Yemen president warns of civil war if he steps down before organising vote

YEMEN’S president has warned his country would descend into civil war if he were forced to quit and the US voiced concern about instability in the Arabian state that has become an al-Qaida stronghold.

Seven weeks of anti-government protests and defections among the ruling elite have piled pressure on Saleh, a US ally against radical Islamist ambitions in the Arabian peninsula, to step down immediately after 32 years in power.

But an aide said he would leave office only after organising parliamentary polls and establishing democratic institutions — by January 2012, a declaration the opposition promptly rejected.

“Ali Abdullah Saleh does not seek power,” his media secretary Ahmed al-Sufi said. “Ali Abdullah Saleh will not leave without knowing who he is handing over to.”

The US voiced rare public alarm about the situation. “We are obviously concerned about the instability in Yemen,” US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said. His chief concern was to avoid “diversion of attention” from opposing al-Qaida there.

Opposition spokesman Mohammed al-Sabry, rejecting Saleh’s offer to go by January 2012, said the coming hours would be decisive.

In speeches to army officers and tribal leaders in Sanaa, the president said Yemen faced a danger of civil war and disintegration because of efforts to stage a “coup” against his rule.

“You have an agenda to tear down the country, the country will be divided into three instead of two halves. A southern part, northern part and a middle part. This is what is being sought by defectors against... unity,” Saleh said, referring to northern Shi’ite rebels and al-Qaida militants.

“Those who want to climb up to power through coups should know that this is out of the question. The homeland will not be stable, there will be a civil war, a bloody war. They should carefully consider this,” Saleh told army commanders.

Presidential guards loyal to Saleh surrounded an air force battalion in the coastal city of Hudaida after its commander said he supported the protesters. A presidential guard and a soldier died in clashes in the southern coastal city of Mukalla late on Monday, medical sources said.

Western countries fear the crisis could hasten a slide into failed nation status for a country that borders the world’s biggest oil exporter, Saudi Arabia, and major shipping routes.

Al-Qaida has already used Yemen to attempt attacks in Saudi Arabia and the US in the past two years. The Shi’ite Houthi movement has also staged a number of revolts.

One opposition leader offered Saleh the prospect of secure retirement if, like Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, he would go quietly, unlike Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Several generals and officials have abandoned Saleh this week after a massacre of 52 pro-democracy demonstrators on Friday.

Yesterday, Abdel-Malik Mansour, Yemen’s envoy to the Arab League, told Al Arabiya television he was siding with protesters. Abdul-Rahman al-Iryani, whom Saleh sacked as environment minister on Sunday along with the rest of the cabinet, said on Facebook he was joining “the revolutionaries.”

Defections have included generals, tribal leaders, diplomats and ministers. They have gained momentum since gunmen loyal to Saleh opened fire on the demonstrators in Sanaa.