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Groton Daily Independent
Monday, Dec. 04, 2017 ~ Vol. 25 - No. 148 ~ 34 of 43
A southern Sanaa district that houses the residential compound of Saleh and his family was surrounded during the intense clashes.
The ghting also spread to northern areas. In Amran, armed tribesmen tried to cut the road between the provinces of Saada, a Houthi stronghold, and Jawf, sparking clashes in which scores of tribesmen were killed and wounded, witnesses said. In Mehwat, a province in northern Yemen, sporadic ghting also broke out between Saleh’s supporters and the Houthis, while heavy ghting rocked the western district of Gidr in Sanaa province, where tribesmen took over military camps brie y before surrendering them to the Houthis.
Medical of cials in Sanaa said nearly 75 people from both sides were killed and wounded in clashes there. The of cials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media, did not provide a breakdown of the casualties.
Meanwhile, Yemen’s President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, who is in Saudi Arabia in self-imposed exile, appeared to extend an offer of reconciliation to his predecessor, Saleh. In a statement from Riyadh, Hadi said his side would support “any party confronting Houthi terrorist gangs.”
The offer followed a televised statement Saturday by Saleh in which he announced that he and his party, the People’s General Congress, were open to dialogue and willing to turn a “new page” in dealings with the Saudi-led coalition.
Apparently con rming his break with the Houthis and aligning himself with Saudi Arabia, Saleh told Kuwait’s al-Rai daily that “the era of the militias is over and there is no coexistence after today between a state and a quasi-state.”
“Our natural orbit as Yemenis is the Gulf orbit,” he added, referring to Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf Arab states. “Whatever differences we have with the Gulf countries, we will cooperate and agree.”
If Saleh and his ghters switch sides and join the Saudi-led coalition and Hadi’s loyalists, the Houthis would become completely isolated.
Relations between the Houthis and Saleh’s forces deteriorated over the past weeks amid accusations from the rebels that Saleh was opening a back channel with the coalition through the United Arab Emir- ates, a coalition member, to turn against the Houthis.
Deif Allah al-Shami, a top Houthi politician, told The Associated Press that Saleh — by his statements and actions on the ground — had de facto joined the Saudi-led coalition. However, he said this spelled the end of Saleh, insisting the Houthis remain rmly in control.
“Saleh is over, this card is over,” he said. “He is now part of the coalition and the aggression.”
Saleh’s family members, including his son Ahmed, who was once groomed to succeed his father and who led the powerful Republican Guards, have been in self-exile in the UAE since Saleh stepped down in the aftermath of the mass uprising against his rule during the 2011 Arab Spring.
Saleh and the Houthis are have always been unlikely allies. When Saleh was president he repeatedly went to war with the rebels in their northern heartland. In recent weeks, the Houthis have accused Saleh of trying to pull his forces from the front lines, while his supporters have complained about the Houthis monopolizing power.
Last summer, Saleh also appeared to work against the Houthis as he welcomed a United Nations initiative to hand the vital Red Sea port city of Hodeida to a third neutral party in order to ease the blockade and open the port to free access of humanitarian aid. The Houthis shot down the proposal and have refused to meet with the U.N. envoy to Yemen.
The cracks deepened in August after street ghting ended with the killing of one of Saleh’s close associ- ates, Khaled al-Radhi. Since then, Saleh’s party members have been vowing to take revenge.
Colored pens and coin tosses used to settle tied elections By MARTHA WAGGONER, Associated Press
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — In Manteo, North Carolina, population about 1,400, the vote for one town com- mission post was so close that it took nearly three weeks, two recounts, a drawing of straws and a coin