The Yemeni parliament chairmanship agreed Monday to the opposition request concerning the reinvestigation into the assassination of the YSP Assistant Secretary General Jarallah Omar, a source at the National Authority following up the case told Yemen Times. He said that Speaker Sheikh Abdullah al-Ahmar and his deputy Yahya al-Raâee met a delegation of the authority Monday which delivered a message to them, requesting that investigation into the assassination should be done again to unveil the compliance of the assassin Ali Ahmed Jarallah and the political motives of the crime.
| If I recall correctly, Jarallah was a member of al-Islah, the Islamist party. He bumped off Jarallah Omar — no apparent relation — because he was a secularist, and remarked he wished he was a nuclear bomb so he could "blow to smithereens all secularists". |
He added that al-Ahmar and al-Raâee responded positively to the request and decided to write a message to the Court of Appeals of Sanaâa, requesting it not go on in the trial so that all aspects of the case be made clear. They also said they would address the General Prosecutor Dr. Abdullah al-Ulofi and chief of intelligence with regard to the demands of the socialist party, conducting investigations into the issues the party believes important. This move on part of the parliament will achieve the YSP and opposition objectives in reinvestigation into the crime, revealing all aspects of the assassination and the people standing behind it. The YSP already said that names of the persons mentioned during the investigation with the murderer, including leading members of the Islah party.
| So it sounds like the socialists want to get a few more political miles out of the investigation before the sentence is confirmed... |
The court of appeals is expected to start the trial sessions this month as the assassin appealed the primary court verdict, sentencing him to death and five of his cellâs members to 5-10 years imprisonment in jail. Besides, the opposition observed the first anniversary of the assassination of Omar, attacking the government and holding it accountable for not disclosing the real truth behind the crime.
| This is the al-Islah counterattack here... |
Mohammed Kahtan, head of Islahâs political department lashed out at the government in a ceremony held Sunday, accusing it of trading in terrorism and expanding the size of poverty, oppression, calling for a political balance in the country to enhance freedoms and protect human rights against tyranny. He strongly attacked the government which he said is making business out of the fight on terrorism, pointing out that this procedure has caused problems to the country as âthe country and its political forces are not a commodity in your shops to trade withâ. He demanded the government to âfight terrorism in a more serious and legal way.â
| They then follow up with a slight redefinition of "terrorism"... |
âTerrorism is taking away the food of the masses, messing security and depositing public money in commercial banks,â he said. On his part, Abdulmalik al-Mikhlafi, secretary general of the Unionist Nasserite Party said that the coalition of terrorism and corruption is behind delay in disclosing the truth about Omarâs death despite the passing of one year since the crime. He demanded that the democratic margin should be widened, abolishing the law of demonstrations, amending the election law. âWhile the government is conducting dialogues with terrorists, it is arresting the political activists calling for change,â he added. |