Supporters of Saleh protest over threat of UN sanctions

AFP/Sanaa

Saleh, who stepped down in early 2012 after a year of Arab Spring-inspired protests, is seen as the main backer of Houthi rebels who have overrun the capital and several other areas since September.

Protesters, many brandishing machineguns, gathered in Tahrir Square in the capital Sanaa, chanting slogans hailing Saleh and condemning Washington for proposing the sanctions.

“The people want Ali Abdullah Saleh,” they chanted, warning President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi: “We shall not listen to America!”

Saleh’s General People’s Congress (GPC) party called the protests, warning that any sanctions would exacerbate the crisis in Yemen, which has been gripped by years of instability.

The UN Security Council was set to endorse the US-drafted proposal to slap a visa ban and assets freeze on Saleh and two of his allies, Shia Houthi rebel commanders Abd al-Khaliq al-Houthi and Abdullah Yahya al-Hakim, diplomats in New York said on Tuesday.

The GPC has accused the US embassy in Sanaa of giving an ultimatum to Saleh to leave by yesterday or face sanctions—a claim that Washington has denied.

Saleh served as Yemen’s first president after unification in 1990 but quit under a regional peace plan.

The Houthi rebels fought Saleh while he was in power but the former foes now appear to be allies.

Protesters carried portraits of Saleh along with pictures of rebel leader Abdulmalik al-Houthi.

Abd al-Khaliq al-Houthi is the younger brother of the rebel chief and was among the commanders who oversaw the storming of Sanaa in September.

Hakim is Abdulmalik al-Houthi’s military second-in-command.

The 15 members of the Security Council had until yesterday evening to raise objections before the proposal returns to the sanctions committee for action.

The top UN body in August called on the Houthi rebels to end their armed uprising against President Hadi and warned of sanctions against those who threaten the stability of Yemen, which is a key US ally in the fight against Al Qaeda.

The turmoil has raised fears that the impoverished country, which neighbours Saudi Arabia and lies on the key shipping route from the Suez Canal to the Gulf, may become a failed state.

The Houthis, also known as Ansarullah, have been able to expand their territory largely unchallenged by government forces, taking control of the capital, the key port of Hudeida, and the provinces of Ibb and Dhamar.

The only real resistance they have faced has come from Sunni tribes and Al Qaeda militants.

Fifteen rebels were killed when armed tribesmen attacked a Houthi assembly point near the central town of Rada with guns and rocket-propelled grenades late Thursday, tribal sources said.

Al Qaeda’s leader in Yemen accused the Shia rebels of collaborating with the United States and Iran to try to “destroy” Sunni Muslims.

An audio message purported to be from Nasser al-Wuhayshi, posted online yesterday, says the aim of the “crusaders and the Iranians is to destroy effective Sunni forces and the faithful mujahideen, and to empower their collaborators”.

Al Qaeda uses the term crusaders to refer to Western powers, especially those countries which have intervened militarily in Muslim countries.

US drones conduct frequent raids against militants of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which is considered by Washington as the most dangerous arm of the jihadist organisation.

“Houthis have joined in, taking their role alongside the Iranians and the crusaders in the war: the Americans from the air, and the Houthis on the ground,” Wuhayshi said in the recording posted on YouTube.