.... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower...
Saleh left Yemen for Soddy Arabia earlier this month to receive medical treatment for wounds he suffered in a rocket attack on his compound.
So far he claims he's not dead...
Since his departure, anti-government protesters have been holding daily demonstrations across the country, demanding a transitional council to prevent Saleh from returning to power.
His vice president and interim seat warmer can't do anything until he's sure Saleh's not coming back and that Saleh's sons won't kill him...
On Monday, protesters also called for the removal of Saleh's relatives, including his son Ahmed and nephew Ammar, from key military posts.
That won't happen until they know one way or the other whether Pop's coming home.
Saleh's eldest son, Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh who was widely suspected of inheriting presidency from his father before the popular uprising started, heads Yemen's elite Presidential Guard, the force leading the brutal crackdown on anti-regime protesters since the uprising began in February. Ammar is also the head of Yemen's National Security force.
If Pop doesn't come home Ahmed especially won't have to resign. He'll be out of town on the next plane...
Many in Yemen believe that Saleh's sons and nephews are trying to take control of the country in his absence.
If they are, they haven't been paying attention...
Similar anti-Saleh protests were also held in the southern city of Taizz.
... which seems particularly keen on seeing the last of the Salehs...
Yemeni Vice President Abdu Rabo Mansour Hadi, who is the acting president in charge of the caretaker government during Saleh's absence, has so far resisted intensive local and international pressure to heed the demands of protesters to set up an interim ruling council.
Strictly as a matter of self-preservation...
According to the opposition, the transitional council would "appoint a nationalist and compatible figure to form a government of technocrats."
I think the idea of amnesty has already been dropped...
| Do they have enough trained technocrats in Yemen to set up a functioning government? |
Maybe when Saleh's titzup or in exile in Gay Paree...
Meanwhile,
...back at the ranch, Butch and the Kid finally brought their horses under control...
Yemeni officials insist that Saleh, who is now lying in a Saudi hospital recovering from what reports said were burns to over 40 percent of his body, will come back home within days, despite Saudi reports that the veteran leader will not return.
Glad that's been cleared up...
A Yemeni deputy minister, who was maimed in the palace attack along with Saleh, pegged out in a Saudi hospital on Sunday.