Civil war brewing in Yemen

AHMED AL-HAJ | AP

… pro-regime forces reinforced their positions in their strongholds in the south of the capital, apparently in anticipation of renewed fighting. The potential for bloody strife has been shown in Yemen since the uprising against Saleh’s regime began in February, with hundreds of protesters killed and thousands wounded at the hands of security forces.

In the past three days, pro-regime forces killed more than 70 people, mostly protesters, using anti-aircraft guns, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars. At least 23 people were killed in Sanaa on Tuesday as the fighting intensified and spread to sensitive areas of the capital before the cease-fire took hold after nightfall.

…The nation’s north and the once-independent south fought it out in 1994. Another civil war would pit the renegade soldiers of the 1st Armored Division, perhaps the nation’s most combat-tested unit, against the Republican Guards led by Ahmed to decide the leadership question.  >continue<

Top 5 Arab Spring Stories Today

1. Former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and his sons will stand trial for ordering deadly force to put down protesters

2. Egypt’s new transitional government will open the crossing at Rafah on Saturday, ending the blockade of Palestinians in Gaza.

3. A kind of civil war has broken out in Yemen between followers of President Ali Abdullah Saleh and his opponents in the Hashed tribe led by Sheik Sadiq al-Ahmar…

5. Youth journalists and uncensored newspapers have sprung up in liberated Benghazi, Libya, by the dozens since Muammar Qaddafi’s ‘Revolutionary Committees’ were overthrown and censorship abolished. >continue<

TUNISIAN STYLE PROTESTES CONTINUE THROUGHOUT THE MIDDLE EAST

newsflick:

…AS FED UP POPULATIONS DEMAND CHANGE. THIS WEEK:

ALGERIA: At least 300 people defied a ban in an attempt to hold the demonstration on Saturday but were confronted by dozens of police armed with batons, tear gas and plexiglas shields.

JORDAN: More than 5,000 people have rallied in Jordan to protest over economic policy and call for the government to resign.

YEMEN: Thousands protested in southern Yemen on Thursday to reject political reforms proposed by the government, including a limit on presidential terms, saying they did not go far enough.

SAUDI ARABIA: A Saudi man died after setting himself on fire in the southwestern town of Samta, local media said Saturday, in what could be the latest example of a rash of self-immolations sweeping the region following events in Tunisia.

EGYPT: Three more Egyptians set themselves alight on Friday, apparently inspired by an act of self-immolation in Tunisia that prompted protests that led to the ousting of the president.

With the fascinating up-tick in Middle East developments, Juan Cole’s Informed Comment blog is an excellent resource.