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March 26, 2007
Yemen: Koran "Desecration" Leads To Riots
News from Independent Online, Al-Arab, Arab News, AKI and Reuters AlertNet:
A riot broke out yesterday in the Yemeni port city of Belhaf, allegedly after a French engineer desecrated a copy of the Koran by throwing it on the floor. At least four people were injured. The incident which provoked the fuss happened when a French employee of the energy company Total argued with a Yemeni colleague, and then threw the book on the ground.
A local official, Ali Muhammad al-Maqdashi, reported that spontaneous demonstrations took place, and that the injuries happened when police tried to disperse protesters.
According to Arab News, police shot in the air to disperse rioters. At the port city in Shabwa province, a helicopter and nine cars were set ablaze. Facilities and workers' houses were also destroyed.
Balhaf is where a $3.7 billion project is being run by Total, which aims to create a 320 kilometer (240 mile) pipeline of liquefied natural gas (LNG) for export. Yemen's oil reserves are said to be dwindling, but by the end of 2008, 6.7 million metric tons of LNG is expected to be produced annually.
The government of Yemen has urged officials and tribal leaders to report to a commission which is running an inquiry into the incident, to ascertain how the violence happened.
****
In separate news from AP and AFX/AFP, a French student and a British student, both Muslims, have been killed in the al-Khanajer Mountains, a tribal region of Yemen. The students were attending a Sunni college when it was attacked by Shi'ite rebels. Several others were wounded.
The leader of the Shi'ite rebels is Abdel-Malek al-Hawthi. The incident happened today at the Dammaj School in the mountains, several miles north of Saada.
Abdel-Malek al-Hawthi is the brother of the anti-US cleric Hussein Badr Eddin al-Hawthi (Badreddine al-Houthy) who was killed in September 2004. Badreddine's father continued the activities of the Faithful Youth movement until imprisoned on September 23, 2005.
Last April, four people were killed when a Shi'ite mosque was attacked in Amran, northern Yemen. The Shiites of Yemen are generally of the Zaidi sect. A month before the Amran attack, 627 Zaidi rebels had been released by President Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen.
The Dammaj school where the students today had been studying Arabic, is one of the largest madrassas in Yemen.
The Al-Hawthi group is widely believed to be funded by Iran and Libya, claims repeated today in state-owned newspapers. These countries, as well as members of the Al-Hawthi group, have all denied the claims.
Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at March 26, 2007 1:49 PM
Comments
Hey this is a message for Adrian Morgan, what happened to FFI?????
It has been down for a few days now!
Posted by: Rubystar ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.westernresistance.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at March 27, 2007 6:29 AM
Is that sweet Miss Ruby?
There is a server problem, which will take a couple more days to fix. Nothing serious, but files are being removed and reloaded.
Posted by: Giraldus Cambrensis at March 27, 2007 3:53 PM
Yeah it's me!!! oh thank god i heard from you Adrian. I was so worried, i thought Sina had been kidnapped or something.....
Thanks for the update, i dont have any details of you and didn't know how to communicate, so i thought of this place and saw your article.
Thanks, again, i feel better now!!!!!!
Posted by: Rubystar at March 27, 2007 5:29 PM
No offence Giraldus, but what do you mean by 'sweet'? Sweet like the kiss of death?
Oh, come on Ruby, I'm joking here, joking!
(I'm going through FFI withdrawals too, and I'm trying to recreate the lounge.)
Posted by: Ruy Diaz at March 27, 2007 5:57 PM
Grrrrr! who is this?! I will deal with you on the forum whoever you are!
Reveal yourself or be the next victim for the kiss of death. You seem familiar though, *fixes the radar device on forehead*
I will wait for the signals now :o)
Posted by: Rubystar at March 27, 2007 6:45 PM
Hi Ruby:
Here is a hint; you told me I was not usually funny, but you liked this joke:
I refer to the movie "Antz". Our hero, Z, is receiving therapy from a female (ant) therapist:
Z: "The whole system makes me feel... insignificant."
Therapist: "Excellent, you have made a breakthrough.
Z: "I have?"
Therapist: "Yes Z; you ARE insignificant."
P.S. A radar fits in your forehead. WHAT are you?
P.P.S. I take all insults back, especially the last one. You are a sweet flowery lady, not whatever it is I've implied. You are well-natured and incapable of violence.
So please don't hurt me.
Posted by: Ruy Diaz at March 27, 2007 10:56 PM
My my, well if it isn't the sex obsessed latino!
And you still ain't funny haha (that joke is funny though and very apt for you)
P.S. I get the feeling you WANT to be hurt, huh? huh? well I can hurt you latino boy, just let me know when and where *wink wink* ;o)
Posted by: Rubystar at March 28, 2007 4:30 AM
Hi Ruby:
That was an easy hint wasn't it?
But I take offense at being called sex-obsessed. Oh, I may have had an accident or two as a result of looking at women while driving. And when I take college classes, I pray to the gods the women will be dogs so I can get better grades. But surely that's no obsession--at most a minor hobby.
No, not looking for pain here; so I must abjectly apologize once again, oh sweet and delicate one.
Posted by: Ruy Diaz at March 28, 2007 10:15 AM
Hey Z,
So your most carnal and insatiable desire to ogle at random women at this level is a "minor hobby" eh? hehe grrrr!
And I'm gonna cry if you keep calling me 'sweet' and 'delicate', ewww you pervert! Please someone help!! this sex-hungry latino won't exercise self restraint :(
Posted by: Rubystar at March 28, 2007 11:02 AM
Well, as attempts to recreate the forum "Lounge" go - this gets top marks. It is almost as visceral as the "Garbage Can".
Posted by: Giraldus Cambrensis at March 28, 2007 1:35 PM
I am so sorry Giraldus,this won't happen again. No one has been able to comment here as I have hijacked the comments section.
My Apologies once again.
Posted by: Rubystar at March 28, 2007 1:46 PM
Don't worry Rubes -
You are granted the privilege - extenuating circumstances and all, with no FFI for you to be able to attack humandecency. I am sure Senor Diaz doesn't mind a spot of banter.
And here - I have moderator's privileges, so I can always censor things if they get out of hand!
No need to apologise, sweetheart!
Posted by: Giraldus Cambrensis at March 28, 2007 3:43 PM
Thankyou so much Giraldus for your understanding nature.
I miss humandecency so much that I feel unwell.
Posted by: Rubystar at March 29, 2007 6:08 AM
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