al-Nawadir

Salih to Run

2006-06-25T04:09:00.001-07:00

Following three days of "popular" rallies President Salih has reversed his decision not to run for another six year term, and has agreed to stand for re-election which he will on 10 September. (I have little to say in this forum, although more will follow. For now, a couple of comments:)

The parade down 'Abd al-Mughni street after Salih announced was exciting to watch, and even more impressive for a popular rally was the fact that all of the mini-buses were numbered with the governorate that they represented written on their front window.

I would like to highlight one piece by Nabil al-Sufi, the editor of News Yemen, writing in al-Hayat.

Salih to Run

2006-06-25T04:09:00.000-07:00

Back

2006-06-19T15:41:00.000-07:00

After numerous false starts the blog is back up and running, this time from Yemen. The Internet connection has not been the best, but at least I'm back, and I've spent my first few days going through the important motions of re-connecting with friends and contacts and catching up on all the books that have been published since I left.

I was even able to find a copy of Wajdi al-Ahdal's Quarab al-jabaliyya, which was officially banned, but I now have my grubby little hands on a copy - not the photocopied one I had earlier through various channels, but a real bound copy. It was a major coup, as was finding some of al-Zindani's books and a few other gems that were republished in 2005 to celebrate Sana'a being the cultural capital of the Arab world in 2004 - don't ask.

Now I'm on the hunt for the new book by Ali al-Muqari, which is written about in this story from al-Arabiyya. I've got my sources out and I hope to have the book within the week.

It is good to be back, even if al-Thawra is even worse than usual, what with every organization sucking up to the party line.

Back

2006-06-04T21:22:00.000-07:00

I'm lashing with apologies for the lack of posts. But I'm back from a much needed vacation. Let the posts resume.

Random Notes

2006-05-23T11:13:00.000-07:00

This entry will be a little more personal than usual, which I'm chalking up to lack of sleep and exhaustion. I'm blogging from Midway - possibly my least favorite airport in the world - and have little to say other than I wished I had studied medicine so I could get to the bottom of the DVT crisis, which I've become fascinated with.

On a more relevant note here are two links about Sana'a from Saudi Aramco World. The first by Tim Mackintosh-Smith, author of the world's best book on Yemen, and the second by Eric Hansen, author of a book on Yemen.

Unificiation Day

2006-05-22T07:12:00.000-07:00

Today is unification day in Yemen.

An article from al-Quds al-Arabi on the first woman taking up al-Turabi's fatwa that Muslim women can marry non-Muslim men. Here is the link.

Still away from home in the midlands, and so blogging is a bit slow. I would love to comment on Hamid al-Ahmar and the two preachers that were pardoned by Salih over the weekend, but for the moment simple acknowledgement of the acts will have to suffice.

Oh, and the White Sox lost - about time.

White Sox lose

2006-05-18T18:59:00.000-07:00

I wouldn't normally post when I'm so far from home. But I saw two things that made me come out of mourning for Arsenal. First, the White Sox lost two to Tampa Bay - and al-Zabaniya is predicting that the Cubs take the inter-league series.

Second, a piece (which I have yet to read) but which looks very good on al-Qaeda in Yemen from al-Sharq al-Awsat. This looks like one that the paper may give a synopsis (not a translation) into English later this week.

The Final 2-1

2006-05-17T13:33:00.000-07:00

I once saw a friendly in Paris at the Stade de France between France and the Czech Republic, the latter was up 2-0 with 10 minutes to go when Zinedine Zidane took over and scored 3 goals in the next 12 minutes (including extra time) to win the game. Unfortunately, I don't see any such miracles in Arsenal's bag of tricks tonight. They are about to go down in a massive collapse, giving up 2 goals in the final 15 minutes of play.

Five minutes to go - we are in trouble.

It is over and we have lost.

The mighty are falling

2006-05-17T13:30:00.000-07:00

The mighty ones at al-Nawadir are in trouble, as Arsenal has dropped back even with Barcelona following a late goal. I was up in arms on seeing an Arsenal player sent off early in the game - and as I type Barcelona has pulled ahead 2-1 - oh, no.

Gunners, my mighty Gunners - what has happened.

Disaster, pure disaster has struck.

Couple of Highlights

2006-05-17T11:08:00.000-07:00

I'm still away from home, so the blogging will have to be short, but I wanted to highlight a couple of articles.

First, two from the Yemen Observer. The first on the release of 100 more al-Huthi followers, hopefully this will help to end the low-level insurgency, but more on that later. Second, a supposed assassination attempt against the head of the Aden-Abyan Army. Here is the original article from al-Sharq al-Awsat.

Finally, an article by Gregory D. Johnsen in the Arab Reform Bulletin on Salih trying to restore his reformist credentials.

Just a few highlights to get me through the day.

Brief Links

2006-05-13T20:42:00.000-07:00

The apartment is empty, after a long day and even longer night of packing, moving and other more nocturnal and social activities. The only thing left is a bag, a mat and my computer - tomorrow morning it is on the road for parts east.

Still, I did want to highlight a couple of things. First al-Sharq al-Awsat has an interview with Shaykh 'Abdullah al-Ahmar - now I haven't had a chance to read or even skim it, so I can do little but pass along the link.

The postman also delivered my latest issue of N+1 magazine, which I highly recommend.

Less than a month

2006-05-12T06:09:00.000-07:00

It is now less than a month until the World Cup kicks off in Germany. The US will have a difficult road out of its group, but anything is possible. All of us here at al-Nawadir will be giving predictions as the tournament grows closer, but for now a link to the website.

One prediction that has been made final: Arsenal 2 Barcelona 1 in the Champions League final set for next Wednesday. A team of experts here has been working on a complicated equation I don't pretend to understand that spat out this formula - I came to a similar conclusion by observing the two teams the past few months. No matter the road we all ended up at the same destination, and I'll be taking bets through the weekend.

Poor journalism on Yemen

2006-05-12T05:33:00.000-07:00

I must confess that despite the fact that I have never met him I really don't like James Brandon. I have always found his reporting to be missing something, and today is no different. And while I do not know him personally everyone I respect in Yemen who has met him dislikes him, with one notable exception. He has caused no end of hassle and heartache for many in Yemen, most notably during an attempt to cover the al-Huthi revolt in 2005. I say this not as way to pick on Brandon, but rather to say he has a new piece out in the Christian Science Monitor on poetry as an antidote to terrorism in Yemen.

The piece is not that objectionable, he quotes a respected authority in the field - W. Flagg Miller - although I think Steve Caton would have been a more senior choice, but ok, and he doesn't make too many errors of fact. But I can't help wondering, why this piece made the paper and why it is significant? The poetry program, if one can call it that, first started making headlines in Yemen in 2004, but never really took off despite the governments attempts - a different "re-education program" did much better.

Besides magnifying a small program with very little impact the piece did nothing, and of course Brandon only interviewed English speaking sources and relied on President Salih's press secretary, Faris Sanabani, as a major source, while only identifying him as close to the president. The piece is puff, and I'm fairly dissapointed that the Monitor saw fit to print it - there are so many stories out of Yemen - the end of water, the sketchy and fragile de facto truce between the government and Islamists groups, and so on - that settling on this story seems a force-fed piece of propoganda from the president's office to the paper. Somewhere Hemingway says something like: You never really likes journalism about a country you really know. I suppose that is true in my case, or at least about a country I like to think that I know, but I think there are any number of important and intriguing stories that could be written about Yemen, and this is not one of them.

But we're moving on. In other news, another one of the 23 escapees has been re-captured. I wasn't going to point this out until I noticed the similarity of al-Hayat's and al-Sharq al-Awsat's headlines - but I don't remember the prison being mentioned as a "Political Security Prison," in earlier stories, which is not to say that it wasn't only that I don't remember it as such. Whether or not that was the case, the fact that the 23 men escaped from a Political Security prison is fairly important - as they almost surely had inside help - and something no one seems to be talking about. If Political Security is corrupt to the point where officers are actively supporting suspects break out of jail then something is drastically wrong. Here is the story from the BBC on the recapture of Abdullah al-Raymi.

Two English stories on al-Zindani. I was disappointed by Chaise's coverage for AFP, especially considering the track record of excellence that this reporter has established, but I'm willing to let it slide. The wrath of al-Zabaniya is famously just. Here is one from the Yemen Times on al-Zindani opening up al-Iman University for inspection.

I could say much more and point out more stories that caught my eye, but moving day is open us- the boxes are packed the truck rented and the time to shake the dust of this town from our collective feet is now.

A sign of the times

2006-05-10T10:39:00.000-07:00

This week is moving week, which means that the posts will be a bit lighter as I pack my books into a trailer for yet another move across the country to yet another school for yet another degree.

Still, I saw a few things that caught my eye in the press. First, President Salih warning everyone to stay calm during election season, which ends on September 23. This piece, in the Yemen Observer, is remarkably similiar to one from the UPI, which the Observer cribbed with only a veiled reference. The Observer just got its license back does it really want to be stealing articles? I know Faris does this as a matter of course, but still - not that cool.

Other election stories (English) are here: financing a presidential campaign with a flat from Paris, Women in Taiz support Salih, and finally more on the recent poll in Yemen, that Khaled al-Hammadi first reported in al-Quds al-Arabi.

But the one story that really caught my eye was one from al-Sharq al-Awsat about tribal fighting in Marib. Now, the more jaded among us here at al-Nawadir tend to blow off instances of tribal fighting in Marib, it is just too common to really make a note of, but I think this is different. And an early case of what will continue to happen for the forseeable future. This fight was over a water well. Yemen for those who don't know is quickly running out of water, and when that happens, which it will in the next two decades, it is going to be ugly. This is only the beginning. You have been warned.

Weekend Reading

2006-05-07T20:26:00.000-07:00

(Carole Lombard)

First, I would like to recommend Mr. and Mrs. Smith to anyone interested in a great screwball comedy from Hitchcock. No this is not the one with Brad and Angelina. It stars Carole Lombard - quite a looker, who was married to Clark Gable - but who unfortunately died in a plane crash, as fate would have it, according to Wikipedia (always an authoritative site) her final film was in post-production and her character says at one point: "What can happen in a plane?" The producers wisely cut that line out of the final version.

I would also like to highlight two pieces on writers that all of us here at al-Nawadir enjoy. The first is a speech given by Orhan Pamuk at the latest PEN conference and published in NYRB. The second is from the Guardian on Taher Ben Jelloun.

In Yemeni news, there is an article by Abd al-Salam Tahir on a confrontation between qat sellers and police in the governorate of Dhalla' over the attempts of certain police or security forces to raise the tax on qat. Now, in Yemen qat is supposed to be taxed, but it often is not, as the security forces usually just take a bag or two instead of a tax, or bus or taxi drivers will help the sellers or middlemen hide the qat from the soldiers in exchange for a take themselves. The result being that the state loses money - although corruption is so rampant it is unlikely the taxes would make it to the treasury anyways. This happens quite often, and it just so happened that al-Sharq al-Awsat decided to write about it this time.

Al-Sharq al-Awsat also features a column by Abd al-Rahman al-Rashid on Yemen becoming a new GCC member. Just for the record, I don't think this is going to happen anytime soon, unless their is outside influence put upon the current GCC states - Yemen has too many problems that would reflect poorly on the GCC.

Al-Hayat has a piece saying that 'Ali Abdullah Salih has ordered the release of Muhammad Badr al-Din al-Huthi, who according to the report was captured last year by government forces around Sa'dah. This is yet another important move by the government in its attempts to diffuse the situation in Sa'dah.

Al-Arabiyya has a piece about Saudi men marrying Yemeni women as does the Arab News from Saudi Arabia. The two pieces are so similar that it is my guess that the Arab News cribbed the report from al-Arabiyya, which is all too common a practice for English language newspapers in the Middle East. Of course, the most famous Saudi with a Yemeni wife is Osama bin Laden.

Al-Arabiyya also has a report on the latest clash between the religious establishment in Yemen and the intelligentsia. This time it is between the poet Ali al-Muqari and the former Minister of Religious Endowment Nasir al-Shaybani. Al-Muqari claims that certain mosques in Yemen have called for him to be punished and that al-Shaybani has said he was an infidel. The piece explains that this is largely due to his poem تدليك
which I am translating as "massage," although I'm perfectly willing to conclude that I might be mistaken, as I am not that familiar with al-Muqari's work and can't seem to find his diwan in my library although the article says it was published in 2004. I'll pick it up this summer if it is still available. Anyway, this bears watching.

Khaled al-Hammadi of al-Quds al-Arabi reports on a recent opinion poll regarding the upcoming elections. 1500 people from 10 governments participated in the poll, which found that only 57 percent of the respondents would vote for Salih if the elections were held today, while 42 percent agree with Salih's decision not to stand for re-election. The poll is actually quite shocking - only 57 percent, in a region known for much higher numbers for incumbent presidents. Still, this poll agrees nicely with what I have long suspected and what many other local observers have been saying for the past 2 or 3 years that President Salih has roughly 60 percent of the population that would vote for him. Nice to have it confirmed even if the transparency of the poll is far from certain.

Also, I wanted to bring to your attention one reporter that I've been reading lately, Christian Chaise of AFP. I've been quite impressed with the quality of four of the reports I've read by Chaise on Yemen. I've linked to them here -I could only find two - but they are all in English. Unfortunately, most US papers don't use AFP as a news service, but Chaise is doing good work. On corruption, on a female presidential candidate in Yemen.

Slow News Day

2006-05-07T00:35:00.000-07:00

(What editors do on slow news days)

Very little to report on Yemen in the Arabic press today, although the Yemen Observer does have a brief about a delegation being put together to visit the Yemeni inmates being held at Abu Ghrayb.

Other than that the Lakers lost, the White Sox won and nothing more on Yemen in the news, which was helped by the fact that al-Thawri's latest wasn't up on the Internet and the only thing of real interest in this week's al-Sahwa was a report buried on page 2 about 3 members of the joint meeting parties at a meeting in Aden by political security.

And that is all the news that is fit to print.

Spy Novels

2006-05-07T00:10:00.000-07:00

With the academic year winding to a rapid close - too soon for some of us and one final paper - and with summer nearly upon us, it is almost time to head for one's favorite beach with an armful of spy novels. Thankfully, my favorite spy novelist Alan Furst is out with a new book, The Foreign Correspondent, due to be released on 3 June 2006 (just in time for me to grab it before fleeing the country on the 6th) - and while I'm not sure if the book draws any inspiration from the old Hitchcock film of the same name, which Robert Fisk credits with sparking his interest in journalism, I am anxiously awaiting its release.

Others among lovers of genre literature, however, are not so impressed. In the latest issue of the Atlantic Monthly, which showed up at my door yesterday along with the New Yorker and the Virginia Quarterly Review, B.R. Myers had a review of Furst's latest offering. He was not impressed. And while I agreed with a number of his points - Furst does have an interesting relationship with punctuation - I can only hope that he is wrong. That being said, I enjoyed his most recent novel, Dark Voyage, the least of all of his novels. I hope this isn't a trend.

Myers also says that The Polish Officer is Furst's best novel, which is nowhere close to the truth. And while most of his novels tend to run together, my vote would be for Kingdom of Shadows. Still, I hope Myers is wrong, as my sanity on long plane flights this summer depends on it. For some reason Le Carre and Eric Ambler aren't doing it for me anymore, plus I've read most of there stuff - Le Carre's latest, Absolute Friends, was rubbish, and I'm even struggling to get through The Little Drummer Girl - something must be wrong, struggling to get through a spy novel. Earlier this year I even bought David Ignatius' Agents of Innocence, which was followed by Milt Bearden's The Black Tulip, neither of which was any good.

Why can't good spy novels be written any more? I really don't know, maybe the cranks at the computers need time to focus on a new enemy and maybe the next few years will see a host of books on al-Qaeda and the like. But for the moment Furst is our only hope, let's hope he doesn't disappoint.

Yemenis in Abu Ghrayb and no Arabic

2006-05-04T21:37:00.000-07:00

Al-Jazeera has report on Yemeni nationals being held in Abu Ghrayb prison in Iraq. The report credits 26th of September weekly with breaking the story, which really isn't that much of a suprise. There have been rumors and quite a bit of evidence about Yemenis fighting in Iraq, and most analysts in the know believed at least some of them had been caught and imprisoned. How long it took US forces to realize they had foreign nationals instead of Iraqis is anybody's guess, or at least anybody who believes that the US has a number of well-trained linguists that can tell the difference between different dialects of Arabic.

In what is surely one of the first looks at the 16th anniversary of unification in Yemen, al-Quds al-Arabi has an op-ed by Abdullah Musaid al-Sh'aybi, who is currently residing in Britain, or so the tag-line says. I have yet to read the piece, but I'll link to it here for those interested.

Andrew McGregor has a piece for Jamestown on Yemen and prosecuting the war on terror. I was fairly disappointed with the piece, as it seems to use only English-language sources. Sure the Yemen Observer and the Yemen Times are nice, in that they are in English (although some of their copy editors have been less than amazing), but they aren't really that authoritative, nor do they do their own reporting - kind of like us here at al-Nawadir, they tend to crib from the Arabic press.

Also who starts a piece with the line: "Any observer of Yemen's politcal scene cannot help but notice that Yemen appears to be awash with al-Qaeda suspects." Who, I ask you, who?

I would hazard to bet that McGregor has never been to Yemen, as this is the type of reporting/analysis that one gets if, and only if, one relies almost entirely on the international press as one's guide. This is the same type of laziness that leads to the cliches: Yemen is Osama bin Laden's ancesteral homeland, or In Yemen guns outnumber people 3 to 1.

McGregor also makes the mistake of attributing too much importance to Salih's position as a member of the Hashid tribal confederation, which is led by al-Ahmar. Any observer of Yemen's political scene cannot help but know that this matters much less than numerous other factors - the tribes do not always speak with one voice - nor does all of Hashid take marching orders from al-Ahmar.

And tragically (although this is more the fault of the editors than McGregor) the piece was published after al-Ahdal was given 37 months for supporting al-Qaeda - McGregor has him up for the death penalty.

One final point/question: In his conclusion McGregor says that the number of Yemenis fighting in Iraq is probably not large. (my emphasis) How does he know this? What would constitute a large presence? No sources and no explanation make for a frustrating conclusion.

Despite my harsh, and probably too lengthy discussion of the article (I'm bored and the Lakers are down), the piece wasn't as bad as it could have been. And that my friends is as generous as al-Zabaniya feels like being tonight.

The White Sox win again - they are playing Seattle after all - but there is always hope for tomorrow. I realize this is a bit belated, but after wasting two days watching the entire draft, or most of it that I didn't nap through I have three observations: 1. My Clevland Browns will not be any better this year (they just traded Dilfer to the 49ers) 2. The Texans will mourn their idiotic move for years to come 3. The Bears will have a good defense, but no offense (read no Super Bowl again this year) - my hatred of Chicago sports teams has nothing to do with a bitterly cold winter I spent there in 2003.

Baseball and Babes

2006-05-04T01:27:00.000-07:00

So much to say. I could be writing about the Hitchens and Cole spat, or about the new issue of Granta, which finally showed up, but instead I've been working on a number of other things and time has gotten away from me.

It has been brought to my attention that I've laid off the White Sox now that they seem to be winning some games (19-8, and again tonight with an extra innings win), but rest assured the might al-Zabaniya has only put its powers on hold, they will soon rear their ugly heads again as the Sox go on the skids.

But for tonight, only a bit of news cribbed from the Arabic press. First, Muhammad Hamdi al-Ahdal was sentenced to only 37 months in prison, a pitifully small amount of time for the highest ranking al-Qaeda member Yemen has ever captured. (He was captured in November 2003 after the US killed his boss in the famous Hellfire missile instance.) Here is the al-Jazeera report, and the one from al-Sharq al-Awsat.

I also wanted to point out what looks to be a very good article from al-Hayat's Yemen correspondent, Faysal Mukrim, in the paper's special section, where it features in-depth reporting. Given the end of the academic year I haven't had a chance to read any more than the title, but that struck me as spot-on (my rather loose translation): Ali Abdullah Salih waits for his party's request to stand (for re-election) despite his (earlier) announcement of disinterest. Yes, it is early in the morning and my powers of simultaneous translation seem to be failing me.

One final thing, which all of us here at al-Nawadir have been paying a lot of attention to this past month is the case of Hasan al-Turabi in Sudan and his fatwa about allowing Muslim women to marry non-Muslim (Christian and Jewish) men. I plan on having a lot more of this over the weekend, although not all of it will make it onto the site here, but for now we will have to be satisfied with a column from today's al-Sharq al-Awsat.

Qat and prisoner exchange

2006-04-29T21:37:00.000-07:00

The AP style book strikes again in this article about a man pulled over for speeding and found with a great deal of qat. It is likely he'll get off, or at least all of us here at al-Nawadir hope he will - maybe he can aruge it was shami qat.

Also, in this brief from al-Sharq al-Awsat says that Yemen and Saudi Arabia have come to an agreement on prisoner exchange. Earlier, al-Nawadir reported that Yemen was sending 16 Saudis suspected of terrorism back to the kingdom, and now Yemen is getting 11 of its own citizens in exchange.

There is also this well-informed report by the AFP on why Salih will win re-election, nothing really new here, but it is a good brief on the situation.

The Sheikh returns

2006-04-27T21:06:00.000-07:00

(Sheikh al-Ahmar and the Clintons)

Al-Sahwa net is reporting that Sheikh Abdullah al-Ahmar returned to Sana'a today from his recent medical trip to Saudi Arabia - this should put to rest those unfounded rumors reported by Phillips in a MERIP piece about al-Ahmar saying he was leaving Yemen to President Salih and his sons. It also gives me an excuse to post one of the many pictures from al-Ahmar's photo gallery. (I think I've chosen a dandy - but what is now Senator Clinton doing?)

The Yemeni writers are preparing to recognize the 33rd anniversary of the death of Muhammad Abd al-Wali, one of my favorite Yemeni writers. 'Abd al-Wali was killed in a plane crash in 1973 in South Yemen, but his shadow and influence still hangs over Yemeni politics. In 2000, the weekly paper al-Thaqafiyya - which used to be much better than it is now - re-serialized one of his novels, Sana'a: Medina maftuhah, or Sana'a: An Open City. Unfortunately, al-Nawadir's favorite sheikh, 'Abd al-Majid al-Zindani, issued a fatwa declaring that both the publisher and 'Abd al-Wali were infidels because of one of the lines in the book that says God is unfair.

There was a big crisis that eventually resulted in his books being banned, which I can attest is still the case. However, with some perseverance and a bit of luck one can still find copies of Sana'a: An Open City in a certain bookstore in Sana'a, just like I did not too long ago. 'Abd al-Wali is now available to readers of English in this translation, which I highly recommend.

In other news from Yemen: it is sending 16 terror suspects to Saudi Arabia. Here is an English brief on it here, and one from al-Sharq al-Awsat here.

Update: Yemenis in Guantanamo

2006-04-27T13:16:00.000-07:00

The Yemen Observer is saying that there are at least 105 Yemenis in Guantanamo. This differs slightly from the 137 that al-Sharq al-Awsat reported in today's edition. The brief suggests that there are more than 105 Yemenis in Guantanamo, but that they aren't all named in the report. Here is a story from the Independent on the 558 people the Pentagon named.

More later, hopefully.

Also for anyone interested in a good laugh, read the al-Quds al-Arabi story on al-Zindani escaping yet another assassination attempt from April 25. (The PDF file is no longer available, but the link above will still provide the story.) I finally got a chance to skim it, and it seems that al-Zindani's house has been a gathering point for "crazy people" in recent weeks, and three assailants blended in with the crazies in an attempt to knock off the sheikh. One guy even had a big stick. How the sheikh ever survives is beyond me.

Other highlights from the article: al-Zindani's brother-in-law has written articles that have aided the US in targeting al-Zindani. Neither the name of the brother-in-law or the publication in which he published are mentioned by name. A council of religious scholars in Mecca has approved al-Zindani's married friends fatwa, which according to the story was originally issued 25 years ago in Germany - it only came back into circulation in 2003 after al-Zindani gave an interview to the magazine: لها I am not familiar with the magazine - but al-Zindani discusses the fatwa in much more depth in a 2003 interview with al-Hayat, which I'm currently going through.

Yemenis in Guantanamo

2006-04-27T00:02:00.000-07:00

Very little time here, as thesis defense is on the horizon, and a number of deadlines still to be met in the next week. I had wanted to write more about al-Zindani and the married friends fatwa, but that will have to wait for a later date. I had also wanted to write about Martin Amis' recent short story in the New Yorker and the upcoming piece on 'Amr Khaled in the New York Times' magazine, but all will have to wait.

Today, there are only two short briefs courtesy of al-Sharq al-Awsat. The first says that the head of Egypt's mukhabarat, 'Amr Sulayman, was in Yemen yesterday talking with Salih. The second says that a source has released the number of Yemenis in Guantanamo. The grand total, according to the story: 137.

al-Zindani escapes again

2006-04-24T23:09:00.000-07:00

(Sheikh Abd al-Majid al-Zindani - from al-Quds al-Arabi)

There is not a great deal on Yemen in Tuesday's Arabic press, as it is rightly given over to the horrible bombings in Egypt. However, there are two pieces by Khaled al-Hammadi in al-Quds al-Arabi. One is in the Arts and literature section on poetry in Sana'a. The second is on one of al-Nawadir's closest friends, Sheikh Abd al-Majid al-Zindani. According to al-Quds al-Arabi there was yet another assassination attempt on the Sheikh, which makes 3 in only a few months. The article also talks about al-Zindani's "Married Friends" fatwa, which as it happens I am currently writing about.

Qat and other weekend news from Yemen

2006-04-23T18:18:00.000-07:00

(A Qat chew in Yemen - from al-Arabiyya)

A busy weekend in Yemen, much of which I have yet to have time to digest. However, I have focused my attention on two stories. The first, is from al-Arabiyya on an explosion in the Shumaila qat market in Sana'a which, according to the story, killed 2 (not three as some outlets had it) and wounded 16. For one, I don't believe violence should ever be a part of buying qat. Sure there is a certain degree of pushing and cursing as one attempts to get the best price from some top-notch Hamdani qat (if one is in Sana'a) but still a hand grenade into a market that is just wrong. I remember once, during the petrol riots of 2005, when I braved burning cars and fighting in the street to make it to my favorite qat market. Of course, it was open and full - and I was able to spend the rest of the afternoon chewing in the old city as reports of the fighting came in. The point being: nothing should interrupt an afternoon chew. (Al-Arabiyya also has a longer story about qat, which I hope to read over the coming week - in my spare time, of course.)

Also, the 8th of the escaped suspects that escaped in February has now turned himself back into authorities. The trickle has been slow, but bit by bit the escapees are being returned. Here is a report from the AP (I assume written by al-Hajj, who usually does a good job.)

Update

2006-04-21T02:23:00.000-07:00

I've been very under the weather and also very busy finishing the final version of my thesis, which is going off to the committee tomorrow, and so I've neglected al-Nawadir for far too long. Here is hoping I get back to it over the weekend.

The Post edges the Times

2006-04-17T13:56:00.000-07:00

The Washington Post edged the New York Times today in Pulitzers 4 to 3. Included in the Post's haul was a Pulitzer for David Finkle in the "explanatory journalism" category. I read Finkle's three-part series when it came out back in December and was not impressed. It was a bit too cliched, and focused on a rather small project that had little to do with what was going on Yemen. There were so many other things that he could have reported on: what about an in-depth piece on the remnants of the Afghan Arabs in the country, a series on the movement of men to Iraq to fight the US and asking if we are seeing a new generation of fighters like we did in the 1980s, or what about a piece about the faultlines within the Islamist movement - the discussions that are going on here are the most important and under-reported debates in the world.

I understand the needed an American angle, but I thought he could have done better.

Academic Writing

2006-04-17T06:29:00.000-07:00

Academic writing has a well deserved reputation for being bad, and having read a great deal of it, I can say that this is usually an understatement. This intense hatred of academic writing was not only brought about by the fact that I've been having to produce a great deal of it lately as I struggle to lash the thesis together, but also by a couple of articles linked to by A&L Daily: one from the Guardian, and one from the Wall Street Journal.

And as so often happens as these articles and my own gloomy struggles with torrid prose were haunting me all weekend I came across a few choice quotes by Robert Penn Warren in an interview he gave to the Paris Review back in 1957. Here is a selection that kept me sane as the thesis came to a limping stop:

Warren: "... But getting back to that shelf of books, the Motley and Prescott and Parkman, et cetera, isn't it funny how unreadable most history written now is when you compare it with those writers?"

... a little later on the same page

Warren: "... If he wants to write a book on history that happens to be good history and good writing at the same time, there isn't any graduate school to try to stop him."

... and a few pages later in the interview, Warren finds the right pace, describing his time as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford and getting down to writing fiction:

Warren: "... I remember playing hooky from academic work to write the thing, and the discovery that you could really enjoy trying to write fiction."

Incidentally, Warren's All the King's Men sits in a pile on my floor waiting for the day that I can play hooky from academic work to read it.

Warren's comment about history that happens to be good writing made me question whether anyone in the academy is writing in entertaining prose these days? Writing the way Gibbon used to, I always forget how good his prose was until I open him back up. For instance, in large histories, given a choice between Albert Hourani's A History of the Arab Peoples, Ira Lapidus' A History of Islamic Societies, or Marshall Hodgson's 3-Volume The Venture of Islam I would have to pick Lapidus although his prose doesn't exactly make me want to stay up nights. (And, yes I think Hodgson is a bit out-of-date even though a number of people I know still love it.)

Is it even possible to write a readable history for today's academics? For the past few months The Atlantic Monthly has been running little boxes in its literary section asking: What Makes Good Writing and What Makes Bad Writing? For the record, I usually don't agree with its authors, but still I would like to see a such a box run in something like the Chronicle of Higher Education for academic writing.

Any early season recommendations for either very good or very bad academic writing? This question shouldn't be confused with others about the quality of a book or research but rather this question is only interested in the quality of the prose.

Abd al-Aziz al-Maqalih

2006-04-17T06:14:00.000-07:00

(Abd al-Aziz al-Maqalih)

I've never really understood how he does it. How does one man write so much?

I'm speaking of Yemen's poet laureate, Abd al-Aziz al-Maqalih. He writes a column for al-Thawra, 26th of September, al-Quds al-Arabi and a number of others. Nearly every book I have on Yemeni literature has been edited by him in his role as president of the Yemeni Centre for Studies and Research, and he often contributes the introduction or an article or two as well. He was also instrumental in getting the diwans of prominent Yemeni poets like Muhammad Mahmud al-Zubayri published. And he is extremely prolific in his own poetry. And now he is in English, or at least a translation of him is in English at the Yemen Times.

It is not the article I would prefer to see him introduced to an English-speaking audience, as it is more political than literary, but maybe it is the start of something more. For those interested in his poetry, I recommend a very good translation of his Kitab Sana'a by Bob Holman and Sam Liebhaber, available for sale through the Middle East Studies Association website. The book is quite good, and though it won't compare to his diwan, although the one from Dar al-'Auda in Beirut is horribly out-of-date. (I believe there is an up-dated one in the offing.)

Despite the article above, I would recommend reading al-Maqalih (he was last featured in English in a short interview in Foreign Policy with Elisabeth Eaves - not available on-line). He is an extremely talented poet and very kind man, and although the few times I've chewed qat with him have not been under the best of circumstance - once was in the week after Abu Ghraib when myself and a couple of other were left to be the unwilling voice of US foreign policy - he has always been a gentleman in every sense of the word, and the only contemporary Yemeni poet known throughout the Arab world.

The Weekend in Yemen and Somalia

2006-04-16T22:30:00.000-07:00

I am dripping with apologies for a weekend of no posts, but as all I have are the usual excuses of tax deadlines, thesis deadlines and laziness I won't bore you with them here.

A great deal to report on Yemen (despite the fact that I have yet to get to the article on Nu'man).

First, from al-Jazeera a report that the US Navy is denying a report of a pirate attack. Also, from al-Jazeera a report on the death of three in a clash between al-Huthi supporters and security forces.

There is more, in English, from the Yemen Observer, here.

The only good thing, if one can find good in a fresh outbreak, is that it took place in Amran and not in Sa'dah. This could mean that the rather fragile truce in Sa'dah is holding. This truce came about when President Salih appointed a new governor, General Yahya al-Shami, back in February along with a cabinet re-shuffle. This was followed shortly thereafter by the release of more than 600 prisoners as a good-will gesture. Hopefully, the truce will hold, making this a one-off incident.

Also, in news that was first reported in English here on al-Nawadir, UPI also picked up the story from al-Wasat about staged protests in Hudaydah. Here is the report.

There seems to be a great deal of interest in a recent Jerusalem Post about a Hamas leader meeting with Shaykh Abd al-Majid al-Zindani. To begin with, unlike a number of bloggers would have it, the Post did not discover this meeting: it was featured on the front page of al-Quds al-Arabi's website earlier this month. Also, few seem to have looked into al-Zindani's background, and unquestionably identify him as an al-Qaeda leader. I would argue that he is an al-Qaeda supporter not a leader, and that the difference is important. For more, I would again direct you to a recent profile by Gregory D. Johnsen at Jamestown. Again, I have my issues with the piece, but it is not bad, and one of the few comprehensive looks at the guy in English.

Finally, tonight two links to stories on Somalia. The first from al-Sharq al-Awsat is on the ever-continuing cycle of violence and war there. The second is from the Washington Post is on the Qat trade (although for some reason they insist on spelling it khat). I remember the problems I had with editors at the Christian Science Monitor a few years ago, over how to transliterate qat into English - I lost and the piece had it as "khat" to my ever-enduring shame.

For the record, in Arabic it is:

قات

So now you can see my frustration. Ahh, journalists. I once had a conversation with an editor at

a news agency that shall remain nameless about transliterating Arabic into English, and he said it was "kind of hit or miss," and indeed it is.

Friday's Proverb

2006-04-14T00:05:00.000-07:00

Today's proverb does not come from Qadi Isma'il but rather from another book that I can't seem to find in my library at the moment, but since it fits my mood I'll reproduce it here:

قد قلبي منك دود و عكابر سود

Translation:

You fill my heart with worms and black rats.

Often said in a situation where one wants to get the best qat, although I wouldn't recommend using it unless one has a good relationship with the qat seller. Or, one can use it as I am doing now in my mental dialogue with my now cold thesis.

Yemen in Friday's Papers

2006-04-13T23:51:00.000-07:00

(The view from Sana'a)

Well, both al-Thawri and al-Sahwa are out, as I skimmed them both this afternoon. But I have yet to print them off, and I can't read PDF news pages on the Internet. Also, I've been slaving away attempting to finish this damn thesis, which has meant a great deal of reading of Yemeni memoirs. And I have to say that I feel as though I now really know Sinan Abu Lahum, Muhsin al-'Ayni and Yahya al-Mutawakkil thanks to their memoirs. (Gasp, I may have just let a bit of my secret identity through, but really I'm much too tired to care. - a draft of the thesis is done.)

Al-Thawri does have a story on Nu'man as well as an interview with him, and al-Sahwa has an interview with Muhammad 'Alu, who is an intriguing lawyer. Hopefully there will be more on both by the weekend - after a number of drinks of course.

Al-Quds al-Arabi had little on Yemen today. I continue to have problems with al-Jazeera's website for some reason, so I'm not sure there. Al-Sharq al-Awsat is likely neglecting the country where wisdom and faith reside, as of course is al-Arabiyya. Al-Hayat has a business story about the Yemeni government pledging money towards education, but as business and economics bore me (don't tell my boss), I've elected not to link to it. If you are really interested you'll have to run the search on al-Hayat yourself.

Turks in Yemen

2006-04-13T02:50:00.000-07:00

Not a lot of time, as I've got a lot of work before a Friday deadline. The big 3-2 had very little, none of which I'll link to, but I will say Khaled al-Hammadi (al-Quds al-Arabi) had a piece on Salih's visit to Pakistan and China (he is back now). (Oh and the White Sox won again, I take a couple of days off and look what happens.)

But now for today's proverb, again from al-'Akwa's book, a very famous one:

اليمن مقبرة الأتراك

Translation:

Yemen is the graveyard of the Turks.

(This refers to two ill-advised attempts by the Turks to occupy North Yemen, never a very good idea.)

Assassination Attempt in Yemen

2006-04-12T13:23:00.000-07:00

(One of the Ultimate survivors of Yemeni Politics - Dr. Yasin Said Nu'man)

Well, I don't want to say too much about this before al-Thawri comes out tomorrow or Friday. But from reading the coverage in al-Sahwa and al-Wasat it appears that on Sunday night an assailant attempt to assassinate the Secretary General of the YSP Dr. Yasin Said Nu'man at his house with some sort of improvised bomb. He was unsuccessful.

The al-Wasat report links this attack to a recent attack on a Presidential hopeful - one can't call him a candidate yet, since he hasn't received the approval vote from both house of parliament - Tawfiq al-Khamiri. Here is an English report on those attacks.

Finally, here is al-Sawha's coverage. But I won't say more until I've went through al-Thawri this weekend. But I'm not so sure this is specifically related to the elections as most would have it. There was also an attack - if that is the right word, which I'm not so sure it is - on a YSP headquaters in al-Mukalla.

Again, I don't think we should jump the gun and start predicting a violent and bloody election season. It is extremely unlikely that these are coordinated attacks, as opposed to one-off incidents.

2006-04-12T12:45:00.000-07:00

(The President)

Ahh, and how could I have forgotten this. Al-Wasat has a story quoting "well-informed sources" that there will be a large demonstration in the Red Sea port city of Hudaydah with the purpose of convincing President Salih to stand for re-election in September.

This is one of the first - of what Husni Mubarak once called "smart-ass" (election) tricks" - but it is not likely to be the last. Plus if you are in Hudaydah why would you demonstrate anyways, it is too damn hot and humid. You should just kick back and chew some shami.

2006-04-12T12:39:00.000-07:00

(The recent fire in Sana'a - from al-Wasat)

Here are two new articles from al-Wasat's most recent addition on the fire and tribal fighting. The first, agrees with today's al-Quds al-Arabi article that there were six people killed in the fire in Sana'a. Not, like al-Jazeera reported yesterday, seven. Here is the second on tribal fighting in Marib.

There is also an article about an "assassination attempt" on the Secretary General of the Yemeni Socialist Party, Yassin Said Nu'man. But I have not had time to read it yet, as soon as I do there will be more posts. Hopefully with a picture of the wise old survivor of 1986. For the moment, however, it is back to the grindstone.

Wednesday's Proverb

2006-04-12T01:17:00.000-07:00

For today's proverb, I decided on one that is often said in my presence in qat chews - or at least qat chews among some close friends:

القرد في عين امه غزال

My rather loose translation:

Even a monkey is a gazelle in the eye of his mother.

Yemen in Wednesday's Papers

2006-04-12T01:12:00.000-07:00

(The area around Marib)

Very little from the big 3-2, in fact almost nothing.

Really the only thing to report is Khaled al-Hammadi's report on recent tragedies in the country: including five dead in a case of tribal revenge in Marib, six dead in a fire in Sana'a, and three more dead in Ibb. Not recommended reading if you want to feel better.

Fire in Yemen

2006-04-11T13:18:00.000-07:00

Now that al-Quds al-Arabi is back up and running, I stopped by eager to see what news I had missed from Arabia Felix last night, only to be disappointed - there was nothing.

For those of you in desperate need of a Yemeni news fix, this is the only thing I could find - although admittedly I didn't look that hard: Fire in Yemen kills Seven.

The brief, is just that, and says that this morning a fire in a Mafrash store in western Sana'a killed seven.

Tuesday's Yemeni Proverb

2006-04-11T00:34:00.000-07:00

I could be blogging about the White Sox win over the early season sweethearts - the Tigers - way to go Jim Thome. Or about the lack of Yemeni coverage in the big 3-2, but instead I've decided to start a new project.

As this blog is fairly new, it is only natural that from time to time new projects will be developed only to be surely dropped at a later time. Today's project, which will continue until I grow bored with it, is a daily Yemeni proverb.

So wonderful readers of al-Nawadir enjoy the proverbs - quote them to your friends, impress girls at the bar, stun your boyfriend and use them as one would other bar tricks - like tying cherry stems with your tongue - to get free drinks.

Unless otherwise specificed all proverbs come from the excellent two volume work by Qadi Isma'il al-'Akwa entitled: al-Imthal al-yamaniyya.

Today's proverb, and my personal favorite:

إذا قلبك سالي فجحر الحمار مفرج

My rough translation:

"If your heart is at ease even a donkey's asshole can be a mafraj*."

* A mafraj is the room in which qat is chewed, and where mortals commune with the gods.

Mikhail Zoshchenko

2006-04-10T17:48:00.000-07:00

(Mikhail Zoshchenko)

There are few things in life as sweet and as enjoyable as discovering for oneself a previously unread author. These moments are all too rare. How many us, after all, routinely discover for ourselves "new" authors that we will read and re-read over and over again throughout the course of our lives? I would guess that the number is relatively small. I know it is with me. And that is why I was so happy yesterday, when I finally got around to reading the latest issue of The Paris Review (which finally came - thank you much).

In it, I read for the first time three short satires by Mikhail Zoshchenko (1895-1958). The selection, which was translated by Jeremy Hicks, was only five pages long - but it quickly set me off on a buying spree of some of Zoshchenko's works, and I have been growing increasingly impatient - throughout the day - for the release of "a new collection of his short fiction, The Galosh and Other Stories, which will be published this year by Overlook Press."

This issue of The Paris Review, despite its tardiness, now has al-Nawadir's highest seal of approval. And I highly recommend that any literate readers go out and buy some of Zoshchenko's work. It is good. Trust the might al-Zanabiya.

Al-Quds al-Arabi

2006-04-09T21:36:00.000-07:00

I'm not going to take complete credit for this, but al-Quds al-Arabi has went back to its previous format, which is much nicer and easier to use, but lacks the searchable database that I so loved. Please, please Mr. Atwan get your act together so I can amuse myself in your archives, and waste countless hours searching for articles.

Someday soon, I'm sure, al-Quds al-Arabi will surprise us all with a wonderful new design. But today is not that day.

Aden 1986 .... and the White Sox Finally Win

2006-04-09T14:30:00.000-07:00

(Photo of a Mass Grave from the bloody events in Aden 1986 - from the Yemen Times)

In Yemen President Salih is on his way to Pakistan.

The Yemeni government is denying reports that it bought anti-riot gear from China. This might be the way to go: worried about rioting, buy from the guy who knows how to successfuly put down a riot - cameras be damned. After all, does anyone really think that last summer's Fuel Riots in Yemen would have been allowed to take place in China? Also, it was widely rumored in Sana'a last year, that Yemen's anti-riot police were using training, tactics and weapons supplied by American advisers. Just like in the glory days of the Cold War Yemen is trying to have it both ways.

Speaking of the Cold War, there is a new Russian program on the "bloody events" of January 1986 in Aden. I enjoy few things as much as a Russian series about internal coups and dissension in the Arab world's only Marxist state.

Here is a link to a story about the discovery of a mass grave from the January 1986 events, and from which the grisly picture above comes from.

Al-Sharq al-Awsat has a brief on the explosion in al-Baydha, which it says killed 2 and wounded 14.

And of course, the obligatory White Sox update:
The White Sox finally won a game. I mean they are no Detroit Tigers, but at least they managed to take one game from a much improved Royals.

Yemen Blast

2006-04-08T15:02:00.000-07:00

Al-Jazeera (English) is reporting a blast in a Yemeni warehouse of an arms merchant. No word yet on what caused it, but these stories have a way of changing and my bet (yes I'm taking bets on this) would be that withing two or three days this blast is not going to be as innocent as first thought.

For some reason I've been having problems with al-Jazeera's Arabic website for the past few days, so I'm not sure what the Arabic is yet.

Royals Win 2

2006-04-08T13:59:00.000-07:00

Despite the best efforts of the mighty al-Zabaniya, the White Sox have dropped their fourth straight. I know I've cursed them, but I really thought they would at least take the series against KC and not lose two straight series. Still, I forgot the cardinal rule of baseball betting: never bet on the ChiSox.

To all those Sox fans out there, I'll do my best tomorrow, and hope the Sox can salavage at least one game in KC.

Morocco

2006-04-08T13:48:00.000-07:00

Here is a good article on Muhammad VI in Morocco from the Economist.

I would also recommend this book by Tahar ben Jelloun: This Blinding Absence of Light.

Saturday Reading

2006-04-08T12:29:00.000-07:00

The Sox are on in the background and, in keeping with my prediction, they are winning.

But for all those not interested in America's sport, here is some Saturday reading.

In the TLS there is a review of some of Kipling's letters.

The Guardian has a translated article by Nawadir's favorite literary prankster, Orhan Pamuk.

The NY Times has a review of Saramago's new book, Seeing.

The NY Review of Books has an article by Christopher de Bellaigue, an excellent writer, on Iran and the Bomb.

And finally Robert Kaplan has an article out in the new Atlantic. I've been a fan of Kaplan for a long time, but lately his prose and his ideas seem hurried and lacking a great deal of consideration. In his new article, Colonel Cross of the Gurkhas, (the complete article is only available to subscribers) one line stood out to me as complete crap: "To call them Kiplingesque would be to cheapen them; they were practically out of the Iliad."

In the same paragraph, Kaplan insists on comparing the Gurkhas to the modern Marines that he has met throughout his travels with the military since 2001. Maybe. But I think Kaplan should be wary of trying to link everything together, just because it makes a better transition. Sure they are both warriors, as Kaplan would put it, but not all are alike, and one wouldn't want to cheapen them.

Kaplan at times, when he is patient, is an excellent writer. But when he is working on pushing out books, and only gaining an understanding of history through books published before 1940, he is at best an average writer.

Sheikh Abdullah

2006-04-08T10:19:00.000-07:00

(Sheikh Abdullah and former President Ibrahim al-Hamdi)

Given the weekend's news out of Yemen and Saudi regarding Sheikh Abdullah, I thought I would provide a link to the Sheikh's website - something most western observers always get a kick out of: like, he's a tribal sheikh with his own website, like cool - here.

For those just interested in eye-candy, I recommend the photo gallery here.

The President and the Sheikh

2006-04-07T22:45:00.000-07:00

(Sheikh Abdullah and the Son, Ahmad Ali Abdullah Salih)

Here is a very intriguing story from al-Wasat, an independent Yemeni weekly, about a tribal delegation that is going to Riyadh to talk with Sheikh Abdullah al-Ahmar about his son's desire to form a new party. Sheikh Hussein is an MP for the ruling GPC, but has been talking about breaking away and forming a new party.

This story from al-Nass says that Sheikh Abdullah al-Ahmar has denied saying that he will leave Yemen to President Salih and his sons. The story says that Sarah Phillips' story in MERIP is incorrect (see below). The story was originally broken by al-Rai News, here is a link to the brief.

Khaled al-Hammadi of al-Quds al-Arabi is also discussing the story.

Al-Jazeera, al-Arabiyya, al-Sharq al-Awsat and al-Hayat had nothing on the story nor really anything on Yemen in general.

The dispute, if one can call it that, has been reported on by Sarah Phillips in a decent article for MERIP, although it now appears that Sheikh Abdullah is denying the reports.

Here is a link to a News Yemen story that explains that Sheikh Abdullah is quite upset with Phillips' article.

Sheikh Abdullah and the President have had periodic spats before, and they will likely increase as both men attempt to set the table for their respective sons to take over in the coming years. The current alliance between Hashid and the government - even though it isn't perfect - can't possibly continue for years to come as there is going to be a much smaller pie, as Yemen faces a number of challenges in the coming decade, which could lead to disastorous results.

Friday's Drinking Poem

2006-04-07T22:41:00.000-07:00

Well it is Friday night when people like myself usually enjoy a nice drink. Unfortunately, I have much too much work for that, but in honor of all those who are enjoying one - and to start a new Friday trend - here is a short poem:

A Drinking Song

Wine comes in at the mouth
And love comes in at the eye
That's all we shall know for truth
Before we grow old and die.
I lift the glass to my mouth
I look at you, and I sigh

-Yeats 1910

Royals Win

2006-04-07T22:22:00.000-07:00

Well, I won't say that I'm completely responsible, but I feel like I did have something to do with the White Sox loss to KC tonight. The ChiSox blew a 6-0 lead. Still, I predict that the Sox will take the next two games to get to .500.

No Sox and No News

2006-04-06T21:51:00.000-07:00

Not a whole lot to report, but that won't stop me from blogging: the White Sox are off as they hope to rebound from my curse against the Royals (I predict a ChiSox victory in the series by 2 games to 1). The Arabic papers have little to report on Yemen, and by little I mean almost nothing.

There is a decent amount on Salih's trip to China, none in the big 3-2 (that is now official nawadir code from al-Quds al-Arabi, al-Hayat, al-Sharq al-Awsat - the 3 for those scoring at home - and the websites of al-Jazeera and al-Arabiyya - the two). A very clever system, and one that will be utilized here throughout for those reading this - only two based on someone's comment - you are in on the ground floor.

I had meant to post on Kaplan's new piece in the Atlantic, but have been unable to due to a general sense of exhaustion regarding a number of things I can't possibly post about.

I will say, however, that al-Quds al-Arabi is still tweaking its website - it is now posting dates with articles, but the searchable archives have been rendered unusuable by the changes. Some day boys, some day.

So you'll have to keep checking back to see what the wise al-Zabaniya has to say to you.

Tomorrow is al-Sahwa and al-Thawri - I'm sure there will be loads of links out of that.

English to the Rescue

2006-04-06T12:59:00.000-07:00

As is sometimes the case, when the Arabic papers drop the ball the English ones are there to pick it up - you see Huntington was wrong, this is what cooperation is all about.

First, there is a piece about Yemen's plan to try 172 al-Qaeda members. Here is the UPI story. And here is Reuters take on the announcement. There really isn't anything new here, but the announcement comes at a good time for Yemen. It has recently been conducting raids against al-Qaeda to show the US that it is serious about the war on terror, and this announcement folds into the same policy.

There is also a profile of Sheikh Abd al-Majid al-Zindani by Gregory D. Johnsen at Jamestown. I would have liked to have seen him devote more time to al-Zindani's background and time in Afghanistan as well as his ideas on the relationship with science and the Qur'an, but still a decent piece. Check it out here.

Thursday's Papers

2006-04-05T20:52:00.000-07:00

Once again a rather slow news day for Yemen in the Arabic papers.

Al-Quds al-Arabi ran a report on Somalian refugees in Yemen, which I can't be bothered to read more than the headline, and so no comment here.

Al-Hayat and al-Arabiyya have nothing new on Yemen.

In an up-date to an earlier post: al-Sharq al-Awsat's correspondent in Yemen, Hussein Jabrani, is reporting that Yemen has refused to turn over the three Iraq intelligence officers to the US.

And al-Jazeera has a story on flooding in Yemen that has killed 14 people. Here is an English story that says the death toll has risen to 25.

Al-Zindani, everyone's favorite sheikh, is providing assistance to Hamas.

The Curse is back

2006-04-05T18:47:00.000-07:00

I promise not to do this all year, but I just wanted to say that since my bold prediction that the White Sox won't make the playoffs they have lost two straight games.

Can anyone say: curse?

Wednesday in Yemen

2006-04-05T00:28:00.000-07:00

President Salih goes to China, and everyone else in Yemen takes the day off. Nearly all the big boys in the Arabic press ignored Yemen. Al-Quds al-Arabi ran a wire report from the AFP, and a story out of London about Sheikh Muhammad al-Mu'ayyad complaining about his treatment in a maximum security prison in the US. Neither story deserves much of a comment and certainly not from me.

Al-Hayat ran nothing as did al-Sharq al-Awsat and al-Arabiyya's website. Al-Jazeera had a brief story on Yemen and the GCC, which is not even worth linking to in this space.

I guess we'll all have to wait for Thursday and Friday's release of the weekly papers from Yemen - everyone needs something to get them through a Wednesday, and I can't think of anything better than thinking about al-Thawri and al-Sahwa.

Ahh the (past) joys of Smoking

2006-04-05T00:22:00.000-07:00

As a reformed smoker myself, I often wonder where all my friends went, why I used to be such better company when I was smoking a pack-and-a-half a day and why cigarettes still taste so good, four months after I've quit the sticks.

I was reminded all over again of my lost joys - lost forever I would imagine - in this review by Jonathan Yardley in the Washington Post. It was a bit over the top at the end, but then we aren't up for taking Mr. Yardley to task for his prose, but rather for enjoying a fairly funny review.

Authors & Literary Journals

2006-04-04T19:59:00.001-07:00

I've often wondered how authors (especially novelists) feel about giving interviews regarding their own work. This has been brought home to me in some of Rusdhie's interviews as well as, more recently, in an interview given by Orhan Pamuk to the Paris Review.

The interview in question comes from issue 175 (the latest one I have: Note to the Paris Review I'm still waiting for issue 176, which is in all the stores). I picked it up the other day because, despite owning "My Name is Red," and "Istanbul," I had never read any of Pamuk's stuff. I was about to start "Snow," and thought I should introduce myself to Pamuk through this interview (Sorry the full text is not available on-line.)

After reading the interview and then starting Snow, something stood out to me. Pamuk mostly talked only about the first 30 pages of Snow, and he got some of the facts of the book wrong. For instance, take this from Pamuk on page 135 in the Paris Review:

Most of the people and places in the book are based on a real counterpart. For instance, the local newspaper that sells two hundred and fifty-two copies is real.

Now look at this from pages 24 of Snow:

The Border City Gazette was sold at only one outlet, just across from the National Theater, and this outlet sold on average twenty copies of each edition; including subscriptions the paper's circulation was 320, a fact that inspired not a little pride in Serdar Bey.

Why the difference in the numbers of circulation? Did Pahmuk make a mistake about his own work? Doubtful, especially given how recent Snow was completed in relation to the interview.

Was he just having fun with the interviewer, a little game to amuse himself? Quite possible. Or, as I like to think, was he attempting to take the measure of the interviewer, by limiting his discussion of the details of the book to the first 30 pages and then changing them slightly to see how the interviewer would react?

In the text of the Paris Review interview there was no reaction. Pamuk, like myself, must have been disappointed.

I'll leave you with the first question and answer from the Paris Review interview (which was done in two different sittings):

Q: How do you feel about giving interviews?

A: I sometimes feel nervous because I give stupid answers to certain pointless questions.

Pamuk: a literary prankster?

Crystal Ball Gazing

2006-04-04T16:05:00.000-07:00

Despite the fact that in the world of sports predictions I have only my beautiful pick of Princeton over UCLA in the NCAA tournament many years ago to hang my hat on, I have no problem stating for the record that Chicago White Sox will not make the playoffs this year. Witness their early season loss to Cleveland today (man do I feel sorry for anyone who shelled out money for tickets to this one-sided affair.) Still, remember this you heard it here first, from the mighty al-zabaniya: The Chicago White Sox will not make the playoffs.

The fact that I have a bottle of spirits on the outcome has not determined my prediction. (Disclaimer: no other bets on this subject will be accepted.)

Jihadi Groups in Yemen

2006-04-04T10:29:00.000-07:00

Al-Sharq al-Awsat has finally gotten around to translating an article it ran at the end of March into English. (The original Arabic version is here.)

Tuesday in the News

2006-04-03T21:21:00.000-07:00

Khalid al-Hammadi of al-Quds al-Arabi has a piece on the on-going dialogue between President Ali Abdullah Saleh and the opposition parties, six in all.

Faisal Mukarim of al-Hayat has a story on the 6th member of the 23 escapees to turn himself back into to Yemeni authorities. This story is from a couple of days ago - there will be more as soon as al-Hayat puts up tomorrow's paper later tonight.)

Hussein Jarbani of al-Sharq al-Awsat writes about the on-going case of newspaper editors being tried for publishing the now infamous Muhammad cartoons.

Al-Jazeera has a story about Yemen's decision to deport three Iraq intelligence officers.

In non-Middle Eastern news: Granta's new issue appears to be on the way, and I'm anxiously awaiting my copy to show up in the mail. It looks very good - the issue is on "politics of religion" - and has an article by Wendell Steavenson, who has written for Slate, and had an intriguing piece entitled "Osama's War," in a previous Granta. Here is hoping this article is just as good.

The Future of Yemen

2006-04-03T21:15:00.000-07:00

Sarah Phillips has a new piece out at MERIP Online on the future of Yemen. It summarize a great many of the difficulties that Yemen will be facing in the coming years, but my worry is that it tends to give more weight to one portion of Yemeni society than it does to others.

Mostly, it seems shaded towards the views of the western-educated liberals, which makes sense - they are after all the easiest people (the people western reseachers are most comfortable with) to get to know. But still I worry that we are missing something by focusing so exclusively on this group to the exclusion of the others.

Only in Yemen

2006-04-03T09:24:00.000-07:00

Here are two articles that I've enjoyed lately, and that really makes one shake his/her head and say "Only in Yemen."

The first in an interview Sheikh Abd al-Majid al-Zindani did on 12 March with al-Quds al-Arabi (here is a link, it appears the archive is working again). My favorite part comes when al-Zindani is explaining a meeting between President Salih and US Ambassador Thomas Krajeski: "And the Ambassador said: And the crime that Sheikh al-Mu'yyad carried out was supporting Hamas. And the President answered: We all support Hamas, the Arab people the Islamic people (I really don't know why he didn't say Muslims - must be something to do with rhymes) the Arab governments, the Arab countries, and now Hamas is working with the EU and is working with Russia, and maybe in the future America will work with it."

Beauty, pure beauty.

The other piece is from al-Sharq al-Awsat from a few days ago (in Arabic - but click to see the picture of Khalid Abd al-Nabi, the leader of the Aden-Abyan Army. The article is actually fairly informative, although it is not written by al-Sharq al-Awsat's regular Yemeni correspondent, Hussein Jarbani. Still, it lets on that US investigators are present during security operations aimed at jihadi groups operating in Yemen. Al-Nabi also denies links between the Aden-Abyan Army and Muhsin al-Ahmar, the commander of the 1st Armored division, and al-Sharq al-Awsat says he is close to Salih, which is true in a sense (they are related) but not in the political trustworthy sense that the article seems to imply. Nevertheless a very good (and important story) that al-Quds al-Arabi and al-Hayat have missed so far.

Zarqawi is Out

2006-04-03T09:12:00.000-07:00

According to a BBC story, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is out as the head of the jihad in Iraq. The BBC quotes the son of the late Abdullah Azzam, who actually started Matkab al-khidimat, out of which al-Qaeda eventually morphed, before it transformed again into a global ideology. Anyway, the two Zarqawi and Azzam (the younger) have been on the outs for a while, or at least they have been in my mind - which is the perfect place for two jihadis to have a real knock-down-drag-out tussle.

Although the article doesn't mention it, Abdullah Azzam was assassinated in Pakistan in questionable circumstances - are there ever any other kind in an assassination - and for a while many suspected bin Laden.

In my opinion, these titles and who is in "charge" matters more to governments and intelligence agencies that are attempting to put these groups into some sort of structure that can be more easily dissected and analyzed.

The (Post) Weekend Reading

2006-04-03T08:08:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend one of the 23 escaped convicts turned himself back into Yemeni authorities, making six of the 23 that are now back in custody. News Yemen has a blurb.

The convicts originally escaped on 3 February by tunneling through the floor of their prison cell into a neighboring mosque. On 26 February in an interview with al-Hayat, President Ali Abdullah Salih said that he was in contact with the men and believed they would be back in custody soon. Soon, of course, is a relative term throughout much of the world, but particularly in a country that claims an "Hour of Solomon."

Also, an enjoyable profile/interview with Rushdie's wife, which Arts & Letters Daily has already linked to, as have I. Here.

And finally, two more things on Yemen. First, 60 Minutes did a lead-off piece on Nasser al-Bahri, bin Laden's former bodyguard, who they insisted on calling Abu Jandal throughout the entire thing. Besides interviewing al-Bahri, they also interviewed a former CIA official, who had worked on the "Bin Laden Team." Neither was very well done, and it looks like the producer didn't do his/her homework - 60 Minutes seemed not to be aware that al-Bahri's brother-in-law is in US custody in Guantanamo. In my opinion one would get much better information out of a 10-part series al-Quds al-Arabi did in March 2005 with al-Bahri. The only thing 60 Minutes brought us was al-Bahri's opinion that bin Laden was determined to attack the US again. Big surprise. But really do read the al-Quds series of interviews, great stuff that should probably be translated into English at some point, as a sort of memoir-through interview of a foot soldier in al-Qaeda. The first of the ten is here. (Ok, I lied, al-Quds al-Arabi seems to be having a problem with their search engine, but as soon as it is up and running I'll link to the interviews.)

And finally, an interview with yet another Yemeni presidential candidate, with Hassan M'awdh of al-Arabiyya. I don't know a lot about the candidate, Rashida al-Qayli - she is usually described as an "Islamic writer," in the Yemeni press for whatever that is worth - and I haven't had a chance to read the interview, but here it is.

New Formats

2006-04-03T08:05:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend both the New York Times and al-Quds al-Arabi have re-designed their respective websites. The only good thing out of this desire to have hipper website, is that al-Quds al-Arabi now allows one to search through its archives back to 2001, a big improvement over the earlier website.