The Yemeni Crisis Comments on recent developments in Yemen :

Sada aden

The crisis in Yemen is becoming more and more complicated.  Time is running out while the Yemeni dictator is stalling in an attempt to buy more time using misleading justifications for his irresponsible measures against the peaceful masses.  Consequently, with every minute gone by, bloodshed is becoming inevitable.

·         The initial terms of the political settlement to contain the crisis in Yemen as informally relayed, is the best possible way out of the current perplexity and in order to prevent a bloodbath.  Even these efforts however are being hampered by Saleh’s swings as he has agreed and subsequently recanted on agreements made within the span of six hours as witnessed by US, UK, and EU representatives in Sana’a during meetings held at the Vice President’s house in the Yemeni capital Sana’a this last week.

·         The ruling party, the People’s Congress is run by power hungry, corrupt, and untrustworthy elements.

·         Internally, the major opposition forces are represented by tribal chieftains, army, and security commanders loyal to the main tribe in Yemen – Hashed – to which President Ali Saleh, his brothers, next of kin, and his rival Marshal Ali Mohsin belong.  Last but not least, the opposition parties Al-Islah and YSP, are secondary players whose role serves to market fake democracy in Yemen in order to cultivate foreign financial and political support for the beleaguered regime.

·         The entire opposition block is functioning under the umbrella of Yemeni Youth for Change in Sana’a, supported by mass assemblies in Taiz, Aden, and many other northern and southern governorates.

·         For at least two decades, the U.S. has invested unlimited commitments in order to defend a failing Yemeni government under a most corrupt President.

·         Turning to Al Qaeda growth in Yemen, it is no idle fact to reaffirm that its elements in Yemen were hosted, assisted, and recruited in order to infiltrate Yemeni security and army units with the approval and knowledge of the President.

·         American support of the Counter Terrorism Unit over the past few years appears to have failed to produce any meaningful results.  Moreover, U.S. airstrikes in Yemen proved to be disastrous after discovering that the strikes were ordered on the back of unreliable ground intelligence at best.

·         The current anticipated political reform in Yemen, similar to Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and Syria, is mainly influenced by Islamists not, repeat not, Al Qaeda extremists.  This new leading force is worth considering serious dialogue with.

·         Time is very important to observe.  The Middle East peace process has reached a dead-end because of unlimited Israeli ambitions exposing moderate Arab governments to uncalculated risks.  Therefore, the question in Yemen remains on how to communicate and deal with the new situation? Showing hostile or “could care less” attitude is extremely counterproductive and/or wrong. This is free advice for the U.S., E.U., U.K., and Arab Gulf states. I hope it is appreciated by all.