By AHMED AL-HAJ
By AHMED AL-HAJ
Associated Press
SANAA, Yemen — Loyalists of former Yemeni leader Ali Abdullah Saleh seized the country’s main airport Saturday as tanks and armored vehicles occupied the tarmac and forced authorities to cancel flights, a day after a military shake-up in which key commanders were fired.
Driving pickup trucks mounted with anti-aircraft guns, armed tribesmen along with troops in uniform blasted buildings of Sanaa International Airport and opened fire on one of the airport surveillance towers before surrounding the entire complex, blocking roads and turning away passenger vehicles.
The standoff highlighted the challenges facing the country’s new leader, who must balance a promise to purge ex-regime elements from the army with the lingering influence of his predecessor.
At stake is the stability of the Arab world’s poorest country, where al-Qaida is poised to fill the vacuum.
Yemen’s new president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, fired several generals and other figures from the old regime Friday in a bid to show he was making good on promises of reforms and to appease protesters worried Saleh is trying to wield power from behind the scenes. In his more than 30 years in power, Saleh had stacked key security and government posts with relatives and cronies.
The restructuring didn’t touch the ex-president’s son Ahmed, who kept command of the well-equipped and powerful Republican Guard, or Saleh’s nephew, Yahia, the head of the Central Security Forces. The show of force appeared to be an attempt to intimidate Hadi from trying to implement more sweeping reforms that would remove them and other family members.
Both men deployed forces to help with the airport siege, according to military officials.
Saleh was the fourth ruler to fall in the Arab Spring wave of revolts in the Mideast, stepping down in the face of protests according to a Gulf-brokered agreement under which he handed over power to Hadi, who was his vice president. But the deal allowed him to remain as head of his party, kept half of the cabinet ministries in place and did not stipulate that he must leave the country. Some fear he may someday try to return to power.
Many Yemenis are worried about his loyalists who command military units. The army recently has suffered several defeats in its war against al-Qaida-linked militants who took control of several towns in the south of the country, and many believe that Saleh commanders may be actively sabotaging the campaign.
“Al-Qaida flourishes at times of conflict and its sleeper cells expand to even the capital Sanaa,” political analyst Mansour al-Saghir said.