Yemenis rejoice as Saleh leaves, but fighting continues

YEMENIS BOTH celebrated and battled in the streets of Sanaa yesterday following the departure for medical treatment in Saudi Arabia of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who was wounded by a rocket attack on his palace on Friday.

Mr Saleh underwent successful surgery to remove slivers of wood that had lodged near his heart. His condition, said an anonymous Saudi source, was “not good.” However, a medical source in Saudi Arabia told Reuters that President Saleh was awake and in good condition after the surgery.

In accordance with the country’s constitution, vice-president Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi assumed presidential powers and titular command of the armed forces. Deputy information minister Abdu al-Janadi said: “Saleh will come back . . . he may give up authority one day but it has to be in a constitutional way.”

Since a large number of family members accompanied him to Riyadh, there was speculation that he would not return. But his son, republican guard commander Ahmad Saleh, groomed for the succession, and nephews who lead the security agencies, remain in Sanaa in charge of loyalist forces.

Consequently, pro-Saleh soldiers and opposition tribesmen traded fire in the capital Sanaa and fought near the local presidential residence in Taiz, killing four, and threatening civil war.

Muslim radicals allied to al-Qaeda also took control of the town of Zinjibar, killing 10 soldiers and wounding many more.

Former adviser to the foreign ministry Jamila Abdel Rajaa, who joined the protest movement in February, observed that it seems to be prepared to accept a transition from President Saleh’s 33-year rule led by the vice-president who hails from the south. Mr Hadi met military commanders, including Mr Saleh’s sons and nephews and the US ambassador.

He extended an olive branch to the powerful Hashed tribal federation and called for a ceasefire which was accepted by tribal leader Sadeq al-Ahmar, said opposition leaders.

However, Sheikh Ahmar, who leads the 10-member Hashed tribal confederation and the main opposition Islah party, abandoned the president several weeks ago to join the uprising.

Islah, which has 46 of the 301 seats in the lower house of parliament, is a partnership between the Muslim Brotherhood, the tribal confederation and Sunni fundamentalist (Salafi) groups.

Sheikh Ahmar initially ordered his followers not to resort to violence but took up arms last week when loyalist troops attacked his fortified compound in Sanaa. The Ahmar clan is blamed by the authorities for the attack on Sanaa’s presidential compound. However, analysts argue that the more likely culprit is al-Qaeda, which has accused President Saleh of colluding with the US in a campaign to eradicate the Yemeni franchise, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

The confrontation between pro-Saleh army units and well-armed Ahmar tribesmen has launched a power struggle that is proceeding in parallel with the popular uprising seeking to oust President Saleh by political means. A victory for the conservative tribesmen could put them on a collision course with the largely secular youth who are leading the uprising to secure democracy and social and political freedom.

Now that he is out of the country and in the hands of the Saudis, Riyadh – which has spearheaded the effort by the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) to end President Saleh’s rule – could formulate a new plan for a peaceful transfer of power. The proposal put forward by the GCC, which President Saleh rejected three times, has been overtaken by events.

Saudi Arabia, which has a 1,000km frontier with Yemen, is expected to do its utmost to prevent a collapse into warfare and anarchy, fearing that instability could flow across the border and disrupt oil exports. The last thing Riyadh wants is for Yemen to become a failed state harbouring the very al-Qaeda franchise Saudi security forces managed to largely crush within the kingdom.