By IINA
Sana’a : Yemen’s Minister of Interior Rashad Al Alimi has said that the spread of weapons and tribal fanaticism are behind the failure of security plans in Yemen. The minister said lectures were being delivered in universities and tapes distributed to people promoting weapons as an essential part of the culture of Yemen. He mentioned in particular the Sana’a-based university of Eman, a religious university owned and run by Sheikh Abdul Majeed Al Zandani, who is accused by the US of supporting terrorism.
The minister, who was answering MPs’ questions regarding the national security situation in parliament on Monday, called on mosque speakers, political parties and universities to work to create a new culture against weapons. He said no security plan could be implemented before tackling the weapons problem from which Yemen has been suffering for a long time.
He called on the parliament to quickly issue a new law concerning the carrying and possession of weapons. Its draft has been facing resistance from tribal forces since it was referred to parliament in 1995. The minister also called for a national conference on weapons to be held. He said their use obstructed the development process, investment and tourism.
He also called for a law to be issued nullifying some tribal conventions and traditions that impede the application of laws. Some MPs considered what the minister said as a justification to cover up the failure of the government to control tribal disputes which are widespread in the country. The minister admitted his ministry’s failure to liberate two children from the Al Kumaim family in Dhammar who have been held hostage for nine months in Khawlan, about 50 km east of the capital. The two families have had a dispute over a piece of land in Sana’a city for years. The minister attributed the failure to the “backwardness and fanaticism” of some tribesmen and the spread of weapons.
The procedures taken to ban the carrying of weapons has made some tribesmen use kidnapping tactics to negotiate with the government. The inability of the government to impose the law on tribesmen has encouraged kidnapping, some MPs said. A total of 96,254 guns have been held by government authorities since March 23 after an anti-weapons campaign started on August 23, according to ministry statistics. A total of 93,162 weapons were held at checkpoints outside the cities, which are called security belt areas, while 3,092 items were held inside the main cities.