Yemeni president’s shock return throws country into confusion

Republican Guards clash with renegade soldiers as President Ali Abdullah Saleh flies in after months recuperating in Riyadh Tentative hopes for a way out of Yemen’s eight-month political crisis have been plunged into confusion by the sudden return of President Ali Abdullah Saleh after three months spent recovering in Saudi Arabia from an assassination attempt. Saleh’s abrupt reappearance follows five days of brutal violence in the capital in which more than 100 protesters have been shot dead, some by government troops using anti-aircraft guns. Sana’a is now gripped by street battles and exchanges of shelling between Republican Guards led by Saleh’s son and a division of renegade soldiers who have been backing the pro-democracy demonstrators. Hours after touching down, Saleh called for a truce between the two sides. “The solution is not in the mouths of rifles and guns, it is in dialogue and stopping bloodshed,” the defence ministry cited him as saying. But it was not immediately clear whether those battling with Saleh’s troops were willing to heed his call for peace. The sound of mortars echoed off the mountains surrounding the capital late into the evening as clashes continued. Word of the president’s dawn arrival was spread with the sound of celebratory gunfire. A brief clip on Yemeni state television showed Saleh clutching a walking stick and tentatively descending steps from a private jet at Sana’a airport. For many the president’s arrival came as a shock. Western diplomats in Sana’a, even members of Saleh’s ruling party, seemed to have no clue it was planned. Saudi princes and US diplomats are now scrambling to embrace a new political scenario with Saleh back in Yemen instead of having him cornered in a luxurious, marbled palace in Riyadh. By noon Sana’a was a divided city. Thousands gathered outside the president’s mosque hoping to catch a glimpse of Saleh. “Thank God for his safe arrival. This is the best day in Yemen’s history, no man can rule Yemen except Ali Saleh,” said an emotional middle-aged man, flipping out an ID card to prove his name, Ali Abdullah Saleh, matched that of the president. A few miles north 100,000 anti-government protesters filled a two-mile stretch of motorway for a Friday prayer ceremony. Faizah Suleiman, one of a number of prominent female leaders at the march, said she expected Saleh’s return to coincide with an even more brutal crackdown on their movement, saying: “If we’re still alive we’ll march this afternoon.” This time last week Change Square – the tented shantytown in the heart of the capital – was a sanctuary for Yemen’s pro-democracy dissidents. On Friday Yesterday it was a scene of chaos and despair. A blood-splattered tent, slashed open at the seams, marked the spot where an anti-aircraft missile landed on Wednesday , killing its occupier. Protesters distributed plastic helmets in a desperate effort to protect themselves from the bullets of plain-clothed pro-government snipers prowling the rooftops of nearby houses. Saleh’s motives remain unclear. Rumours that he was preparing to address his party, the General People’s Congress, and announce his resignation proved to be unfounded. Experts say that by returning to Yemen and then resigning, Saleh could expose himself to the risk of prosecution, a possible explanation for his hesitancy. Gregory Johnson, a Yemen scholar from Princeton University, said the timing of his return was “a characteristic Saleh move … He has done this many times in the past, setting himself up as national saviour between two competing sides.” Many are concerned that Saleh’s sudden reappearance may draw Yemen’s powerful tribal leaders into the fray. When Saleh was airlifted to Saudi Arabia for treatment after an explosion ripped through his compound in June , Sadeq Al-Ahmar, the sheikh at the head of Yemen’s most influential tribe, the Hashed, swore “by God” that he would never let Saleh rule again. The last time hostilities between the Saleh and Ahmar families turned violent in May, a week’s worth of mortar battles erupted, flattening an entire neighbourhood in the capital’s east and killing hundreds. Yemen Middle East Arab and Middle East unrest Protest Tom Finn guardian.co.uk

Posted by on September 23, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.