Provincial Governor Stabbed During Clash in Yemen
A Yemeni provincial governor was stabbed in a melee with antigovernment protesters on Monday, the official news agency Saba reported. Local reports said the stabbing occurred after the governor’s bodyguards opened fire on the protesters, injuring dozens.
The clash was the most violent of several reported around Yemen in the widening uprising against President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
In a sign that the government was ratcheting up its efforts to control news coverage of the unrest, four Western journalists said they were seized in an armed raid on their apartment in the Yemeni capital early Monday and expelled from the country.
The injured governor, Naji al-Zaidi of tribal-dominated Marib Province, was taken to the capital, Sana, and hospitalized.
In Al Jawf, a desperately poor northern province also dominated by tribes, local reports said that security forces open fire, injuring about 15 protesters.
The growing sit-in in Sana remained relatively peaceful, though pro-government supporters have begun surrounding the perimeters of the demonstration area, some armed with guns.
The Yemeni government stopped issuing visas to journalists last month, when the political unrest began. No major news organizations keep bureaus in Yemen, leaving the country largely covered by a handful of freelance correspondents.
Among them were the journalists expelled Monday. Two are Americans: Haley Sweetland Edwards, who writes for The Los Angeles Times; and Joshua Maricich, a photographer. Two are British: Portia Walker, who writes for The Washington Post; and Oliver Holmes, who writes for The Wall Street Journal and Time magazine.
A spokesman for the Yemeni Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to calls seeking comment.
The State Department had warned Yemen against deporting reporters, issuing a statementexpressing concern about “infringements of press freedom in Yemen” and citing “threats of deporting correspondents, and mistreatment of journalists covering protests.”
Journalists in Yemen typically enjoy greater freedoms than those in most other Arab countries, with many independent news outlets freely criticizing government policies.
The four expelled journalists had extensively covered antigovernment protests over the last three weeks, including video documentation of violence used against them.
But local journalists who are trying to cover the protests have reported facing threats, intimidation and attacks by supporters of Mr. Saleh. The Yemeni Journalists Syndicate said it had received alerts on more than 50 cases of harassment, including threatening phone calls and serious physical attacks.
One of the expelled foreign journalists, Ms. Edwards, was interviewed by telephone as she waited for a flight to Istanbul at Sana International Airport. She said five armed security officers entered the apartment in the old city of Sana and took the four to the immigrationauthority. During the drive, they called their embassies and some journalist friends.
They were detained for several hours at the immigration authority, and their phones and passports were taken, she said. Eventually, a man who identified himself as Colonel Mohsin said that they would be expelled for “national security reasons,” she said.
The four were allowed back in their apartment to gather their belongings, and were then escorted to the airport by a half-dozen armed soldiers.
“We’ve all been to the Ministry of Information, and they know us, and they said it’s all right to work as journalists here,” said Mr. Holmes, 24, speaking by phone from the airport. “I’m positive that this is related to the fact that all four of us have been reporting about the upswing of violence against protesters.”
While Ms. Edwards, like most freelance reporters here, entered the country on a tourist visa, she said the Yemeni Embassy in Washington was aware that she had come as a reporter. Ms. Edwards lived in Yemen for a year from late 2009 through 2010.
“Deporting us is an indication that the crackdown is going to increase,” Ms. Edwards said, “and there’s no one here who’s going to see it.”
By LAURA KASINOF
Published: March 14, 2011
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A Yemeni provincial governor was stabbed in a melee with antigovernment protesters on Monday, the official news agency Saba reported. Local reports said the stabbing occurred after the governor’s bodyguards opened fire on the protesters, injuring dozens.
The clash was the most violent of several reported around Yemen in the widening uprising against President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
In a sign that the government was ratcheting up its efforts to control news coverage of the unrest, four Western journalists said they were seized in an armed raid on their apartment in the Yemeni capital early Monday and expelled from the country.
The injured governor, Naji al-Zaidi of tribal-dominated Marib Province, was taken to the capital, Sana, and hospitalized.
In Al Jawf, a desperately poor northern province also dominated by tribes, local reports said that security forces open fire, injuring about 15 protesters.
The growing sit-in in Sana remained relatively peaceful, though pro-government supporters have begun surrounding the perimeters of the demonstration area, some armed with guns.
The Yemeni government stopped issuing visas to journalists last month, when the political unrest began. No major news organizations keep bureaus in Yemen, leaving the country largely covered by a handful of freelance correspondents.
Among them were the journalists expelled Monday. Two are Americans: Haley Sweetland Edwards, who writes for The Los Angeles Times; and Joshua Maricich, a photographer. Two are British: Portia Walker, who writes for The Washington Post; and Oliver Holmes, who writes for The Wall Street Journal and Time magazine.
A spokesman for the Yemeni Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to calls seeking comment.
The State Department had warned Yemen against deporting reporters, issuing a statementexpressing concern about “infringements of press freedom in Yemen” and citing “threats of deporting correspondents, and mistreatment of journalists covering protests.”
Journalists in Yemen typically enjoy greater freedoms than those in most other Arab countries, with many independent news outlets freely criticizing government policies.
The four expelled journalists had extensively covered antigovernment protests over the last three weeks, including video documentation of violence used against them.
But local journalists who are trying to cover the protests have reported facing threats, intimidation and attacks by supporters of Mr. Saleh. The Yemeni Journalists Syndicate said it had received alerts on more than 50 cases of harassment, including threatening phone calls and serious physical attacks.
One of the expelled foreign journalists, Ms. Edwards, was interviewed by telephone as she waited for a flight to Istanbul at Sana International Airport. She said five armed security officers entered the apartment in the old city of Sana and took the four to the immigrationauthority. During the drive, they called their embassies and some journalist friends.
They were detained for several hours at the immigration authority, and their phones and passports were taken, she said. Eventually, a man who identified himself as Colonel Mohsin said that they would be expelled for “national security reasons,” she said.
The four were allowed back in their apartment to gather their belongings, and were then escorted to the airport by a half-dozen armed soldiers.
“We’ve all been to the Ministry of Information, and they know us, and they said it’s all right to work as journalists here,” said Mr. Holmes, 24, speaking by phone from the airport. “I’m positive that this is related to the fact that all four of us have been reporting about the upswing of violence against protesters.”
While Ms. Edwards, like most freelance reporters here, entered the country on a tourist visa, she said the Yemeni Embassy in Washington was aware that she had come as a reporter. Ms. Edwards lived in Yemen for a year from late 2009 through 2010.
“Deporting us is an indication that the crackdown is going to increase,” Ms. Edwards said, “and there’s no one here who’s going to see it.”
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