Gulf of Aden Security Review - June 24, 2010

Yemen: German and Iraqi man held in connection with assassination attempt on UK ambassador; AQAP shari’a official urges scholars to support jihad; three soldiers, one civilian killed in Dhaleh clashes; recent unrest leads to reported rift in Southern Movement; seven killed in tribal clashes over Ma’rib oil field

Horn of Africa: Somali president rejects PM’s proposed cabinet, standoff continues; fighting between pro-government forces and Hizb al Islam kills eight in Mogadishu; al Shabaab leader demands Somaliland people abstain from voting; unidentified gunmen launch grenade attack on Puntland policemen, kill one; Gedo town elders warn TFG against instigating conflict; two Somaliland ministers resign, cite ineffective president; Somaliland expels two Al Jazeera reporters

Yemen Security Brief

• Authorities are questioning a German, an Iraqi, and two Yemeni suspects over their alleged involvement in the failed April 26 suicide attack on the British ambassador in Sana’a.[1]

• AQAP official Sheikh Abu Zubeir Adil al Abab released an audio recording this week urging Muslim scholars to be loyal to the Muslim faith by endorsing jihad.[2]

• Four people were killed, three soldiers and a civilian, and eight others wounded in clashes in Dhaleh between security forces and Southern Movement separatists.  The violence erupted earlier in the week when authorities launched a campaign to break the recent siege on military camps by armed locals.[3]

• Southern Movement leader Hasan Ba Awm accused former People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen president Ali Salem al Beidh of sabotaging peaceful protests efforts by financing violent attacks.[4]

• At least seven people were killed and four wounded in ongoing tribal clashes over a Ma’rib oil field.  The fighting erupted earlier this week between the Abeida and Balhareth tribes.[5]

Horn of Africa Security Brief

• Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed rejected a list of cabinet ministers proposed by PM Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke as their standoff continues to paralyze the Transitional Federal Government.[6]

• Fighting between pro-government soldiers and Hizb al Islam militants killed eight people in Mogadishu’s northern Hodan and Hawlwadag districts Thursday.[7]

• Al Shabaab leader Sheikh Mukhtar Abu Zubair released an audiotape demanding that people in Somaliland not participate in the state’s upcoming elections.  He said that the Somali people should only follow shari’a law.[8]

• Unidentified gunmen attacked a security convoy in Puntland port city Boosaaso Thursday, killing one policeman and wounding seven others with a grenade.[9]

• Traditional elders in the Gedo region of southern Somalia, which is controlled by al Shabaab, called on the transitional government officials and troops to call off planned offensives because of the civilian casualties.  The elders also called for the transitional government officials to “join to the Islamic administration in the region [sic].”[10]

• Two Somaliland ministers resigned, citing lack of faith in the President Dahir Riyale Kahin’s ability to govern just days before the independent state holds elections.[11]

• Somaliland expelled two Arabic reporters from Al Jazeera, but allowed a reporter from the news network’s English department to stay.[12]