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US calls for ‘non-essential’ personnel evacuation; Dozens Dead, Wounded as Yemen falls into vortex of violence, civil war
Storty filed by Elizabeth Arrott | Cairo
Dozens are dead or wounded as mounting violence in Yemen is taking on new dimensions. President Ali Abdullah Saleh is calling for the arrest of a powerful tribal chieftain whose clan has been battling government soldiers for days. Concerns are rising that the nation is facing all-out civil war.
The orders to arrest Sadiq al-Ahmar came on the fourth day that heavy fighting between members of the sheikh's Hashid tribe and government forces rocked the capital.
Government officials have accused al-Ahmar and his supporters of staging an armed rebellion. The sheikh's brother, Hussein al-Ahmar, says it's the government which has been doing the attacking.
Hussein al-Ahmar, speaking on U.S. government-funded al-Hurra television, says Mr. Saleh is no longer in a position to issue orders, nor is he capable of arresting any member of the Ahmar clan. He says the president has lost his legitimacy.
The street battles of recent days and the tribal nature of the clashes mark a sharp escalation in the unrest. Some Sana'a residents have been fleeing the capital, while the U.S. embassy has ordered all non-essential personnel to leave the country.
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