Tribal chief says Sana'a to blame for lawlessness

The leader of the 57,000-strong Murad people cites lack of security and an inadequate justice system as the reasons for the chronic state of disorder.

SANA'A // A prominent tribal chieftain blamed the government for increasing lawlessness in some tribal areas, accusing it of stirring up fights between tribes in order to weaken them, and called for reform in the relations between the tribes and the state. Sheikh Mufareh Mohammed Buhaibih, 57, whose Murad tribe consists of 47,000 people in the central province of Mareb, said the tribes are most severely affected by the absence of security and law enforcement.

"When the government fails to bring security to people, it blames the tribe. Many people have a stereotypical image that the tribe is the reason behind the instability of the country and this is untrue. Tribesmen tend to make problems or fights only when security is missing," he said last week at his house east of the capital, Sana'a. "The government undertakes deliberate efforts to create constant conflicts and wars between the tribes and plays one off against the other to weaken them," he said.

"The government officials do not interfere to stop disputes among tribes...such disputes generate vengeances, which push the tribes to acquire more arms and develop their [military] capacities." Sheikh Buhaibih, who took over as one of the heads of the Murad tribe after the death of his father in 1996, said he is "worried about the future of the country, which is facing its toughest challenges ever".

"The state is in its weakest moments and we are all paying the price of this," he said. "Whenever my mobile rings, I feel nervous as most of the calls carry news about a problem here or there." He said "the tribes will be ready to give up arms if they find justice and law enforcement. But because they feel insecure, they save their money for arms and ammunition. There is no equal citizenship and corruption is broadly common."

A study published last month by the Sana'a-based Observatory for Human Rights, a non-governmental organisation, echoed Sheikh Buhaibih's assessment, and said an agreement between the current regime and certain tribal elites has given tribal leaders high-ranking positions in the government and legislative chambers. They in turn promote the interests of their tribe at the expense of rivals. The tribal chieftains and their sons hold about 51 per cent of the seats in parliament. Of Yemen's 23 million people, 85 per cent belong to tribes, according to the study.

This arrangement between the political and tribal elites has affected both the state and tribes. "The tribal chieftains support the regime but at the same time work to weaken the state as an institution ... they accept the authority of the state when it is meeting their interests," the study said. "They do not accept a strong central state [as they want] a weak state with which they can share power... this has produced an organised chaos."

According to Adel al Sharjabi, a lead researcher on the study, this setup has changed the tribal role of the sheikhs. "Sheikhs who used to represent their tribe in front of the state are now representing the state in front of their tribes as their interest lies with the state while the regime leaders have also become in need for the tribe as their stay in power depends on it," Mr Sharjabi said. "The only way out for the current impasse the country is going through is adopting the federal system, which would boost decentralisation and broaden public participation in governance," Sheikh Buhaibih added.