© A Huthi rebel fighter is seen atop an armoured vehicle in front of the residence of Yemen's former President Ali Abdullah Saleh in Sanaa on December 4, 2017. AFPA Huthi rebel fighter is seen atop an armoured vehicle in front of the residence of Yemen's former President Ali Abdullah Saleh in Sanaa on December 4, 2017.
The former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh has been killed today.
Video of his dead body being thrown onto the back of a pickup is making the rounds. One hears Houthi slogans shouted in the background. The pictures show a gun wound on the chest and at the side of the head. The face is easily recognizable. There are also
pictures of his ID card.
Though several media report his death there is
no confirmation yet from his GPC party or his family.
Over the last few days Houthi media had announced several times that Saleh had been killed.
This morning Saleh's house was blown up. This time the Houthi news proved right. The circumstance of Saleh's death are not known yet, but it was said that he was fleeing Sanaa when fate caught up with him.
As we wrote in
our recap on Saturday,
Saleh had suddenly made peace with the Saudis and asked his followers to take up arms against his former allies. For more than two years he had allied with the Houthi against the U.S. and UK supported Saudi invasion and proxy forces. On Friday, after several days of local clashes with the Houthi, he had
called for his followers to throw the Houthi out of the Yemeni capital Sanaa.
For a day his fighters, led by some 1,000 soldiers of Saleh's personal guards, were successful and the Houthi were kicked out of many of their positions.
But they were not defeated. They called up more of their troops and on Sunday regained the lost ground and buildings. They occupied Saleh's media. His TV station started to transmit his enemies' chants. Over the last night and throughout today they defeated Saleh's troops.
It is yet a mystery why not more of Saleh's supporters came to his help. Sanaa is his home-turf and whenever he had called for demonstrations in the city, hundreds of thousands attended. For much of his 34 years of rule as president and even after his forced resignation Saleh could call on the seven "collar tribes" whose territory surround the capital. This time they did not come to his help. Saleh also continued to command significant parts of the former Yemeni army. These currently hold positions far outside of Sanaa against Saudi proxy forces who try to conquer the mountainous territory of north-west Yemen. One wonders why he had not called them back in time.
It may be that his unexpected turn-on-a-dime towards a new alliance with the eternal enemies of Yemen, the Saudis, has alienated his followers.The Saleh family and clan is quite big and resourceful. Many of his relatives have held high military positions in the Yemeni army and keep enough money to pay for their troops loyalty. Some nephew of his may take up his banner. It is unsure though if such a replacement could gain the following of the former army units Ali Abdullah could call on.
The Saudis had recently bet on Saleh to end the stalemate in their war on Yemen.
Had he won out, it could have meant a pause in the war and probably its end. With the Houthi now having the upper hand in Saana, the war, the permanent Saudi bombing and the blockade of Yemen are likely to continue. The Houthi will continue to attack within Saudi Arabia and the fight the Saudi proxy forces on the ground will go on.
It will need another breakthrough event for the war to stop.
Comment: Saleh's last
public words, from earlier today:
"Zero hour is coming to the battlefield in Sanaa," former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh said Sunday in his last public statement, quoted on Monday by the Al Arabiya broadcaster. "The country has to be saved from the madness of the Houthi group."
According to the Houthis, Saleh was "creating chaos by working with militias of aggression" and "helping extremist militants."
Having accused the former leader of betrayal and inciting even more violence in Yemen, the ministry said the Houthi forces have "ended the crisis" and now control "all positions" of opposing militias
There have been reports that the eldest son of the ex-president Ahmad Saleh, regarded as his likely successor, has been arrested.
The Houthis had reportedly been monitoring Saleh's movements since Saturday in the hopes of detaining him. During an attempt to detain another former official, clashes broke out between the Houthis and Saleh's guards. According to
Saudi TV, he was killed by sniper bullets. (Photos and video of Hadi's body available
here - warning, graphic.) Prior to news of
Saleh's death, PM bin Daghr relayed Saudi-backed ex-President Hadi's
offer of amnesty to any Houthis who decide to leave the movement, seeming to confirm that Saleh had made some sort of
alliance with Hadi. It doesn't look like many will take up the offer. Hadi has allegedly ordered his own troops to
retake Sanaa from the Houthis.
Saudi Arabia had launched airstrikes on Sanaa earlier Monday to support Saleh's forces. The Houthi spokesman said this today:
In an interview with Yemen's Arabic-language al-Masirah television network on Monday, Houthi Ansarullah movement's spokesman, Mohammad Abdulsalam, said the people of Yemen would eventually come out victorious in the war of aggression inflicted on their country by Saudi Arabia.
He added that Yemen's Houthi fighters and forces affiliated with the allied Popular Committees had managed to uncover and foil a large evil plot, whose goal was to target Yemeni popular forces and to create rift within their ranks.
Abdulsalam further noted that the Houthi forces had no problem with members of Saleh's party except those "who have betrayed their motherland and cooperated with the aggressors."
He said members of Saleh's party were helping the Yemeni forces in defending the country against the enemy, adding, "We want to boost cooperation with them."
Abdulsalam further stated that the Saudi war machine was still pounding the country and "our nation must resist until the final victory." He said the Saudi-led coalition continued to bombard the Yemeni capital by conducting at least 50 airstrikes during the past few days.
The Houthi official also noted that the Yemeni nation must stay alert in the face of any similar plot made against the country.
Abdulsalam said the leader of Yemen's popular Houthi Ansarullah movement, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, had asked Saleh to correct his pro-Saudi policy and review his recent decision to break his alliance with the Yemeni forces, but "he declined to pay attention to Houthi's request with arrogance."
He said the Yemeni forces managed to foil the plot hatched by Saleh and his militia's to trigger civil war in the country.
See also:
Comment: Saleh's last public words, from earlier today: According to the Houthis, Saleh was "creating chaos by working with militias of aggression" and "helping extremist militants." The Houthis had reportedly been monitoring Saleh's movements since Saturday in the hopes of detaining him. During an attempt to detain another former official, clashes broke out between the Houthis and Saleh's guards. According to Saudi TV, he was killed by sniper bullets. (Photos and video of Hadi's body available here - warning, graphic.) Prior to news of Saleh's death, PM bin Daghr relayed Saudi-backed ex-President Hadi's offer of amnesty to any Houthis who decide to leave the movement, seeming to confirm that Saleh had made some sort of alliance with Hadi. It doesn't look like many will take up the offer. Hadi has allegedly ordered his own troops to retake Sanaa from the Houthis.
Saudi Arabia had launched airstrikes on Sanaa earlier Monday to support Saleh's forces. The Houthi spokesman said this today: See also: