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BBC MUNDO RADIO
Saturday, 24 September 2011
An anti-government protester receives medical attention,
after he was shot by security forces loyal to Yemeni President Ali
Abdullah Saleh, at a makeshift hospital in Sana'a. (Photo by Reuters)
At least 40 people, among them dissident soldiers, were killed in
violence that rocked Yemen's capital on Saturday, an activist from the
protest organizing committee told AFP.
“More than 40 people were killed on Saturday” in battles that hit several neighborhoods across Sana’a, including Change Square, epicenter of anti-regime protests since February, the activist said.
Commercial shops and residential homes were set on fire in Ha’il Street, located in the center of the capital.
As the clashes continued, the Gulf Corporation Council urged Sana’a to “immediately” start work on the Gulf-brokered power transfer plan and stop using heavy weaponry against the protesters.
“More than 40 people were killed on Saturday” in battles that hit several neighborhoods across Sana’a, including Change Square, epicenter of anti-regime protests since February, the activist said.
Commercial shops and residential homes were set on fire in Ha’il Street, located in the center of the capital.
As the clashes continued, the Gulf Corporation Council urged Sana’a to “immediately” start work on the Gulf-brokered power transfer plan and stop using heavy weaponry against the protesters.
Yemeni troops killed at least 17
people in an assault early on Saturday on the main opposition protest
camp in the capital Sana’a, barely a day after President Ali Abdullah
Saleh returned from a three-month absence calling for peace and an end
to fighting in the capital.
“Seventeen people were killed and 55 others were wounded” in the attack, said Mohammed al-Qabati, a medic at the field hospital in Sana’a’s Change Square.
Some of those killed were civilians, while others were soldiers from dissident General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar’s First Armoured Brigade, Qabati told AFP.
Meanwhile, the Yemeni Revolution Council said on Saturday that Saleh returned to Yemen only to aggravate the military situation and to further implant the seeds of a civil war in the country.
“Seventeen people were killed and 55 others were wounded” in the attack, said Mohammed al-Qabati, a medic at the field hospital in Sana’a’s Change Square.
Some of those killed were civilians, while others were soldiers from dissident General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar’s First Armoured Brigade, Qabati told AFP.
Meanwhile, the Yemeni Revolution Council said on Saturday that Saleh returned to Yemen only to aggravate the military situation and to further implant the seeds of a civil war in the country.
Soldiers launched the attack a
little after midnight on Friday, hours after Saleh’s return from Saudi
Arabia, where he spent three months recovering from injuries sustained
during an attack on his palace on June 3.
Troops opened fire with guns and also shelled Change Square, the focus of anti-government activity since it was first occupied by demonstrators in January.
Snipers also targeted people from buildings around the square, witnesses said.
The latest violence brought the number of those killed to 37 since Friday −and to 132 since a fresh wave of violence hit the capital on Sunday.
Saleh said on his return to Yemen on Friday that he wanted to see a truce to end days of heavy fighting in the capital, but opponents said they feared more bloodshed and the United States demanded he relinquish power.
“I return to the nation carrying the dove of peace and the olive branch,” Saleh was quoted as saying by state television.
His reappearance raised big questions over the future of the fractious Arabian Peninsula state, which has been paralyzed since January by protests against his 33-year rule.
In Washington, White House spokesman Jay Carney said: “We urge President Saleh to initiate a full transfer of power and arrange for presidential elections to be held before the end of the year ... The Yemeni people have suffered enough and deserve a path towards a better future.”
In Sana’a this week, protesters escalated their marches by entering territory controlled by state forces, sparking a full-blown battle between loyalist and pro-opposition troops. Some 100 protesters were killed in five days of bloodshed.
Yemen, one of the region’s poorest countries, also faces a worsening insurgency by al-Qaeda militants, an uneasy truce with Shiite fighters in the north and separatism in the south.
Moments after state television’s announcement of Saleh’s return, Sana’s streets erupted with bursts of gunfire and fireworks. Shelling rocked the capital’s Hasaba district through the night in battles between heavily armed pro-opposition and government forces who nearly sparked civil war in the capital last May.
About 11 fighters were killed in those clashes, medics said.
Opponents saw Saleh’s return as an attempt to rally for war and said they expected more bloodshed, while his supporters reacted with joy and said he could restore order.
Abdulghani al-Iryani, a political analyst and co-founder of the Democratic Awakening Movement, said violence lay ahead.
“This is an ominous sign. Returning at a time like this probably signals he intends to use violence to resolve this. This is dangerous,” said Iryani.
“His people will feel that they are in a stronger position and they will refuse to compromise. Basically this means the political process is dead in the water.”
Saleh had been involved in negotiations mediated by Gulf states to leave office, repeatedly promising to step down only to change his position at the last minute.
Two members of Saleh’s General People’s Congress party denied opposition statements that his return spelled the end for a Gulf-brokered power transfer plan, which could see him hand interim power to Vice President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
The Gulf initiative would likely be implemented so that Saleh steps down at a new presidential election. He agreed three times to earlier drafts of the deal only to back out at the very last minute.
Regional power Saudi Arabia, which shares a porous 1,460 km border with Yemen, has been a key player in Yemen for decades, bank rolling Saleh’s government to keep al-Qaeda at bay and spear heading regional talks on a power transfer.
Some analysts say Saudi Arabia might not have let Saleh return unless a transfer deal favorable to Riyadh was likely.
But Gulf Cooperation Council Secretary General Abdbullatif al-Zayani flew to Sanaa this week to try and resurrect the deal and left after two days with nothing to show for his efforts.
The United States, Saudi Arabia and other powers fear al-Qaeda’s Yemen wing could exploit the growing lawlessness in the country. Al-Qaeda militants have already seized cities in a Yemeni province just east of a key oil shipping channel in recent months.
Troops opened fire with guns and also shelled Change Square, the focus of anti-government activity since it was first occupied by demonstrators in January.
Snipers also targeted people from buildings around the square, witnesses said.
The latest violence brought the number of those killed to 37 since Friday −and to 132 since a fresh wave of violence hit the capital on Sunday.
Saleh said on his return to Yemen on Friday that he wanted to see a truce to end days of heavy fighting in the capital, but opponents said they feared more bloodshed and the United States demanded he relinquish power.
“I return to the nation carrying the dove of peace and the olive branch,” Saleh was quoted as saying by state television.
His reappearance raised big questions over the future of the fractious Arabian Peninsula state, which has been paralyzed since January by protests against his 33-year rule.
In Washington, White House spokesman Jay Carney said: “We urge President Saleh to initiate a full transfer of power and arrange for presidential elections to be held before the end of the year ... The Yemeni people have suffered enough and deserve a path towards a better future.”
In Sana’a this week, protesters escalated their marches by entering territory controlled by state forces, sparking a full-blown battle between loyalist and pro-opposition troops. Some 100 protesters were killed in five days of bloodshed.
Yemen, one of the region’s poorest countries, also faces a worsening insurgency by al-Qaeda militants, an uneasy truce with Shiite fighters in the north and separatism in the south.
Moments after state television’s announcement of Saleh’s return, Sana’s streets erupted with bursts of gunfire and fireworks. Shelling rocked the capital’s Hasaba district through the night in battles between heavily armed pro-opposition and government forces who nearly sparked civil war in the capital last May.
About 11 fighters were killed in those clashes, medics said.
Opponents saw Saleh’s return as an attempt to rally for war and said they expected more bloodshed, while his supporters reacted with joy and said he could restore order.
Abdulghani al-Iryani, a political analyst and co-founder of the Democratic Awakening Movement, said violence lay ahead.
“This is an ominous sign. Returning at a time like this probably signals he intends to use violence to resolve this. This is dangerous,” said Iryani.
“His people will feel that they are in a stronger position and they will refuse to compromise. Basically this means the political process is dead in the water.”
Saleh had been involved in negotiations mediated by Gulf states to leave office, repeatedly promising to step down only to change his position at the last minute.
Two members of Saleh’s General People’s Congress party denied opposition statements that his return spelled the end for a Gulf-brokered power transfer plan, which could see him hand interim power to Vice President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
The Gulf initiative would likely be implemented so that Saleh steps down at a new presidential election. He agreed three times to earlier drafts of the deal only to back out at the very last minute.
Regional power Saudi Arabia, which shares a porous 1,460 km border with Yemen, has been a key player in Yemen for decades, bank rolling Saleh’s government to keep al-Qaeda at bay and spear heading regional talks on a power transfer.
Some analysts say Saudi Arabia might not have let Saleh return unless a transfer deal favorable to Riyadh was likely.
But Gulf Cooperation Council Secretary General Abdbullatif al-Zayani flew to Sanaa this week to try and resurrect the deal and left after two days with nothing to show for his efforts.
The United States, Saudi Arabia and other powers fear al-Qaeda’s Yemen wing could exploit the growing lawlessness in the country. Al-Qaeda militants have already seized cities in a Yemeni province just east of a key oil shipping channel in recent months.
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