By Fatik al-Rodaini
SANA'A, April 7, 2012- Close sources told Bikyamasr.com that Yemen's
main airport in Sana'a was closed on Saturday by forces loyal to fired Yemen
military air chief, General Mohammed Saleh al-Ahmar, Saleh's half brother.
Sources confirmed that the airport received threats by forces loyal to attack
aircraft landing or taking off.
Meanwhile, one of two Yemeni military chiefs sacked by President
Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi has refused to give up his post, a military source said on
Saturday.
Air force chief General Mohammed Saleh al-Ahmar, half brother of ex-president's
Ali Abdullah Saleh, refused to quit unless several senior defense ministry
officials, including the minister himself, also leave, said the source.
In a message to his troops, Gen Ahmar said that the presidential decree
would not be 'implemented' until Defense Minister Mohammed Nasser Ahmed,
General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar and chief of staff Ali al-Ashwal were dismissed.
He also demanded that several members of the powerful Hashed tribe be
forced into exile. The tribe backed defectors such as General Ali Mohsen
al-Ahmar during last year's anti-regime protests.
On Friday evening President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi fired several
old-regime figures and relatives of the former leader in a major shake-up of
the country's military, a move meant to show he was making good on promises of
reforms in the wake of his predecessor's ouster.
A statement by President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi said four governors and
more than a dozen military generals were sacked "to make way for new
officials."
The shake-up came against the backdrop of growing concerns that Yemen's
former President Ali Abdullah Saleh was using the loyalists to further
destabilize the turmoil-wracked country. The move also came as hundreds of
thousands of Yemenis took to the streets Friday demanding that Hadi purge the
military of Saleh's relatives.
Among those sacked were some of Saleh's relatives, including his half
brother who was the Air Force commander, and his nephew, who headed the
presidential guard. In his more than 30 years as president, Saleh had stacked
key security posts with relatives and loyalists.
Hadi also sacked a brother-in-law to Saleh's daughter who had headed a
lucrative oil products distribution company, which was seen as an arm of the
former president's vast economic wealth.
Saleh had clung to office during last year's uprising against his rule
until he eventually signed a U.S.-backed, Gulf-brokered power transfer deal and
handed power over to Hadi, his deputy at the time. The deal allowed Saleh to
remain as head of the ruling party and granted him immunity from prosecution in
return for leaving the presidency.
In February, Hadi was rubber-stamped as president in a nationwide vote
in which he was the only candidate. He vowed to fight al-Qaida, which had
exploited the country's yearlong turmoil to make substantial gains in the
south, and restructure the armed forces, in which Saleh's loyalists and family
members held key posts.
Saleh's half brother, Mohammed Saleh al-Ahmar, was sacked as Air Force
commander and appointed assistant defense minister, an administrative post. He
was replaced by the former governor of Marib province, Najeb Ali al-Zayedi.
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