SUNDAY , MAY 30, 2010 VOLUME 01 - ISSUE 02 PRICE: YER 30 WWW.NATIONALYEMEN.COM Al-Shabwanis recognize presidential arbitration committee Al-Dhalia’a and Lahj hit hard by shortage in oil, blackouts Yemen Workers’ Union continue strike NY Staff NY Staff NY Staff Yemenia Airlines promotes Al-Baldah Jewish tunes with Yemeni lyrics presidential pardon to Journalists Sea Crossing: A Death Wish 04 08 05 03 The Al-Shabwani tribe in Marib declared their acceptance of the arbitration proposal offered by a presidential committee provided that the committee should conclude its investigation into the incident that had resulted in the killing of Jaber al-Shabwani, Marib local council secretary general, in an aerial raid last Monday. In a statement by the tribe, of which the paper has a copy, the tribe said that their consent to this arbitration stemmed from their keenness to: preserve security and stability; to spare the Yemeni people any further suffering, and; to proscribe ill-intentioned persons the opportunities to harm the nation. The statement renounced any acts of sabotage against public facilities, because such acts would not serve their cause. Sources close to the committee denied any division among the tribe and added that the President’s message had emphasized the government’s earnest investigation of the case and its surrounding circumstances. Abida, one of the major tribes in Marib, had given the government an ultimatum ending last Friday to investigate circumstances surrounding the aforementioned air strike which had targeted al-Shabwani and to specify the persons responsible for it. This was a condition imposed by the killed man’s father when he talked to the head of the committee, Sheik Awadh al-Wazir. According to tribal sources, mediators offered Sheikh Ali al-Shabwani 200 guns and an amount of money that is called in tribal terms “healing and shroud” in return for the tribe’s consent to accept the arbitration. According to tribal customs, such items are retuned immediately after the dispute is settled. In the same context, the Parliament approved questioning the government over the killing of al-Shabwani in an air raid in Marib and the siege of al-Dhali’a and Shabwa. While Parliament has approved of questioning the government over setting siege on al- Dhali’a and Lahj as a response to the Southern Movement, the two governorates are suffering from severe shortage in gasoline as well as from repeated blackouts. A local of al-Dhali’a told National Yemen that citizens of the governorate are now reverting to using traditional means (including plastic containers) to move oil from the neighbouring governorate of Ibb. He added that all people are suffering from the problem caused by the (Southern secessionist) Movement and that this is a form of unfair collective punishment imposed by the government on all citizens. According to the source, power cuts have forced people to buy power generators that have been rendered useless for lack of gasoline. A source at the ministry of oil and minerals stated that the problem is caused by irresponsible acts by some people against trucks moving oil into the above governorates. “We hope,” he added, “that citizens would help making roads safer in order to have this material.” Another man from al-Dhali’a said that what was happening is a normal result of the actions of the Southern Movement. “Instead of resorting to robbery, looting and the displacing and killing of people,” he said, “all people of the governorate should deal with these negative practices strictly before the government intervenes. We all know that there are grievances for all people in Yemen, but these should be resolved peacefully.” YOUR NEW NEWSPAPER The Facts As They Are Photo Howais Old but far from out: An old woman at the old Souk of Bab al-Yemen is still struggling to keep her business rolling despite the spread of modern day utensils and other kitchenware. Despite the political directions to discuss and resolve the General Union of Yemen Workers’ claims, and despite the president’s memorandum to the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Civil Service, and the Ministry of Social Affairs & Labor to quickly resolve the issues and claims of the union according to the effective laws issued on 23/5/2010, the strike is still the focus of discussion between the government authorities and the union. On that, Mr. Mohammed Al-Jadri, President of the General Union of Yemen Workers Syndicates, confirmed that the percentage of the general strike carried out by the unionists reached 78% all over the country. Al-Jadri stressed that the strike will continue until the union’s claims are settled according to the president’s directions in a memorandum dated 8th May of this year to the Prime Minister, which stated that the union’s claims raised to HE the president must be settled. Al-Jadri revealed that the Prime Minister gave directions to the ministers of Finance, Civil Service and Social Affairs to hastily execute the president’s directions, upon which a meeting between the union and the governmental side was held last Wednesday. It was agreed to suspend the meeting until Sunday to give a chance to the governmental side to study the workers’ claims. Al-Jadri expressed his optimism of the results of Sunday’s meeting. He reiterated the union’s persistence to those claims raised since the protest badges were put on until the general strike. In relation to some syndicates and unions’ non-abidance by the call to the strike, especially in the northern governorates, Al- Jadri said that some syndicates and unions belong to parties and are not under the umbrella of the General Union. Those did not come out on strike because they work according to their party’s instructions. He mentioned some of those syndicates and unions like Yemen Teachers Syndicate, the Engineers Syndicate and the Doctors Syndicate.
Al-Dhalia’a and Lahj hit hard by shortage in oil, blackouts
Yemen Workers’ Union continue strikeNY Staff
NY Staff
NY Staff
Yemenia Airlines promotes Al-Baldah
Jewish tunes with Yemeni lyrics
presidential pardonto Journalists
Sea Crossing:A Death Wish04 080503
The Al-Shabwani tribe in Marib declared their acceptance of the arbitration proposal offered by a presidential committee provided that the committee should conclude its investigation into the incident that had resulted in the killing of Jaber al-Shabwani, Marib local council secretary general, in an aerial raid last Monday.In a statement by the tribe, of which the paper has a copy, the tribe said that their consent to this arbitration stemmed from their keenness to: preserve security and stability; to spare the Yemeni people any further suffering, and; to proscribe ill-intentioned persons the opportunities to harm the nation. The statement renounced any acts of sabotage against public facilities, because such acts would not serve their cause. Sources close to the committee denied any division among the tribe and added that the President’s message had emphasized the government’s earnest investigation of the case and its surrounding circumstances. Abida, one of the major tribes in Marib, had given the government an ultimatum ending last Friday to investigate circumstances surrounding the aforementioned air strike which had targeted al-Shabwani and to specify the persons responsible for it. This was a condition imposed by the killed man’s father when he talked to the head of the committee, Sheik Awadh al-Wazir.
According to tribal sources, mediators offered Sheikh Ali al-Shabwani 200 guns and an amount of money that is called in tribal terms “healing and shroud” in return for the tribe’s consent to accept the arbitration. According to tribal customs, such items are retuned immediately after the dispute is settled. In the same context, the Parliament approved questioning the government over the killing of al-Shabwani in an air raid in Marib and the siege of al-Dhali’a and Shabwa.
While Parliament has approved of questioning the government over setting siege on al-Dhali’a and Lahj as a response to the Southern Movement, the two governorates are suffering from severe shortage in gasoline as well as from repeated blackouts. A local of al-Dhali’a told National Yemen that citizens of the governorate are now reverting to using traditional means (including plastic containers) to move oil from the neighbouring governorate of Ibb. He added that all people are suffering from the problem caused by the (Southern secessionist) Movement and that this is a form of unfair collective punishment imposed by the government on all citizens. According to the source, power cuts have forced people to buy power generators that have been rendered useless for lack of gasoline.
A source at the ministry of oil and minerals stated that the problem is caused by irresponsible acts by some people against trucks moving oil into the above governorates. “We hope,” he added, “that citizens would help making roads safer in order to have this material.”
Another man from al-Dhali’a said that what was happening is a normal result of the actions of the Southern Movement. “Instead of resorting to robbery, looting and the displacing and killing of people,” he said, “all people of the governorate should deal with these negative practices strictly before the government intervenes. We all know that there are grievances for all people in Yemen, but these should be resolved peacefully.”
YOUR NEW NEWSPAPER
The Facts As They Are
Pho
to H
owai
s
Old but far from out: An old woman at the old Souk of Bab al-Yemen is still struggling to keep her business rolling despite the spread of modern day utensils and other kitchenware.
Despite the political directions to discuss and resolve the General Union of Yemen Workers’ claims, and despite the president’s memorandum to the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Civil Service, and the Ministry of Social Affairs & Labor to quickly resolve the issues and claims of the union according to the effective laws issued on 23/5/2010, the strike is still the focus of discussion between the government authorities and the union. On that, Mr. Mohammed Al-Jadri, President of the General Union of Yemen Workers Syndicates, confirmed that the percentage of the general strike carried out by the unionists reached 78% all over the country.Al-Jadri stressed that the strike will continue until the union’s claims are settled according to the president’s directions in a memorandum dated 8th May of this year to the Prime Minister, which stated that the union’s claims raised to HE the president
must be settled.Al-Jadri revealed that the Prime Minister gave directions to the
ministers of Finance, Civil Service and Social Affairs to hastily execute the president’s directions,
upon which a meeting between the union and the governmental side was held last Wednesday. It was agreed to suspend the meeting until Sunday to give a chance to the governmental side to study the workers’ claims. Al-Jadri expressed his optimism of the results of Sunday’s meeting. He reiterated the union’s persistence to those claims raised since the protest badges were put on until the general strike.In relation to some syndicates and unions’ non-abidance by the call to the strike, especially in the northern governorates, Al-Jadri said that some syndicates and unions belong to parties and are not under the umbrella of the General Union. Those did not come out on strike because they work according to their party’s instructions. He mentioned some of those syndicates and unions like Yemen Teachers Syndicate, the Engineers Syndicate and the Doctors Syndicate.
Sunday, May 30, 2010 www.nationalyemen.com2 ADVERTISMENTS
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Dr. Ahmed Al-QoyadhiEducation Editor
Najla’a Al-ShaibaniSocial Editor
Mohammed Al-BahriSports Editor
Khaled Al-SofiSeniorTranslator
Khaled Al-SofiSeniorTranslator
Ali Abdullah AjlanIT Editor
NationalYemen
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National Yemen appeared on May 22, 2010 with aspirations to make a difference in the arena of English newspapers in Yemen, by employing quality and profes-sionalism. As the fourth English Speaking newspaper in Yemen, NY introduced its first issues at the right time when all friends, readers, consultants and advertis-ers have blessed the debut NY.
It was a challenge to come up with a distinguished first issue with fine articles such as those on Armed Yemeni Women: Fashion-able Defense, Al-Qaeda in Marib:
Fact or Fiction, a special report on the history of Yemeni Unity, as well as contributions from foreign ambassadors to Yemen on the oc-casion of celebrating 20 years of national unity.
The slogan of the newspaper, “The facts, as they are”, means that our newspaper intends to strive to maintain its standards high, and to deliver journalism beyond expectations, and beyond that, in order to keep its friends and readers satisfied. Indeed, this is an arduous and challenging mission to undertake in a coun-try like ours, given the scarcity of highly qualified human resources and an unenviable economic situ-ation. However, we have a strong will to continue in this mission and become Yemen’s premier source of factual news.
We have chosen to use high qual-ity printing paper - as one of the differentiation factors of our newspaper - because we want our readers to feel that they are deal-ing with a real paper that endeav-ors to keep a high profile and to maintain total satisfaction of all our readers.
Rizg al-Surmi, the Capital Sec-retariat Deputy Mayor, described presence of agents of large trad-ing houses in Yemen as an impor-tant development tributary and an investment branch of that should find help to overcome all their difficulties.
The Ministry of Trade and Indus-try should support businessmen and facilitate their tasks so as to attract more global trade firms to activate their roles in more than a field, said al-Surmi at the open-ing the new showroom of Queen Saba, agents of the Swiss Rado watches in Yemen.
Al-Surmi added that the Capital Secretariat would do their best to spare investors handicaps that are caused by their local authorities or executive officials such as the taxes, customs, the municipalities or the alms duties and stressing that the Capital Secretariat will play their role in facilitation and development of the country’s in-vestment resources. Al-Surmi lauded Rado watches, as they are the oldest brand that gained good reputation in Yemen as well as it is the well-known brand of watches that have spread in the country.
They are of the best global brands and the most wide spread in Ye-men, al-Surmi said, adding that they are the brand that never fails you. Shafiq, The Rado Dubai Of-fice Regional Manager said that Rado has renewed their agency in Yemen in collaboration with Queen Saba watches, adding that they are seeking to resume their activities by opening many
branches in the capital Sana’a and other governorate, as Lames al-Alaia has also emphasized this.
He pointed out that Rado is among the top ten global watch makers in the world, established in 1957and was distinguished within five years by manufactur-ing the first scratch proof watch. Rado has marketed their first ce-ramic watch in 2004. Rado and was elected as the most and pow-erful watch in 1980, Shafiq said, adding that Rado is characterized with its simple design, suitable prices that are accessible by the middle classes.
Rado has spent50 million Emirate Dirham on marketing, said Shafiq explaining that Rado is one of the top three companies that place the middle east market on top of their interest, showing that Rado owns six thousand sales points the world ove and the deal with 220 million agents with a daily sale to 1000 people everyday.
Shafiq disclosed that Rado would send new designs on next Sep-tember and October as well as a new product next year.
Lamis Alaia, from the Rado agency in Yemen emphasized that their agency will provide the Ye-meni customers with the best ser-vices in terms of sales services, the best the up to date models as well as the post sales services.Alia ensured that their agency is the top in Middle East, and that it will continue their pioneering progress that distinguishes the quality of their products and ser-vices to their Yemeni customers.
§Release of Al-Lasoos came after a presidential pardon issued by President Ali Abdullah Saleh on 20th anniversary of the Yemeni Unity. This pardon included those journalists and newspapers that are being sued.Three more journalists are expected to be released shortly, but this matter has been delayed due to administrative procedures taking place in the office of Attorney-General and the Ministry of Justice.On the same day, Journalist Sami Ghalib, Chief Editor of Al-Nida’a Newspaper and other four journalists in the newspaper: Abdul-Aziz Al-Majidi, Shafie Al-Abd, Mayfa’ Abdul-Rahman, received a 3-month suspension by the Yemeni Journalism Court, while Al-Share’ Newspaper journalists were acquitted from the charges against them. This sentence came after two days of the presidential directive to close the case files of the newspapers and journalists and to release currently imprisoned journalists.Journalist Sami Ghalib said to the National Yemen, “We were shocked at today’s sentence because a hearing session was supposed to be held yesterday according to the last adjourning by the judge. The sentence was adjourned three times and yesterday we went to court and the judge did not show up.” He added, “We were surprised that the newspaper was charged on counts of libel and defamation of Yemen’s unification, as well as the publishing of false news and inciting fanaticism. I was, along with four other colleagues and one writer, sentenced to serve time in prison.” He indicated that he did not review the details of the sentence but he said that “the prosecution failed for five
months to provide any proof of the charges, and added that anybody can look at the case file for themselves as we will publish
it on the newspaper’s website.” In relation to the presidential pardon to journalists and closing their case files, Sami Ghalib said, “Unfortunately, the Minister of Justice, Dr. Ghazi Al-Aghbari, who is a profound man of law, tried to justify the presidential decision of pardon, but was unsuccessful. We plead not guilty. Constitutionally and legally the president does not have the right to include us in the presidential decision because this decision is effective on those who received final verdicts. All my colleagues who are in prison are not guilty because they either have other cases or they do not have any or received sentence in the Preliminary Court.”Currently three more journalists: Fuad Rashed, Chief Editor of Al-Mukalla Press Website, Salah Al-Saqladi and Ahmed Al-Rubaizi
are expected to be released.The president had given directions to close the case file of the writer Mohammed Al-Maqaleh, who was sentenced to six months in prison and released after the war of S’aada. The writer Mu’adh Al-Ashhabi, who was sentenced for writing offensively about religion, and the chief editor of the southern Al-Ay-yam Newspaper and his son were also released by a presidential pardon.This coincides with the fact that a number of journalists are still forbidden from writing or running newspapers by judicial decisions. Among those are Sameer Jubran, the founder and owner of Al-Masdar Newspaper. He was forbidden from writing and from managing his newspaper. The same thing applies to the publisher Naif Hassan, Chief Editor and Publisher of Al-Nida’a, Al-Masdar, Al-Share’, Al-Dyar and other newspapers who has been recently sued but also released by the presidential pardon. The decision states that those case files shall be closed.Quite natural Board Member of the Yemeni Journalists Mr. Nabil Al-Asidi said to the National Yemen newspaper that the release of the journalists is a quite natural course of action, because without the generosity of the president those journalists were arrested, questioned and imprisoned for their views published in newspapers. This matter is a violation of the unity’s constitution, which guarantees freedom of opinion and expression. He added, “Those lawsuits were accompanied by a lot of political and malicious circumstances in what looks like an official campaign against journalists and freedom of opinion and expression, by
putting journalism and opposing opinion in a corner. The thing that proves this very well is the recent verdict, which is sentencing our colleague Husein Al-Lasoos to a year in prison and forbidding him from writing. Mr. Nabil considered this kind of verdict as an example intended to intimidate journalists, as some judicial sources agreed too.He indicated that the circumstances in which those journalists were arrested and sued were not based on any law, including the Law of Journalism and Publications that is in effect the law upon which we, in the Journalists Syndicate, have many remarks. It is a law restricting journalism, while new laws are being cooked up for journalism and media from various authorities in the government. Those authorities completely refuse to discuss the Law of Journalism prepared by the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate.Mr. Al-Asidi said, “We want to remind the president that two years ago he issued a directive that journalists should not be imprisoned. This declaration has never seen light until now, neither legislatively nor conventionally or even symbolically.” He expressed his gratitude to President Saleh for giving directions to release the journalists: “I wish this release is not just a temporary exercise and then later we will still witness a series of pursuits, harassments and prosecutions of journalists re-emerge because of which we would only again have to wait for another pardon and presidential favour, especially that the decision included journalists who have law suits in courts and are convicted for public rights offenses. We fear that those law suits may touch the private sector, too, by orders from the authority itself.”
Fakhri al-ArashiPublisher & Chief Editor
The current press situation and the presidential pardon to JournalistsThanks to all,
Rado Agency New Investment
Ghamdan Al-Yosofi
Journalist Husein Al-Lasoos was released on Monday from the Central Prison in the Capital, Sana’a, after 22 days detention. He was sentenced by the Head of the Journalism Court to a year and abstention of writing.
‘The president had given directions to close the case file of the writer Mohammed Al-Maqaleh, who was sentenced to six months in prison and released after the war of S’aada.
Sunday, May 30, 2010 www.nationalyemen.com4
During the award ceremony in Sana’a, Al-Maqaleh dedicated half of the prize money to support outstanding literary works annually in poetry, novels and short stories in Yemen.
Al-Maqaleh, born in 1937, earned a doctorate from Egypt’s ‘Ain Shams University in 1977, then served as President of Sana’a University from 1982 to 2001. He is a member of the Language Academy of Cairo and Damascus, and has written 14 poetry anthologies, 25 critical and intellectual literary studies. In turn, nine studies have been conducted on his poetry anthologies.
He previously won several national and international awards, including the Lotus Award in 1986, the UNESCO Arab Culture Award in Paris in 2002, the Knight Award of the first rank in literature and the arts from the French government in 2003, and the Arab Culture Award of the Arab Organisation for Education, Science and Culture in 2004.
We met with Dr. Abdul Aziz Al-Maqaleh to discuss his literature and the importance of supporting creative artists.
What does the Al-Owais Award mean to you?
Perhaps such cultural initiatives, in their essence and meaning, reflect an appreciation of poetry itself, as the premier Arab art. The status of poetry, with such initiatives, returns to the forefront of Arab culture, in which poetry assumes a leading role in serving the causes of our nation and our communities.
The recognition that I am receiving today is a gift to Yemen, to my country, which nourishes me and lives within me just as I live in it. This country, to whose mountains, valleys and villages I whispered my poetry to, and whose events and issues brought me to maturity. It is from this country which I began my journey and in which I am proud my poetry, my prose and, indeed, my entire intellectual life exists in.
This award is also a gift to my family, who tolerated my preoccupations and devotions to my poetry and its issues. I consider this award an opportunity to express my appreciation and gratitude. Frankly, even this would not be enough to thank them for all that they did in order to provide the amenable conditions which helped realise my work all these years. Thus, I am not acting excessively in allocating half the value of this award to my family, while the second part will go
to my second family, a family of Yemeni poets and writers who are pursuing aesthetic endeavours and ascending the ladder of creativity.
What is your assessment of the literary situation in Yemen?
The poetry scene in our country is not much different than in other Arab countries in terms of its strengths and weaknesses, and in its presence and its absence. But in recent years, I have noticed a rise of a new, young poetry movement led by female poets that offers a new distinctive voice in this field, which has been dominated by men for a long time; a long absence that cannot be broken by two or more female poets alone, throughout the entire ancient and medieval history of this country.
“The literary reality is a reflection of public life.” Is this statement applicable to the literature of our time? Creativity is an indirect reflection of the conditions in the Arab world, that is, on a national level. Whenever problems
and challenges multiply and
escalate, the need for people to express them heightens endlessly. Creative artists are best at expressing that. But if those problems reach a critical and violent point, as is the case in the Arab world now, creative endeavour stands confused and unable to change, and that affects the literary situation now, even if the voice of poetry remains strong and clear in the
face of these challenges, and in its warning of the dangers facing the Arab world, both as a whole as well as each individual country.
Many talk about the difficult living conditions for most writers, believing that literature cannot provide a livelihood.
There is an old Arab saying repeated in books and on the tongues of creative artists, “The craft of literature caught up with him.” Those who take literature as their profession face suffering and unenviable living conditions, and that saying seems to still be valid for us Arabs, although there are exceptions. Perhaps the awards came to offer some of these writers some stability in their life, keeping them away from destitution and hardships, particularly writers and poets in the Arab world whose number does not exceed, even in the best conditions, more than about one percent of the population, according to some statistics.
Do the relevant government agencies fulfil their role in
strengthening and revitalising the literary movement?
That is the duty of the organisations, and the ministries of culture were established to foster creative artists, promote arts and literature, and encourage talent. But it seems that some ministries have not understood their primary mission thus far, and their budgets do not allow them to take care of all creative artists in the Arab world.
What about the Al-Maqaleh Award and why?
It is my duty towards the new generation of creative artists, whether in poetry, novels or short stories, to devote half of the prize money given to me by the Al-Owais Foundation to the best collection of poems, the best novel and the best collection of short stories each year. A committee was formed to direct this and evaluate the works nominated to win. This is the least that can be done to support and to foster an active literary movement.
Jewish tunes with Yemeni lyrics, produced inTel Aviv, distributed in Sana’a
ARTS & CULTURE
Almost two years ago, the Israeli TV showed the song “Sana’a Be-ladi Thaniah” which translates as “Sana’a, my second home”. It was sung by a Jewish singer of Yemeni origins. Whilst Yemenis did not see the song at that time, an unknown producer made the song and sold on its CDs, dis-tributing them in Yemen. Subse-quently Yemenis were endeared to the song, and this was what started a trend in CDs and tape cassettes of Jewish singers with Yemeni origins, whose fast beat attracts the younger generation.There are songs with Yemeni lyr-ics on Jewish tunes, produced in Tel Aviv and distributed in Sana’a. Despite the fact that these tapes and CDs are prohibit-ed distribution in Yemen as they are considered to be a plagiarism of Yemeni lyrics and tunes, they can be obtained with little ef-fort. The CD venders and radio owners have rushed to offer a number of copies of such songs, which they sell to thousands of people every year, a student who asked not to be named said. “The most popular female Jewish singers are Shama’ah , Bint Sa-lem and the international singer Afra’a Hasan Haza’a. The big-gest Yemeni audience - the youth - come looking for these CDs be-cause they match their taste. CD
shops and radio owners believe that Jewish singers have devel-oped the Yemeni song, and have made it popular in Yemen, Israel, and even European countries. For example, Afra’s song “Aim Nane’ilwa”, which is a song from Yemen’s heritage but sung in Hebrew, received the Eurovi-sion Award,” the student added
While he was buying a number of CDs for Jewish singers, Fuad Qasem adds, “These songs are magnificent and performed in a contemporary manner, although the original musical notes come from the Yemeni song heritage. Yet, these Jewish singers have a right to perform Yemeni songs, simply because they have Ye-meni origins.”
Fuad Alkibsi, a Yemeni singer, considers what the Jewish sing-ers do as exploitation of Yemen’s songs; due to the fact that they are played with modern musi-cal instruments and because those singers cannot be touched by a court of law which might contest the rights to the songs, which are themselves of Yemeni heritage – not Israeli.” He says, “They perform the songs with such a strong accent and do not understand what the lyrics really mean, especially those who were
born in Israel.”
Abbas Ali Alshebami, a re-searcher, who wrote a book about the Jews of Yemen, says that Yemenis in Israel formed musical bands for dancing and singing. Among those bands is “Anbal”, which is supervised by Sara Levi Tanay. “Yemeni songs became very popular within the local arts community, and they are exported from Israel as Is-raeli art.”, he adds. But the mod-ern Jewish song is not entirely detached from the Yemeni origi-nality; Songs of Yemeni heritage
do not yieldbend to their perfor-mance by musical instruments. In fact, what happens is the op-posite; the musical instruments adapt to the lyrics themselves, and mood of the singer. The at-tempts of Yemeni-Israeli singers who study arts in Israel to adopt Yemeni songs have exceeded ex-perience. The popularity of such songs proves that Yemeni music possesses spontaneous zest and original tones.
Those singers encounter various obstacles, such as the local dia-lect and also the lyrics come only
from the force and type of emo-tion expressed by local Yemenis, in a certain linguistic manner. ” He continued, “any attempt to imitate the Yemeni song is clear-ly apparent. For example, the word Ain, of which the first letter is pronounced in the soft palate, is pronounced like ‘Ain, which is a glottal stop sound. When old Jewish singers, who were born in Yemen, sing, they conform to the Yemeni dialect completely.”
Ali Abdul-Qader, Deputy Man-ager of the Arts Categorization Management in the Ministry
of Culture, confirms that those songs are prohibited from dis-tribution in Yemen and that the ministry executes, from time to time, search campaigns on stereo and CD shops to make sure the market is free from such songs, because they are considered to be a violation of cultural rights to our heritage and singers, when they are attributed to Israeli art. He indicates that the ministry does not mind distribution of songs that come into the country through legal means via a license to record those songs, but this happens only rarely.”
By listening to many songs, it has been noticed that the topics of songs which singers in Israel sing are various: some songs fo-cus on love; others on emigra-tion and homesickness; others focus on nature. Other songs are known to Yemeni singers in Ye-men are performed in the same musical notes with a difference in tone, which stirs the anger of Yemeni singers like Ayoob Taresh Absi, a great singer, who made many complaints to the Ye-meni Ministry of Culture, asking to withdraw the songs which im-itate his songs from the market and prohibit their distribution.
Al-Maqaleh awarded Al-Owais poetry prizeThe Al-Owais Cultural Foundation, based in the
United Arab Emirates, recently gave its 11th annual poetry award to Yemeni poet Dr. Abdul Aziz Al-Maqaleh for his contribution to the fields of literature and poetry in the Arab world.
Abu Aboud
Nagla‘a Ali Al-Shaibani
‘It is from this country which I began my journey and in which I am proud my po-etry, my prose and, indeed, my entire intellectual life exists in.
Sunday, May 30, 2010 www.nationalyemen.com 5SOCIAL
Qat markets in cities are dense-ly crowded with many of them, as are roundabouts where they wash cars or take up begging as a means to make ends meet by re-lying Yemeni people’ clemency, whom they describe as “kind helping the weak”.
Sea Passers, although multina-tional generally come from the same area of the volatile and war ridden Horn of Africa, leaving their homes with big dreams of safety and wealth. To achieve this, they endure the perilous sea journey which often claims their lives ironically in their quest to stay alive. We looked for them and met some in one of the an-cient houses in a lively area of Sana’a, the capital of Yemen.
They welcomed us and sum-marized their sufferings through four of them who volunteered to be the protagonists of the story. It is the suffering of a large and growing group who chose to confront death and to win a bet-ter life. Before engaging further, let us introduce our heroes: Mousa is a worker in a private cleaning company. He is married and a fa-ther of two girls. He is received a secondary level education and has a family consisting of seven children and a mother to whom he is the only provider or bread-winner after the death of his fa-ther. His family was poor and could not afford paying educa-tional expenses, so he did not have the chance to finish his edu-cation.He went abroad twice with his wife crossing Somalia to the Yemeni coast of the Hadram-out governorate, and from there to Haradh city from which they snuck into Jaizan, in Saudi Ara-bia to spend two years before they were deported to their home country. The second time round, he traveled through Djibouti to Mukha, where he has been settled for four months now. He hopes to receive asylum. He and his wife have a room in a house shared with an Ethiopian family.
Hadiah, Mousa’s wife, is a maid for a Yemeni family. She is a mother of two daughters. She is illiterate and, like Kusa, came from a poor background. She accompanied her husband in his two journeys to Jaizan Saudi Arabia, the first time of which she worked as a maid for a Saudi family before they became vic-tims of a deportation campaign carried out by the Saudi Pass-ports & Immigration force. She lives with her husband leaving behind her one and a half year-old daughter with her mother.
Shi Mils works for a private cleaning company. He is newly married (about six months ago) educated and was an employ-ee in Ethiopia having his own business there but was arrested on political charges in a deten-tion facility, which resulted in the loss of his employment and business. He was about to lose his life in prison. He accompa-nied Mousa and his wife in their journey to al-Mukha, which was his first journey, where he was arrested on arrival and then re-leased. He reflected on his life in Yemen and the immigration see-
ing it as nothing compared to the injustice and difficulties he faced back in his home country.
Blainsh is working as a maid for a Yemeni family. She is married and has two children; the young-est is one year old. She dreams of wealth and a change for the best. Leaving behind a husband and children, she underwent an experience along with her friend crossing the Somali lands to the Hadramout in a fateful journey in which only seven people (five men and two women includ-ing herself) from the original 47 passengers survived. She suffers from a bad psychological condi-tion and still holds painful mem-ories of her journey. She was res-cued only by prompt help from her husband’s relatives who live in Yemen Presently she is pack-ing to start her journey to Saudi Arabia with smugglers. She lost much of what was dear to her, for the sake of her journey. The heaviest of her losses being her daughter, who passed away largely due to the emigration.
Emigration motives I was greatly astonished to be in-formed that some of those whom I met had faced this experience twice. They told me about others who underwent this hardship ten times and with passing of time, have become part of expatriation experience. They also became guides for novice “Sea Passers” in their journeys and adventures which often cost them their lives. But what could be the reasons pushing sensible men to throw themselves into this bitter ex-perience? And what incentives lie behind their desire to bear such suffering? Although every-one we have met has his or her own reasons and motives, they all attributed it to poverty, un-employment and a lack of work opportunities. Mousa and his wife believe that these are the core reasons, adding, “the lack of work opportunities, high cost of living, the bad economic situ-ation, wrong governmental poli-cies which exacerbate people’s sufferings, push us to leave our country and bear the burden of emigration seeking a decent life and better future for our children, at our own expense”. Blanish added, “the big ambition to im-prove the economic situation for an individual and the experience of former passengers who suf-fered in their journey but came back with wealth changed theirs and their families’ life are the real reasons behind pushing the ma-jority to emigration and risk sea crossing. There’s also the avail-ability of work opportunities in Yemen and Gulf countries, and even though these opportunities are negligible, they are still bet-ter than nothing. All of us dream of improving their financial con-dition and change our life and the lives of all people around. This is a sufficient reason to seize this kind of opportunity.”
There are various reasons and motives other than the dream of wealth; some people we met had left their home fleeing death in political prisons, among them was Shi Mels who says, “I did not leave my country because of poverty; I was an employee and had my own business that could
guarantee a good life despite the hardship of the economic situa-tion and the high cost of living due to the government’s mis-takes in ruling our country. I am one of the youth who were im-prisoned after the violence that erupted in the wake of election in which EPRDF, the current ruling party won. I was charged with resisting the system and engag-ing in acts of sabotage. I did not belong to an opposition party but at the same time I am not satis-fied with the performance of the ruling party. I openly expressed my opinion, overwhelmed by the political propaganda published by the system and their promise of democracy; it seemed a demo-cratic system, but in reality it was persecution, corruption and apartheid. I almost died in pris-on; I faced the specter death in detention facility, after I lost ev-erything, I decided to escape and seek better life, one with safety and freedom.” Whatever the reasons are, the political situation of neighbor-ing countries is the key cause of peoples’ suffering a phantasma-goria of civil wars and failing po-litical systems unable to run the country and guarantee a decent life for their peoples; No wonder why the problem escalates daily, and the number of ‘Sea Passers’ increases day after day.
Path of the Journey:According to the people who ex-perienced the sea crossing years and months ago the routes have changed. The first is from the So-mali coasts to Hadramout coast, which is a very long, albeit well-used, way, Voyages usually last for 75 hours of sailing, and it is a journey full of risks and pain. What makes this route even more dangerous is that such trips are usually run by Somali pirates.
The second route is newer and shorter. It is from Djibouti to the coasts of al-Makha city, which takes only six hours and the trips are run by Yemeni fishermen and sailors. Mousa said, “The trips have become very different. On our first journey, we sneaked to the coasts through Jijiga city lo-cated in Ogaden territory, a dis-puted area between Somalia and Ethiopia, and then we traveled in groups to Archek city in Soma-lia and then through Somali sea brokers, agents, pirates etc. to the Yemen coasts in Hadramout and Shabwah. This route is con-trolled by merciless Somalis. It is so dangerous. Passengers are jammed in shabby 4 X 2.5 maters wooden boats, two meters deep. The boats usually have old and faulty engines and are covered on the sides with plastic sheets to keep water out of the engine. The boat is driven by five pirates, two are either side carrying fire arms, while the fifth is in charge of maintaining the balance of the
boat. He carries a cable to beat whoever moves. Pirates smoke cannabis heavily, I believe that it is the cannabis which grants them courage to brave death and turns them to heartless when dealing with passengers as pieces of fur-niture that could be thrown into the water to keep the balance of the w§eight”. He continued, “But the journey became much safer and easier, and the number
of passengers has gradually in-creased since the kind Yemeni fishermen have engaged in this business transferring passen-gers on fishing boats. They do not smoke cannabis and they fear God. Their boats are new and never overloaded. They use shortcuts through Aioa city or Tadjoura city in Djibouti, to the coasts of al-Makha city in a jour-ney that lasts only six hours,” Shi Mels described the journey. He added, “Yemeni fishers are better than the Somali fishers. They allow us to eat and drink. In our journey, we were on a large boat called Phebler Jlas and there were around 60 on board. The most important thing about the Djibouti route is that it is safer and you could ensure you have access to the coast and walk on its soil. But the Somalis get throw passengers off the boat 400-500 meter away from the coast for fear of being caught by police. And those who refused to get off the boat are whisked off the beaches or capsize the boat and escaped. They are really vio-lent and mean killers”.
Journey Risks:The journeys, both through Dji-bouti or Somali, are fraught with risks involving death, persecu-tion, rape, robbery, health dete-rioration, mental disorder, ner-vous breakdown, and suicidal inclination. The description of all these risks was the hardest part to
talk about, for those passengers whom I met. Their words came with tears when they recollected the risks, and how it was only divine grace which saved their lives. Mousa takes the lead to describe the risks of the journey saying,”the risk begins from the first moment one decides to emi-grate. The danger lies in the way of emigration that one is being smuggled by out-law people. The biggest risks we run throughout the journey is being arrested and death, both of which we face at every moment. Most of the pas-sengers died or got lost in the desert. Only bodies were found, and some have not return to their families since their emigration ten years ago, some ending their journey before it started because either they ran out of money or were robbed. Most of them live in the cities and cannot return to their families or continue their journey to the other side of the sea. During our first journey, we were 120 women and men on board of a very old, small boat for three continuous days. The sun’s heat, the sea’s salinity and choppy waters broke our skin the scars are still visible to date. We suffered hunger and thirst. We saw food before us but we could not eat because we were banned to make any move. You should stick to the one next to you the whole time in one position other-wise you would be beaten with a cable. The cable was the instant response. If someone speaks, complains or does not obey or-ders, they are killed immediately and thrown into the sea. The So-malis killed one of the passen-gers and threw him into the sea before my eyes because when he complained.” Mousa cried. He could not complete his talk, so Blainsh continued with tears in her eyes,” I will never ever forget the moment the Somalis asked us to get off the boat before we reached the coast. One of the passengers complained and said the agreement was to reach the coast; the Somalis answered him with a bullet in his leg and threw him to the sea. The pirates dived under the boat and capsized it with all people inside it. Sudden-ly we found ourselves in the sea; I swam with all my strength. I was hearing voices cry for help. I went on swimming until sunrise. I fainted and when I woke up, I found the bodies of some of the people who were with me in the same boat and some others were burying other bodies. I will never forget the view of the heaped-up bodies on shore. It was a painful view and I suffered a lot because of it. I received medication for four months. Even now I still see them every night in my dreams as nightmares.”
The Journey System:The journeys are seemingly ran-dom and improvised, however,
it is subject to a particular sys-tem run by “sea princes” or pi-rate owned boats, crew, agents, guards, prisons and particular camps to gather the passengers from both the African and the Yemeni sides. They have their private channels of communica-tion and secret agreements. It is a big business controlled by pi-rate groups. Their financial sys-tem for this inhumane profession relies on remittances. They use the latest fashion of communica-tion techniques within a strong, but secretive, network of public relations that enable them to fa-cilitate the journey. Mousa com-ments , “Some Somali sea mas-ters come to the bigger cities in Ethiopia to know the number of passengers and collect the mon-ey. Each journey costs ETB 2500 ($400) per each Ethiopian. Then they determine the names and the places of the agents who would carry out the task of transferring the traveling groups to departure beaches where moored fishing boats owned by the sea maters are awaiting them. The journey sets off and ends at night, cross-ing borders from one point to another. Gathering points are set in populated places. There is a contact between pirates of the African coasts and those on Ye-meni coasts who would receive the boats at specified, previously agreed points. Then they pick up passengers in trucks to specific gathering camps belonging to the Yemeni ‘sea master’ in which passengers are sorted and clas-sified into two groups: the first are those who have remittances; these people are treated well until the remittance of SR 600 is deliv-ered to the sea master, who then secures their transfer until they reach Haradh from where they will cross the borders to Saudi Arabia with their family and se-cure their arrival in Sana’a. The second group is those passengers who do not have remittances. They are frisked and robbed of everything in pockets, which is usually everything that they own, and if they have nothing, they are detained in special cells or are thrown out of the camp and reported to the authorities; some die of thirst and hunger.All that I have heard from those people shocked me deeply. Un-doubtedly, this is a very serious and grave phenomenon, which carries a lot of causalities. Our country suffers from this crisis but I concluded that these people have their reasons and motives that force them to bear these hardships, even to the point of facing death. In the name of these people and on their request, I call upon UN-HCR to grant refugee status for those who applied for asylum because delay in processing their application only exacerbates their sufferings.
Sea Crossing: A Death Wish“Sea Passers”, they are called or at best titled by
the majority, remarkably exist in our civil society. Most of them have settled in refugee camps that belong to the kings of the sea, “pirates” awaiting a remittance to see them through to the town of Haradh then onwards to Saudi Arabia or to help them reach their families in Yemen.
Mansour Othman Mohammed
‘“My first journey was on board of a boat loaded with 120 passengers in rows, like sardines, staying motionless for 72 hours.”
Sunday, May 30, 2010 www.nationalyemen.com6 POLITICSS
Sudan and Yemen have a strong relation that dates back tens of thousands of years. In both countries old kingdoms have flourished, for example Merwe in Sudan and Sheba in Yemen, and in both women rulers domi-nated. The Red Sea links the two countries, on which lay the port of Izzab, which was the main trade hub where spices, coffee, ivory and gold were exchanged and transported using sea routes as well as caravans. In recent times large numbers of Yemenis and Suda-nese interchanged between both counties, exchanging economic
and culture benefits. There were times when in Sudan most of the shop keepers in Khartoum were Yemenis, and times where the majority of teachers in Yemen used to be Sudanese. Politically speaking the relationship between Sudan and Yemen is excellent and this bi-lateral relationship itself is sup-ported by the political leadership in both countries, and currently there are many protocols and agreements in place between the two which are facilitated by both regional and international organizations, like the Arab league, the OIC, the NAM and Sana’a forum for economic co-operation. Yemen and Sudan face many challenges, and in both instanc-es the issue of unity is para-mount. The Southern movement in Yemen and the issue of South Sudan represent challenges to both countries, but demonstrate how nations can remain intact. In this era of globalization, and as many collective groupings of countries into Unions (e.g. EU or the African Union), unity is the best way to go for both Su-dan and Yemen to serve their national and economic interests. The European Union is a good example not only for Sudan and Yemen, but also for the Arab
World where all elements of a successful union are clearly vis-ible.
Yemen and Sudan face other significant challenges, namely the threat of piracy which poses great difficulty to the strategic interests of both countries. In addition, the Huthi movement and the rebels in Darfur, the ref-ugees in both countries and hu-man trafficking all require close cooperation between Sudan and Yemen.
Yemen and Sudan together have great potential to forge a strong economic relationship which will reinforce the current stand-ing of its political and diplomatic relationship. The abundance of water and fertile land in Sudan can be utilized to supply Yemen with basic food items and in re-turn the clever Yemeni farmers who conquered mountains can do wonders in cultivating the flat plains of Sudan. Both coun-tries are required to work hard to realize the huge potentials which exist if the two can work in concert with each other. The Red Sea should not be seen as a natural barrier between the two, but rather it should be viewed as a symbolic and a bridge of trade, economic exchanges and smart partnerships.
There have been very positive steps have been achieved, espe-cially during the recent period, toward developing Turkish rela-tions, both on bilateral and mul-tilateral platforms, with the Arab world, a world which Turkey enjoys deeply rooted historical, cultural, social and religious ties. Establishment of lasting peace and stability in the geo-graphic region is an goal that we share with the Arab world, and forms one of the main priorities in Turkey‘s foreign policy.
At a time when the world in general and the Middle East in particular pass through an ex-tremely critical period, Turkey attaches great importance to close dialogue and cooperation with the Arab states. As one of the strategic components of the Middle East, Turkey has taken important steps over the last few year to develop and diversify its relations, both on bilateral and multilateral basis, with the Arab World.
On this basis, Turkey is striv-ing to develop its relationships with the honorable country of Yemen, of which Turkey also
enjoys deep-running historical ties. Prime Minister Erdoǧan‘s visit to Yemen in October 2005 and President Ali Abdullah Saleh‘s official visit to Turkey in February 2008 both repre-sented turning points in our re-lations.
Economic cooperation Turkey wishes to play a sig-nificant role in Yemen‘s de-velopment and it has pledged 1 million Dollars to be used in Yemen‘s development proj-ects. It will partly be used to furnish the Technical School in Sana‘a. The Fourth Joint Eco-nomic Committee that was held in October 2008 was in impor-tant step in our endeavors to increase the trade volume be-tween our countries. Our trade volume stood at $ 380 million last year, which has the potential to be magnified, diversified, and enhanced for both sides in the future. We are happy that there is determination to get more Turkish investment in Yemen. In this framework, the Turkish-Yemeni Business Council is op-erating diligently in the fields of trade and investment in both countries.
Turkey actively supports the ”Friends of Yemen Group” pro-cess which has been formed during the Yemen Conference in London in January, 2010. In this manner Turkey decided to be the team leader for the topic “ The Improvement of the In-vestment Conditions” under the auspices of the “ Economy and Governance Working Group”.
Security CooperationTurkey attaches great signifi-cance to an ongoing coopera-tion with Yemen in the field of security. The legal basis of our security cooperation was
established with an agreement signed between the Ministries of Interior of the two countries in 2004. “The Agreement on the Cooperation in Military Fields
of Training, Techniques and Science,” which was signed in 2002, was ratified on the Turk-ish side in the same year. That agreement, which constitutes a concrete ground for military cooperation between the two countries, will come into force after ratification on the Yemeni side.
The abundance of piracy off the coast of Somalia continues to be a serious threat to international maritime safety and security, particularly to vessels traffick-ing through the Aden Gulf. Tur-key fully recognizes the need for robust international coop-eration and coordination to cope with this multi-dimensional and complex issue; we therefore welcomed the adoption of the UN security Resolution 1851 (2008). The resolution estab-lishes a sound basis for inter-national cooperation and solid guidance in eliminating the am-biguities concerning the pros-ecution of pirates and related legal and procedural challenges. We fully support the implemen-tation of this resolution. We also welcome the establishment of the Contact Group on Somali Piracy (CGSP) pursuant to the resolution. We believe, through the work of this Group, acts of piracy off the coast of Somalia and the Aden Gulf will be bet-ter addressed and efforts to curb this threat will be more effec-tively coordinated.
Turkey views the acts of vio-lence targeting the political stability of this friendly and brotherly country in the past months with concern. It is Tur-key’s sincere hope that the un-fortunate events taking place for some time now in Yemen, which has an important position in its region, will come to an
end as quickly as possible. Ye-men’s stability is important for the whole region’s peace and stability. Turkey supports Ye-men’s national unity, territorial integrity and stability.
Education and Health Co-operation In accordance with the “Ex-ecutive Program for Coopera-tion in the Field of Education, Higher Education and Scien-tific Research” between the two countries, Turkish Government grants each year, a total of 25 scholarships to the Government of the Republic of Yemen, out of which 15 are earmarked for undergraduate study and 10 are reserved for doctorate or mas-ter’s degree.
Our cooperation in the field of Health is continuing. ‘The Agreement Concerning the Co-operation in the Area of Health between Turkey and Yemen’ signed in 2008, has been ratified by both countries and has come into force. In the framework of this agreement, every year 25 Yemeni patients who cannot be cured in Yemen have the oppor-tunity to be treated by a Turk-ish health delegation consisting of 22 doctors. The delegation has realized a series of medi-cal operations (total 192) in the Sana’a, Ibb and Hadramout governorates.
Cooperation in Interna-tional IssuesThe cooperation between Tur-key and Yemen in international platforms is admirable. Yemen has extended her valuable sup-port to Turkey at the UN Se-curity Council election. We are looking forward to working with brotherly Yemen on an is-sue of common concern during Turkey’s membership at the Se-curity Council.
Turkey has established an insti-tutional framework for its rela-tion with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) by signing an MoU on ‘Strategic Dialogue’ in September 2008. This mecha-nism, the first of its kind that the GCC has signed with a third country, provides Turkey with an effective mechanism to take up matters concerning our re-gion. Turkey supports the ac-cession of Yemen into the GCC and believes that the security, stability and the prosperity of the Gulf region is crucial for the all world.
With a Turkish Secretary Gen-eral at its helm until 2013, Tur-key has assumed a more active role in the OIC, the largest in-ternational organization after the United Nation, and has been a strong advocate for reforms in the organization. As a result of the reform process the OIC is increasingly becoming a more dynamic and effective interna-tional player.
As a country which enjoys ex-emplary relations with Yemen based on a long and deeply root-ed common history, Turkey will continue its contributions to the development efforts of brother-ly and friendly Yemen to bring prosperity to its people.
With our sincerest sentiments, on the occasion of National Day of the Republic of Yemen, it gives me great pleasure to ex-tend my unabashed congratula-tions, and to express our deter-mination to expand cooperation between our countries in all fields. Lastly, I would like to reiterate my best wishes for the prosperity of the most hospita-ble people of Yemen.
Firstly, I would like to honestly thank and show my appreciation of the National Yemen news-paper and all its working staff for giving me the opportunity to express my sincerest congratu-lations to our brotherly country Yemen, its leadership and gov-ernment, and its people, on this occasion which we celebrate the 20th anniversary of Yemeni unity. I’d also like to seize this opportunity to point to your diligent efforts in realizing your media potential with the nec-essary honesty bound by this noble career. We highly regard
your invaluable contribution in enhancing the relationship and brotherly bonds between our two countries.On our part we in Tunisia fol-low, with great interest and high regard, the significant achieve-ments in Yemen under the lead-ership of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, most important of which is unifying Yemen in 1990. This historical achievement coin-cided with the first ambassador in Yemen, the late literalist and poet Al-Shathily Zokar. Tuni-sia, its leadership and its people, were amongst the first countries to support the Republic of Ye-men and announce its support for Yemeni unity. The Tunisian people, who hold the land of Yemen in their hearts, were ex-tremely pleased upon the decla-ration of the Yemeni unity. They are proud of their strong rela-tions with the Yemeni people and always share with them in this historical event with great pride. By following up the 20 produc-tive years of the Yemeni unity, we cannot help but render thanks to the sacrifices of the Yemeni free and honest men who saved
no effort in consolidating the pillars of this great edifice. We will not forget to point to the advantages of and accomplish-ments that were achieved in all political, economic, social and cultural fields. Since the unity took place, the Republic of Ye-men has regained its natural role in the region and reclaimed its relevance and salience on the regional and international arena.Yemen has achieved tangible successes in spreading educa-tion and developing economic, social and cultural infrastruc-ture, which contributed in mak-ing a qualitative leap in the in-dicators of human development, raising the people’s level of life and in consolidating the ties of national unity by enforcing the rights of citizenship and nation-al loyalty.The international community is the best supporter of the vitality of Yemen’s security, unity, sta-bility and developmental course. It is the largest incentive to con-tinue the path of building and developing Yemen under the enlightened and wise leadership of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Tu r k i s h -Ye m e n i R e l a t i o n s
On the Occasion of the 20th Anniversary of the Yemeni Unity
Sudan and Yemen the way forward
Mr. Tawfeek Jaber, Ambassador of Tunisia in Sana’a
His ExcellencyMr. Mohammed Adam Ismail Ambassador of Sudan in Sana’a
‘we have 100% com-petent and qualified staff in the mainte-nance section and this staff dealt with a fleet much larger than Al-Saeeda’s.
His ExcellencyMehmet DonmezAmbassador of Turkey
Sunday, May 30, 2010 www.nationalyemen.com 7
Al-Saeeda / Felix Airways: meritorious ambition, excellent coverageThe company’s capital shoots up to $1,000,000,000 and is inaugurating two
modern airplanes this year and next
We have negotiated routes with Egypt Air to Alexandria and Sharm Al-Shaikh and with other regional airlines from Dammam to Beirut, Khartoum via Al-Saeeda
Fuad Al-Qadhi
INTERVIEW
Since the outset of the commer-cial operation a year and a half ago, Al-Saeeda Airlines managed to operate through the hustle and bustle of Yemen’s internal air-ports in its main governorates. Felix Airways new routes and services have triggered invest-ment and tourism throughout Ye-men, and have also had the pro-found effect of interconnecting all the republic’s governorates with each other.
So, what next? What are the company’s forthcoming plans? How is the company holding in the face of fierce competition in the aviation industry, especially with regional airlines? Will the company continue operating with the airplanes it already has, or are there any plans for adding new airplanes with larger capaci-ties to the company’s portfolio? All these were the issues of our interview with Engineer Moham-med Al-Arashah, the Executive Manager of Al-Saeeda Airlines / Felix Airways.
- Firstly, what are its future plans and what will the compa-ny do in the coming period?- Actually, we are presently thinking of incorporating new airplanes due to the expansion of the aviation operation of Al-Saeeda Airlines. The expansion is clearly shown in the boom and growth in terms of the num-bers of passengers we have had (over 400,000 passengers) since we started operating in October 2008. These are good indications. Al-Saeeda Airlines has managed to execute 11,000 flights recently, in addition to 63 private flights. All the passengers were flown via 9 internal terminals and currently we are thinking of finalizing ar-rangements in S’aada Governor-ate’s Airport, which will be ter-minal number 10 for Al-Saeeda Airlines. As for the regional avia-tion, Al-Saeeda Airlines has 6 re-gional airports: Djibouti, Salalah, Sharja, Dammam, the holy city of Medina and Abha. This activity and volume of transport as well as the market requirements made us consider entering two more airplanes. The first airplane is ex-pected to arrive in the last season of this year and the next one in March 2001. With these two air-planes we will be able to afford to offer service on a much larger scale. These two aeroplanes are of the GRG type with 90-passen-ger capacity and are larger than the airplanes we already have. We are trying to prepare part of the coming airplanes to accom-modate a ‘business class’.
- Have you been satisfied with the performance of Al-Saeeda so far?- Very much so. We feel really satisfied with what Al-Saeeda had to offer in the last period, as it connected the governorates of the republic. Moreover, it facili-tated the movement of tourism and investment. And here I’d like to seize this opportunity to con-gratulate every Yemeni citizen
on this dear occasion of the great Yemeni unity of the 22nd of May and it is a chance to say that we are proud that Al-Saeeda has be-come an arterial system in the life in Yemen.
- Do the internal operation costs cover the operation expenses?- We try our best to make the cost of transportation match the cost of operations. In the end we, in Al-Saeeda Airlines, care for the comfort and convenience of the passengers. It is true that internal operation has small returns and does not cover the cost of op-eration. However, we followed a parallel policy by connecting the main cities with regional areas. Presently, we have an operating center between Sana’a and Aden and we have recently chosen Taiz Airport to be an operating center very soon due to the population density and the number of emi-grants who are in Dammam and Djibouti from these governor-ates.
- It is said that Al-Saeeda Air-lines has become very active in the internal airports. How did that happen?
- Al-Saeeda Airlines helped in activating a lot of internal air-ports like Aden Airport in Aden (the economic capital of Yemen). This airport has become a main operating system and also the first of the republic’s airports as far as Al-Saeeda Airlines opera-tion is concerned. In addition, it activated some other internal airports like Al-Rayyan Airport in Mukalla and currently Taiz Airport. We are going to build a center and small unit for mainte-nance and an operating station. In coming days we are going to re-vive the tower of Al-Saeeda Air-lines in Aden International Air-port, which will include as part of it operating facilities and the station’s facilities and the other part will be for maintenance.
- Al-Saeeda Airlines has con-tributed to the success of many sports and economic activities. Can you tell us about that?
- We follow up all the activities that are organized in Yemen. Al-Saeeda is a proponent for, was and is the major transporter for many activities. For example, Al-Saeeda Airlines was the offi-cial transporter for the Engineers Conference. We have continuous coordination with MTN and Saba Islamic Bank. Also, al-Saeeda relays sports teams from Sana’a or Aden. In fact, Al-Saeeda co-operates greatly and encourages sports and sports teams by flying them to training camps.
- What new developments do you expect in the coming days?- After accomplishing our planned expansion of domestic flights we will having a 25% in-crease in our domestic network coverage. This is considered an achievement in our domes-tic transport. Therefore, we will
soon be directing our attention toward regional operations. - We should also give our sin-cerest gratitude to the Civic Aviation Authority, which has supported us continuously. The biggest support to us was accrediting Al-Saeeda Airliner as a second national trans-porter, which helped us a lot in opening the regional lines. Resulting from this support is the Saudi Airlines Authority granted Al-Saeeda Airlines the right to transport from Dam-mam to any other region in the Middle East and Africa. So we now move humbly and according to the capacity lim-its of our fleet. The first thing we are going to do is to launch a transit route from Dammam to Beirut and from Dammam to Khartoum and from Dammam to Aleppo, Syria. The ticket price in these regions will subsidize the costs of domestic network opera-tion. These lines will empower us to operate with the domestic net-work, despite our modest internal operation because our domestic flight operations are the first stra-tegic project for Al-Saeeda.
- Does and will Al-Saeeda meet the needs and requirements of passengers during Eids and spe-cial occasions?- We raise the number of internal flights in all festive occasions, particularly during the Eids to Aden Governorate. During the celebrations of the Yemeni unity, we raised the number of flights to Taiz Governorate, which hosted the celebrations. We in the com-pany have flexibility to raise the internal operation accord-ing to the needs. Anyway, there is enough transport internally at the present time to support all our current passenger requirements.
- What about maintenance?- The thing that galvanizes our reputation is the safety of our airplanes. In fact, we have 100% competent and qualified staff in the maintenance section and this staff dealt with a fleet much larger than Al-Saeeda’s. They are part of the cooperative working staff in the Yemenia Airlines and have a wider range of capabilities to deal with more than we have now. Plus, to maintain more safe-ty, we made a contract with the technical sector of the German Lufthansa Airlines. The contract includes a regular support of spare parts; the matter that gave Al-Saeeda Airlines a positive im-age in front of all the companies specialized in Quality Control. When we deal with a company as huge as Lufthansa, it is an ex-traordinary symbol of trust and professionalism for Al-Saeeda Airlines and lends us credit. As for the volume of maintenance, we are still in the first phase and the cost of maintenance reaches almost 20% of our revenues. - Some Arabic airlines compa-nies initiated carrying out main-tenance deal with Al-Saeeda Airlines? What does this mean
to you?- The qualifications and expertise of our staff gave us great confi-dence and as you know main-tenance is the backbone of any airline company. Then comes the marketing and commercial as-pect. If maintenance is not there, the operational aspect is lost. Thus, Arab companies started to deal with us. We carried out main-tenance contracts for a number of airplanes affiliate to the Sudanese Airlines, which is private sector, and afterwards the maintenance of these planes was carried out in South Africa and Europe. In this respect, we received creden-tials from that company. We have been attempting to expand in this activity, which is helping us fi-nancially in addition to our repu-tation as a national transporter in Yemen. We should not forget that most of these works are done in cooperation with, and with the help of, Yemenia Airlines in Sana’a, which has provided us with necessities like maintenance hangars and other tools.
- What about the relationship of Al-Saeeda Airlines with the Civic Aviation Authority?- The Civic Aviation Authority was and will continue to be our main supporter. Since the begin-ning and since Al-Saeeda was established, the Civic Aviation Authority has assisted us in get-ting achievement certificates in operation. The other form of sup-port it gave us was accrediting us as the second national trans-porter. However, we hope they in the Civic Aviation Author-ity consider partially waving the fees of landing and taking off in domestic airports; especially as Al-Saeeda has activated all the republic’s airports. Our operation is big in these airports and we hope that the Chief of the author-ity and the Minister of Transport and the Prime Minister look into this matter.
- What kind of coordination is there between Al-Saeeda Air-lines and the Yemenia Airlines?- There is regular coordination between Al-Saeeda Airlines and Yemenia Airlines in regards to the operational network and maintaining a fair mutual price, in a way that Al-Saeeda becomes like a market for Yemenia Air-lines in some airports. We con-sider complementary and coher-
ent coordination between us as the medium for our success with Yemenia. Competition between us is simply not there, except when it comes to offering servic-es. It is quite acceptable to com-pete in terms of offering the best services, as far as our passengers are concerned. We always make sure not to be in airports and cit-ies where the Yemenia Airlines exists. This is a strategic aspect we are working on. We also transport passengers internally by connecting them via the Inter-national Yemenia Airlines.- What about forthcoming routes?- Presently, we are negotiating on routes to Alexandria and Sharm Al-Sheikh. However, we are facing some difficulties in these negotiations from the Egyptian authorities. This is an issue that concerned the Chief of the Civic Aviation Authority, but currently we are thinking of other regional lines from Dammam to Beirut and from Dammam to Khartoum and we have chosen these routes specifically for economic rea-sons.
- Is there a rise in the company’s capital?- The board of directors has is-sued a decision of raising the company’s capital to 100 mil-lion dollars, which is an increase of 20%. This increase came af-ter the assessment of Al-Saeeda Airlines’ performance and poli-cies during one and a half years operation. The indicators of the flights, performance and reputa-tion encouraged the investors to raise the capital, where the board of directors decided in its last meeting to raise the rate of in-vestment from 80 million dollars to 100 million dollars.
Mohammed Al-Arashah
we are negotiating on routes to Alexandria and Sharm Al-Sheikh. However, we are facing some difficulties in these negotiations from the Egyptian authorities. This is an issue that concerned the Chief of the Civic Aviation Authority, but currently we are thinking of other regional lines from Dammam to Beirut and from Dammam to Khartoum and we have chosen these routes specifically for economic reasons.
‘
Sunday, May 30, 2010 www.nationalyemen.com8 REPORT
The praise expressed by the Cabinet to the Construction Fund in the Hadramout Coast during its latest session in Seiyoun, was neither a coincidence nor a compliment as much as it was an appreciation of the efforts demonstrated in the reports delivered by the Construction Fund Eng. Mo’z Mohsin Bafadel. The Fund presented figures accompanied by news and photos to show its efforts to alleviate the suffering of 2008 flood victims. To this end, the administration of the Fund and its staff, engineers, employees and coordinators worked day and night to reach the maximum degree of people’s satisfaction in all sectors. Their efforts were impressive, although there were a number of impediments that delayed the payment of compensations, particularly directly after the disaster. However, the payment was resumed promptly upon receiving data from local councils.
Eng. Mo’iz Mohsin Bafadl, Director of the Fund reviewed the achievements from more than a year’s worth of work, and the key problems that hindered the progress of the Fund and the 2010 plan.
Obstacles from the start
Bafadl explained that the processing of the compensation payments was slow in the beginning, due to some errors in data submitted which did not meet the conditions required to pay compensation. This forced the Fund administration to revisit the sites to verify such data. After that, checks were prepared for partially affected people by visiting their areas in the districts of Al-Mukalla, al-Ghail, al-Shahr, Gasaier and neighboring areas with a representative from the Cooperative & Agricultural Credit Bank (CAC Bank) to deliver their allowances by hand. Bafadle asked the flood victims to remain patient and to keep in contact with the Fund, adding that compensation payments will continue until the end of the year.
Statistics and compensations in figures
Despite initial obstacles, the role of the Mukalla Fund branch in reducing the suffering of the flood-affected people in districts of Hadramout coastal areas was clear through the amounts paid during December 2009. In our meeting with Eng. Bafadl, we reviewed all that had been achieved during 2009 and the Fund 2010 plan. But before this, we will review launch of compensation payments initiated by the President who
ordered YR100,000 to be paid to each victim in Hadramout and al-Mahara governorates.
The second phase of the reconstruction project took place in last October. More than 382 cases, of an original 938 whose houses were partially damaged in al-Mukala, Ghail Ba-Wazer, al-Shahr, Broom and Maifa’ in Hadramout coastal area, were compensated, to the total amount of approximately YR 94 million.
Mr. Salem al-Khanbashi, Gov.of Hadramout, commended the efforts of the Fund to pay compensation, emphasizing that all amounts are documented by the Fund. The governor requested those who did not find their names on compensation lists to present their damages documents to the Fund administration.
Eng. Abdullah Muta’afi, Deputy Public Works Minister and Executive Director of the Reconstruction Fund said that, funds allocated for the second payment was about YR 282 Million to be paid to 937 cases in Hadramout coast.
Twenty-one sites of housing unitsAbdullah Muta’afi said that, “the payment process is accelerated in Mahrah governorate and districts of Mukala and Sayoun.” He added that payment will continue until the end of this year, and reiterated that the Fund will accelerate the construction of completely damaged buildings by distributing signed contracts to victim for building in 21 sites. These sites were previously located to constitute housing units for those whose house cannot be built their original sites that do not meet conditions of safety.
Eng. Ba Fadhl, said the Fund had achieved 90% of compensations in the fisheries sector in various districts of the Coast of Hadramout, adding that the Fund field teams are continuing their field visits for handing out compensation to the affected people. He indicated that, so far, about YR 300m had been paid to the fisheries sector partially damaged properties. The Fund Director in al-Mukala said that the fund signed contracts for three housing cities in al-Shahr, Shaheer and al-Eyoon at the amount of YR 1 billion in addition to restoring and rebuilding a number of damaged houses in different areas in al-Mukala, Barouz. He called upon local authorities in the districts to coordinate their efforts and work to minimize the suffering of people, through submitting all data in a timely fashion. He said the Fund administration
is considering with local authorities the possibility of compensating people who are using others’ houses. He said that the Fund is recently preparing checks for people in the agricultural sector in a number of the districts in the coast after receiving their claims, and that the payment process is expected to start within two weeks.
He also said that, during the four past months, the processing of paying out compensation in different districts where the field teams of the Fund carried out site visits in the districts of Raydah, Qasai’er, the east al-Des, Broom, Maifa’, al-Mukala’s rura; areas, al-Shahr, Shuhair, Rokib, al-Ghail, al-Eyoon in addition to other different areas and centers, had accelerated.
Socotra Archipelago has its share
Bafadl said, that 29 victims of floods in the fisheries in Socotra Archipelago from 11 fishery associations will benefit from the compensations at YR 11M. He said that the Fund is still receiving complaints from the fisheries section in the Hadibo and Galansiah districts in the archipelago and that these will be included in compensations to be carried out in a few weeks.
Last week Mutaafi visited the Socotra Archipelago and reviewed damages in buildings and fisheries for which
compensations will be paid next week.
Compensations of the two sections of partial fisheries and agricultureBafadh said that during past months, the Fund handed out compensations to the partially affected people as well as people in the fisheries section with a view to help victims’ sufferings. About YR million was given to 64 flood-affected persons in fishery associations from al-Shahr and al-Hami districts.
Another 89 fishermen were given over YR 9 million in al-Raida and Qusaier districts, 33 fishermen were handed YR 2.5 million in Eastern Dais and 136 cases of Mukalla association members were handed over YR 16.6 million. These are an examples of many compensations beneficiaries in the affected areas.
Next step: Addressing causes and dealing with disasters
Eng. Mat’afi said, other tasks assumed by the Fund including construction works in valleys and torrent canals to avoid effects of another disaster in view of the volatile climate. He said that, the Fund is seeking to establish a disaster forecast center in the next phase.
The UAE Grant:
The UAE Grant promised by his Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed is to build one thousand houses, 800 in the Wadi and 200 in the Coast of Hadramout respectively. The grant is eagerly awaited by the flood-affected people of Hadramout in the Wadi and Coast. Mr. Mot’afi said that the total number of damaged houses in Wadi Hadramout reached 1433 in Wadi and 943 in the Coast of Hadramout.
As a sign which augurs well that they will deliver what was promised, a delegation of the UAE Red Crescent visited Mukalla last December. The delegation was headed Mr. Hamid Hamad al-Mazra’i and accompanied by the UAE ambassador in Sana’a, who lay a foundation stone in the housing project that is expected to be completed by March 2011.
Hadramout Construction Fund: Enormous efforts to ease victims’ suffering
• Eng. Bafadl: “We have achieved 95% of the fisheries section compensations, more than 80% of compensations for partial damages, and we will work to reduce the suffering of flood-affected people in all areas”.
• Contracts signed for three housing complexes in Shahr, Shuhair and al-Eyoon, and compensations worth millions of riyals for fisheries’ partial damages.
• The Coast Fund presents comprehensive reports on achievements to the Cabinet in Seiyoun
Saleh Askool & Majdi Ba-ZiadMukalla
‘These sites were pre-viously located to constitute housing units for those whose house cannot be built their original sites that do not meet condi-tions of safety.
Yemenia Airlines
promotes for Al-Baldah
Tourist Festival
The Bait Al-Khibrah Corpora-tion in cooperation with Ye-menia Airlines have agreed to promote the Al-Baldah Tourist Festival in Hadramout through the founding of the ‘Vacation Program’ by Yemenia Airlines. The promotion will include special tourism programs in the Hadramout during the Al-Baldah Tourist Festival.The chief engineer, Badr Mo-hammed Ba Salmah - Head of Bait Al-Khibrah Corporation (the company organizing the festival), said that the agree-ment aims at encouraging tourist activity and spreading information about the ancient civilization of Hadramout and its cultural heritage, as well as the tourist and investment opportunities which are abun-dant in the Hadramout region. He added that this agreement aims at promoting the Hadram-out locally and regionally, and also said that in this respect a preliminary meeting had been held between the corporation and the Vacation Section of the Yemenia Airlines Office, with Mr. Jobran Al-Jahdari, the Marketing Director of Ye-menia Airlines. Their discus-sion revolved around the role of domestic and international airlines in how they could pro-mote the festival. It had also been agreed to hold a 3-day tourist package, a week long tourist program and a fortnight long tour in order to attract tourists and visitors, provided that tours are planned in these programs to promote tourist landmarks in Al-Mukalla City
and to Al-Sahel (the coast) districts. The third tour would include visiting historical and archeological landmarks in the districts of Daw’an Valley, Shibam and Tarim, which are currently celebrating its selec-tion as this year’s Capital of the Islamic Culture.Today, a meeting between Mr. Badr Ba Salmah, Head of the Bait Al-Khibrah Corporation, Mr. Salem Ali, Director of Tourism Office in Al-Mukalla Directorate, Mr., Imad Al-Dayyini, Head of the Informa-tion Committee of the Festival and Mr. Ja’afar Ba Howairith, Director of the Festivals’ Pro-grams and Activities. In this meeting an agreement was made with the tourist hotels in the capital secretariat and di-rectorate to offer special prices for visitors and tourists with the objective of promoting tourism in the Hadramout. It has also been agreed to prepare tourist programs for the festival all year round for promoting Al-Mukalla particularly as well as the Hadramout in general. Mr. Badr Ba Salmah stressed that the Al-Baldah festival this year is the starting point of the biggest tourist activity that the capital secretariat will witness for a number of years. He also said that an agreement was made to intensify tourist pro-grams in Al-Sahel (coast) and Al-Wadi (the valley) to ensure the best use of the festival and to maximize the positive effects of the promotional campaign, both locally and regionally.
Sunday, May 30, 2010 www.nationalyemen.com 9IT & TECHNOLOGY
Despite the efforts of IT departments, many PCs in the corporate and government world are littered with unauthorized software, most notably malware, says application-whitelisting company Bit9.The results of Bit9’s “2010 What’s Running on Your Users’ Desktops?” survey, released Monday, uncovered PCs with a significant amount of non-business software, including games, toolbars, and torrent software. Of greater concern, IT pros surveyed also discovered malware, such as ransom-ware, Trojans, and Chinese spyware.Among the 1,282 IT professionals questioned for the survey, 68 percent of them said they have software restrictions in place, but 45 percent said they still found unauthorized software on more than half of their client PCs.Specifically, 46 percent of the IT folks surveyed said that spyware, malware, and unlicensed software continue to pose a problem by getting past traditional security methods. They also found that unauthorized or malicious software caused up to 25 percent of user downtime and calls to
the help desk, leading to a drop in productivity. But 39 percent of the respondents also admitted they don’t have a software usage policy that specifically prohibits employees from downloading their own software.As a result, only 32 percent of the IT pros surveyed said they felt confident their businesses would be safe from damage caused by unauthorized or malicious software this year.“The results from our survey once again underscore the need for companies to adopt a more proactive approach to endpoint security to prevent unauthorized software from being downloaded and running in their organizations,” Tom Murphy, chief strategy officer for Bit9, said in a statement. “Rather than scrambling to react to the latest malicious piece of software--costing time and money--IT administrators need to ensure that only approved software will run in their enterprise. This is a business critical need confirmed by the large amount of respondents that are dealing with malware across their networks.”Now of course, Bit9 has a vested
interest in the results of the survey since the company does sell whitelisting security products that help IT administrators lock down the applications their users can run.But I know from my days in IT that keeping users from downloading and installing their own personal and sometimes harmful software is an ongoing challenge. People would download toolbars, torrent software, and other unauthorized programs and then complain when their PCs started to crash or slow down.Cutting down on the amount of harmful software installed at a company has always required the right policies from IT but also the right cooperation from end users.To learn more about the survey results, I spoke with Kate Munro, director of product marketing for Bit9. She said that this year’s response from 1,282 IT folks was a big leap over last year when only 257 people answered the survey. The higher participation could be seen as a sign that IT people are more in tune with and naturally concerned about the malware threats surfacing today, said Munro.
She particularly noted IT concerns over the Advanced Persistent Threat, a buzzword that describes organized cyberattacks that specifically try to steal information from such sectors as financial services, manufacturing, and of course government.Some of the non-malicious but still unauthorized software found on user PCs by IT included Skype, BitTorrent, and iTunes.
Munro added that Skype can pose a problem when people use the personal version on their work PCs, since it doesn’t have the same restrictions as the enterprise edition and relies on the user to keep it patched and properly updated. Munro also said that malicious programs are being installed despite the best efforts of IT departments. Almost all of the
participants said they deploy antivirus software on their network PCs. Many take away admin rights (which are typically needed to install a program), while others lock down the desktop using tools like Microsoft’s Group Policy. But malware writers continue to sneak past security defenses to launch their payloads.
Taiwan-based Armorize knows something about keeping malware off Web sites.Four years ago, Wayne Huang left his job researching ways to help secure the Taiwanese government’s networks from attacks. He and his brother, Matt Huang, a Stanford MBA graduate, decided to commercialize the research and launched Armsorize, which became an anti-malware leader in Asia.Now the company is taking its
malware expertise to the United States. This week, Armorize announced it is moving its headquarters to San Francisco while keeping most of its research and development in Taipei. Armorize also is announcing a new version of its cloud-based service that detects and cleans up brand new exploits hiding in Web pages and ads that traditional anti-virus and other security software miss.
Seagate’s new Momentus XT in-ternal hard drives are designed to offer some of the benefits of inter-nal SSDs without as much added cost. A standard-sized HDD is accompanied by 4GB of flash memory that provides fast access. Seagate’s own software deter-mines what data the user accesses most frequently and divides the work accordingly.
Seagate began shipping its sec-ond-generation hybrid solid state/hard disk drive to original equip-ment manufacturers (OEMs) and its sales channels.The Seagate Momentus XT is priced much lower than full solid-state drives.The device spins at 7,200 RPMs and comes in capacities of 250
GB, 320 GB and 500 GB. Tech Specs of the Momentus XT All Momentus XT models come with not only a standard hard disc drive, but also a 4GB solid state flash memory drive.The drive comes with Seagate’s Adaptive Memory Technology software that memorizes users’ file access patterns and stores the most-loaded files onto the SSD. Together with the higher spindle speed and the NCQ technology, this speeds up data access.Seagate has aimed the offering at gamers and other users who need high disk speeds. On Wednesday, Seagate and Asus will unveil the new Asus ROG G73JH system, which is equipped with two Mo-mentus XT drives.
Apple has long been the little guy in the Mac vs. PC debate, but that’s no longer the case. As of trading near the end of the day on Wednesday, Apple has passed Microsoft in terms of market capitalization, with a value of roughly $222 billion--about $3 billion ahead of Microsoft. Apple had been flirting with the milestone for days and had already passed Microsoft by another measure--a valuation known as enterprise value, which adds in debt and other factors. The fact that Apple, not Microsoft, is the more valuable franchise represents a remarkable turn of events in the history of computing. Consider this: In 1997, Michael Dell suggested that Apple should
just close up shop and return the money to shareholders. Today, Dell is worth barely a tenth as much as the Mac maker. That same year, Apple had to accept a $150 million investment from Microsoft. Bill Gates
famously appeared at Macworld via satellite, dwarfing the on-stage Steve Jobs as he announced the company’s commitment to the Mac. Of course, all that was before Mac OS X, the iPod, the iPhone
and now the iPad. The Cube and Apple TV aside, Apple has had an incredible run of products over the last decade. Macs still account for fewer than one in 10 computers sold, but its market share has increased significantly in recent years and the company has built a consumer juggernaut that extends well beyond the computer. As for Microsoft, the company remains highly profitable, but investors and analysts alike are concerned that Microsoft remains dependent on its Office and Windows franchises for the lion’s share of its profits. The company has poured billions into its cell phone, online advertising and other new businesses that have yet to really help the company’s balance sheet.
According to a major new study from the Mental Health Foundation, our reliance on the internet to communicate with our friends on family is having a devastating effect on our mental health and is making us feel lonely.Although technology has now changed the way we communicate it may not always be a good thing. Some experts reckon that social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter are undermining our ability to read body language, and are negatively impacting on our social skills. Is that true?I’m really not sure, but the findings in the Mental Health Report came from a survey of over 2000 adults across the UK and revealed that at least ten percent of us are suffering from loneliness and feelings of isolation.The report doesn’t go as far as to say that technology is changing our actual ability to relate to other human beings, it’s too early for that it says, but it does say that it is “soon enough to conclude that technology is no substitute for the human interaction that it is a buffer against loneliness.”“It has been argued that the 50
minutes a day most Britons spend on the virtual world detracts from the time we invest in real-
life social encounters,” the report says.The report states that almost half
of all those surveyed believed that we are becoming more isolated and detached from each other. Surely we can’t blame the Internet and Facebook for that though?These days there are many who are working from home, many families who are living apart, divorce is on the increase, and there are more people living alone than ever before.Basically society is changing anyway and although technology may have contributed to this by enabling people to work from home or from a laptop on the move, it has also bridged the gap for many others who might not otherwise have access to social networks. For example, people who are disabled, sick, living in rural areas and so on.“New technology can be used to reduce social isolation … But technology doesn’t include the physical contact that benefits our well-being” said the report.I don’t think technology can be blamed for making us lonely, it’s ourselves. We basically have to make an effort to meet up with friends and family in person and always rely on our mobiles and Facebook to make connections.
Corporate PCs cluttered with malware
Firms tackle virus-laden Web sites, ads
Seagate’s Hybrid Drive Shoots for Quick-Draw Data Access
Does technology turn us into loners?
Apple passes Microsoft in valuation
Ali Abdullah Ajlan
Sunday, May 30, 2010 www.nationalyemen.com10 EDUCATION
Ameen Saleh Al-Ward
Mr. Bassam Hamied Mohammed Mohsen
When we reached the Institute at Sixty Street, we were greeted by the Institute Manager, Mr. Abduljalil Al-Bazeli, who warmly welcomed us and graciously answered our questions.
About The Institute: The Yemen Institute for Arabic Language (YIAL) is a teacher owned institute that offers a variety of courses from the beginner to advanced level in an environment where students are totally immersed in the Arabic Language.
Accommodation The institute has fully furnished flats equipped with brand-new domestic appliances. YIAL students can choose to stay in the accommodation of the institute at YIAL or in the old city. The outstanding housing facility includes washing machines, kitchens, free wireless internet, satellite TV, as well as a private roof and patio areas.
What makes YIAL unique?YIAL is unique in that the majority of teachers are also part owners in the organization. For
this reason, the institute attracts some of the most experienced teachers in the country who have a vested interest in making the institute truly great. They are committed to keeping the institute small to ensure the highest quality of instruction. As a student at YIAL, you have the opportunity to be a part of a small community of teachers and students who are completely devoted to the Arabic language. You will always have the option of joining the crew for activities or exploring the country and the language on your own. Either way you can count on the institute to back you up.
Interviews with some students:Josh is an American student at YIAL. When we asked him some questions, he cheerfully responded:
“The Language instructions have been excellent at YIAL. I have taken a semester of Arabic in the States and have struggled really hard with it but at YIAL I have seen improvement quickly. The reason is that at YIAL the teachers work with you personally and if you have a
difficult day or a hard time with the lesson that day they will help you and assign homework that you can handle. The work is at your own pace and there are always teachers around to help you with questions. You can always ask any teacher about Arabic. Also when you study in Yemen there are not many English speakers so as soon as
you step out on to the streets you can hear Arabic, speak Arabic and enjoy the Yemeni culture.”
Jennifer Crye is another American Student. She expressed her profound impression of the Institute. She said: “All the people here at YIAL have been very helpful to me, and I feel like I can ask for help with necessary aspects of living in Sana’a, like finding things at the store or knowing what to wear. I also feel quite safe because they can give me good advice on where to travel, and they take care of the necessary documentation for living in Sana’a. Overall, I feel much more comfortable here than I thought I would. Yemen is a fascinating place, and I am glad to be here.”
Academic Programs at YIALModern Standard Arabic MSA:It is roughly equivalent to the system of study in Western universities, allowing for continuity of study. These courses utilize standard Arabic
textbooks, supplemented with some of YIAL own texts, audiovisual aids, and computer programs.
Growing Participant Approach GPA:This series of courses, ideal for those studying Arabic for the first time but also useful for others wanting to focus on comprehension and speaking focuses, it focuses on the social function of language, aiming to develop the socio-linguistic capabilities of the student instead of focusing merely on the rote memorization of vocabulary and grammars.
Advanced Arabic Courses:YIAL also offers a number of advanced Arabic courses to those who have a desire to pursue a particular topic or area of the language and who have a strong foundation in Arabic. In the past, YIAL has provided a wide variety of advanced courses to professionals, graduate students and professors doing research, and many people simply with a
keen interest in pursuing greater study in a particular area of the language.
Due to repeated requests, YIAL has developed programs with appropriate texts for the following areas:• Media Arabic• Yemeni Colloquial Arabic• Grammar & Morphology• Literature and Literary Criticism• Yemeni Culture.
New Programs:The Arabic Club for Kids:The Arabic Club for Kids at YIAL offers courses designed for children between the age of 3 to 13 years old. The course structure can be similar to MSA (Modern Standard Arabic) or GPA (Growing Participant Approach). However, the approach and materials are tailored especially for children needs and abilities. Learning is made fun using games, role play, software programs, and other creative learning techniques.
Yemen Institute for Arabic Language YIAL from Concept to Formation
Childhood &
Innocence Are Executed!! !
How to say it idiomatically
Yemen Institute for the Arabic Language (YIAL) started as a dream of the current Manager, Mr. Abduljaleel Al-Bazeli. His idea was to hand pick the best Arabic teachers from among the well established Arabic schools in Yemen and open an institute owned and operated by the instructors themselves.
Yemen Institute for the Arabic Language (YIAL) started as a dream of the current Manager, Mr. Abduljaleel Al-Bazeli. His idea was to hand pick the best Arabic teachers from among the well established Arabic schools in Yemen and open an institute owned and operated by the instructors themselves.
A: Learn these idioms and what they mean
‘at YIAL I have seen improvement quickly.
Yemen has been suffering for a long time from bad habits. One of these bad habits is early marriage. Many people not only in Yemen but around the world felt very optimistic when they heard that a law would be enacted against early marriage. It was too late but it was a good step that would save lives of many pathetic young girls. A few days passed the declaration of the law, but before we could even taste the wise law some anti development people rallied and demonstrated on streets demanding a cancellation of that law. It was a great disappointment to lots of people. I call it disappointment because it came from people who we expected would welcome the law, people we put our faith on to guide and elevate the society from the mire they are in. I
had thought that these people would be the first to stand by and support that kind of law . A law which will end the suffering of many innocent children. Innocent poor children who are deprived of their childhood ,their growth and education. Children who are sold like sheep by cruel thoughtless parents. I want these people to ask themselves frankly and honestly ,how can a small girl in her fourteenth or fifteenth year become a housewife who is responsible for her children and husband. In great pain we everyday hear and read in media many horrible tragedies that happen to our sisters and daughters. Only a few days ago we were shocked by a horrible crime that cannot be imagined. A crime that committed against 12-year-old
girl called Elham from Hajjah. She passed away just three days after her wedding. She was brutally sexually assaulted by her inhuman husband. She bled from tear in her womb. So, who is responsible for murdering of that innocent child? this is inhumane crime committed against humanity and mankind. What does a father like Elham’s deserve ? and what does such husband deserve ? I hope they will not go away with it. I would like to ask those who object to this law : what would you do if Elham were your daughter? I want to ask those clerics who have some human sympathy and mercy for the poor people who trust you and put their faith in you. Try to help and elevate them not to let innocent children suffer and die. Please think thoughtfully
and decide: is it rational to let those small helpless girls get married. How such thing could be in the 21st century ? Believe me our beloved country needs its own wise reasonable men and women who are willing to guide and direct the society to realize the dignity of human existence not its doom. All right thinking people , clerics and laymen alike should prevail on the parliament to pass the law without loss of time and law-enforcing authorities to enforce the law strictly. Also social activists should actively educate the simple ignorant people regarding the evils of child marriage.
1. To behave well and not break any rules or laws: Keep your nose out of trouble. 2. To tell someone that you do not want them to know about things that are private: Keep your nose out of my business.3. To remember something, especially something that will be important in the future: keep something in mind: You must always keep the reader in mind when writing a report.4. Used when someone you have just been talking about arrives unexpectedly : talk/speak of the devil A: Ah, here comes Sami.B: Talk of the devil.C: Were you talking about me?5. To express yourself in a very determined and confident way: come on very strong with: He can come on very strong with his political views.B: now can you figure these out? Complete the sentences below:1- To say that you are very angry or annoyed2- To say that you are happy3- to say that you are tired4- to tell someone to remain calm in a difficult situation5- to say that something that you have hoped for or expected really happens1- My father was really .........when he knew that I dented his new car.2- She was ........when she heard that she passed her TOEFL exam.3- I’ve been running for a half hour and now I’m .......4- Losing your temper isn’t going to help. You have to .....5- He’s been dreaming of becoming a general manager of the company. Yesterday, his dream ....when he was told that he got the job as the company’s general manager.
Sunday, May 30, 2010 www.nationalyemen.com 11ADVERTISMENTS
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Sunday, May 30, 2010 www.nationalyemen.com 23IT & TECHNOLOGY
