Yemeni president says US and Israel behind unrest (AP)

SANAA, Yemen – Yemen's embattled president on Tuesday accused the U.S., his closest ally, of instigating the mounting protests against him, but the gambit failed to slow the momentum for his ouster.

Hundreds of thousands rallied in cities across Yemen against the government of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, in the largest of the protests of the past month, including one addressed by an influential firebrand cleric, a former ally of Saleh, whom the U.S. has linked to al-Qaida.

"Go on until you achieve your demands," Sheik Abdul-Majid al-Zindani told tens of thousands of demonstrators in the capital of Sanaa. A former U.S. ambassador to Yemen called al-Zindani's decision to turn against President Ali Abdullah Saleh a major setback for the president.

Some warned that the current political turmoil and possible collapse of Saleh's regime could give a further opening to Yemen's offshoot of the global terror network, al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula.

James Jones, former White House National Security Advisor, warned a Washington conference that Yemen's crisis "could deepen the current vacuum of power in Yemen on which al Qaida has thrived."

The Yemen-based al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, believed to have been involved in the attempted 2009 bombing of an American airliner, is seen as particularly active and threatening to the U.S.

Saleh has been a weak but important U.S. ally in the fight against al-Qaida, accepting tens of millions of dollars in U.S. military and other aid and allowing American drone strikes on al-Qaida targets.

Garry Reid, deputy assistant U.S. Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Combating Terrorism, told the Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington think tank, that the Saleh government was "the best partner we're going to have ... and hopefully it will survive because I certainly would have to start over again in what we've tried to build."

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton visited Yemen in January and urged Saleh to do more.

However, on Tuesday, Saleh seemed to be turning on Washington. In a speech to about 500 students and lecturers at Sanaa University, he claimed the U.S., along with Israel, is behind the protest movement.

"I am going to reveal a secret," he said. "There is an operations room in Tel Aviv with the aim of destabilizing the Arab world. The operations room is in Tel Aviv and run by the White House."

Saleh also alleged that opposition figures meet regularly with the U.S. ambassador in Sanaa. "Regrettably those (opposition figures) are sitting day and night with the American ambassador where they hand him reports and he gives them instructions," Saleh said.

The Obama administration rejected these claims. White House spokesman Jay Carney called on Saleh to focus on implementing the political reforms demanded by his people instead of "scapegoating."

Saleh's relationship with the U.S. has been ambivalent, and he has at times attempted to play down his military alliance with Washington. Anti-U.S. sentiment remains strong in Yemen, as elsewhere in the region, and Saleh's comments appeared to be an attempt to discredit the protesters by suggesting they are serving foreign interests.

"Part of this is putting blame on others, part of it is trying to manage the situation," said Christopher Boucek, an analyst at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a U.S. think tank. "He (Saleh) does not want to feed into grievances that gave rise to the opposition against him, such as being too close to the U.S."

Thomas Krajeski, senior vice president of the U.S. National Defense University and former U.S. ambassador to Yemen, gave the Saleh regime a 50-50 chance of surviving the current crisis and he said it's not clear who is likely to succeed him. "We just don't know what comes next," Krajeski told a conference at Washington's Bipartisan Policy Center.

But Krajeski predicted that Yemen's tribes would quickly step in to establish a new government rather than let the country become what he called "an ungoverned mess," like Somalia.

Jonathan Ruhe, a policy analyst for the Bipartisan Policy Center, said: "It's kind of hard to imagine a post-Saleh world. If he should fall, the future is wide open."

In another attempt to silence critics, Saleh fired five of the country's 22 provincial governors Tuesday, including three who had spoken out against the government's at times violent crackdown on demonstrators.

In London, Britain's Foreign Office summoned a senior Yemeni diplomat to express "deep concern" over the deaths of protesters at rallies. "The government of Yemen should listen to the legitimate grievances of the Yemeni people," the Foreign Office said.

The momentum against the president, who refuses to step down until elections in 2013, has kept growing since protests erupted a month ago — inspired by successful uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia. He has lost the support of key tribal chiefs and on Tuesday, opposition parties called their supporters into the streets for the first time. Crowds of tens of thousands each were reported in five areas of the country, including in Sanaa.

Saleh's government is widely seen as corrupt, with relatives of the president holding key positions in government and business. Grievances about the growing disparity between Yemen's poor — nearly half the population of some 23 million — and a small ruling clique have helped drive the protests. Yemen is the Arab world's poorest country.

In the port city of Aden, the scene of deadly clashes between police and demonstrators last week, thousands rallied Tuesday to express their anger. "We are demonstrating and calling for the downfall of the regime because Aden, under Saleh, has turned into a village," said Faiza al-Sharbary, a 45-year-old teacher. "At one time, it was one of the best cities. Therefore this regime has to leave."

In Sanaa, tens of thousands gathered outside the university, the heart of the protests.

Al-Zindani, the influential Islamic cleric, praised the young protesters, saying their rallies are "a new way to change regimes that we did not know 50 years ago."

"Go on until you achieve your demands," he told them. "You have come out demanding changes as a result of desperation."

Al-Zindani's role appeared unclear. Saleh, in power for 32 years, has tried to co-opt the preacher, appointing him last year as a mediator between the government and opposition parties over electoral reform.

However, al-Zindani is also thought by the United States to be a one-time spiritual mentor of Osama bin Laden. He has been placed on the U.S. list of terrorist financiers, and is the subject of travel and financial sanctions by the U.S. and the United Nations.

In the past, the cleric has criticized the U.S.-backed fight against al-Qaida, warning that it could lead to a foreign occupation of Yemen.

Some in Yemen said the current turmoil could strengthen the local al-Qaida branch.

"One of the principal worries of our regional and global partners has been that if Yemen goes into anarchy, the possibility of al-Qaida having easy access should be quite clear," said Mohamed Qubaty, a senior member of Yemen's ruling party.

Krajeski, the former U.S. ambassador to Yemen, said al-Zidani's decision to criticize Saleh and questioned his legitimacy was a major setback for the government. "That's a big deal," he said. "Saleh worked very hard to keep this guy in control. If Zindani is breaking with him that is another knock on his base."

Krajeski added though that he didn't think that radical Islam was a big factor in the current unrest, although it was part of the general opposition to Saleh's government.

Yemen has been the site of numerous anti-U.S. attacks, going back to the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in Aden harbor, which killed 17 American sailors. Late last year, several CIA operatives were targeted in a failed bombing at a restaurant in a Sanaa suburb. Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula was also thought to be behind the attempted bombing of an American airliner landing in Detroit in 2009.

___

Associated Press writers Matthew Lee and Douglas Birch in Washington, Raphael Satter in London and Karin Laub in Cairo contributed reporting.

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Libyan unrest weighs on stocks, oil up further (AP)

LONDON – The turmoil in Libya heaped further pressure on stocks around the world Wednesday as investors worry that the global economic recovery may be derailed by the sharp rise in oil prices and swelling inflation.
Concerns that the country is descending into civil war were heightened by comments Tuesday from longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi that he would fight to his "last drop of blood," while urging supporters to strike back against protesters to defend his embattled regime.
The rhetoric, alongside mounting evidence of bloodshed around the country, got investors fretting over how the crisis will end and what the impact on the North African country's oil production will be.
Libya is the world's 18th largest oil producer, pumping out around 1.8 million barrels a day, or a little under 2 percent of global daily output. The OPEC country also sits atop the biggest oil reserves in the whole of Africa.
As a result, oil prices have risen even further following Tuesday's surge higher.
Benchmark crude for April delivery was up 35 cents at $95.77 a barrel — the highest since October 2008 — in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract jumped $5.71, or 6.4 percent, to settle at $95.42 on Tuesday.
In London, Brent crude for April delivery rose $2.61 to $108.38 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
Higher oil prices were hurting stocks.
"Soaring energy prices are a clear consequence of events in Libya and the surrounding countries so this is also going to start sapping economic confidence," said Ben Potter, research analyst at IG Markets.
In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was down 0.7 percent at 5,957, while the CAC-40 in Paris fell 0.1 percent to 4,047. Germany's DAX was 0.5 percent lower at 7,279.
Wall Street was poised for a modest rebound after heavy losses Tuesday — Dow futures were up 23 points at 12,206 while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 futures rose 1.4 point to 1,315.90.
On Tuesday, the Dow slid 1.4 percent while the S&P fell 2 percent.
Elsewhere, the main point of interest was the release of the minutes to the last meeting of the Bank of England's rate-setting meeting. They showed another three-way split, but with Spencer Dale joining the camp of those wanting to raise the benchmark rate from the current record low of 0.5 percent.
That means only two more of the nine-member panel have to swing behind calls for an interest rate rise for borrowing costs to increase.
"This reinforces market expectations of a rate hike by the middle of this year and possibly by as early as May," said Michael Hewson, market analyst at CMC Markets.
The release of the minutes gave the British pound a limited bounce as the details of the vote had been widely anticipated.
By mid afternoon London time, the pound was 0.4 percent higher on the day at $1.6232.
Elsewhere in the currency markets, the euro was trading 0.3 percent higher on the day at $1.3725, supported by figures showing that industrial orders in the 16 countries that were using the euro in December unexpectedly spiked by a monthly rate of 2.1 percent. The expectation in the market was that orders would fall by a 0.9 percent monthly rate.
Earlier in Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average shed 0.8 percent to close at 10,579.10, while South Korea's Kospi dropped 0.4 percent to 1,961.63. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 0.4 percent to 22,906.90.
New Zealand's main stock index rose 0.4 percent to 3,372.07 after falling the day before when a powerful earthquake devastated the city of Christchurch. Prime Minister John Key declared a state of national emergency and said 75 people were confirmed to have been killed in what was one of the country's worst natural disasters.
In mainland China, shares edged higher as investors snapped up bargains following a sell-off the day before. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index edged up 0.3 percent to 2,862.63 while the Shenzhen Composite Index rose 0.9 percent to 1,273.92. Shares in paper processing, biotechnology and information technology led the gains.
____
Pamela Sampson in Bangkok contributed to this report.
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Summary Box: Libya unrest rattles markets (AP)

OIL SPIKE: Oil prices jumped 6 percent to $95 a barrel, their highest level in two years, after clashes between protesters and forces loyal to the Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi threatened oil production from the world's 15th largest oil exporter.
PLANE PAINS: Higher fuel costs hurt airline stocks. Delta Air Lines Inc., United Continental Holdings Inc. and US Airways Group Inc. all dropped by 5 percent or more.
THE INDEXES: The Dow Jones industrial average sank 178 points to 12,212. The S&P 500 index fell 27 to 1,315. The Nasdaq fell 77 to 2,756.42.
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FTSE closes lower on Libya unrest (AFP)

LONDON (AFP) – London's leading share index closed lower again on Tuesday, with sentiment shaken by continuing violent unrest in Libya.
The FTSE 100 index ended down 0.30 percent at 5,996.76 points.
Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) was the most traded stock of the day, seeing 124 million shares change hands, followed by Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), which saw 95.1 million shares switch owners.
UK defence company BAE Systems led the day's fallers, shedding 4.3 percent -- or 14.7 pence -- to close at 326.8, followed by electricity group International Power, which fell 2.98 percent -- or 10.2 pence -- to end at 331.7.
RBS made the biggest gains of the day, seeing shares climb 2.32 percent -- or 1.08 pence -- to end at 47.22, followed by asset management company Schroders, which added 1.84 percent -- or 25 pence -- to finish at 1,384.
Meanwhile, the pound was down for the second straight day against both the dollar and the euro.
At 1709 GMT, sterling was trading at 1.6102 dollars, down from 1.6225 at the same time on Monday, while it fell to 1.1807 euros from 1.1862 over the same period.
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China official warns of domestic unrest and "hostile" West (Reuters)

BEIJING (Reuters) – The Chinese government faces a turbulent time of domestic unrest and challenges from "hostile Western forces" that it will fight with more sophisticated controls, a Communist Party law-and-order official said.
Chen Jiping, deputy secretary general of the Communist Party's Political and Legal Affairs Committee, gave the toughly worded warning in this week's issue of Outlook Weekly, and blamed Western democratic countries for fomenting unrest.
He did not mention the protests that have rocked authoritarian governments in the Middle East, and his words reflect the Communist Party's own homegrown fears.
But the uprisings that deposed Egypt's long-time president Hosni Mubarak and are now threatening Libya's strongman Muammar Gaddafi are likely to reinforce the views of Chinese security officials like Chen.
"The schemes of some hostile Western forces attempting to Western and split us are intensifying, and they are waving the banner of defending rights to meddle in domestic conflicts and maliciously create all kinds of incidents," Chen told the magazine, which is published by the official Xinhua news agency.
"Mass incidents continue at a high rate," Chen said, using the Party euphemism for protests, riots, strikes and mass petitions.
"Our country is in a period of magnified conflicts within the populace, high crime rates and complex struggle against foes, and these features are most unlikely to change any time soon," he said. The magazine reached subscribers on Tuesday.
To counter such worries, Chinese leaders have promoted more of the stringent security steps that they brandished over the weekend, when police snuffed out feeble attempts to emulate the "Jasmine Revolution" street protests that have bloomed across the Middle East.
Chen said the government was honing policies to defuse and smother unrest and crime. Those policies include more monitoring of citizens to nip threats in the bud.
"That will include comprehensive roll-out of a social stability risk assessment system that covers major projects and policies that have a direct bearing on public interests," he said.
"Before decisions are made, there'll be a double assessment -- of their economic outcome and risks to social stability."
The Party Political and Legal Affairs Committee that Chen helps run oversees the courts, police and prosecutors. Chen is also a senior official of an office that develops and enforces anti-crime and domestic security policies.
The Communist Party already spends heavily on domestic security, and experts have said that budget now rivals spending on the military, crimping outlays for welfare.
Even most dissidents and other critics of China's one-party rule see scant prospect of serious challenges to it soon. Police regularly detain or confine dissidents at sensitive times.
In 2007, China had more than 80,000 "mass incidents," up from more than 60,000 in 2006, according to sociologists at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. More up to date estimates are not available, but some experts think improved welfare and the abolition of a hated tax on farmers have reduced the number.
(Reporting by Chris Buckley; Editing by Robert Birsel)
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Unrest spreads to Libyan capital as Arab protests simmer (Reuters)

TRIPOLI/MANAMA (Reuters) – Violent unrest against Libya's Muammar Gaddafi spread to the capital Tripoli on Sunday and his son vowed to fight until the "last man standing" after scores of protesters were killed in the east of the country.
Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam said in an address on state TV the army stood behind his father as a "leader of the battle in Tripoli" and would enforce security at any price. His comments were the first official reaction from the Libyan authorities since the unrest began.
As he spoke, police used tear gas to disperse thousands of protesters in Tripoli, where gunfire was heard, vehicles were on fire and protesters threw stones at billboards of Gaddafi, who is facing the most serious challenge to his four-decade rule.
Revolutions which deposed the presidents of Tunisia and Egypt have shaken the Arab world and inspired protests across the Middle East and North Africa, threatening the grip of long-entrenched autocratic leaders.
In the Gulf kingdom of Bahrain, thousands of protesters gathered in a square in Manama, calling for political change and awaiting promised talks with the island's Sunni rulers.
After days of violence, the mood among the mainly Shi'ite protesters appeared to be more conciliatory.
Libya, however was witnessing the bloodiest episodes yet in two months of unrest convulsing the Arab world.
A resident in Tripoli told Reuters by telephone he could hear gunshots. "We're inside the house and the lights are out. There are gunshots in the street," he said. "That's what I hear, gunshots and people. I can't go outside."
An expatriate worker said: "Some anti-government demonstrators are gathering in the residential complexes. The police are dispersing them. I can also see burning cars."
Al Jazeera television said thousands of protesters clashed with supporters of Gaddafi in Tripoli's Green Square.
The violence spread to Tripoli after days of protests in Benghazi, Libya's second largest city, in which at least 233 people have been killed, according to Human Rights Watch.
Communications are tightly controlled and Benghazi is not accessible to international journalists, but the picture that has emerged is of a city slipping from the grasp of security forces in the biggest challenge to Gaddafi's rule since the "brotherly leader" seized power in a 1969 military coup.
Habib al-Obaidi, head of the intensive care unit at the main Al-Jalae hospital in Benghazi, said the bodies of 50 people, mostly killed by gunshots, had been brought there on Sunday afternoon. The deaths came after scores were killed on Saturday.
Two hundred people had arrived wounded, 100 of them in serious condition, he said.
Members of an army unit known as the "Thunderbolt" squad had come to the hospital carrying wounded comrades, he said. The soldiers said they had defected to the cause of the hundreds of thousands of protesters in the streets and had fought and defeated Gaddafi's elite guards.
"They are now saying that they have overpowered the Praetorian Guard and that they have joined the people's revolt," another man at the hospital who heard the soldiers, lawyer Mohamed al-Mana, told Reuters by telephone.
A Libyan tribal leader threatened to block oil exports to the West within 24 hours if the government does not stop the "oppression of protesters." Another tribal chief told al Jazeera Gaddafi had to leave the country.
GADDAFI'S SON PROMISES REFORM
Saif al-Islam, who has in the past pushed a reform agenda in Libya with only limited success, said the protests threatened to sink Libya into civil war and split the country.
He said reports of hundreds killed were an exaggeration, but acknowledged the police and army made mistakes in dealing with the protests.
The General People's Congress, Libya's equivalent of a parliament, would convene on Monday to discuss a "clear" reform agenda, while the government would also raise wages, in an apparent attempt to address some of the protesters' demands, he said.
The clamour for reform across a region of huge strategic importance to the West and the source of much of its oil began in Tunisia in December. The overthrow of President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali then inspired Egyptians to rise up against strongman Hosni Mubarak, overthrowing him on February 11.
The tide has challenged Arab leaders, including many who have long been backed by the West as vital energy suppliers and enemies of Islamist militants. While each uprising has its own dynamics, from religion to tribalism, all protesters seem united by frustration over economic hardship and a lack of political freedom under entrenched elites.
Unrest also hit Yemen, Tunisia, Morocco, Oman, Kuwait, Algeria and Djibouti over the weekend as people took to the streets demanding political and economic change.
In Iran, thousands of security personnel deployed in the streets of Tehran and other cities to prevent protesters rallying in spite of a ban, opposition websites said.
U.S. SAYS GRAVELY CONCERNED
The United States said it was "gravely concerned" by the situation in Libya and warned its citizens to delay trips there.
In Bahrain, the main opposition party said it wanted the crown prince to show signs of addressing opposition demands before any formal dialogue could start.
Crown Prince Sheikh Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa, of the ruling Sunni Muslim dynasty, made conciliatory moves after days of violence in which at least six people died.
"All political parties in the country deserve a voice at the table," he told CNN. "I think there is a lot of anger, a lot of sadness...We are terribly sorry and this is a terrible tragedy for our nation," said the prince, who is seen as a reformist.
Ibrahim Mattar, a lawmaker of the main opposition Wefaq party, said protesters, thousands of whom were camping out in Pearl square, wanted more than words.
"We are waiting for an initiative from him, with a scope for dialogue," he said, adding that the prince should "send a small signal he is willing to have a constitutional monarchy."
Shi'ites, who make up 70 percent of the population, complain of unfair treatment in Bahrain, an ally of the United States, whose Fifth Fleet is based there.
The opposition is demanding a constitutional monarchy that gives citizens a greater role in a directly elected government. It also wants the release of political prisoners.
Speculation was growing that Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa, in office since independence from Britain in 1971, would be replaced by the crown prince.
In Tunisia on Sunday, security forces fired into the air as tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered downtown to call for the replacement of the interim government -- a sign that problems are not all swept away with the removal of a dictator.
In Yemen, shots were fired at a demonstration in the capital Sanaa on the ninth consecutive day of unrest. Thousands were demanding the departure of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who called for dialogue with the opposition.
But the coalition of main opposition parties said there could be no dialogue with "bullets and sticks and thuggery," or with a government "which gathers mercenaries to occupy public squares ... and terrorise people."
At least 2,000 protesters gathered in a square in Morocco's capital on Sunday to demand King Mohammed give up some powers.
(Reporting by Reuters bureaux; Writing by Diana Abdallah; Editing by Matthew Jones)
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Yemen, awash in guns, wary about unrest (The Christian Science Monitor)

Sanaa, Yemen – As Yemeni protests escalate, tribesmen from rural parts of the country have come to Yemen's own Tahrir Square. But despite sharing the same name as the epicenter of Egypt's revolution, this central square in Sanaa has yet to attract throngs of antigovernment protesters – perhaps in no small part because the tribesmen occupying it are armed.

They're not the only ones carrying guns, however. In Yemen, which has one of the highest guns-per-capita ratios in the world and a weak central government, the Kalashnikov has become emblematic of masculinity, the size of one’s weapon cache synonymous with power.

“Shame on a man who leaves his house without his gun,” says Sinan Abo Zeid, a native of Yemen's northern border province Al Jawf, where men are known to pay for their cars’ gasoline in bullets whenever they don’t have enough cash. “In Al Jawf, the Kalashnikov is the government.”

Countries in the Middle East where the 'winds of change' are blowing

As Yemen has become more volatile – a state headed toward failure, where it's unclear who would fill the power vacuum that could follow – the number of weapons slung across men's shoulders and stashed in tribal outposts is increasingly seen as problematic.

“There are dangerous risks that these weapons will get into the hands of the wrong people," says Sultan al-Atwany, a member of parliament (MP) from the opposition Nasserite party. "This is a big security risk in Yemen."

Grenades, mortars, and an odd tankDue to a history of internal conflicts and international meddling, Yemen has 60 guns per 100 people – second only to the United States, according to a report conducted in 2007 by the Small Arms Survey, a Geneva-based independent research project.

Traditionally, tribal law regulated weapons use in this country. However, as a result of the gradual erosion of tribal norms due to urbanization, Yemen’s weak central government, and competition over resource depletion, gun-related violence is increasing. Revenge killings, kidnappings, and politically inspired fighting – including the terrorist operations of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula – plague Yemeni society.

Moreover, Yemen’s population is armed with weapons more powerful than guns. Tribes are widely said to have supplies of rocket-propelled grenades, mortars, and in some rare cases, tanks.

'Using my gun to take my rights'Revelations from WikiLeaks’ released diplomatic cables highlight US concern about widespread weapons proliferation in a country where a regional branch of Al Qaeda has set up shop.

Starting in 2004, according to a cable, the US worked with the Yemeni government to buy back surface-to-air missiles, or MANPADS, in an attempt to remove them from the Yemeni arms market so that terrorists would not obtain the missiles. Other cables reveal US concern over weapons being smuggled out of Yemen to other terrorist organizations around the globe.

Rashad al-Alimi, the deputy prime minister for security and defense affairs, claimed that arms proliferation is one of four security challenges facing Yemen, says a report published by the Small Arms Survey in May 2010. Others include terrorist threats, border protection, and “weak loyalty to the state.”

Lack of federal rule of law in Yemen’s countryside has created a ethos of “using my gun to take my rights,” says Ayesh Awas, a researcher at the Sheba Center for Strategic Studies in Sanaa who has examined small-arms proliferation in Yemen.

“Weapons are not the main reason for internal conflicts, but they certainly make our conflicts more intense,” Mr. Awas says. “The presence of weapons encourages crimes.”

New laws, weapons seizuresThe Yemeni government has made efforts to increase gun control in recent years.

In 1992, the Yemeni government passed a new regulation that prohibited carrying firearms in major cities, although it wasn’t until 2007 until authorities readily enforced the law. The central government had to realize, says Mr. Atwany, the opposition MP, that if absolutely no checks were put on weapon usage, it could end up backfiring against them – quite literally.

“The government used to say, 'Oh, this is the culture of Yemen,' " as an excuse to not have to deal with international concern regarding Yemen’s highly armed population, he says. “But when they saw that these weapons could be used against the state because of the strong resentment growing against [the central government], they started to enforce the law.”

The official Saba News Agency reported in April that the Interior Ministry has seized around 600,000 weapons since August 2008.

But parliament members who support an increase in state-sponsored gun control say it's unclear to what extent President Ali Abdullah Saleh's regime, which also has an interest in preserving allegiances with tribal sheikhs, is willing to press for stricter measures.

A new law, which would require that every piece of weaponry be licensed, is trying to make its way through parliament, but is being held up because many supporters of Yemen’s ruling party are powerful sheikhs who don’t want the state tampering with their stashes of weapons that number into the hundreds.

“If the state had the political will it would be able to enforce [gun-control laws] all over the country,” says Ali al-Mamari of Yemen’s ruling General People’s Congress party. The problem, he says, is that “those who are considered the best people in this country are not the better educated, but the people who are trained to shoot.”

Needed: Anti-gun campaign based on honor, courageDuring Yemen’s civil wars in 1962 and 1994, leaders from the opposing sides in war would hand out weapons to tribes who provided them with support, Awas explains. This included Saudi Arabia, which started providing Yemeni tribes with weapons after 1962, in order to weaken the strength of northern Yemen’s recently established, Egyptian-supported republican government.

In Yemen’s south, the Soviets who supported South Yemen’s socialist regime heavily armed the population throughout the 1970s and 80s.

Now with weapons possession ingrained in the national psyche, analysts don’t see an easy solution to disarming the country.

“Programs could be initiated that attempt to change tribal values about owning and using weapons," says a 2003 Small Arms Survey report. "The difficulty, however, will be fashioning a campaign that can play on tribal strengths – such as honor, courage, and self-control – without advancing an argument that sounds ‘Western,’ which is a derogatory term throughout the region as it signifies a lack of respect for Islam and Arab tradition.”

Countries in the Middle East where the 'winds of change' are blowing

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