Yemen News

Yemen said Thursday it welcomed President Barack Obama's decision to lift a moratorium on transfers of prisoners from Guantanamo to Yemen.

President Barack Obama said Thursday he would lift a moratorium on transferring Guantanamo Bay inmates to Yemen, as part of a new effort to finally close the war-on-terror camp in Cuba.

London, Asharq Al-Awsat—Iranian nationals are using islands in the Red Sea to store illegal arms, with a view to smuggling these to the Houthi rebels in Yemen’s Sa’ada Governorate, Asharq Al-Awsat has learnt.Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat on the condition of anonymity, a senior Yemeni official confirmed that smugglers are …

Thousands gathered in Yemen's main southern city of Aden on Tuesday to call for renewed independence for the south 23 years after it united with the north.

* Pentagon control could open program to more congressionaloversight * Strikes in Yemen to be run by armed forces * CIA to keep drone operations in Pakistan for now By Tabassum Zakaria and Mark Hosenball WASHINGTON, May 20 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama'sadministration has decided to give the Pentagon control of somedrone …

An apparent US drone strike killed two suspected Al-Qaeda militants in central Yemen on Monday, a local official said.

SANAA, May 20 (Reuters) - Two suspected al Qaeda militantswere killed on Monday in a drone strike on their vehicle southof the capital Sanaa, tribal and government sources said. The strike follows another on Saturday in which at leastfour militants were killed in Abyan governorate, in southernYemen. A Yemeni official did …

Sanaa, May 19 (IANS) A Hindu temple that dates back over 150 years, a market that sports an Indian name and love for Bollywood reflect the India connect of the Yemeni city of Aden.

Yemen’s Air Force has been the target of “sabotage,” the country’s military aviation chief said in a televised interview, days after a fighter jet crashed in the capital Sanaa.“The air force is the target of systematic sabotage,” Gen. Rashed Al-Janad told the private channel Al-Saida in the interview.He said the Sukhoi …

ADEN, May 18 (Reuters) - At least four people were killedand a number of others wounded in a drone strike on a vehiclecarrying suspected al Qaeda members in southern Yemen, a localofficial said on Saturday. The official said the strike took place at dawn on Saturdayon a road to the north of Jaar in Abyan Governorate, near …

An apparent US drone attack has killed four suspected Al-Qaeda militants in southern Yemen and destroyed an explosives-packed truck, tribal sources said on Saturday.

Yemen's air force has been the target of "sabotage", the country's military aviation chief said in a televised interview, days after a fighter jet crashed in the capital Sanaa.

Suspected Al-Qaeda gunmen shot dead a Yemeni intelligence officer in a drive-by attack in the southern city of Mukalla, capital of the southeastern Hadramawt province, a police source said on Saturday.

ADEN, May 18 (Reuters) - Gunmen shot dead a senior Yemenimilitary intelligence officer who had been targeted forassassination by al Qaeda-linked militants, a local securityofficial said. Colonel Abdullah al-Rabaki was walking home in the city ofMukalla in Hadramawt Province late on Friday when the gunmenshot him six times …

Yemen's near-forgotten humanitarian crisis could sink its Arab Spring political transition, with a new constitution and elections expected by next year, a senior United Nations aid official warned Thursday.

(Adds Finnish hostages' comments) VIENNA/HELSINKI, May 16 (Reuters) - An Austrian man heldhostage for five months in Yemen said he was kept in permanentdarkness in a room too small to stand in and was forced toconvert to Islam at gunpoint. Weeks into his captivity, Dominik Neubaur told Austrianmagazine News, he was taken …

VIENNA, May 16 (Reuters) - An Austrian man held hostage forfive months in Yemen said he was kept in permanent darkness in aroom too small to stand up in and was forced to convert to Islamat gunpoint. At one point, Dominik Neubaur told Austrian magazine News,he was taken out for what he thought would be his execution -but …

Three workers held by armed group since Monday safely back in Aden, Geneva-based humanitarian organisation says.

Kidnappers in Yemen have freed three International Committee of the Red Cross employees, including a Swiss and a Kenyan, along with two Egyptian hostages, following tribal mediation, sources said Thursday.

(Adds ICRC comment, background) ADEN, Yemen, May 16 (Reuters) - Yemeni tribesmen releasedthree kidnapped employees of the International Committee of theRed Cross, the humanitarian agency and a Yemeni security sourcesaid on Thursday. The men - a Swiss, a Kenyan and a Yemeni national - werekidnapped on Monday in the southern …

The Yemeni expatriate community, known for its savvy business skills, has been severely affected by the new labor laws issued by the Saudi Ministry of Labor, especially given the turbulent social and political conditions in their native country.The recent crackdown on foreign workers with expired residence permits and sponsorship …

Three employees of the International Committee of the Red Cross kidnapped by Yemeni tribesmen are in good condition, but the demands of their captors remain unknown, an ICRC spokeswoman said on Tuesday.

Armed tribesmen kidnapped two expatriate employees of the International Committee of the Red Cross and their interpreter in southern Yemen on Monday, witnesses and militia sources said.