Yemen Ceasefire Falters, Saleh Remains

Despite President Ali Abdullah Saleh and opposition forces signing a ceasefire on Tuesday, violence continued, turning the northern part of Sana’a into a “war zone.” Clashes between forces loyal to Saleh and General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar‘s opposition forces have put the peaceful pro-democracy protesters at risk, and medics stated that over 19 civilians, dissidents, and soldiers were killed.

The failed ceasefire comes as Saleh continues to reiterate that he intends to transfer power. Saleh called a meeting with U.S. Ambassador to Yemen, Gerald M. Feierstein, to advise Ambassador Feierstein that he “intends to sign the GCC agreement,” and to inform him of the ceasefire agreement. However, in  State Department Press Briefing, some noted that in the U.S. adminsitraion there is “an absence of urgency in the rhetoric” in calling for Saleh to abide by the GCC in comparison to urgent calls for other authoritarianism leaders to step down. Victoria Nuland noted “I don’t think we’ve been equivocal at all…he’s not getting a pass from us.”

Meanwhile, hundreds of Yemeni women set fire to their traditional veils in the streets of Sana’a in protest of the government’s brutal crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations. “The act of women burning their clothing is a symbolic Bedouin tribal gesture signifying an appeal for help to tribesmen.”