Search results

In response to a Freedom of Information request, GSN has obtained the cost to the UK of running its embassies, consulates and diplomatic missions in the Gulf region. The following table shows the annual running cost of each mission in the financial year 2011/12, the last full financial year available. The figures include costs incurred by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) on behalf of all UK government departments present at these posts.

The National Dialogue Conference, a crucial component of Yemen’s GCC-backed political transition plan, could begin by the end of February, following the completion of a key preparatory report. But uncertainty over who will attend is just one of several potential obstacles to success.

President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s 19 December decrees brought Yemen’s counterterrorism operations under one roof for the first time, making it clear that, in line with US wishes, Hadi considers the fight against terrorism a military affair.

President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi has issued a series of decrees aimed at shaking up Yemen’s military and removing the threat of two rival commanders. The decrees were well-received in Sanaa, where politicians and activists had been complaining that Hadi was not doing enough to push the political transition process forward.

Yemen is in a very fragile state. After 33 years of rule, president Ali Abdullah Saleh let go of power in February 2012, and the nation entered a two-year transitional period intended to steer it towards democracy and stability. His successor, Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, has inherited a nation beset by violence and competing factions. A smouldering insurgency in the north, secessionism in the south, a powerful jihadist movement and remnants of the old guard are all high on the agenda.

The National Dialogue Conference, a crucial component of Yemen’s GCC-backed political transition plan, should begin in January, following the completion of a key preparatory report. But uncertainty over who will attend is just one of several potential obstacles to success.

Yemen is nine months into a transition period envisaged to last two years and intended to steer the troubled state towards multi-party democratic elections. But the country remains wracked with violence. A strong Al-Qaeda presence in the south, tensions within the military, immense poverty and malnutrition are just some of the challenges facing President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi,who took over in February after 33 years of rule by Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Donors pledged a further $1.46bn at a meeting of the Friends of Yemen in New York on 27 September. The funds – which come on top of the $6.37bn pledged in a meeting in Riyadh on 4 September – still fall short of what Yemen says it needs.

Donors will meet in New York on 27 September to discuss much-needed aid to Yemen (GSN 926/1). At a meeting in Riyadh on 4 September, the so-called Friends of Yemen – the US, European Union, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Swtizerland, the UK and a number of international development funds including the World Bank – pledged $6.37bn to help keep Sanaa’s government afloat.

Inspired by events in North Africa, hundreds of angry Yemenis stormed the US compound in Sanaa on 13 September. The violence was nominally in protest at a film insulting Islam, and has been encouraged by terrorist groups, but at its heart lies a far more fundamental – and more problematic – frustration.

A member of Italy’s Carabinieri military police who was kidnapped on 29 July has been freed by his captors.

The Gulf of Aden Ports Corporation plans to cancel its contract with Dubai state-owned ports operator DP World and is seeking talks to avoid going to international arbitration, according to Reuters and Yemeni media.

Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi issued a slew of presidential decrees on 6 August, one of which restructured the board of the central bank. Mohammed Aoud Bin Hammam stayed on as governor and Mohammed Ahmed Al-Sayani was named his deputy.

President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi has moved to curb the power of two key rivals, limiting the number of military personnel under their control. Late on 6 August, state news agency Saba published a presidential decree ordering the creation of a Presidential Protection Force, which will sweep up three brigades of the elite Republican Guard commanded by Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh, the son of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, and one brigade from the First Armoured Division led by Brigadier General Ali Mohsen Al-Ahmar.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has exploited the weakness of central government, and last year seized several southern areas. The US has been backing a major offensive against AQAP in recent months, with considerable success: in June, security forces regained control of regions held by Ansar Al-Sharia, an AQAP affiliate.