Truce Slows Fighting in Yemen’s Capital

By LAURA KASINOF

September 21, 2011

SANA, Yemen — A cease-fire announced by the government late Tuesday appeared to have dampened fighting in the capital on Wednesday, but explosions and gunfire could still be heard in what has shaped up to be the most violent period of this impoverished country’s prolonged political crisis. News agencies reported at least three more deaths.

“The armed and security forces have committed to Vice President Abdo Rabbo Mansour al-Hadi’s directives to a cease-fire in the capital, Sana,” a statement from the official Saba news agency Web site said.

Shelling was noticeably less intense than the previous two days, but news agencies quoting medical officials reported between three and five new deaths, adding to the nearly 60 killed in the violence since Sunday. The majority of the dead were antigovernment protesters.

Mr. Hadi, who announced the cease-fire, is seen as weaker than the leaders of Yemen’s divided armed forces who are fighting in the capital, adding to concern that the accord would not hold.

The office of Maj. Gen. Ali Mohsin al-Ahmar, a powerful military commander who has aligned himself with antigovernment protesters and is battling loyalist forces, did not answer inquiries about their response to the cease-fire, but some local news reports quoted officials from General Ahmar’s First Armored Division as saying that they also are abiding by the decision to halt fighting.

On Tuesday, street battles raged for a third day the capital. A dozen protesters were killed as the conflict between government security forces and soldiers loyal to General Ahmar threatened to derail hopes for a resolution of the nation’s months-long political stalemate.

Doctors at a field hospital at the site of an antigovernment sit-in said the protesters had been killed by live ammunition, mortar fire and heavy artillery.

That brought the death toll since fighting broke out in Sana on Sunday to nearly 60, making the past three days the most violent in the city since the beginning of the uprising against the government of President Ali Abdullah Saleh in January.

The violence erupted on Sunday after antigovernment protesters marched outside the protected area of their sit-in. In response, security forces and armed government supporters fired at the thousands of demonstrators, using heavy-caliber machine guns.

That, in turn, ignited fighting between government forces and troops loyal to General Ahmar, who defected and whose forces have been protecting the protesters for months. The forces loyal to the government are controlled by the president’s relatives.

It was an outcome many had feared since General Ahmar announced his support for the protest movement in March. The two sides had been at a standoff ever since, with each controlling portions of Sana.

Before the outbreak of fighting on Sunday, members of Yemen’s governing party and the political opposition had seemed to be moving closer to an agreement on a transfer of power. A United Nations envoy, Jamal Benomar, and the head of the Gulf Cooperation Council, a regional bloc, arrived in Sana on Monday to oversee such an agreement. There had been anticipation that a political compromise would lead to a presidential election and the creation of a coalition government.

By Tuesday night, however, a senior member of the governing party said the negotiations had “stagnated as a result of the conflict.”

Yassin Saeed Noman, who is the leader of an opposition bloc known as the Joint Meetings Parties, appeared to reject the idea of negotiations altogether unless Mr. Saleh or his deputy, Mr. Hadi, first signed an initiative to transfer power. Mr. Saleh is in Saudi Arabia recuperating from injuries he sustained in a bombing at the presidential compound more than three months ago.

“They have to say that we accept the initiative,” Mr. Noman said, referring to the agreement to transfer power. “Then we can talk about the implementing mechanisms.”

“They don’t want to solve the problem peacefully,” he added. “They think they can overcome all others by using weapons. That’s why I think the international community should condemn what is happening.”

The comments represented a shift in position for Mr. Noman, who is seen as a moderate among the political opposition.

Major thoroughfares in Sana were relatively empty on Tuesday, and many stores were closed. Few women were seen on the streets, as the sound of explosions could be heard in the distance. Near an area known as the Kentucky roundabout, government forces fought with soldiers belonging to the First Armored Division.

The division had taken over a strategic intersection just south of the protesters’ sit-in on Sunday night, but by Tuesday afternoon the area was clearly in the hands of government forces.

Soldiers sat on armored personnel carriers, while troops from the republican guards sat along the street with bazookas at their sides. Armed men in civilian clothes controlled intersections. Large pieces of buildings were missing, dislodged by artillery attacks.

Several mortar shells fell on the protest area on Tuesday, witnesses said.

In another development, a doctor in the central city of Taiz said a civilian had been killed overnight by shelling.

“They are not targeting any place,” the doctor, Abdul-Rahim al-Samie, said in a telephone interview. “They are not targeting armed people. They are shooting different houses. Different areas. It was really horrible.”

Taiz has been rocked for months by conflict between government forces and protesters. Shelling takes place almost nightly, residents said.

“We are expecting our lives to end any moment,” Dr. Samie said. “Some of the shells dropped very close to my house this morning.”

America's Secret War Expands to Drone Bases in Africa, Arabian Peninsula

September 21, 2011

The Obama administration is constructing a network of drone strike bases in Africa and the Arabian peninsula as its broadening campaign against al-Qaida affiliates reaches increasingly into Yemen and Somalia.

A new bases will be constructed in Ethiopia, supplementing installations in the Seychelles and the tiny African nation of Djibouti, The Washington Post reported. Obama has already authorized drone strikes against Islamic militants in Yemen and Somalia, and the proliferation of bases in the region underscore the extent to which Yemen and Somalia, both highly volatile countries plagued by disintegrating civil order, have become new focal points for counterterrorism.

"It's a conscious recognition that those are the hot spots developing right now," a former senior U.S. military official told the Post.

Diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks detailed how U.S. officials won permission from Seychelles President James Michel to maintain a small fleet of Reaper drones there. Both American and Seychellois officials have publicly maintained that the drones are unarmed and are used purely for counter-piracy surveillance, but a diplomatic cable reveals that American diplomats explicitly told Seychellois leaders that the Reapers would be used to bolster counter-terrorism efforts in Somalia.

Drone Use Increases

With the Obama administration expanding its use of targeted drone strikes and special operations raids in Yemen and Somalia, its legal team has become embroiled in a debate over how much authority the U.S. has to kill militants there. Current administration policy is to kill only "high-value" leaders, but there is discussion over whether rank-and-file militants can be targeted. Officials are also weighing the extent to which any given mission must be justified by an explicit threat to the United States, as opposed to an open-ended battle with Islamic militants.

"It's a tangled mess because the law is unsettled," Robert Chesney, a law professor at the University of Texas at Austin who specializes in the laws of war, told The New York Times. "Do the rules vary from location to location? Does the armed conflict exist only in the current combat zone, such as Afghanistan, or does it follow wherever participants may go? Who counts as a party to the conflict? There's a lot at stake in these debates."

Deadly Yemen clashes as protester funerals held

By the CNN Wire Staff

September 21, 2011

(CNN) -- Opposition forces mourned their dead Wednesday, as 30 of the 83 protesters medical sources say were killed this week by government forces were buried.

Senior members of the opposition were among more than 500,000 opposition supporters to attend the funerals, witnesses said.

Five more protesters were killed by government forces Wednesday in Change Square in the capital, Sanaa, a medical team in the square said.

One died in a rocket explosion, the medical team said, and the other four were shot by snipers, according to at least seven eyewitnesses. Nine others were injured, the medical team said.

The renewed violence, with clashes reported in half a dozen different areas of Sanaa, comes less than 12 hours after a call from the country's Vice President Abdu Rabu Hadi for a cease-fire from all sides.

At least five rockets exploded near the entrance to Change Square at 2 p.m. local time, witnesses said.

The base of defected Gen. Ali Mohsen is under heavy bombardment, with smoke in the air and fires visible inside the compound after an ongoing attack lasting more than an hour.

Mohsen defected from the Yemeni military in March and since then has joined protesters demanding an end to the decades-long rule of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Wednesday's deaths follow those of more than 80 people in clashes from Sunday to Tuesday, according to medical officials.

The International Committee of the Red Cross has pleaded for calm in Yemen, which is facing an "unprecedented level of violence," it said Tuesday.

The ICRC is "deeply concerned" by the "significant loss of life that has occurred in the last 72 hours," it said in a statement Tuesday.

At least 25 people were killed in clashes Tuesday, medics said. Thirty-one people were killed Monday -- 28 in Sanaa and three in Taiz, according to medical officials. On Sunday, at least 26 protesters were killed and more than 550 were wounded -- hundreds of them by gunshots -- when security forces fired live bullets and tear gas at a massive demonstration in the city, a medic said.

Abdul Rahman Barman, the executive director of a local human rights organization, said Saleh's regime does not differentiate between civilians, protesters or gunmen.

"All are targets for the oppressive Saleh regime," Barman said.

Government spokesman Abdu Ganadi said that "government troops are attacking armed militants who claim to be unarmed."

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland condemned the violence and called on all those involved in it to exercise restraint.

The violence has triggered a new wave of international pressure on Yemen.

An official with the human rights group Amnesty International said the country was on a "knife edge" and the situation could spiral into a civil war.

Officials from the United Nations and the Gulf Cooperation Council were in Sanaa Monday, hoping to help organize a peaceful transfer of power.

The Yemeni government has repeatedly denied accusations of excessive use of force, and said the government is committed to establishing a peaceful transfer of power. Yemeni officials have said forces cracked down on those committing acts of violence during protests.

Saudi Arabia King Calls For A Stable Yemen

Written by: Arab News
September 20, 2011
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah received Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh at his palace on Monday and emphasized the Kingdom’s commitment to a stable, secure and unified Yemen.
“During the meeting Saleh commended Saudi Arabia’s efforts to help Yemen overcome the present crisis, realizing the higher national interests of the Yemeni people,” the Saudi Press Agency said.
The meeting was the first since Saleh came to Saudi Arabia for treatment after being wounded in an attack on his Sanaa compound in June. Saleh thanked the king for providing medical treatment for him and top Yemeni officials at Saudi hospitals.
“King Abdullah reiterated Saudi Arabia’s stand in support for a stable, secure, and unified Yemen,” the SPA said, adding that the king hoped the Yemeni people would overcome the crisis.
Saudi Arabia is one of the signatories to a Gulf Cooperation Council initiative that aims for a peaceful transition of power in Yemen.
In the Yemeni capital of Sanaa, soldiers opposed to Saleh exchanged heavy gunfire with government troops on Monday, as violence spiraled during the deadliest crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations since they began eight months ago.
Yemeni security forces, including snipers, killed 28 people in the city on Monday, raising the death toll to 54 over two days.
“Help me, oh my God look at this slaughter!” said a man carrying the bloodied body of his small child, killed by gunfire. “We were just in the car … I stepped out to get some food and left my two boys in the car. I heard the older one scream. My little one was shot straight through the head.”
Witnesses said government forces were trading heavy rifle and missile fire with troops loyal to Gen. Ali Mohsen, who defected to the protesters some months ago.
An escalation from clashes around protests into outright military confrontation in Sanaa has been a major concern for many in Yemen, who fear this will make it even harder to reach a political settlement under which Saleh would hand over power.
“This is only going to get worse,” one man shouted as he fled a new protest camp, staked out by protesters on Sunday night and attacked by snipers on Monday. Troops loyal to Mohsen jumped onto trucks and sped toward the location from where heavy crackling of gunfire could be heard.
“We will come back to protest later. I am afraid, but this is worth dying for,” the man said. He was among hundreds rushing back to the relative safety of protesters’ original sit-in area, dubbed Change Square, where they have camped out for eight months to demand an end to Saleh’s 33-year rule.
Diplomats and Yemeni politicians scrambled to speed up a long-stalled transition plan under which Saleh would hand over power
A source in Yemen’s political opposition said they were meeting with government officials and diplomats to try and push through a deal. UN mediator Jamal bin Omar and Gulf Cooperation Council Secretary-General Abdullatif Al-Zayani arrived in Sanaa on Monday and were expected to join the talks.
Al-Zayani was expected to push for a signing of the GCC-brokered transition plan which Saleh thrice backed out of at the last minute. “There’s a possibility of trying to push through the Gulf plan for signing this week,” he said.
Medics said 187 protesters were wounded on Monday after a dramatic escalation in violence which began with a huge anti-government march on Sunday. At least 400 protesters and police have died since the revolt began eight months ago.
Protesters had been planning to ratchet up demonstrations this week. They said they expected a spike in bloodshed as they pushed their marches into areas surrounded by government troops in a bid to re-energize a languishing protest movement.
“We have known that this regime would kill its citizens,” said Manea Al-Mattari, from the Organization Council for the Youth Revolution. “But we know we have to do this, let our blood spill so the world notices how much Yemenis want their freedom.”

Red Crescent teams assaulted in Yemen: ICRC

The ICRC says that some Red Crescent teams have been threatened ans assaulted in one of Sanaa's main hospitals

AFP , Tuesday 20 Sep 2011

The international Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said Tuesday that some Red Crescent teams have been threatened and assaulted in Yemen and that violent confrontations were reportedly taking place in one of Sanaa's main hospitals.

"The ICRC delegation is receiving very worrying reports of armed confrontations taking place in Al-Gomhori Hospital and placing many innocent lives at risk," said Valerie Petitpierre, deputy head of the International Committee of the Red Cross' delegation in Yemen.

An ICRC spokesman said that the relief agency has "received calls and allegations from a lot of people who live around the hospital or who have been in the hospital," claiming there were confrontations there.

In addition, "over the past three days, Yemen Red Crescent Society emergency response teams have been threatened and assaulted," said Petitpierre.

"In some cases they have had equipment confiscated, and there have also been incidents in which they were denied access to people in need of first aid," she added.

The ICRC urged all parties in the conflict to "respect and facilitate" the efforts of the Red Cross to help those in need.

"Anyone injured or wounded must be able to receive life-saving health care without undue delay," said Petitpierre.

"Medical staff, vehicles and facilities must be respected and protected," she stressed.

Gunfire and shelling rocked Sanaa for the third straight day on Tuesday as the toll from the worst outbreak of violence in Yemen's capital in months spiralled to 60 dead with hundreds wounded

Yemen's capital relatively calm after cease-fire

AHMED AL-HAJ, Associated Press, September 20, 2011

SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Witnesses and security officials say the Yemeni capital is mostly calm after a cease-fire negotiated by the country's vice president and several Western ambassadors came took effect.

The cease-fire came into force at 4 p.m. local time on Tuesday. The city has since been calm, with only sporadic gunfire.

The cease-fire came on the third day of deadly violence between opponents of the Yemeni regime and forces loyal to its embattled president. At least 60 people have been killed, most of them protesters.

The truce was negotiated by Vice President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi and several foreign envoys, including the U.S. and British ambassadors in Sanaa, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters.

Yemen street battles escalate, killing 9 people

By AHMED AL-HAJ Associated Press September 20, 2011
Rapidly escalating street battles between opponents of Yemen’s regime and forces loyal to its embattled president spread to the home districts of senior government figures and other highly sensitive areas of the capital on Tuesday. A third day of fighting, including a mortar attack on unarmed protesters, killed nine people, medical officials said.
The latest deaths took to at least 60 the number of people killed since Sunday, as anti-regime protesters step up their campaign to topple President Ali Abdullah Saleh and a key military unit supporting them is drawn deeper into the fighting. Saleh’s forces have hit back with attacks by rooftop snipers and shelling of protest encampments.
In Geneva, the United Nations said Tuesday that four children were killed by live ammunition during the unrest on Sunday and Monday. Marixie Mercado, a spokeswoman for the U.N. children’s’ fund, also said that 18 minors were injured.
Mercado told reporters in Geneva that the casualties were confirmed by UNICEF’s local partners in Yemen.
Yemen’s turmoil began in February as the unrest spreading throughout the Arab world set off largely peaceful protests in the deeply impoverished and unstable corner of the Arabian Peninsula that is also home to an al-Qaida offshoot blamed for several nearly successful attempts to attack the United States.
The government has responded with a heavy crackdown.
President Saleh went to Saudi Arabia for medical treatment after a June attack on his Sanaa compound and has not returned to Yemen, but has resisted calls to resign.
After the dawn Muslim prayer on Tuesday, Saleh’s forces lobbed mortar shells at Change Square, a plaza at the heart of the city where protesters have held a sit-in since the uprising began in February.
Medical officials said the shelling killed three protesters, three rebel soldiers and a bystander.
Clashes between protesters and security forces in the southern city of Taiz left two more people dead, they said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to share the information.
Elsewhere in the capital, clashes between protesters and security forces erupted in several districts, with gunfire ringing out in areas close to Saleh’s residence and the office of his son and one-time heir apparent, Ahmed, commander of the elite loyalist Republican Guards and Special Forces.
In the upscale district of Hadah, home to senior government officials as well as tribal leaders opposed to Saleh, gunbattles were raging between forces loyal to the president’s son and bands of tribal fighters opposed to the regime.
The violence is forcing more of the capital’s residents to flee to the relative safety of rural Yemen. Scores of pickup trucks and sedans loaded with families and personal belongings could be seen headed out in early Tuesday morning after a night in which loud explosions repeatedly shook the city.
Most of those staying put in the capital are not leaving their homes for fear of snipers or getting caught up in gunfights, leaving the city looking increasingly deserted on Tuesday morning, with most stores shuttered.