Yemeni troops today captured at least 25 journalists, including members of the international media, for trying to travel into the northern region. They had been invited by Shi’ite tribal chiefs to attend a peace conference.
The journalists were released under orders from Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, but they were expelled from the area because they lacked the special permits needed for journalists to even travel to the province.
Since 2004 the Yemeni government has banned all media from entering any of the Saada Province and most of the Amran Province. This has meant coverage of the intermittant civil war in the area has largely come in the form of official press releases from the government.
The detentions come just days after Yemeni troops raided the home of a high profile journalist, Abdulelah Hiden Shaea, and detained him on unspecified charges. He had previously complaining in the state media of receiving threatening messages from the security forces.
Maybe because that journalist left his ID or maybe he was not invited or maybe he was not just welcome. Poor him!
Jane
As expected, the Yemeni political spectrum has deteriorated to the point of no return.Saleh,s discourse in reaching a settlement with the opposition has raised hopes for a true and lasting agreement,yet judging by his previous broken promises, a wave of skeyptecism remains the order of the day.Its apparent thet Saleh,s stock of wonders have reached the bottom, with his army losing grounds north and south, Sanna may rank next on the list of falling cities. No wonder why Saleh,s clan are preventing journalists from reaching these areas so as not to see the miserable living conditions of the people there and most importantly,not to ask the one billion$ question,"Where did the mony for rebuilding these areas go???"