...and Yemen!

[butchersapron]

It's his place to prop up Saleh (or the next one) behind closed doors.

 

[klang]

sure, but somehow i feel as if the US are not completely against the idea of seeing Saleh removed. even though has enjoyed massive support in terms of (military) aid he has always been an unpredictable pain with close links to teheran. as in all the other cases across the ME, they are probably very worried as to who will take his place. i wonder how much more oustspoken and ready for action the US would be if Lybia hadn't escalated. thoughts?
i still have this socotra theory, something that's not being discussed in the media or on here, partly because it is pure speculation on my side.

 

[klang]

5.33pm Reuters - Liquefied natural gas producer Yemen LNG tells customers that unrest in the country could lead to supply disruptions.

...and I thought there were already gas and electricity shortages as the main supply line from Marib to Sana'a are interrupted by tribsmen...

e2a: can't remember where i read about it though, yemenpost only reports on power shortages....but somewhere was an article, will dig deeper.

 

[klang]

march on the presidential palace now planned for friday in sana'a. pretty significant as the protests have so far been contained on the uni campus. army dissidents will protect protesters.

 

[dylans]

I was struck on several levels by this image on AlJazeera website, originating from twitter user @kSenawy apparently.

That's an amazing and moving photo, as you say, at so many levels

 

[butchersapron]

"Those trying to wrest power through coups should know that this is impossible," Saleh said in a defiant speech on television on Tuesday. "The fatherland will be made unstable, there will be war, a bloody civil war. They should carefully reflect on this."

More

 

[elbows]

From the same story:

Abdul-Rahman al-Iryani, the minister of water and environment, who was dismissed with the remainder of the cabinet on Sunday, also said he was joining "the revolutionaries".

In his letter of resignation on Tuesday, Iryani said: "It is becoming ridiculous that every member of the regime is now joining the revolution, when in fact they should surrender themselves to the revolution for trial for crimes that they committed against the people or looked the other way while these crimes were perpetrated on the people. Also, they should pledge not to occupy any public office in the future."

Thats quite the resignation letter.

 

[Divisive Cotton]

They do breed a special type of stupid dictator in the Middle East don't they:

After declaring a state of emergency in Yemen at the weekend, President Saleh won backing for it on Wednesday morning from the Yemeni parliament -- though almost half the MPs absented themselves from the session.

The text of the draft emergency law has been published (in Arabic) on al-Masdar's website. It provisions are truly draconian, imposing restrictions on the media, travel and public meetings, even regulating the opening of shops and allowing for the "temporary takeover" of property.

The state of emergency is supposed to last for just one month, though it's worth recalling that a similar "emergency" declared in Egypt in 1967 has remained in place almost continuously since then.

From the Guardian site.

The guy seems determined to bring the country into civil war

 

[elbows]

Some more clashes between army and presidential guards:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/24/yemeni-presidential-guards-clash-army

Story includes revealing but unsurprising words from the US:

"We've had a good working relationship with President Saleh. He's been an important ally in the counter-terrorism arena," the US defence secretary, Robert Gates, said on Wednesday. "I think we will basically just continue to watch the situation. We haven't done any post-Saleh planning," he said.

 

[klang]

tribal support for saleh dwindling away:

Tribal leaders loyal to the youth revolution took over seven military compounds in Shabwa, all previously belonging to the Central Security Forces. Central security forces were able to take most of the artillery before leaving the compounds.

full story here: http://yemenpost.net/Detail123456789.aspx?ID=3&SubID=3325&MainCat=3

 

[klang]

from the same article:

Official sources confirmed that President Saleh met yesterday with General Ali Ahmar in order to come up with an initiative to save the country from any future bloodshed. According the an official source, President Saleh has agreed on step down as early as Saturday on condition that General Ali Ahmar also steps down. “Both sides have agreed to step down, but dialogue today are to reach an agreement over who will rule after Saleh steps down,” said a senior official source

 

[Lo Siento.]

“We consider al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which is largely located in Yemen, to be perhaps the most dangerous of all of the franchises of al-Qaeda right now. And so, instability and diversion of attention from dealing with AQAP is certainly my primary concern about the situation,” he said.

Gates again. About primary concerns. Principled opposition to authoritarians, unless they're allies. What about democracy, eh?

 

[JimW]

Longish background piece in The Nation on how US strategy is self-fulfulling: http://www.thenation.com/article/159578/dangerous-us-game-yemen?page=full

 

[elbows]

The now-infamous Gulf Cooperation Council have been getting involved, suggesting he step down and hand power to a deputy before a coalition government, headed by the opposition, takes over:

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/04/201141014319852355.html

Saleh got very upset with Qatar over this.

 

[butchersapron]

Pro-regime police attack pro-protestors army unit - one soldier dead, 4 coppers killed. Militarisation of the struggle always on the cards here.

 

[Divisive Cotton]

Amazing stuff in Yemen again: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/9595284

In the southern capital of Aden, security forces clashed on Wednesday with thousands of protesters who hurled rocks and burned tires, killing at least one person.

The army and anti-riot police, backed with tanks and artillery, fired live ammunition and tear gas in the port city, according to eyewitnesses. Medical officials said one person was killed and seven wounded.

Tens of thousands also demonstrated in the capital Sanaa in some of the biggest demonstrations to date for this impoverished nation that is already plagued by dwindling supplies of food, water and oil.

 

[Divisive Cotton]

I was listening to a BBC World Service about the Yemen uprising. It was really fascinating.

Women are taking a leading role in the protest and it's bringing together tribes and diverse groups like never before in Yemen's history.

They have a form of protest in which they take a long lunch afterwards and then sit around drinking coffee and chewing kat discussing politics.

The current President has pretty much bankrupted the country because he's spent much of the money on bankrolling his protests - one diplomatic put spending on pro-Saleh rallies at $300m

 

[elbows]

The Gulf Cooperation Council gets in on the action again:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-13178887

Tariq Shami, a spokesman for Yemen's ruling party, told Reuters the party had informed the Gulf Cooperation Council "of their acceptance of the Gulf initiative in full".

Under the plan proposed by Saudi Arabia and five other states

Within a month of signing an agreement with the opposition, Mr Saleh quits and hands over to his Vice-President, Abdu Rabu Manur Hadi
Mr Saleh appoints an opposition leader to run an interim government tasked with preparing for presidential elections two months later
Mr Saleh, his family and his aides are given immunity from prosecution

 

[MellySingsDoom]

^^^ So basically - Saleh cedes power to a hand-picked "opposition", gets away (literally) with murder, and the GCC will "assist" Yemen in it's internal affairs. Brilliant. I hope the Yemenis on the ground don't fall for this bullshit.

 

[Divisive Cotton]

They are talking about this again on the news this morning but it hasn't been signed yet

 

[Divisive Cotton]

Hundreds of thousands out again calling for Saleh's resignation

Fast forward to about 4 minutes in and turn up the volume - holy fuck!

 

[dylans]

Hundreds of thousands out again calling for Saleh's resignation

Fast forward to about 4 minutes in and turn up the volume - holy fuck!

Do you think he heard them?

 

[elbows]

Its turning much more dangerous, with multiple deaths reported and the first signs of clashes between the army division that sided with the protesters long ago, and pro-regime forces that were doing the killing.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/12/yemen-protests-republican-guards-troops

From the sounds of that article the gulf cooperation council plan failed, Saleh really does not want to go.

 

[Riklet]

Hopefully he'll be 'hanging out' with the people soon, Mussolini style...

That crowd is absolutely fucking amazingly huge, nuff respect.

 

[klang]

good set of photos released by the yemen forum (chatham house) here

http://www.flickr.com/photos/31319626@N00/5597846352/in/photostream/

 

[elbows]

Its really kicking off now. As many suspected would happen, Saleh failed to sign the GCC agreement so far.

And now the large tribal group, Salehs own, that turned against him quite a while ago but didnt act much upon this until now, is now active in a big way, after being provoked:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-13544243

Members of Yemen's most powerful tribal group have taken control of several public buildings in Sanaa, say reports.

Witnesses say hundreds of people are fleeing the capital on the third day of violence between the Hashid tribal fighters and security forces.

At least 44 people have died in the clashes, which began after forces loyal to President Ali Abdullah Saleh moved against the tribal leader's compound.

 

[klang]

also saleh bombarded the opposition news chanel 'suhail' yesterday. http://yemenpost.net/Detail123456789.aspx?ID=3&SubID=3601&MainCat=3

also all roads into sana'a closed, as is sana'a airport. all flights are re-directed to aden.

 

[klang]

on a side note - a little comparison between the frontpages of the yemen observer (government funded) and the yemen post (independent).
http://www.yobserver.com/
vs
http://yemenpost.net/Default.aspx

 

[elbows]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/26/yemen-edges-closer-civil-war

After a brief lull on Wednesday night, fighting seemed to intensify on Thursday as the two sides, now separated only by a few residential blocks, fired anti-aircraft missiles at each other as they scrambled for control of government buildings and the airport, their battle slowly encroaching further towards the centre of the city.

Also a little more info about the factions starts to emerge:

"What we're witnessing now is a battle between the two most powerful families in Yemen, a conflict that has been brewing for several years which because of Saleh's stubbornness has come to its head," said Abdullah al-Faqah, professor of politics at Sana'a University. "This was a foolish fight for him [Saleh] to pick."

The Ahmar clan head Hashid, the largest tribal confederation in Yemen. Saleh had managed to keep the family patriarch, Abdullah, onside during his rule, but since he died in December 2007, power has passed to the 10 Ahmar brothers.

Four brothers from the most significant threat to Saleh's rule. They include Sadiq, the head of the Hashid tribal; Hamir, the deputy speaker of parliament; Hussein, a powerful tribal leader; and, most significant of all, Hamid, a business tycoon and founder of the opposition party Islah.

Hamid has positioned himself as a potential successor to Saleh and accuses the president of violating the constitution by turning Yemen into his family enterprise.

Hamid is now thought to be bankrolling the opposition as well as supporting the upkeep of the hundreds of thousands of anti-government protesters camping out in Sana'a's Change Square.

 

[klang]

lengthy publication (for those interested) by chatham house's yemen forum here:

http://email.chathamhouse.org.uk/interface/external_view_email.php?A8884444626876318488826403326