Yemeni troops take part in counter terrorism exercises in the southern coastal province of Abyan Eleven Yemeni tribesmen were killed overnight in two suicide attacks in the southern province of Abyan, a stronghold of Al Qaeda, tribal sources and medics told AFP on Sunday. Tribal sources accused Al Qaeda members of carrying out the attacks in two villages of Abyan province, where Yemeni tribesmen and the army have been battling militants from the “Partisans of Sharia (Islamic law)” who are believed to be close to the Al Qaeda network. A suicide bomber killed Sheikh Abu Bahr Ashal, the chief of Ashal tribe, and two others as he detonated an explosive belt he was wearing when he approached them while they chewed the local soft narcotic qat in Moudia, east of Zinjibar – the provincial capital mostly seized by militants since May. The bodies of Ashal and one of his companions were torn into pieces due to the intensity of the explosion, while the third, a soldier, succumbed to his wounds in hospital, a tribal source told AFP. A medical source confirmed the death toll. Meanwhile, eight people were killed and 20 others wounded when a suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden car into a post of armed tribesmen in the area of Arkub, near the town of Shaqra, which was taken over by extremist militants last week, a tribal source said. A medical source said that seven of the wounded sustained serious injuries and were taken to a hospital in the neighboring province of Baida. Yemeni tribesmen siding with government forces have in past weeks been locked in battle with suspected Al Qaeda militants in Abyan, especially in Zinjibar. The army has been battling the Partisans of Sharia militants, who have besieged its 25th Mechanized Brigade base in Zinjibar since May. Apart from Shaqra and Zinjibar, Islamist gunmen control the village of Jaar.
In further developments, efforts to push President Ali Abdullah Saleh out of power in Yemen suffered a setback Saturday when 31 members of a new opposition council quit in a spat over equal representation. The majority of those who resigned from the 143-member National Council are from the southern region of the country. They were unhappy that area did not get half of the seats in the body, which got off the ground Wednesday. "We were not consulted beforehand to be part of the national council. We now announce that any national council must give equal 50-50 representation between the north and south," read a statement issued by the southern leaders.
Twenty-eight of those who resigned were southerners, including former South Yemen President Ali Nasser Mohammed. The Joint Meeting Parties, the country's strongest opposition coalition, was believed to be behind the council. However, two parties in the JMP froze their representation in the council, saying the strategy used to choose members was not previously agreed upon. "The Haq Party will not participate in the National Council as we feel that it only represents certain factions and not all political factions in the country," said Ali Sharee, a member of the executive board in the party. Sharee said that the Haq Party had no knowledge on who would be chosen and that the council favors certain factions in the country. "It's not a national council and that is why members are stepping down," he adds.
"The bigger parties ate the smaller parties in the council and that is why it was differed upon," said Ali Abdul Jabbar, an analyst and the director of the Sanaa-based Dar Ashraf Research Center. "If no amendments are seen to the council soon, it would fall apart within a week," he said. Yemeni Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Qirbi said that Saleh has more supporters than the opposition. Al-Qirbi has called on the opposition to accept Saleh's call for early elections.
The Yemeni political crisis started January 16, when youth protesters took to the streets demanding Saleh's resignation. Today, protests continue in the majority of Yemen's provinces.
Saleh, who has been faced with widespread anti-government sentiment and militant activity, has been urged to accept a political transition plan that will lead to his departure. He has been in Saudi Arabia for treatment of wounds he suffered in an assassination attempt in June.