Yemen was the backdrop for a series of bloody assassinations this week. They might not be the last, predicts Nasser Arrabyee in Sana'a In the aftermath of a political assassination and the murder of three American missionaries this week, a shocked Yemen is keen to avert any further escalation of violence. With a weak government, a strong tribal society, the presence of both Al- Qa'eda operatives and the US military, it seems that Yemen has all the ingredients for a potentially explosive situation. The blood-bath began on 28 December, when veteran socialist politician, Jar Allah Omar, 60, the assistant secretary-general of the opposition Yemeni Socialist Party (YSP) was shot dead in front of more than 6,000 participants at the third general conference of the Islamist Islah Party, the country's largest opposition party. Perversely, Omar was assassinated after delivering a speech rejecting Yemen's, "culture of violence and revenge". His murder provoked widespread condemnation among officials and the general public. The motives behind the murder remain unknown. Two days later, on 30 December, a gunman identified as 32- year-old, Ali Abdul-Razzaq Al-Kamel, shot three American missionaries dead and badly wounded a fourth when he walked into a hospital and opened fire on doctors. Al-Kamel was immediately arrested. The US-based Southern Baptist Convention's International Mission Board identified hospital administrator William Koehn, purchasing agent Kathleen Gareity and doctor Martha Myers as the victims of the attack. Pharmacist, Donald Caswell, was rushed to hospital, suffering gunshot wounds. He is expected to recover. Yemeni president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, in a message of condolence to his US counterpart, George W Bush, vowed that the, "perpetrators of this hateful crime will not escape punishment...they will be severely punished so they can serve as examples to others." "Yemen condemns and denounces this criminal and ghastly act that goes against the beliefs of Yemeni people. We are in the same trench in fighting terrorism and drying up its resources because it is a scourge that threatens peace and security in the world," he added. This is the first major-anti US attack in Yemen since the sinking of the USS Cole in 2000. A White House spokesman has told reporters that his government is working closely with Yemeni officials to investigate these attacks. The assassinations, observers predict, are more likely to escalate internal tension, fuelled by what politicians describe as America's violation of Yemen's sovereignty in its so-called war on terror. In November, the US took responsibility for the killing of six alleged members of Al- Qa'eda amid the local government's conspicuous silence. A US Hellfire missile from a CIA drone hit a car carrying the six alleged members. The operation drew strong criticism from opposition parties who demanded that the government reveal the "nature" and "level" of security co-operation between Yemen and the US. Their demand was answered on Monday when the Yemeni prime minister, coming under political pressure following this week's assassinations, finally told the parliament that his country had in fact asked the US to hunt down Al-Qa'eda members in Yemen. This, he told his audience, did not violate the country's national sovereignty. According to the Yemeni Interior Ministry, the alleged killer of the American missionaries confessed to being a member of the Islah Party and that he co-ordinated his crime with Omar's killer. But the party was quick to deny this, instead arguing that the killer made no such confessions and that he resigned from the Islah in 1998 in protest against what he called the party's soft policies towards the US. Sources close to the investigations revealed on Monday that the alleged killer is a member of an extremist Islamist cell that was set up to carry out five other operations. Amid the lack of clear evidence surrounding the interrogations and the lack of information on the true motives of both operations, observers have been left with a chaotic series of events that are dominating the country's political climate. Omar's assassination, said Fares El-Sakkaf, director of the Futuristic Studies Centre in Sana'a, "will leave its mark on the future of political activity in Yemen and will have a negative impact. It might also support the view that democracy in this country remains a dangerous endeavour." Omar's assassin, identified as Ali Ahmed Mohamed Jar Allah, 40, offered an unconvincing explanation for his crime. "Jar Allah Omar", he told representatives from various opposition parties, "is a secularist and he does not believe in Islamic Shari'a". He said that he planned to kill two more political leaders: Abdul-Malik Al-Mekhlafi, secretary-general of the Unionist Nasserite Party, and Qasem Salam, secretary-general of the Ba'ath Party. Omar was a key figure in the opposition alliance that brought together the Islah, YSP, and Unionist Nasserite Party and five other minor parties. This co-ordination worried the ruling People's General Congress, who are looking forward to an overwhelming majority in the upcoming parliamentary elections scheduled for April 2003. In an attempt to rule out accusations levelled at the Islah, Sheikh Abdullah Al-Ahmar, chairman of the Islah Party, and parliamentary speaker, ordered his bodyguards to take the perpetrator to his house, calling on representatives from the YSP, other opposition parties and civil society to witness his interrogation. Jar Allah confessed to killing Omar without "conspiring with anyone". According to eyewitnesses, the initial questioning was recorded on video tape. Al-Ahmar handed him over only after receiving guarantees that representatives from the YSP would be attending all the investigations. The YSP, a former opponent of the Islah, described the assassination as a "political, terrorist, premeditated assassination". It indicates, their statement said, the political and moral bankruptcy of the people who premeditated it. Dr Abdul-Wahab Al-Dailami, chairman of the judicial board of the Islah Party said that "the incident was an ugly crime, and the assailant was undoubtedly motivated, it was a premeditated crime with the purpose of ruining the conference and destroying the opposition alliance." President Ali Abdullah Saleh said, in a condolence letter to Omar's family, that he was, "a victim of violence, extremism and blind intolerance". The official Al-Thawra daily published a lengthy editorial on its front page under the title " No to extremism". "The assassination of Omar was an act of extremism and it did not target a person or party in particular but all the great meanings of values of peace, tolerance and the core of Islam," the editorial said. On its part, the Islah Party was quick to deny that the perpetrator was one of its members, slamming official media reports as "lies". According to government sources, Jar Allah was detained several times for attacking the government and was released after mediation from prominent Islah members. Sources close to the Sana'a-based mosque where Jar Allah was preaching told Al-Ahram Weekly that he repeatedly vowed to kill the secularists unless they declared their repentance, referring to leftist and nationalist party leaders. Abdul-Majeed Al-Zandani, chairman of the Sana'a- based Al-Eyman Islamic University and chairman of the Islah Shura Council, said that, "so-called Ali Ahmed Jar Allah has nothing to do with the Al-Eyman University". "The criminal studied only one year, he was dismissed seven years ago because of his extremist views," Al- Zandani added. Meanwhile, the General Prosecutor summoned the secretary-general of the Islah Party, Mohamed Al-Yadomi in connection with the investigation. Al-Yadomi had reportedly refused to allow Interior Ministry officers to provide security at the conference in Sana'a on Saturday where Omar was killed.
