From January 2011 onwards, street protests became commonplace in Yemen, as well as in other Arab countries. Hundreds of thousands expressed their discontent in a non-violent manner and made the central demand for the resignation of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who had been in power for 33 years. As time went on, the battle became more ferocious as renegade soldiers and armed tribesmen turned against the president. It slowly became clear that Yemen was on the brink of civil war.
Background
In few countries in the region are relations as complex as in Yemen:
- It is one of the most corrupt countries in the world, one of the poorest in the Arab region and unemployment is high. The government repression is severe. All this fuels resistance against the regime.
- The country is largely made up of tribes, who either support or are hostile to the Yemeni regime. The president could only control the contradictions by rewarding supporters and playing opponents against each other. But support is also crumbling among tribes well disposed to him.
- The Zaidis, a Shiite minority in predominantly Sunni Yemen, have been involved in an armed conflict, sometimes interrupted by ceasefires, with the state since 2004. They accuse the government of ignoring their rights and would like to see the Saleh regime disappear.
- A growing separatist movement is manifesting itself in the south of Yemen, fighting against subordination by the north. This poses a major risk as the north and south were two separate states in the past and the differences resulted in a civil war in 1994. This Southern Movement also wants to be liberated from the hated regime.
- The unstable nature of the country makes Yemen an attractive operating area for al-Qaeda. Her terrorist activities also turn against the Yemeni state authority.
In this thicket of conflicts, the president could have held his own for a long time as a balancing artist. However, the so-called Arab Spring undermined his regime’s power base.
The beginning of the protests
On January 16, 2011, around a thousand students and human rights activists walked through the streets of the capital Sanaa towards the embassy of Tunisia, the country where the population had first protested en masse. They called on residents of Arab countries to rise up against their leaders. On January 27, tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in Sanaa to demand the departure of President Saleh’s regime.
Protests in Sanaa February 3 / Source: Sallam, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA-2.0)
The opposition organized a Day of Rage on February 3. Tens of thousands of people demonstrated in several cities and towns, but especially in Sanaa. At the same time, supporters of the president also demonstrated, without any significant confrontations. In the southern port city of Aden, however, these did arise between the police and demonstrators against the regime.
A week later, the protests got out of hand when the police intervened and supporters of the president attacked demonstrators with clubs, daggers and axes. These demonstrations were not the work of the traditional opposition, which seemed willing to negotiate with the president. It was now non-partisan youth, with a strong presence of students from Sanaa, who took the lead. They explicitly called for the fall of the regime and wanted a Yemeni revolution after the Egyptian revolution. Analogous to the now legendary Tahrir Square (Liberation Square) in the Egyptian capital Cairo, demonstrators camped near the University of Sanaa, on a square of the same name.
On February 25, about a hundred thousand people spread across the country demonstrated against Saleh’s regime and on March 11, tens of thousands of demonstrators also demanded his departure.
Protests in Sanaa February 21 / Source: Email4mobile, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA-3.0)
President makes concessions
In response to the protests, President Saleh declared on February 2 that he would no longer seek an extension of his term after the expiry of his term in 2013, nor would he hand over his presidency to his son Ahmed Saleh. In January, an amendment to the constitution was discussed in parliament to make a presidency for life possible.
In parliament, Saleh called on the opposition to end protests and form a national unity government. He also promised a number of political reforms to give the population more influence, such as direct elections of governors and additional guarantees for the smooth conduct of the parliamentary elections to be held in April.
On March 10, the president announced a new constitution that would guarantee the independence of parliament and the judiciary. The traditional opposition rejected his intentions because they demanded Saleh’s resignation and were also afraid that concessions would mean a separation between them and the more radical demonstrators. A new proposal by the president to form a unity government and resign at the end of 2011 was also not accepted. He withdrew this proposal to resign early on March 27.
Snipers cause carnage
On March 18, after Islamic Friday prayers, supporters of the president massacred demonstrators in Tahrir Square. Snipers stationed on the roofs shot dead 52 people and injured hundreds. On March 20, tens of thousands of people gathered in Sanaa for the funeral of killed demonstrators.
Saleh claimed that the army was not involved in the violence, but the opposition said that was a hypocritical statement. The regime would use so-called baltagiyas, people recruited on the street who formed gangs and were paid for their actions. A similar strategy was reportedly employed during the Egyptian uprising.
Saleh even declared March 20 a day of national mourning for the martyrs of democracy, while accusing the opposition of creating chaos that allowed the massacre. Young activists responded in a statement saying: ,After having blood on his hands, he is crying crocodile tears.,
Faces behind victims March 18 / Source: Email4mobile, Wikimedia Commons (CC0)
Former supporters are dropping out
A number of prominent Muslim clerics, senior diplomats and tribal leaders had turned against the regime since the beginning of the resistance. The ranks were also no longer closed within Saleh’s General People’s Congress (MSA): 24 parliamentarians on behalf of this party had withdrawn their support for the president.
The growing doubts among Saleh’s supporters gained momentum after the violence of March 18. Within the Yemeni cabinet, it appeared that the line had been crossed for a number of ministers: the Ministers of Human Rights Hud a Abd al-Latif al-Ban and the Minister of Tourism Nabil Hasan al-Faqih resigned on March 20. Saleh then dismissed the entire cabinet. That same day, the Yemeni ambassador to the United Nations, Abdullah Alsaidi, also resigned from his position. Yemen’s ambassadors in Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Syria, among others, are taking the same step.
Parliamentary support for the presidential rule also crumbled. After the events of March 18, Saleh declared a state of emergency, after which parliament gave its approval on March 23. Officially, 160 of the 164 representatives present would have agreed, but according to Abdul Razaq al-Hajri of the Yemeni Congregation for Reform (Islah), represented in parliament, only 133 members had been present out of the official number of 301. This would have reduced the quorum of more than 50 percent have not been achieved.
Army becomes divided
On March 21, the president’s position was seriously weakened by the defection of General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar to the opposition camp. Two other senior military officers also decided to take this side. Mohsen, who belonged to the same Hashed tribe as Saleh, was considered the most influential man after the president. In a televised statement, he said: ,We announce that we support and protect the young people demonstrating in the square., Although his defection meant a significant weakening of the government, the general enjoyed little confidence among the opposition. For example, he was accused of war crimes in the fight against the northern Shiite rebels.
Mohsen sought a transitional council with government and opposition representatives, but on March 24 it became apparent that he had been unable to reach an agreement on this with Saleh. For the time being, this could still count on support from an important part of the army, including the Republican Guard.
Protest in the southern city of Taiz April 17 / Source: Almuhammedi, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA-3.0)
Protests severely suppressed
The struggle remained non-violent from the demonstrators. For example, hundreds of thousands of people demonstrated on April 1 in the capital Sanaa and in other cities. The tension was palpable as supporters of the president also showed up. That month, security forces killed more than 60 people and injured hundreds more in Sanaa and the southern city of Taiz. But hundreds of thousands of Yemenis continued their protests, on April 27 in eighteen cities simultaneously.
This pattern of persistent protest, counter-manifestations by Saleh supporters and violent intervention was repeated in May . The peak of the resistance was May 22, when a record number of demonstrators of around one and a half million people was reached in Sanaa.
Battle with mighty tribe
On May 23, heavy fighting broke out in Sanaa with the use of tanks, mortars and automatic weapons. Troops loyal to the president clashed with fighters from the powerful Hashed tribal federation of Sheikh Sadeq al-Ahmar, previously an ally of Saleh. On May 27, the Yemeni air force bombed an army camp northeast of Sanaa that had been captured by tribesmen. Thousands of residents fled the capital.
A ceasefire was agreed on May 29 , but this ended two days later and heavy fighting broke out again on the night of June 1. More than one hundred and fifty people had been killed since May 23.
President injured in attack
President Saleh was injured on June 3 when his palace in Sanaa came under attack by insurgents. According to an official statement, ten people were killed. Saleh blamed Sheikh Sadeq al-Ahmar for the attack, but he denied it. His house was shot at in retaliation, reportedly killing nineteen.
In addition to the president, the injured also included Prime Minister Ali Muhammad Mujawwar and the chairman of the consultative Shura Council and former Prime Minister Abdulaziz Abdulghani. All three left for Saudi Arabia on June 4 to be treated there. 24 of Saleh’s relatives also sought refuge in the neighboring country. Abdulghani (72) would later die of his injuries in a hospital in the Saudi capital Riyadh on August 22.
A few weeks after the attack, Western diplomats who had assisted in the investigation into the circumstances implicitly stated that there had been an assassination attempt on Saleh. The blast, they said, was caused by a bomb planted in the president’s palace.
For thousands of Yemenis, Saleh’s departure was a reason to take to the streets in jubilation, but it remained unclear whether this meant the end of his leadership. For the time being, his role was assumed by Vice President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. The uncertainty prompted hundreds of thousands of Yemenis to renew their demands for Saleh’s resignation in several major cities on June 14. The hope that he would remain in Saudi Arabia turned out to be in vain: on September 23, Saleh returned to Yemen.
Escalation of the battle
In September the situation escalated seriously, to such an extent that a complete civil war appeared to be developing in the country. On September 18, the powerful Republican Guard and armed regime supporters opened fire on more than a hundred thousand demonstrators with automatic weapons. Security services are also said to have used anti-aircraft guns and snipers were spotted. However, the Ministry of Defense’s interpretation was different: the clashes allegedly started when petrol bombs were thrown and an Islamic group opened fire on the demonstrators.
The next day, tens of thousands again took to the streets in Sanaa, while at the same time Saleh’s troops clashed with units of General Mohsen, who had defected to the opposition. There was also heavy fighting on September 20 and 21. At least 76 people died in these four days.
President Ali Abdullah Saleh / Bron: Presidential Press and Information Office , Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-4.0 )
Bemiddeling
President Saleh (69) made himself known as a fickle president. Several times he seemed willing to hand over power, only to return.
A way out of the impasse was also complicated by the opposition’s relentless demand that Saleh resign immediately before negotiations were possible.
As reported, Saleh had already proposed on March 10 to resign at the end of the year, but withdrew that promise a few weeks later. A possible solution was then offered by the six countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). These included Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
They proposed in April that Saleh hand over power to his vice president and the opposition lead a transitional government. This would have to draw up a constitution and organize elections. Saleh supported the proposals, but the opposition rejected them on April 11. According to her, the president should resign immediately and be prosecuted for official misconduct.
On April 21, the GCC presented an updated plan, which was accepted by the government and opposition on April 23 and 25 respectively. Saleh was supposed to sign the proposal on April 30 – but he decided against it at that time. This scenario of initially agreeing and then going back on it was repeated again in May.
The GCC countries tried again to persuade Saleh to resign in mid-June, when he was already in Saudi Arabia. On September 13, it was announced that he had instructed Vice President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to negotiate a transfer of power with the opposition. In doing so, he seemed to be following the peace plan of the Gulf states.
Saleh again stated on state television on October 8 that he wanted to ,give up power in the coming days., However, nothing happened, not even after an October 21 call for resignation by the United Nations Security Council.
Al Qaeda
Repeatedly, rulers in the Arab world justified their rule by referring to the danger of the Al-Qaeda terrorist network. Violent actions from this circle mainly took place in unstable countries and this was particularly true in Yemen, where Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) was mainly active in impoverished provinces such as Abyan, Marib and Shabwah. Regular fighting took place between militants and government forces from April to June.
The fear of al-Qaeda was also a reason for the United States to be cautious about changing the balance of power in Yemen too quickly. Because the US had indications that AQAP was manifesting itself in more and more places, the previously suspended air strikes on militants were resumed from June. In one of these, on September 30, the important al-Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaqi (40) was killed.
Victims
There was uncertainty about the number of fatalities since the start of the uprising. The Yemeni government cited a figure of at least 1,480 for the months up to and including September.
This article is part of a special on the Arab Spring. This includes Mauritania, Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Jordan, Syria, Morocco, Yemen and Libya.