In the Name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
Ladies and gentlemen, at the commencement, I would like to express my appreciation and admiration to our brothers of the Kingdom of Bahrain and our friends at the International Institute for Strategic Studies for their good reception, generous hospitality, excellent preparation and fine organisation of the Manama Dialogue Conference, one of the most significant fruits of which has been the popularisation of the principle of constructive dialogue and exchange of views on strategic issues relating to the security of the region which is reflected in international security and peace.
It is indeed a cause of pleasure for me to speak before you on a number of issues relating to regional security which are a matter of concern to the partners in the dialogue, as this matter concerns us all. It features prominently because of its aspiration to improve the stability, development, growth and capability of the peoples of the region by means of mutual consultation, coordination and cooperation until their shared vision is realised. As the Republic of Yemen is an indivisible part of the states of the Arabian Peninsular and Gulf region, it recognises the importance of integrating regional and international potential so as to meet the requirements of security and stability in the region by means of cooperation with the other international parties concerned. With this in mind, I wish to speak on a number of important issues which the Republic of Yemen is facing and which are a matter of concern shared by our brothers and friends in the states of the region, as well by the United States of America, the states of the European Union, Japan, China and others, and require concentrated efforts to deal with them. Permit me to briefly present to you the most important of these issues.
Ladies and gentlemen, the phenomenon of terrorism is one of the most serious challenges which the Republic of Yemen and the states of the region face in the world at the present time as a result of the growing activity of extremist terrorist elements. Like other countries, Yemen has been affected by terrorist activities, having suffered a number of terrorist acts which cast their shadow over different aspects of security, politics, the economy, society and others both at national and international level. Terrorist elements are working to target the tourist sector and foreigners working in Yemen with the aim of causing maximum international and worldwide concern and of demonstrating the capability of terrorists to attack Western interests and economic institutions.
In the face of this state of vulnerability, the Yemeni government has expended its greatest effort to put an end to terrorist operations and activities, achieving positive results in this area. However, it is still in need of regional and international support to increase its powers and capabilities, especially as it is an effectual partner in the international fight against terrorism, both bilaterally with states which share with it in the war on terror and with the relevant committees of the International Security Council and by signing and ratifying all charters and criminal laws on the phenomenon of terrorism.
Indeed, the view of the Republic of Yemen is in tune with the view of the states of the region and the international community with regard to confronting terrorism as a dangerous international plague targeting all. This calls for security bodies to increase their cooperation and organisation so as to improve their effectiveness and capability in confronting extremism and terrorism and in drying up the sources of these.
Ladies and gentlemen, the latest incidents of insurgence and terrorism have escalated to present a new dimension compared with previous terrorist incidents which targeted Yemen's security and stability, as this group has continued to carry out destructive and terrorist operations in clear contravention of the initiatives undertaken by the state during the six wars to stop such events of insurgence and to bring about peace.
What must be emphasised are the peaceful choices presented by the state to resolve this issue, including general amnesties and the call to the Houthis to form a political party within the framework of the Constitution and the law. This met with rejection, and the tolerance of the state was exploited by them to rearm and to expand, continuing their destructive terrorist activities by committing crimes and attacks against the right of the nation and its citizens by means of killings, kidnappings, banditry, sabotage and bombing public and private properties. Moreover, these elements implement a foreign agenda to threaten the security of Yemen and the region and infiltrate the thinking of some regional parties at the expense of Yemen's security and stability. In recent times, they have tried to attack our brothers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and to violate its borders in an attempt to expand their area of confrontation and to give them a regional dimension, following the notable successes which the Yemeni armed forces achieved in placing them under a blockade and strangle-hold.
Ladies and gentlemen, some of the southern provinces of our country, the Republic of Yemen, face destructive operations and activities carried out by certain illegal elements who try to turn back the wheel of history, targeting the unity of Yemen which was implemented by peaceful means on 22 May 1990, carrying out destructive acts of rebellion, demanding secession, propagating many ungrounded falsehoods and allegations through the press and the electronic media, by holding small assemblies and meetings, carrying out acts of incitement and disseminating a culture of hatred within Yemeni society, jeopardising ordinary citizens and young people, causing them to hold sit-ins and riots and inciting them to barricade roads and kill innocent citizens in regional settings, in addition to causing damage to public and private property. These are the remnants of the elements which sparked the war in the summer of 1994 and were defeated by the Yemeni people. It is a small minority which only represents its own interests, and it has exploited the economic conditions which Yemen is facing to realise its questionable goals of harming the security and stability of the united Yemen, which is an important and major factor in the security and stability of the region of the Gulf and the states on the shores of the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean.
This is what the states of the Gulf Cooperation Council and the other states which are our brothers and friends observed, and they announced their full support for the unity, security and stability of Yemen. It is to be hoped that this political message will be translated into real action in the form of support for the Republic of Yemen in the areas of the economy, security and logistics.
Ladies and gentlemen, besides these challenges, the Republic of Yemen suffers from difficult economic conditions in view of its limited economic capabilities and the increase in demands for development in various areas. Moreover, the world financial crisis and fluctuations in oil prices have affected the economic situation in particular. As oil is the mainstay of the Yemeni economy, contributing to the state public treasury approximately 70% of its financial resources, this has had an influence on all conditions from the viewpoint of the economy, finance and security.
In this context, I wish to point out what was said in the 2008 report on human development in the Arab World, which confirmed the rise in poverty in Yemen which affected as many as 59% of the population and the increase in the unemployment rate to 34%. This creates a fertile environment conducive to the spread of extremist ideas, an increase in criminal and terrorist acts and the violation of security and stability in general.
In this context, what the government of the Republic of Yemen aspires to is to secure continued support for its efforts to overcome unemployment and to reduce poverty from its brothers in the states of the Gulf Cooperation Council, including the assimilation of a large proportion of the qualified and trained Yemeni manpower graduating from universities and specialist institutions.
Ladies and gentlemen, the collapse of the state in Somalia and the continuing crisis in this country over the past 19 years represents the most important source of threats to regional security at the present time because of the way in which the crisis daily produces new elements which threaten the security of the region and of the world, including terrorism, the smuggling of people and illegal goods, and acts of piracy which have made Somalia a sanctuary and refuge for extremists and terrorists where they can plan terrorist operations. This calls for concentrated efforts and an appeal to members of the international community, i.e. international and regional institutions, active states, states within the region, and Islamic, African and Western countries, to acquaint themselves with their responsibilities in confronting such terrorist elements and organisations and taking a stand at the side of the Somali government to help it to overcome the crisis and resolve the present circumstances.
In this context, we wish to mention the influx of refugees from the African continent to its territory which Yemen suffers, without receiving sufficient aid from international organisations or from our brothers or friends. Moreover, this represents a threat to security as most of the refugees are young people. These are particularly targeted by terrorist Houthi elements, and a number of these refugees have been mobilised to fight with them.
Moreover, the acts of piracy which the Gulf region (the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean) experiences have awakened the interest of the international community and the United Nations, and they have hastened to take action in view of the dangerous developments caused by piracy to marine security, international trade and the transportation of petroleum and goods through this vulnerable international corridor. A number of states have come with their fleets and battleships which have gathered in the region to combat acts of piracy and to protect merchant ships sailing in the region. In view of the negative effects of acts of piracy and their dangerous consequences for the economies of the surrounding states, and in view of the fact that this is a form of international terrorism, any further delay in dealing with this phenomenon could transform it into something like a wider criminal gang extending beyond the borders of the region.
Ladies and gentlemen, the geopolitical and strategic importance of the region of the Arabian Peninsular, the Gulf and the neighbouring territories for international interests and the world economy reaffirm the idea that speaking about the security of a territory as geographically independent of all other territories lacks all objectivity, not because of the absence of special claims and interests within an independent regional security formula, but because of the tendencies, pressures and concerns of the international forces which have been working and still are working intentionally or unintentionally to empty the concept of regional security of its content, depriving it of any regional tendency which might lead to the crystallisation of the responsibility of these states independently and as a group for the security of the region.
Thus, it is not surprising that aspects of the existing shortcomings have an effect on the level of the security of the region and on factors relating to the local security situation in general and on every state individually. In the course of protecting regional and international security in this vulnerable region which is of such importance in the world, it is extremely important to crystallise the concepts and claims of this concept and the role of the responsibility of the states concerned, beginning with the control of security and internal stability as part and parcel of the security and stability of the region in relation to the role and responsibilities of international agencies, and this within a comprehensive vision based on the following foundations and aspirations:
1. The importance of considering security measures and the need to consolidate them at internal and regional level within the framework of a general consideration which does not neglect the economic aspect as a condition for protecting an environment safe and secure from all attacks.
2. The crystallisation of the requirements for preserving marine security in the long term.
3. The strengthening of the partnership between the states of the region and the international powers by means of more than one option to strengthen regional security and expand participation in preserving it.
4. The activation of the role of the partnership, planning and mutual cooperation of the states of the region on the one hand and their Asian and African counterparts on the other to strengthen partnership and preserve regional security, which is influenced by events on both sides as well as exerting an influence on them.
5. The activation of the efforts and aspirations of the states of the region aimed at creating special tools to preserve regional security in accordance with the Saudi, Gulf and Arab initiative which is under discussion at present with the collaboration and support of the Republic of Yemen to create an Arab task force to combat piracy and smuggling in the south of the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean.
6. The creation of a shared security communication system to facilitate improvements in the exchange of information so as to strengthen the exchange of information amongst the security agencies in the states of the region and to use it in such a way as to help to improve the levels of shared planning.
7. Shared planning at a regional and international level in the fight against terrorism, piracy and organised crime in all forms and the establishment of political positions to strengthen aspirations to establish peace and stability in the region of the African continent.
8. Finding suitable means to strengthen trust between the states of the region through undertaking not to intervene in internal affairs and to respect the sovereignty of each state over its territory.
9. The implementation of integrated economic projects in the states of the region so that their peoples can benefit from them, as the realisation of prosperity and economic stability is the preliminary to realising the complete security of these states.
10. Shared planning amongst the states of the region to help deal with the problem of unemployment by making it easier for workers from the more densely populated states to enter the states which are in need of such workers to promote the speed of development there.
11. Urging the international community and its powerful states to follow balanced policies in the region, thus helping to protect the interests of these states against the dangers of conflicts and the occurrence of crises in the region.
12. The willingness of the Republic of Yemen, beginning with regional security, to join any discussion or effort aimed at consolidating the factors of regional security and creating a platform for the exchange of information to achieve common goals, including providing hospitality for dialogues and platforms similar to these in the future.
Finally, I would like to thank you for giving me this opportunity to present the point of view of the government of the Republic of Yemen on the issues and the challenges which we face primarily in the areas of security and their negative effects on economic, political and social conditions, as well as on the need for greater cooperation and full shared planning among the states of the Arabian peninsular, the Gulf and the international community to avert the consequences of these challenges and threats.
Peace be upon you, and the mercy and blessings of God.
