Yemen Truce Ends With Blasts, Stokes Civil War Worries

As citizens protest poverty and autocratic rule throughout the Middle East, global powers urge leaders to arrange transfer of power quickly, avoiding instability that allows terrorist groups to thrive. Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh has been in office for more than three decades, and analysts question whether a strategy is in play to allow Al Qaeda and extremists some gain in rural areas before applying force in an effort to display that tough governance is needed. The strategy poses a dilemma for the international community, which appreciates Yemeni forces combating Al Qaeda and Islamist militants, including those who seized Zinjibar on the Gulf of Aden, but deplores attacks on unarmed protesters. Opposition leaders insist they can fight Al Qaeda equally well. A ceasefire between tribal groups and forces loyal to Yemen’s president has ended, and Mohamed Sudam of Reuters reports that street fighting could flare into civil war, spreading unrest northward into Saudi Arabia. – YaleGlobal