So, right now, Ali Abdullah Salih is being parodied on Saturday Night Live. For long-time Yemen observers, and Waq al-Waq readers, we have entered very strange times.
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Several days ago I wrote an op-ed for the New York Times arguing that assassinating Anwar al-Awlaki would do little to keep the US safer from attacks stemming from AQAP. […]
I am back from a short trip to DC and ready to catch up on all the Yemen news. Today the new issue of the CTC Sentinel from West Point […]
Last night at a dinner in DC I had a chance to pose the question of spelling v. pronunciation of Jazan/Jizan to a Saudi official. He explained to me that […]
قال مصدر مسئول في وزارة الدفاع بأن ما أعلنه عبدالملك الحوثي حول وقف الحرب ضد المملكة العربية السعودية وانسحابه من أراضيها التي تسلل وقام بالاعتداء عليها ليس سوى محاولة جديدة […]
… check out this piece in The National by Mohammed al-Qadhi on the problems with the south. I would draw attention to this quote towards the end of the piece […]
Well it turns out DC didn’t have that much snow after all, but on the plus side I was able to renew my love affair with Amtrak, which even a […]
I was going to write something about the alleged truce, but I can’t quite wrap my mind around. I will say, though, that if you are someone who looks around […]
For those with an interest in hearing me talk as opposed to just reading the blog, I will be on the Takeaway at the very early hour of 7:30 am […]
The big news coming out of Yemen today is that roughly 40 prisoners – southern activists – escaped from a jail in al-Dhala after a guard threw a hand grenade […]
Today’s papers are, as you can imagine, full of stories about Muhammad al-‘Awfi and how and when he turned himself in or was captured.CNN has this story on al-‘Awfi that […]
Here at Waq al-waq we rarely take a stand on issues (unless it is how to transliterate Arabic words) or endorse different things, but from time to time we break […]
Today is just one of those days when, try as I might, I just can’t keep my mind on the work I’m supposed to be doing and am instead sucked […]
Keeping with our theme of aging politicians, News Yemen has this piece on former Prime Minister Bajammal’s return to San’a.
It is a bit too late, after that last post, for another one on al-Qaeda so instead we have one on Bedouin poetry.This article features friend of this blog and […]
In today’s issue of today’s papers Greg asks why the government isn’t linking the bombings to al–Wahayshi or al–Raymi. My feeling is that the bombing, while troubling and scary, is […]
According to a statement posted to jihadi forums, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is claiming responsibility for the suicide attack that killed four South Korean tourists and a Yemeni guide […]
Al-Sharq al-Awsat has the run down of yesterday’s fighting in Zanjibar. From these news reports including the one in al-Quds al-Arabi and Mareb Press’ coverage of the clashes as well […]
For those of you in DC the next couple of days present a number of different options.Tomorrow the Henry L. Stimson Center is hosting Mustafa Alani to talk about Yemen […]
Having finally caught up, at least for the day, with various projects I decided to tackle the multiplying piles of reading I had beside my desk. But an early article […]
In my continuing efforts to turn Waq al-waq into my own personal calendar – it tends to work better than the plastic bags and scraps of receipts and newspapers I […]
Yesterday at a graduation ceremony for Qur’anic students, Shaykh ‘Abd al-Majid al-Zindani commented on the growing calls for secession, claiming that while reform was necessary one should not confuse that […]
For those of you who have not yet grown tired of hearing me talk – and trust me, at this point even I’m getting a bit sick of the sound […]
Here at Waq al-waq we like to think that we only have a mild case of narcissism as opposed to the full-blown cases that we witness elsewhere. However, in an […]
Al-Sahwa is reporting that a mediation team headed up Shaykh Faris Mina’a is currently in the western district of Ghamr attempting to negotiate a settlement. The team is at Shaykh […]
Today marks Waq al-waq’s last day on blogspot.com. After some thought and several discussions I have decided to move Waq al-waq to Big Think. I am incredibly excited about the […]
Today I have an op-ed in the New York Times, arguing that killing Anwar al-Awlaki will likely do little to protect the US homeland from AQAP attacks and that instead […]
President Salih announced at a meeting of Yemeni journalists that the government was dropping charges against ‘Abd al-Karim al-Khaywani. Not everyone it seems is happy with the delay in Parliamentary […]
There are more arrests in Yemen. First, another one in Taizz, of someone that 26th of September is identifying as Abu Hadhifah, which tells us exactly nothing. Mareb Press has […]
I mean, come on. Locusts? From Somalia? I guess that validates the old axiom, that when it rains, it pours upon your country biblically ironic plagues.