Saleh Returns to Yemen Amid Violence

President Ali Abdullah Saleh abruptly returned to Yemen and called for a nationwide ceasefire as violence raged throughout the capital. Jamal Benomar, the UN envoy to Yemen, said  that the deteriorating security situation, and the reluctance of both sides to reach a political resolution, raises “the risk of civil war breaking out”.

There were reports of celebratory gunfire in parts of Sana’a where supporters chanted “The people want Ali Abdullah Saleh,” while a few miles away anti-government demonstrators expressed sentiment that Saleh’s return would touch off new fighting as they shouted “The people want to prosecute the killer.” More than 100 people have been killed in renewed violence this week.

In his blog, Waq al-Waq, Gregory Johnsen suggests that U.S. media has largely ignored the conflict in Yemen. He adds that Yemen is witnessing ”a steadily shrinking center (the traditional state) that the Hashid elites are fighting over on the backs of the protesters, while on the periphery groups that feel they haven’t gotten a fair shake in decades, now believe the time is right for them to push forward and try to take as much as they can hold.”