SANA’A: Government plans to disarm large swaths of the population are running into difficulties, with some lawmakers reticent to pass new legislation, calling for enforcement of existing law instead, and tribal leaders demanding the right to protect themselves. The government is trying to arm itself with new legislation for the task. The new law states that weapons must be licensed, and bans possession of heavy weapons.

“Within weeks, field committees formed for this purpose will start collecting weapons in coordination with the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Local Administration, as well as local councils throughout the republic,” Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for the Interior Rashad al-Alimi said in a statement.

“The implementation of collecting weapons will be done in two stages: first, shops that sell weapons will be counted and registered, and weapons will be classified according to type and size,” said al-Alimi. “Then, all medium and heavy weapons and explosives will be collected and shops will be completely and permanently banned from buying or selling such weapons.”

According to an independent survey by Dar Al-Salam (Peace) Organisation for Fighting Revenge, there are about 300 unlicensed shops selling weapons across the country, each with a stock of at least 100 items. The biggest markets are Sook al-Talh in Sana’a province and in Saada, al-Jawf, al-Baydah and Abyan, in the north and northeast provinces.

The survey suggests there are about nine million small arms in Yemen, in the hands of state personnel, tribesmen and vendors. But officials say the number is less than three million.

The effort to tighten control over possession of weapons follows fresh moves by the government to invite investment. New projects worth billions of dollars have been offered to foreign investors, but the government fears that lawlessness could drive them away.

The government has said it will set aside several millions of dollars to buy up the medium-sized and heavy weapons left in hands of civilians and tribesmen after the 1994 civil war, which broke out when groups in north Yemen armed themselves against forces from the south. North and South Yemen had unified in 1990.

Moves since then to bring in new legislation against arms possession have not made it through parliament, in some cases blocked by influential tribal leaders. The new law, too, awaits approval.

Many lawmakers continue to oppose the new legislation: “We refuse to approve the weapons law because there is already a law from 1992,” Ali al-Ansi, of the Islah Party, told the news agency. “The need is not to have a new law, but to see the law put into action.”

The previous draft law, presented by the government to the parliament, says that carrying guns, even light ones, in cities should not be allowed anymore, even for guardians of sheikhs and senior social figures. But the law was not approved and guns can be seen on shoulders of many tribesmen in the capital Sana’a and other main cities.

The government itself had allowed the proliferation of weapons, and weapons traders even to supply the military, al-Ansi said.

Independent MP Sakher al-Wajeeh, once a member of the ruling General People’s Congress (GPC), said the government was responsible for the delay in putting the previous law into force.

“The government is not serious in its decision because GPC has the majority in parliament. So if the government wanted to pass the law, it would have approved it,” said Wajeeh. “The problem is not in drafting laws; it is the non-application of laws.”

Head of the GPC bloc in parliament Yaser al-Awadhi has admitted that the government was not serious about the previous law. But he said the ruling party will approve the new law.

But doubts persist how effective it would be.

A weapons trader in the al-Talih market in Sana’a told the news group on condition of anonymity that the weapons market will always thrive because people need to buy weapons for their personal protection.

“This decree by the government is only a result of international and local pressure about limiting the weapons trade,” he said. “The government also cannot buy all weapons throughout the country.”

“It is wrong to stop selling weapons, because this means that the people fall under the hegemony of Western countries,” Naji al-Shayif, a tribal sheikh from al-Jawf, told reporters.

Yemenis have historically owned weapons. Groups armed themselves against both British colonial rule and the forces of the Ottoman Empire. Tribes, mostly in northern Yemen, have long been armed, often with state encouragement because they were seen as a line of defence against any foreign attack.

The tribes were a major force when the north subdued a breakaway rebellion in the south after unification. Military arsenals in the south were looted, and tribesmen and others came to possess heavy weapons. This meant that the army sometimes had to buy these weapons back.

So could rebel groups, who now have enough weapons to fight the army for months, lawyer Naji Allaw told the news agency.—Dawn/The IPS News Service