Yemen President Wounded in Palace Shelling

[hembo]

Yemen President Wounded in Palace Shelling
Elizabeth Arrott | Cairo June 03, 2011

Yemeni officials say President Ali Abdullah Saleh has been wounded during an attack on his compound in Sana'a. Yemen's state media said three guards were killed in the strike, which brought the nation's upheaval to the heart of the government.

Authorities say President Saleh suffered minor injuries when rocket fire hit a mosque in the presidential compound during midday prayers Friday.

Shortly after the attack, officials said Saleh would appear at a news conference, an apparent bid to dispel opposition and some media reports that the president had been more seriously injured or possibly killed. Others close to the president indicated only a statement would be released.

Hours later, with the president not appearing in public, speculation on the exact nature of his injuries added to the uncertainty gripping the capital. Saleh is reportedly being treated in a military hospital.

Deputy Information Minister Abduh al-Janadi went on state-run television Friday evening. Janadi said Saleh is in good health, but the news conference has been postponed because of the "scratches" that the president received - a statement unlikely to quell the concerns.

Officials blamed the attack on forces loyal to the al-Ahmar clan, which have been battling government troops in the capital for nearly two weeks.

But there has been no official claim of responsibility, and the opposition to the president includes government forces who have defected in recent weeks.

Earlier in the day, government troops had fired on houses belonging to members of the al-Ahmar family as well as an opposition military officer. A government official believed the attack on the presidential compound - the first of its kind - was in retaliation.

Forces loyal to tribal leader Sadeq al-Ahmar have been growing in number, with reinforcements trying to enter the city from the north. The sheikh, who heads the Hashid tribal federation, is pushing for Saleh to step down.

But the president has three times rejected a regionally-mediated plan that would see a transition of power.

Violence is also continuing in Taiz against political protesters, and in Zinjibar against Islamic militants who have seized control of the city.

The various tribal and Islamist forces as well as high-ranking military defectors are turning what began as peaceful political protests four months ago into what many observers fear is near all-out civil war.

---------- Post added at 12:44 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:43 AM ----------

Yemen slides towards all-out war after President Saleh survives rocket attack

 

[hembo]

Sources: Yemeni president Saleh has collapsed lung, burns over 40%
From Mohammed Jamjoom and Hakim Almasmari, CNN
June 7, 2011 3:06 a.m. EDT

(CNN) -- Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh suffered burns on 40% of his body and a collapsed lung, U.S. government officials briefed on the matter said, as the fate of the embattled leader -- and whether he will return to the conflict in Yemen -- remains uncertain.

Saleh was injured Friday from an attack at his presidential compound and is seeking treatment in Saudi Arabia. An Arab diplomatic source with knowledge of Saleh's condition says one shrapnel wound is 7 centimeters (2.75 inches) deep.

Fighting between government and tribal forces have raged for weeks in Yemen, where thousands of anti-government protesters have been pressuring Saleh to give up power since January.

The fiercest clashes since anti-government protests started in the southern city of Taiz continued early Tuesday, with battles between anti-regime gunmen and government security forces, witnesses said.

The witnesses cited heavy gunfire near the Republican Palace, not far from the city's Freedom Square -- a focal point of anti-government protests. The witnesses did not want to be identified, citing fear for their safety.

Anti-government gunmen were trying to protect the anti-government demonstrators, who have repeatedly come under fire from security forces during the past two months.

Last week, Yemen's government faced condemnation from the United Nations and others for the killing of as many as 50 anti-government demonstrators in Taiz.

The conflict reached a pinnacle Friday, when a mosque in Saleh's presidential compound was attacked. Yemen's state-run news agency SABA reported last week that three guards and an imam were killed, citing a source in Saleh's office.

According to Western diplomats, the attack came from a bomb. Yemeni investigations are "focusing on what happened inside the mosque," not a rocket or mortar attack, the diplomats said Monday. One diplomat said the bombing was not a suicide bombing and that the Yemeni investigation "is still ongoing."

But last week, a Yemeni official who asked not to be named told CNN that Saleh was in the mosque when two "projectiles" were fired during Friday prayers.

Supporters of Sadeq Al-Ahmar, leader of the Hashed tribe and an opponent of the Yemeni government, have been suspected in the attack at the presidential compound.

Yemeni security forces shelled Al-Ahmar's home on Friday in response to the attack, leaving 10 people dead and 35 others wounded, according to Fawzi Al-Jaradi, an official with the Hashed tribal confederation.

After Saleh went to Saudi Arabia for treatment, the tribal leader and Vice President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi -- Yemen's interim leader -- agreed on a cease-fire, said Abdulqawi Al-Qaisi, spokesman for the Hashed leader.

Yemen's largest opposition bloc has vowed to prevent Saleh from returning.

"The Yemeni people will do all in their power to not allow Saleh to re-enter the country," Joint Meeting Parties spokesman Mohammed Qahtan said Sunday.

One of the U.S. government officials said Monday he can't imagine the Saudis letting him go back. He said it is critical that the Saudis press Saleh to accept a Gulf Cooperation Council deal offering him immunity in exchange for stepping down.

However, Saudi state-run Ekhbariya television reported Monday that Saleh had undergone two operations in Saudi Arabia and would return to Yemen after he recovers.

Christopher Boucek, a Middle East expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said he doubts Saleh will go back.

"The regime still maintains that he will return, and they say he's going to return within days, if not weeks," Boucek said. "But there's really no option I see for how he can go back and still be president."

A U.S. official told CNN Monday that the unrest makes U.S. counterterrorism efforts in Yemen "more difficult."

"We rely on the Yemeni government as partners," the official said. "The more the government is distracted by the political unrest, the more difficult it is for us."

The Yemeni government has had a "big impact on acquiring information on AQAP," the official said, referring to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. "If that information flow slows or stops, it inhibits our ability to gather information."

The official said al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has a significant presence in the southern province of Abyan, also home to an Islamic militant movement that has targeted government troops in recent days.

The militants killed four soldiers and five civilians Monday in the city of Zinjibar, the scene of several recent battles with Yemeni forces, according to a security source in Abyan, who has asked not to be named as he is not authorized to speak to the media.

Two opposition leaders in Yemen expressed cautious support Monday for Hadi, the vice president, while Saleh is away.

"We do not have any problem if Hadi takes control of the government. He is respected by the people," said Tawakkul Karman, adding that Hadi "must use this historic moment to enter Yemen's history as a leader and revolutionary."

But she warned that if he does not "conduct immediate reforms, the youth protesters will go against him the same way they did against Saleh. It's Hadi's choice to decide which door of history he wants to go through."

Ahmed Bahri, a senior official of the opposition Joint Meeting Parties, said that if Hadi can lead peaceful change, "we welcome it. If not, he should step aside and not stall the revolution."

 

[Pioneerfirst]

country is burning,he himself is injured but not willing to leave presidency,

 

[U-571]

here we do, another western imperial occupation under way, its so pathetic

use alquaeda as a reason to invade a soverign country

 

[Pioneerfirst]

here we do, another western imperial occupation under way, its so pathetic

use alquaeda as a reason to invade a soverign country

The country is being given into the hands by the president himself.What will happen to Yeman if dies not remain in power? nothing.
His people are not willing to accept him then how he will rule.
It is same as Sadam did with Iraq

 

[Roybot]

here we do, another western imperial occupation under way, its so pathetic

use alquaeda as a reason to invade a soverign country

Apparently Saleh is a western stooge. So imperial occupation is ending.

 

[Al Bhatti]

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh appears in a pre-recorded speech to his people from Riyadh. This is the first appearance of the president after he was attacked and suffered serious burns and was taken to Riyadh for treatment where he is still undergoing treatment.