Notes from The Lost Weekend (Not in the Billy Wilder way)

We’ve managed to avoid a number of stories coming out of Yemen over the weekend, including the increasing rhetoric between the government and the Huthis – never a good sign. But what can I say, blogging isn’t a paying gig, and sometimes other obligations – which force us to use correct grammar and punctuation – intrude.

I have yet to give a close and detailed screening to the video we teased on Friday, which AQAP just put out. But I disagree with those who think that this tells us something about whether or not AQAP will be putting out a statement on the kidnappings in Sa’dah. The evidence is, in my opinion, inconclusive.

The video had obviously been in the works for sometime, particularly given al-Wahayshi’s opening article in issue 9 of Sada al-Malahim.

For those looking to add a book on Yemen to their reading list, Brian Whitaker has just e-published a book on post-unification Yemen. It is available here. Also, I would strongly recommend, for those looking for a bit of humor, ‘Abd al-Karim al-Razahi’s hilarious play al-Baramil, which I’m reading at the moment. I tend to be a bit biased, as I think ‘Abd al-Karim is extremely funny in person – and his escapades in the US a few years ago deserve to be immortalized in film.