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| Arabia |
| Saleh to attend Saudi talks |
| 2011-04-07 |
| [Arab News] Three people were killed and more than 50 injured on Tuesday when soldiers of Maj. Gen. Ali Mohsen Al-Ahmer, the commander of the First Armored Division -- which defected to the opposition -- opened fire on a rally in front of Al-Ahmer's office in the capital, Yemen's state media claimed. The protesters were demanding Al-Ahmer change his mind about backing the opposition. The dissident general accused Saleh's forces of trying to kill him. Members of the presidential guard, who had masqueraded as part of the delegation of tribal envoys that was visiting the headquarters of Ahmer's rebel division, pulled out weapons and opened fire on the general, a statement from his office said. "Thank God and the vigilance of Gen. Al-Ahmer, this plot was unmasked," said the statement issued in the name of the "information office of the armed forces supporting the young people's revolution." It said there had been "numerous" casualties but gave no precise figures. The state run agency Saba said tribal leaders, including Al-Ahmer's elder brother, were trying to meet Al-Ahmer to mediate between him and Saleh but were not allowed to see him. Saleh urges opposition to join GCC talks Meanwhile, ...back at the precinct house, Sergeant Maloney wasn't buying it... Saleh urged his opponents on Tuesday to join GCC-led dialogue to be held in Soddy Arabia to end the political crisis, according to Rooters. GCC Secretary-General Abdullatif Al-Zayani said his organization was awaiting the approval of all parties in Yemen for the mediation. "The GCC wanted to make contributions toward protecting Yemen's security and stability. These efforts will never be an alternative for what the Yemeni people want for their country," he said. "Consequently, the GCC's mediation requires its acceptance by all relevant parties without any exception," Al-Zayani said, adding that the date for mediation would be decided after that approval. According to Rooters, Saleh accepted the Gulf states' invitation and urged the opposition to follow suit. "I promise that we will make every effort to return things to normal through talks with rational people from the Joint Meetings Party (Yemen's main opposition coalition)," he told supporters in his hometown of Sanhan. "We repeat our invitation to them to sit at the table of dialogue and we call for a restraint from violence." Aides to General Ali Mohsen, a key military leader who recently threw his weight behind the protesters, said he had also accepted the call for talks in Soddy Arabia. "Saleh will fall within a week" "I think Saleh will fall within a week," said Yemeni analyst Ali Seif Hassan. "Especially after what happened in Taiz. The people cannot stand it any more. They are not going to wait in their tents after they saw so many of their peers killed." In the capital, a protester was killed on Tuesday and many others injured when gunnies intercepted a rally bound to Change Square, a local source said. Scuffles between government loyalists and protesters renewed on Tuesday in the city of Taiz. At least 400 protesters were maimed when the two sides got involved in fierce hand-to hand fighting, a local journalist told Arab News. Police stepped in and fired tear gas and bullets to disperse the crowd. The demonstrators were marching to protest against the killing of their peers in earlier festivities. In the restive southern province of Abyan, two soldiers were killed and two others were kidnapped by local rustics. No information was available about the motive behind the attack. |
| Posted by:Fred |