Gulf of Aden Security Review - November 27, 2013

Yemen: Unidentified explosion in Sana’a; grenade attack in Sana’a; gunmen clash with soldiers in Lahij; Southern Movement denies withdrawal from NDC

Horn of Africa: Police arrest Somalis in Sudan; judge cancels sentencing for Mohamed Mohamud; Ali Mohamed Ali found not guilty of piracy

Yemen Security Brief

• Eyewitnesses reported a large explosion in eastern Sana’a on November 27. Security forces arrived to cordon off the scene. The cause of the explosion is unknown.[1]

• A grenade exploded near the medical center in Sana’a on November 27. There were no reports of injuries.[2]

• Gunmen clashed with soldiers from the 135th Brigade in Radfan, Lahij governorate on November 27.[3]

• The media office for the Southern Movement denied that the entire Southern Movement had withdrawn from the National Dialogue Conference (NDC). Yemeni spokesman Mohammed Albasha confirmed that only a small portion of the delegates withdrew, including the former interior minister Mohammad Ali Ahmed.[4]

Horn of Africa Security Brief

• Sudanese police arrested twenty-four Somalis in Khartoum on November 27. The Somalis are accused of entering the country illegally.[5]

• A federal judge canceled sentencing for Mohamed Mohamud, the Somali-American responsible for the 2010 Portland car-bomb plot. Government prosecutors admitted they used warrantless wiretaps to make their case.[6]

• A federal jury found Ali Mohamed Ali not guilty of piracy. Ali Mohamed Ali was accused of being the negotiator for pirates hijacking ships in the Gulf of Aden and has been held in a U.S. jail since 2011. The court is still deliberating two lesser charges.[7]