U.S. Expert Says Early Elections “Best Solution to Yemen Crisis”

 

Source :  Yemen Post Staff 

01/09/2011

 U.S. experts said that holding early presidential elections is the best solution to the Yemeni crisis, as a Gulf source told Alriyadh newspaper on Wednesday that the GCC-brokered plan for an orderly power transition in Yemen was not modified.

“When we find an early solution to the political deadlock in Yemen, we can shift attention to issues most important relating to the economic and social situations in this poor country,” Christopher Boucek, a Middle East expert with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said.

 “It is necessary that the GCC bloc plays a key role in Yemen at the moment and in the future”.


However, some U.S. experts expressed their pessimism over the situation in Yemen saying that dangers remain possible.

 Bernard Haykel, Professor of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University, said the situation in Yemen is unpredictable and does not bode well. “The family of President Saleh continues to lead key military units, mainly in the capital Sana’a”.

Haykel said that the return of Saleh might lead to a civil war which will negatively affect the interests of the GC C countries at a time when the GCC bloc is reviving its initiatives to solve the Yemeni crisis. 

President Saleh is facing mounting external pressure to sign the GCC plan and not to return home from Saudi Arabia where he is convalescing after a June assassination attempt in his compound.

Though he had backed out of signing the deal three times at the last minute, Saleh, in his speech to the nation on the eve of Eid Al-Fitr, said he had assigned the general committee of the General People’s Congress to contact the opposition, the Foreign Ministers of the GCC and the U.S. and EU ambassadors to find a suitable mechanism to sign the GCC deal without postponement. 

 

President Saleh calls for electing new President for Yemen

By Nasser Arrabyee,30/08/2011
 
The Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh called for electing a new President for Yemen through democratic elections being arranged now by his deputy in cooperation with regional and international players.

In  speech on the occasion of Eid Al Fetr,Saleh said he is supporting all efforts being exerted by  his deputy Abdu Rabu Mansor Hadi  to find a way out for the crisis.

"We can, as soon as possible,find many constitutional solutions to overcome this dangerous crisis which threatens our unity,freedom,and democracy, by bringing to success the significant and national  role being played by vice President," Said Saleh in his speech from the Saudi capital Riyadh where he was  treated from injuries he suffered in a failed assassination attempt in his palace early last June.

Saleh said he authorized his party to make dialogue with the opposition and ambassadors of US and EU about a a mechanism for implementing a Saudi-led Gulf-brokered deal to solve the power transition issue.

He said this mechanism should end up with "direct and free elections" for a new president of Yemen.

"This would achieve all aspirations  and ambitions of the people, mainly the youth, in change and development and combating corruption and removing all causes of conflicts and wars," Saleh said.

President Saleh said there are forces dreaming to take power by overthrows.

"The dark and backward forces who dream of taking power by overthrows,should remember the fact that is known by the whole world which says the power can be taken only by democracy," he said in obvious reference to his opponents especially the Islamists.

The speech of Saleh and his indirect and conditional call for presidential elections,came after leaks about American and Saudi efforts being exerted now in Riyadh to convince President Saleh to do four steps for solving the crisis. 

In the first step, Saleh should call for Presidential elections to be held by the end of this year. the second is that Saleh transfers all his powers to his deputy Mr. Hadi who is respected and accepted by all parties.
 
A national unity government chaired by the opposition should be formed as the third step.

The fourth step is formation of a military committee to re-structure the army and security forces which are under the leadership of Saleh's relatives.

Despite all these political efforts, tension is very high in the ground in  many places including the capital where three armed forces at least are competing for the control.

The defected general Ali Mohsen controls the area of Sanaa university, north-west,  and tribal fighters of the billionaire Hamid Al Ahmar control the area of Al Hasaba, not far from the center.

The most highly qualified and trained forces of the republican guards and central security control all exits and entrances and hill and mountains of the capital.

Young protesters in the sit-in square at the gate of university still  demand the immediate ouster of Saleh. 

They refuse any dialogue or initiatives although most of them belong to to the main opposition parties which are involved  in the initiatives.

Al Qaeda war in the south

About 30 Al Qaeda fighters and 10 soldiers were killed  battles over the last two days in the areas around the Al Qaeda declared Islamic Emirates  of Zinjubar in the southern province of Abyan. 

Al Qaeda is obviously exploiting the unrest to expand more and more in the south. In the semi-complete absence of the State, Al Qaeda is applying a Taliban style Shariah in the areas under their control.

For instance,on Monday August 29, 2011, Al Qaeda executed a man called Haidara Mansor Jabir in Jaar city, the first city to be declared Islamic Emirates this year. 

The execution of Jabir who was accused of murder two weeks ago, took place in a football playing  ground with hundreds of people watching.


Somali fighters flow to  help Al Qaeda

Earlier in the week, about  400 Somali fighters  arrived in the coastal town of Shukra in the southern province of Abyan where fierce battles are going on between Al Qaeda operatives and the government troops and loyal tribesmen, said local sources.


The Somali fighters are believed to be from the  Somali Al Shabab group that previously promised to send fighters to help Al Qaeda in Yemen.

The deputy head of the Somali community in Yemen said it is very difficult for Al Shabab to come to Yemen to fight with Al Qaeda.
But he said it is not impossible.

"I think it is very difficult for  armed Somalis to make it to Yemen,as the anti-piracy western forces are almost everywhere in the sea,"said Sadat Mohammed,the deputy head of the Somali community in Yemen.

"but because the Somali refugees flow to Yemen almost every day,so it is possible that a group of Somali fighters have already arrived disguised as refugees," said Mohammed.

Earlier this week, Al Qaeda fighters restored the coastal town of Shukrah after they defeated the tribesmen who were fighting them.
 
The sources also said that tens of Al Qaeda fighters come almost every day to Abyan to help their brothers,  who control almost the whole province,from the northern provinces such as Mareb, Al Jawaf, and Sana'a.

Meanwhile, about  40 Al Qaeda fighters were killed in  airstrikes carried out  Wednesday on Al Qaeda groups who tried to  attack three military brigades positioning in Dawfas area at the outskirts of Al Qaeda-declared Islamic Emirate of Zinjubar. 

The brother of the head of Al Qaeda Zinjubar,Jalal Bal Eid, was among those who were killed, the sources said.

About 15 soldiers were killed by Al Qaeda attackers on the brigades before the airstrikes were carried out on Wednesday.

The tribesmen of Abyan are still fighting with the troops despite tens of them were killed by mistaken airstrikes earlier this month by the government, and two suicide bombings which killed about 15 of them earlier this week.

More than 100,000 people displaced from Zinjubar and the areas around it to the neighboring provinces of Aden and Lahj due to the fighting which started after Al Qaeda controlled Zinjubar late last May.

26 militants, 10 soldiers killed in Yemen fighting

Source: AP, 29/08/2011

SANAA-Military officials say 26 al-Qaida militants and 10 soldiers, including a colonel, have been killed in fierce fighting in southern Yemen.

The officials said Monday that 38 militants and 30 soldiers also were injured when al-Qaida-linked militants intercepted advancing army troops in Dufas, west of Zinjibar, capital of Abyan province.

They say the fighting took place over the past 24 hours.

Yemen's militants have taken advantage of the country's political turmoil to seize several towns in the nearly lawless south. Weeks of ground fighting and airstrikes could not dislodge them.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with military rules.

Somali fighters arrived in Yemen as troops and tribesmen tighten the noose on an Al Qaeda

By Nasser Arrabyee,25/08/2011

About 400 Somali fighters arrived in the coastal town of Shukra in the southern province of Abyan where fierce battles are going on between Al Qaeda operatives and the government troops and loyal tribesmen, said local sources on Thursday.

The Somali fighters are believed to be from the Somali Al Shabab group that previously promised to send fighters to help Al Qaeda in Yemen.

The deputy head of the Somali community in Yemen said it is very difficult for Al Shabab to come to Yemen to fight with Al Qaeda.
But he said it is not impossible.

"I think it is very difficult for armed Somalis to make it to Yemen,as the anti-piracy western forces are almost everywhere in the sea,"said Sadat Mohammed,the deputy head of the Somali community in Yemen.

"but because the Somali refugees flow to Yemen almost every day,so it is possible that a group of Somali fighters have already arrived disguised as refugees," said Mohammed.

Earlier this week, Al Qaeda fighters restored the coastal town of Shukrah after they defeated the tribesmen who were fighting them.

The sources also said that tens of Al Qaeda fighters come almost every day to Abyan to help their brothers, who control almost the whole province,from the northern provinces such as Mareb, Al Jawaf, and Sana'a.

Meanwhile, about 40 Al Qaeda fighters were killed in airstrikes carried out Wednesday on Al Qaeda groups who tried to attack three military brigades positioning in Dawfas area at the outskirts of Al Qaeda-declared Islamic Emirate of Zinjubar.

The brother of the head of Al Qaeda Zinjubar,Jalal Bal Eid, was among those who were killed, the sources said.

About 15 soldiers were killed by Al Qaeda attackers on the brigades before the airstrikes were carried out on Wednesday.

The tribesmen of Abyan are still fighting with the troops despite tens of them were killed by mistaken airstrikes earlier this month by the government, and two suicide bombings which killed about 15 of them earlier this week.

More than 100,000 people displaced from Zinjubar and the areas around it to the neighboring provinces of Aden and Lahj due to the fighting which started after Al Qaeda controlled Zinjubar late last May

10 soldiers,15 Al Qaeda operatives killed in south Yemen

By Nasser Arrabyee/24/08/2011

A total of 10 soldiers and 15 Al Qaeda operatives were killed late Tuesday in attacks and counter –attacks between government troops and Al Qaeda in and around the city of Zinjubar, tribal and medical sources said Wednesday.

The big operations took place in the area of Dawfas at the outskirt of Zinjubar between Al Qaeda operatives (Insar Al Shariah) and three brigades positioning in this area which is close to Aden.

Al Qaeda attack on the three brigades 201, 39, 119, in Dawfas came in retaliation for airstrikes on the area of Al Arkub on Monday in which more than 6 Al Qaeda operatives were killed, the sources said.
At least 20 soldiers and 43 Al Qaeda operatives were injured in the clashes, the sources said.

Meanwhile, counter-terrorism forces from the capital Sana’a arrived in the volatile province of Abyan on Tuesday, security sources said.
The sources said the that counter-terrorism forces would help the troops and tribesmen to defeat Al Qaeda operatives.

Yemen’s prime minister arrived in Yemen before President Saleh

By Nasser Arrabyee,24/08/2011

The Yemeni prime minister Ali Mujawar arrived in Sanaa late Tuesday after being recovered in Saudi Arabia from injuries he suffered in the failed assassination attempt on President Saleh early last June.

Upon arrival in Sana’a airport, Mujawar said that all officials still being treated in Saudi Arabia are getting better day by day and they all would soon return to Yemen.

Mujawar is the first official to arrive in Yemen. He was the second to be released from hospital in Riyadh after President Saleh earlier this month. President Saleh is supposed to return during these days before the end of Ramadan.
Earlier Tuesday, the dead-body of the chairman of the Shura Council, Abdul Azeez Abdul Ghani arrived in Sana’a as well. A big official and popular funeral is to be held later today Wednesday here in Sana’a.

rapid developments in Libya have cast shadows on Yemenis and their political crisis.

Both sides of the opposition and power want an immediate solution for the 8-month long crisis which had a negative impact on political, economic, and social aspects of their life.

The opposition wished an end for President Ali Abdullah Saleh like that of Muamar Gaddafi of Libya.

However, Saleh's supporters called him to return from Saudi Arabia and finish his presidential term until September 20, 2013.

Each side called their own supporters to stage million-man demonstrations to show strength.

Security measures were tightened and additional troops were deployed in the capital Sanaa.


Earlier in the week official sources said that Saleh had finished the recovery period required on him by doctors and he would return Wednesday August 24. Saleh himself told his supporters in televised speech that he would see them very soon.


The vice President Abdu Rabu Mansor Hadi, who is acting in Saleh's absence,said earlier this week the crisis has become very close to an end after he made consultations with American and European officials.

Before the awaited and imminent return of Saleh,the opposition parties formed an umbrella council to use it as a pressure card on Saleh while negotiating about power transfer.

But the council was rejected by more than half of its chosen members especially by the separatist groups in the south and Al Houthi Shiite rebels in the north.

This rejection has shown big divisions among the opposition parties and independent young people protesting in the streets.

All the groups and individuals who refused denied they had approved the "National Council" and surprised why their names were included.

On August 17th, 2011, the opposition parties had chosen 143 members allegedly representing all groups and individuals of Yemen.

A total of 23 politicians and activists from the southern separatist movement denied their approval of the council.

The 23 persons include two former presidents of the south,Ali Nasser Mohammed and Haidar Abu Bakr Al Atas,who are living abroad but inspiring and leading the southern separatist movement.

"We were surprised to see our names in the list of the council without our knowledge and approval," said the politicians in a statement sent to local media.

Earlier, the three top officials of the opposition party Ray, denied their approval of the council.

The two members of parliament Abdul Wase'e Hayel Saeed, and Abdullah Hussein Khairat,of the constituencies 160 and 161,refused the council and denied they had agreed to give their names to be members of the council.

The writer Huda Al Atas denied her approval of the council after she saw her name in the list of the council.

The tribal Sheikh Naji Al Shayef refused the council and denied his approval of the council.

The Arab Sisters Forum for human rights, local NGO, refused the council although the chairwoman of the Forum, Amal Basha, was chosen as a member of the 143 members of the council.

"the council reproduced the dominance of the traditional tribal and military forces which were the essence of tranny of the regime," said a statement by the Forum.

A group of the independent youth in the squares calling themselves,the national council of the independent,revolutionary,and peaceful youth, refused the council saying it is not representing them at all.

"The council of the opposition is only a response to the desire of Hamid Al Ahmar who wants to turn the youth and some activists of the civil society and some social figures to soldiers working him to achieve his ambitions to rule Yemen," said the independent youth in a statement declared in a press conference.

The youth referred to Hamid Al Ahmar,the Islamist billionaire who has been grooming himself for presidency since 2006. Hamid Al Ahmar is widely viewed in Yemen as the main rival of President Saleh and his son Ahmed.

Hamid, who is orchestrating the anti-Saleh protests since the very beginning early this year,is also widely viewed as the most important politician behind this second opposition council.

Likewise, the lady Tawakul Karman, leading protester, was behind the first council which was declared on July 17th, 2011 but it failed to achieve any approval or recognition.

Meanwhile, the government troops are battling in three fronts at least with Al Qaeda operatives in the southern province of Abyan and armed tribesmen supporting the anti-Saleh protesters around the capital Sanaa and in the central province of Taiz.

Dozens of people are killed and injured in the almost daily clashes and battles taking place in these areas.

For instance, two suicide bombings of Al Qaeda killed more than 14 tribesmen in the southern province of Abyan. The tribesmen in the south recently sided with the government troops to get rid of Al Qaeda.

A total of 80 Al Qaeda operatives were killed in the fighting going on in the southern province of Abyan,said chairman of the Yemen intelligence on Monday.

Ali Al Ansi,head of the National Security Agency (NSA) said those killed were Yemeni and non-Yemeni leaders and operatives and were recognized and identified by names.

"Those who were killed and injured were hundreds,but those who were identified by names were 80,"said Al Ansi in an interview with the mouthpiece of the ruling party,Al Methaq weekly.

The fighting continues until today between the government troops and Al Qaeda operatives since the latter declared the city of Zinjubar as an Islamic Emirate on May 29, 2011.

Al Ansi said that Al Qaeda operatives are also fighting with the opposition tribesmen in Arhab and Taiz who fight the government troops with support from the defected general Ali Muhsen.

The intelligence official said some of Al Qaeda elements are hiding in the protest squares and inside the defected First Armored Division (FAD) of general Ali Muhsen,under the protection of the opposition.

"We observed elements of Al Qaeda in the sit-in squares and inside the FAD,but the opposition made it difficult for us to arrest them," said Al Ansi.

The official said that 80 per cent of the investigations over the failed assassination attempt against President Saleh and senior State's officials,were achieved.

"The results will be announced very soon in public trials of those involved," said Al Ansi.

80 Al Qaeda operatives killed in south Yemen battles

By Nasser Arrabyee, 22/08/2011

A total of 80 Al Qaeda operatives were killed in the fighting going on in the southern province of Abyan,said chairman of the Yemen intelligence on Monday.

Ali Al Ansi,head of the National Security Agency (NSA) said those killed were Yemeni and non-Yemeni leaders and operatives and were  recognized and identified by names.

"Those who were killed and injured were hundreds,but those who were identified by names were 80,"said Al Ansi in an interview with the mouthpiece of the ruling party,Al Methaq weekly.

The fighting continues until today between the government troops and Al Qaeda operatives since the latter declared the city of Zinjubar as an Islamic Emirate on May 29, 2011.
 
Al Ansi said that Al Qaeda operatives are also fighting with the opposition tribesmen in Arhab and Taiz who fight the government troops with support from the defected general Ali Muhsen.

The intelligence official some of Al Qaeda elements are hiding in the protest squares and inside the defected First Armored Division (FAD) of general Ali Muhsen,under the protection of the opposition.

"We observed elements of Al Qaeda in the sit-in squares and inside the FAD,but the opposition made it difficult for us to arrest them," said Al Ansi.

The official said that 80 per cent of the investigations over the failed assassination attempt against President Saleh and senior State's officials,were achieved.

"The results will be announced very soon in public trials of those involved," said Al Ansi. 

11 tribesmen killed in south Yemen suicide attacks

Source: AFP,21/08/2011
  
ADEN, Yemen — Eleven Yemeni tribesmen were killed overnight in two suicide attacks in the southern province of Abyan, a stronghold of Al-Qaeda, tribal sources and medics told AFP on Sunday.

Tribal sources accused Al-Qaeda members of carrying out the attacks in two villages of Abyan province, where Yemeni tribesmen and the army have been battling militants from the "Partisans of Sharia (Islamic law)" who are believed to be close to the Al-Qaeda network.

A suicide bomber killed Sheikh Abu Bahr Ashal, chief of the Ashal tribe, and two others as he detonated an explosive belt he was wearing in Moudia, east of Zinjibar -- the provincial capital mostly seized by militants since May.

Ashal and one of his companions wwere killed instantly, while the third victim, a soldier, died of his wounds in hospital, a tribal source told AFP.

A medical source confirmed the deaths.
Meanwhile, eight people were killed and 20 others wounded when a suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden car into a post of armed tribesmen in the area of Arkub, near the town of Shaqra, which was taken over by extremist militants last week, a tribal source said.

The car bomb was followed by an attack by mortars which triggered a fire fight that lasted for nearly two hours, the same source said.

A medical source said that seven of the wounded sustained serious injuries and were taken to a hospital in the neighbouring province of Baida.

Yemeni tribesmen siding with government forces have in past weeks been locked in battle with suspected Al-Qaeda militants in Abyan, especially in 
Zinjibar.

The army has been battling the Partisans of Sharia militants, who have besieged its 25th Mechanised Brigade base in Zinjibar since May.
Apart from Shaqra and Zinjibar, Islamist gunmen control the village of Jaar, while Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the local branch of the jihadist network, is active in most of the lawless southern and eastern provinces.

The international community has expressed fears that the power vacuum in the impoverished country could play into the hands of AQAP, which was behind several attacks, including the failed Christmas Day attempt to blow a US airliner over Detroit in 2009.
Yemen has been gripped by political turmoil since an uprising against the 33-year-old rule of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, now recovering from bomb blast wounds, erupted in January. Hundreds have died in battles between security forces and protesters, and between security forces and Al-Qaeda fighters.

Opposition council refused by its members, showing big divisions

By Nasser Arrabyee,20/08/2011

Dozens of groups and individuals refused an opposition council declared earlier this week to increase pressure on President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down.

All those groups and individuals denied they had approved the "National Council" and surprised why their names were included.

The opposition parties said Wednesday they had chosen 143 members representing all groups and individuals of Yemen.

A total of 23 politicians and activists from the southern separatist movement denied their approval of the council.
 
The 23 persons include two former presidents of the south,Ali Nasser Mohammed and Haidar Abu Bakr Al Atas,who are living abroad but inspiring and leading the southern separatist movement. 

"We were surprised to see our names in the list of the council without our knowledge and approval," said the politicians in a statement published early Saturday in the movement website Adenlife.net.

Earlier, the three top officials of the opposition party Ray, denied their approval of the council.

The two  members of parliament Abdul Wase'e Hayel Saeed, and Abdullah Hussein Khairat,of the constituencies 160 and 161,refused the council and denied they had agreed to give their names to be members of the council.

The writer Huda Al Atas denied her approval of the council after she saw her name in the list of the council.

The tribal Sheikh Naji Al Shayef refused the council and denied his approval of the council.

The Arab Sisters Forum  for human rights, local NGO, refused the council although the chairwoman of the Forum, Amal Basha, was chosen as a member of the 143 members of the council.

"the council reproduced the dominance of the traditional tribal and military forces which were the essence of tranny of the regime," said a statement by the Forum.

A group of the independent youth in the squares calling themselves,the national council of the independent,revolutionary,and peaceful  youth, refused the council saying it is not representing them at all.

"The council of the opposition is only a response to the desire of Hamid Al Ahmar who wants to turn the youth and some activists of the civil society and some social figures to soldiers  working him  to achieve his ambitions to rule Yemen," said the independent youth in a  statement declared in a press conference. 

The youth referred to Hamid Al Ahmar,the Islamist billionaire who has been grooming himself for presidency since 2006. Hamid Al Ahmar is widely viewed in Yemen as the main rival of President Saleh and his son Ahmed.

Hamid, who is orchestrating the anti-Saleh protests since the very beginning early this year,is also widely viewed as the most important politician behind the second  opposition council. 

Likewise, the  lady Tawakul Karman, leading protester, was behind the first council which was declared on July 17th, 2011 but  it failed to achieve any approval or recognition.

Both council were able to have support from the  squares where demonstrations were organized for this purpose. 

New opposition council declared just before President Saleh's return

By Nasser Arrabyee,18/08/2011

The Yemeni opposition groups declared an umbrella council to escalate their pressure on the defiant President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down.
The opposition step came only one day after President Saleh vowed he would return very soon to end the political crisis.

The opposition say their umbrella, the national council, will only unite their forces and lead the revolution until all goals are achieved. Although it will not be a governing council at least for the time being, the officials say the opposition wanted to refuse the GCC deal and any kind of dialogue or peaceful ways to the end the crisis.

“The opposition declared the death of the GCC deal by this council,” said Tarek Al Shami, the spokesman of the ruling party. “ This means they do not want any peaceful solution, they want only to implement a conspiracy against the constitutional legitimacy,” he added.


A total of 20 members and chairman will be elected for the opposition council from among 143 members who were chosen on Wednesday July 17the, 2011.

The 143 includes all leaders of the main opposition parties which includes the Islamists, Socialists and Nasserites.
Youth and other opposition groups like Houthi, south separatist movement, and opposition abroad are represented in the list of 143. The list includes military and tribal figures like the defected general Ali Muhsen, three brothers of Al Ahmar.

However, some groups and individuals have already denied their approval and participation in the conference of Wednesday which was held in the university of Sanaa which is under the control of the defected army of general Ali Muhsen.

The opposition party of Ray, denied their approval and participation in thr council.
The top three officials of the Ray party were put in the list 142 of the council.

The tribal leader Naji Al Shayef,historic head of Bakil tribe,the second most influential tribe after Hashed, denied his approval and his knowledge of the council . His name was one of the 143.

More than 50 per cent of the 143 chosen members were absent from the founding conference of Wednesday.

The ruling party played down the importance of the opposition council.
In a statement, the party said some of those chosen for the council are high way robbers and criminals.
Earlier , the President Saleh said he would not handover the power except through elections or dialogue and compromise.

He said he would return to Yemen soon.

"See you soon, in Sana’a," Said Saleh in a televised speech he delivered to a conference of tribal leaders held in Sana’a to support him.
Saleh's supporters fired to air live bullets and fireworks after the speech to express their happiness over his return.

"I would not hand over the power to opportunists, war lords, and smugglers of oil," Saleh addressed his supporters from his royal residence in Riyadh. The prime minister Ali Mujawar and speaker of parliament Yahya Al Rayee, were sitting next to Saleh as he spoke.

"Dialogue is better than car bombs, attacking military camps, and mosques," said Saleh who looked and sounded normal in the forth public appearance in 10 days.

About 5,000 pro-government tribal leaders from all over Yemen held Tuesday a conference in the Yemeni capital Sana’a to support President Saleh who is preparing himself to return from Saudi Arabia where finished treatments from injuries he sustained in the failed assassination attempt of June 3, 2011 in the mosques of the Presidential Palace in Sana’a.

The tribal conference came only one day before the declaration of the opposition council.

Similar councils were previously declared by opposition groups within these parties but failed to do anything or have any kind of recognition.

The new thing in this council is that it has relatively big support from defected military commanders and tribal leaders. The politically ambitious and wealthy businesses man Hamid Al Ahmar is widely believed to be mainly behind this council.

Hamid Al Ahmar, who has been grooming himself for presidency since 2006, and has been orchestrating and mainly financing the anti-Saleh protests since early this year.

Hamid Al Ahmar is accused of playing an essential role in the failed assassination attempt against President Saleh and several other senior officials early last June.

Hamid and a senior official from Saleh's regime exchanged accusations just two days before such a council is declared.

Hamid said Saleh's sons were behind the failed assassination to justify their inheritance of the power after their father.

However, the official, Sultan Al Barakani, assistant secretary general of the ruling party, said Hamid was the main accused.

"There is no longer room for doubt that Hamid Al Ahmar is the prime suspect in the sinful assassination attempt to which the president of the republic and a number of officials were subjected," said Al Barakani in press statements on Monday August 15th,2011.

The results of the investigations, in which American investigators are participating, are not declared yet.

Hamid Al Ahmar and his brother Sadeq have been in on-and-off military confrontations with President Saleh's forces since last May.

Some young protesters are participating in the fighting which is now in a fragile truce.

The majority of Al Ahmar's fighters came from Hashed tribe, the country's most powerful tribe. President Saleh belongs to Hashed tribe.

Earlier this month, Sadeq Al Ahmar , who is one of Hashed's leaders, threatened that Saleh would not rule any more as long as he is still alive.

And with support from the defected general Ali Muhsen, Saded claimed that all the tribes of Yemen are with him.

General Muhsen , Saleh's cousin, belongs to Hashed tribe as well.

To respond to Al Ahmar brothers who are mainly behind the so-called national council, tribal leaders loyal to President Saleh from Hashed and all other tribes in Yemen held a meeting in the Yemeni capital Sana’a on Monday August 15th, 2011.

About 5000 tribal leaders from all over the country refused all kinds of violence and all attempts to overthrow the constitutional legitimacy. They declared their stand with Saleh.

Like Sadeq Al Al Ahmar, they claimed that they represent all tribesmen of Yemen.


"We are the tribal leaders of the whole Yemen, and we are here today to protect the constitutional legitimacy and to stand with the armed forces," said the chairman of the tribal conference, Mohammed Bin Naji Al Shayef.

Al Shayef is the top leader of Bakil tribe, the second powerful tribe after Hashed.
"We'll stand against those who refuse dialogue, and those who dream of taking the power by force," said Al Shayef whose palace is not far from Al Ahmar's palace in Al Hasaba area north of Sana’a where fighting erupted last May between Saleh's forces and and Al Ahmar's tribesmen.


Meanwhile, tensions remain high in Sana’a and other places where clashes happen from time to time despite all efforts exerted by the vice president Abdu Rabu Mansor Hadi to pacify the situation.

The government called the protesters camping out at the gate of university of Sanaa to go home like those in other cities.

"We call these protesters camping out at the gate of Sanaa university to return to right path and go hone like their colleagues in other cities who left squares and went home, and it's only the wanted for security who remained," said ministry of interior on Tuesday,16th, 2011.

Some of the protesters have either joined Al Al Ahmar fighters or the defected army after they lost hope that peaceful means would achieve their goals.



The Yemeni ministry of defense warned young protesters from joining army units led by the defected general Ali Muhsen who supports the anti-government protests.

The ministry said in a statement that those recruited in the first armored division (FAD) will be illegal.

"Recruitments in the first armored division are outside the law," said the statement.

About 25 percent of the young protesters , camped out at the gate of Sana’a university since February this year, have already joined the first armored division of general Ali Muhsen said military sources inside the FAD.

The FAD headquarters is located in the area of Sana’a university where tents of the protesters are extended in the area between the two gates of university and FAD.

The majority of those already recruited were students in the religious university of Al Eman which is also located in the same area.

Al Eman university is owned and run by the cleric Abdul Majid Al Zandani, who is wanted by UN and US as a global terrorist.

The general Muhsen and Shiekh Al Zandani have been allies since late 1980s when they worked together for sending young people to Afghanistan for fighting the Soviet Union.

"We accepted every willing student from Al Eman university first, and then we accepted other young people," said an officer working in the personnel department of FAD.

" About 25 per cent of those youth camping out around our headquarters have recruited since March," said the officer who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue.

The officer confirmed that all those newly recruited are already working and participating in defending their colleagues, the anti-government protesters.

And they get paid monthly but not from the budget of the ministry of defense.

"the salaries of all those come from the budget of FAD, the ministry pays only for those approved by it," said the officer.

The salary they get is 50 per cent less than their counterparts in the army.

The FAD can not pay those individuals who defected from loyal units like central security and republican guards.

The ministry of defense cuts their salaries as soon as they quit their job.

However, those who defect from FAD are paid immediately as soon as they get to the camps of the republican guards.

To encourage more detections from FAD, the personal weapons of those who defect become their own possession and their salary is immediately transferred from pay roll of FAD to the republican guards, the highly qualified and trained units led by President Saleh's son, Ahmed.

Opposition council ignored by officials and denied by some of its members

By Nasser Arrabyee,18/08/2011

The Yemeni opposition groups declared an umbrella council on Wednesday to escalate their pressure on the defiant President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down. 

The opposition step came only one day after President Saleh vowed he  would return very soon.

The opposition say their umbrella , the national council, will unite their forces and lead the revolution until all goals are achieved.

The deputy minister of information Abdu Al Janadi said the majority is still with president Saleh and his party.
"We do not care at all about this council, we still have the majority and President still has the majority," Al Janadi commented.

20 members and chairman will be elected for the council  from among 142 members who were chosen  on Wednesday July 17the, 2011.

The 142 includes all leaders of the main opposition parties which includes the Islamists,Socialists and Nasserites.
Youth and other opposition groups  like Houthi, south separatist movement, and opposition abroad  are represented in the list of 142.

However, some groups and individuals have already denied their  approval and participation in the conference of Wednesday which was held in the university of Sanaa which is under the control of the defected army of general Ali Muhsen.

The  opposition party of Ray, denied their approval and participation in thr council.
 The top three officials of the Ray party were put in the list 142 of the council.

The tribal leader Naji Al Shayef,historic head of Bakil tribe,the second most influential tribe after Hashed, denied his approval and his knowledge of the council . His name was one of the 142.

More than 50 per cent of the 142 chosen members were absent from the founding conference of Wednesday.

The ruling party played down the importance of the opposition council.
In a statement,the party said some of those chosen for the council are high way robbers and criminals.

Opposition council ignored by officials and denied by some of its members

By Nasser Arrabyee,18/08/2011

The Yemeni opposition groups declared an umbrella council on Wednesday to escalate their pressure on the defiant President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down. 

The opposition step came only one day after President Saleh vowed he  would return very soon.

The opposition say their umbrella , the national council, will unite their forces and lead the revolution until all goals are achieved.

The deputy minister of information Abdu Al Janadi said the majority is still with president Saleh and his party.
"We do not care at all about this council, we still have the majority and President still has the majority," Al Janadi commented.

20 members and chairman will be elected for the council  from among 142 members who were chosen  on Wednesday July 17the, 2011.

The 142 includes all leaders of the main opposition parties which includes the Islamists,Socialists and Nasserites.
Youth and other opposition groups  like Houthi, south separatist movement, and opposition abroad  are represented in the list of 142.

However, some groups and individuals have already denied their  approval and participation in the conference of Wednesday which was held in the university of Sanaa which is under the control of the defected army of general Ali Muhsen.

The  opposition party of Ray, denied their approval and participation in thr council.
 The top three officials of the Ray party were put in the list 142 of the council.

The tribal leader Naji Al Shayef,historic head of Bakil tribe,the second most influential tribe after Hashed, denied his approval and his knowledge of the council . His name was one of the 142.

More than 50 per cent of the 142 chosen members were absent from the founding conference of Wednesday.

The ruling party played down the importance of the opposition council.
In a statement,the party said some of those chosen for the council are high way robbers and criminals.

Yemeni tribesmen seize 10 militants in south

Source: Reuters, 17/08/2011

Yemeni tribesman working with the army of President Ali Abdullah Saleh arrested 10 suspected Islamist militants in southern Yemen late on Tuesday, where the government has lost control of some areas after months of political turmoil.

The men were stopped at a checkpoint near the town of Shoqra in the possession of machine guns and grenades heading toward the southern port city of Aden on the main coastal road. The men were handed over to the army, which transferred them to Aden by the safer sea route, local and tribal sources said.

Islamists, some possibly from al Qaeda, have taken over coastal areas and towns such as Jaar and Zinjibar in recent months, apparently exploiting a security vacuum as Saleh and his allies fight to stay in power in the face of pro-democracy protests that began in January.

Saleh, in power since 1978, said on Tuesday he would soon return home from Saudi Arabia where he is recovering from a June assassination attempt that badly burned him and raised questions about whether he could return to rule.

In his second televised appearance from Riyadh, Saleh looked to be in markedly better health, attacking opposition parties as opportunists who had hijacked the youth protests and instigated violence.

He ended the live speech to a gathering of several thousand tribal supporters in Sanaa with a vow to return to Yemen very soon.

His return would anger demonstrators who had hoped his sojourn in Riyadh would become permanent and also dismay the United States, which has urged its former ally to stay away.

Popular protests against Saleh snowballed after uprisings ousted veteran presidents in Tunisia and Egypt this year, but the Yemeni leader has clung on, defying international pressure and three times backing out of a Gulf-brokered transition deal.

Protesters and opposition parties suspect Saleh has deliberately loosened security to allow militants space to operate, in an attempt to illustrate the dangers of Yemen without him.

His key allies in Riyadh and Washington fear that al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula will establish a firmer footing in Yemen if Saleh is forced out, enabling them to launch more operations broad. They have backed Saleh for years as the man who can keep a lid on Yemen al Qaeda activities.

I will never step down without elections or compromise, Saleh says as he packs to return to Yemen

Saleh  says he will return soon

Yemen tribesmen try to succeed in what parties fail 

 Mobilization and counter-mobilization

By Nasser Arrabyee 17/08/2011
 
The Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh said he would not handover the power except through elections  or dialogue and compromise.

He said he would  return to Yemen soon.

"See you soon, in Sanaa," Said Saleh in a  televised speech he delivered  to a conference of  tribal leaders held in Sanaa to support him.
 Saleh's supporters fired to air live bullets and fireworks after the speech to express their happiness.

"I would not hand over the power to opportunists, war lords,and smugglers of oil," Saleh addressed his supporters from his royal residence in Riyadh. The prime minister Ali Mujawar and speaker of parliament Yahya Al Rayee,were sitting next to Saleh as he spoke.

"Dialogue is better than car bombs,attacking military camps, and mosques," said Saleh who looked and sounded normal in the forth public appearance in 10 days.

The opposition was angry from Saleh's speech. Sultan Al Atwani,one six opposition leaders said Saleh wanted to drag Yemen into civil war. And he wondered why Saudi Arabia allowed Saleh to do that. For the young people camping out in squares,they vowed to put Saleb in fair trial.



About 5000  pro-government tribal leaders from all over Yemen held Tuesday a conference in the Yemeni capital Sanaa to support the President Ali Abdullah Saleh who is preparing himself to return from Saudi Arabia.

The tribal conference comes only one day before an opposition conference to force  President Saleh to stay in Saudi Arabia where he had medical treatments from injuries he sustained in a failed assassination attempt on June 3rd,  2011.

The  Yemeni opposition parties have decided to make an umbrella council to escalate pressure on the defiant President  Saleh to step down.  

Similar councils were previously  declared by opposition groups within these parties but  failed to do anything or have any kind of  recognition.

The new thing in this council,which is supposed to be declared on Wednesday August 17th, 2011, is that it has relatively big support from defected military commanders and  tribal leaders, in addition to a  politically ambitious and wealthy  businesses man.  

This man is Hamid Al Ahmar,who has been grooming himself for presidency since 2006, and has been orchestrating and mainly financing the anti-Saleh protests since early this year. 

Hamid Al Ahmar is accused of playing an essential role in the failed assassination attempt against President Saleh and several other senior officials  early last June. 

Hamid and  a senior official from Saleh's regime exchanged accusations just  two days before such a council is declared. 

Hamid said Saleh's sons were behind the failed assassination to justify their inheritance of the power after their father.

However, the official,Sultan Al Barakani, assistant secretary general of the ruling party, said Hamid was the main accused.

"There  is no longer room for doubt that Hamid Al Ahmar  is the prime suspect in the sinful assassination attempt to which the president of the republic and a number of officials were subjected," said Al Barakani in press statements  on Monday August 15th,2011.

The results of the investigations,in which American investigators are participating, are not declared yet.

Hamid Al Ahmar and his brother Sadeq have been in military confrontation  with President Saleh's forces since last May.

 Some young  protesters are participating in the fighting which is now in a fragile truce.

The majority of Al Ahmar's  fighters came  from Hashed tribe,the country's most powerful tribe. President Saleh belongs to Hashed tribe.

Earlier this month, Sadeq  Al Ahmar , who is one of Hashed's leaders, threatened that  Saleh would not rule any more as long as he is still alive. 

And with support from the defected general Ali Muhsen,Saded claimed that all the tribes of Yemen are with him. 

General Muhsen , Saleh's cousin, belongs to Hashed  tribe as well.

To respond to Al Ahmar brothers who are mainly behind the so-called national council, tribal leaders  loyal to President Saleh from Hashed and all other tribes in Yemen held a meeting in the Yemeni capital Sanaa on Monday August 15th, 2011. 

 About 5000 tribal leaders  from all over the country refused all kinds of violence and all attempts to overthrow the constitutional legitimacy. They  declares their stand with Saleh.

Like Sadeq Al Al Ahmar, they claimed that they  represent all tribesmen of Yemen.

 
"We are the tribal leaders of the whole  
Yemen, and we are here today to protect the constitutional legitimacy and to stand  with the armed forces," said the chairman of the tribal conference, Mohammed Bin Naji Al Shayef.

Al Shayef is the top leader of Bakil tribe, the second largest tribe after Hashed.
"We'll stand against those who refuse dialogue,and those who dream of taking the power by force," said Al Shayef whose palace is not far from Al Ahmar's palace in Al Hasaba area north of Sanaa  where fighting erupted last May between Saleh's forces and and Al Ahmar's tribesmen.

Earlier this week, the Yemeni Tv showed the President Saleh doing various political activities in the Saudi capital Riyadh after he was released from the hospital.

 In an extensive  meeting with his top aides, Saleh said he  was ready to implement a US-backed and Saudi-led GCC deal to solve the crisis if a mechanism for implementing it is found.

The meeting brought together the prime minister Ali Mujawar, and speaker of Parliament Yahya Al Rayee, who  both were  recovered from their injuries they sustained in the failed assassination attempt last June3. 

Other senior officials came from Sanaa to attend the consultative  meeting. 

Meanwhile, tensions remain high in Sanaa and many other places where  clashes happen from time to time despite all efforts exerted by the vice president Abdu Rabu Mansor Hadi to pacify the situation. 

The government called the protesters camping out at the gate of university of Sanaa to go home like those in other cities.

"We call these protesters camping out at the gate of Sanaa university to return to right path and go hone like their colleagues in other cities who left squares and went home, and it's only the wanted for security who remained," said ministry of interior on Tuesday,16th, 2011.




Some of the protesters have either joined Al Al Ahmar fighters or the defected army after they  lost hope that peaceful means would achieve their goals.



Earlier this week, the Yemeni ministry of defense warned jobless young people from joining army units led by  the defected general Ali Muhsen who supports the anti-government protests.

The ministry said in a statement  that those recruited in the first armored division (FAD)  will be illegal.

"Recruitments in the first armored division are outside the law," said the statement.

About 25 percent of the young protesters , camped out at the gate of Sanaa university since February this year,  have already joined the  first armored division of general Ali Muhsen said military sources inside  the FAD.

 The FAD headquarters is located in the area of Sanaa   university where tents  of the protesters are extended in the area between the two gates of university and FAD.

The majority of those already recruited   were students in the religious university of Al Eman which is also located in the same area. 

Al Eman university is owned and run by the cleric Abdul Majid Al Zandani,who is wanted by UN and US as a  global terrorist.  

The general Muhsen and Shiekh Al Zandani have been allies since late 1980s when they worked together for sending young people to Afghanistan for fighting the Soviet Union.

"We accepted every willing  student from Al Eman university first, and then we  accepted other young people," said an officer working in the personnel department of FAD.

" About 25 per cent of those youth camping  out around our headquarters have recruited since March," said the officer who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue.

The officer confirmed that all those  newly recruited are already working and participating in defending their colleagues,  the anti-government protesters. 

And they get paid monthly but not from the budget of the ministry of defense. 

"the salaries of all those come from the budget  of FAD, the ministry pays only for those approved by it," said the officer.

The salary they get is 50 per cent less than their counterparts in the army.

The FAD can not pay those individuals who defected from loyal units like central security and republican guards.

The ministry of defense cuts their salaries as soon as they quit their job.

However, those   who defect  from FAD are   paid immediately as soon as they get   to the camps of the republican guards.

To encourage more detections from FAD, the personal weapons of those who defect become their own possession and their salary is  immediately transferred from pay roll of FAD to the republican guards, the highly qualified and trained units led by President   Saleh's son, Ahmed.

Yemen tribesmen try to succeed in what politicians fail

Mobilization and counter-mobilization 

By Nasser Arrabyee 16/08/2011

About 5000  pro-government tribal leaders from all over Yemen held Tuesday a conference in the Yemeni capital Sanaa to support the President Ali Abdullah Saleh who is preparing himself to return from Saudi Arabia.

The tribal conference comes only one day before an opposition conference to force  President Saleh to stay in Saudi Arabia where he had medical treatments from injuries he sustained in a failed assassination attempt on June 3rd,  2011.

The  Yemeni opposition parties have decided to make an umbrella council to escalate pressure on the defiant President  Saleh to step down.  

Similar councils were previously  declared by opposition groups within these parties but  failed to do anything or have any kind of  recognition.

The new thing in this council,which is supposed to be declared on Wednesday August 17th, 2011, is that it has relatively big support from defected military commanders and  tribal leaders, in addition to a  politically ambitious and wealthy  businesses man.  

This man is Hamid Al Ahmar,who has been grooming himself for presidency since 2006, and has been orchestrating and mainly financing the anti-Saleh protests since early this year. 

Hamid Al Ahmar is accused of playing an essential role in the failed assassination attempt against President Saleh and several other senior officials  early last June. 

Hamid and  a senior official from Saleh's regime exchanged accusations just  two days before such a council is declared. 

Hamid said Saleh's sons were behind the failed assassination to justify their inheritance of the power after their father.

However, the official,Sultan Al Barakani, assistant secretary general of the ruling party, said Hamid was the main accused.

"There  is no longer room for doubt that Hamid Al Ahmar  is the prime suspect in the sinful assassination attempt to which the president of the republic and a number of officials were subjected," said Al Barakani in press statements  on Monday August 15th,2011.

The results of the investigations,in which American investigators are participating, are not declared yet.

Hamid Al Ahmar and his brother Sadeq have been in military confrontation  with President Saleh's forces since last May.

 Some young  protesters are participating in the fighting which is now in a fragile truce.

The majority of Al Ahmar's  fighters came  from Hashed tribe,the country's most powerful tribe. President Saleh belongs to Hashed tribe.

Earlier this month, Sadeq  Al Ahmar , who is one of Hashed's leaders, threatened that  Saleh would not rule any more as long as he is still alive. 

And with support from the defected general Ali Muhsen,Saded claimed that all the tribes of Yemen are with him. 

General Muhsen , Saleh's cousin, belongs to Hashed  tribe as well.

To respond to Al Ahmar brothers who are mainly behind the so-called national council, tribal leaders  loyal to President Saleh from Hashed and all other tribes in Yemen held a meeting in the Yemeni capital Sanaa on Monday August 15th, 2011. 

 About 5000 tribal leaders  from all over the country refused all kinds of violence and all attempts to overthrow the constitutional legitimacy. They  declares their stand with Saleh.

Like Sadeq Al Al Ahmar, they claimed that they  represent all tribesmen of Yemen.

 
"We are the tribal leaders of the whole  
Yemen, and we are here today to protect the constitutional legitimacy and to stand  with the armed forces," said the chairman of the tribal conference, Mohammed Bin Naji Al Shayef.

Al Shayef is the top leader of Bakil tribe, the second largest tribe after Hashed.
"We'll stand against those who refuse dialogue,and those who dream of taking the power by force," said Al Shayef whose palace is not far from Al Ahmar's palace in Al Hasaba area north of Sanaa  where fighting erupted last May between Saleh's forces and and Al Ahmar's tribesmen.

Earlier this week, the Yemeni Tv showed the President Saleh doing various political activities in the Saudi capital Riyadh after he was released from the hospital.

 In an extensive  meeting with his top aides, Saleh said he  was ready to implement a US-backed and Saudi-led GCC deal to solve the crisis if a mechanism for implementing it is found.

The meeting brought together the prime minister Ali Mujawar, and speaker of Parliament Yahya Al Rayee, who  both were  recovered from their injuries they sustained in the failed assassination attempt last June3. 

Other senior officials came from Sanaa to attend the consultative  meeting. 

Meanwhile, tensions remain high in Sanaa and many other places where  clashes happen from time to time despite all efforts exerted by the vice president Abdu Rabu Mansor Hadi to pacify the situation. 

The government called the protesters camping out at the gate of university of Sanaa to go home like those in other cities.

"We call these protesters camping out at the gate of Sanaa university to return to right path and go hone like their colleagues in other cities who left squares and went home, and it's only the wanted for security who remained," said ministry of interior on Tuesday,16th, 2011.




Some of the protesters have either joined Al Al Ahmar fighters or the defected army after they  lost hope that peaceful means would achieve their goals.



Earlier this week, the Yemeni ministry of defense warned jobless young people from joining army units led by  the defected general Ali Muhsen who supports the anti-government protests.

The ministry said in a statement  that those recruited in the first armored division (FAD)  will be illegal.

"Recruitments in the first armored division are outside the law," said the statement.

About 25 percent of the young protesters , camped out at the gate of Sanaa university since February this year,  have already joined the  first armored division of general Ali Muhsen said military sources inside  the FAD.

 The FAD headquarters is located in the area of Sanaa   university where tents  of the protesters are extended in the area between the two gates of university and FAD.

The majority of those already recruited   were students in the religious university of Al Eman which is also located in the same area. 

Al Eman university is owned and run by the cleric Abdul Majid Al Zandani,who is wanted by UN and US as a  global terrorist.  

The general Muhsen and Shiekh Al Zandani have been allies since late 1980s when they worked together for sending young people to Afghanistan for fighting the Soviet Union.

"We accepted every willing  student from Al Eman university first, and then we  accepted other young people," said an officer working in the personnel department of FAD.

" About 25 per cent of those youth camping  out around our headquarters have recruited since March," said the officer who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue.

The officer confirmed that all those  newly recruited are already working and participating in defending their colleagues,  the anti-government protesters. 

And they get paid monthly but not from the budget of the ministry of defense. 

"the salaries of all those come from the budget  of FAD, the ministry pays only for those approved by it," said the officer.

The salary they get is 50 per cent less than their counterparts in the army.

The FAD can not pay those individuals who defected from loyal units like central security and republican guards.

The ministry of defense cuts their salaries as soon as they quit their job.

However, those   who defect  from FAD are   paid immediately as soon as they get   to the camps of the republican guards.

To encourage more detections from FAD, the personal weapons of those who defect become their own possession and their salary is  immediately transferred from pay roll of FAD to the republican guards, the highly qualified and trained units led by President   Saleh's son, Ahmed.

Opposition billionaire tribal leader allegedly behind failed assassination attempt against President Saleh

Source: Reuters,15/08/2011

DUBAI- - A prominent opposition leader is the main suspect in the attempt to assassinate Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, a member of the ruling party said in comments published on Monday.

Saleh is clinging to power despite months of protests against his 33-year rule that have evolved in some regions into serious armed conflict, increasing fears of anarchy that could be exploited by al Qaeda militants entrenched in Yemen.

A bomb blast in Saleh's palace mosque in June forced him to seek medical treatment in neighbouring Saudi Arabia, where he is still convalescing from extensive burn wounds while impoverished Yemen churns in the throes of a political crisis.

"There is no longer room for doubt that Hamid al-Ahmar is the prime suspect in the sinful assassination attempt to which the president of the republic and a number of officials were subjected," Sultan al-Barakani told the Saudi-owned pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat on Monday.

"The results of the investigation indicate that the SIM cards used in the operation all belonged to the company Sabafon which is owned by Hamid al-Ahmar," added Barakani, head of the General People's Congress parliamentary bloc.

Sabafon is Yemen's leading mobile network operator.

Hamid al-Ahmar is a leading figure in the powerful Ahmar tribe and a wealthy businessman with a senior position in the Islamist opposition party Islah. He is the brother of Sadeq al-Ahmar whose forces engaged in heavy fighting with Saleh loyalists in the weeks before he was injured on June 3.

Ahmar on Sunday denied responsibility for the attack that also injured the prime minister, two deputy prime ministers and the speakers of both parliamentary chambers. In an interview with Asharq al-Awsat he said Saleh's sons and guards were behind it, in a bid to consolidate their inheritance of power.

U.S. diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks say that Ahmar told the then- U.S. ambassador that he wanted to draw up a plan in 2009 to force Saleh out of power involving mass protests around the impoverished Arabian Peninsula country.

   The cable highlights Saudi and US scepticism about whether this would be possible.

Ahmar told the ambassador Saleh needed to guarantee the fairness of parliamentary elections that were scheduled for this year and to remove his sons, who he called "clowns," from positions of power.

Saleh's son Ahmed is head of the presidential guard.

The United States and Saudi Arabia want to ensure a smooth transition of power in Yemen to avert instability that would give al Qaeda militants more opportunity to solidify their position and use Yemen as a springboard for foreign attacks.

Car bomb kills two in Al Houth rebel controlled area in Yemen

By Nasser Arrabyee/15/08/2011
Two people at least were killed and more than five injured when a suicide bomber exploded his booby-trapped car in an area controlled by the Al Houthi rebels in Al Jawf province, local sources said Monday.

The suicide bomber was one of the two killed in the operations, the sources said.
The suicide bomber tried to drive his car to the health centre of Al Matamah district in Al Jawf which is under the control of Al Houthi Shiite rebels.
The car exploded as soon as the rebels tried to stop the car from entering the yard of the health center, the sources said.

The suicide bombing came only two days after a cease-fire and truce was reached between Al Houthi rebels and the Suni Islamists of the opposition party of Islah.
Hundred were killed and injured in the confrontations between the sides over the last few months.

Al Houthi rebels accused US of being behind the suicide attack. “It’s American conspiracy which targets Yemen and in particular the northern province,” said a statement issued by the office of the leader of Al Houthi rebels Abdul Malik Al Houthi.

Ministry of defense warns protesters from joining defected army

By Nasser Arrabyee 14/08/2011

The Yemeni ministry of defense warned jobless young people from joining army units led by the defected general Ali Muhsen who supports the anti-government protests.

The ministry said in a statement on Sunday that those recruited in the first armored division (FAD) will be illegal.

"Recruitments in the first armored division are outside the law," said the statement.

About 25 percent of the young protesters , camped out at the gate of Sanaa university since February this year, have already joined the first armored division of general Ali Muhsen said military sources inside the FAD.

The FAD headquarters is located in the area of Sanaa university where tents of the protesters are extended in the area between the two gates of university and FAD.

The majority of those already recruited were students in the religious university of Al Eman which is also located in the same area.

Al Eman university is owned and run by the cleric Abdul Majid Al Zandani,who is wanted by UN and US as a global terrorist.

The general Muhsen and Shiekh Al Zandani have been allies since late 1980s when they worked together for sending young people to Afghanistan for fighting the Soviet Union.

"We accepted every willing student from Al Eman university first, and then we accepted other young people," said an officer working in the personnel department of FAD.

" About 25 per cent of those youth camping out around our headquarters have recruited since March," said the officer who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue.

The officer confirmed that all those newly recruited are already working and participating in defending their colleagues, the anti-government protesters.

And they get paid monthly but not from the budget of the ministry of defense.

"the salaries of all those come from the credits of FAD, the ministry pays only for those approved by it," said the officer.

The salary they get is 50 per cent less than their counterparts in the army.

The FAD can not pay those individuals who defected from loyal units like central security and republican guards.

The ministry of defense cuts their salaries as soon as they quit their job.

However, those who defect from FAD are paid immediately as soon as they get to the camps of the republican guards.

To encourage more detections from FAD, the personal weapons of those who defect become their own possession and their salary is immediately transferred from pay roll of FAD to the republican guards, the highly qualified and trained units led by President Saleh's son, Ahmed.

Qaeda Trying to Harness Toxin for Bombs, U.S. Officials Fear

Source : New York Times
By: ERIC SCHMITT andTHOM SHANKER 13\08\2011

American counterterrorism officials are increasingly concerned that the most dangerous regional arm of Al Qaeda is trying to produce the lethal poison ricin, to be packed around small explosives for attacks against the United States.

For more than a year, according to classified intelligence reports, Al Qaeda’s affiliate in Yemen has been making efforts to acquire large quantities of castor beans, which are required to produce ricin, a white, powdery toxin that is so deadly that just a speck can kill if it is inhaled or reaches the bloodstream.

Intelligence officials say they have collected evidence that Qaeda operatives are trying to move castor beans and processing agents to a hideaway in Shabwa Province, in one of Yemen’s rugged tribal areas controlled by insurgents.

The officials say the evidence points to efforts to secretly concoct batches of the poison, pack them around small explosives, and then try to explode them in contained spaces, like a shopping mall, an airport or a subway station.

President Obama and his top national security aides were first briefed on the threat last year and have received periodic updates since then, top aides said. Senior American officials say there is no indication that a ricin attack is imminent, and some experts say the Qaeda affiliate is still struggling with how to deploy ricin as an effective weapon.

These officials also note that ricin’s utility as a weapon is limited because the substance loses its potency in dry, sunny conditions, and unlike many nerve agents, it is not easily absorbed through the skin. Yemen is a hot, dry country, posing an additional challenge to militants trying to produce ricin there.

But senior American officials say they are tracking the possibility of a threat very closely, given the Yemeni affiliate’s proven ability to devise plots, including some thwarted only at the last minute: a bomb sewn into the underwear of a Nigerian man aboard a commercial jetliner to Detroit in December 2009, and printer cartridges packed with powerful explosives in cargo bound for Chicago 10 months later.

“The potential threat of weapons of mass destruction, likely in a simpler form than what people might imagine but still a form that would have a significant psychological impact, from Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in Yemen, is very, very real,” Michael E. Leiter, who retired recently as director of the National Counterterrorism Center, said at a security conference last month. “It’s not hard to develop ricin.”

A range of administration officials have stated that the threat of a major attack from Al Qaeda’s main leadership in Pakistan has waned after Osama bin Laden’s death in May, on top of the Central Intelligence Agency’s increasing drone assaults on Qaeda targets in Pakistan’s tribal areas over the past three years.

But the continuing concern over a ricin plot underscores the menace that regional Qaeda affiliates, especially Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, now pose to the United States and American interests overseas.

“That line of threat has never abated,” said a senior American official, who referred to the terrorist group by its initials. “That’s been taken seriously by this government. What we know about A.Q.A.P. is that they do what they say.”

Al Qaeda’s arm in Yemen has openly discussed deploying ricin and other deadly poisons against the United States. “Brothers with less experience in the fields of microbiology or chemistry, as long as they possess basic scientific knowledge, would be able to develop other poisons such as ricin or cyanide,” the organization posted to its online English-language journal, Inspire, last fall, in an article titled “Tips for Our Brothers in the United States of America.”

Senior administration officials say ricin is among the threats focused on by a secret government task force created after the printer-cartridge plot.

The task force is working closely with Saudi intelligence officials and the remnants of Yemen’s intelligence agencies, and it is using information gleaned from the shipboard interrogation of a Somali terrorist leader with ties to the Yemeni branch of Al Qaeda, who was captured by Navy Seal commandos in April.

The intelligence reports indicating ricin plots by Al Qaeda’s Yemeni affiliate were first uncovered during reporting for a book, “Counterstrike: The Untold Story of America’s Secret Campaign Against Al Qaeda.” It will be published next week by Times Books, an imprint of Henry Holt & Company.

American officials now say that Al Qaeda’s most direct threat to the United States comes from the Yemeni affiliate.

These officials have also expressed growing alarm at the way the affiliate is capitalizing on the virtual collapse of Yemen’s government to widen its area of control inside the country, and is strengthening its operational ties to the Shabab, the Islamic militancy in Somalia, to exploit the chaos in both countries.

“It continues to demonstrate its growing ambitions and strong desire to carry out attacks outside its region,” Daniel Benjamin, the State Department’s counterterrorism coordinator, said in a speech last month, referring to Al Qaeda’s Yemeni branch.

The affiliate has also become a magnet for terrorists fleeing the increasing pressure from drone strikes in Pakistan, and is recruiting specialists in bomb-making and other skills. “These guys have got some notoriety,” said a senior United States official who follows Al Qaeda and its affiliates closely. “They have a natural, charismatic attraction value for people who want to be jihadists and plot against the West.”

“A.Q.A.P.’s senior leaders are a lot like an organization that’s largely a brain that exists on its own and has to recruit its arms and legs to actually execute things,” the official continued.

Largely because of the Americans in the Yemeni affiliate’s top leadership, including Anwar al-Awlaki, a cleric born in New Mexico who is in hiding in Yemen, American counterterrorism and intelligence officials fear the affiliate’s innovative agility. “The fastest-learning enemy we have is A.Q.A.P.,” said the senior United States official.

In recent months, as the Yemeni government has become nearly paralyzed, the Obama administration has stepped up pressure on the Qaeda affiliate there.

It has escalated a campaign of airstrikes carried out by the Pentagon’s Joint Special Operations Command with the C.I.A.’s help. The C.I.A. is building a base in the region to serve as a hub for future operations in Yemen.

The Pentagon’s air campaign in Yemen was renewed in May after a nearly yearlong hiatus; since then the military has carried out at least four airstrikes in the country.

The ricin plots believed to be emanating from Yemen are the latest example of terrorists’ desire to obtain and deploy unconventional weapons in attacks. In 1995, the Aum Shinrikyo cult released sarin nerve gas on underground trains in Tokyo, killing 12 people and injuring more than 5,000, and nearly paralyzing one of the world’s leading economies for weeks.

In 2003, British and French operatives broke up suspected Qaeda cells that possessed components and manuals for making ricin bombs and maps of the London subway system.

A ricin-dispersing bomb detonated in a major subway system or in a mall or at a major airport would not result in mass destruction on the scale of the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, counterterrorism specialists said.

But it could inflict disproportionate psychological terror on big-city transportation systems. “Is it going to kill many people? No,” said Mr. Leiter, the former counterterrorism official. “Is it going to be a big news story and is it going to scare some people? Yes.”

Months after the initial ricin intelligence reports surfaced last year, Saudi intelligence officials revealed a twist to the ricin plot: Qaeda operatives were trying to place the toxin in bottles of perfume, especially a popular local fragrance made of the resin of agarwood, and send those bottles as gifts to assassinate government officials and law enforcement and military officers.

There is no indication that Al Qaeda ever succeeded with this approach, intelligence officials said.

As Yemen Crisis Drags On, Risks Grow

Source: Voice of America, 12/08/2011

Yemen's embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh makes his first public appearance since he was injured in a blast at his palace compound in June, 2011. (file photo).Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh says he is working on a plan for a peaceful transition of power, even as opponents announce they will unilaterally create what looks like an alternative government.

The main opposition coalition will meet next week to form what it's calling a "national council" to step up the pressure against Saleh, who is currently in Saudi Arabia for medical treatment. The opposition Joint Meeting Parties want to unite the demands of street protesters and other anti-government forces seeking an end to Saleh's decades-long rule.

Government officials are warning against any such council, saying it would be a declaration of war against the state. Moreover, they say, it is unnecessary. Yemen's state media report that the president is again considering a plan by the Gulf Cooperation Council that outlines the steps toward a post-Saleh Yemen. The president is quoted as saying late Wednesday that his government is committed to finding solutions to the "disagreement" with the opposition.

Saleh was shown in a video from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where he has been recovering from a bomb blast at his presidential compound in June. He appeared more vigorous than in previous images. However, his comments about the GCC plan came under question. He has agreed to the GCC proposal three times in recent months, each time backing out at the last minute.

The ongoing stalemate, now in its seventh month, is raising further alarms abroad. The U.N. Security Council this week expressed its concerns, which range from a deteriorating humanitarian situation in Yemen, to the instability being exploited by the Yemen-based terrorist group, al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula.

U.N. Security Council President Hardeep Singh Puri urged all parties to reject violence as a solution to the political crisis.

"The members of the Security Council also called on all parties to move forward urgently, and an inclusive, orderly and Yemeni-led process of political transition that meets the needs and aspirations of the Yemeni people for change," said Puri.

Yemen's government stresses that change will not be brought about by any external pressure.

Officials this week rejected a report that the United States and Saudi Arabia are urging Saleh not to return to Sana'a. A U.S. State Department spokesman also denied the report, saying it was up to the president to return or not. Washington has long supported Saleh as a bulwark against al-Qaida.

Yemeni political commentator Nasser Arrabyee says Saleh's whereabouts are likely not as important as his actual involvement in the process.

"Saleh still has a lot of support," he said. "His supporters are millions here and that's why the international community is focusing on a constitutional transition, which means that it is only President Saleh who will do this constitutional transition."

Arrabyee says the alternative, more violence between government forces and its opponents, is in no one's interest. But he adds that the longer the situation drags on, the greater the chance that militant forces can coopt the original pro-reform movement.

"The protesters are still there in the streets," said Arrabyee. "But their leaders are doing something else. They are now involved in military confrontations, under the leadership of al Ahmar, and they have also the defected general Ali Mohsen, who also supported the protests but he is involved in many military confrontations."

Tribal leader Sadiq al-Ahmar, whose members have already fought fierce battles against government troops, joined forces late last month with other tribal groups to form the Alliance of Yemeni Tribes. The well-armed tribes say any aggression against the protesters will be considered an attack against them.

Pro-Saleh tribesmen to meet in Sana’a for rejecting violence, and outlaws

By Nasser Arrabyee 11/08/2011

The Yemeni tribesmen from all over Yemen are preparing for a general national conference to reject all kinds of violent acts that may lead Yemen to an all-out civil war, said the deputy minister of information.

The conference, which will be held in the capital Sana’a, will come out with a signed charter of honor to prevent all illegal acts like road blocking, attacking on public and private properties, said the deputy minister Abdul Janadi in a press conference late Wednesday.

Al Janadi said the step for holding such a tribal conference came after the provocative statements by the opposition tribal leader Sadeq Al Ahamr. “The statements of Sadeq Al Ahamr were provocative to all Yemeni tribesmen,” said Al Janadi.
Earlier this month, Sheikh Al Ahmar, figurehead of the most powerful tribe in Yemen, Hashed, declared a tribal coalition to support the anti-Saleh protests.

Almost all effective conflicting parties in Yemen belong to the Hashed tribe including President Saleh, defected general Ali Muhsen and Al Ahmar brothers.
Like all tribes in Yemen, Hashed has become divided between the supporters and detractors of President Saleh mainly because of the seven-month crisis.
Al Janadi also said that the opposition parties would declare a war if they announced what they called a “national council”.

“This council will be born dead just like the previous ones,” Al Janadi told the reporters.

“This council will be an attempt to create a state inside the state which means dragging Yemen to a civil war,” he said.

He called the moderates in the opposition parties to cancel such an idea and respond, instead, to repeated calls of President Saleh for inclusive dialogue.
On August 17th, the Islamist-led opposition coalition which includes Islamist, Socialists, and Nasserites, will meet for discussing what they called a national council for overthrowing the defiant Saleh’s regime.

At least two similar councils were previously declared by opposition groups but failed to do anything.

Al Janadi said that President Saleh would return to Yemen as soon as the doctors allowed him.

The President Saleh secretary Ahmed Al Sufi, accused those who do not want Saleh to return of being behind the failed assassination attempt.

“The President will return to Yemen for 100 %, and those who wish he would not return, are those who tried to assassinate him and his top officials,” said Al Sufi in a statement to the semi-official Al Wahda Weekly.




The Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh said he is still ready to deal positively with the GCC initiate for solving the political crisis in his country.

In a meeting with his top aides in the Saudi capital Riyadh, Saleh said efforts should be made from all parties to find a mechanism for implementing the GCC deal for the power transfer.

Saleh appeared late Wednesday on Yemeni Tv for the third time since he was injured in the failed assassination attempt on June 3.

The meeting brought together the speaker of parliament Yahya Al Raye, prime minister Ali Mujawar, and political advisor Abdaul Kareem Al Eryani, head of national security agency, Ali Al Ansi, and the two deputy assistants of the ruling party, Sultan Al Barakani, and Ahmed Obaid Bin Daghr, and Yasser Al Awadhi, deputy chairman of the Parliamentary block, and many other officials.

Mujawar , Al Raye and Al Awadhi appeared for the first time since they were injured with the President in the failed assassination attempt. The supporters of Saleh rejoiced over the third appearance by firing fireworks, and live bullets to the air in Sana’a and many other places.


The President Saleh is now in a royal residence after he has left the military hospital in the Saudi capital Riyadh.

He was released on Sunday August 7th after he recovered from injuries and burns he sustained in a failed assassination attempt on June 3rd in his presidential palace in the capital Sana’a.
The big question now is: will Saleh return to Yemen or not? And if yes, what he will do, and if not, how can the seven-month crisis can be solved?

The solution is still in his hand. The international community still insists on a peaceful, constitutional, and orderly transition of power.

This means President Saleh is the essential player who can do that kind of transition.

Although it seems that Saleh can declare his step down and transfer of power to his deputy from Saudi Arabia or anywhere, but, apparently , this would only appease the opposition.

The supporters of Saleh , increasing forces that can never be ignored, want him to come back first , then either all parties reach a good compromise or go to early elections or Saleh finish his term until September 2013.

"And this means we preserve the essence of democracy," said Abu Bakr Al Querbi, Saleh's foreign minister.



The American and Saudi officials are now leading international and regional efforts to convince President Saleh to transfer the power to his deputy Abdu Rabu Mansor Hadi.

They avoid to talk about Saleh's return or stay as this issue is only up to the Yemeni parties.

The Yemeni officials denied on Monday August 8th press reports that the American officials had exercised pressures and convinced President Saleh not to return to Yemen.

"This is not true, and President Saleh will return," said Tarek Al Shami, the spokesman of Saleh's ruling party.

The American officials have not changed their position towards Yemen crisis from the very beginning early this year.

They keep saying they support a peaceful, constitutional and orderly transition.

Although they avoid talking about Saleh's return or stay outside Yemen, they seem to be a little bit concerned about the return that might worsen the situation.

"President Saleh can declare the transition from anyplace," the US ambassador to Sana’a Gerald Feierstein told the Weekly on August 5th.

The Yemeni opposition ignored the release of President Saleh from the hospital and set August 17th as a date for a meeting in which they will discuss what they called "formation of a national council" to coordinate and lead the "forces of the revolution"

"Saleh's release from hospital does not matter, we do not care about it ," said Mohammed Qahtan, the spokesman of the opposition coalition.

For the protesters in the streets they were affected by the spectacle of Mubarak's trial and they started to demand that Saleh be tried as well.


Although protesters, who have been demanding the ouster of President for more than six months now, say their revolution is peaceful, many of their leaders are in military confrontations with the government troops inside the capital Sana’a and many other places.


The capital Sana’a witnessed more than four hours of clashes between security forces and opposition tribesmen loyal to Al Ahmar family who mainly lead the anti-Saleh protests.

The clashes , which resulted in no casualties, came after Al Ahmar fighters kidnapped two military vehicles patrolling in the area of Al Hasaba on Thursday August 4th.
Some young protesters joined Al Ahmar fighters who control Al Hasaba neighborhood in the north of the capital.

Reinforcement troops and armored vehicles were deployed immediately after the kidnapping of the vehicles.

The two sides exchanged accusations of violating a two-month truce supported by the Saudi Monarch King Abdullah Bin Abdul Azeez.

About 150 people were killed during two weeks of fighting between the two sides late last May.

The Vice President Abdu Rabu Mansor Hadi played an essential role in stopping the latest clashes of Friday August 5th.

Armed confrontations take place almost every day in Arhab north of the capital and Nehm east of the capital, and in Taiz province south of the capital, between opposition tribesmen and government troops. The opposition Islamist party, Islah, and defected general Ali Muhsen are accused by the government of being behind the confrontations.


Earlier, the Yemeni foreign minister Abu Bakr Al Querbi, said that dialogue is the only way to get out from the current crisis in his country.

"It is impossible for this crisis to continue forever," said the minister in televised statements on Saturday.

The minister said the solution is a dialogue to reach a compromise or elections.

The military solution is impossible and no party can win in such divisions, he said.
"Those who think of the military solution are mistaken," the minister said.

He said everything is divided in Yemen, the politicians, the tribes and the army.

All Yemeni parties and regional and international players are still supporting a US-baked and Saudi-led GCC deal for transition of power suggested last April by the six Gulf countries.

Immediately after he was released from hospital, the President Saleh discussed with political advisor Abdul Kareem Al Eryani in Riyadh how to activate this deal.

Sources said it was slightly modified to take into consideration the failed assassination attempt against Saleh and his senior asides. The UN envoy Jamal Bin Omar suggested a mechanism for implementing the deal after meetings and consultations with all Yemeni parties in four visits he made recently to Yemen. The fifth visit of Bin Omar to Yemen is expected at the beginning of next September.

In his third public appearance, Presidnet Saleh calls for implementing the GCC deal for solving the crisis

By Nasser Arrabyee 11/08/2011

The Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh said he is still ready to deal positively with the GCC initiate for solving the political crisis in his country.
In a meeting with his top aides in the Saudi capital Riyadh, Saleh said efforts should be made from all parties to find a mechanism for implementing the GCC deal for the power transfer.

Saleh appeared late Wednesday on Yemeni Tv for the third time since he was injured in the failed assassination attempt on June 3.

The meeting brought together the speaker of parliament Yahya Al Raye, prime minister Ali Mujawar, and political advisor Abdaul Kareem Al Eryani, head of national security agency, Ali Al Ansi, and the two deputy assistants of the ruling party, Sultan Al Barakani, and Ahmed Obaid Bin Daghr, and Yasser Al Awadhi, deputy chairman of the Parliamentary block, and many other officials.

Mujawar , Al Raye and Al Awadhi appeared for the first time since they were injured with the President in the failed assassination attempt. The supporters of Saleh rejoiced over the third appearance by firing fireworks, and live bullets to the air in Sana’a and many other places.


The President Saleh is now in a royal residence after he has left the military hospital in the Saudi capital Riyadh.

He was released on Sunday August 7th after he recovered from injuries and burns he sustained in a failed assassination attempt on June 3rd in his presidential palace in the capital Sana’a.
The big question now is: will Saleh return to Yemen or not? And if yes, what he will do, and if not, how can the seven-month crisis can be solved?

The solution is still in his hand. The international community still insists on a peaceful, constitutional, and orderly transition of power.

This means President Saleh is the essential player who can do that kind of transition.

Although it seems that Saleh can declare his step down and transfer of power to his deputy from Saudi Arabia or anywhere, but, apparently , this would only appease the opposition.

The supporters of Saleh , increasing forces that can never be ignored, want him to come back first , then either all parties reach a good compromise or go to early elections or Saleh finish his term until September 2013.

"And this means we preserve the essence of democracy," said Abu Bakr Al Querbi, Saleh's foreign minister.



The American and Saudi officials are now leading international and regional efforts to convince President Saleh to transfer the power to his deputy Abdu Rabu Mansor Hadi.

They avoid to talk about Saleh's return or stay as this issue is only up to the Yemeni parties.

The Yemeni officials denied on Monday August 8th press reports that the American officials had exercised pressures and convinced President Saleh not to return to Yemen.

"This is not true, and President Saleh will return," said Tarek Al Shami, the spokesman of Saleh's ruling party.

The American officials have not changed their position towards Yemen crisis from the very beginning early this year.

They keep saying they support a peaceful, constitutional and orderly transition.

Although they avoid talking about Saleh's return or stay outside Yemen, they seem to be a little bit concerned about the return that might worsen the situation.

"President Saleh can declare the transition from anyplace," the US ambassador to Sana’a Gerald Feierstein told the Weekly on August 5th.

The Yemeni opposition ignored the release of President Saleh from the hospital and set August 17th as a date for a meeting in which they will discuss what they called "formation of a national council" to coordinate and lead the "forces of the revolution"

"Saleh's release from hospital does not matter, we do not care about it ," said Mohammed Qahtan, the spokesman of the opposition coalition.

For the protesters in the streets they were affected by the spectacle of Mubarak's trial and they started to demand that Saleh be tried as well.

Although protesters, who have been demanding the ouster of President for more than six months now, say their revolution is peaceful, many of their leaders are in military confrontations with the government troops inside the capital Sana’a and many other places.

The capital Sana’a witnessed more than four hours of clashes between security forces and opposition tribesmen loyal to Al Ahmar family who mainly lead the anti-Saleh protests.

The clashes , which resulted in no casualties, came after Al Ahmar fighters kidnapped two military vehicles patrolling in the area of Al Hasaba on Thursday August 4th.
Some young protesters joined Al Ahmar fighters who control Al Hasaba neighborhood in the north of the capital.

Reinforcement troops and armored vehicles were deployed immediately after the kidnapping of the vehicles.

The two sides exchanged accusations of violating a two-month truce supported by the Saudi Monarch King Abdullah Bin Abdul Azeez.

About 150 people were killed during two weeks of fighting between the two sides late last May.

The Vice President Abdu Rabu Mansor Hadi played an essential role in stopping the latest clashes of Friday August 5th.
Armed confrontations take place almost every day in Arhab north of the capital and Nehm east of the capital, and in Taiz province south of the capital, between opposition tribesmen and government troops. The opposition Islamist party, Islah, and defected general Ali Muhsen are accused by the government of being behind the confrontations.


Earlier, the Yemeni foreign minister Abu Bakr Al Querbi, said that dialogue is the only way to get out from the current crisis in his country.

"It is impossible for this crisis to continue forever," said the minister in televised statements on Saturday.

The minister said the solution is a dialogue to reach a compromise or elections.

The military solution is impossible and no party can win in such divisions, he said.
"Those who think of the military solution are mistaken," the minister said.

He said everything is divided in Yemen, the politicians, the tribes and the army.

All Yemeni parties and regional and international players are still supporting a US-baked and Saudi-led GCC deal for transition of power suggested last April by the six Gulf countries.

Immediately after he was released from hospital, the President Saleh discussed with political advisor Abdul Kareem Al Eryani in Riyadh how to activate this deal. Sources said it was slightly modified to take into consideration the failed assassination attempt against Saleh and his senior asides. The UN envoy Jamal Bin Omar suggested a mechanism for implementing the deal after meetings and consultations with all Yemeni parties in four visits he made recently to Yemen. The fifth visit of Bin Omar to Yemen is expected at the beginning of next September.