...and Yemen!

[Divisive Cotton]

this slaughter is fucking appalling

 

[butchersapron]

...and for the third day...

 

[butchersapron]

They are really trying to get the men to break the guns out, to militarise this, it currently look like they'd rather die than fall into the trap. Horrible horrible stuff.

 

[rekil]

Horrible scenes in field hospital.

 

[Divisive Cotton]

Hundreds of men still surging toward the frontline, gun shots cracking overhead, they just don't seem scared of dying. #Yemen

 

[elbows]

Very grim

AlJazeera keeps chucking a line into its reporting about protesters and ex-soldiers storming a base of the elite Republican Guard, who fled, leaving their weapons, but I've seen no further detail on that.

In the full glare of the media people were interested in how long the standoff in Egypt lasted, but that was real quick compared to Yemen.

 

[Divisive Cotton]

By many accounts there isn't really such thing as a Yemeni government anymore with most civil servants not even turning up for work . It is said that they only really control parts of the cities and even there only where they have a military presence. With the state being so weak lets hope it doesn't much to topple it.

 

[Divisive Cotton]

interesting account from the Yemen Post:

According to witnesses on the ground, Mohsen's men immediately created a protective cordon around the University, slowly forcing back the Republican Guards towards the Kentucky roundabout. Despite the non-stop shelling and the use of heavy artillery, such as RPGs, Basukas, anti-aircraft guns and tanks, the 1st Armoured Division advanced further.
Emboldened by this unexpected victory against the country's elite military troops, protesters quiclky joined in with sticks and knives, cutting through the ranks of the Republican Guards. Soon after that, the revolutionaries were in control of the entire area.​

 

[Divisive Cotton]

eye witness account:

There are just horrific scenes. There was a 10-month-old child who was shot in the head by a stray bullet yesterday. This has caused a mass outrage in Sana'a today. The pictures of that child are all over the papers. Everyone is talking about it, it was a really shock to everyone. To see a 10-month old baby with a bullet to the head only adds more fuel to the fire.

The protesters I have seen today don't seem scared or deterred at all. I asked an old man today 'aren't you scared', he said 'the only thing we are scared of is Allah'". People seem to be ready to put their life on the line.

 

[extra dry]

new government by christmas

 

[extra dry]

it does look very grim, where are the UN?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evflT57Qi-I

not for the screamish

 

[elbows]

They acknowledged on the BBC news last night that the US still kinda supports the regime.

 

[elbows]

Should have guessed, the surge in violence may be part of a sick plan, because Saleh has now returned to Yemen.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-15030899

 

[elbows]

Violence has resumed after a few days of relative calm/truce.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/29/yemen-truce-broken-shelling-sanaa

Heavy clashes have rocked northern neighbourhoods of Yemen's capital, Sana'a, , breaking a truce aimed at ending the worst violence since a popular revolt against President Ali Abdullah Saleh began eight months ago.
A Reuters reporter at the scene said three areas in the north of the city had been hit by heavy shelling and there were exchanges of gunfire between government troops and armed followers of a powerful tribal leader, Sadeq al-Ahmar, who supports the opposition.
Many residents fled their homes on Thursday morning as the fighting intensified, shattering three days of calm in the capital after Saleh ordered a ceasefire upon his surprise return to Yemen last week.
The truce had followed more than a week of fighting when over 100 people died, raising fears the country could be dragged closer to civil war.

 

[Divisive Cotton]

i wish somebody would shot that fucker

 

[elbows]

Ominous stuff at the end of a story about the predator killing.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-15132308

The killing comes amid concerns in Washington about the impact of Yemen's political crisis on its ability to tackle al-Qaeda militants.
President Ali Abdullah Saleh is facing a widespread protest movement, along with an armed insurrection by renegade army units and tribal fighters.
Mr Saleh, who was injured three months ago when his residence was shelled, returned last week after treatment in Saudi Arabia.
In an interview published on Thursday, he said he would not stand down, as promised in a deal brokered by Gulf States, if his opponents are allowed to stand in elections to succeed him.

 

[elbows]

More violence, and this:

Last month in Sanaa, political deadlock gave way to a military showdown between Saleh loyalists and Mohsen's forces. More than 100 people were killed in the fighting, most of them protesters caught in the middle.
Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets again on Tuesday afternoon to draw attention to their demands before an expected briefing by Jamal Benomar, the UN envoy to Yemen, before the world body's Security Council.
The opposition cast doubt on any future dialogue with the government, which it blamed for the apparent failure of mediation attempts by Benomar, who left Yemen empty-handed on Monday.
"The dialogue with the regime has stopped and there is no form of dialogue after Saleh wasted all opportunities for dialogue, which led to the departure of the UN envoy," Mohammed al-Sabri, an opposition spokesman, said.
Benomar spent two weeks in Yemen trying to negotiate a deal but left without announcing a breakthrough after days of mediating between the government and the opposition.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/10/201110533523231394.html

 

[HumanFrailty]

Where's the Syria thread?

 

[elbows]

Where's the Syria thread?

This is the last page of it: http://www.urban75.net/forums/threads/and-next-syria.269531/page-9

 

[HumanFrailty]

This is the last page of it: http://www.urban75.net/forums/threads/and-next-syria.269531/page-9

Ok, Thanks.

 

[Divisive Cotton]

there's a news item here reporting that Salal may have left for Europe for vital medical treatment:

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special...257115/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

 

[elbows]

Well nothing would surprise me, although Saleh's recent words about stepping down soon are treated with much skepticism due to how many times he's gone back on his word in the past.

As for his health, he was pretty lucky to survive the attack by all accounts, so I wouldn't be surprised if there are complications.

 

[elbows]

So the news has continued to resemble a depressing stalemate with ever increasing body count, although I expect something will change eventually.

Also:

Hundreds of Yemeni women have set fire to traditional female veils in protest against the government's brutal crackdown on the country's popular uprising, as overnight clashes in the capital and another city killed 25 people, officials said.

Women spread a black cloth across a main street in the capital Sanaa on Wednesday and threw their full-body veils, known as makrama, onto a pile, sprayed it with oil and set it ablaze.
As the flames rose, women activists handed out leaflets appealing for help and protection.
"This is a plea from the free women of Yemen; here we burn our makrama in front of the world to witness the bloody massacres carried by the tyrant [President Ali Abdullah] Saleh,'' the leaflets read.
Yemeni women have taken a key role in the uprising against Saleh's rule since March, inspired by revolutions in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya.
Their role came into the limelight earlier in October, when Yemeni woman activist Tawakkul Karman was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, along with two Liberian women, for their struggle for women's rights.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/10/20111026164441431354.html

 

[elbows]

Jet fighters blown up!

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/10/2011103151324396425.html

A large explosion has rocked an air base outside the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, prompting authorities to shut the city's nearby airport, officials say.

A military source told Al Jazeera that explosive devices were planted inside 12 fighter jets at the al-Daylami airbase, which is adjacent to Sanaa International Airport.
Three of the aircraft were destroyed in Sunday's attack.
"The airport was closed as a precautionary measure," one government official told Reuters news agency.

 

[elbows]

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/17/reuters-reporter-also-works-for-yemens-president/

The Reuters news agency on Thursday defended the work of one of its Yemen correspondents amid outrage from opposition activists over his employment by the government as a personal translator to President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
But Reuters said that the reporter, Mohamed Sudam, would no longer be working for the agency from Yemen, though he would probably still provide reports from elsewhere in the Middle East.
“Sudam’s work as a Reuters stringer over the course of many years has been fair and accurate,” the news agency said in a statement. (The term “stringer” refers to a correspondent attached to a news organization, but not a full employee.) “When he became a translator for the president, he disclosed his role to Reuters.”
“On reviewing the matter, however, we believe it’s not appropriate to use a stringer who is also working for the government,” the statement read.

 

[elbows]

It is reported that Saleh is in Saudi Arabia to finally sign the GCC deal. Some think he will stay there. But as the deal hands power to his deputy the regime is not dead, and it remains to be seen what various opposition groups will think.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2011/11/2011112355040101606.html

 

[elbows]

Well the fucker signed it, and is apparently going to New York for medical treatment.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2011/11/2011112355040101606.html

 

[Divisive Cotton]

Well the fucker signed it, and is apparently going to New York for medical treatment.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2011/11/2011112355040101606.html

I believe it once he's thousands of miles away in New York but until then I consider this event another Saleh red herring

 

[teqniq]

Also, what is this 'immunity from prosecution' bollocks? There are plenty of people unhappy with this:

Earlier in the day a spontaneous march in protest to the GCC deal broke out in downtown Sana'a. Thousands of young men surged out of their tented encampment, dubbed Change Square, kicking up dust with their feet, banging car bonnets with their fists shouting, "No to immunity, no to Saudi, no to Ahmed Ali."

"If Saleh comes back we'll put him in the court," said Mohammed Abdullah al ghafari, 24, medical student, holding up a poster of Saleh and Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah engulfed in flames. "How can we accept immunity when the blood of our Martyrs still stains the ground?"

The whole thing stinks of some shabby dodgy deal.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/23/yemen-president-quits

 

[elbows]

The dodgy deals have been on the table for ages.

The US response probably tells us all we need to know.

The US have welcomed a deal under which Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh agreed to hand over power.
"The United States applauds the Yemeni government and the opposition for agreeing to a peaceful and orderly transition of power," State Department spokesman Mark Toner said.
The agreement "marks a significant step for the Yemeni people," Toner added, praising the Gulf Co-operation Council for its role in helping broker the deal, and calling for calm by all factions there.
The United States "looks forward to strengthening its partnership" with the new leadership, he said.

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/Yemen
From AlJazeera Yemen liveblog