Fragile cease-fire of war seemingly erupted for negotiation gains

By Nasser Arrabyee/21/09/2011

Sporadic clashes continued today Wednesday between defected forces and security forces and armed tribesmen from both sides despite a cease-fire.

Firing and explosions could be heard early morning and during the night in the bordering places around the sit-in square where defected troops and armed tribesmen allegedly  protect protesters.

 Earlier in the week, two international envoys arrived in Yemen  earlier this week  after conflicting parties went on a war ignoring a world-supported proposal to end the 8-month crisis.

 

The UN envoy Jamal bin Omar and head of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Abdul Latif Al Zauani, arrived only to see bloodshed and hear explosions in the capital Sana’a almost around the clock.

 

Both of them were a little bit late. They were supposed to arrive before the breakout of the war to help the Yemeni conflicting parties reach an agreement on a mechanism previously suggested by Bin Omar, for implementing a Saudi-led GCC deal for transferring the power from President Saleh through democratic elections.

 

The "still controllable" war erupted while the opposition leaders and the ruling party were in their talks about an authorization decree  issued earlier this month from President Saleh to his deputy for preparing for electing a new president by the end of this year.

 

Two influential leaders from the opposition, other than those involved in the talks with vice president, were obviously behind this war which killed more than 50 Yemenis and injured hundreds of others so far during three days of fierce clashes in which all kinds of weapons were used.

 

These two effective leaders, the defected general Ali Muhsen, and the billionaire tribal leader Hamid Al Ahmar, felt they were ignored and excluded from the talks especially after the arrival of the two international envoys, Bin Omar and Al Zayani.

 

Hamid Al Ahamar, who has been mainly financing and orchestrating the anti-Saleh protests, said arrogantly through    his satellite TV that the two envoys "must leave" the country immediately if they came to bring  Yemenis back  to dialogue.

 

For general Muhsen, his defected troops are in direct confrontations with Saleh's forces in many streets around the sit-in square at the gate of Sanaa university for the first time since he defected.

 

 His troops closed the university and dismissed the students and professors in the first day of the new academic year, September 17th, and turned it to a military barrack.

The two leaders were also behind what was called  the “revolutionary action and  end ” of the 8-month long peaceful protests demanding the ouster of President Sale.

In a secret document leaked to media this week, Hamid Al Ahmar asked the general Muhsen to arm 3,000 young man from the protesters to protect the “the revolutionary end” demonstrations which started Sunday September  18th, 2011  and  led to the current war.   

Last May, with his armed tribesmen and 10 brothers,   the rich  businessman Hamid Al Ahmar  himself led  a two-week war against Saleh’s  forces around his palace in Al Hasaba area, in which about 150 people were killed from both sides. 

The Saudi King Abdullah Bin Abdul Azeez imposed a truce on both sides after President Saleh arrived in Riyadh for treatment from injuries he suffered in the June 3  failed assassination attempt, which  Hamid Al Ahmar and Ali Muhsen were accused of being behind it.

The May war was locally known as Al Ahmar-Saleh war and this war is known now as  Ali Muhsen-Saleh war. When it comes to war, no one talk about the opposition parties  or about the independent young people  who demand the ouster of Saleh.

 

   Both Saudi Arabia and   the United States are doing their best to contain the situation and stop the “seemingly  controllable” war between two armies and armed supporters of both sides.

 

    In a statement, the US embassy in Sana’a called  upon all parties to exercise restraint, and  refrain from actions that provoke further violence.

  “We reject actions that undermine productive efforts underway to achieve a political resolution to the current crisis,” said the US  embassy statement.  

“The United States continues to support a peaceful and orderly transition in Yemen, one which addresses the Yemeni people’s aspirations for peace and security.  We remain hopeful that an agreement will be reached that leads to the signing of the GCC Initiative within one week.”

 

From his side, the Saudi King who met President Saleh in Riyadh earlier this week immediately after the war erupted in Sana’a, showed a great  of support for Yemen’s security and stability and unity, according to the Saudi  news agency.  

The Yemeni prime minister, Ali Mujawar, and speaker of Parliament Yahya Al Raye’e  attended the meeting. Both Mujawar and Al Raye’e are still recovering in Saudi Arabia  from  injuries they suffered in the June assassination attempt.

And although what’s going now in Sana’a  seems like any war between two big forces in addition to armed tribesmen involved  from both sides, the government keeps saying it’s only the security forces which confront the defected troops and their armed supporters.

The government denies that the   republican guards, the highly qualified and trained forces led by Ahmed Ali, Saleh’s son, are participating in the ongoing street to street confrontations. Although this  republican guards  forces are  really deployed in the streets.

“The security forces only are responsible for protecting the capital Sana’a from the defected troops, and the extremists of brotherhood, and the sons of Al Ahmar,” said an official  statement.

 

On his part, deputy minister of information Abdul Janadi said that this war was  planned for thwarting the efforts being exerted now by the Vice President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi to reach a compromise with the opposition parties for preparing for presidential elections according to the UN and GCC suggestions.

 

Although opposition publically refuse any dialogue or initiative now and insist only on what they called “revolutionary action and end” , their  leaders are still involved in the talks going on now despite the war.

“Talks are still going on with all parties, and a solution will be reached in less than a week,” said a senior  officials  involved in the talks.

“There will  be no  civil  war, what’s happening now is still controlled and it’s for good negotiations for some parties,” the official said on condition of anonymity.
"the two international envoys Bin Omar and Al Zayani met and would meet all parties," he said.