...and Yemen!

[Divisive Cotton]

more great demo footage:

 

[elbows]

Escalation of violence continues, the regime are not safe:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-13638787

There are reports that President Ali Abdullah Saleh has been slightly injured in an attack on his compound in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, as pitched battles continue between government forces and armed tribesmen.

However, officials said he was well and would address the nation shortly.

The PM and parliament speaker were also reported hurt and four guards killed.

Earlier troops shelled the home of the brother of the tribal leader whose supporters they are fighting.

 

[butchersapron]

The guns are now coming. The regime tried to provoke them out for weeks on end to turn it into a situation it's used to and used to controlling. Looks like they've finally managed it - and the plan was always to take it out of the hands of the social movements into the tribal or trad military leaders. As now seems likely.

 

[elbows]

I wonder if it will work. This has been happening gradually for quite a number of weeks now, and its not clear if the regime will have much more luck playing the game this way.

 

[butchersapron]

I wonder if it will work. This has been happening gradually for quite a number of weeks now, and its not clear if the regime will have much more luck playing the game this way.

Well their #1 bloke for sorting this stuff out, north and south is now in the rebel camp and his battalions (or whatever they're called) came with him - not that the rebels trust him for one second. This isn;t like Libya though - there is a chance of popular armed uprising that can win due to the historical regional situations and the population already being massively armed. They just have to kill the defecting generals as soon as the job looks done

 

[TruXta]

Well their #1 bloke for sorting this stuff out, north and south is now in the rebel camp and his battalions (or whatever they're called) came with him - not that the rebels trust him for one second. This isn;t like Libya though - there is a chance of popular armed uprising that can win due to the historical regional situations and the population already being massively armed. They just have to kill the defecting generals as soon as the job looks done

Someone's in a bloodthirsty mood today...

 

[butchersapron]

It is a friday.

 

[TruXta]

Have a pint, man.

 

[butchersapron]

People trying to impose a peaceful social movement based approach?

 

[elbows]

Well the story has gone from him being well and ready to appear on tv, to being in hospital. I wont go quite so far as to declare him dead yet though, although you never know.

President Ali Abdullah Saleh has been slightly injured in an attack on his compound in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, and is in hospital, officials say, as pitched battles continue between government forces and armed tribesmen.

Earlier, officials told TV he was well and would address the nation shortly.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-13638787

 

[Divisive Cotton]

People trying to impose a peaceful social movement based approach?

The self-organisation of the people and their discipline has been awe-inspiring

I wonder if the rocket tickling his backside today has made him seriously think about his position? These people always surround themselves with yes men - Look how many people are out today supporting you. Despite the fact that they reputedly spent hundreds of millions of dollars to pay for them to be there

 

[elbows]

I wonder if the rocket tickling his backside today has made him seriously think about his position? These people always surround themselves with yes men - Look how many people are out today supporting you. Despite the fact that they reputedly spent hundreds of millions of dollars to pay for them to be there

I doubt you even need yes-men to convince yourself that you may stay in power despite the magnitude of the situation. Thats the thing with all these dictators that are in trouble now, they have been in power so long that they likely cannot help but think of themselves as great survivors, and if they were likely to give up under pressure they'd probably have gone at some point years or decades ago, rather than have made it this far in the first place.

In the case of Yemen Im not sure its completely clear what advice the regime would have been getting from the likes of the USA either. Perhaps we can assume that the Gulf Cooperation Councils plan was the favoured approach, ie that we did want him to step down pretty sharpish and try to do some sort of orderly transition, but I cant bet my life on it. I presume there is a potential successor that we favour, but I've no idea who.

 

[Divisive Cotton]

There's talk now that he was more seriously wounded than first reported

Hopefully he'll soon be sent to a foreign country for urgent medical treatment which has been the final exit for many dictators

 

[elbows]

There's talk now that he was more seriously wounded than first reported

Yes that part of the story has continued to evolve somewhat. The BBC story I keep linking to now has this:

State TV later broadcast an audio message in which he urged the military to fight Sheikh Ahmar's tribal group.

"I salute our armed forces and the security forces for standing up firmly to confront this challenge by an outlaw gang that has nothing to do with the so-called youth revolution," he said.

"Seven officers were martyred. We will follow these culprits sooner or later in co-operation with all security services."

Correspondents say Mr Saleh spoke with a laboured voice, at times breathing heavily.

 

[elbows]

There's talk now that he was more seriously wounded than first reported

Hopefully he'll soon be sent to a foreign country for urgent medical treatment which has been the final exit for many dictators

Earlier today this prediction looked to be coming true, but its now being denied that he has gone to Saudi, although it does seem that other regime people who were injured in the attacks have.

 

[elbows]

Shrapnel below heart, punctured lung and some burns is the latest possible reality:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-13655401

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh suffered shrapnel wounds and burns in Friday's attack on his compound in Sanaa, sources have told the BBC.

They said Mr Saleh had a piece of shrapnel under his heart and second-degree chest and face burns. This has not been officially confirmed.

Article also mentions possibility that an opposition tribal figure has been injured in overnight attacks.

 

[Divisive Cotton]

Tweet from a Beeber:

We're receiving reports from "well informed sources" #Yemen that President has left country.."for treatment or for good" A story to watch.

 

[Divisive Cotton]

Latest form Al Jazeera:

35 min 38 sec ago - Yemen

The AP news agency cites officials close to President Saleh as saying he has accepted an offer from the Saudi king to travel there for medical treatment but has not yet left Sanaa.

A secretary in Saleh's office and a member of his ruling party said the president's plane was still at the Sanaa airport.

 

[elbows]

He has apparently arrived in Saudi Arabia.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-13658445

Article also seems to be suggesting it might have been a bomb rather than rockets.

 

[quimcunx]

Now reported that he has landed in Saudi.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-13658445?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

bah, elbows.

 

[elbows]

New aspects to his injuries seem to get mentioned every day:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-13687145

Yemen: Saleh 'gravely wounded' in rocket attack

Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh was more seriously injured in a rocket attack on his compound last week than thought, officials have told US media.

Mr Saleh suffered 40% burns and has bleeding inside his skull after Friday's attack, US officials told AP.

The article also mentions, not for the first time, the possibility that it was a bomb planted in the building rather than rockets. I imagine there are quite a few possibilities as to who planted it. Even if he recovers physically, he may have got the message. Depends who he thinks was behind it I guess.

 

[elbows]

Considering what happened news has been a bit thin on the ground since.

The latest seems much the same as before, with a few comments from the US which make their preference perhaps a little clearer.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110617/ts_afp/yemenpoliticsunrestsaleh_20110617123245

RIYADH (AFP) – Embattled Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, being treated for shrapnel wounds in Riyadh, will not return home, a top Saudi official told AFP on Friday, contrary to Sanaa's claims that he will return soon.
"The Yemeni president will not return to Yemen," the official said, requesting anonymity.
"It has not been decided where he will stay," the official added, apparently suggesting that Saleh might eventually leave Saudi Arabia for another country.
The official did not specify whether the decision not to return home was taken by Saleh himself.

Washington on Thursday welcomed Hadi's talks with opponents of Saleh, who was a key US-ally in the war on Al-Qaeda.
"We have been encouraged that Vice President Hadi has started some outreach to the opposition and started some dialogue," said US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland.
"Because, as you know, we believe that there is no time to lose in moving on to the democratic future that Yemen deserves," she added.

 

[audiotech]

 

[Riklet]

He should have listened to the crowd and he wouldn't have such a sore head right now, would he... Pride comes..

Yemen seems to have been dropped from the news. They've booted him out...? And....? Who's in charge? Is that it? What are the hundreds of thousands of protesters doing? Sitting about whilst his deputy/the army takes over...?

 

[elbows]

Some developments:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap...7LY5Ng?docId=e8a61b2f804348fa857472c2a2e6f1e3

Yemen officers arrested for betraying president
By AHMED AL-HAJ, Associated Press – 3 hours ago
SANAA, Yemen (AP) — The son of Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh has led a crackdown arresting dozens of military officers suspected of turning against his wounded father, including many one of the country's most elite forces, the Republican Guards, military officials said Friday.
The arrests hinted at growing dissent within one of the key units that Saleh has relied on most to retain power in the face of five months of massive street protests demanding his ouster.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/06/30/uk-yemen-idUKTRE75P11520110630

(Reuters) - Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh was so severely injured in an assassination attempt that it is uncertain when he will return to the country, Yemen Vice President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi has said.

In a message sent through his foreign minister on state television on Wednesday, Saleh called for dialogue with the opposition to implement a Gulf-brokered plan for a transfer of power.

"We discussed the Gulf initiative, and called for the opening of a dialogue with the opposition...in order to agree on a vehicle by which to implement the Gulf initiative," Yemen's Foreign Minister Abubakr al-Qirbi said.

And another sort of complication:

A local Yemeni official said on Thursday that one militant was also killed in the fighting around the stadium, which the insurgents seized on Wednesday in heavy fighting that killed at least 26 government soldiers. At least 18 insurgents also died.

Militants also pressed against a military base housing the 25 Mechanised Division, deployed to fight the militants in Zinjibar, raising fears the militants may next target Aden, Yemen's second largest city and home of the country's main oil refinery.

Yemeni officials had been reporting successes against the estimated 300 militants who seized control of Zinjibar in May in the midst of a groundswell of popular protests against Saleh.

 

[elbows]

It rumbles on.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/9763271

A powerful Yemeni tribal leader warned Monday against attacks on anti-government protesters as hundreds of thousands rallied in the capital Sanaa and several other cities calling for regime change.

Yemen has been gripped by a six-month political crisis, with near daily street protests demanding longtime President Ali Abdullah Saleh step down.

Sheik Sadeq al-Ahmar, who in March joined the uprising against Saleh, warned the army not to attack thousands of students camped out close to Sanaa University. A youth group said earlier that the government is preparing to storm the camp.

Hard to get a conversation going about this stuff anymore though isn't it. Not even any comments here when Saleh appeared in a video some weeks ago, looking in far less than great shape but very much alive.

 

[elbows]

There are some divisions within the opposition, and Saleh has been talking of returning to Yemen soon (think he got out of hospital the other week).

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/20/us-yemen-idUSTRE77J1RJ20110820

 

[elbows]

Violent developments:

http://reliefweb.int/node/447368

Yemeni security forces opened fire on anti-regime demonstrators in Sanaa on Sunday, killing at least 22 and wounding hundreds more after lobbing mortar rounds at the home of a powerful dissident tribal chief.
Medics reported 22 dead and 500 wounded by live rounds, batons or after inhaling tear gas.
"Twenty-two people have been killed -- five of them (were declared dead) at the Sciences and Technology hospital and the remaining 17 at a field hospital," a medic said.
Witnesses said security forces and armed civilians opened fire on tens of thousands of protesters who left Change Square, where they have camped since February demanding regime change, and marched towards the city centre.
Water cannons and tear gas were also used, they added.
A medical official said that the injuries of 25 of those wounded by live rounds and shrapnel were critical.
Among them, he said, was a member of Yemen's national council, an umbrella of opposition groups, and a leading member of the Islamist Al-Islah (Reform) opposition party.
He named them as Mohammed al-Dhaheri, a professor of political science at Sanaa University, and Ahmed al-Qumairi.
Security forces later deployed heavily around Change Square, witnesses said, reporting exchanges of fire between First Armoured Brigade troops and forces loyal to President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

This comes after other developments which I had missed:

Last week President Saleh, who has been absent from Yemen for more than three months recovering from wounds received in an explosion in Sanaa in June, authorised Vice President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi to negotiate a power transfer with the opposition.
But the opposition has dismissed calls for dialogue before Saleh, in power since 1978, signs a Gulf-brokered deal that would see him hand power over to Hadi in return for amnesty from prosecution for himself and his family.
As clashes raged in the capital, massive demonstrations erupted in several cities south of Sanaa -- Taez, Yemen's second-largest city, Ibb, and Dhammar -- and in Saada in the north, to denounce the violence.

 

[butchersapron]

Some horrible pics out there today. Really bad.

 

[butchersapron]

Even worse today by all accounts.

@tomfinn2