SALON

Friday, Dec 21, 2012 4:45 PM UTC

Rallies across Yemen support military shake-up

By

Topics: From the Wires,

Rallies across Yemen support military shake-upYemeni soldiers stand guard near the residence of Yemen's president Abed Rabbu Mansour Hadi during a rally to show their support in Sanaa, Yemen, Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed)(Credit: AP)

SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of Yemenis rallied across the country Friday to support a military shake-up this week that limited the powers held by loyalists of the country’s ousted leader, including his son.

President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi’s measures on Wednesday brought the military’s Special Forces and Republican Guard run by ousted leader Ali Abdullah Saleh’s son, Ahmed, under the control of the Defense Ministry.

Restructuring the army was a top demand by Yemenis after Saleh’s ouster in February. He ruled the impoverished Arab nation for 33 years and was forced to step down following massive protests during the country’s Arab Spring uprising last year.

The United States and powerful Arab Gulf nations led by Saudi Arabia helped broker the power-transfer deal, which eased him out of office.

Saleh has been blamed by many over the past year for using loyalists and relatives in powerful posts to stall reform efforts by the new leadership under Hadi, who was the former leader’s deputy before becoming president.

On Thursday, the White House said President Barack Obama’s counterterrorism chief John Brennan called Hadi to convey U.S. support for the Yemeni leader’s “steadfast resolve to continue on the path of political transition.”

The White House said the move advances the goal of a unified, professional military that serves the Yemeni people. The statement also said the two discussed “the importance of international support for Yemen’s economic development and the need to sustain close cooperation against al-Qaida.”

Washington considers al-Qaida in Yemen as the militant group’s most dangerous branch.

Al-Qaida militants took advantage of the political turmoil last year to overrun entire cities and towns in southern Yemen.

With U.S. support, the Yemeni military managed to take back control of southern territories earlier this year, but al-Qaida militants have still been able to launch attacks against the army. The attacks have killed hundreds of security forces.

In a sign of Yemen’s still volatile security situation, three foreigners — two men and a woman — were kidnapped on Friday by unknown gunmen from the center of the capital, Sanaa, the city’s governor said.

The assailants fired bullets in the air before taking the three in a white unmarked Land Cruiser, Governor Abdel-Qader Hilal told The Associated Press. The nationalities of the three were not disclosed.

In Friday’s demonstration in all 17 provinces across Yemen, people expressed support for the shake-up, chanting: “Move forward, Hadi, for the dreams of our nation.”

Hadi’s measures also included the naming of a new commander to replace Saleh’s nephew, Yahia, as head of the Central Security Forces.

The president also merged another unit headed by Yahia, the Anti-Terrorism Force, to the Defense Ministry. In addition, the president dismissed the ousted leader’s brother Mohammed, who was among at least seven deputies of chief of staff removed in the shake-up.

More By Ahmed Al-haj.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 0 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: Chekhov's story mirrors Russia's own

Recommendations