SANA'A // Anti-government forces attacked Yemen's presidential compound with rockets yesterday, wounding the nation's leader as he prayed in a mosque, and plunging the country ever closer to all-out civil war.
The attack, reportedly launched from nearby rooftops, killed the mosque's imam and three security officers while injuring President Ali Abdullah Saleh and at least seven other senior officials, a government spokesman said. Mr Saleh was later reported to be safe after treatment in a military hospital and was scheduled to make a televised speech late last night.
The government blamed the shelling on Hashed tribesmen led by Sheikh Sadeq al Ahmar, whose powerful tribal bloc has threatened to bring 40,000 more troops to the capital to topple Mr Saleh's regime. Sheikh Ahmar later denied responsibility and blamed Mr Saleh for staging the attack, saying it was used to help justify a government escalation of the fighting that has engulfed the country and left more than 370 people dead, including at least 155 in the last 10 days. Tribal forces continued in block-to-block gun battles with government troops across Sana'a after yesterday's rocket attack, witnesses said, and the home and neighbourhood of Sheikh Ahmar and his family was struck by government artillery.
Abdul Qawi Qaisi, a Hashed spokesman, claimed that Mr Saleh had launched the attacks on the presidential compound in order to justify the punitive strikes against the tribal leader.
"The [palace] attacks were a cover. We would announce responsibility for the attacks if we were behind them," said Mr Qaisi.
Mohammed Qahtan, spokesman for the opposition coalition known as the Joint Meeting Parties, said Mr Saleh was using the attack and its coverage on state-run media as a ploy to earn sympathy from the Yemeni people.
"The attacks on the presidential palace were orchestrated by President Saleh," Mr Qahtan told The National.
Suspicion has also fallen on renegade General Ali Mohsen, who defected to the opposition in April and who sent his troops to the capital to protect anti-Saleh demonstrators. Gen Mohsen's forces, including thousands of soldiers backed by tanks and armoured vehicles, have also engaged Mr Saleh's forces in street battles this week.
The confusion over who may be behind the attack underscores the turmoil in Yemen where armed tribesmen, Islamic militants, youth-led protest groups and a political opposition are all pushing for Mr Saleh to step down, while the wily 69-year-old leader stubbornly clings to power.
The situation has exasperated his former US and Saudi allies, who had once seen him as a key partner in efforts to combat al Qa'eda's ambitious Yemen-based affiliate, al Qa'eda in the Arabian Peninsula.
Defying regional neighbours, Mr Saleh has three times reneged on a deal brokered by the Gulf Cooperation Council that requires him to quit in return for immunity from prosecution.
The secretary-general of the GCC yesterday urged all parties in Yemen to end the fighting.
"The ministerial council of the GCC is following with concern and sadness the deteriorating situation and the continued fighting. This situation is regrettable and benefits no one," Abdulattif al-Zayani told Al Arabiya television.
The Saleh government insisted late yesterday that Hashed forces were behind yesterday's mosque attack as well as other violence across the capital.
Tareq al-Shami, a government spokesperson, said that at least seven senior officials were injured in the mosque attack. Mr Shami said that more than 50 senior Saleh officials, including nine ministers, were in the mosque during the attack. He said that the prime minister, parliament speaker, deputy prime minister, and the governor of Sana'a were all injured, along with many others. He also claimed that some of the biggest pro Saleh tribal leaders were among the injured.
"These official were in worship but the tribes have no fear even from God. This is why they must be fought." Mr Shami said. "These tribes are the real terrorists. They attack everything without counting the casualties."
Crowds of pro-Saleh supporters who gathered at Sabeen square yesterday said they were fired upon by tribesmen while protesting peacefully. According to a witnesses, seven supporters were shot by the Hashed tribes.
Soon after the palace attack, the Republican Guards, an elite army regiment led by Mr Saleh's son, launched heavy attacks with mortars and other weapons on the homes and neighbourhood of Sheikh Ahmar and his family. The shelling also targeted the house of Gen Mohsen. Witnesses reported seven locals injured by gunfire.
The government is said to have launched hundreds of missile into the Hadda area of southern Sana'a, a tribal stronghold. Thousands of Hadda residents have evacuated the area.
Dr Abdul Nasser al-Mowdie, an academic at Sana'a University, said that the chances for a peaceful end to Mr Saleh's 32-years in power may now be over.
"The victory for the Yemeni revolution will be solved militarily and not peacefully. Four months have passed, and protesters are only getting weaker by the day," said Mr Mowdie, noting that peaceful protests have given way to bloodshed.
"Demonstrators in protest camps cannot be compared to the people who are sacrificing their lives for change."
Violence and anti-Saleh protests continued in 18 of Yemen's 21 provinces yesterday. Before the attack on the palace, protesters paraded the coffins of 50 people killed by Mr Saleh's forces.
Explosions were heard in the southern city of Taiz, where the United Nations has said it is investigating reports that 50 people have been killed since Sunday.
Two policemen were killed in a rocket-propelled grenade attack, medical officials said, after security forces fired warning shot earlier at protesters gathering for Friday prayers. Islamist militants yesterday continued their control of the coastal city of Zinjibar.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
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The language of diplomacy in 1853
Treaty of Peace in Perpetuity Agreed Upon by the Chiefs of the Arabian Coast on Behalf of Themselves, Their Heirs and Successors Under the Mediation of the Resident of the Persian Gulf, 1853
(This treaty gave the region the name “Trucial States”.)
We, whose seals are hereunto affixed, Sheikh Sultan bin Suggar, Chief of Rassool-Kheimah, Sheikh Saeed bin Tahnoon, Chief of Aboo Dhebbee, Sheikh Saeed bin Buyte, Chief of Debay, Sheikh Hamid bin Rashed, Chief of Ejman, Sheikh Abdoola bin Rashed, Chief of Umm-ool-Keiweyn, having experienced for a series of years the benefits and advantages resulting from a maritime truce contracted amongst ourselves under the mediation of the Resident in the Persian Gulf and renewed from time to time up to the present period, and being fully impressed, therefore, with a sense of evil consequence formerly arising, from the prosecution of our feuds at sea, whereby our subjects and dependants were prevented from carrying on the pearl fishery in security, and were exposed to interruption and molestation when passing on their lawful occasions, accordingly, we, as aforesaid have determined, for ourselves, our heirs and successors, to conclude together a lasting and inviolable peace from this time forth in perpetuity.
Taken from Britain and Saudi Arabia, 1925-1939: the Imperial Oasis, by Clive Leatherdale
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Anghami
Started: December 2011
Co-founders: Elie Habib, Eddy Maroun
Based: Beirut and Dubai
Sector: Entertainment
Size: 85 employees
Stage: Series C
Investors: MEVP, du, Mobily, MBC, Samena Capital
The specs
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The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
Results
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Infobox
Western Region Asia Cup Qualifier, Al Amerat, Oman
The two finalists advance to the next stage of qualifying, in Malaysia in August
Results
UAE beat Iran by 10 wickets
Kuwait beat Saudi Arabia by eight wickets
Oman beat Bahrain by nine wickets
Qatar beat Maldives by 106 runs
Monday fixtures
UAE v Kuwait, Iran v Saudi Arabia, Oman v Qatar, Maldives v Bahrain
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
Globalization and its Discontents Revisited
Joseph E. Stiglitz
W. W. Norton & Company
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Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Schedule for show courts
Centre Court - from 4pm UAE time
Johanna Konta (6) v Donna Vekic
Andy Murray (1) v Dustin Brown
Rafael Nadal (4) v Donald Young
Court 1 - from 4pm UAE time
Kei Nishikori (9) v Sergiy Stakhovsky
Qiang Wang v Venus Williams (10)
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Heather Watson v Anastasija Sevastova (18)
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (12) v Simone Bolelli
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Fight card
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Siyovush Gulmamadov (TJK) v Rey Nacionales (PHI)
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Alexandru Chitoran (ROM) v Hussein Fakhir Abed (SYR)
Catch 74kg
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Lightweight
Mohammed Yahya (UAE) v Glen Ranillo (PHI)
Lightweight
Alan Omer (GER) v Aidan Aguilera (AUS)
Welterweight
Mounir Lazzez (TUN) Sasha Palatnikov (HKG)
Featherweight title bout
Romando Dy (PHI) v Lee Do-gyeom (KOR)
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The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
