For every Yemeni death, President Saleh digs his grave a little deeper

By Jody McIntyre
The Independent

"When the President of a country and the head of his security forces have the same surname, you know there is a problem. When the Yemeni police attacked demonstrators camped out in Tagheer Square on Saturday, they signed the resignation papers of Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Yesterday, the killing continued with police firing live ammunition into demonstrators in Sanaa, the capital. This came only a day after the police had used Nerve Gas, an illegal weapon under international law in such circumstances. But Yahya Saleh, the President’s namesake and General of the Yemeni Security Forces, was not secretive or embarassed about where such weapons come from. In an interview with Al Jazeera, Saleh proudly proclaimed:

“We are using tear gas canisters we imported from countries that promote human rights. These are not not homemade weapons,”

Ironically, Saleh’s inadvertent summarising of the hypocrisy of Western governments, criticising other governments for using the weapons they have sold them, could not have been more apt.....

The wave of uprisings across the Arab world continues, as does the hypocrisy. Expect Saleh’s exit speech, coming soon to a screen near you."