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Monday, February 15, 2010     GET REAL

Yemen arms dealers take business underground

CAIRO — Yemeni gunrunners, amid a government crackdown, were said to have gone underground.   

The Defense Ministry has determined that Yemeni arms dealers were continuing to illegally sell a range of automatic and other weapons to private clients. Officials said Yemeni authorities, despite a crackdown in 2009, have been unable to stop the illegal arms trade.

"Nowadays, arms dealers in the main cities open their shops with no weapons on display, but take buyers to their homes to sell arms and ammunition in secret deals," Yemeni Defense Ministry official Tawfiq Hadash said.

Hadash, in an interview to the IRIN news agency, said undercover weapons deals were taking place outside major Yemeni cities, Middle East Newsline reported. He cited a flowing arms trade in the provinces of Beidha and Sanaa.


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"In the past, various types of small and medium-sized weapons were sold openly in arms markets inside or outside main cities," Hadash said.

In 2009, Yemen was said to have contained nearly 10 million small arms, all but 1.5 million in the hands of the government and military. The rest of the weapons were said to be owned by families and marked a leading element in domestic violence.

"Arms bearing is part of our culture, which is why the trade continues, even through secret deals," Abdul Rahman Al Marwani, chairman of a Yemeni non-governmental organization, said.

More than 300 arms dealers were operating in Yemen, the analysts said. Al Marwani said the arms trade has led to the killing of 1,200 Yemenis a year.

Industry sources said the arms trade has declined amid hard economic times. They said sales have dropped sharply over the last decade.

"Ten years ago, I used to sell four or five guns and up to 90 bullets a day, compared to only three or four guns and 100 bullets a week now." Ahmad Ali Mutahar, an arms shopkeeper in Jihana market, said.



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