Military defections hurt Yemen president
Source: Agencies |
March 22, 2011, Tuesday
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RIVAL tanks deployed in the streets of Yemen's capital yesterday after three senior army commanders defected to a movement calling for the ouster of the US-backed president, leaving him with virtually no support among the country's most powerful institutions.
Major General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, commander of the army's powerful 1st Armored Division, was the most senior of the three commanders to join the opposition. He announced his defection in a message delivered by a close aide to protest leaders at the Sanaa square that has become the epicenter of their movement.
Some of the tanks and armored vehicles deployed in the Sanaa square where protesters have been camping out to call for the resignation of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, whose forces opened fire and killed more than 40 demonstrators on Friday.
Tanks and armored personnel carriers belonging to the Republican Guards, an elite force led by Saleh's son and one-time heir apparent, Ahmed, were deployed outside the presidential palace on Sanaa's southern outskirts, according to witnesses.
The deployment appeared designed to counter the presence of elements of the 1st Armored Division elsewhere in the city.
All three officers who defected belong to Saleh's Hashid tribe. A Hashid leader said the tribe, eager to keep the president's job for one of its own, was rallying behind al-Ahmar as a possible replacement for Saleh.
The leader spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.
Saleh has now lost support from every power base in the nation. He fired his entire Cabinet on Sunday ahead of what one government official said was a planned mass resignation. A series of ambassadors have quit in protest and Sadeq al-Ahmar, the chief of the Hashid tribe, said yesterday that he too was joining the opposition.
Regional TV stations reported that dozens of army commanders and politicians were joining the opposition, but there was no immediate independent confirmation.
Major General al-Ahmar has been close to Saleh for most of the 32 years the Yemeni president has been in power. He has close associations with Islamist groups in Yemen that are likely to raise suspicions in the West about his willingness to effectively fight al-Qaida operatives active in the country.
He is a veteran of the 1994 civil war that saw Saleh's army suppress an attempt by southern Yemen to secede. Al-Ahmar also fought in recent years against Shiite rebels.
Major General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, commander of the army's powerful 1st Armored Division, was the most senior of the three commanders to join the opposition. He announced his defection in a message delivered by a close aide to protest leaders at the Sanaa square that has become the epicenter of their movement.
Some of the tanks and armored vehicles deployed in the Sanaa square where protesters have been camping out to call for the resignation of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, whose forces opened fire and killed more than 40 demonstrators on Friday.
Tanks and armored personnel carriers belonging to the Republican Guards, an elite force led by Saleh's son and one-time heir apparent, Ahmed, were deployed outside the presidential palace on Sanaa's southern outskirts, according to witnesses.
The deployment appeared designed to counter the presence of elements of the 1st Armored Division elsewhere in the city.
All three officers who defected belong to Saleh's Hashid tribe. A Hashid leader said the tribe, eager to keep the president's job for one of its own, was rallying behind al-Ahmar as a possible replacement for Saleh.
The leader spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.
Saleh has now lost support from every power base in the nation. He fired his entire Cabinet on Sunday ahead of what one government official said was a planned mass resignation. A series of ambassadors have quit in protest and Sadeq al-Ahmar, the chief of the Hashid tribe, said yesterday that he too was joining the opposition.
Regional TV stations reported that dozens of army commanders and politicians were joining the opposition, but there was no immediate independent confirmation.
Major General al-Ahmar has been close to Saleh for most of the 32 years the Yemeni president has been in power. He has close associations with Islamist groups in Yemen that are likely to raise suspicions in the West about his willingness to effectively fight al-Qaida operatives active in the country.
He is a veteran of the 1994 civil war that saw Saleh's army suppress an attempt by southern Yemen to secede. Al-Ahmar also fought in recent years against Shiite rebels.
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