President Ali Abdullah Saleh

      Security forces raided locations in two Yemeni provinces killing and arresting dozens of suspected terrorists, the state news agency SABA reported Thursday. The raids took place in Yemen's capital Sanaa and the southern province of Abyan. Security forces killed 34 terrorists and and arrested 17 suspects that were linked to al Qaeda , the agency reported. Al Qaeda in Yemen has been a growing concern for the country's government and the United States. In late July, Gen. David Petraeus, commander of the U.S. Central Command, and an accompanying delegation met with Yemen 's President Ali Abdullah Saleh. One of the topics of ... Read Full Story

Yemeni Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Kurbi on Sunday urged Tehran to crack down on Iranian groups he accused of aiding Huthi rebels in northern Yemen and held Iran's government partly to blame. "Religious (Shiite) circles and groups in Iran are providing aid to the Huthis," he told a press conference in Kuwait City on the eve of a summit of Yemen's Gulf Arab neighbours. "Although we are not directly accusing the Iranian official side, we believe that the message is clear that a country with groups aiding rebels in other countries is partly responsible. Iran must stop this aid," he said. "This requires the ... Read Full Story

Al-Qaeda gunmen have seized a Japanese engineer from his tribal kidnappers in Yemen, a tribal source who has been seeking to negotiate his release said on Saturday. "The hostage was seized by elements of Al-Qaeda, who took him to an unknown destination in the Maarib region," east of the capital, Sanaa, one of two tribal mediators told AFP on condition of anonymity. The man, identified by Japanese media as 63-year-old Takeo Mashimo, was kidnapped on Sunday in Arhab, northeast of Sanaa, by tribesmen seeking to exchange him for one of their relatives being held by police. He was seized by Al-Qaeda on Friday night, ... Read Full Story

A Japanese engineer kidnapped by Yemeni tribesmen has been seized by Al-Qaeda gunmen, a tribal source who has been seeking to negotiate his release said on Saturday. "The hostage was seized by elements of Al-Qaeda, who took him to an unknown destination in the Maarib region," east of the capital, Sanaa, one of two tribal mediators told AFP on condition of anonymity. The man, identified by Japanese media as 63-year-old Takeo Mashimo, was kidnapped on Sunday in Arhab, northeast of Sanaa, by tribesmen seeking to exchange him for one of their relatives being held by police. He was seized by Al-Qaeda overnight, with a ... Read Full Story

With rhinoceros horns under a world preservation order, increased use of plastic from China and lack of interest from young men, Yemen's prided "jambia" curved dagger is under threat. "It will soon be the end of the jambia," bemoans Khaled al-Saikal, an antiques dealer in the souk of the Old City in Sanaa whose windows are brimming with precious and less precious examples. In the trade for the past 25 years, Saikal says he has overseen the gradual decline of what is widely seen in traditional Yemeni society as "the symbol of the pride of Yemeni men." Dating back centuries to the pre-Islamic era, ... Read Full Story