Richard
06-03-2011, 04:36
Election season ME style - personally, I think I prefer our typical 'war of words' style of electioneering.
And so it goes...
Richard :munchin
Yemen Deploys US-trained Special Forces
FT, 2 Jun 2011
Yemen’s president has escalated his fight for survival by deploying US-trained special forces against an opposition-affiliated tribal leader as gun battles and shelling inflicted more damage on the capital, Sana’a.
Amid intensifying concerns of full blown civil war, a government spokesman, Tareq al-Shami, confirmed that the counterterrorism unit of the Central Security Forces had been deployed. The US spends millions of dollars each year on the unit, with the aim of combating the Yemeni branch of al-Qaeda.
Forces loyal to the president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, have been battling with tribal fighters after he backed away from a deal to step down in the face of months of peaceful pro-democracy protests in the Arab world’s most impoverished state. Mr Saleh turned his guns on fighters loyal to Sadeq al-Ahmar, head of the powerful Hashed tribal confederation in violence that has killed 135 people over the past 10 days.
While Yemeni soldiers also fired on protesters in the southern city of Taiz, Mr Saleh has withdrawn troops from the coastal city of Zinjibar where Islamist militants have been active, in what his opponents claim is a strategy to increase international concern about al-Qaeda benefiting from his departure.
The use of US-trained forces in a domestic political dispute will heighten alarm in Washington, which has sent John Brennan, Barack Obama’s point man on Yemen and senior counterterrorism adviser to the president, to the region this week.
The White House said Mr Brennan was meeting officials in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates “to see what can be done” to persuade Mr Saleh to step down.
“We continue to evaluate the circumstances related to reports that US-trained forces are engaged in fighting against armed factions tied to the al-Ahmar family,” said a spokesman.
He added that Washington still lacked evidence that any US trained units had been used in crowd control or against peaceful protesters.
“We have repeatedly made clear to Yemeni officials that counterterrorism forces trained with US support or US provided equipment were not to be used against protesters,” the spokesman said. “As with every country, we are regularly evaluating our assistance to ensure it is being used appropriately.”
Mr Shami insisted that the use of counterterrorism forces was legitimate. “They [the forces] are meant to combat terrorism, and that’s what these clashes represent,” he said.
The use of the forces underlines the extent to which Mr Saleh remains focused on short term political survival, regardless of the consequences.
Mr Saleh has alienated Gulf neighbours, including Saudi Arabia, by promising but then refusing to sign a deal on a transition of power which would have seen him step down within a month in return for immunity from prosecution.
He escalated fighting with the Ahmar family, which had sided with the uprising, apparently counting on them not receiving support from the rest of the Hashid tribe or from renegade military commander Ali Mohsen, whose first armoured division is deployed in Sana’a.
“The regime would prefer a civil war to a peaceful revolution,” said Muhammad al-Kiyami, a protester at the sit-in encampment in the capital.
“These clashes divert attention away from our activities and endanger our movement.”
Gregory Johnsen, an expert on Yemen, said Mr Saleh thinks he can beat the Ahmars, clear up the squares full of protesters, then call for elections that might give him renewed legitimacy.
“Saleh survived for 32 years in power and his back is against the wall so he seems to think that with the air force and troops loyal to him he has another chance,” he said. “Whether it’s a mistaken calculation or not remains to be seen.”
A diplomat in Sana’a said while time-buying tactics had worked in the past Yemen was now weeks away from economic collapse.
If Mr Saleh was forced from power in the chaos, he risked being reduced from the status of a president able to negotiate immunity to “a gang leader”.
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/6f6cf516-8d0d-11e0-815d-00144feab49a.html?ftcamp=rss#axzz1OCqDDo63
And so it goes...
Richard :munchin
Yemen Deploys US-trained Special Forces
FT, 2 Jun 2011
Yemen’s president has escalated his fight for survival by deploying US-trained special forces against an opposition-affiliated tribal leader as gun battles and shelling inflicted more damage on the capital, Sana’a.
Amid intensifying concerns of full blown civil war, a government spokesman, Tareq al-Shami, confirmed that the counterterrorism unit of the Central Security Forces had been deployed. The US spends millions of dollars each year on the unit, with the aim of combating the Yemeni branch of al-Qaeda.
Forces loyal to the president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, have been battling with tribal fighters after he backed away from a deal to step down in the face of months of peaceful pro-democracy protests in the Arab world’s most impoverished state. Mr Saleh turned his guns on fighters loyal to Sadeq al-Ahmar, head of the powerful Hashed tribal confederation in violence that has killed 135 people over the past 10 days.
While Yemeni soldiers also fired on protesters in the southern city of Taiz, Mr Saleh has withdrawn troops from the coastal city of Zinjibar where Islamist militants have been active, in what his opponents claim is a strategy to increase international concern about al-Qaeda benefiting from his departure.
The use of US-trained forces in a domestic political dispute will heighten alarm in Washington, which has sent John Brennan, Barack Obama’s point man on Yemen and senior counterterrorism adviser to the president, to the region this week.
The White House said Mr Brennan was meeting officials in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates “to see what can be done” to persuade Mr Saleh to step down.
“We continue to evaluate the circumstances related to reports that US-trained forces are engaged in fighting against armed factions tied to the al-Ahmar family,” said a spokesman.
He added that Washington still lacked evidence that any US trained units had been used in crowd control or against peaceful protesters.
“We have repeatedly made clear to Yemeni officials that counterterrorism forces trained with US support or US provided equipment were not to be used against protesters,” the spokesman said. “As with every country, we are regularly evaluating our assistance to ensure it is being used appropriately.”
Mr Shami insisted that the use of counterterrorism forces was legitimate. “They [the forces] are meant to combat terrorism, and that’s what these clashes represent,” he said.
The use of the forces underlines the extent to which Mr Saleh remains focused on short term political survival, regardless of the consequences.
Mr Saleh has alienated Gulf neighbours, including Saudi Arabia, by promising but then refusing to sign a deal on a transition of power which would have seen him step down within a month in return for immunity from prosecution.
He escalated fighting with the Ahmar family, which had sided with the uprising, apparently counting on them not receiving support from the rest of the Hashid tribe or from renegade military commander Ali Mohsen, whose first armoured division is deployed in Sana’a.
“The regime would prefer a civil war to a peaceful revolution,” said Muhammad al-Kiyami, a protester at the sit-in encampment in the capital.
“These clashes divert attention away from our activities and endanger our movement.”
Gregory Johnsen, an expert on Yemen, said Mr Saleh thinks he can beat the Ahmars, clear up the squares full of protesters, then call for elections that might give him renewed legitimacy.
“Saleh survived for 32 years in power and his back is against the wall so he seems to think that with the air force and troops loyal to him he has another chance,” he said. “Whether it’s a mistaken calculation or not remains to be seen.”
A diplomat in Sana’a said while time-buying tactics had worked in the past Yemen was now weeks away from economic collapse.
If Mr Saleh was forced from power in the chaos, he risked being reduced from the status of a president able to negotiate immunity to “a gang leader”.
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/6f6cf516-8d0d-11e0-815d-00144feab49a.html?ftcamp=rss#axzz1OCqDDo63