Date: Fri Nov 21 11:30:53 2014
Mutiny Inside Yemen's Special Forces
SANAA, Yemen - Nov 21, 2014, 12:52 PM ET
By AHMED AL-HAJJ Associated Press
Associated Press
Officers suspected to be loyalists of ousted President
<http://abcnews.go.com/topics/news/world/president-ali-abdullah-saleh.htm>
Ali Abdullah Saleh are leading a mutiny inside the headquarters of an elite
paramilitary unit, seeking to oust their commander on Thursday, officials
said.
The officials say gunfire was heard Thursday afternoon inside the Special
Forces headquarters, located in the heart of the capital near the
presidential palace. The mutineers chanted "leave leave" and tried to storm
the office of Mohammed Mansour al-Ghadraa, their new commander. Al-Ghadraa
was appointed in September.
Shiite rebels who seized the capital in September deployed their militiamen,
officials said, adding that Presidential Guards cordoned off the area with
armored vehicles and soldiers.
The unit, part of the Interior Ministry, was led for nearly a decade by
Saleh's nephew, Yahia Saleh, before he was removed in 2012. It's not
immediately clear whom the mutineers want to replace al-Ghadraa.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not
authorized to speak to the press.
Yahia Saleh's removal was part of a shakeup by Saleh's successor Abed Rabbo
Mansour Hadi in response to widespread demands to purge Saleh's loyalists
from the security forces and army. Saleh and Shiite rebels known as Houthis
have joined ranks in weakening Hadi, sweeping through cities and towns, and
prompting the <http://abcnews.go.com/topics/news/world/united-nations.htm>
United Nations Security Council to impose sanctions on Saleh and two Houthi
commanders.
Saleh and the Houthis are former foes who were engaged in a six-year war
starting in 2004 before reaching a truce in 2010. Saleh was forced to step
down after a yearlong uprising in 2011. He remains a major power broker
thanks to a U.S.-backed, Gulf-brokered deal which gave his party a share of
power and granted him immunity from prosecution in return for stepping down.
In response to the sanctions, the country's ruling party the General
People's Congress ? which is split between Hadi and Saleh supporters ?
sacked Hadi from the party leadership and replaced him with another senior
aide.
On Thursday, party leaders in Yemen's southern provinces including Aden,
issued a joint statement rejecting the party's removal of Hadi and
describing his dismissal as "void."
(image/png attachment: image001.png)