Gulf of Aden Security Review - October 26, 2009

Yemen: Trial of MP Yahya al-Houthi begins in absentia; two soldiers killed and three wounded during attack by armed gunmen in al-Dhale; twenty-one al-Houthi rebels killed and twelve arrested in Sa'ada and Amran; gunmen blocked Ma'rib road demanding release of arms from ship that is under investigation by Parliament; Yemeni president met with American ambassador to Yemen

Horn of Africa: Al-Shabaab militants publicly execute to men accused of espionage in Merca; Hizb al-Islam accuses Somali journalists of being aligned with the government; Djibouti claims Eritrea supports Somali Islamist insurgents; at least three dead and twenty wounded during shelling of Sug Ba'ad in Mogadishu; Kenya admits to training of Somali police officers for the Transitional Federal Government

Yemen Security Brief

• Yemen commenced the trial in absentia of MP Yahya al-Houthi, who has been "charged with 'participation in an armed gang that... carries out killings, explosions, destruction, looting and espionage in favor of a foreign country and planning to assassinate a number of figures including the American ambassador in Sanaa.'"� Currently living in exile in Germany, Yahya al-Houthi is the brother of the rebels' military leader, Abdul Malik al-Houthi.[1]

• In al-Dhale in southern Yemen, two soldiers and three others were wounded in an ambush on Sunday.� Gunmen fired at the soldiers' vehicle, which was accompanying an ambulance carrying the body of a soldier killed in Sa'ada.� Last week, Ali Salim al-Beidh, the nominal leader of the southern secessionists, announced that the Southern Movement "may give up peaceful means to get independence and may resort to the armed struggle."[2]

• Reports say that twenty-one al-Houthi rebels were killed and twelve others arrested in the northern provinces of Sa'ada and Amran.� In addition, security forces seized weapons, removed landmines, and attacked al-Houthi strongholds on al-Zaberat Mountain.[3]

• Gunmen, believed to be hired by a Yemeni arms dealer, blocked the road linking one of Yemen's main oil fields to the city of Ma'rib and demanded the release of the weapons held on a ship under investigation by the Defense Ministry.� Last week, Parliament asked for a comprehensive report on the ship, and some MPs accused figures close to the government of being linked to the arms deal.[4]

• President Ali Abdullah Saleh met with the American Ambassador to Yemen, Stephen Seche, to discuss bilateral relations and Yemeni-American cooperation in combating terrorism.[5]

Horn of Africa Security Brief

• Al-Shabaab militants publicly executed two young men convicted of spying for the transitional government in Merca, a coastal town south of Mogadishu.� Reportedly, the men had been held for three month by al-Shabaab and confessed to spying.[6]

• Sheikh Mohamed Moallim Ali, the information secretary for Hizb al-Islam, has accused Somali journalists of being "against the jihad" and of supporting the government.� Currently, Somalia is believed to be the most dangerous African country for journalists.[7]

• Mahmoud Ali Yusuf, the Djibouti Foreign Minister, accused Eritrea of training and arming Somali rebel militias in order to destabilize the government, in addition to supporting the rebel movement within Ethiopia's Ogaden region.� The Eritrean President Isaias Afewerki has blamed Djibouti, Kenya, and Ethiopia for interfering in Somali internal politics.[8]

• Shelling of Mogadishu's second largest market, Suq Ba'ad, has killed at least three civilians and injured twenty others.� The deaths occurred after government and AU forces began to fire on al-Shabaab militants following the militants' takeover of some parts of the Yaqshid district in northern Mogadishu.[9]

• Kenya admitted to secretly training Somali police officers at the behest of the Transitional Federal Government.� Department of Defense spokesman Bogita Ongeri asserted that all those who were trained in Kenya were handed to the Kenyan military by the TFG.� Al-Shabaab is believed to have influence within Kenya, though the extent of this is unclear.[10]

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