Yemen President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi Flees Home As Rebels Close In

[bemildred]

SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Yemen's embattled president fled his palace in Aden for an undisclosed location Wednesday as Shiite rebels offered cash bounty for his capture and arrested his defense minister.

President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi left just hours after the rebels' own television station said they seized an air base where U.S. troops and Europeans advised the country in its fight against al-Qaida militants. That air base is only 60 kilometers (35 miles) away from Aden, the port city where Hadi had established a temporary capital.

The advance of the Shiite rebels, empowered by backing of the ousted Yemeni autocrat Ali Abdullah Saleh's loyalists, threatens to plunge the Arab world's poorest country into a civil war that could draw in its Gulf neighbors. Already, Hadi has asked the United Nations to authorize a foreign military intervention in the country.

Witnesses said they saw a convoy of presidential vehicles Wednesday leaving Hadi's palace, located at the top of a hill in Aden overlooking the Arabian Sea.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/25/yemen-president-flees-abed-rabbo-mansour-hadi_n_6936912.html

[bemildred]

1. NEWS GUIDE: The crisis in Yemen as president flees Aden home

SANAA, Yemen (AP) -- Yemen's embattled President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi has fled his palace in the southern city of Aden as Shiite rebels are closing in on the country's third-largest city.

The rebels, known as Houthis and reportedly supported by Iran, offered a bounty for Hadi's capture on Wednesday and arrested his defense minister. They have been tightening their grip on the country since they captured the capital Sanaa, last September, and several key northern provinces.

The rebels' advance could plunge the Arab world's poorest country into a civil war that could draw in its Gulf neighbors. Hadi, a close U.S. ally, has appealed to Gulf Arab allies and the United Nations to intervene militarily to stop the rebels' advance.

Meanwhile, al-Qaida's branch in Yemen has taken advantage of the power struggle, moving in the country's lawless hinterlands. And a new group of militants inspired by the Islamic State group has claimed major attacks, adding another layer to the turmoil.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/ML_YEMEN_NEWS_GUIDE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-03-25-09-34-55

[bemildred]

2. Saudi military buildup at border with Yemen is defensive: sources

DOHA: Saudi Arabia's military buildup near its southern border with Yemen is purely defensive, two Saudi sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

"We are protecting our borders only," said one of the sources when asked if the kingdom planed to intervene in Yemen.

"Tanks have been moved to the border but this is only to defend the country," said the second Saudi source.

The buildup follows a southward advance by Iranian-backed Houthi Shiite militants who took control of the capital Sanaa in September and moved closer Wednesday to Aden, the base of Saudi-supported President Abed Rabbou Mansour Hadi.

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2015/Mar-25/292130-saudi-military-buildup-at-border-with-yemen-is-defensive-sources.ashx

[Maedhros]

3. "threatens to plunge the Arab world's poorest country into a civil war?"

If there hasn't already been a civil war raging in Yemen for the last 6 years, then under what justification have we been killing so many people there?

Why is the media trying to portray this situation as nascent, and not ongoing?

[bemildred]

4. Yeah, it's moronic.

I infer that the idea is that it's been "low-level", under control, but now it's getting serious, out of control.

You have to remember that Yemen was an example of droning working to manage a conflict.

[Maedhros]

6. Jeremy Scahill pretty much put the lie to that claim. [n/t]

[bemildred]

5. White House calls on Houthi militias to stop fomenting instability in Yemen

(Reuters) - The White House on Wednesday called on Houthi militia forces to stop fomenting instability in Yemen and said it could not confirm the whereabouts of Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

"We would call on them to stop that instability and that violence and cooperate with this UN-led process to resolve the difference among all the sides," White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters in a daily briefing.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/25/yemen-security-usa-idUSW1N0UV00120150325?rpc=401

[quadrature]

7. the 2011 Perpetual War ...

perhaps there are other countries that
should be destabilized?

[bemildred]

8. "fomenting instability", not "destabilized". It's right up there ^^^^^ See? nt