Yemeni president in standoff with Saleh son over Scud missiles
SANAA | Tue Dec 11, 2012 12:31pm EST
(Reuters) - The commander of Yemen's Republican Guards has refused orders
from the president to hand long-range missiles over to the Defence Ministry,
political sources said, raising the risk of a showdown between the country's
two most powerful figures.
The standoff between Brigadier General Ahmed Saleh, son of ousted former
president Ali Abdullah Saleh, and President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi could
delay an overhaul of armed forces that split last year during a mass
uprising, worsening disorder.
Restoring security in Yemen is a priority for the United States and Gulf
allies because al Qaeda militants are entrenched in parts of the country,
posing a potential threat to top oil exporter
<
http://www.reuters.com/places/saudi-arabia> Saudi Arabia next door and
nearby shipping lanes.
"Brigadier General Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh rejected the president's
instructions to hand over Scud missile formations in the possession of the
Republican Guards to the Defence Ministry," a presidential palace source
told Reuters.
"This has caused a crisis between the two sides."
A second presidential palace source confirmed this information and added:
"The president was so angry at the rejection of his orders and threatened to
revoke the immunity given to the former president and expose corruption
worth billions of rials in the armed forces."
The Republican Guards, the best equipped wing of the Yemeni armed forces,
have been seen as crucial to containing al Qaeda.
Hadi, elected in February for a two-year interim period with a mandate to
restructure the military, has been gradually trying to loosen the Saleh
family's grip on the armed forces in a country where the former president's
legacy still looms large.
U.S. INFORMED OF STAND-OFF
Revamping the armed forces, which entails removing powerful relatives of
Saleh from key positions, is a pivotal part of a U.S.-backed power transfer
deal signed in Saudi Arabia that brought Hadi to power and aims to hold the
country together.
The sources said Hadi had discussed the Scud dispute with senior U.S.
officials, including Assistant Secretary of State Andrew Shapiro and General
James Mattis, chief of the U.S. Central Command, at a meeting in the capital
Sanaa on Monday.
Officials at Ahmed Saleh's office were not available for comment. But his
father's press secretary said the threats made by Hadi violate the terms of
the power transfer deal signed in Saudi Arabia last year which granted the
ex-president immunity from prosecution for any crimes committed during his
rule.
"The comments attributed to President Hadi are serious and contradict the
political settlement accord which was prepared by Gulf Arab states and
backed by U.N. Security Council members and the European Union," Ahmed
al-Soufi said in a statement.
A leader in Saleh's General People's Congress party said that it inquired
about the comments attributed to Hadi and were told that they were
inaccurate.
The pro-Saleh al-Yaman al-Youm newspaper quoted Hadi as saying that what he
meant was that no immunity would be granted to anyone who carries out any
sabotage action in <
http://www.reuters.com/places/yemen> Yemen.
"I did not mean any person in particular and certainly not the immunity
granted by parliament in line with the political settlement," the Arabic
language daily quoted Hadi as saying.
In April, Hadi removed about 20 top commanders, including a half brother of
Saleh and other relatives.
In August, he began chipping away at General Ahmed's power base by
transferring units from the Republican Guards to a new force under his
command or under different regional commands.
(The story corrects name of newspaper.)
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Received on Tue Dec 11 2012 - 14:14:09 EST
