Fares Mana'a

Fares Mohammed Mana'a (born February 8, 1965) is a top Yemeni arms-dealer, businessman, rebel commander and politician. He is said to be Yemen's most famous arms-dealer. Mana'a was born on February 8, 1965 in the northern city of Sa'dah and was an ally of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh and member of his ruling GPC party and served as head of his presidential committee and as head of a local council tasked with mediating a peace-deal between the Yemeni government and Houthis during the Shia insurgency in Yemen. His brother was the governor of Saada Governorate at the time.

His name was put on a UN Security Council list of people accused of trafficking arms to Somali Islamist insurgent group Al-Shabaab, which is considered as a terrorist organisation by the United States and is accused of with al-Qaeda. This led to his assets being frozen by the U.S. Department of the Treasury. He was also accused of receiving millions in funds from the then Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi, spying for Libya and supplying arms to the Houthis. Mana'a denied these charges claiming that arms had been stolen by Houthis from an arms deposit he owned. In October 2009 was put at the top of a blacklist of Yemeni arms-dealers, after which he was put under surveillance.

Manna

Manna (Hebrew: מָן‎) or al-Mann wa al-Salwa (Arabic: المَنّ و السلوى‎, Kurdish: gezo‎, Persian: گزانگبین‎‎), sometimes or archaically spelled mana, is an edible substance that, according to the Bible and the Quran, God provided for the Israelites during their travels in the desert.

Description

Biblical / canonical description

In the Hebrew Bible, manna is described twice: once in Exodus 16:1-36 with the full narrative surrounding it, and once again in Numbers 11:1-9as a part of a separate narrative. In the description in the Book of Exodus, manna is described as being "a fine, flake-like thing" like the frost on the ground. It is described in the Book of Numbers as arriving with the dew during the night; Exodus adds that manna was comparable to hoarfrost in size, similarly had to be collected before it was melted by the heat of the sun, and was like a coriander seed that is white. Numbers describes it as having the appearance of bdellium, adding that the Israelites ground it and pounded it into cakes, which were then baked, resulting in something that tasted like cakes baked with oil. Exodus states that raw manna tasted like wafers that had been made with honey. The Israelites were instructed to eat only the manna they had gathered for each day. Stored manna "bred worms and stank": the exception being that stored the day before the Sabbath (Preparation Day), when twice the amount of manna was gathered. This manna did not spoil overnight, because, Exodus 16:23-24 states, "This is what the Lord commanded: 'Tomorrow is to be a day of rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning.' So they saved it until morning, as Moses said was commanded, and it did not stink or get maggots in it."

Manna (disambiguation)

Manna is the food produced for the Israelites in the desert, as described in the Biblical book of Exodus.

Manna may also refer to:

Manna (horse)

Manna (1922–1939) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse an sire. In a career which lasted from summer 1924 until September 1925, Manna ran four times, winning eight races. As a three-year-old in 1925 he won the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket and the Epsom Derby by a record margin of eight lengths. Manna was retired after breaking down in his bid to win the Triple Crown in the St. Leger at Doncaster. He later had a successful career at stud.

Background

Manna, described by the Breeders’ Review as "a superb creature" with whom it was "impossible to find fault", was a bay horse bred in Ireland by James J. Maher at his Confey Stud in County Dublin. As a yearling he was sent to the sales at Doncaster, where he was sold for 6,300 gns to the trainer Fred Darling acting on behalf of the Shanghai-based bullion broker Henry E. Morriss. Darling had been instructed by a telegram from Morriss to buy the best yearling in the sale. Manna was trained by Darling at his stable at Beckhampton in Wiltshire where he proved to be a lively and high-spirited individual.