Coup feared in Yemen as rebels fire on PM's convoy, seize media
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In Yemen, Rebel Shiite Houthis battled soldiers near the presidential palace and elsewhere across the capital Monday, seizing control of the country's state-run media in a move an official called "a step toward a coup." (Jan. 19) AP
Yemen's Information Minister warned Monday of an attempted coup after clashes broke out near the presidential palace and rebels fired on the motorcade of Prime Minister Khaled Bahah, driving him into hiding.
"This story is developing so quickly ... We may have a new Yemen by the end of the day, maybe a new system altogether," Information Minister Nadia Sakkaf told Al Jazeera.
Sakkaf told The Associated Press that the new outbreak of fighting "is a step toward a coup and it is targeting the state's legitimacy."
Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, President of Yemen, addresses the United Nations General Assembly, at U.N. headquarters, Sept. 26, 2012.(Photo: Jason DeCrow, AP)
A U.S. official said the United States was monitoring the violence and had sufficient military power nearby to evacuate its embassy "on short notice" if needed, CNN reports.
The information minister also told Al Jazeera that no group controlled the capital, Sanaa, and that even the army was split, noting "some in uniform that don't obey their superior.
The prime minister's motorcade came under fire as he was leaving President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi's house for a meeting with a political group for the rebel Shiite Houthis. Bahah was unharmed, but is now in hiding, CNN reports.
At least two people have been killed and 14 wounded, medical sources said, the BBC reports.
The Houthis' TV channel, al-Maseera, meanwhile, claimed that the fighting broke out after government troops fired on a rebel patrol.
Rebel fighters also took over Yemen state television and its official SABA news agency, according to the information minister.
Reuters reported that civilians had fled the area around the presidential palace. Sakkaf said she was worried that in the chaos "al-Qaeda or other terror organisations will use the lack of order and target anybody."
"Oh God! There are bodies on street, not too many, but still..." well-known Yemeni activist Hisham Al-Omeisy wrote on Twitter. "Advise staying indoors, too many guns on streey & likely shot in confusion or crossfire."
Rebels took over the capital, Sanaa, in a campaign in September that saw them advancing across large parts of the country.
Under a deal backed by the United Nationsl, The Houthis signed an agreement with President Hadi that called for them to withdraw from Sanaa after a new unity government was formed.
In reality, they have never left and instead increased their presence in the mainly Sunni central and western parts of Yemen. which stretches across the southern strip of the Arabian Peninsula where the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden meet.
The rebels took control of the northwestern region of Sadaa during an uprising in 2011 that drove longtime President Ali Abdullah Saleh from office.
Many believe deposed Saleh has orchestrated their campaign.
The violence began early Monday, with witnesses saying heavy machine gun fire could be heard as artillery shells fell around the presidential palace. Civilians in the area fled as columns of black smoke rose over the palace. The fighting caused a number of casualties as ambulance sirens wailed throughout Sanaa.
A Yemeni military official, speaking to the AP on condition of anonymity as he wasn't authorized to brief journalists, said the Houthis provoked the attack by approaching military positions in the area and setting up their own checkpoints.
Hadi doesn't live at the palace, but his home nearby quickly was surrounded by additional soldiers and tanks amid sporadic gunfire, witnesses said. Schools located near the clashes also closed as Houthi rebels manned checkpoints throughout the city. Many families remained trapped in their homes.
"People are leaving on foot, searching for safety," resident Tarfa al-Moamani said.
Sakkaf later told the AP that Hadi reached a cease-fire with Houthi rebels, though that apparently disintegrated into further gunfire. Prime Minister Khaled Bahah's convoy also came under fire after leaving Hadi's home for a meeting with a Houthi representative, Sakkaf said. It wasn't clear whether Bahah was wounded.
Foreign ambassadors also appeared to be attempting to negotiate an end to the fighting.
"Working to promote cease-fire and political negotiations," a message on British Ambassador Jane Marriott's Twitter account read. "Challenging times. And all most Yemenis want is food and a job."
The spark of the latest spasm of violence appears to be rooted in the Houthis' rejection of a draft constitution that divides the country into six federal regions. On Saturday, the Houthis kidnapped one of Hadi's top aides to disrupt a meeting scheduled for the same day that was to work on the new constitution.
Monday's battle comes a day after Hadi chaired a meeting in which he demanded the army defend Sanaa, SABA reported. It wasn't clear whether Hadi, who has made similar calls in the past, was issuing a new order for security services to take back control of Sanaa from the Houthis.
Hadi and Houthis accuse each other of not implementing a U.N.- brokered peace deal calling for Hadi to form a new national unity government and reform the country's government agencies as Houthis withdraw their fighters from cities they seized. Houthis also demand integration of their militias into Yemen's armed forces and security apparatus, something Hadi strongly opposes.
Houthis also accuse Hadi of financing and harboring al-Qaeda militants. Hadi's government says the Houthis use the accusation as an excuse to seize more territory.
Hadi was elected as a president in 2012 after a popular revolt toppled Saleh, who is a Zaydi, a branch of Shiite Islam that exists almost solely in Yemen. Houthis, who are Zayidis, represent about 30 percent of Yemen's population.
Saleh waged six-year-war against Houthis that ended in a cease-fire in 2010. Now, however, the old foes appear to have joined forces to challenge Yemen's traditional power players, including top generals, tribal alliances and the Islamist Islah party, the Muslim Brotherhood's branch in the country.
The U.N. Security Council last year put Saleh on a sanctions list, along with two Shiite leaders, for destabilizing the country. Saleh's representatives have denied the allegations.
Security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters, said they believed tribal fighters loyal to Saleh were racing into Sanaa to back the Houthis in the fighting.
Yemen, the Arab world's poorest country, is also home to al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, considered by the U.S. to be the most dangerous arm of the terror group. That group has said it directed the recent attack against the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris "as revenge for the honor" of Islam's prophet Mohammed.
The U.S. has carried out a campaign of drone strikes in the country targeting suspected militants. Civilian casualties from those strikes have angered Yemenis.
Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1BrFBsk
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Jan 19, 2015
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Coup feared in Yemen as rebels fire on PM's convoy, seize media
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In Yemen, Rebel Shiite Houthis battled soldiers near the presidential palace and elsewhere across the capital Monday, seizing control of the country's state-run media in a move an official called "a step toward a coup." (Jan. 19) AP
Yemen's Information Minister warned Monday of an attempted coup after clashes broke out near the presidential palace and rebels fired on the motorcade of Prime Minister Khaled Bahah, driving him into hiding.
"This story is developing so quickly ... We may have a new Yemen by the end of the day, maybe a new system altogether," Information Minister Nadia Sakkaf told Al Jazeera.
Sakkaf told The Associated Press that the new outbreak of fighting "is a step toward a coup and it is targeting the state's legitimacy."
Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, President of Yemen, addresses the United Nations General Assembly, at U.N. headquarters, Sept. 26, 2012.(Photo: Jason DeCrow, AP)
A U.S. official said the United States was monitoring the violence and had sufficient military power nearby to evacuate its embassy "on short notice" if needed, CNN reports.
The information minister also told Al Jazeera that no group controlled the capital, Sanaa, and that even the army was split, noting "some in uniform that don't obey their superior.
The prime minister's motorcade came under fire as he was leaving President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi's house for a meeting with a political group for the rebel Shiite Houthis. Bahah was unharmed, but is now in hiding, CNN reports.
At least two people have been killed and 14 wounded, medical sources said, the BBC reports.
The Houthis' TV channel, al-Maseera, meanwhile, claimed that the fighting broke out after government troops fired on a rebel patrol.
Rebel fighters also took over Yemen state television and its official SABA news agency, according to the information minister.
Reuters reported that civilians had fled the area around the presidential palace. Sakkaf said she was worried that in the chaos "al-Qaeda or other terror organisations will use the lack of order and target anybody."
"Oh God! There are bodies on street, not too many, but still..." well-known Yemeni activist Hisham Al-Omeisy wrote on Twitter. "Advise staying indoors, too many guns on streey & likely shot in confusion or crossfire."
Rebels took over the capital, Sanaa, in a campaign in September that saw them advancing across large parts of the country.
Under a deal backed by the United Nationsl, The Houthis signed an agreement with President Hadi that called for them to withdraw from Sanaa after a new unity government was formed.
In reality, they have never left and instead increased their presence in the mainly Sunni central and western parts of Yemen. which stretches across the southern strip of the Arabian Peninsula where the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden meet.
The rebels took control of the northwestern region of Sadaa during an uprising in 2011 that drove longtime President Ali Abdullah Saleh from office.
Many believe deposed Saleh has orchestrated their campaign.
The violence began early Monday, with witnesses saying heavy machine gun fire could be heard as artillery shells fell around the presidential palace. Civilians in the area fled as columns of black smoke rose over the palace. The fighting caused a number of casualties as ambulance sirens wailed throughout Sanaa.
A Yemeni military official, speaking to the AP on condition of anonymity as he wasn't authorized to brief journalists, said the Houthis provoked the attack by approaching military positions in the area and setting up their own checkpoints.
Hadi doesn't live at the palace, but his home nearby quickly was surrounded by additional soldiers and tanks amid sporadic gunfire, witnesses said. Schools located near the clashes also closed as Houthi rebels manned checkpoints throughout the city. Many families remained trapped in their homes.
"People are leaving on foot, searching for safety," resident Tarfa al-Moamani said.
Sakkaf later told the AP that Hadi reached a cease-fire with Houthi rebels, though that apparently disintegrated into further gunfire. Prime Minister Khaled Bahah's convoy also came under fire after leaving Hadi's home for a meeting with a Houthi representative, Sakkaf said. It wasn't clear whether Bahah was wounded.
Foreign ambassadors also appeared to be attempting to negotiate an end to the fighting.
"Working to promote cease-fire and political negotiations," a message on British Ambassador Jane Marriott's Twitter account read. "Challenging times. And all most Yemenis want is food and a job."
The spark of the latest spasm of violence appears to be rooted in the Houthis' rejection of a draft constitution that divides the country into six federal regions. On Saturday, the Houthis kidnapped one of Hadi's top aides to disrupt a meeting scheduled for the same day that was to work on the new constitution.
Monday's battle comes a day after Hadi chaired a meeting in which he demanded the army defend Sanaa, SABA reported. It wasn't clear whether Hadi, who has made similar calls in the past, was issuing a new order for security services to take back control of Sanaa from the Houthis.
Hadi and Houthis accuse each other of not implementing a U.N.- brokered peace deal calling for Hadi to form a new national unity government and reform the country's government agencies as Houthis withdraw their fighters from cities they seized. Houthis also demand integration of their militias into Yemen's armed forces and security apparatus, something Hadi strongly opposes.
Houthis also accuse Hadi of financing and harboring al-Qaeda militants. Hadi's government says the Houthis use the accusation as an excuse to seize more territory.
Hadi was elected as a president in 2012 after a popular revolt toppled Saleh, who is a Zaydi, a branch of Shiite Islam that exists almost solely in Yemen. Houthis, who are Zayidis, represent about 30 percent of Yemen's population.
Saleh waged six-year-war against Houthis that ended in a cease-fire in 2010. Now, however, the old foes appear to have joined forces to challenge Yemen's traditional power players, including top generals, tribal alliances and the Islamist Islah party, the Muslim Brotherhood's branch in the country.
The U.N. Security Council last year put Saleh on a sanctions list, along with two Shiite leaders, for destabilizing the country. Saleh's representatives have denied the allegations.
Security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters, said they believed tribal fighters loyal to Saleh were racing into Sanaa to back the Houthis in the fighting.
Yemen, the Arab world's poorest country, is also home to al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, considered by the U.S. to be the most dangerous arm of the terror group. That group has said it directed the recent attack against the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris "as revenge for the honor" of Islam's prophet Mohammed.
The U.S. has carried out a campaign of drone strikes in the country targeting suspected militants. Civilian casualties from those strikes have angered Yemenis.
Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1BrFBsk
USA NOW
Greg Plitt, star of Bravo's 'Work Out', killed by train
Jan 19, 2015
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