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Yemen tenses as president prevaricates
Source: Agencies |
September 27, 2011, Tuesday
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PROTESTERS in Sanaa are preparing for a long, messy revolt after President Ali Abdullah Saleh offered no clear path to a handover on his return to Yemen from three months of convalescence after an attempt on his life.
Saleh, who returned on Friday from Saudi Arabia, where he had been treated for severe burns, called for elections and a "peaceful exchange of power" in a televised speech on Sunday.
But his failure to promise to step down fuelled more anger yesterday on the streets of Sanaa, where protests have raged since January.
"His speech was about creating chaos, not solutions. There was nothing there to solve this crisis," said Abdullah Magany, a high-school biology teacher sitting in Change Square, the street encampment at the center of the protest movement. "We need to keep escalating our protests."
Yet the mood in the square was subdued compared with the chaos of the past week, when about 100 people died in fighting between heavily armed loyalists and foes of Yemen's president of 33 years.
"There is a wary calm here and people are not sure what to do next," said Rashad al-Sharayi, a soldier from the First Armored Brigade, led by General Ali Mohsen, who defected and sided with the protesters in March. "But he (Saleh) needs to have a deal signed fast … there will be more clashes for sure because so far he is doing nothing … We were willing to sit here and defend protesters, but if he asks for war he'll get it."
Yemen is fighting rebellions in the north and south as well as a wing of al-Qaida eager to exploit the chaos.
Neighboring Saudi Arabia and its ally, the US, have aided Saleh to keep al-Qaida at bay and fear a power vacuum could endanger Western interests in the Gulf and oil shipping routes through the Red Sea.
The protesters accuse the president and his family of widespread corruption and failing to address crippling poverty and lawlessness in a land where one in two people owns a gun.
Western and Persian Gulf states have urged Saleh to quit and sign a Gulf-brokered power transition plan. Diplomats said after the speech there was little evidence Saleh was going to leave or guarantee an orderly transfer of power.
In his speech, Saleh repeated his pledge to accept a Gulf-proposed power transfer plan - which he has three times seemed set to sign before backing away.
Saleh, who returned on Friday from Saudi Arabia, where he had been treated for severe burns, called for elections and a "peaceful exchange of power" in a televised speech on Sunday.
But his failure to promise to step down fuelled more anger yesterday on the streets of Sanaa, where protests have raged since January.
"His speech was about creating chaos, not solutions. There was nothing there to solve this crisis," said Abdullah Magany, a high-school biology teacher sitting in Change Square, the street encampment at the center of the protest movement. "We need to keep escalating our protests."
Yet the mood in the square was subdued compared with the chaos of the past week, when about 100 people died in fighting between heavily armed loyalists and foes of Yemen's president of 33 years.
"There is a wary calm here and people are not sure what to do next," said Rashad al-Sharayi, a soldier from the First Armored Brigade, led by General Ali Mohsen, who defected and sided with the protesters in March. "But he (Saleh) needs to have a deal signed fast … there will be more clashes for sure because so far he is doing nothing … We were willing to sit here and defend protesters, but if he asks for war he'll get it."
Yemen is fighting rebellions in the north and south as well as a wing of al-Qaida eager to exploit the chaos.
Neighboring Saudi Arabia and its ally, the US, have aided Saleh to keep al-Qaida at bay and fear a power vacuum could endanger Western interests in the Gulf and oil shipping routes through the Red Sea.
The protesters accuse the president and his family of widespread corruption and failing to address crippling poverty and lawlessness in a land where one in two people owns a gun.
Western and Persian Gulf states have urged Saleh to quit and sign a Gulf-brokered power transition plan. Diplomats said after the speech there was little evidence Saleh was going to leave or guarantee an orderly transfer of power.
In his speech, Saleh repeated his pledge to accept a Gulf-proposed power transfer plan - which he has three times seemed set to sign before backing away.
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