U.S. official in Sanaa, al Qaeda militants flee prison (Reuters)

SANAA (Reuters) – A senior U.S. official held talks on Wednesday with government officials in Yemen, which is teetering on the brink of civil war over President Ali Abdullah Saleh's refusal to meet protesters' demands to step down.

The United States and Saudi Arabia fear that a power vacuum and tribal warfare in Yemen will be exploited by the local wing of al Qaeda to launch attacks in the region and beyond.

On Wednesday, dozens of al Qaeda militants escaped from a prison in the city of al-Mukalla in southern Yemen, a region where security forces and militants often clash.

A Yemeni government source said Jeffrey Feltman, U.S. Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs, would meet Foreign Minister Abubakr al-Qirbi and Vice President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who is acting president.

He was also due to hold talks with Saleh's son, Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh, who had been widely thought to be next in line for the presidency until protests broke out earlier this year.

Saleh is in Saudi Arabia recovering from injuries sustained in an attack on his palace in Sanaa nearly three weeks ago.

Feltman's talks will cover a transfer of power from the president to his deputy, the government source said.

As commander of the Republican Guards, the main strike force in Yemen, Ahmed Ali holds an influential position in the country of 23 million, which sits on the southern border of Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter.

Saleh has defied calls from global leaders, elements in his own military and tens of thousands of protesters to end his 33- year-old rule, which has brought Yemen close to financial ruin.

He has also exasperated his rich Gulf Arab neighbors by three times agreeing to step down, only to pull out of a power transition plan at the last minute and cling on to power.

AL QAEDA MILITANTS ESCAPE FROM PRISON

In an early bid to placate protesters demanding his ouster, Saleh promised not to hand power to his son, but many Yemenis say Saleh relatives including Ahmed Ali still hold key levers of power, blocking any transition without Saleh's consent.

Opposition parties allied with youth activists have also insisted that Saleh formally hand over power to Hadi as a step toward a new government and democracy.

An aide to Saleh said on Wednesday his health was on the mend and that he had been receiving guests and giving orders on Yemen's day-to-day affairs, including power and fuel shortages.

"The president has rejected a request from several members of his family to come to Riyadh to visit him, and stressed that he will return home soon," Ahmed al-Sufi, the president's media secretary, told Reuters.

Dozens of al Qaeda militants escaped from a jail in Mukalla following an attack on the compound. State media said three were killed in a clash with troops and two were recaptured.

"Ten of the escapees are dangerous elements who belonged to a cell that had attacked government officials and tourists," a local security official told Reuters.

One soldier was killed and two were wounded when militants opened fire on al-Munawara prison in Mukalla, a security official said.

"The militants opened fire on the prison gates and exchanged fire with the guards, injuring two and killing one," the security official said, adding that 62 prisoners had fled.

All the prisoners were Yemeni and most had been jailed after returning from Iraq where they fought in militant ranks, he said.

(Reporting by Mohamed Sudam in Sanaa and Mohammed Mukhashaf in Aden; writing by Sami Aboudi; editing by Alistair Lyon)

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U.S. official in Sanaa, al-Qaeda militants escape prison (Reuters)

SANAA (Reuters) – A senior U.S. official is holding talks on Wednesday with government officials in Yemen, which is teetering on the brink of civil war over President Ali Abdullah Saleh's refusal to meet protesters' demands to step down.

The United States and ally Saudi Arabia fear that a power vacuum and tribal warfare in Yemen will be exploited by the local wing of al Qaeda to launch attacks in the region and beyond.

On Wednesday, dozens of al Qaeda militants escaped from a prison the city of al-Mukalla in southern Yemen, the latest in a series of increasingly deadly clashes between security forces and militants in the south of the country.

A Yemeni government source said Jeffrey Feltman, U.S. Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs, will meet Foreign Minister Abubakr al-Qirbi and Vice President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who is acting president.

He is also due to hold talks with Saleh's son, Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh, who had been widely thought to be next in line for the presidency until protests broke out earlier this year.

Saleh is in Saudi Arabia recovering from injuries sustained in an attack on his palace in Sanaa nearly three weeks ago.

Talks will focus on "the situation in Yemen and the issue of the transfer of power" by the president to his deputy, the government source said.

As commander of the Republican Guards, the main strike force in Yemen, Ahmed Ali holds sway in the country of 23 million, which sits on the southern border of Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter.

Saleh has defied calls from global leaders, elements in his own military and tens of thousands of protesters to end his 33 year-rule, which has brought Yemen close to financial ruin.

He has also exasperated his rich Gulf Arab neighbors by three times agreeing to step down, only to pull out of a power transition plan at the last minute and cling on to power.

AL QAEDA MILITANTS ESCAPE FROM PRISON

In an early bid to placate protesters demanding his ouster, Saleh guaranteed he would not hand power down to his son, but many Yemenis say key members of Saleh's family including Ahmed Ali remain firmly in control of key levers of power, blocking any handover of power without Saleh's consent.

Opposition parties allied with youth activists have also insisted that Saleh formally hand over power to Hadi as a step toward a new government and democracy.

An aide to Saleh said on Wednesday his health was on the mend and that he had been receiving guests and giving instructions on day-to-day affairs in Yemen, including a power cut and fuel shortages.

"The president has rejected a request from several members of his family to come to Riyadh to visit him, and stressed that he will return home soon," said Ahmed al-Sufi, the president's media secretary told Reuters.

Dozens of al Qaeda militants escaped from a jail in southern Yemen on Wednesday following an attack on the compound.

One soldier was killed and two were wounded when militants opened fire on al-Munawara prison in the southern port city of al-Mukalla, a security official said.

"The militants opened fire on the prison gates and exchanged fire with the guards, injuring two and killing one," the security official said, adding that 62 prisoners had fled.

All the prisoners were Yemeni and most of them had been jailed after returning from Iraq where they fought in militant ranks, he said.

(Reporting by Mohamed Sudam, Writing by Sami Aboudi)

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Yemen's Saleh said stable, Sanaa ceasefire holds (Reuters)

SANAA/JEDDAH (Reuters) – Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh is in good health after an operation for injuries sustained in a rocket attack and is unlikely to undergo further surgery, a Yemeni diplomat in Riyadh said on Wednesday.

Saleh, 69, was wounded on Friday when rockets struck his Sanaa palace, killing seven people and wounding senior officials and advisers in what his officials said was an assassination attempt. He is being treated in the Saudi capital Riyadh.

Saleh was initially said to have received a shrapnel wound, and his vice president was quoted on Monday as saying the president would return to Yemen within days.

Yemeni and U.S. officials said on Tuesday that Saleh was in a more serious condition, with burns over roughly 40 percent of his body.

But a senior Yemeni diplomat in Saudi Arabia said Saleh was improving and a further operation was not seen as necessary at this stage.

"I visited him yesterday evening and he was good. He talked to us and asked about the Yemeni expatriates and he is better than the others who were injured. He is very good and talks. He was sitting on a chair," said Taha al-Hemyari, head of Yemeni Community Affairs at the Riyadh embassy.

"Maybe within the next hours the supervising doctor will release a statement about his condition." Saudi newspaper al-Watan cited diplomatic sources saying another operation on Saleh was still possible.

Saudi officials say it is up to Saleh whether he returns home but they, and their Western allies, may want to revive a Gulf-brokered transition deal under which the Yemeni leader would quit in return for immunity from prosecution.

In the capital Sanaa, a ceasefire was holding between government forces loyal to Saleh and tribesman of Sheikh Sadeq al-Ahmar of the powerful Hashed tribe, who have turned against their former ally. Over 200 people were killed and thousands fled in two weeks of fighting.

But thousands of protesters gathered in front of the Yemeni vice president's residence on Tuesday, demanding the acting leader form a transitional council to create a new government.

Around 4,000 demonstrators in Sanaa, who have been demanding Saleh to step down for five months, called for a "million-man march" for him to stay in Saudi Arabia.

ROCKET ATTACK

The volatile situation in Yemen, which lies on vital oil shipping lanes, alarms Western powers and neighboring oil giant Saudi Arabia, who fear that chaos would enable the local al Qaeda franchise to operate more freely there.

They see Saleh's absence for medical treatment in Riyadh as an opportunity to ease the president out of office after nearly 33 years ruling the impoverished Arab nation.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday called for a peaceful and orderly transition in Yemen. British Foreign Secretary William Hague on Tuesday urged the vice president to work with all sides to implement the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Agreement and begin political transition.

Saudi Arabia is worried by the activities of the Yemen-based al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which has staged daring if not very effective attacks on Saudi and U.S. targets.

The army said it had killed dozens of Islamist militants including a local al Qaeda leader in the southern town of Zinjibar, capital of the flashpoint Abyan province. A local official said 15 soldiers had been killed in the battles for control of the town seized by militants some 10 days ago.

Some of Saleh's opponents have accused the president of deliberately letting AQAP militants take over Zinjibar to demonstrate the security risks if he lost power.

The fighting has reduced Zinjibar, once home to more than 50,000 people, to a ghost town without power or running water.

Saleh has defied pressure to accept the transition plan brokered by the Saudi-led GCC. Three times, he has backed away from signing it at the last minute.

"The transition seems to be on track as per the GCC initiative. There will be many obstacles down the road, but without Saleh's destructive presence, we can overcome them," said Yemeni political analyst Abdul-Ghani al-Iryani.

The future of Yemen, where shifting alliances of tribal leaders, generals and politicians compete for power, is uncertain. Saleh's sons and relatives remain in the country, commanding elite military units and security agencies.

Other contenders in a possible power struggle include the well-armed Hashed tribal federation, breakaway military leaders, Islamists, leftists and an angry public seeking relief from crippling poverty, corruption and failing public services.

(Additional reporting by Asma Alsharif; Writing by Jon Herskovitz and Andrew Hammond; Editing by Jon Boyle)

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Fresh battles reported in Sanaa

NEW: New fighting reported near the home of the leader of a tribal revoltNEW: Protesters fired on in Change Square, witnesses report NEW: The headquarters of Yemen's national airline has been set ablaze, witnesses sayNEW: A government spokesman says victory is near; tribal official dismisses the claim

(CNN) -- Government troops fought fresh battles with opposition fighters in Yemen's capital, Sanaa, early Friday as the country's embattled president tried to put down a tribal revolt.

Troops backed by tanks were nearing the home of tribal leader Sadeq Al-Ahmar, whose followers have been battling troops loyal to President Ali Abdullah Saleh for nearly two weeks, witnesses reported. The nearby headquarters of Yemen's national airline was ablaze, with surrounding houses catching fire as well, witnesses said.

Government spokesman Abdu Ganadi told CNN said Saleh's forces "are near victory." But Abdulqawi Al-Qaisi, a spokesman for Al-Ahmar, said "All government claims of victory are fabricated, and our forces are still on the ground."

And in Change Square, where tens of thousands of anti-government protesters have made camp, witnesses said gunmen on surrounding streets were firing into the crowd, while snipers were visible on nearby rooftops.

"It's very tense inside Change Square now, because there is a fear that government forces might attempt to come into Change Square and take it over at any time," one of the protesters, who asked to remain anonymous due to security concerns, told CNN. A nearby resident said the fighting had subsided after midnight, however.

"We're still hearing bombs and gunfire, but not as much as we were just an hour ago," the resident said.

The fighting erupted May 23, after Saleh balked at a deal negotiated by Persian Gulf states that would have eased him from office in 30 days. The intensity of the fighting in the capital, where most of Yemen's security forces and army units are based, has increased fears that the country is on the verge of civil war.

Saleh has ruled Yemen since 1978, and the nation has been a key U.S. ally in the battle against the al Qaeda terrorist network. But Yemen was caught up in the wave of protests that swept the Arab world after the January ouster of Tunisia's longtime strongman, leaving Saleh battling both peaceful and violent resistance movements.

The impoverished, arid and mountainous nation has a weak central government and contains vast stretches where tribal law reigns supreme. A fresh group of about 1,000 armed tribesmen were seen entering Sanaa early Thursday, Sanaa resident Nageeb Mujaili said.

"We asked them why they were going to Sanaa armed," said Mujaili. "And they said to support their leader, Sheikh Sadeq Al-Ahmar."

Yemeni state television reported that government forces had beaten back tribal fighters from areas of the capital near the Ministry of Tourism building on Thursday, and Sanaa residents reported hearing explosions near the presidential palace, a government source said.

"The reason the street fighting in Sanaa has gotten a lot more intense in the past several hours is because special forces are now involved," said the source, who asked not to be identified because he is not authorized to speak to the news media.

"The special forces of the Republican Guard, the elite units, got involved on Wednesday. They're being used because the government wants to minimize collateral damage and the special forces have particular training in clearing fighters from buildings."

A security official at Sanaa International Airport said inbound and outbound flights were halted due because of security concerns over clashes near the airport. But the official, who is not authorized to speak to the media, said that the airport itself is not closed.

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Fighting erupts in Sanaa; many hurt

Anti-government protesters call for the resignation of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, in Sanaa on May 23, 2011.A rocket-propelled grenade was fired at the Interior MinistryMany tribal forces want the president to step downThe pact appeared to be on the verge of signing last weekend

(CNN) -- Nearly three dozen people in Yemen were wounded during clashes Tuesday between government security forces and the main tribe that opposes the country's president, eyewitnesses told CNN.

The battles erupted between fighters from the Al-Hashid tribe and security personnel in the capital of Sanaa at the residence of tribal leader Sheikh Sadeq Al-Ahmar.

It was the latest round of clashes in Yemen, a key U.S. ally in the fight against al Qaeda. The country has been roiled by protests for most of the year amid anti-government demonstrations that have swept across much of the Arab world. Protesters want President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step aside after three decades of rule.

Government forces and tribal groups also clashed Monday in Sanaa.

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On Tuesday, military helicopters hovered over Al-Ahmar's house. Thousands of tribesmen were in the streets. They took over the Trade and Commerce Ministry building and attacked the Ministry of Interior in the same area where the clashes erupted, witnesses said.

A rocket-propelled grenade was fired at the Interior Ministry during the fighting, witnesses said, and state TV reported that "armed gangs" belonging to the tribe fired weapons at the ministry building.

Hamid al-Ahmar, an opposition member of parliament and one of Saleh's political enemies in Yemen, is the younger brother of Sadeq al-Ahmar, the tribal leader.

The fighting came after Persian Gulf states said on Monday that they had suspended efforts to ease the embattled president from office after he once again balked at signing a deal with opposition leaders.

In a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency, foreign ministers with the Gulf Cooperation Council said they were dropping the deal "for lack of appropriate circumstances for agreement." The council is made up of representatives from the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait.

Under its plan, Saleh would have ceded power to a transitional government after 30 days.

Opposition leaders signed the pact Saturday, but Saleh said he would not go along unless the opposition re-signed the agreement in a public ceremony at his presidential palace -- which was surrounded by armed, pro-government protesters.

Opposition members have long contended that Saleh had no intention of signing the agreement.

On Monday, the Council of the European Union condemnded Saleh's "repeated failure to sign up to the GCC-sponsored initiative."

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