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JUNE 6, 2011

Yemeni Leader's Exit Prompts Joy and Fear

By HAKIM ALMASMARI and FARNAZ FASSIHI

SAN'A, Yemen--President Ali Abdullah Saleh's sudden departure to Saudi Arabia for surgery Sunday after he was wounded in an attack threw Yemen's political landscape into disarray as protesters saw the end of his 33-year rule and rival tribes maneuvered for power.

Mr. Saleh's supporters insisted he planned to return to his role as president after he handed power to his vice president.

The U.S. said it had no evidence that Mr. Saleh didn't intend to come back to rule Yemen, and urged the country to ensure any permanent transfer of power take place within the confines of the country's constitution.

During the months of protests in Yemen, American officials have been worried that a power vacuum could allow al Qaeda-linked terror groups to flourish in the country.

"Saleh out of the country is a game changer," said April Longley Alley, a senior analyst specializing in Yemen with the International Crisis Group, an independent nonprofit group that tries to prevent and resolve deadly conflict. "It's precarious because there is still no solid cease-fire in place [with Mr. Saleh] in order to allow a political transition to go through."

Youth opposition, which started the pro-democracy opposition movement against Mr. Saleh, celebrated in the square where protesters have been gathering for months. They danced, sang and waved flags and even slaughtered cows to give thanks, witnesses said.

But elsewhere in the capital the mood was somber as ordinary Yemeni families braced for a period of political uncertainty and possible violence if Mr. Saleh returns and resumes fighting the opposition. Shops stayed closed and most families stayed indoors in the capital.

Vice President Abdul Rabu Mansoor Hadi, who is viewed as a conciliator who won't seek power himself, ordered a halt to all clashes in San'a on both the government and the tribal side. The government said it would remove its forces from the areas of Hasba and Hadda, where fighting had been most intense. In response, opposition tribal leader Sheikh Sadeq Ahmar, the leader of the powerful Hashid tribe, evacuated his militia from government buildings and called an end to the fight.

Analysts say that the Hashid tribe, which fought fiercely with government security forces in the past week and was instrumental in driving Mr. Saleh out of the country, won't likely seek a direct political role in any incoming government but could be instrumental in endorsing Yemen's next leader. Tribe members could also play an important role in defusing tensions and restoring stability.

Opposition figures said Mr. Saleh's arrival in Saudi Arabia, whose leadership had been pushing him hard to step down, was a chance to move forward with a political transition laid out in the failed negotiations with Persian Gulf states. "Now he is gone and we don't need his signature, thank you very much," said Yasin Iryani, co-founder of the opposition Democratic Awakening Movement in Yemen. "We are going to move forward with our plans and by the time Saleh is back he will be a private citizen."

For the West, Mr. Saleh's government has been a critical, if at times exasperating, partner in battling terrorist groups with a record of attacking the West.

With his departure, one of the thorniest issues is how Al Qaeda's extensive network in Yemen will react. Although Al Qaeda members are known to be in the few hundreds in Yemen, they have exploited the tribal and rural areas of the country to set up bases and training camps.

U.S. officials are worried that as the country descends further into disorder, groups affiliated with al Qaeda could consolidate their influence in outlying areas and have more space to operate and plan attacks on the West.

The U.S., which has backed Saudi efforts to ease Mr. Saleh from power, urged Yemenis to ensure that any permanent transfer of power takes place constitutionally, a stance that the White House hopes will discourage a coup that might replace one strongman with another.

Obama administration officials said Mr. Saleh appears to have taken the bureaucratic steps to ensure his authority remains intact much the way he would have had he left the country on vacation or official travel.

"Our position is still that we would call on Saleh to immediately begin a transition of power," in keeping with an exit agreement brokered by the Gulf Cooperation Council, a State Department official said on Sunday.

Mr. Saleh, who has been fending off challenges to his rule for four months, was injured Friday in a rocket attack on his palace compound. It remains unclear who was responsible for the assault. The government blamed al Qaeda terrorists, but tribes opposed to Mr. Saleh had been engaged in pitched battles with forces loyal to him. Aides initially insisted Mr. Saleh was only slightly hurt, but he failed to appear on television after saying he would and in a recorded radio address seemed lethargic.

Yemeni officials now concede that Mr. Saleh suffered serious second-degree burns on his face, chest and body and shrapnel wounds that could take weeks to heal. "He's pretty banged up," one Yemeni official said, adding that some people near Mr. Saleh in a mosque where he was hit had to have limbs amputated due to the severity of their injuries. "He's lucky to be alive."

Five senior officials also were seriously injured in the attack, including the prime minister, parliament speaker and two deputy prime ministers. They were taken to a hospital in Saudi Arabia for medical treatment, Yemen's official news agency said.

Early Sunday morning, 31 members of Mr. Saleh's immediate family departed Yemen for Riyadh, said people familiar with the situation in San'a. Their exit fed speculation among senior members of the ruling party that Mr. Saleh may not return to Yemen for a considerable time.

A Saudi government official said the country was hosting Mr. Saleh for medical, rather than political, reasons and Yemen's predicament had to be resolved by Yemenis.

Mr. Hadi met with military officials and with Mr. Saleh's sons on Sunday, Al Arabiya television said Sunday. An adviser said that Mr. Hadi would only temporarily be Yemen's caretaker and didn't plan to take over unless Mr. Saleh appointed him in accordance with constitutional norms.

Mr. Hadi also met with U.S. ambassador Gerald Feierstein on Sunday. White House counter-terrorism adviser John Brennan talked Saturday to the vice president, a U.S. official said, offering no further details.

--Michael Phillips contributed to this article.

Write to Farnaz Fassihi at farnaz.fassihi@wsj.com