Yemen: Saleh warns military coup could lead to civil war
Hakim Almasmari, Editor in Chief of the Yemen Post, reports on the increasingly tense face-off between President Saleh and the country’s military.
In a speech to army commanders on Tuesday, President Ali Abdullah Saleh warned that any coup attempts will lead to civil war. “Those who want to reach power through coups should know what they are seeking is impossible” he said, adding that Yemen will not be stable because a bloody civil war will be inevitable. “I urge those who think in this way to think it over for the sake of our country,” said Saleh.
Meanwhile some media outlets quoted well-informed sources as saying that the president, whose army commanders have recently started to leave him and join the peaceful, popular uprising outside Sana’a Sana’a University, has threatened to bomb the homes of his military and political foes.
Ali Mohsen Ahmar, Yemen’s strongest military commander, and head of Yemen’s Northern Western region, called on Saleh to step down and save the country from further disasters. According to confirmed sources, Saleh told Ahmar that his duty as a military commander is to obey orders, which Ahmer disagreed with: “The military is the property of the people and its protector. It does not work for to any person in specific,” said Ahmar.
Possible military rule?
The growing differences between Ahmar and Saleh are raising fears that Yemen’s destiny could be military rule after the fall of Saleh. However, Yemen’s biggest opposition coalition, the Joint Meeting Parties JMP, refuses to acknowledge that the military would take control after any regime fall, saying that the military’s role is to protect the people and not rule them.
“Civil society youth are now controlling politicians, military, and tribes as all sides have agreed to create a real civil law that works for the people.” Mohmmed Qahtan, spokesperson for the opposition JMP party
Mohammed Qahtan, spokesperson for the opposition JMP says that civil society organizations are the heart and soul of the revolution, and military leaders are there to assist civil society youth in their mission of ensuring civil law. “Civil society youth are now controlling politicians, military, and tribes as all sides have agreed to create a real civil law that works for the people,” said Qahtan. “Military commanders will not steal the revolution from the people.”
Civil conflict looming in the south
Aden, Yemen’s business capital has been the centre of the youth revolution since late January. The south is divided between those who want the fall of the regime and others who are demanding an independent state.
According to political analysts, the southern crisis will only escalate after the fall of Saleh, with the southern movement feeling it is the perfect time to call for an independent state.
Dr. Nasser Khobajji, a senior member and co founder of the Southern Movement said that the movement will not enter any unity government or dialogue with the northern representatives after Saleh leaves, until the north admits that the south has been occupied for nearly two decades and has the right to an independent state. “We see the fall of Saleh as an opportunity for positive change, but our northern partners must first admit that the south is occupied land, and that we were oppressed,” said Khobajji.
There are reports Saleh is seeking foreign mediation to help him stay in office to the end of this year and then to facilitate an orderly and peaceful transition of power. Yesterday, he sent Foreign Minister Abu Bakr Al-Qirbi, within the caretaker government, to Saudi Arabia seeking support as the U.S. expressed its readiness to help launch a constructive dialogue amid the current crisis in Yemen.
Many military commanders and senior officials, including ambassadors and ministers resigning from their posts, joined the tens of thousands, who have been staging a sit-in outside Sana’a University to call for the resignation of Saleh. Clashes continued today between pro revolution Houthi rebels in the northern province of Sada’a and pro government tribes loyal to Saleh’s ruling party parliament of member, Othman Mujalli.
At least seven people were killed and 13 others wounded in clashes and Houthi group. “The government is trying to cause a crises and start bloodshed in the north to divert people’s focus from the bigger mission, which is the youth revolution demanding the ouster of the Saleh regime.
In an effort to crackdown on the youth revolution, tens of national security forces raided the headquarters of Al-Jazeera news in Sana’a at 4am on Tuesday. Al-Jazeera correspondent in Sana’a Ahmed Shalafi said the forces confiscated valuable equipment from the studios. “We are reporting transparently, however, the government wants to crack down on the youth revolution by the use of force,” said Shalafi. Days ago, the Yemeni government deported more than a dozen foreign journalists saying that they were spreading wrong facts about Yemen to the international community.