NORTH AFRICA-MIDDLE EAST CRISIS:THE PROSPECT of civil war in Yemen loomed yesterday as leading military commanders pledged their support for anti-government protesters in a mass defection by the country's army.
Late yesterday evening, defence minister Mohammed Nasser Ali claimed the army remained loyal to President Ali Abdullah Saleh and would halt any attempts to overthrow the president, despite a dozen commanders deserting the regime.
The string of defections by Yemen’s commanders followed an announcement on live television by Maj Gen Ali Mohsin Saleh Al-Ahmar, of the 1st Armoured Division.
“I declare on their behalf our support and peaceful support of the youth revolution and their demands,” said the leading commander in a live TV broadcast.
Maj Gen Al-Ahmar is one of Yemen’s most senior commanders, with authority over the largest military zone, in the northwest of the country. His desertion represents a huge split between the army and the ruling General Peoples Congress party.
Gen Al-Ahmar’s pledge triggered mass declarations by military leaders, joining what they named the “peaceful revolution”. As the list of defections grew, soldiers from the 1st Armoured Division arrived at the protest site in Sana’a where thousands of demonstrators have been camping out on the streets for a month, calling for an end to Mr Saleh’s 32-year rule.
Scenes of celebration spread through the encampment as soldiers were lifted above the crowd amid cheers and singing.
“This is good news for us,” said activist Adel Al-Surabi, from the protest site in the west of the city. “We now have an army division for the revolution.”
The split within the military raised the possibility of an internal war between the defecting divisions and those still loyal to the ailing president. Mr Saleh’s final stronghold remains the Republican Guard, headed by his son, Ahmed, and the Central Security Forces and the British- and US- trained counter-terrorism unit, led by his nephew, Yahya Saleh.
Mr Saleh himself rose to power in 1978 through the army, as a lieutenant colonel and military governor of the city of Taiz. He was also backed by the powerful Hashid tribe. Today the tribe’s leader, Sheikh Sadiq Al-Ahmar, added to Mr Saleh’s woes as he joined the chorus of calls for his resignation.
“I announce in the name of all the members of my tribe that I am joining the revolution,” said the influential sheikh in a television interview.
In a day which saw a string of additional walkouts by provincial governors, MPs, officials and diplomatic representatives in Yemen’s embassies across the world, Mr Saleh’s position looked increasingly threatened.
The turning tide against the president followed the killing of 52 protesters, shot dead by plain-clothes gunmen from rooftops after Friday prayers, at the anti-government tented village. Mr Saleh declared a state of emergency in the hours after the attack and on Saturday sacked his entire cabinet – a move seen by many as an attempt to prevent a planned exodus of ministers. Three minsters had already resigned in reaction to Friday’s violence before Mr Saleh dissolved the government.
Yesterday the atmosphere in the capital remained tense as tanks continued to protect the presidential palace and armoured vehicles guarded major road junctions.
As parts of the capital fell into darkness after power outages multiplied, Mr Iryani said: “War seems likely.”