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Viewpoint - March 10, 2011
US Supports Yemen Dictator
Walid Al-Saqaf: Yemeni people's demand to end dictatorship
is irreversible.
Watch the Video: http://bit.ly/dVRsdN
Bio
Walid Al-Saqaf is a media researcher specializing in
Internet censorship. He is a freelance journalist and
the former editor of the Yemen Times. He has written for
the Gulf News and the Wall Street Journal and is the
founder of yemenportal.net. Currently, Walid Al-Saqaf is
pursuing his PhD at the Department of Media and Communi-
cation at Örebro University, Sweden.
Transcript
DANYA NADAR, TRNN: Welcome to The Real News Network. My
name is Danya Nadar. Coming to you from Washington, DC.
In Yemen, demonstrations have been escalating, calling for
the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh. On Tuesday,
the Army shot live ammunition, rubber bullets, and tear
gas against government protesters at a university campus
in Sana'a, which is the capital of the country. Joining us
today is Walid Al-Saqaf. He is the former editor of The
Yemen Times and is currently completing his PhD in Sweden.
Thanks for joining us.
WALID AL-SAQAF, FMR. EDITOR, THE YEMEN TIMES: Thank you.
NADAR: So tell us what's been happening in the last little
while in Yemen, just to bring us up to speed.
AL-SAQAF: Since February 3, which is the day the revolution
started officially, there has been an increasing number
of demonstrators all over the streets, different cities,
different governorates, all protesting and calling for
the end of the regime of Ali Abdullah Saleh, president of
Yemen, who's been there for around 33 years. People have
been repressed and attacked in streets in different areas.
In one incident in Aden, at least nine people have been
actually killed during one of those protests and many
others injured. An attack took place against protesters,
peaceful protesters, just in front of Sana'a University,
in the capital, and at least one person died, and just
about 80--or more than 80 people injured. So the intensity
of the situation is getting higher and higher.
NADAR: Who are these protesters, according to the
government?
AL-SAQAF: I mean, there's always been justifications,
ranging from troublemakers to opposition, politically
motivated, I don't know, those that belong to the
opposition coalition. Some--more recently they claim
that there are some members of al-Qaeda who had actually
infiltrated those groups. And so there are a number of
other reasons and motivations, sometimes saying that
there has been some sort--they trigger violence from
within by bringing in some arms or so forth. So, constant-
ly, over and over, they bring in different excuses,
different justifications to crack down. And most recently,
there is a disturbing revelation saying that the
authorities have actually let go of around 1,000
prisoners from the central prison of Yemen, which itself
had--within it, there has been an incident in which three
prisoners have been killed and many others injured.
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NADAR: And what has been the response of the US government?
AL-SAQAF: There's been an interview saying that the US
ambassador had actually approved President Saleh's
initiative for dialog and did not approve of him being
removed, just like the case in Egypt or Tunisia. And this
is coming in a time just after the crackdown of Sana'a,
which sent a really negative and bad message to the
demonstrators and to all those yearning for freedom. They
are now--actually, the authorities on Yemen have been using
this particular interview to bolster their position, saying
that, look, Americans are in our support; they think that
we are right and demonstrators are wrong. So this has
actually sent a negative message. And I do hope that this
was not real official policy. It is official; I mean,
officially speaking, it represents the US government. But
I do hope that something else would come in to compensate
for this, because it has been a real letdown to many of
those demonstrators, who have been protesting peacefully.
If there had been some sort of message saying the--we are,
let's say, concerned by the violence that--taking place or
that we do believe they do have the right to be looked
into and their requests being met, that would have been
given some sort of balance. But as the picture shows right
now, the image is not positive at all right now.
NADAR: In other movements across the Middle East, they've
been mainly leaderless. Has there been a leader that has
come out in this opposition movement within Yemen?
AL-SAQAF: No, not at all. It's been almost exact same
scenario, where first a few youth would rally in front
of the university, then they would gather more people.
They'll be, of course, attacked by authorities, by the
police. Then more people would join in. And then the
number would grow to a critical point, where it's become
some sort of mainstream activity where regular people
would join in. So you have a youth movement that's grow-
ing and then bringing in people from different areas,
from different ages. And then, of course, there is this
opposition coalition which has joined in. It's basically
the alliance of the--all different factions of the
opposition, including Islah, which is the main party,
followed by the Yemeni Socialist Party and Nasseris'
party and others. And they represent different parts of
the country--I mean, not necessarily geographically, but
originally the Yemeni Socialist Party comes from the
south, for example. The only fear is that if the opposition
would really, say, take over leadership--and so far it's
not happened, and there is a very strong sentiment, very
strong call for this never to happen, because it would
really divert it from its goal of becoming nonpolitical,
nonpartisan, and making sure that the youth remain there
in leadership.
NADAR: So, Walid, what's next? Have there been protests
that are called for Friday? Or how are protesters reacting
currently?
AL-SAQAF: If you've looked at the footage of the attack
yesterday, pictures of people beaten up by the police, of
course, shot with live ammunition, you'd notice that a lot
of them were upset not because they're hurt, but because
they did not participate [in] that day and next day's
activities and rallies, now calling not only for the
toppling of the regime, but also for its prosecution. And
this is a trend that reminds us very much of Egypt, efforts
by the youth in bringing in the national unity among the
different groups from the south, from the east and west,
calling for one single demand, which is to end this 33
oppressive dictatorship [sic].
NADAR: What's the situation in Yemen in terms of how the
military is reacting to the government?
AL-SAQAF: There's been some sort of--not obvious, but some
sort of a visible split between the Republican Guards and
those very much affiliated to the president and regular
Army and even police members. Some Army members have in
fact joined the protesters, and this is really a unique
thing. And on one occasion, I've seen one officer simply
remove the stars of his, I mean, rank, removing them and
throwing them to the public, saying, I do not wish to be
part of a regime that's oppressing its people. So there
is a movement [inaudible] there is something going on in
Yemen, and it's not properly reflected in the media. But
what is very clear now is that people are rallying against--
again and again with one single cause, which is to end the
regime. And that means that the days of Saleh are really
limited. And I do hope that the West and the world will
realize that it's become an irreversible process. People
are--have arrived to the point of no return, because other-
wise it will be bloodshed, mayhem.
NADAR: Thanks for joining us, Walid.
AL-SAQAF: Thank you.
NADAR: And thank you for joining us on The Real News
Network.
End of Transcript
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