Yemen Leader's Return Questioned

June 18, 2011

Yemeni officials said on Friday that President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who is in Saudi Arabia being treated for severe injuries from an attack on his presidential compound, would return to Yemen soon, a claim Saudi officials denied.

"President Saleh is in good health and will be back in Yemen very soon," said Tareq Shami, the ruling party's spokesman on Friday.

Mr. Saleh arrived in Saudi Arabia two weeks ago, prompting speculation about his medical condition and whether his departure signaled the end of his 33 years in office. Yemeni and American officials have said that his recovery will probably take a few months.

Yemeni officials have maintained that Mr. Saleh plans to return and resume his rule while they hold meetings with opposition groups demanding a transition of power.

The international community, especially the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, is working to convince Mr. Saleh to step down.

A Saudi official said on Friday that "as far as he knows, Saleh is not returning to Yemen soon...but it is still up in the air where he will eventually end up."

Yemeni government officials however denied the report, saying Saudi Arabia has no right to interfere with Yemen's affairs.

"Yemen is an independent state and not a province within Saudi Arabia where they decide what happens in the country," said Ahmed Soufi, Mr.Saleh's media advisor.

In south Yemen, clashes between Islamist militants and security forces continued for a third day rising fears that the provinces of Lahj and Aden risk being taken over by militants.

The opposition staged large anti-government protests nationwide on Friday after the noon prayer service reiterating their demand for Mr.Saleh to step down. A small group of pro-government supporters gathered in Sanaa near the presidential palace pledging their loyalty to Mr.Saleh. The protests ended peacefully with no reports of clashes.

Yemeni troops kill Taiz protesters

June 17, 2011

Several Yemeni protesters have been killed and injured in clashes with the government forces that attacked anti-regime demonstrators in the southern city of Taizz.

It was not immediately clear what sparked the violence but hundreds of anti-government protesters took to the streets in Taizz to demand the formation of a transitional council.

Opposition protesters also called for the prosecution of President Ali Abdullah Saleh -- who is now in a Saudi hospital recovering from what reports said were burns to over 40 percent of his body -- and his regime officials over the killing of hundreds of anti-government protesters since anti-government rallies began in the country in late January.

Yemenis have dubbed this Friday as the "Day of Revolution's Legitimacy" and have called for mass rallies across the country after the Friday Prayers.

Meanwhile, a top Saudi official told AFP on Friday that the Yemeni president would not return to his country, contrary to the Yemeni government's claims that Saleh would be returning within days.

"The Yemeni president will not return to Yemen," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, without specifying whether the decision was taken by Saleh himself.

The Saudi official also said that "it has not been decided where he will stay.”

Saleh and five other high ranking Yemeni officials were flown to Saudi Arabia for treatment following a rocket attack on Yemeni presidential palace on June 3.

Saleh has not been seen in public since the attack.

Yemeni Vice President Abdu Rabo Mansour Hadi, who is the acting president in charge of the caretaker government during President Saleh's absence, has so far resisted intensive local and international pressure to heed the demands of protesters to set up an interim ruling council, which would prevent Saleh from returning to power.

On Wednesday, representatives of Yemen's youth protests met Hadi and gave him a two-week notice to clear his stance on the formation of a transitional council and the ouster of Saleh.

Our vision for a post-Saleh Yemen

The burning question in Yemen is: what next? This is how the leading committee of the revolution sees the transition

* Tariq Aldoais

* guardian.co.uk, Thursday 16 June 2011

* Article history

It has been difficult for many to accept the possibility of a peaceful revolution in a country like Yemen, given its tribal makeup and the preponderance of weapons and illiteracy.

But Yemenis have surprised the sceptics by calling for the peaceful overthrow of a regime that had lasted for 33 years, and had isolated them from the modern world. The revolution was able to expand its influence to include all districts. This gained it popular support along with regional and international backing, while it continued to triumph over President Saleh's forces – even winning over a number of his inner circle.

This caused the regime to brutally escalate its repression and violence, targeting the protest squares; barbaric assaults left hundreds dead and thousands wounded, while still more were detained or went missing.

In the city of Taiz there was a massacre. In the dead of night, the square was cordoned off and heavy weapons rained down shells. Teargas was then used as the square was stormed, and protesters were burned in their tents. Approximately 100 civilians were killed and thousands injured. There was collective punishment too: water, electricity and gas supplies were cut off.

The regime was attempting to push the country into civil war, but in light of the intense popular desire for change and the awareness of the dangers of division, it failed. The conflict in Yemen is between the people and the remnants of the current regime. It is a struggle of willpower; popular determination versus that of the ruling power; there is no principal rift within the people themselves that could be cause for a civil war.

The ongoing demonstrations and protests have also highlighted the Yemeni people's aptitude and initiative. On Fridays, which are described as "days of protest and demonstration" and are often given specific names such as "the Friday of determination and dignity", youth leaders demonstrate proficiency in oratory and methods for mobilising the masses. Others bring the days and nights to life with various contributions; creative, theatrical, literary and poetic.

One of the burning questions has been: what next? What happens when the revolution is successful? During these days of protest, and through a continuous dialogue between all the young people and others who gather week after week, the leading committee of the revolution has developed a vision for the transitional stage in Yemen. It is as follows:

First, we need to form a temporary presidential council comprised of five to seven members recognised for their integrity, experience and competence and who will represent all national movements.

Second, the transitional period must not exceed nine months; it will begin with a constitutional announcement bringing the current constitution to an end; dissolving the consultative council and the council of deputies; guaranteeing fundamental rights and freedoms, foremost of which are freedom of expression, the press and information, and the right to congregate, organise and demonstrate.

Third, the provisional presidential council will assume the following functions: it will take the place of the president of the republic during the transitional period and will integrate the political and national security apparatus into one national security service to ensure the security of the country and respect for human rights.

Fourth, a transitional national council will be formed in which young people, and national and political groupings are represented. This council will create a transparent forum for national dialogue that discusses all important issues – foremost among them the south and Saada, with a view to finding a just resolution. The council will also set up a committee of experts to draft a new constitution so as to ensure the establishment of a modern civil state based on the principles of the peaceful rotation of power, political pluralism, respect for human rights and the freedom of its citizens. Another committee will assume responsibility for administering and overseeing the constitutional referendum and parliamentary elections.

Fifth, the judiciary will be restructured to ensure its independence from the legislative and executive authorities.

Sixth, the transitional presidential council will bring to trial all those who killed or ordered the killing or injury of participants in the revolution. Exceptional courts and special prisons will be abolished, and all political prisoners and prisoners of conscience released.

Finally, the assets of Saleh and his family will be frozen, along with those belonging to other members of the former regime; and all looted public and private funds and property will be returned.

Having reached the threshold of victory, the popular Yemeni revolution salutes all those who are free, along with the world that stood by us in our revolution. We hope to God that we achieve our demands and that we see Yemen happy and beautiful.

Yemen's trouble with drones

An Obama administration plan expanding CIA use of armed drones to hunt for Al Qaeda affiliates in Yemen risks exacerbating the country's march toward civil war.

By Jeb Boone, Correspondent / June 17, 2011

Sanaa, Yemen

An Obama administration plan to increase drone strikes in Yemen may be one way to eliminate Islamic militants hiding within the rugged country, but it could prove a risky gambit.

A US official told The Washington Post this week that the administration may expand its current military drone campaign over Yemen by bringing in a CIA drone group to find and root out Al Qaeda operatives, much like it does in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Washington is concerned that ongoing unrest in Yemen will give Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) cover to organize and plan attacks and intensify fighting between Yemeni forces and Islamic militants, who have recently captured the town of Zinjibar in south-central Yemen.

But inherent risks come with greater reliance on drones. Previous strikes in Yemen have had devastating consequence, killing innocent people and adding to the economic trouble and social turmoil of a country in the midst of civil war. Many Yemenis worry that deploying more air assaults will only make matters worse.

“Our reaction [to the presence of drones] is like any Yemeni’s. It is a violation of Yemen’s sovereignty and a crime committed against the Yemeni people," says Ahmed al-Shabwani, whose brother, former deputy governor of the Marib Governorate Jabr al-Shabwani, was accidentally killed in a May 2010 US drone strike.

Even after being paid blood money by the Saleh regime, the Al Shabwani family carried out attacks against Marib’s oil and power infrastructure demanding that the Yemeni government stop cooperating with the US drone and missile strikes.

“Marib’s sovereignty has been breached. We demand that they [the Yemeni and American governments] give us the truth, otherwise disastrous things will happen to either Americans or Yemenis,” said Jabr al-Shabwani’s brother Ibrahim.

What's more, says Yemeni political analyst Abdul Ghani al-Iryani, there's a strong link between the failing Yemeni economy and American drone and missile strikes.

“That one drone strike in May of last year has cost Yemen over $1 billion dollars and the cost is still rising as the main Marib pipeline is still shut down,” says Mr. Iryani. “The truth is, we can’t anticipate the cost of these drone strikes, in terms of the humanitarian costs as well as the economic costs, but they will be dire,” he adds.

In Yemen, a vice president in the hot seat

By Sudarsan Raghavan, June 18, 2011

SANAA, Yemen — It was an awkward moment for Yemen’s acting head of state.

In a meeting on Monday, top opposition leaders referred to Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi as Mr. President. A senior ruling party official, deeply loyal to embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh, retorted that Hadi was only the vice president.

“I am the acting president according to the Constitution,” Hadi replied with a smile, trying to strike a middle ground, according to two senior officials who were at the meeting at Hadi’s house.

For 17 years, Hadi served in relative anonymity as Saleh’s vice president. Today, he is widely perceived as someone who might guide his strategic Middle Eastern nation through a peaceful transition period that would end Saleh’s nearly 33-year-long rule and usher in a new political era.

But the question on many minds is whether Hadi has the strength and will to take on Saleh’s allies, including his son and nephews, who have remained inside Yemen even as the president recuperates in neighboring Saudi Arabia from severe injuries from a June 3 attack on his presidential compound.

Saleh’s relatives continue to wield enormous influence in his absence. This week, security forces loyal to Saleh’s son and nephews were posted in front of Hadi’s residence, a sign that many interpreted as a warning to Hadi to not cross any red lines imposed by Saleh and his family.

“He is in the middle of the hammer and the bench,” said Sultan al-Atwani, a senior leader of Yemen’s traditional political opposition.

On the one hand, Hadi is now facing mounting pressure from Yemen’s various centers of power — from youth activists to traditional opposition parties to power tribal leaders — to formally assume presidential authority. On the other, Atwani said, “parts of the regime, the sons and nephews, do not see him as legitimate. They see him only as the vice president until the president comes back.”

Compared with other top Yemeni leaders, Hadi is relatively unknown to the United States and its allies. But in a nation deeply riven across political, tribal and geographical lines, American officials appear to regard Hadi as unifying figure who might appease all the various competing interest groups, assuring a smooth handover of power until new elections can be held.

And having spent much of his career in the military, including a stint as defense minister, Hadi could potentially provide a positive answer to the most pressing question being posed by the American government about Yemen’s future: Will Saleh’s successor be as committed to fighting Yemen’s emboldened Islamist militants and an ambitious al-Qaeda branch, which has targeted American soil?

U.S. officials say they are encouraged that Hadi is reaching out to the opposition. “We believe that there is no time to lose in moving on to the democratic future that Yemen deserves,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters Thursday, referring to Hadi’s efforts to promote a political dialogue.

Hadi’s office did not reply to repeated requests for an interview.

Source: The Washington Post