U.S. sticking with the same power structure now that Saleh out the way.
So much for will of the people, democracy, and all that other crap.
"10 dead as protests continue in Yemen; US fears Al Qaeda will exploit chaos" July 16, 2011|By Ahmed Al-Haj, Associated Press
SANA, Yemen - At least 10 Yemenis were killed yesterday in fighting between government forces and tribesmen seeking to oust President Ali Abdullah Saleh, officials said, raising fears about a collapse of security during a popular uprising in the Arab world’s poorest country.
The violence began when armed tribesmen attacked a military convoy, killing a colonel and two of his aides near Sharab, 12 miles northwest of Taiz, security officials said. Hours later, the Yemeni Army fired tank and artillery shells into Taiz, killing at least seven civilians and wounding more than 30 others, according to medical officials.
Yemen’s army has been shelling the outskirts of Taiz, Yemen’s second-largest city, to try to dislodge the tribesmen who have joined forces with antigovernment protesters....
The disintegrating security across Yemen has allowed armed tribesmen and radical Islamist groups to take over parts of the country’s weakly governed provinces. The United States worries that Yemen’s active Al Qaeda branch will exploit the chaos to step up operations.
Related:
"CIA-Duh" Takes Control of Yemen
CIA Sees Window in Yemen
Or CIA-Duh, if you prefer.
Despite the violence, tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets again in Taiz, the capital Sana, and several other cities after weekly Muslim prayer services to call for Saleh’s ouster after 33 years in power, in rallies dubbed The Friday of a Civic State.
Abdullah al-Sami, a Muslim preacher in Taiz, addressed worshipers by saying that the goal of ongoing protests is to establish a new state with equal rights for all citizens.
And wouldn't you think the U.S. would be lining up with that?
In Sana, thousands of pro-government demonstrators also rallied in a show of support for Saleh outside his palace.
Saleh has been receiving treatment in Saudi Arabia since July 5 after being badly injured in an attack on his palace. Pressure from the United States and Yemen’s Gulf Arab neighbors has so far failed to get him to transfer power.
He's wielding it from a hospital bed, huh?
--more--"
"Tens of thousands of Yemenis took to the streets across the country yesterday to protest the government of President Ali Abdullah Saleh on the 33d anniversary of his rule.
The demonstrations were staged a day after opposition leaders announced the formation of a shadow government in a move to coordinate the fight to oust Saleh and his supporters.
The new group seeks to create a unified leadership for the demonstrators who have filled public squares across Yemen for five months.
But it was unclear how the group planned to assert authority and it was unlikely to significantly increase pressure on Saleh. The embattled president clung to power even after he traveled to Saudi Arabia for medical treatment of wounds sustained in an assassination attempt more than a month ago.
--more--"
"Yemeni army shelling kills more than 20 militants" by Ahmed Al-Haj and Ben Hubbard Associated Press / July 19, 2011
SANAA, Yemen—Yemeni government forces shelled a southern town overrun by radical Islamists, killing at least 20 militants in the past two days, residents said Tuesday.
In the capital Sanaa, meanwhile, Yemen's disparate opposition groups announced a new alliance they say will unite all forces seeking to oust longtime President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Saleh, who is in Saudi Arabia for treatment of wounds from a June attack on his palace, remains in power despite more than five months of mass protests across Yemen calling for his ouster.
The uprising against his 33-year rule has led to a collapse in security across the country, the Arab world's poorest and home to an active al-Qaida branch, and the U.S. fears al-Qaida-linked groups could exploit the chaos to step up operations.
Since the uprising began in mid-February, radical Islamists have seized entire towns in southern Abyan province, and government troops have been fighting to dislodge them. Over the weekend, Yemeni army forces began shelling the militant-controlled town of Jaar in Abyan, and the barrage continued sporadically through Tuesday morning....
--more--"
The web has something to add:
The fighting in Abyan has caused thousands to flee since June, some on foot, many with nothing more than the clothes they were wearing, the International Committee of the Red Cross said in a statement.
With Saleh out of the country, Yemen's opposition has tried to seize the initiative to push him from power, and a number of anti-Saleh parties and other groups formed an alliance Tuesday to better organize their efforts.
Opposition spokesman Mohammed al-Sabri said the group, called the Alliance of Forces of the Revolution, would unify the demands of Yemen's often scattered opposition to produce a stronger front. The alliance includes opposition parties, defected military units, media, and youth protesters who have camped out in Yemen's public squares, al-Sabri said.
The decision to join the alliance reflects the dwindling hopes among Yemen's formal opposition for a proposal by the country's powerful Gulf Arab neighbors to end the crisis by having Saleh step down in exchange for immunity from prosecution. The U.S. has endorsed the plan as the best way forward for Yemen.
But Yemen's formal opposition, which helped negotiate the proposal terms, doubts it will ever be carried out. Saleh has repeatedly agreed to the proposal, only to back out at the last minute....
Last week, protest leaders announced the formation of a so-called shadow government that is to represent the thousands of demonstrators who have filled public squares across Yemen since late January.
Al-Sabri said he respected that move as a "courageous step by the revolutionary youth," but claimed his alliance would be more effective in achieving the demands of "the revolution."
--more--"
Man, does my printed paper really stink.
"Yemen says senior Qaeda leader killed" July 22, 2011|By Associated Press
SANA, Yemen - A senior leader of Yemen’s Al Qaeda branch was killed in fighting in the nearly lawless south of the country, the Defense Ministry said yesterday....
Yeah, so ignore all that other stuff.
Al Qaeda in Yemen has been taking advantage of the turmoil arising from months of antiregime protests across much of the poor Arab nation and has seized territory in the south.
Doesn't that make it sound like it is the protesters fault?
Al Qaeda’s growing presence in Yemen has been a source of serious concern to the United States and Yemen’s rich Arab Gulf neighbors.
In the government’s attempt to dislodge the militants from the towns of Zinjibar and Jaar, both in Abyan Province, warplanes and heavy artillery pounded their positions Wednesday night and early yesterday, killing more than 20 militants, military officials said.
They said 10 soldiers were killed and 33 wounded fighting militants near Zinjibar.
--more--"
"Bomb hits Yemeni troops set to fight Al Qaeda" July 25, 2011|Associated Press
SANA, Yemen - A suicide attacker driving a pickup truck packed with explosives blew himself up outside an army camp in Yemen’s coastal city of Aden yesterday, killing at least eight soldiers and wounding dozens, security officials said.
The officials said the blast took place near the gate of the camp as a column of vehicles loaded with troops and supplies was preparing to leave for nearby Abyan province to take part in fighting against Al Qaeda-linked militants....
On Wednesday, a bomb planted in a sport utility vehicle killed a British man in Aden. Authorities announced yesterday that they had arrested five suspects in that attack.
Officials have repeatedly warned that Al Qaeda-linked militants were infiltrating the port city just beyond the southern mouth of the Red Sea to prepare for attacks there against Yemen’s security forces.
The militants control two cities in neighboring Abyan province and have held on to them in the face of numerous airstrikes and a ground offensive by government forces.
Uh-huh.
--more--"
"A powerful Yemeni tribal leader warned yesterday against attacks on antigovernment protesters as hundreds of thousands rallied in the capital, Sana, and several other cities, calling for regime change....
:-)
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 Sana University. A youth group said earlier that the government is preparing to storm the camp.
A small group of Saleh’s supporters, including women and children who live close to the students’ camp, demonstrated in front of the presidential palace, demanding the camp be emptied out.
--more--"
"40 die in Yemen as army, tribes clash" July 29, 2011|Associated Press
SANA, Yemen - Clashes between Yemeni soldiers and armed tribesmen in a mountainous region north of the capital killed at least 40 people yesterday, a military official said.
The fighting in the Arhab region is one example of the wider security collapse across Yemen since the outbreak of a massive uprising seeking to topple President Ali Abdullah Saleh six months ago.
Hey, if asshole had left this all could have been avoided!
Armed tribesmen are battling security forces in Arhab, the southern city of Taiz, and elsewhere, while militants believed to be linked to Al Qaeda have overrun towns in the country’s restive south.
Amazing how a few hundred guys can be so ubiquitous.
The United States and Yemen’s powerful Gulf Arab neighbors worry that Al Qaeda and other militant groups will exploit the security vacuum in Yemen to step up operations....
Far from Sana, security forces and armed government loyalists fired on antigovernment demonstrators in the southeastern coastal city of Al Shahr, killing one and injuring three, a resident said on condition of anonymity for fear of government reprisals.
--more--"
"Government airstrikes in southern Yemen targeting Al Qaeda-linked militants accidentally killed 40 progovernment tribesmen over two days, a Yemeni security official said yesterday.
Oooops!
The botched airstrikes reflect the deteriorating security situation that has spread across the impoverished, heavily armed country since the popular uprising against longtime President Ali Abdullah Saleh began six months ago.
The airstrikes hit just east of the town of Zinjibar, near Yemen’s south coast, which Islamist militants overran earlier this year. Since then, government forces and armed tribesmen have been battling to push them out, causing regular casualties on both sides.
--more--"
"President Ali Abdullah Saleh called yesterday for an end to months of street protests seeking his ouster and dialogue during the holy month of Ramadan.
He could have had talk anytime and refused!
In a statement published by the state news agency, Saleh said taking up arms and disrupting people’s daily lives won’t bring about change. He released the statement from the Saudi hospital where he is being treated for wounds from an attack on the presidential compound in June.
I doubt he released it. Injuries were worse than we were told.
Yemen is reeling from nearly six months of protests, as activists call for Saleh to step down after 33 years in power. Security has unraveled since the uprising.
Doesn't it seem like the inference this is all the protesters fault?
--more--"
"Government airstrikes killed at least 15 suspected militants linked to Al Qaeda in southern Yemen yesterday, military official said.
The strikes also destroyed a tank that militants had seized and several artillery positions in the Dufas area near Zinjibar, one of several southern towns that the fighters have overrun during the months of political turmoil in the country. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity, in line with army rules.
The airstrikes were the latest in a government campaign to try to dislodge Al Qaeda-linked militants from Zinjibar and the nearby town of Jaar....
--more--"
"Yemeni government forces clashed with supporters of a powerful tribe in central Sana yesterday, forcing residents to flee the area in fear of further fighting, witnesses said.
The clashes in the Hassaba district reflect the still tense standoff between forces loyal to ailing President Ali Abdullah Saleh and Yemen’s most powerful tribal confederation, the Ahmar clan.
Witnesses said the government’s elite Republican Guards were heavily deployed in Hassaba, positioning armored vehicles on one of the district’s main roads and taking over the Communication Ministry. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
--more--"
All that spin made me dizzy, and now I don't know which way is up.
