Guest Thinkers

Well Thanksgiving didn’t last long. The video of a Yemeni security official, Bassam Sulayman Tarbush, that I mentioned yesterday has now – as a few commentators have pointed out – […]

Here is the link to my appearance this morning on the Takeaway, featuring what I can only imagine was brilliant 6:30 am analysis. One note: I told the producers that […]

One of the things I regret here at Waq al-waq is how little time we spend writing about anything besides what is going wrong in Yemen – really what I’m […]

In Waq al-waq’s continued attempt to bring you a better, sleeker blog I have added a new section entitled aptly: “Sites of Interest.” The first entry is the website of […]

Two new You Tube videos supposedly show the Saudi Air Force carrying out bombing runs. Part one is here and part two is here. For me the big question is […]

Al-Hayat is reporting that two al-Qaeda members have been killed in Sa’dah. This is a new and confusing twist to an ongoing story. Both men are Saudis and on the […]

Faysal Mukrim of al-Hayat has a decent overview of a number of recent events in Yemen. He mentions the transfer of al-‘Awfi, al-Wahayshi’s recent audio tape and he says that […]

Loved ones of the writers for Waq al-Waq sometimes get nervous about the obsessive focus on Yemen. And its true: we both at least subconsciously tie every news item we […]

In our unceasing quest to bring you everything that the contributors to Waq al-waq write and say in print (it really is a tireless task) we bring you this post. […]

After a long day of reading about the Yemeni civil war – the one in 1994 not in 1962 – I treated myself to a quick scan of the pan-Arab […]

For those of us who have been watching al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and its predecessor groups al-Qaeda in Yemen and al-Qaeda in the South of the Arabian Peninsula (note […]

Both members of the Waq al-waq team were in Washington today for different events, both of which came off well or so I have been told. But somehow we managed […]

I’m guessing that by now most people coming to Waq al-Waq don’t need an overview, but The Economistprovides a decent look at the Huthi conflict, and does an admirable job […]

News Yemen has the round-up of Deputy Prime Minister for Defense and Security Affairs, Rashad al-‘Alimi, appearance before parliament. (He was only one day late – but to be fair […]

It is nice to know that someone is still reading Waq al-waq after the extended lay-off, and while I would like to re-start Waq al-waq in full fashion at some […]

… is this brief from News Yemen that makes the claim that people in Shabwa are asking members of al-Qaeda to teach in their schools after the government has been […]

The news today from al-Jawf that five al-Huthi commanders were killed in an ambush by what some are charging as a militia linked to the government is yet another in […]

Here, for a taste, is the sub-headline. Often overlooked in favour of glitzy neighbour Dubai, the hidden gems of Oman & Yemen are also worth considering.This isn’t about tourism or […]

For all our Danish speakers out there, and seeing as how I come from good (or at least hearty, as family legend says we were chased out of Denmark a […]

Al-Sahwa has a piece from al-Mukalla, which starts off a bit too poetically for me, but nonetheless illustrates what the city is like as it prepare for protests. The description […]

Timeline of recent events in YemenDec. 17:Three raids. One on what is being described as an al-Qaeda training camp in Abyan. The second on al-Qaeda safehouse in Arhab and the […]

I often feel that before even sitting down to write about Yemen one has to spend significant chunks of time separating fact from fiction in the swirl of rumors and […]

I saw a similar story earlier today on al-Tagheer, which I now can’t find thanks to more warnings about Sa’dah, but I can link to this story from Mareb Press. […]

Ginny Hill has written a couple of articles over the past few days on Yemen and Guantanamo and al-Qaeda and failed states. The first is at Open Democracy and provides […]

I love Arab summits. This one featured a great deal that we won’t cover, but we will tell you that President Salih has taken his idea and gone home.One Yemeni […]

Like most of you, I’m off to enjoy a long-weekend. Posting will be sporadic.

After threatening several times, I have finally added a “Yemeni reading list” in the post below and I will create a permanent link on the side. The list is based […]

Despite the recent truce between the government and the Huthis in the north, things are far from settled.Today, the Huthis announced that they were vacating 20 positions around the city […]

Issue 13 of Sada al-Malahim is out today, and while I won’t take the time to go through the whole journal (many other things to do), one thing did stand […]

Even though there are a couple of things I am eager to blog about (and disagree with), particularly regarding some of the recommendations put out by the Center for Strategic […]