Yemen Countdown

By SCOTT MALCOMSON

March 21, 2011, 3:51 pm

It’s hard to see how President Ali Abdullah Saleh can hold on. Only 45 minutes or so after Al Jazeera published the list below, Yemen’s Embassy in London, including its ambassador, flew the coop. Saleh dismissed his own cabinet on Sunday; three of his ministers had already resigned. Now senior military figures are turning on him.

The Magazine’s cover article on Yemen seems as if it were published a very long time ago, except it wasn’t. The headline, “Is Yemen the Next Afghanistan?” feels anachronistic; today we would probably ask, Is it the next Egypt?

From Al Jazeera’s Yemen live blog, shortly before 2 p.m. New York time:

8:41pm (Yemen time): An update of the rapidly growing list of defections and resignations in Yemen:

Army Officers:

Brigadier Ali Mohsen Saleh, head of the North Western Military Zone

Brigadier Hameed Al koshebi, head of brigade 310 in Omran area

Brigadier Mohammed Ali Mohsen, head of the Eastern Division

Brigadier Nasser Eljahori, head of brigade 121

General Ali Abdullaha Aliewa, adviser of the Yemeni supreme leader of the army

General Faisal Rajab, based in the southern province of Lahij

“Dozens of officers of various ranks” – AFP

Diplomats:

Abdel-Wahhab Tawaf, Ambassador to Syria

Mohammed Ali al-Ahwal, Ambassador to Saudi Arabia

Ambassador to Jordan

Ambassador to Egypt

Ambassador to Kuwait

Ambassador to China

Ambassador to Algeria

Ambassador to Indonesia

Ambassador to Iraq

Ambassador to Qatar

Ambassador to Belgium

Ambassador to Pakistan

Ambassador to Czech Republic

Ambassador to Spain

Ambassador to Germany

Ambassador to Oman

Ambassador to the UN

Charge d’affairs to Tunisia

Representative to the Arab League

All embassy staff in Washington except the ambassador

Local Officials:

Ahmed Qaatabi, Governor of Yemen’s southern province of Aden

Himyar al-Ahmar, Deputy Speaker of Parliament

Mayor of Aden

3 MPs

Advisor of Yemen’s premiership

Source: The New York Times