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Yemenis look to post-Saleh era, but future unclear

07 June 2011 02:13 (UTC +04:00)

Baku - APA. Yemenis celebrated on Monday what many hope will be a new era without President Ali Abdullah Saleh, now recuperating in Saudi Arabia after an operation to remove shrapnel from his chest a day earlier, APA reports quoting "Reuters".
A tenuous truce was holding in Sanaa after two weeks of fighting between Saleh’s forces and a powerful tribal federation which killed more than 200 people and forced thousands to flee.
Saleh’s exit to regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia, could facilitate efforts to prise him out of power after nearly 33 years in charge of the Arab world’s poorest country.
But the future of Yemen, home to an al Qaeda wing exploiting the space available in a nation riven by complex rivalries among tribal leaders, generals and politicians, remains uncertain.
Saleh was wounded on Friday when a rocket struck his palace in Sanaa, killing seven people and wounding senior officials and advisers. He is being treated in a Riyadh hospital.
"Saleh’s departure to Saudi Arabia isn’t just courtesy from the Saudi ruling family," said Egyptian political analyst Nabil Abdel-Fattah. "The security of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf is linked to security in Yemen."
He expected Riyadh to promote a deal that would usher Saleh out and set up a caretaker government before parliamentary polls. "It remains to be seen what the role of the young rising powers who launched the uprising against Saleh would be."
Those youthful protesters, interpreting Saleh’s absence as potentially permanent, continued to celebrate in Sanaa where they have staged anti-government demonstrations since January.
Fireworks lit up the sky across many cities overnight. In Sanaa, men, women and children poured into what protesters have dubbed "Change Square," as patriotic songs blared.
"You could see happiness painted on everyone’s faces," one resident of the capital said.
Another demonstrator said: "It’s impossible for us to let (Saleh) come back. And those of his people who are still here had better follow him to Saudi."
"Who is next?" asked one banner held up by protesters in a sea of red, white and black Yemeni flags, referring to the wave of uprisings in Arab world that has toppled the leaders of Egypt and Tunisia and inspired revolts in Syria, Libya and Bahrain.
Elsewhere, Yemen’s pro-Saleh state media said his supporters took to the streets to celebrate "a successful operation" in the province of Ibb with song, dance and shooting into the air.
Vice-President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi is now formally in charge, but lacks a power base of his own. Saleh’s departure could make it hard for him to retain control, although his close relatives still command key military units and security forces.
Other contenders in a possible power struggle include the well-armed Hashed tribal federation, breakaway military leaders, Islamists, leftists and an angry public seeking relief from crippling poverty, corruption and failing public services.
Any descent into chaos in Yemen, which lies next to oil giant Saudi Arabia and major shipping lanes, would alarm Gulf neighbors and Western powers worried about al Qaeda.
SAUDI INFLUENCE
Yemenis await word on Saleh’s condition and signals from the Saudis on whether they will let him return home or insist he sign a Gulf-brokered transition deal he has so far rejected.
Hadi was due to meet officials from the European Union. He conferred with Yemeni military commanders, including Saleh’s sons and nephews, and the U.S. ambassador, on Sunday.
Saleh, a political survivor, has defied global calls to step down and survived the defection of top generals, ministers and ambassadors who left the government after troops killed many demonstrators in March. More than 450 people have been killed in the unrest shaking the nation of 23 million since late January.
Saleh has exasperated his former U.S. and Saudi allies, who once saw him as a key counter-terrorism partner, by repeatedly reneging on the transition plan, even though it offered him immunity from prosecution -- something rejected by protesters.
The possible fall of Saleh, 69, could also give renewed impetus to protest movements around the region.
"The departure of Saleh is a turning point not just for the Yemeni revolution, but is also a huge push for the current changes in the Arab region and the start of the real victory," said Zaki Bani Rusheid, of Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood.