Yemen Blog: Army Chiefs Tribal leaders join opposition... Salah in trouble

[General Duke]

 

Several top Yemeni army commanders have declared their support for anti-government protesters seeking the resignation of the country''s president, Ali Abdullah Saleh.

 

Major General Ali Mohsen Saleh, the head of the north western military zone and the head of the first armoured division, said on Monday that he had deployed army units to protect the protesters.

 

Several other commanders, Brigadier Hameed Al Koshebi, head of brigade 310 in Omran area, Brigadier Mohammed Ali Mohsen, head of the eastern division, Brigadier Nasser Eljahori, head of brigade 121, and General Ali Abdullaha Aliewa, adviser of the Yemeni supreme leader of the army, rallied behind Major General Saleh and defected.

 

Addressing a news conference, Major General Saleh said: "Yemen today, is suffering from a comprehensive and dangerous crisis and it is widespread.

 

"Lack of dialogue and oppression of peaceful protesters in the public sphere, resulted in crisis which has increased each day.

 

"And it is because of what I feel about the emotions of officers and leaders in the armed forces, who are an integral part of the people, and protectors of the people, I declare, on their behalf, our peaceful support of the youth revolution and their demands and that we will fulfil our duties."

 

 

The announcement came days after scores died when armed men fired at an anti-government protest in the capital Sanaa.

 

Several ministers resigned from the government after Friday's violence. Abdullah Alsaidi, Yemen's ambassador to the United Nations, also quit in protest over the killings.

 

Huda al-Baan, Yemen's human rights minister, said she had resigned from the government and the ruling party in protest over the sniper attack on demonstrators.

 

She said in a statement late on Saturday that her resignation was to protest the "massacre" of demonstrators.

 

The undersecretary at the ministry, Ali Taysir, together with the ambassadors to Syria, Jordan, Kuwait and China have all resigned in protest.

 

The chief of the state news agency has also stepped down, along with Yemen's ambassador to Lebanon.

 

Hakim Al Masmari, editor-in-chief of Yemen Post, told Al Jazeera that Monday's army defections spell the end for president Saleh.

 

"It is officially over, now that 60 per cent of the army is allied with the protesters.

 

"For Ali Mohsen Saleh to annnouce this, it is a clear sign to president Saleh that the game is over and that he must step down now.

 

"It means the fall of the Yemeni army, by nightfall, we expect 90 per cent of the army to join Mohsen Saleh.

 

"According to our sources, the president knew that this will happen and he expects Major General Saleh to let him leave without further degradation and humiliation," he said.

 

Masmari, however, said Major General Saleh was not an acceptable figure.

 

"Ali Mohsen Saleh will not be accepted by the youth, it is not the start of a military government in Yemen, so a national emergency government will be a civil government," he said.

 

"He is also very corrupt, he is not respected here in Yemen, however, it will open the doors for the fall of the current regime."

[General Duke]

[General Duke]

The protests in Yemen against President Saleh have been going on for weeks, but they seem to have reached a tipping point last Friday, when snipers from rooftops killed at least 45 people and injured hundreds of others. This is Tom Finn's powerful account of the aftermath of what began as a peaceful protest by 100,000 people.

[General Duke]

The Guardian's correspondnet in Sana'a, Tom Finn, says the defection of Major General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar is hugely significant as he controls an estimated 60% of the army. His decision to support the anti-government protesters is expected to lead to most of the armed forces going over to the opposition by nightfall.

 

Ali Mohsen is basically considered the most powerful person in the military in Yemen and he has pledged his support for the protesters in Yemen. He said he was sending his soldiers to protect the protesters who have gathered outside the university. It's hugely significant because he's effectively opened the floodgates to a string of resignations from military officers to members of parliament and ambassadors.

[General Duke]

Ali Abdalla Salah is on his way out..