Yemen Protest <s>Today</s> Friday (With Update/ Follow-up)

By John Ballard

There are many You Tube videos coming from just about everywhere except Syria, some of which are too gruesome to watch. This one from today is impressive because of the spirit of unity and discipline it shows. By most accounts Yemen is made up of no less than four or five groups, all seeking a strong measure of control. Of all the countries of the Middle East, Absent a unified government authority replacing Saleh,Yemen is talked about most often as a candidate for civil war..But nothing in this video betrays any hint of division.

 

I don't feel adequate to comment. We are too far away and the situation is much too complex for anything from me to have meaning.

But I can report what I find and pass it along in the hope that someone, somewhere will be moved to take steps to avert even more conflict.

Yemeni cameraman for Iraq TV killed in Sanaa September 24, 2011

A Yemeni cameraman working for Iraq's state broadcaster died on Saturday after being shot days earlier while covering protests in Sanaa's Change Square, the channel's news director told AFP.

Hussein Yahya al-Wadhaf, 25, had been working with Al-Iraqiya TV for a year, according to Abdul Karim Hammadi. He was shot on Monday, Hammadi said.

"He was covering the demonstrations which saw a heavy reaction from the authorities against the protesters," Hammadi said. "He was shot in his head, went into a coma, and died at 5:00 a.m. (0200 GMT) today."

Hammadi said a funeral was to be held for Wadhaf in Sanaa following afternoon prayers on Saturday.

At least 40 people, among them dissident soldiers, were killed in violence that rocked Yemen's capital on Saturday, according to an activist from the protest organizing committee.

Fierce fighting between Yemeni security forces and dissident troops has rocked Sanaa since last week, killing 173 people.

Seventy-eight people have been killed since President Ali Abdullah Saleh returned on Friday after three months in Saudi Arabia, despite his call for peace in the restive country.

And here is a farewell message Tom Finn RT from Laura Kasinof, a NY Times stringer...

My only memory from the field
hospital on March 18 is Hassan crying
while filming the bodies. RIP ya Hasan
#Yemen

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? It's now Sunday Morning where I am and here are Tom Finn's last few Twitter messages.
The time there is early afternoon and the first of these messages was sent about four hours ago.

Another journalist asks "Some observers have charged Mohsen w/ using young protesters as cannon fodder (urging them to pres.palace). What do you think?" and Finn replies "Personally I think that accusation is better made of certain opposition politicians/leaders than Ali Mohsen."

[An hour later] They're kissing Mohsin's soldiers on the foreheads. [Mohsin -- see interview snip below]
Ambulances wailing, rushing back to the field hospital, must be clashes taking place near Saba roundabout.
In field hospital, man with blood pouring profusely from his neck, 8 others with bullet wounds, they say gov troops shot them from point [blank?]
Same prof: "One of my friends was shot in the chest, blood was pouring out of his nose and mouth"
Mass prayer ceremony outside the hospital, thousands of men praying amongst the corpses of those killed on Friday.
The muezzin is weeping.
After Saleh's Surprise Return, Fighting Continues in Yemen ti.me/nqPp7V
Field hospital in Sana'a: 18 injured, 2 in critical condition, all suffering from bullet wounds.

From the Time link above.

In less than a week, a large area in the heart of the capital � dubbed Change Square by the thousands of dissidents who had been camping out there in tents � has been transformed from a pro-democracy hub to one of chaos and despair. Blood-splattered tents have been ripped open by mortar shells. Protesters are distributing plastic helmets in a desperate attempt to protect themselves from the bullets of plain-clothed pro-government snipers prowling the nearby rooftops. Meanwhile, the camp's field hospital arranges mangled corpses in neat rows, arms, legs, even faces missing, their gaping wounds shocking evidence of the rocket-propelled grenades and anti-aircraft guns now being used against activists by pro-regime forces.

[snip]

As Saleh dithers, time is running out for Yemen. Ali Mohsin, the wayward general whose troops are currently fighting loyalists, lashed out at Saleh in a statement on Saturday calling him a "sick, vengeful soul" and comparing him to the Roman emperor Nero, wasting time as his city burns. Mohsin, who once served as the president's iron fist and controls more than half of the country's military resources and assets, defected to the opposition in March after 52 protesters were shot dead in a coordinated sniper attack. However, he shouldn't be seen as a champion of democracy, having crushed an uprising in northern Yemen, a brutal act that also displaced millions of people.

Perhaps the biggest fear the country faces is that Saleh's reappearance may draw Yemen's powerful tribal leaders back into fray. When Saleh was airlifted to Saudi Arabia in June after a booby trap exploded in the mosque in his compound, Sadeq Al-Ahmar, the grizzled sheikh at the head of Yemen's most influential tribe, the Hashed, swore "by God that he would never let Saleh rule again." Sadeq, one of the wealthiest and most outspoken figures in Yemen, had been allied with Saleh until March when he announced his support for the "peaceful youth movement." Now he's being looked on as the power that might unsettle Saleh from his perch. The last time hostilities between his family and Saleh's turned violent was in May when a week's worth of mortar battles erupted, killing hundreds and flattening an entire neighborhood in Sana'a where Sadeq's home was located. Heavy explosions ripped through the same neighborhood on Friday night.

?The journalist mentioned above is Laura Kasinof. Here is the link to her NY Times report, with a moving photo.  

?And here is the link to Tom Finn's report in The Guardian. 

?This snip from an NPR interview last week helps me keep what's unfolding into focus.

INSKEEP: And it's two armed groups at this point that are going after each other?
CAMPBELL: Well, it's at least two in the capital. You have two very well-armed groups. The president's son Ahmed Ali, his nephew, who also controls large numbers of forces, what I think we'll call security forces for short, and then Ali Mohsen, a commander, a general who commands a large military camp and many thousands of soldiers. They have trenches right in the middle of the city. And they have positions in the middle of the city.
INSKEEP: Does the second guy, Ali Mohsen, count as a protest leader then or is a defector from the ranks? What do you call him?
CAMPBELL: The president calls him a defector. He has said that he's neutral and he's sworn to protect the protesters. You know, the approximate cause of this week's problems were that the protesters picked up from their square. They in a sense were allowed to stay in a certain place in Sanaa, near the university. They picked up and started to march toward the president's son's sort of holdout. This is what the, I think, what the government would say. And so they opened fire in a defensive fashion. What Ali Mohsen, the rebel commander, would say is that the security forces opened fire on the protesters and he's protecting them. In the end, there's no - there aren't two sides in Yemen. There're probably five sides, and it's almost impossible to tell who's who.
INSKEEP: Five sides and does that reflect divisions in the society? There are a lot of different interest groups that could come down in different places and who fear that their interests could be affected here.
CAMPBELL: It's always been a difficult country to govern. Almost impossible. And you have a secessionist movement. You have a political opposition. You have Arab Spring protesters who simply want to move on and have a new government and a new future. And it's - they're not fighting each other. But the president, who's been there for a long time, is refusing to step down. But more importantly, he's refusing to allow a transition to something new. And what Yemen desperately needs is something new.

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As soon as I posted this last update I received response from Diane Al-Habeili, someone whom I have been following for some time via Twitter.

Here via Chirpstory is our exchange.

Diane wrote: Huge Yemen protest demands Saleh trial http://t.co/dFkveRu9 

Me: Just posted: "Yemen Protest Followup"( http://t.co/YtvLsc8G ) Trying to follow the Yemen struggle this weekend Tragedy unfolding, with hope still in the distance. 

Diane: have you read wikileaks on Hamid al-Ahmar? also I disagree with Finn about the cannon fodder as before march deaths

Me: No. And thanks for reading. Have you a link to the Wikileaks item? 

Diane: I'd have to dig it up but in general Hamid went to US embassy a few years ago saying he can get crowds Indonesia style to overthrow Saleh. Most of protesters of other parties have left the square what is left is Islah youth and perhaps some independent youth. Hamid had been feeding them. It is NOT a revolution but jockeying for power among the elite in Yemen  much more complicated than that but there are a group of Yemen tweets who claim to be independent but as I watched am sure they when Arab Spring came some independent youth did start peaceful protest but it was taken over by Islah. work for Islah and are connected to PR person in Canada who denies involvement but having watched for months I do not believe  My husband is Yemeni and family has long history in Yemen so I have spent as you have noticed HOURS watching all this pie but I feel as happened with Falklands sooner rather than later large quantities of black gold will come to light

Me: So tell me, who is Ali Mohsen and how does he fit into this picture?

Diane: Ali Muhsin was with the President but at the beginning of the protests he took his troops and went over to opposition to "protect" the protesters. Opposition needs to keep the protesters there to use to put pressure on Saleh and then to march  I came across someone pushing for march to palace precisely to get a body count to run to the press with when need be...and occasionally when needed Muhsin will allow them to march out of protective area which they know will cause reaction. If you send thousands of protesters rushing toward the palace and across a known line not to cross....u KNOW result I call it manufactured killing. I am so upset about the abuse of protesters by the elite power players Ali Muhsin I have seen some say here is now negotiating his place for after these events including his $. Ali Muhsin needs to keep the protesters there to keep pressure on the President. He may at some point change sides again though.

Me: So Muhsin (Mohsen) is for the moment the military tool of Hamid al-Ahmar? Do I have that right?

Diane: I rely on @bafana3 and @malanesi

Me: That's consistent with the NPR take of multiple sides to the conflict.  

Diane: I no longer follow NPR. I look at multiple sources and follow twitter v. closely

Diane: behind the scenes not sure how closely they agree on things. for now a common interest to keep protesters. tomorrow maybe not... if you have followed Nexen not happy about their contract ending soon and maybe will not be renewed... 

Me: Thanks. I have added them to my already too-long list of those I follow. Hope they're not too loquacious. 

Diane: my son sat me down and tried to reason with me...but still a little hot under the collar....unreasonable of me maybe but .... west was told to follow certain people to really be in the know...I found the list useless 

Me: No problem. BTW, may I use our Twitter conversation in a blog post?

Diane: its public...so why not...I tried at beginning to keep low profile but at this point...I just cannot stay silent anymore 

Me:  Very generous of you. I hope there is no chance your husband or you will be in danger as a result. I want to be careful. 

Diane: I am independent...I speak only for myself. Let us be clear - husband and I are each our own person.

Diane: many of the experts on Yemen fm the west look at Yemen in my opinion like a person in a fish bowl...not fish...do not live there.  @bafana3 @malanesi intelligent- they are intelligent and say what they mean and mean what they say

Diane: Emotionally they [NPR] lost me because I felt carvin not doing a very good job on twitter. once I cool off...I will go back 

Me: I don't follow NPR either via Twitter but I routinely listen on radio.

Me: Got it. Just checking. Thanks. I'll probably curate via Chirpstory then harvest a conversation for the blog. Gotta go now. 

Diane: I want Yemen to stay whole-no division of country and I want to see focus on development. Much discontent from Shabwa that goes way back to when the British were there I want to add...discontents must be addressed. [The] area has asked for decades for healthcare and education and now with oil there has been bad pollution from sloppy extraction, increased illness and cancer...these issues need to be addressed