The question being asked is how many more
innocent lives will be lost before Saleh leaves
By Khaled Ziad
Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Officials in Saudi Arabia, Yemen say President Ali Abdullah Saleh will remain in Riyadh.
It has been more than seven months since a
peaceful revolution began in Yemen. But for the past bloody week, it seems that
President Ali Abdullah Saleh's regime is taking the turmoil in the country to a
dangerous new level. War drums have begun to sound. It is the youth who are up
in revolt, their supporter General Ali Mohsin's First Armoured Division troops
and the major tribal chief, Shaikh Sadeq Al Ahmar, on one side and the
remaining supporters of Saleh's regime on the other side.
Yemeni people surprised the world and proved
to the international community that they are patient and peace-loving. But
their patience has limits, and the limits have been crossed by Saleh and his
son Ahmad. They disregarded the voices of reason and wisdom calling for a
reprieve for the region's poorest country, which has suffered as a result of a
corrupt government and is today a failing state.
Saleh surprised everyone by returning to
Yemen from Saudi Arabia on Friday. But the demand for his departure from the
presidency is no longer the demand of the Yemeni people alone. All regional and
western countries are urging him to leave, especially the Gulf states, which
came up with three initiatives for Saleh's departure. But Saleh persists with
his delaying tactics, and is planning new political and military games. He
refuses to leave with honour and has no mercy on his people and his country
despite the serious injuries he suffered during the assassination attempt in
June, which almost killed him.
In fact, he has now become more arrogant and
ignorant. This week his son Ahmad and his family escalated the situation and
brought back violence to the streets of the capital Sana'a, killing dozens of
civilians with rocket-propelled grenades, leaving hundreds of others wounded.
There were children shot dead, among them a 10-month-old baby who was hit in
the head by a stray bullet. It was a new massacre against unarmed
demonstrators, and terrorised peaceful citizens in their homes with sounds of
bombs and fighter jets in Sana'a, and the southern city of Taiz.
Where is the government heading to? How many
more innocent lives will be lost before Saleh leaves? What will stop Saleh and
his family from punishing the Yemeni people? All these questions warrant
Saleh's immediate attention. Tremendous efforts had been exerted by the elite
in Yemen to avoid reaching this stage. But the blood of young Yemenis has been
shed and their lives have been the price for their nation's freedom.
Safe exit in doubt
Surely a revolution exacts a price and
nothing comes for free. But Yemen's youth are fighting Saleh's oppression and
aggression against them and they will maintain the unity of the country. On
Sunday they were killed in Change Square while singing Yemen's national anthem.
It is obvious that Saleh's government will not take any serious steps towards a
peaceful settlement of the crisis in Yemen, and nothing justifies the recent
violence by Saleh's government.
The international community's main concern in
Yemen is fighting Al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula. The youth in Yemen proved
to the world their determination in favour of fighting terrorism while Saleh's
regime used the terrorism bogey to get financial aid from the West, which was
the main reason for non-acceptance of Yemen in the Gulf Cooperation Council.
I believe it is time for the international
community to get involved and help Yemen before it is too late. The world
should strongly condemn these crimes against humanity. It is really shameful
and bizarre that the Yemeni government uses violence and excessive power, then
expresses its sorrow and condemnation over its crimes in its response to the UN
Human Rights Council. It does not work this way.
I think Saleh lost his chance for safe exit
and the International Criminal Court should issue an arrest warrant for Saleh
and his son over the crimes against humanity committed against unarmed
civilians in Sana'a, Taiz and Arhab. Also Switzerland should freeze any assets
belonging to Saleh and his family, just like it froze the assets of the former
presidents of Tunisia and Egypt, Zine Al Abidine Bin Ali and Hosni Mubarak,
respectively.
The recent violence in Yemen should be an
incentive for the international community to break its silence, and the world
should not continue to ignore what is happening in Yemen. Without doubt,
international silence pours more oil on the fire and increases the chances of
military means being used to resolve the longest revolution in the Arab Spring
so far. It seems to be that Yemen is heading towards unending chaos and
instability.
This commentary was published in The GULF
NEWS on 25/09/2011
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