y HAKIM ALMASMARI in San'a and MARGARET COKER in Abu Dhabi
Embattled Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh returned to his country Friday for the first time since leaving to Saudi Arabia for treatment of wounds suffered this summer in a failed assassination attempt, according to Yemeni state television.
Enlarge Image
European Pressphoto Agency
Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh in a photo dated Aug. 16, 2011.
The move is likely to further inflame the country, which has been rocked by months of severe violence between pro- and anti-Saleh forces.
Yemen's state television announced that Mr. Saleh, who suffered severe shrapnel wounds to his head and body in a June bombing attempt, arrived on a private plane at dawn from his convalescence in Saudi Arabia. There were no other details, and Saudi officials couldn't be reached immediately for comment.
The surprising return of Mr. Saleh also comes after another failed round of diplomacy this week by the United Nations, leading Gulf Arab and Western diplomats. Negotiators have tried to secure what would be Yemen's first transfer of power in modern history away from Mr. Saleh to a transitional authority that would include many of his deputies and Yemen's opposition parties.
The president's return, just hours ahead of planned antigovernment protests in the capital and other major cities across the country, immediately sparked clashes in San'a, according to residents there. By early morning, battles were taking place in at least four sections of the city, according to residents. Yemeni state media said that Mr. Saleh's supporters would be gathering later in the day for demonstrations to show their loyalty.
Tanks under the command of the elite Republican Guard, which have been deployed around the capital for months, moved into fresh positions Friday morning to block major intersections and roads, apparently in an attempt to cut off access to vital districts of the city. It wasn't immediately clear if the development was offensive or defensive in nature.
Western and regional officials agree that Mr. Saleh's return could prove a dangerous tipping point in the months-long battle for power in the impoverished country. Both U.S. and Saudi officials have been lobbying the leader over the summer to accept an immediate handover of power.
Since February, pro-democracy activists have been demanding an end to his nearly 33 years in power and in intervening months they have been joined on the streets by army commanders, Islamist opposition politicians and powerful tribal leaders. Yet the Saleh family retains the support of the country's elite forces, which are commanded by the president's son and nephews and have been armed and trained in part by the U.S. government.
The president on multiple occasions has rejected an internationally brokered power-transfer agreement, and the resulting political stalemate boiled over into bloody bursts of violence this summer. In the past week, gun battles between forces loyal to Mr. Saleh's son and fighters loyal to one of the country's most influential tribal leaders have broken out in the capital, San'a, and elsewhere in the country, leaving an estimated 100 people dead.
In addition, the power vacuum has aided Islamist rebels linked to al Qaeda in taking over swathes of the country's vast southern territory, including a provincial city that was home last year to a regional soccer tournament. U.S. and Saudi officials fear that extended political chaos in Yemen will help the powerful branch of al Qaeda in the country expand its safe havens and provide the space needed to launch more international terror attacks.
The political situation has disrupted longstanding counterterrorism cooperation between Yemen's elite forces and the U.S. military, as the local forces have turned their attention to keeping Mr. Saleh in power.
http://www.arab2.com/akhbar/f/f.html....com/public/us