AFP/Sanaa
Yemen’s Gulf neighbours yesterday demanded an immediate halt to bloody clashes between regime supporters and clansmen of a dissident tribal chief that left 12 dead.
A tribesman takes position on a street near the house of tribal leader Sheikh Sadiq al-Ahmar during clashes with police in Sanaa yesterday
“The fighting in Sanaa during the last two days is a source of concern for the GCC who fear that it may spread,” said Gulf Co-operation Council Secretary General Abdullatif al-Zayani.
Zayani, who has been promoting a plan which he brokered that would see President Abdullah Saleh leave office within 30 days, urged the rival camps to show restraint.
Two days of clashes in the capital between backers of tribal chief Sheikh Sadiq al-Ahmar and security forces have already killed at least 12 people, tribal sources said.
Hours after their comments a missile slammed into Sheikh al-Ahmar’s Sanaa home causing casualties, another tribal source said.
“The home of Sheikh Sadiq al-Ahmar was hit by a missile and there were several dead or wounded,” the source said.
“Among the wounded was General Ghaleb Gamash, who was leading a mediation mission.”
Sheikh al-Ahmar, who heads the Hashid tribal confederation, the largest in Yemen and a former crucial source of support for the embattled president, pledged his support for the opposition in March.
He accused Saleh, who is facing mounting pressure to quit office after 33 years, of trying to spark a “civil war” in an attempt to remain in power.
“An armoured vehicle stationed near the interior ministry fired shells and killed five people” outside Sheikh al-Ahmar’s home, a source close to the tribal chief said.
The same source said at least 90 people were hurt. A security official said one policeman died and four others were wounded.
Machinegun and rocket-propelled grenade fire gripped the Al Hasaba neighbourhood of north Sanaa where the sheikh’s home is located, an AFP correspondent said.
Heavy shelling also targeted tribesmen stationed at several government buildings including the trade and industry ministry, a tribal source close to the sheikh said.
State news agencies quoted an interior ministry official as saying that Sheikh al-Ahmar’s supporters fired rocket-propelled grenades at interior and tourism ministry offices.
Heavy gunfire was heard near the rebel chief’s home where dignitaries from the powerful Bakil and Hashid tribal confederations had gathered in his support.
Most of the dignitaries had insisted on a peaceful solution to end the violence that killed six people on Monday, although tribal mediators have so far failed to secure a ceasefire.
Saleh on Sunday warned of civil war in the deeply tribal country as he refused to ink a Gulf-brokered accord under which he would cede power within 30 days in exchange for immunity from prosecution for himself and his aides.
Sources close to Sheikh al-Ahmar said the fighting had broken out on Monday after security forces tried to deploy around his residence and his gunmen retaliated.
A security official said the gunmen broke into a nearby school and police responded.
The conflicting accounts could not be independently verified.
Sheikh al-Ahmar said five of his supporters were killed on Monday and 52 wounded. The official Saba news agency said one policeman was killed and five people wounded.
One of the 10 sons of Sheikh Abdullah al-Ahmar, who was until his death Saleh’s main ally, Sheikh Sadiq is capable of rallying thousands of armed supporters, tribal sources say.
Yemen has an estimated 60mn firearms in private hands, roughly three for every citizen.
The country’s opposition vowed on Monday to step up street protests, while insisting on efforts to avoid violence.
Since late January, security forces and armed Saleh supporters have mounted a bloody crackdown on protests demanding his ouster, killing at least 181 people, according to a toll compiled from reports by activists and medics.
