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Guilty: A Yemen Court Issued Death Sentences for Mansour Saleh Salem Daleel, 18, and Mubarak Ali Hadi al-Shabwani, 23, for ties to Al-Qaeda. The two men await their fate for allegedly taking part in an armed gang that murdered Yemeni security officials. They were arrested in Marib Province on December 11 of last year.

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Ministry of oil Invites the Inter-national Companies to a new 50 Blocks

Government Official Calls for Adherence to Ceasefire in North in Wake of Recent Kidnapping

Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce Appeals to the Supreme Council for Justice

The Ministry of Oil and Min-erals announced last week new opportunities in the oil con-cession map. Mr. Ameer Al-Aidarous, Minister of Oil and Minerals, said that the opening of 50 new blocks will boost the economy by attracting new in-vestors.

“Petroleum companies all over the world are invited to explore Yemen’s great poten-tial for oil drilling. We are re-ally open to deal with all com-panies who have strong finical resources and a good record of adhering to local laws” said al-Aidarous.

He adds that he looks for those who are well-qualified, have significant experience, and are ready to invest imme-diately. Yemen has developed

its oil law to be more flexible and attractive to serious and reputable companies. He em-phasizes that his Ministry is ready to discuss any credible future petroleum investment strategies.

Sana’a—Yemen’ s Interior Ministry on Friday accused northern Shiite rebels of kid-napping five governmental oil engineers in the troubled northern province of al-Jouf, sources inform.

“The Shiite rebels, also known as Houthis, kidnapped late Thursday, five Yemeni oil engineers belonging to the Marib-based Yemeni Oil Com-pany (YOC) during their mis-sion to inspect oil pipelines in the Barat and Kharab al-Mouashi districts of al-Jouf,” the Ministry released in a state-ment. They cite a police report from al-Jouf.

“The Shiite rebel group still holds the five engineers,” said the statement. The Inte-rior Ministry is questioning the motivations behind the kidnap-ping.

On Sunday, an official over-

seeing a recent ceasefire with the Houthis called on the reb-els to commit themselves to the agreed upon truce. He demanded they stop impeding efforts to bring peace to Saada province and the Harf Sufian District of Amran province.

Since 2004, Yemen has wit-nessed sporadic battles be-tween government troops and the Shiite Houthi rebels. They Yemeni government accuses the group of seeking to re-es-tablish the clerical rule over-thrown by the 1962 Yemeni revolution which created the Yemeni republic.

On Feb. 11, the govern-ment and Shiite rebels struck a ceasefire agreement to end the conflict in the northern part of the country. However, both sides repeatedly trade accusa-tions over breaching the truce, which so far still holds.

Mr. Hassan Al-Kbous , Chair-man of the Chamber of Com-merce in the Capital Secretariat,

appealed to Judge Essam Al-Samawi, Chief of the Supreme Justice Council, to intervene and promptly stop what he calls the Customs Authority’s “abu-sive” and sudden implementa-tion of mechanisms for collect-ing the newly instituted General Sales Tax.

In an exclusive statement Kbous said, “Due to the Cus-toms Authority’s intransigence, we appeal to Judge Issam Al-Samawi to promptly and ur-gently intervene to stop the authority’s abuses and end its obstinacy. Most articles within this law are not constitutional

and are yet to be decided by the Constitutional Department of the Supreme Court”.

Kbous added, “Implementa-tion of the current mechanisms to collect sales tax will open the door to corruption, like that of smuggling diesel and natural gas. The state here is the big-gest loser, and I say openly that when the Customs Authority imposes such implementation, it is like imposing corruption on us.”

It is not, as noted by the chair-man of the Customs Authority in a statement, that the rejec-tion is coming from a particular

‘group’ in the Capital Secretari-at Chamber. Kbous claims that the private sector in all gover-norates of the Republic agreed to refuse applying the mecha-nisms to collect the sales tax.

He said, “The General Union of the Chambers of Commerce has authorized the Secretariat Chamber to refuse to apply the

mechanisms of collecting un-fair taxes under a law that is unconstitutionally contested. The union issued a statement to that end, and published it in all newspapers and many websites. We all agree to reject the imple-mentation mechanisms, and we

Hassan Al-Kbous

Ameer Al-Aidarous

ADEN, July 10 – Yemeni Women Union (YWU) is to launch on Tuesday a project to support women and youth. This project will also combat unem-ployment, abuse of Qat, and en-vironmental pollution.

The $2.56 million project is being implemented by the YWU in cooperation with the World Bank (WB). Financed by the Japanese government, the project will be carried out in seven provinces including Aden, Sana’a, Hodeidah, Taiz, Ibb, Dhamar and Hadramout

over the next two years.The project aims to raise so-

cial awareness among families, children, and young people to reduce the spread of Qat through a number of programs and activities.

In this regard, the arrange-ments made to launch the proj-ect was discussed in a meeting chaired by Aden Governor Ad-nan al-Jeffri. In attendance was YWU’s executive office direc-tor and Secretary-General of the Arab Women Union, Ramzia al-Eryani, and World Bank rep-

resentative, Julie Williams.Al-Jeffri expressed the need

to find alternative means to discourage young people from chewing Qat through continu-ing to raise awareness of Qat’s risks in the society. Civil soci-ety has an important role in this regard.

Al-Eryani and Williams point-ed out that the project will be launched on July 13 in Sana’a, and would be implemented in 14 districts of the poorest dis-tricts in the seven provinces.

The project aims to support

youth through establishing clubs and training them on es-tablishing and managing small projects. The project will also serve to assist in rehabilitation of poor families by providing loans and grants. A key to suc-cessful implementation is their goal of creating partnership with local councils, they added.

They stressed the importance of introducing youth to produc-tive health, the risk that Qat poses to this health, and the im-portance of national loyalty and of democracy.

Yemen Woman Union to Launch $2.5 Million Project to Support Women, Youth on Tuesday

Sunday, July 11, 2010Volume 01 - ISSue 07

PrIce: yer 30

www.natIonalyemen.comNationalYemenThe Facts As They Are

I am always heartened when relations flourish Rights of trading Fourth Horsemanship

Tournament

More than a Socio-Economic and Tourist

Event04 08 09 10

Initial skepticism of some Arabian states regarding the Arabian Felix’s aptitude to host the event is silenced.

An extraordinary meeting was

held on Friday in Sana’a to dis-cuss the final agreements con-

cerning the 20th Gulf schedule. The championship will start on November 22nd, 2010 and end December 4 and will be hosted by Yemen. Additionally, 21st Gulf was decided to be held in Basra, Iraq. Continued on ( 9 )

5 Football Fields Ready for the 20th Gulf Football Championship

Sunday, July 11, 2010 www.nationalyemen.com2 National YemenADVERTISMENTS

It is always unwise to engage oneself in any sort of confron-tation with more than one op-ponent even if this one is alert and strong. But it is extremely insane to launch more than a war at the same time and it is even worse when unfocused and vulnerable.

The government of Yemen, unfortunately, seems to be gone insane by indulging into endless battles at all levels: political, social, economic, se-curity, and recently resuming an old battle with the private business sector on the contro-versial sale tax law.

It is true the government has the right to raise revenue from its people. When its already scarce resources are shrinking, this right becomes even over-due when it comes to sale tax, a practice followed everywhere. Ultimately the end customer/citizen the poor people who are not getting enough salaries working here or there will pay this tax through the business-es and its again a new suffer. This revenues – in an effective, transparent, and accountable system, will be returned to citi-zen in form of better services, pensions, and quality life.

The consequent governments of Yemen since the nation’s re-unification in 1990 have failed to perform effectively. These governments – including the one in office now – have never been serving the people of Ye-men, because their loyalty ori-entation is not for the people, but for their bosses. This kind of orientation doesn’t lead to public satisfaction towards the existing government of the pre-vious ones. It rather increases the level of distrust among the public in any reform plans or initiatives that come through the government.

As explained that we agree the government has full le-gitimacy to impose sales tax,

we believe that at this point in nation-building it should not be done the way it is proposed. The appropriate mechanisms should be carefully studied and simulated to ensure their effec-tiveness and efficiency. These mechanisms are not applicable is the existing ailing financial system, systemized corruption, lack of transparency and ac-countability.

The sale tax law is overdue, this clear, but the ratification and enforcement of this law will create new layers of fi-nancial corruption. A series of questions that raises here: Is the tax authority corrupt-free? Why the government is so con-fident about its system? Don’t these senior officials who push for this law have their busi-nesses? Do they pay income tax? Where the money goes? Do we have better education, health, water, infrastructure? Are we really secure?

Some major business houses in the country are as bad as the government. They belong to the same culture. However, they shall be dealt with as part-ners not foes and the poor will pay the fees.

The opponents of the govern-ment increase in number and make its efforts go in vein. It is a misuse of power, and nation-al resources. A renewed front-line is installed now with the private sector, just along with other opponents including Al-Qaeda, Al-Houthis, and sepa-ratist movement in the south among others.

Our view is that the gov-ernment has to work with its stakeholders not against them. And before enforcing the sale tax law, the government should be rightly qualified technically to handle this change. The government should clean up the mess they are in now, and reform the financial sectors. Otherwise this tax will just hurt business, make people angrier with the government, and con-tinue to feed corruption. Does the government want more chaos and instability in the country?

The experience of the busi-ness community and citizen with the government has failed in the history of the finical and managerial reforms as well with the development of the of the citizen’s life and salaries.

Fakhri al-ArashiPublisher & Chief Editor

A n e w b a t t l eo f b a d w a r

The Al-Jazeera launched its 12th Information Technology and Communication Exhibi-tion on July 8.

The event is organized by APOLLO Exhibition Center, and 35 companies from the Arabian Gulf are participating.

Internationally-known and upstart firms exhibited their in-novative products and services at the only exhibition that fea-tures modern technologies in Yemen.

In attendance were ambassa-dors, businessmen, and diplo-mats from both the Arab Gulf region and Africa. Local Min-isters and a thrilled public at-tended, many of whom visited

the JiTCOM annual presenta-tion.

The Al-Jazeera Exhibition is considered one of the most important in Yemen due to the new technologies presented. New services and the latest products are released to catch the interest of investors, spe-cialists, and entertainers. Such technology surely satisfies the tastes of all visitors.

At the JITCOM, experts and curious attendees are shown the latest laptops, mobile phones, cameras, terminal and operator services, printers and more. The exhibition will continue until the 12th of this month.

12th Al-Jazeera Information Technology and Communica-tion Exhibition Begins

TeleYemen decreases fares of international phone calls

Government to hold 2nd meeting for YITC

Charitable Social Reform So-ciety (CSRS) : twenty years of continued and renewed giving

1st Annual Sana’a International Book Exhibition for Children and Women

SANA’A, July 10 (Saba)-Minister of Tourism Nabil al-Faqih opened on Saturday 1st the Sana’a International Book Exhibition for Children and Women.

The ten-day exhibition is organized by the General Au-thority for Books and includes participation of 35 local and in-ternational printing houses.

Al-Faqih affirmed the impor-

tance of organizing such exhi-bitions as a chance to provide knowledge specifically orient-ed towards issues relating to woman and children.

Chairman of the General Authority for Books, Faris al-Saqaf, made it clear that the aim of holding this exhibition is to establish an annual event focused on woman and chil-dren.

Starting July 1, 2010, Yemen-based telecommunications company “TeleYemen” an-nounced a reduction in interna-tional calls rates, to 1.5 Yemeni Riyal per second for ground and mobile telephones. This is in addition to their reduction of international call prices by 56% for this year.

Everyone can benefit from this offer at anytime, to any-where, and from any phone without restrictions or condi-tions.

TeleYemen Marketing Direc-tor Hayel Mohammed Ibrahim said, “We are glad to provide our customers with this sub-stantial rate reduction for in-ternational calls. It will enable them to communicate with their friends and family abroad. We consider this campaign to be evidence of our continued commitment towards facilitat-ing such international connec-tions”.

It is worth mentioning that TeleYemen is the sole and ex-

clusive international telecom-munication provider in Yemen. Ibrahim added that the compa-ny has plans for gradual reduc-tions, and they aim for striking a balance between the incom-ing and outgoing connections.

Incoming connections to Ye-men are more costly than out-going connections. The cuts in fares are a way to encour-age outgoing calls. They have reduced prices from YR 99 to YR 90 per minute.

SANA’A, July 10 (Saba)- Headed by Minister of Indus-try and Trade Yahya al-Mut-awakel, a meeting was held in Sana’a on Saturday to discuss ongoing arrangements to hold second meeting of the Yemeni-Italian Trade committee that would be hosted in Sana’a in coming October.

The minister affirmed impor-tance to draw several sugges-tions to present to the coming meeting of the committee, pointing out to benefit from the signed agreements between Yemen and Italy.

He highlighted role of the committee to enhance mutual cooperation between the two countries in fields of economy, development and investment.

Some 391 agencies are work-ing in Yemen in addition to eight branches for Italian com-panies, the minister said.

He also affirmed concern of Yemen to boost its ties with Italy, saying that the volume of the trade exchange between two countries reached $ 85.6 million in 2009.

Hayel Mohammed Ibrahim

Continued from (1)

are ready to bring all taxable merchants to the Customs Au-thority to prove it.

He concludes, “What we do in the Secretariat Chamber is for the interest of the home-land and her citizens, and we

are especially mindful that Ramadhan is fast approach-ing. If the authority continues to impose corruption upon the private sector and taxable mer-chants, prices will rise. Such a step, according to some local economists, is an open war on the citizens who are suffering already.”

Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce Appeals to the Su-preme Council for Justice

Hamoud al-Hitar Minister of Endowments and Guid-ance, praised the humanitarian and charitable activities of the Charitable Social Reform So-ciety (CSRS) over twenty years since it was established in 1990.

in the artistic and rhetorical festival held by the CSRS to-day in the hall of the President Center for Orphans in Sana’a on the occasion of the 20th an-niversary of its foundation, the minister said that the CSRS has upgraded the charitable work to the collective action, and provided a successful model of partnership between the state and the civil society organiza-tions.

He said, “This matter enabled it to gain the trust of the state and the well-wishers alike and gave a strong momentum for the

society to continue its course and activities, which included all aspects of development in society.” He called on all civil society organizations, founda-tions and charities to follow the CSRS example through the expansion of charitable projects for the care and rehabilitation and adoption of orphans. The minister expressed his gratitude to the charitable organizations, bodies and institutions from the GCC countries for their support and care for all charities in Ye-men.

Mr. Murshed Al-Arshani, President of the CSRS, re-viewed the charitable projects and activities carried out by the charity during the past years. He pointed out that the charity was pioneer in establishing the culture of charitable work and

consolidating its approach in the community. He added that the charitable sector and volun-tary work through associations and institutions support the missions of the State and its ef-

forts in social and humanitarian aspects. He said that the Society has moved from the area of ma-terial handouts to poor families to adopt sustainable develop-ment projects.

Sunday, July 11, 2010 www.nationalyemen.com 3National Yemen LOCAL

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National Yemen

NewspaperWardah Al-shaweshGraphic Designer

Fakhri Hassan Al-ArashiPublisher & Chief Editor

Mohammed HowaisPhotojournalist

Mohammed Al-AsaadiEditorial Consultant

Mansoor Al-RdaeiNews Editor

Fuad Al-QadhiBusiness Editor

Najeeb AbdulwahedTechnical Director

Dr. Ahmed Al-QoyadhiEducation Editor

Najla’a Al-ShaibaniSocial Editor

Abdul-Karim MufadhalSports Editor

Khaled Al-SofiSeniorTranslator

Ali Abdullah AjlanIT Editor

Collin StevensonAssistant Copy Editor

Hind Al-EryaniP.R & Marketing

6 July 2010 — As of July 1, the Delegation of the European Union to Yemen has taken up its role as President of the Eu-ropean Union. This role entails the task of representation, co-ordination and negotiation on behalf of the European Union.

The local representation of the European Union will be unified

under the authority of the High Representative for Foreign Af-fairs and Security Policy, Bar-oness Catherine Ashton. This brings together the previous tasks performed by the Euro-pean Union Delegations, whose functions were exercised by ro-tating EU Presidencies.

“The EU Delegation will seek to deepen and strengthen EU cooperation with the Govern-ment and people of Yemen in close coordination with the Embassies of each EU Member State on a number of key is-sues. These issues include state building, national dialogue, and economic reforms”, said the EU Head of Delegation, Ambassa-dor Michele Cervone d’Urso. “The Delegation is expanding right now. It seeks to respond

to its growing responsibilities, and will soon be well-equipped to handle its new role. We look forward to more robust engage-ment with Yemeni stakeholders at all levels”.

With the implementation of the Lisbon Treaty on 1 Decem-ber 2009, the High Representa-tive became responsible for the EU’s political dialogue. The High Representative represents the Union in matters relating to common foreign and security policies, and it is responsible for conducting political dia-logue on the Union’s behalf.

The EU rotational presidency will continue to exist, but such Delegations in third-party na-tions will assume permanent local presidency of the EU.

EU Delegation Assumes Permanent Local Presidency of the EU in Yemen

Sunday, July 11, 2010 www.nationalyemen.com4 National Yemen

Since the London conference in January this year, Yemen has continued to facing many chal-lenges in sustainable develop-ment, fighting Al-Qaeda , fight-ing corruption, the Sa’ada wars and the secessionist movement in South Yemen, and a further 100,000 problems which the next five year plan to support Yemen must overcome. Mr. Alistair Burt, the UK Minister for Middle East & South Asia, has made a recent visit to Ye-men, where he met with a num-ber of officials, including and starting with President Saleh, and a few members of his cabi-net. The visit of the British Min-ister came as a result of the new British government’s attitudes toward Yemen. In an interview meeting with National Yemen Mr. Burt revealed part of the strategy of his country, saying that Yemen is a topic of great concern to many important is-sues, including the security, economic and political interests of the United Kingdom and fos-tering and maintaining a strong, cooperative, fruitful relation-ship will remain important, for both parties.

The whole of the gulf region means a great deal to the UK, and one of the main reasons for coming out so early was to take the opportunity to talk to the president and see the ministers and hear their views about the relationship between us, right across the world, in areas for development, economic areas, and importantly security as well. The UK relationship with the “Friends of Yemen” group, and to make sure that people ap-preciated the necessity of keep-ing the intra-group relationships very strong. There is a certain amount that will be done by the Yemeni government itself; it must take the lead in the key is-sues that will make a difference in this country, but there are friends, support and also other

friends in the gulf can play a role too, so that was the principle purpose for coming out - I look forward to some honest discus-sion following your warm wel-come, and I am already looking forward to coming again.How did you find your meeting with our president whom UK will help Yemen to obtain its problems?

Well, the conversation with the president went very well. I was quite honoured that we spent a substantial amount of time in discussion. We had a good con-versation which focused over a several issues, from economic development issues, to the re-lationships with the gulf states and “Friends of Yemen”, and, of course, we spoke about security as well. Our aim is to continue the support we have given in ca-pacity building through counter terrorism, through training the coast guard work, which has been good and successful, and to reassure that the president is not alone in this issues.

We all know that this is not a problem unique to Yemen or to the United Kingdom; many nations have shown an active interest in working together and a part of our conversation reflected that. So I enjoyed the conversation, the conversation was very positive and I hope the president felt the same.

Would your country prefer to support a strong govern-ment in Yemen or a weak one?

The British government would always want to see a good sta-ble government, and that kind of government has to support its people . In Yemen we want to see a prosperous, united Ye-men; a Yemen that is unified where the government is able to

deliver the economic programs. That is going to be necessary for ensuring that the population has opportunities for raising standards of living and educa-tion. It’s in this sort of world that the British government is supportive of our development programs, and through our bi-lateral relationships, and it cer-tainly seems that our aims and the Yemeni government’s are in line. We would wish to see a de-veloping Yemen, and I think we have very much of one of this.

Have you met with any op-positions parties of Yemen? And what is your advice to the government and the opposition to solve the con-flicts in Yemen?

This was a government - gov-ernment series of meetings, and therefore it was not possible in the schedule to arrange discus-sion with opposition parties. Formally, however, the British government would always wish to maintain relationships with key parties abroad. Moreover, we want to have the government address any of the economic courses that might lead to un-rest and conflict. It’s not for the British government to settle the political issues of other coun-tries. We would not wish to do this; it is not our place, where civil unrest may have economic issues attached, for us to help any government who is trying to ensure that these economics issues were tackled. So it’s a question of where is the econ-omy needing to expand and to provide enough jobs to people where we have a very important social development program which is going to provide some thirty million hours of work for people over the next five years. We are very committed to that, so I think our approach to that is through the government itself,

and not to address problems outside governments should not interfere with. But we want to support a certain array of pro-grams that will assist in provid-ing stable prosperous peace for a country, in which the people themselves can make informed choices about their political op-tions.

Don’t you think an un-stable country will give a chance for al-Qaeda and other terrorist organiza-tions to grow in the coun-try?

They do, and this is another reason for us to be involved in the security and the counterter-rorist aspects of our involve-ment is very clear, not just with Yemen but with other places there will always be in need for collaboration and a working relationship. The government here is very open about these issues and, of course, that is an area where we can work togeth-er. The more prosperous and the more stable a country is then the less likely that these issues will be raised.

If the interest of the Brit-ish government is to have a stable country, how does your country view past and future activities with and in Yemen?

The past is the past. The Brit-ish role, in terms of develop-ment, are important issues - this is undeniably a matter of British history. What the British people are looking for are relationships

with countries of mutual benefit to all of us. The more prosper-ous countries are, the more stable they are, the better living of people there. All our experi-ence around the world tells us that it is those countries who are engaged with trade build their populations have less problems with their neighbors. The inter-est of the British people is the same interest is of the people everywhere: we want a secure and safe world and that is why we work together. Certainly investment opportunities and trade opportunities are very im-portant and that is not a return to the past, because these roles have totally different bases now. We can compete with others who would want to come and invest. We can compete with people for products and there is a mutual sympathy and under-standing for people who wish to invest, and for people who see these investment opportunities for their are countries to grow and develop. It is as straightfor-ward as that.

The UK government has a number of supportive pro-grams and at the same time they do not have many pri-vate British companies in-vesting in Yemen?

That will improve with time; people invest where they can see a point in doing so, where they can see an opportunity for themselves to grow and devel-op where the country is stable, where finances is stable and strong. Well if you look into the engagement of the country with the IMF, their proposals have

been taken and that is the sort of thinking that assures outside investors. Our aim is to try and help the Yemeni people them-selves to ensure that they have got peace, so people want to come and invest and it will be a good place to do so. Money for investment goes wherever there is a good return. Most people are very hard headed about these things and people who are looking to invest all throughout the world with available capi-tal will look for a places where people are skilled, where there is a stable society and a good source of workers - that is the sort of place where they can in-vest. However, they will make their own choices - it is not the British government’s position to tell people where to go and invest. The most stable commu-nities are the most likely places for people to come and invest. If British companies see strong engagement between the British government and with the people of Yemen then maybe that is en-couragement enough.

Tell us about the Yemeni government education and development plan?

If you remember the ten point plan this was book forward ini-tial by a group of business peo-ple is been taken off into gov-ernment to work with, I think from memory this involves ex-panding civil service opportuni-ties to move people, which is a good thing, and that will happen with the improvement of educa-tion like. The British govern-ment is working very hard in term of our efforts to build up school capacities or exchanges for schools.

I am always heartened when relations flourish

Fakhri al-Arashi_NY

Yemen is again in the spot light in terms of the British Government’s inter-est, politically financially, and most importantly, regarding security issues.

Alistair Burt

Interveiw

Present was Mr. Alwan al-Shaibani and Mr. Omer, Chair-man and Deputy Chairman of Universal Group respectively; Mr. Rabih Saab, Vice President for Middle East Travelport; Jen-nifer D’Souza, Regional Com-mercial Director for Distributor Markets in the Middle East, Pakistan & Turkey; as well over 50 travel agents working in the airline business industry. Local media was invited to the cel-ebration of distinguished travel agency awardees and company progress.

The agents winning awards proved that use of the Travel-port’s services leads to excel-lent achievements.

Speeches were given to mark the occasion. Mr. al-Shaibani

welcomed Travelport guests, saying the genuinely success-ful partnership with Galileo is a result of their coordination in support of the Yemeni travel market. Galileo was absorbed by Universal Group last year.

“The increasing local mar-ket share of Galileo business is 55% for the past year and almost 75% for the past six

months. This is a clear sign of the company’s stability in spite of strong competition from three different companies op-erating in Yemen” said Mr. Al-Shaibani.

Since the Galileo partnership, Universal Group managed to train and qualify its staff to ad-dress customer requirements and the agent demands.

Universal Group and Travelport’s Successful Joint Venture Show Encouraging Results Universal Group and Travelport, global travel service providers, celebrated last week a successful 18-month joint venture at an event in the Sheba Hotel in Sana’a.

Tourism

Sana’a Summer Festival 2010 Activites Photo SA

Sunday, July 11, 2010 www.nationalyemen.com 5National Yemen

Sunday, July 11, 2010 www.nationalyemen.com6 National YemenADVERTISMENTS

Sunday, July 11, 2010 www.nationalyemen.com 7National Yemen ADVERTISMENTS

Mohammed Salah, Vice-Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Sana’a, said that the govern-ment was given a week’s time to reconsider the resolution and resolve the problem before his group would threaten a strike. He pointed to the current on-going dialogue between the Chamber of Commerce, the government, and the Customs Authority. He said that the government has to adopt a bet-ter mechanism, and remove un-constitutional articles from the law. He did, however, mention that the Chamber’s meeting concluded with asking traders not to proceed with a strike just yet.

The private sector believes that the government’s sys-tem for revenue collection has

failed. The state has lost about 150 billion riyals, according to Hasan Al-Kabous, Chairman of Chamber of Commerce in the Capital Secretariat. He said, “If the authority continues with its arrogant implementation of this mechanism, it will make corruption worse. It will also cause non-equity among tax-able persons”. He stressed that this mechanism has proven to be a complete failure. “The state received just 10% since the beginning of the year. 90% was not remitted to the state.”

The General Assembly of the General Union of Chambers of Commerce and Industry takes issue with the law’s provisions. It requires senior taxable per-sons to maintain books and re-cords of their business. It asks businesses to issue bills for

commodities they sell. They claim that these burdens on businesses in addition to a 5% value-added tax will hurt the private sector.

Representatives of the private sector called on the Customs Authority to stop implementa-tion of any provision within the General Tax Law. They claim its constitutionality is still un-decided. The traders called on the government to abstain from its orientation towards raising tariffs and customs value in ports. They asked that govern-ment’s focus shift towards re-forming the financial systems and economic legislation in the country. They also asked to abolish the recent resolution regarding raising the price of diesel.

Chamber of Commerce Rejects General Sales Tax Law Implementation, Threatens Possible Strike.

Oil production falls to 280,000 barrels per day. Al-Aidaroos confirms the need for a better a means of new explorations.

The Investor Institution or-ganized last Wednesday in Sana’a, a scientific seminar on the petroleum sector in Yemen. This seminar was held under the auspices of the Minister of Petroleum and Minerals, Ameer Al-Aidaroos. Members of both the Parliament and Al-Shura Council attended the seminar, in addition to chairmen of oil companies operating in Yemen.

At the seminar, the Minister of Oil and Minerals spoke on the urgent need for a clear vi-sion for deep and comprehen-sive technological upgrades to Yemen’s oil and gas sector.

Dr. Ahmed Ali Abdellah gave

a lecture reviewing the history of oil from the beginning of oil explorations in Yemen. He detailed the geological char-acteristics of Yemen including potential areas of resource de-posits, including 100 oil sectors and 12 production sectors.

Dr. Abdellah pointed to a

number of challenges facing Yemen’s petroleum sector. He cited the Petroleum Act as a tool for working to address these challenges through iden-tifying a long-term strategy, re-structuring infrastructure, and improving human capital to reach a developed and modern energy industry.

Engineer Nasr Al-Humaidi, Chairman of the Oil Explora-tion and Production Author-ity, reviewed the mission and activities of the Authority. He emphasized that Yemen’s oil future is promising, and that the Authority will do its best to promote this sector. Through training a cadre of energy ex-perts at prestigious universities, reviewing current policy and practice, as well as strategic planning, al-Humaidi hopes to increase the sector’s contribu-tion to the national economy.

Dr. Rasheed Ba Rabaa, a Shu-ra Council member, stressed the need for coordination between efforts of the various bodies within the Ministry of Petro-leum and Minerals. She called on these bodies to complete the

studies and geological surveys the ministry initiated years ago.

Dr. Ba Rabaa pointed out the value of engaging the private sector through heeding interna-tional companies’ experiences in conducting research within Yemen.

There are 100 sectors within petroleum and minerals in Ye-men. In 1996 this number was 56. Exploration sectors in that time numbered 36. Currently there are 12 oil production sec-tors and 10 production compa-nies.

Oil reserves have been esti-mated at 10.9 billion barrels. Total oil production during 2009 was 103 million barrels. Oil quantity in Yemen is suf-fering from a steady decline. Statistics indicate that the daily production reached 280,000 barrels at the end of last year. Compared with daily pro-duction levels approaching 430,000 barrels in 2003, it be-comes quite clear that there is a serious depletion of known oil reserves in Yemen.

The Customs Authority began full implementation of the General Sales Tax Law last Thursday, July 1st. The law targets senior taxable merchants. This comes amid a debate between the Customs Authority and the private sector. The latter expresses total rejection of a sales tax law as it currently stands.

Results of the Scientific Seminar on Yemen’s Petroleum Sector

Sunday, July 11, 2010 www.nationalyemen.com8 National YemenBUSINESS Rights of trading, tax and service tariffs, customs valuation are core issues in the negotiations with the World Trade Organization (WTO) in July

Dr. Hamoud Al-Najjar , Head of Liaison and Coordination Office with the WTO in the Ministry of Industry, said,” The meeting of Yemen’s negotiating work team, under chairmanship of Dr. Yahya Al-Mutawakkil, Minister of Industry and Trade, in the WTO will be held late July in Geneva. The meeting will focus on issues such as: the rights of trading, fees and taxes, service fees, implementation of the Customs Valuation Agree-ment, the health Agreement, Phyto-health Agreement, Busi-ness Technical Barriers Agree-ment, and aspects of trade re-lated to intellectual property and services. These topics have reached an advanced stage in the drafting of the report. We hope to reach consensus on the items of the report, which we have prepared. If there are any new items proposed in the team’s report during the meet-ing, they will be studied and a consensus will be reached on most of them.”

Al-Najjar also said, “Our country has recently sent its responses to the last batch of questions that it received last month. Answers to these ques-tions were sent to the secretariat of the Organization. Our coun-try has also studied the propos-als of the legal commitment phrasings, which will be in-cluded in the work team report, and which will be discussed in its next meeting. We believe that the progress we have made so far in the responses and discussions with the member states is positive. Furthermore, during the next few days we will discuss these commitments and legal phrasings more deep-ly in an attempt to persuade the member states of the few-est possible commitments. On the other hand, as you know, we signed in initials with the US on the convention of access to markets in relation to com-modities and services in the beginning of last May. There-fore, the bilateral negotiations in regards to commodities and services have made significant progress. Usually the United States holds more discussions on the various details of this subject. The bilateral negotia-tions are continuing with Japan, South Korea and Honduras. We hope to make significant prog-ress especially that we expect to finalize negotiations with Japan and South Korea. Nego-tiations on commodities access to the markets are being held with Ukraine. We hope to sign as many bilateral agreements as possible during the Yemeni ne-gotiating delegation visit, head-ed by the Minister of Industry and Trade to Geneva in order to enable the technical team to make progress and maybe sign bilateral agreements with Ja-pan and Korea, and finally sign the agreement with the US. By having fulfilled all this, we will have made progress in the bilat-eral aspect. Then we will focus on multilateral issues. We are now working against the clock on the commitments in the work team report so that this re-port is almost ready in the next round. Perhaps, the members will reach full consensus on the report that will be reviewed again in a later meeting that is supposed to be the work team’s

final meeting in October this year. If conditions permit and if we give the members sufficient flexibility to reach a consensus on the remaining subjects, then by next October we will have agreed on all technical aspects. Accordingly, the work team’s report will be forwarded to the General Council to take the fi-nal decision in a meeting early December. Thus, our country will have completed the re-quirements to join the WTO as planned this year.

In regards to the delay of our country’s joining the WTO due to financial and administrative reforms, Al-Najjar says, “The important part of the joining process is the conformity of the rules of trade and investment system with the other systems of the members of the organi-zation. As we know the mem-ber states are the majority and represent 95% of the trade ex-change bound by the organiza-tion conventions. Yemen’s con-formity with this system means its conformity with the whole world, including the Gulf Co-operation Countries (GCC), which are all members of the organization along with a large number of Arab countries. This conformity requires legislative reforms and changes for the better in line with the financial and administrative reforms car-ried out by our country in the middle of the last decade. This conformity will certainly be important for the continuation of economic reform in Yemen. It is not just a reform; but it should also be compatible with most of the world reforms. As a consequence, Yemen will be one of the countries to be given the privilege of being a member and to be given a stamp of the organization. For investors, this means a great deal and for other countries it means stability of Yemen’s economic system.”

About the private sector’s ap-prehension of certain national industries and joining the or-ganization, Dr. Al-Najjar says, “ The private sector’s anxiety about competition cannot be justified because competition is inevitable, whether Yemen joined the WTO or not. There is no consumable product will be granted permit unless it meets the major requirements of in-ternational standards. There-fore, local products have to meet two major demands: first competitiveness, regardless of Yemen’s joining the WTO. Lo-cal products cannot compete with foreign products in both the domestic market and the global market. At the same time, national products will not be able to evade the basic and necessary specifications, which is a good thing for the Yemeni consumers. This has become the general pattern of produc-tion in the world. Competitive-ness is very important for the domestic product. This does not mean, however, to open the floodgates for competitive for-eign products. On the contrary, the current situation allows products to enter with certain customs categories and we ne-gotiate to set tariffs at levels much higher than is currently being implemented. So, there

will be no negative impact at all on the competitiveness of domestic products with the for-eign ones compared to the sta-tus quo. In contrast, application of the law to protect domestic products from harmful practic-es, if issued and enforced by the Ministry of Industry, will pro-tect the domestic market from being flooded with foreign products. Yemen can prevent such cases and other practices harmful to the domestic prod-uct, if proven to exist. Agree-ments of the organization itself allow for certain temporary or not temporary protective poli-cies, and there are also legal versions included in the WTO agreements allowing the least-developed countries to follow certain procedures called mea-sures of preferential treatment for least-developed countries, from which our country will benefit after joining the WTO.

Concerning the impact of our country’s joining the WTO on the Agreements of the Arab Trade Zone and other Arab agreements, Al-Najjar says, “The agreement of the Arab Trade Zone requires reduction of customs duties on imported commodities from and to the member states to zero. This is not the case with the WTO. Membership of our country in the Arab Trade Zone will not be affected.

The government is perhaps recon-sidering our join-ing the Arab Trade Zone, because the facts reveal that the losses of the state’s treasury which re-sult from our mem-bership were enor-mous and unex-pected. However, there is no conflict between Yemen’s joining the WTO and its membership in the Arab Trade Zone. Regional groupings, by the way, are permis-sible according to the WTO agree-ments, and all WTO member states are members of other regional groupings

Dr. Hamoud Al-Najjar

SPORT

Referring the file of Omm Al-Shaheed Cup to the Anti-Corruption Committee

The National Yemen news-paper leaned that the Supreme Committee To Combat Cor-ruption has summoned captain Mohammed Alworafi, Direc-tor of Unions and Clubs De-partment in the office of the Ministry of Youth and Sports in Sana’a governorate along with a number of office staff to hear their testimony on the complaint against the Direc-

tor General of the Office, and the Head of Sport for All filed by the champion of Omm Al-Shaheed Cup Championship which was held by funding from the CAC Bank, Sana’a Governorate and the General Federation of Sports for All. The fund reached two million riyals. The sports clubs accuse the head of the Branch and the Director General of the Office

of stealing financial allowances allotted to the games as well as the financial awards allotted for the three winning teams. The Director General of the Office has admitted that he gave the head of the Branch one million riyals and the rest of the money was used as bribes and rewards. This was denied by the head of the Branch.

Last Day of 2010 World CupSouth Africa

Sunday, July 11, 2010 www.nationalyemen.com 9National Yemen

Young people and athletes desperate to change the tragic situation of clubs and sports associations in our country have reached an impasse. Fi-nancial and administrative cor-ruption continues to proliferate throughout the administrative staff cadre.

Next month’s election of members for the National Olympic Committee is widely viewed as tainted by the Com-

mittee’s past work. These elections are viewed as no more than a mechanism to bring young athletes to their knees, and ease the ability of an influential an administration to dominate them.

It is unknown if this election issue, or the loss of millions of riyals, will ever be referred to the courts and the High Com-mission against Corruption.

While Yemen has yet to com-plete construction of the Khali-ji 20 (Gulf 20) athletic facility, the governor of Al-Basrah an-nounced that Iraq is about to complete the construction of their “Sports Town” . This ma-jor sports complex includes a golf course and facilities for all games associated with the Arabian Gulf Cup. It includes training arenas as well as ho-tels, conference rooms, infor-mation centers and multiple service annexes.

The Sports Town, in which the Gulf Cup 21 will be held, has an area of 500 acres and

costs $650 million dollars. Ye-men’s facility includes a single new court. Currently new construction in addition to the renovation of six other facili-ties is costing the government roughly 1 billion dollars. To the organizers of the Gulf 20 in Yemen, this is a scandal. The public fund is nearly depleted.

Sports Elections: Where to Next?

Iraq Finalizes Gulf 21Facilities in Basra, Yemen Lags

The Special Guard’s jockey, Jamal Al-Taweel, won the title in the barrier jumping race for juniors in the opening match of the President Fourth Horseman-ship Tournament.

Participants include jockeys representing the Military Col-lege, the Police College, the Special Guards, YECO, Sheikh Abdullah Bin Hussein Al-Ah-mar Stud for Arabian Horses, the Yemeni Equestrian Club, Judge Mohammed Al-Akwa Stable, Typical Traction Ranch, and Al-Kowr Ranch.

The riders competed yesterday in a single round with two hors-es. They demonstrated their ability to jump hurdles as high as 110-120 cm. The Special Guard jockey, Al-Taweel, won first place for senior hurdling on his horse, Al-Ameerah, in a time of 56.55 seconds. Moham-med Al-Raimi from the Military College earned second place on his horse, Al-Ghallab, in 57.14 seconds. Late Sheikh Abdullah al-Ahmar Stud rider, Ibrahim al-Ghazali, came in third on his horse, Najm Saba’, in a time of 57.56 seconds. Adel Jum’aan, a rider from the Police College, earned fourth place in a time of 58 seconds on his horse, Al-Qa-tee’. Rider Bakeel Al-Yemeni, from the Police College, earned fifth place on his horse, Asma-han, in a time of 58.22.

This tournament is held every year to encourage young peo-

ple to participate in the sport of horsemanship. The tourna-ment is currently taking place

in the Military College Field in Sana’a. The tournament is or-ganized by the General Federa-

tion of Equestrian and Camel. It continues from until the 15th of July.

President Fourth Horsemanship Tournament Begins

Mohamed Houeiss

The Guard’s Al-Taweel snatches first place for senior bar-rier jumping, Al-Raimi second, Al-Ghazali third

Continued from (1)On July 9th, Aden announced

it had readied five football fa-cilities to international FIFA standards. The Bureau of Youth and Sport of Aden Gov-ernorate said the total costs of the project cost 1 Billion YR, and that each field holds 5,000 spectators. The Champion-ship’s main stadium, the 22nd of May International Stadium, will be ready by October.

Minister of Sports and Youth, Hamoud Ubad, declared his

commitment to Yemen’s suc-cess in hosting the event. He said all construction is pro-gressing as planned, and 70% of facilities are completed. Final touches will be added to ensure the enjoyment of the participants, and to meet the expectations of the Arabian States.

The President already af-firmed last week that there should be no doubt that Yemen will be prepared to host the Football Championship.

Sunday, July 11, 2010 www.nationalyemen.com10 National YemenREPORT

Just as the first day of winter in Europe doesn’t always beget snow in a some sudden change of climate, the people of Hadra-mout don’t experience a rapid change of climate on the on the first day of Autumn, marked by the appearance of the first star of Al-Na’aym (Sagittarius).

However, the rise of Al-Baldah Star is different. This star has built a traditional connection between people and climate. Natural phenomenons occur. The sea in Hadramout Al-Sahel becomes cooler and the waters of Aden become rough. The weather becomes more moder-ate with mild evenings and cool dawns. Date crops ripen.

In response, the people of Hadramout market their fruits, and they cultivate and prepare their nurseries for the winter harvest. They take holidays from schools and institutes, and expatriates visit their homeland. Many partake in swimming the cool sea for recreation, enter-tainment and sport in the most celebrated rituals of the event dating back to ancient times.

The phenomenon has scien-tific explanations. Some at-tribute the cooling of the seas to ocean currents between the arctic poles, while, at the same time, cold deep ocean water moves towards the surface. The sea off of Hadramout reaches its coldest temperatures generally during the highest phase of the Al-Baldah star on July 15 of ev-ery year. Occasionally, though, such temperatures may occur as late as Al-Marzom, as it did in 2001.

The Story of Al-Mukalla and the Sea

This maritime event is used to both preserve Hadramout’s cultural heritage and cultural memory, as well as boost tour-ism around the region’s aes-thetic and entertainment poten-tial. The first festival geared for tourists was in 2004.

The days of the event are filled

with economic, social, and cul-tural activities. The largest ac-tivity is the congregation of peo-ple on the coast of al-Mukulla to bathe in the cool waters—some-times reaching as low as 17 de-grees Celsius. Some youth act on their own initiative, carry-ing out public activities on the shores of Al-Masharef Sea, Saif Hameed and Al-Sitteen Streets.

The idea of celebrating the Al-Baldah Star Tourist Festival is attributed to Mr. Abdul-Qader Ali Hilal, former Governor of Hadramout. He unleashed his brilliant creativity to boost lo-cal, Arab, and regional tourism following increased media cov-erage given to Al-Baldah Festi-val.

Mr. Hilal, then Governor of Hadramout, held the first festi-val in Al-Mukalla City. From there, it was announced that every year a festival would be held from the 15th through the 29th of July in conjunction with onset of the Al-Baldah Star. Al-Mukalla celebrated the first fes-tival in all of its neighborhoods. It organized cultural activi-ties including poetry contests, Hadrami singing, folk dance, as

well as performances by popu-lar singers, artists and danc-ers. Commercial fairs, games, entertainment, and intellectual events were also held.

The motivation for estab-

lishing the festival came out of a desire to revive folklore, promote and preserve ancient Hadramouti customs and tradi-tions, as well as to exploit the tourism potential of Hadramout and its capital Al-Mukalla for economic development.

The Power of the Sea

Mr. Salim Al-Juaidi says, “Taking a bath in Al-Mukalla Sea during Al-Baldah Star sea-son is evidently pleasant. Both extremes, cold and warmth, are there. It is so different during this season. The sea temperature keeps changing and fluctuating between cold to warm, which gives extreme pleasure and re-freshment. It gives you magical energy and zest you have never experienced in your life before, and you feel that you never want to leave the sea. You don’t feel any depression and anxiety after taking your bath in the mysteri-ous waves of Al-Mukalla Sea. That is the splendor of the sea that bestows you with recov-ery”.

Medical Benefits for Al-Baldah Star

Despite the rumors of the sea’s ability to cure skin diseases, treat joint and back pains, and reduce blood pressure, there is an unfortunate lack of scientific explanation or research.

However, logic here says ab-sence of proof does not neces-sarily entail negation. I would like to draw attention to the simple notes on the importance of washing with cold water.

First, Allah, the Almighty, tells Jacob (peace be upon him), “For your healing, run your foot in a bath of cold water and drink” (Surat Sad /Verse 35). Although we know that the healing was a miracle, linking it to cold water gives an emphatic meaning to the importance of washing with cold water.

Second, the words of our be-loved Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) say in the opening du’aa (prayers), “and wash my sins with cold wa-ter and ice”. Sin is an abstract thing, but the request from God to cleanse abstract things with

material substances like cold water and ice communicates the notion that cleansing is both a moral and physical action.

Thirdly, peoples of China con-

tinued to wash in cold water, even in winter. China’s cultural heritage is among the richest in the world. You’ll find them breaking the ice sheets on the surface of lakes in early winter mornings before swimming in groups for a distance of forty meters. Notably, most of the participants in this ritual are over the age of sixty. Many people attribute their energy to washing in cold water. An old Hadrami saying, Ghaslat Al-Baldah Torge’ Al-Ajooz Waldah, emphasizes this idea: Washing under the Al-Baldah Star makes old people young again.

Al-Baldah Star Festival 2010

Bait al-Khibrah, the company organizing the Al-Baldah Star Festival this year, have major responsibilities if they are to live up to the great successes of previous festivals—especially after cancelling last year’s festi-val. The company emphasized that this is a new year, and to ex-pect unique programming and activities. The slogan for this year’s festivities, “Al-Mukalla is So Far Away”, promotes a new image.

Nine Arab and foreign coun-tries are expected to take part in the activities of the festival. There will be Egyptian, Pales-tinian, Indonesian, Moroccan, Malaysian, Gulf, Algerian and French activities. The Arabic Circus will also participate.

Al-Badah Star Festival: More than a Socio-Economic and Tourist Event, it is the Tale of a Man and the Sea

The Filipino Community in Yemen Recently the 112th National Independence Day Commemorating Their Freedom Spanish and American Colonialism.

Salim Al-Juaidi, a well-known astronomer in the province of Hadramout, explains the phenomenon of the Al-Baldah Star: “Al-Badah refers to the positioning of the full moon in relation to constellations and the people of Hadramout. Al-Baldah is the only phase where the sky is relatively empty of stars. The moon is located between the twin towers (Sagittarius) and (Capricorn), and between two phases Al-Na’aym and Al-Marzom.”

The Philippine Declaration of Independence occurred on June 12, 1898 with the public read-ing declaring sovereignty and independence for the Philippine Islands from the colonial rule of Spain. They had been recently defeated at the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish-Ameri-can War.

The event was celebrated by a flag raising ceremony on June 11th in Sana’a. Filipino citi-zens pledged their respect to the symbol of the Philippine race

and to their mother land. The event was presided and graced by the presence of the Philip-pine Embassy to Riyad. In at-tendance also were K.S.A offi-cials, headed by Consul Romulo Victor M. Israel, Jr. Secretary General of the Foreign Affairs Senior Superintendent Jimmy L. Manabat, Labor Secretary General / Overseas Worker Wel-fare Administration (OWWA) Administrator Mr. Cesar L. Chavez, embassy Attache Noly C. Dulay and Attache Dennis

H. Punzalan were also in atten-dance.

In the ceremony Consul Ro-mulo Victor M. Israel, Jr., stressed upon the importance of welfare and labor assistance to Filipino citizens. He encour-aged Filipino nationals to be more cooperative with, and to respect the laws and policies of, their host country.

The ceremony ended success-fully with a lavish breakfast meal offerings and concluded with a visit to Yemen’s famous

Rock Palace of Wadi Dhar and other nearby scenic spots of the country. They were all amazed of the historic riches in Yemen.

Ms. Zeny Cadion, Möven-pick Hotel Communications Manager & TFCY EXCOM for Social Affairs said, “This is our gesture to support Yemen’s Tourism program. We urge fel-low foreign nationals to help us

promote Yemen and its tourism. It is one of the only ways to help the country as a foreigner living Yemen”.

Furthermore, the celebration highlighted the induction of The Filipino Community in Yemen’s (TFCY) new elected officers in 2010. The new elected officers will be of further assistance to the Filipino citizens in Yemen

by acting as a direct link to the Philippine Embassy and will al-ways be available for any legal assistance and support to Fili-pino constituents. Filipino citi-zens in Yemen can now log-on to Facebook TFCY Community Group’s official page or email the officers at info_tfcy@ya-hoo.com.

The Philippine Declaration of Independence occurred on June 12, 1898 with the public reading declaring sovereignty and independence for the Philippine Islands from the colonial rule of Spain. They had been recently defeated at the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish-American War.

Sunday, July 11, 2010 www.nationalyemen.com 11National Yemen ADVERTISMENTS

National YemenSunday, July 11, 2010 www.nationalyemen.com ADVERTISMENTS