Gulf of Aden Security Review - May 18, 2011

Yemen: Saleh and JMP agree to GCC transition plan

Horn of Africa: Ahlu Sunna officials execute two people for spying for al Shabaab; unidentified gunmen assassinate official and businessman in Las Anod; AU High Representative for Somalia urges elections; Galmudug state president urges elections; AU releases statement calling on the international community to aid Somalia

Yemen Security Brief

• President Ali Abdullah Saleh and leaders of Yemen's opposition bloc, the Joint Meeting Parties (JMP), agreed to sign the GCC transition plan on May 18. JMP officials agreed to allow Saleh to remain in power for thirty days after the GCC plan is signed.[1]

Horn of Africa Security Brief

• Two people were charged by Ahlu Sunna wa al Jama'a officials of spying for al Shabaab and were executed. Sheikh Mohamed Hussein al Qadi, an Ahlu Sunna spokesman in the Gedo region, warned that anyone caught spying for al Shabaab will face execution. In Garbaharey, Ahlu Sunna security forces detained at least seven people in connection with al Shabaab.[2]

• Unidentified gunmen assassinated Mahamed Abdurahman Samatar, the head of a Somaliland regional court, and a businessman in Las Anod, Somaliland. The assassination comes amidst preparations for the national commemoration of Somaliland's autonomy.[3]

• Jerry John Rawlings, the AU High Representative for Somalia, urged Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and Transitional Federal Parliament (TFP) politicians to reach a consensus on a time-frame for elections. Rawlings added that the elections should proceed within the legal framework of the Somali constitution.[4]

• Mohammed Ahmed Alin, the president of Galmudug state, urged TFP and TFG politicians to mend the growing political rift between them. Alin said that national elections in August were the "only way" to put an end to the political crisis.[5]

• The AU released a statement urging the international community to help alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Somalia: the Chairperson of the Commission strongly appeals to all AU Member States in a position to do so and to all other members of the international community to provide the support required to assist the Somali people in this particularly difficult moment."[6]