Tanks roll as Yemen's political crisis deepens

- Ayman Khalil
Tuesday, 06 September 2011

Global Arab Network - 3 months after the forced medical leave of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, a leadership stalemate in Yemen threatens to degenerate into open confrontation between Saleh loyalists and opponents.

The elite Republican Guard troops, commanded by Ahmed, the eldest son of Mr Saleh, had reinforced their presence this week and deployed tanks and missiles on the hills overlooking Sanaa, witnesses said yesterday.

Soldiers loyal to dissident General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, fewer and less well armed, have fortified their positions in areas that they control in the city, mainly around the University Square, renamed Change Square by protesters camped there.

Armed civilians have been sighted on both sides of Zubair Street, which now divides Sanaa between the areas controlled by government forces and that held by the opposition.

"The regime rejects a political solution and could use other options. But the military option would be a mistake," said Yassin Saeed Noman, leader of the Common Forum, which groups parliamentary opposition parties.

Source: Global Arab Network.
Link: http://www.english.globalarabnetwork.com/2011090612044/Yemen-Politics/tanks-roll-as-yemens-political-crisis-deepens.html.