I am surprised; however, the U.S. and Saudis sent him back. Otherwise, they would not have let him leave.
"Violence leaves 15 dead in Yemen’s capital" September 23, 2011|Associated Press
SANA, Yemen - Renewed violence in the Yemen capital killed at least 15 people yesterday as forces loyal to the regime and its opponents shelled each other’s strategic positions from hills surrounding the city, medical and security official said.
The shelling over the city has terrified residents and emptied out city streets, already pockmarked by street battles between rival forces in different corners of the capital. A number of shops in a main boulevard in Sana were torched from earlier mortar shelling and oil spots covered the streets after electricity transformers also took a hit....
Officials said six people were killed in central Sana when government forces shelled thousands gathered for a protest there with mortars and rocket propelled grenades. Snipers on rooftops also targeted the protesters at Change Square, the center of Yemen’s seven-month-old uprising, and adjacent streets.
Three bystanders were killed by a mortar shell in Sana’s northern Hassaba district, the officials said. The district is home to several of the tribal chiefs who switched sides in March to join the opposition....
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"As battles rage, president returns to Yemen; Saleh requests cease-fire; foes hope he’ll quit" September 24, 2011|By Laura Kasinof, New York Times
SANA, Yemen - President Ali Abdullah Saleh made a dramatic and sudden return to Yemen yesterday after nearly four months in Saudi Arabia, seeking to reinsert himself at the center of a slowly fracturing country mired in bloody clashes on the streets of its capital.
In a statement quoted by the state news agency, Saleh called for a cease-fire and a return to negotiations, saying “the solution is not in the barrels of guns and cannon, but in dialogue.’’ The report said he would deliver a speech tomorrow.
Do they call him arrogant Ali in Yemen?
It's HIS FORCES that BROKE the BARELY DAY OLD CEASE FIRE earlier!
Un-f***ing-real!
But his return appeared unlikely to immediately quell the fighting, which has left more than 70 people dead since Sunday in fierce street battles between government forces and soldiers who have sided with antigovernment protesters.
As word spread of Saleh’s return, gunfire rang out across the capital - much of it celebratory - and mixed with the thundering of artillery, raising fears that an effort by the president to retake control in the capital would only deepen the conflict in Sana, which came to a head this week after eight months of protests....
Many high-ranking government officials said they were not given any warning of his return.
Two miles away, protesters at the antigovernment sit-in expressed shock and a belief that his presence would touch off new fighting. Thousands pumped their fists and chanted “The people want to prosecute the killer’’ at one end of the sprawling protest before prayers yesterday, while at the other end rebel soldiers in ramshackle bunkers clashed with government forces on otherwise empty streets....
Saleh had once deftly balanced and exploited the tribal divisions in Yemen that now threaten to spiral into a wider conflict between well-armed factions.
Government soldiers, led by Saleh’s relatives, have been engaged in bloody street battles this week against troops loyal to Major General Ali Mohsin al-Ahmar, a powerful military commander who has sided with the protesters.
Ahmar announced his support for the antigovernment movement in March, and his First Armored Division has been protecting the demonstrators. The general, who is from the same village as the president, has had an uneasy relationship with Saleh. The general is reported to have begun distancing himself from Saleh years ago when he saw that he was grooming his son, Ahmed Ali Saleh, to succeed him....
The general must be an okay guy since the PTB aren't supporting him.
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"40 dead in Yemen amid new fighting" by Ahmed Al-Haj Associated Press / September 25, 2011
SANA, Yemen - Forces loyal to Yemen’s newly returned president attacked opposition troops with mortar shells and heavy gunfire yesterday and used rooftop snipers to pick off unarmed protesters fleeing in panic, killing more than 40 people and lining the streets of the capital with bodies.
One of the most powerful rivals to President Ali Abdullah Saleh - a senior general who threw his support and his troops behind the antiregime uprising - warned that the president appears set on driving the country into civil war, calling on the international community to rein him in.
Yeah, why aren't they doing more? Why did they let him return?
Saleh, who has clung to power despite nearly eight months of protests and an assassination attempt that left him severely burned, returned to Yemen on Friday after more than three months of treatment in Saudi Arabia for his wounds. Street battles that had reignited a week earlier in Sana rapidly escalated, signaling a possible full-fledged attempt to and tighten his grip on the country he has ruled for 33 years.
In a strongly worded statement, Major General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, who commands the 1st Armored Division, called Saleh a “sick, vengeful soul’’ and compared him to the Roman emperor Nero, burning down his own city.
Yemen is a haven for Islamic militants, including a branch of Al Qaeda that Washington says is the most dangerous remnant of the terror network. With the country spiraling deeper into disorder, militants linked to Al Qaeda have already seized control of entire towns beyond their traditional strongholds.
Sorry, but the "Al-CIA-Duh" card no longer works here.
In response to the recent violence, the Gulf Cooperation Council, the alliance of Saudi Arabia and five other energy-rich nations, called for a cease-fire and urged Saleh to immediately sign a power transfer deal.
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Related: Yemen Set For Civil War
Yeah, that seems to be the plan.
"Yesterday’s address was conciliatory, putting his words in sharp contrast with the increased bloodshed in the streets during the past week, which has included progovernment snipers firing on unarmed protesters....
Translation: Saleh is a lying sack of shit.
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"Official in Yemen survives 2d attack; Al Qaeda blamed for suicide bomb" September 28, 2011|By Sudarsan Raghavan, Washington Post
SANA, Yemen - Yemen’s defense minister escaped a suicide bomb attack on his convoy in the volatile southern city of Aden yesterday, an assault that government officials blamed on Al Qaeda....
No group has asserted responsibility, but the government blamed “Al Qaeda terrorists.’’
They have really become the CATCH-ALL for ANY INTELLIGENCE OPERATION, haven't they? Thus we must support the murderous monster Saleh.
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Although Aden has not experience the sort of urban warfare that has taken place in the capital, Sana, and other cities, it has nevertheless become a focal point of tension.
Hmmmmmmm.
Qaeda militants have taken over areas north of Aden in Abyan Province, including the provincial capital Zinjibar, and are engaged in fierce battles with government forces. Suicide bombings and attacks against soldiers have increased in recent months in Aden, and thousands have been displaced by the fighting in Abyan.
Oh, and UNDER-REPORTED REFUGEE CRISIS in Yemen?
The Obama administration and its allies are concerned about the turmoil in the south, which has long provided a haven for Qaeda’s Yemen branch, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The group has tried to attack in the United States twice since December 2009, and US officials have publicly declared it the most dangerous Qaeda wing. Aden is also nestled along major shipping routes, where 3 million barrels of oil pass daily, creating potential targets for the network, if it manages to deepen its foothold.
And now you know why the RUSE of "terrorists" and pirates must be used!
The violence in Sana, which last week and over the weekend left more than 150 dead, has subsided, but tensions remain. Yesterday, thousands of protesters took the streets, demanding that Saleh step down.
I'm not surprised the article ended there.
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