Guest Thinkers

Despite Hilal’s work on the mediation committee and Salih’s insistence that everything is fine, the rest of the government seems to be operating off of a different playbook.Mareb Press is […]

From time to time Waq al-waq may criticize journalists working on Yemen a bit too much, but we also have our favorites whom we respect. Many of these journalists, I […]

This is why the names and the details that Waq al-waq so cherishes are important:(CNN) — A man described as “one of al Qaeda’s most dangerous members” was arrested in […]

Khalid al-Hammadi writes about the arms deal with Russia in al-Quds al-Arabi. (Speaking of Khalid, I would recommend his 1999 interview with Tariq al-Fadhli in al-Quds al-Arabi, which I re-read […]

Despite appearances to the contrary – here at Waq al-waq we don’t actually enjoy playing gotcha, well, ok – sometimes we do. But not all the time. Case in point, […]

For those with an interest, I will be a guest on al-Hurra today (5pm -6pm EST) along with some others talking about the war in Sa’dah.

Earlier this morning I wrote that the Washington Post had gotten ‘Abdullah al-Midhar’s name wrong for what I called “reasons passing understanding.” Those reasons have now become clear to me, […]

The Ministry of the Interior has announced that it has arrested six Somalis on suspicions of belonging to al-Qaeda. The story is a bit sparse on details, but much of […]

I saw this story in Arabic yesterday, and today the BBC has it, saying that Jabir al-Fayfi the surrendered or captured al-Qaeda member (either way he is in Saudi custody) […]

Al-Arabiyya has two programs on Yemen. The first from the station’s Panorama program takes a look at the alleged Iranian support for the Huthis – claims that the US is […]

Oh, I love this quote by an unnamed (Is there any other kind?) Saudi adviser:“The orders are not to go physically into Yemeni territory,” he said. “We don’t want to […]

AQAP has a statement out that is claiming responsibility for the ambush that killed five in Hadramawt on Monday. The group is calling itself the AbdullahBatis Squadron, which is a […]

Waq al-waq formally announces 2010 as the year of the motorbike assassination in Yemen. Seriously, this is getting ridiculous. Today, a security official in Hadramawt (Sayyun, for those wanting details) […]

Over the weekend the NY Times’ Scott Shane had this piece on Yemeni detainee, Alla Ahmad, and the difficulties in closing Guantanamo as President Obama pledged. The article is, in […]

The final push is upon us, which means that posting will likely be light and/or sporadic until May 15. I’ll do my best to put up at least a token […]

We usually don’t cover good news here at Waq al-waq, which I’m sure is just as much of a commentary on us as it is on Yemen. In fact, I […]

Yemen (Hat tip: David Stringer)Sir Patrick Cormack: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what arrangements have been made for the conference on Yemen which he […]

Al-Tagheer and other news outlets are reporting that the head of the Central Security Forces in al-Jawf, Ali Zayad survived an assassination attempt on Monday. The government is blaming the […]

I feel like this blog is now essentially serving as a PR agent. But here is a new column that pretty much is a basic overview of what we’ve been […]

Given how much interest my earlier post on rumors of fighting between Huthi supporters and Salafis in Dammaj generated, I thought I would link to this News Yemen article on […]

Work has heated up with little time for blogging, so instead of actually taking the time to write a blog post on a rainy Saturday I thought it be would […]

Of course, conferences are great and all, but- and I know we’ve forgotten this after eight years of diplomacy- there are also military options when it comes to combating terrorism. […]

Christopher Boucek at the Carnegie Endowment has released his long-awaited Yemen paper today. It is available in PDF here in both English and Arabic. I read a portion of the […]

Well, if you are Ra’id al-Harbi, whose last will and testament was posted to jihadi forums over the weekend, you ride your camel nine hours across the border to Yemen. […]

We all know Yemen is in trouble: A resurgent al-Qaeda, a revolt in the north, increasingly violent actions in the south, no oil, no water, a growing youth bulge, declining […]

This is another wonderful piece from Mohammed al-Qadhi and a great companion piece to today’s article by Khaled al-Hammadi. This is just one of many reasons why the government is […]

Mohammed al-Qadhi has a good piece detailing the latest kidnappings both in ‘Amran and in Sa’dah. He explains government accusations that the Huthis were behind both – a charge the […]

… on Tuesday when I return from traveling. In the meantime, I have added a great blog by Daniel Martin Varisco, an old Yemen hand, and all around great guy. […]

The Washington Post follows the New York Times’ report last week on the potential for Yemenis in Guantanamo to head to Saudi with one of its own. Since there is […]

Check out Charles Schmitz, professor of Geography at Towson State and President of the American Institute for Yemeni Studies, on Democracy Now. Charles is a good friend and while we […]