com

SANA, Yemen — The American-backed government of Yemen abruptly collapsed Thursday night, leaving the country leaderless as it is convulsed by an increasingly powerful force of pro-Iran rebels and a resurgent Qaeda. The resignation of the president, prime minister and cabinet took American officials by surprise and heightened the risks that Yemen, the Arab world’s poorest country, would become even more of a breeding ground for Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which has claimed responsibility for audacious anti-Western attacks — including the deadly assault on Charlie Hebdo in Paris this month. The resignation of President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi brought full circle Yemen’s Arab Spring revolution, which ousted former President Ali Abdullah Saleh in 2011 amid massive popular protests. Now Mr. Saleh, who has lately made himself an unlikely ally of the Houthi rebels who toppled the government, is poised to return to the forefront of Yemeni politics. […]

Click here to view full article at www.nytimes.com

ENLARGE The CNOOC Ltd. logo is displayed on an employee’s uniform. The company’s Canadian unit said Sunday it has halted oil production in Yemen due to an unspecified “security threat”. Bloomberg News CALGARY—The Canadian unit of China National Offshore Oil Corp., or Cnooc, said Sunday it has halted oil production in Yemen due to an unspecified “security threat” to its personnel in the Arabian country. The shutdown affects the Yemeni assets of Cnooc’s Canadian subsidiary Nexen ULC, which operates a crude oil field and processing facility in the country. It comes after the pro-U.S. government of Yemen collapsed in September amid a civil war. “We’ve determined there is a security threat and undue risk” in Yemen, said a spokesperson for the Calgary-based Cnooc subsidiary. “The shutdown was progressed in a timely manner, production has ceased and our personnel have safely departed,” she said. The Yemeni oil ministry wasn’t immediately […]

Click here to view full article at www.wsj.com

Houthi movement in Yemen gets control over Oil Ministry as government in Sana’a charts new course. UPI/Mohammad Abdullah Members of the Houthi movement are handed control over the Yemeni oil ministry under a new government, the prime minister announced. Yemeni Prime Minister Khaled Bahah unveiled his new government Saturday, allocating control over the Oil Ministry to the Houthi movement. The government in Sana’a was under dueling threats from the northern Houthi movement, a Shiite group, and southern separatist groups that at times have been associated with al-Qaida. Western leaders had expressed concerns about rebel activity in Yemen. An August letter signed by U.S., European, Asian and Middle Eastern envoys to Yemen said the Houthi movement had a place in Sana’a, but expressing concerns about the group’s disrespect for political transition that began with the so-called Arab Spring in 2011. In mid-October, Norwegian energy company DNO International declared force majeure […]

Click here to view full article at www.upi.com

The IMF said it approved a $552.9 million credit to Yemen to help the country maintain a level of economic stability. The amount is available in semi-annual disbursements, though the IMF’s executive board said $73.8 million was unleashed immediately. Yemen has struggled to sustain a level of political stability and national security since the Arab Spring in 2011 led to the resignation of longtime President Ali Abdullah Saleh . The current administration of President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi is under pressure from the Houthi movement, a Shiite militia. Naoyuki Shinohara, acting chairman of the IMF board, said national security challenges are in the way of Yemen’s economic growth . "In particular, fiscal and external balances have weakened due to delays in key reforms and increased sabotage of oil facilities," he said in a statement Tuesday. The Yemeni government has said militants have tried to use attacks on oil infrastructure […]

Click here to view full article at www.upi.com

Armed men blew up Yemen’s main oil export pipeline on Wednesday, a local official said, halting crude flows and disrupting an important source of revenue for the impoverished state. Yemen’s oil and gas pipelines have repeatedly been sabotaged by insurgents or tribesmen since anti-government protests led to a power vacuum in 2011, causing fuel shortages and slashing export earnings. Earlier on Wednesday, Yemen raised fuel prices in an attempt to ease the burden of energy subsidies on its state finances. Sanaa earned just $671 million from exporting crude oil in January-May, down nearly 40 percent from a year earlier, as a result of the frequent bombings. The latest attack happened in the Wady Obaida area of the central oil-producing province of Maarib, halting the flow of crude to the Ras Isa oil terminal on the Red Sea, the local official said. The Maarib pipeline carries around […]

Click here to view full article at www.reuters.com

Armed men blew up Yemen’s main oil export pipeline on Wednesday, a local official said, halting crude flows and disrupting an important source of revenue for the impoverished state. Yemen’s oil and gas pipelines have repeatedly been sabotaged by insurgents or tribesmen since anti-government protests led to a power vacuum in 2011, causing fuel shortages and slashing export earnings. Earlier on Wednesday, Yemen raised fuel prices in an attempt to ease the burden of energy subsidies on its state finances. Sanaa earned just $671 million from exporting crude oil in January-May, down nearly 40 percent from a year earlier, as a result of the frequent bombings. The latest attack happened in the Wady Obaida area of the central oil-producing province of Maarib, halting the flow of crude to the Ras Isa oil terminal on the Red Sea, the local official said. The Maarib pipeline carries around […]

Click here to view full article at www.reuters.com

| License Photo The Yemeni Oil Ministry said restive tribesmen in Marib province attacked an oil pipeline, cutting exports to a Red Sea terminal. Yemen relies heavily on oil revenue to support its economy. Tribesmen in an area thought to be under the influence of al-Qaida fighters targeted the 100,000-barrel-per-day pipeline to the Ras Isa export terminal Saturday, the oil ministry confirmed . Yemen since the so-called Arab Spring in 2011 has struggled to maintain a sense of national security. It’s faced pressure from Shiite rebels in the north of the country and from the presence of al-Qaida, a predominately Sunni group, elsewhere. The Yemeni government has said militants have tried to use attacks on oil infrastructure as a way to bargain for more revenue sharing. Norwegian energy company DNO International said last week it resumed oil production from Yemen, ending a two-week hiatus. The company suspended operations there […]

Click here to view full article at www.upi.com

  Image from " Our Finite World " When I saw for the first time the data about oil production in Yemen, I was so impressed that I wanted to know more. I found a news source in English – the " Yemen Times " and I placed the link in my feed. For several months, by now, I have been reading the news from a place where I have never been and, probably, will never go, but that I find incredibly fascinating. The stories in the Yemen Times read as a tragedy written by Shakespeare: for a taste of this feeling, you may read the article titled " Carrying out a death sentence ," but it is just an example of a never ending series of disasters taking place in the country, which include some 4000 people murdered every year, including a few  taken as target by American […]

Click here to view full article at www.resilience.org

Heavily armed militants attacked Yemen’s main prison in central Sanaa on Thursday, killing seven people and helping 29 inmates escape, many of them convicts in terrorism-related charges, the country’s state news agency reported. The attack started with a car bomb explosion, then militants exchanged heavy gunfire with the guards at the Sanaa Central Prison, and a number of prisoners fled amid the chaos, according to SABA. A security official said authorities suspect it was an inside job. Among the 29 who fled, 19 are convicted al-Qiada prisoners including those plotting the assassinations of Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi and western diplomats, the official said. He said those killed in the exchange of gunfire were mostly security forces. Witnesses said earlier that explosions rocked the capital and smoke billowed into the sky. Security forces and army troops have been deployed to the site […]

Click here to view full article at hosted.ap.org

Armed tribesmen bombed Yemen’s main oil pipeline on Saturday, halting crude flow to the country’s main export terminal less than a month after it was repaired, oil and local officials Continue Reading

SANAA, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) — Al-Qaida claimed responsibility for Thursday’s attacks on Yemen’s defense ministry, which has left 52 people killed and more than 167 injured. Al-Qaida claimed the deadest attack in Yemen in 18 months on its Twitter account, saying it targeted the defense ministry complex because it “proved that it accommodates drone control rooms and American experts.” It said any security institutions that facilitate the United States against al-Qaida are “legitimate targets.” Yemen’s supreme security committee released a statement on Thursday night confirmed the number of casualty. Among the dead are soldiers and civilians, including two aid workers from Germany, two doctors from Vietnam, two nurses from the Philippines and a nurse from India, it said. Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi held a meeting with the chief of staff inside the defense ministry compound after the attack, and he ordered an immediate investigation into the incident and […]

Click here to view full article at news.xinhuanet.com

A suicide bomber detonated his explosives-laden car Thursday at Yemen’s Defense Ministry, killing 15 soldiers and wounding at least 40 in an attack underlining the persistent threat to the stability and security of the impoverished Arab nation. They said as many as 12 gunmen also were killed in a firefight between troops and a carload of attackers who arrived minutes after the early morning blast, apparently in a bid to take over the complex in downtown Sanaa, Yemen’s capital. They said the gunmen were armed with assault rifles, hand grenades and rocket-propelled grenades. They wore Yemeni army uniforms, the officials said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which bore the hallmarks of al-Qaida, whose chapter in Yemen is considered among the world’s most active. The Defense Ministry issued a brief statement confirming Thursday’s attack. It said “most” of the […]

Click here to view full article at hosted.ap.org

A suicide bomber detonated his explosives-laden car Thursday at Yemen’s Defense Ministry, killing 15 soldiers and wounding at least 40 in an attack underlining the persistent threat to the stability and security of the impoverished Arab nation. They said as many as 12 gunmen also were killed in a firefight between troops and a carload of attackers who arrived minutes after the early morning blast, apparently in a bid to take over the complex in downtown Sanaa, Yemen’s capital. They said the gunmen were armed with assault rifles, hand grenades and rocket-propelled grenades. They wore Yemeni army uniforms, the officials said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which bore the hallmarks of al-Qaida, whose chapter in Yemen is considered among the world’s most active. The Defense Ministry issued a brief statement confirming Thursday’s attack. It said “most” of the […]

Click here to view full article at hosted.ap.org