Yemen: Saleh now in Saudi Arabia - officials

[LetTimmySmoke]

Source: BBC

Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh has flown to Saudi Arabia for medical treatment, a day after he was wounded, Saudi officials say.

Uncertainty surrounded Mr Saleh's whereabouts for much of Saturday.

Sources in Yemen told the BBC that Mr Saleh had a piece of shrapnel below his heart and second-degree burns to his chest and face.

An uprising demanding that Mr Saleh leave power has led to violence bringing Yemen close to civil war.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-13658445

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And the Saudi M1A1s come rolling on down to the Yemen border.

[muriel_volestrangler]

1. Departure looks permanent, but his sons are still in Yemen

Latest:

Yemeni celebrations follow Saleh departure[br />
US envoy meets Yemen deputy president

Live updates from The Guardian:

11.41am: Perhaps predictably, Yemen's military top brass, which remains loyal to Saleh, has said the president was injured in a "criminal and cowardly attack by members of al-Qaida", Reuters reports. While the militant group undoubtedly operates in Yemen observers have accused Saleh of repeatedly using its threat to shore up support for his regime from the US, Saudi Arabia and others.
...
11.27am: Back to Yemen, and a potentially important update from Reuters:

Key Yemeni commanders including sons and nephews of President Ali Abdullah Saleh are still in Yemen and did not follow Saleh to Saudi Arabia, a Yemeni government source said on Sunday.

Saleh's eldest son, Ahmed, commands the elite Republican Guard and three of his nephews control the country's security and intelligence units.

And Al Jazeera:

1 hour 52 min ago - Yemen

Reuters also quotes Yemeni medics who say two people have been killed and 15 injured in grenade explosion at breakaway Yemeni general's military command
...
2 hours 12 min ago - Yemen

Reuters reports heavy gunfire and explosions heard in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, a day after a Saudi-brokered truce.

The gunfire was centred on the Hasaba district, a focal point of fighting in recent weeks between Saleh's forces and
members of the powerful Hashed tribe led by Sadeq al-Ahmar, the news agency said.

Saudi Arabia had brokered a truce between the Hashed tribe and Saleh forces on Saturday, hours before wounded President Saleh flew to the kingdom for medical treatment.
...
3 hours 4 min ago - Yemen

Reuters: Yemen's acting president, Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, will meet with members of the military and wounded President Ali Abdullah Saleh's sons, Al Arabiya television said on Sunday, citing sources.

[bemildred]

2. Fear of power vacuum as Yemeni president flees

The president, prime minister, speakers of both houses of parliament, and several senior officials, were wounded in an attack on the presidential place on Friday, but how seriously is not known.

As Mr Saleh reportedly underwent surgery, Abdo al-Janadi, the deputy information minister, told Al Jazeera television that his powers had devolved to the vice-president, Abdo Rabu Mansur Hadi, “until the president returns.”

“The state has its institutions that can deal with these kinds of circumstances,” Mr al-Janadi said. “Constitutional procedures will be followed.”

Protesters in the central city of Taiz launched fireworks and sang songs throughout the night in Freedom Square, a week after it was burnt and bulldozed by the army.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1f14eeea-8f63-11e0-954d-00144feab49a.html?ftcamp=rss

[pampango]

3. Aljazeera: Yemeni celebrations follow Saleh's Saudi trip

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/06/20116583530542599.html

Pro-democracy protesters are celebrating what they described as the fall of the Yemeni government after President Ali Abdullah Saleh left the country for medical treatment in Saudi Arabia.

"Today, Yemen is newborn," sang dozens of youths in Sanaa's University Square on Sunday, dubbed "Change Square", which has been the epicentre of anti-government protests that have raged since February.

"This is it, the regime has fallen," others chanted.

Hashem Ahelbarra, Al Jazeera's correspondent, said the president's retreat to Saudi Arabia spelled the end of his rule
"If he was seriously injured then he would need long treatment in Saudi Arabia and Yemen cannot stand a protracted power vacuum," he said. "If he was just suffering minor injuries then I would assume it would have made sense for him to be treated in Yemen. The fact that he was flown to Saudi Arabia says a lot about the end of the Saleh era."

Saudi Arabia has a history of welcoming deposed leaders from Idi Amin to Ben Ali. Let's hope they invite Saleh to stay indefinitely as well.

[pinboy3niner]

4. Accuracy of reports Saleh was injured in "rocket attack" questioned

From The Guardian's news blogs:

Brian Whitaker is keeping busy today. This just-posted comment underneath this blog is worth putting in full here:

May I suggest that we stop saying it was a rocket attack that hit Saleh? Yemeni officials have certainly said it was, but they may have ulterior motives for saying so, and in any case they have not proved very reliable on the question of Saleh's health.

Because of the accuracy of the attack there is speculation in Yemen that it could have been an inside job, ie a bomb placed within the presidential compound.

At present, we don't know for sure either way.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/global/middle-east-live/2011/jun/05/yemen-libya-syria-middle-east-unrest#block-30

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. And a good commentary piece from Whittaker:

Despite that, the broad aim of the GCC plan – to form a government of national unity and prepare for elections – was (and is) the only practicable way forward in the circumstances, especially in the light on international concerns about Yemen's instability. It is far from ideal, because even the recognised opposition politicians have been around for years, some of them are as corrupt as Saleh's chums, and they are mostly devoid of new ideas for tackling the country's multifarious problems.

The hope then, is that this will indeed be a short-term transition and that elections will eventually bring in some new blood that reflects the aspirations of the millions of Yemenis who have risked their lives for so long protesting on the streets.

So far, constitutional procedures seem to be taking their course, and it is to be hoped that Saleh's kinsman, Ali Muhsen al-Ahmar, and the powerful tribal leaders will allow that to happen by staying on the sidelines.

Vice-president Abd al-Rab Mansur al-Hadi, a Saleh appointee and a former military man from the south who is something of a nonentity, has temporarily taken charge as required by the constitution. As a next step, he should form a new government from across the political spectrum. Obviously Hadi's position is precarious in the light of the recent turmoil but for the time being at least he can count on international support – most importantly, from the US and Saudi Arabia.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jun/05/yemen-saleh

[pinboy3niner]

6. The Guardian's been doing great coverage on its blog, much of it from him

You did a good job picking some of the best in an earlier post. :fistbump:

[Synicus Maximus]

7. Protesters Celebrate Departure of Yemen's Leader

Source: AP

Protesters danced, sang and slaughtered cows in the central square of Yemen's capital Sunday to celebrate the departure of the country's authoritarian leader for medical treatment in Saudi Arabia after he was wounded in a rocket attack on his compound.

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=13764342

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Slaughtered cows?

[DinahMoeHum]

8. Slughtered cows. . .or lams. hell yes. They don't eat pork out there.

And AFAIC, after all the shit they went through, they're entired to an impromptu ox or lamb roast.

[Synicus Maximus]

9. Protesters Celebrate Departure of Yemen's Leader

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