Yemen Enters New Phase with End of Saleh’s Treason

The death of former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh in a shootout with security forces, when he tried to flee towards the Saudis following his open betrayal of the people of Yemen, has been hailed as a timely occurrence that averted a very grave plot against the country and the aspirations of the war-stricken people.

Iran’s English language daily Kayhan International has published a Viewpoint in this regard in its Tuesday’s issue, written by columnist S. Nawabzadeh and titled “Yemen Enters New Phase with End of Saleh’s Treason”.

 “It is said a cat has nine lives, but this does not mean immortality, because the poor creature finally has to die.

“This sums up the life of Yemen’s wily Ali Abdullah Saleh, who after surviving several assassination attempts, including one very serious in a bomb blast on 11 June 2011 that severely burnt him during his 34-year presidency – 12 as North Yemen’s Chief Executive (1978-1990) and 22 as Head of United Yemen (1990-2012) – could not escape death which ended his five years of shrewd political ploys as a former president who first aligned with and then tried to deceive a mass popular movement he had failed to quell six times in battles when he was in power.

“The killing of the ‘Fox of Yemen’ in a gun battle at a checkpoint leading out of Sana’a on Monday, is a relief to the people of the capital embroiled in weeklong armed clashes, but has come as a rude shock to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, the two prime perpetrators of the almost 3-year unwinnable war, who since Saturday last were in high spirits on the assumption that their plot to weaken the indomitable Ansarallah Defenders through bribes and conspiracy was about to succeed.

“As Seyyed Abdul-Malek al-Houthi, the popular Leader of Ansarallah said on Yemen TV, Saleh paid the price of treason. He called on the General People's Congress (the dwindling party of the ex-president) to join the national mainstream, saying that nothing can succeed against the resolve of a determined people.

“He added that if Saleh had not tried to backstab the people of Yemen, he could have been alive and part of an alliance that is destined to triumph against the Saudi-US-Zionist aggression.”

Kayhan International noted: “According to reports from Yemen, the mood in the capital Sana’a, despite the relentless bombing by the Saudis, is of joy, with most people converging on mosques to offer thanksgiving prayers to God Almighty for delivering them from sedition and possible handing over of the country to its bitter enemies by Saleh, who was trying to flee to enemy-occupied Ma’rib when gunned down in battle.

“It is too early to say what Riyadh, or more properly the chief culprit of the war, MBS (the self-imposed heir apparent, Mohammad bin Salman) would do, after yet another setback to his self-defeatist policies that recently foundered in Lebanon, following the string of humiliations he has suffered in Qatar, Syria, and Iraq.

“He and his chief accomplice in crimes against the people of Yemen, Abu Dhabi’s heir apparent Mohammad bin Zayed, are now at their wit’s end on how to find a face-saving exit from a disastrous war that continues to drain their petro-dollars in billions, in addition to mounting casualties, and the scary scenario of what havoc Yemen’s long range missiles could wreak on their economy and workforce of expatriates, especially after the latest cruise projectile that hit the unfinished nuclear reactor near the UAE capital on Sunday.

“The duo and all those responsible for the destruction of Yemen’s infrastructure and the descending of the Arab World’s poorest country into famine and epidemics are not sure whether the deities of US imperialism and international Zionism at whose altars the heads of Arab reactionary regimes worship, would be able to answer their most earnest prayers.”

Kayhan International said: “The Islamic Republic of Iran which has always called for solidarity of the Islamic Ummah against the devilish plots of the avowed enemies of Muslims had done its best to try to awaken the Arab regimes that unnecessarily oppose it, to the dire consequences of their un-Islamic policies of creating terrorists and causing sectarian divisions, but to no avail.

“It is fear of the uprising of their own masses for self-rule – as is happening in Bahrain – that has robbed the minds of these unrepresentative regimes of any reason, making them shamelessly hurl wild accusations against Islamic Iran, while sitting scandalously in the laps of the Americans, the British, and the Zionists.

“The fate suffered by Saleh should jolt their consciences, provided they have any, since so far they have failed to learn the lessons from the downfall of tyrants who were more powerful than them, such as Iran’s Shah, Iraq’s Saddam, and Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak.

“For the sake of the region’s peace and security, and in keeping with the Islamic Unity Week celebrations marking the birth anniversary of the Seal of Messengers, Prophet Muhammad (SAWA), Iran has appealed to the people of Yemen to knit ranks for safeguarding the sovereignty and territorial integrity of their country, especially against traitors, now that Saleh has gone.

“As a matter of fact, Saleh’s life was one of treason from the beginning. Born in a Zaydi Shi’a Muslim tribe, he grew up Godless, and as an officer in the army of the Zaydi Imam of North Yemen, betrayed his sovereign by joining conspirators aligned with Jamal Abdun-Nasser of Egypt to overthrow the almost thousand-year long rule of the Zaydi Imams.

“He changed colours as a chameleon in order to cling to political power, by shifting alliances, with Nasser, with the Soviets, with Saddam, with the US, with the Saudis, (who continue to occupy the Yemeni provinces of Najran, Jizan and Asir), and with the popular Ansarallah, treason against whom ended his miserable life.”

AS/MG