PAN-ARAB DAILY INTERVIEWS WITH YEMENI RULING PARTY SENIOR MEMBER

SANA’A, March 13 (Saba)- The following is the text of the interview of the London-based pan-Arab daily Al-Sharq al-Awsat with Abdullah Ahmad Ghanim, chairman of the Political Department of the General People Congress (GPC):

[Al-Sharq al-Awsat] Is what is taking place now in Al-Dali and some southern regions within the framework of focusing on the problems of the south after the halting of the war in Saada?

[Ghanim] What is taking place in Al-Dali province and some districts of Lahj and Abyan provinces is not focusing on the south, because focusing on the south is a continuous national mission, and is not linked to a specific timetable. In fact, what is taking place, if we want to understand it clearly, is that there are calls for secession. These calls are not a peaceful action, but are sabotage, because they are calls for war. Therefore, what the security forces undertake in confronting the secession calls, and the sabotage operations of public and private installations is a duty undertaken by all the security forces in any country in the world when some citizens move to carry out sabotage, or call for disturbance and war. Here, what the Yemeni security organization is doing is no different from what their counterparts in any other country do. We consider the actions of the Yemeni security organizations as a performance of a national mission that protects civil peace, and national unity.

[Al-Sharq al-Awsat] But there are those who say that suppressing peaceful demonstrations is against the law?

[Ghanim] It is not against the law, because as I said the call for secession is a call for war, which is an action that is prohibited by law. Who told you that the call for secession is a peaceful action?! This call, even if it is not linked to any action, is in itself a crime. Therefore, the security forces have the right to carry out their duties in halting this sabotage action.

[Al-Sharq al-Awsat] You were minister of legal affairs; is there anything in the agreement to establish the union between the north and the south on 22 May 1990 that secures the right to secession for the southerners or the northerners?

[Ghanim] The union agreement does not guarantee this, and does not give such a right, because it is not a contractual commitment, as Ali Salim al-Bayd said, but it is a complete union from which there is no escape or disengagement. The agreement categorically prohibits secession or calling for it. This is the constitutional and a legal viewpoint. Article 1 of the Constitution of the Republic of Yemen stipulates explicitly that the secession of any part of the republic is prohibited.

[Al-Sharq al-Awsat] What do you think of the thesis of your former comrade Ali Nasir Mohammad about the situation in the south?

[Ghanim] I do not care what the others say about the situation in the south, or in Yemen in general, particularly the north. What concerns me is that people should keep their unity spirit.

[Al-Sharq al-Awsat] Ali Salim al-Bayd appeared recently on the arena, and started to propose strongly, and to demand secession or disengagement. Do you think that he has enough evidence to convince the international community or the regional surroundings?

[Ghanim] He does not have any evidence. He does not have anything to say other than the utterances of a traitor who is malicious against the unity of the Yemeni people. He should be confronted in the same way as any traitor of his country and his people.

[Al-Sharq al-Awsat] What is the truth about the information about conducting a dialogue with Tariq al-Fadli, and his retreat from his hard-line stances against the Yemeni union?

[Ghanim] In my personal opinion, Tariq al-Fadli will remain a puzzle, and no one so far knows his solution. Nevertheless, I do not see any objection to a dialogue between him and the security authorities. It is up to the security authorities to do so; they can reach an understanding with those who arouse disturbances in order to prevent this in any way possible, and if the understanding can be reached peacefully this would be better.

[Al-Sharq al-Awsat] What is your vision of the solution for the crisis in the south?

[Ghanim] There are problems in the south that have to be solved. This is something that we in the General People's Congress admit, announce, and do not hide. Some of these problems have not been solved until now, but they are on the way to being solved. However, the existence of these problems should not necessarily lead to some people coming up with calls for secession. I consider that the illegitimate fathers of the secession calls -since early times -are those who consider that the union ended with the 1994 war, and that the union has turned into a northern occupation of the south. Those who said this are the illegitimate fathers of the attempts to call for secession.

[Al-Sharq al-Awsat] Do you mean the Yemeni Socialist Party?

[Ghanim] Yes.

[Al-Sharq al-Awsat] Currently, are there lines of communication between the General People's Congress and the Socialist Party, the two partners of the union?

[Ghanim] There is no direct contact between the General People's Congress and the Yemeni Socialist Party, but there is a weak communication between the General People's Congress and the Joint Meeting Parties to which the Socialist Party belongs.

[Al-Sharq al-Awsat] Why is this alienation?

[Ghanim] It is because the Socialist Party refuses to engage in direct dialogue with the General People's Congress, and also the Joint Meeting Parties refuse to engage in public dialogue with our party.

[Al-Sharq al-Awsat] Do you mean bilateral dialogues?

[Ghanim] Yes.

[Al-Sharq al-Awsat] Why did you conduct recently a secret dialogue with the Joint Meeting Parties?

[Ghanim] From the beginning, they do not want any secret or public dialogue. Bear in mind that whenever we held an unannounced dialogue with them, they used to deny the existence of such dialogue. When that dialogue stopped, they started to issue public calls for restoring the dialogue. Have they not denied the existence of this dialogue? How can they call for restoring it? These people have a principal aim, which is to topple President Ali Abdullah Saleh, to topple the General People's Congress, and after that it does not matter who assumes the government. This stance is presented clearly in what they called the National Salvation Vision. Therefore, they are not concerned with the dialogue, they do not have any desire to engage in a dialogue with the General People's Congress, and their plan is not to reach an agreement with the General People's Congress. When they engage in any dialogue with the General People's Congress, this is done for opportunist or temporary partisan aims, as they did in February 2009 (the February agreement to postpone the elections). Therefore, I am surprised by those who still expect the Joint Meeting Parties to engage in a serious dialogue with the General People's Congress. This will not take place unless the Joint Meeting Parties drop their National Salvation Vision; in this case it would be possible to engage in a dialogue.

[Al-Sharq al-Awsat] Do you think that the consultation meetings, which the opposition has been conducting for more than a year, are for preparing an alternative to the government?

[Ghanim] Indeed, this is correct. These dialogues, which they hold within the framework of the so-called national consultations, are aimed at preparing an alternative to President Ali Abdullah Saleh and the General People's Congress.

[Al-Sharq al-Awsat] How do you in the General People's Congress see the future of the truce agreement to stop the war in Saada against the Al-Houthis?

[Ghanim] Through what I see of the reports by the committees supervising the ceasefire in the departments in Saada Governorate, I consider that the situation is progressing in a satisfactory way; I am not saying that it is progressing well, because the Al-Houthis still are hindering some necessary steps to end the war, and not just to hold a ceasefire. We have not engaged with them just in a ceasefire process, but we have engaged in a process to end the war; this ought to be clear and understood by the people. Stopping the war includes all the six articles included in the government initiative, and they still are obstructing some issues. For instance, they refuse to hand over the mines to the government. What logic is this? They want to stop the war, but they refuse to hand over the mines! Currently, they still stockpile weapons and buy new weapons. This information is released for the first time. This is something whose aim is no secret; nevertheless, we say that there is a possibility of implementing the six articles completely.

[Al-Sharq al-Awsat] Do you in the ruling party know the source of the financial ability of the Al-Houthis to buy weapons, as you say?

[Ghanim] Do you think that it is self sources? I do not imagine so; naturally the source is outside, and it is clear that it is Iran.

[Al-Sharq al-Awsat] If you are sure that Iran is behind the support of the Al-Houthis, why does not your government adopt any measures against it?

[Ghanim] Currently, I am a leading member of the General People's Congress, and not a leading member of the government.

[Al-Sharq al-Awsat] Since the end of December 2009 Yemen has come to the forefront of the events. Has terrorism reached such level of danger in Yemen?

[Ghanim] I do not imagine so, because there are exaggerations in the foreign media about the issue of terrorism in Yemen. There is unreasonable exaggeration of terrorism in Yemen. I do not know what the real reason of this exaggeration is; however, there is no doubt that it will be revealed in the upcoming days. Nevertheless, we do not deny the existence of terrorism, and the presence of some Al-Qaeda members in some governorates, which is something the government is hunting down, confronting, and destroying.

[Al-Sharq al-Awsat] Do you not think that the government sometimes is hasty in its preemptive strikes, and kills innocent people, as it happened in Al-Majalah in Abyan two months ago?

[Ghanim] This and other incidents are possible; however, this is life, and not everything that takes place is correct.

[Al-Sharq al-Awsat] Do you think that Al-Qaeda Organization now finds a safe haven in Yemen?

[Ghanim] I do not think so. This is a rumour promoted by some foreign media organs. However, the continuously increasing presence of Al-Qaeda in Yemen does not mean that Yemen has become a safe haven.

[Al-Sharq al-Awsat] Do you think that it is possible that Yemen will be a full member of the Gulf Cooperation Council within the next few years?

[Ghanim] Of course it is possible. There is an agreement in principle that Yemen will join the GCC as a full member. Some aspects of this joining have been implemented; these are preliminary aspects. Thus, we are confident that the complete membership will come at a later time, perhaps in two years, perhaps in ten years, I do not know exactly.

[Al-Sharq al-Awsat] Allow me to ask a final question. Is Yemen open to the bequeathing of power?

[Ghanim] First, I do not know who opened this dossier. It has not been announced, publicly or otherwise, that there is bequeathing of power in Yemen. We are committed to our Constitution, and our republican system, that does not stipulate the bequeathing of power.