Back in Yemen

Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh returned to the capital, Sanaa, on Friday after spending three months in Saudi Arabia recovering from a bomb attack on his compound.

Yemen has been embroiled in conflict since anti-regime protests broke out in February demanding an end to Saleh's 33 years of rule. During the leader's absence, the country has further slipped into chaos, with violence escalating this week.

The sounds of gunfire and thuds of mortar could be heard overnight and into the morning Friday as Republican Guard troops, led by Saleh's son Ahmed, battled forces loyal to General Ali Mohsen who have been protecting the thousands of protesters who have been camped out in Change Square for months.

Saleh's reappearance on the scene may further inflame the violence.

"We're definitely going to have an escalation of violence, but let him come back," Mohammed al-Asl, a protest organizer, told the news service Reuters. "We want him to come back and be tried for his crimes."

Saleh has repeatedly refused to sign a deal agreed upon with the Gulf Cooperation Council that would see him step down and relinquish power to his deputy in return for immunity from prosecution for him and his family. Hope for that agreement is fading.

"This is an ominous sign, returning at a time like this probably signals he intends to use violence to resolve this. This is dangerous," Reuters quoted Abdulghani al-Iryani, a political analyst and cofounder of the Democratic Awaking Moment, as saying.

"His people will feel that they are in a stronger position and they will refuse to compromise. Basically this means the political process is dead in the water."

Almost 100 people have been killed in the clashes since Sunday. The anti-Saleh demonstrators have called for more rallies after Friday prayers.

Author: Holly Fox (AFP, Reuters)
Editor: Martin Kuebler