President Salih has blamed unrest on Islamic terrorists. There's no evidence, but it looks like the west has taken the bait
Jeb Boone
(managing editor of the Yemen Times)
guardian.co.uk, Monday 7 March 2011
"....After more than a month of street protests calling for President Ali Abdullah Salih to resign, last week the opposition coalition known as the Joint Meeting Parties (JMP) put forward a five-point plan requiring him to step down at the end of this year.
Salih rejected that and, with his back to the wall, played the tried and trusted al-Qaida card. He claimed that terrorists were taking advantage of the political unrest to carry out further attacks against the Yemeni government and foreign interests in the country....
What's more, as Yemen's Islamist opposition party, Islah, has joined the protest, Salih is screaming "caliphate" to the Americans. As is the case with the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, the Islah party is pluralistic and not as dangerous as the soon-to-be-deposed leader would make it out to be.....
In a shocking display of inanity, Hilary Clinton claimed last Thursday that Iran was "very much involved" in Yemen's protest movement. Taking a card right out of Salih's playbook, the US has made Iran the scapegoat in Yemen yet again. After Salih blamed a US-Israeli conspiracy for unrest, Clinton's statement sounds just as ridiculous.....
In the meantime, the opposition JMP has a real opportunity to make a bid for power. When members of Yemen's ruling party say their country is not like Egypt and Tunisia, they are mostly just trying to convince people there won't be a revolution. However, one significant difference is the marginal political freedom that is tolerated under the Salih regime. The political opposition is (somewhat) organised and coordinating with demonstrators....."
Jeb Boone
(managing editor of the Yemen Times)
guardian.co.uk, Monday 7 March 2011
"....After more than a month of street protests calling for President Ali Abdullah Salih to resign, last week the opposition coalition known as the Joint Meeting Parties (JMP) put forward a five-point plan requiring him to step down at the end of this year.
Salih rejected that and, with his back to the wall, played the tried and trusted al-Qaida card. He claimed that terrorists were taking advantage of the political unrest to carry out further attacks against the Yemeni government and foreign interests in the country....
What's more, as Yemen's Islamist opposition party, Islah, has joined the protest, Salih is screaming "caliphate" to the Americans. As is the case with the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, the Islah party is pluralistic and not as dangerous as the soon-to-be-deposed leader would make it out to be.....
In a shocking display of inanity, Hilary Clinton claimed last Thursday that Iran was "very much involved" in Yemen's protest movement. Taking a card right out of Salih's playbook, the US has made Iran the scapegoat in Yemen yet again. After Salih blamed a US-Israeli conspiracy for unrest, Clinton's statement sounds just as ridiculous.....
In the meantime, the opposition JMP has a real opportunity to make a bid for power. When members of Yemen's ruling party say their country is not like Egypt and Tunisia, they are mostly just trying to convince people there won't be a revolution. However, one significant difference is the marginal political freedom that is tolerated under the Salih regime. The political opposition is (somewhat) organised and coordinating with demonstrators....."
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