SEPTEMBER 23, 2011
Yemen's President Returns From Saudi Arabia
By HAKIM ALMASMARI in San'a and MARGARET COKER in Abu Dhabi
Embattled Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh returned home Friday for the first time since fleeing--wounded by a bomb attack--to Saudi Arabia after a failed assassination attempt this summer, a move likely to further inflame the country as it teeters toward civil war.
The surprising return of Mr. Saleh, who has belligerently faced down an eight-month protest demanding an end to his three-decade rule, comes after another failed round of diplomacy this week by the United Nations, Gulf Arab and Western diplomats who have been trying to secure what would be Yemen's first transfer of power in modern history. Mr. Saleh has repeatedly refused to sign an agreement he helped negotiate in which he would relinquish power in favor of a transitional authority that would include many of his deputies as well as Yemen's opposition parties until fresh elections could be held.
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 about the timing of his return. Both U.S. and Saudi officials have been lobbying the leader over the summer to not go back to Yemen and accept an immediate handover of power.
By sundown in San'a, Mr. Saleh had not made a public appearance. State media quoted him as urging all sides for a cease-fire and repeating his oft-used phrase about the need for discussion. "A solution cannot be reached by machine guns, but rather by dialogue," Mr. Saleh said, according to the state-run news agency.
Around sundown, the sound of multiple explosions ripped through the capital. Residents reported fresh clashes between the Republican Guard units under the command of President Saleh's son and forces loyal to a powerful army commander who defected from the government earlier this year.
At least 12 antigovernment supporters were killed during morning clashes with pro-Saleh troops in San'a on Friday, while one other protester died in the city of Taiz, according to medical officials.
Across Yemen during the past week, an estimated 100 people have been killed in fighting between troops loyal to the president and the anti-government demonstrators, and the top United Nations official for human rights on Thursday condemned what she called "excessive force" used by government soldiers and the protesters. There is no confirmed number of all the people killed in the antigovernment uprising that started in February, but local activists and medical workers estimate the number to be in the thousands.
It wasn't immediately clear how Mr. Saleh's arrival back in Yemen would affect the stalled diplomacy. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta were due to meet in New York on Friday with representatives from the Gulf Cooperation Council, the league of Gulf Arab states that has led the negotiations with the Yemeni leader and opposition groups.
Saudi officials couldn't be immediately reached for comment. The White House repeated its call for Mr. Saleh to step down and allow for immediate elections. "The Yemeni people have suffered enough and deserve a path to a better future," said White House press secretary Jay Carney.
News of the president's return had sparked morning clashes in several areas around San'a, the capital, according to residents. Demonstrations by thousands of Saleh supporters, as well as by his opponents, moved ahead as had been scheduled.
A spokesman for the umbrella group representing Yemen's opposition political parties says his group remains determined to continue their protest. "The revolution will continue peacefully until all its goals are accomplished," said Mohammed Qahtan, the spokesperson for the opposition Joint Meeting Parties.
Tanks belonging to an elite unit under the command of Mr. Saleh's son, 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. Desperation is growing in the Arab world's most impoverished country due to rampant inflation, a lack of basic services like fuel and electricity and deep frustration over the widening political vacuum.
February's eruption of antigovernment demonstrations came after the president ended a two-year national dialogue between Mr. Saleh and major opposition parties intended on working out a power-sharing agreement. Since the spring, Yemen's pro-democracy activists have taken to the streets, like their counterparts in other parts of the Arab world, demanding an end to his 33 years in power. In the intervening months they have been joined by a wide swath of society, including defected army commanders, Islamist opposition politicians and powerful tribal leaders.
Yet Mr. Saleh 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 political chaos has disrupted longstanding counterterrorism cooperation between Yemen's elite forces and the U.S. military, as the local forces have turned their attention away from hunting down members of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, as the local branch of the terrorist network is called, and instead have redeployed to help keep Mr. Saleh in power.
One of the most vivid security breakdowns has come in the vital southern region of Abayan. There, Islamist rebels linked to al Qaeda have taken over much of the province, including a town 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 expand its safe havens and provide the space needed to launch more international terror attacks.
President Saleh participated in internationally brokered negotiations earlier this year, but balked at signing an agreement that would have given him and his relatives immunity for prosecution if he would hand over power. The resulting political stalemate has repeatedly boiled over into violence in intense bursts this summer.
--Laura Meckler in Washington contributed to this article.
Write to Margaret Coker at margaret.coker@wsj.com