Saudi Arabia, Indonesia spar on rights

Indonesian workers applying to work in Saudi Arabia attend a training centre in Jakarta.Suspension takes effect SaturdaySaudi spokesman says the kingdom will focus instead on recruiting workers from "other sources"Move comes after Indonesia announced its workers cannot travel to Saudi Arabia, beginning August 1Saudi Arabia last month beheaded Indonesian worker -- without having first informed Indonesia

(CNN) -- Beginning Saturday, Saudi Arabia will suspend the issuance of visas to domestic workers from Indonesia, the latest move in what may be a tit-for-tat game of economics and human rights.

The statement came days after the Indonesian government declared it will refuse to allow its citizens to go to Saudi Arabia until human rights conditions there improve.

Indonesia issued its moratorium policy, effective August 1, after the Gulf kingdom beheaded an Indonesian worker last month. Ruyati binti Satubi had been accused of killing her employer's wife. Indonesia claims it was in the process of seeking her clemency, and was not notified before the beheading.

For years, international human rights organizations have criticized Saudi Arabia for its treatment of migrant workers. A 2011 Human Rights Watch report notes that domestic workers from Indonesia and elsewhere who travel to Saudi Arabia "frequently endure forced confinement; food deprivation; and severe psychological, physical, and sexual abuse."

Some of these cases have made international headlines. Last August, doctors at a Sri Lankan hospital operated for three hours to remove 18 nails and metal particles allegedly hammered into the arms, legs, and forehead of a maid by her Saudi employer.

And, in what many said was a first for the kingdom, a Saudi woman was sentenced in January to three years in prison for abusing her Indonesian maid.

Twenty-three other Indonesians are on death row in the Arab kingdom.

Indonesian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Michael Tene told CNN that the Indonesian government was notified Thursday of the change in Saudi visa policy. He said, "We feel that this new policy by Saudi Arabia is in line with our moratorium policy and will in fact make it more effective."

Indonesia has demanded "an Indonesian-Saudi memorandum of understanding on the protection of migrant workers" and a joint task force to monitor the situation. Tene stressed that talks between the two countries are scheduled for later this month and have not been canceled, despite the Saudi declaration.

A Human Rights Watch analysis of a similar 2009 agreement between Indonesia and Malaysia indicates that such an agreement might not fix the problem. The website says, "When Indonesia froze migration of domestic workers to Malaysia in 2009 until a more protective Memorandum of Understanding could be concluded, recruiters from Malaysia turned to Cambodian workers instead."

Indeed, Saudi Ministry of Labor spokesman Hattab Bin Salah Al-Anzi said Wednesday that the kingdom will focus instead on recruiting workers from "other sources," according to the state-run Saudi Press Agency.

Several countries across the Middle East and Asia host significant numbers of migrant domestic workers, ranging from 196,000 in Singapore to about 1.5 million in Saudi Arabia, according to a report published last year by Human Rights Watch.

Many of the domestic workers are poor Asian women from Sri Lanka, Indonesia, India, Bangladesh, the Philippines and Nepal. Widespread abuse has been documented by global human rights groups.

Common complaints include unpaid wages, long working hours with no time for rest and heavy debt burdens from exorbitant recruitment fees, said the Human Rights Watch report.

CNN's Alden Mahler Levine and Kathy Quiano contributed to this report.

CNN

Saudi activist: 5 women detained for driving (AP)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – A Saudi activist says at least five women have been taken into custody accused of defying the men-only driving rule in the ultraconservative Arab kingdom.

The detentions mark the first major backlash by Saudi authorities since a campaign was launched nearly two weeks ago to challenge the driving restrictions.

Dozens of women have since driven through the capital Riyadh and other cities.

Saudi-based rights activist Eman al-Nafjan says police detained a woman Tuesday while driving in Jiddah on the Red Sea coast. Al-Nafjan says four other women accused of driving were later detained in the city.

Al-Nafjan spoke to The Associated Press on Wednesday. She says there has been no new information on the status of the detainees.

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After Beheading, Indonesia Bans Maids from Work in Saudi Arabia (Time.com)

A woman, beheaded by the sword thousands of miles from home. This, at last, proved too much for Indonesia. For years, this Southeast Asian nation has been sending its citizens to work in Saudi Arabia and, for years, migrant workers there complained of poor working conditions, abuse and violence. But the surprise execution of Ruyati binti Sapubi, a 54-year old maid accused of killing her female employer, seems to have shocked the country into action. Indonesian authorities, who say Ruyati was routinely abused, are outraged they were not informed of the sentence. They announced on Thursday that Indonesia will stop sending maids to the kingdom - at least for now.

The outcry over Ruyati's life and death in Saudi Arabia has cast a rather bright light on what is all-too-often dismissed as a private matter: the use and abuse of foreign domestic workers. A vast body of research confirms what we all basically know - there are literally millions of people, mostly women, working in others people's houses. In Saudi Arabia alone, there are 1.5 million foreign domestic workers. Many enjoy decent conditions. Many do not. (See pictures of Saudi women.)

Saudi Arabia is a dangerous place for far too many foreign domestic workers. In 2008, a Human Rights Watch report documented widespread abuse of Asian maids in Saudi households. The organization found that women were routinely subjected to wretched working conditions, as well as emotional, sexual and physical abuse. "She beat me until my whole body burned. She beat me almost every day," one Indonesian woman told them. "She would beat my head against the stove until it was swollen." Since most maids are housebound and far from home, it can be difficult, if not impossible, to get help. If they do seek aid, the system is stacked against them, activists say.

Unfortunately, this is not just a Saudi Problem - it's a global one. In march, I wrote about a similar dispute between Indonesia and Malaysia. After several high-profile acts of violence against domestic workers, Indonesia was forced to stop women from seeking work as maids in Malaysia. The problem, as I noted then, is that banning Indonesian women from working in Malaysia, or Saudi Arabia, doesn't, in itself, force host countries to reform. Rather, as in the case of Indonesia and Malaysia, the reduction in the number of Indonesian migrants opened the market to women from poorer countries like Cambodia. (See pictures of Indonesia.)

Eventually, Malaysia agreed to prosecute some of its worst offenders, including a woman who assaulted her housemaid with scissors and a hammer. This type of legal and diplomatic pressure is an important first step. To this end, International Labor Organization (ILO), recently past the first-ever convention on the rights of domestic workers. The document affirms domestic workers' rights to a minimum wage, a weekly day off and a limit to their working hours. It also obliges governments to protect then from violence. However, in order for the convention to be binding, countries must adopt it - and not all will. And, as I've written before, fair laws do not guarantee fair treatment. Until 'house work' is valued and female workers are treated with dignity, foreign domestic workers will continue to suffer.

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Braving police, Saudi women drivers take to streets (The Christian Science Monitor)

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – She was probably the first to put foot to pedal.

It was 12:44 a.m. and middle-of-the-night dark. She turned the ignition key, lit the headlights, and drove.

In the backseat, her supportive husband filmed his wife making history as the earliest participant in Friday’s campaign by Saudi women to get the right to drive on the roads of their country.

IN PICTURES: Behind the veil

“I felt great,” the university student said later in an email exchange. “I couldn't believe that I was in Riyadh and driving! I look forward for the day that all of this becomes as natural as men driving.”

The woman, who posted the video on YouTube, said she wanted to remain anonymous “because I'm afraid of the authorities.” She’s also not certain, she wrote, about how her extended family would react to news of what she called “my small mission.”

Overall, the driving campaign got off to a slow start with just shy of 50 women reporting – mostly via Twitter – by the evening that they had gotten behind the wheel in violation of the kingdom’s national ban on female drivers.

The campaign is perhaps the largest and most genuinely grass-roots campaign by Saudi women to demand one of the many rights they are denied in this country, which severely restricts female independence.

Under the guardianship system, women need the permission of their father, husband, or brother to marry, travel outside the country, work outside the home, and have certain kinds of medical procedures.

Though there is no law prohibiting women from driving, the government supports the social custom that women not drive, at least not in the urban areas. In rural parts of the kingdom, women drive regularly without interference.

Many senior members of the royal family and the government have no objection to women driving. But they are reluctant to upset conservatives, both men and women, who argue that their Islamic society should not follow the same pattern of women’s liberation as in Western societies.

The last time the driving ban was challenged in an organized fashion was in 1990 when more 48 Saudi women drove in a convoy around Riyadh for an hour. The women were harshly punished – banned from international travel and suspended from their jobs. Mosque preachers labeled them “whores.”

Later, the kingdom’s most senior religious figure issued a fatwa, or religious ruling, that said women should not drive. But 21 years later, that fatwa is no longer seen as valid by many Muslims, especially since women drive in every other Muslim-majority country in the world.

Other things have also changed. Some religious sheikhs are breaking their silence and speaking out against the austere hardliners, arguing that nothing in Islam prevents women from driving.

The concept behind Friday’s campaign, which was launched in March, is that since there is no law banning women from driving, they should go out and drive en masse to persuade the government to lift the ban. Women were advised not to congregate so as not to violate the ban on demonstrations.

In recent years an increasing number of women have driven, sometimes out of necessity. If caught by traffic police, they were held until their male guardian picked them up and signed a pledge that they would not allow the women to drive again.

By mid-evening Friday, there was no evidence of arrests.

It was a far different story last month, when the government took a tough line against one of the driving campaign organizers. After Manal al-Sharif posted a YouTube video of herself driving around the town of Al Khobar to encourage women to join the campaign, she was detained for nine days.

According to Saudi sources, she was released on orders of King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, who is seen as a supporter of women’s rights.

Traffic about the campaign was heavy on Twitter (much of which can be found at the #Women2Drive hashtag), which along with Facebook and YouTube was the main way it was organized.

Tweets poured in from Saudis and non-Saudis offering encouragement to women who drove or were planning to drive. Women who defied the ban and drove tweeted about the responses they got.

“I went to the supermarket and I noticed [that] some grandpa generation were upset but all the people were smiling,” tweeted Maial Shareef.

“I drove my dad’s car this afternoon. Delivered him to the jumah (Friday) prayer and back home,” wrote Mozah. “It went well. Some weren’t happy to see me pick him [up at] the mosque.”

And Tawfiq al-Saif, an author and community leader in the Eastern Province, commented that he was taken for a ride by his wife. It went “just fine,” he wrote. “[S]ome people looked surprised, others were smiling."

IN PICTURES: Behind the veil

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Analysis: Yemen crisis puts Saudi in powerbroker's bind (Reuters)

DUBAI (Reuters) – Fearing both civil war and sweeping political reform as results of the crisis in Yemen, Saudi Arabia is struggling with its role as regional kingmaker.

While publicly backing Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, still in a Saudi hospital after being wounded in fighting in the capital Sanaa after months of protests aimed at ousting him, Riyadh has also tried to broker a succession on its own terms.

That has entailed forging relationships with tribal chieftains, politicians and army officers long cultivated by the Saudis as counterweights to Saleh's 33-year rule, but they are too many and too fractious to provide a ready-made successor.

And the very process of negotiating a political exit for a neighboring ruler it no longer supports has raised talk of representative government, feared by the kingdom that is the world's top oil exporter.

"It (Saudi Arabia) will try to stop a move to any real democratic system in the country," political analyst Ahmed al-Zurqa said. "This is the problem."

The Saudi-dominated Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) mediated three aborted deals with Yemeni opposition parties under which Saleh would step down and be spared prosecution for misconduct including bloody crackdowns on protesters who took to the streets as pro-democracy activism swept the Arab world.

Each time, Saleh backed out at the last minute.

His last demurral, in May, triggered two weeks of fighting with the al-Hashed tribal confederation led by the al-Ahmar family, culminating in a June 3 attack on Saleh's palace.

That may have sealed Saleh's fate for the Saudis, said Sheila Carapico, a Yemen expert and political science professor at the American University of Cairo.

"We don't even know if he'll be well enough to go back (from Saudi Arabia), but apart from that, I think they've lost faith in him," she said.

SON, NEPHEWS NOT JUMPING SHIP

Saudi and Yemeni state media still stress Riyadh's relationship with Saleh. Wary that Yemen could slip into further chaos, Saudi Arabia has begun shipments of a grant of 3 million barrels of oil to alleviate fuel shortages now gripping Yemen.

At the same time, flirtation with his enemies is evident.

Sadeq al-Ahmar, a leading al-Hashed figure, said after a round of clashes which devastated parts of the capital that he was keeping a truce only out of respect for Saudi King Abdullah.

Opposition parties ranging from socialists to Islamists of both the Sunni and Zaydi Shi'ite sects, and which signed off on the GCC deals, lost credibility with "Arab Spring"-inspired youths who have emerged as a separate Yemeni constituency.

"We believed, and still believe, that the Gulf states do not want the youth revolution to succeed in Yemen, so that its effects won't spread to the other states of the region," said democracy activist Omar Abdelqader.

The opposition parties have participated in negotiations with Yemen's acting leader, Vice President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, in which the absent president's fate was not broached.

U.S. diplomats helped broker those talks. But with Washington apparently preparing to pursue attacks on al Qaeda in Yemen with more use of CIA-operated drones, analysts believe it may have satisfied its needs in Yemen, and will leave kingmaking to the Saudis.

"I don't think the U.S. has a policy on Yemen," Carapico said. "One part is we back the Saudis and whatever they want is good enough for us, and then the other part of it is we really, really don't like al Qaeda."

The balance of forces on the ground suggests no single contender will simplify the task of succession by emerging stronger than the others.

Though Saleh's ruling party suffered high-profile defections, several of his relatives -- including a son, Brigadier-General Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh, who leads the Republican Guard -- retain command and seem to have achieved military parity with the president's enemies.

"I don't think you're going to see many more people jumping ship at the moment," said James Spencer, a defense and political risk consultant. "Saleh's son and nephews have hung on ... Ahmed Ali has made it clear he's not going to go meekly."

(Additional reporting by Mohammed Ghobari in Sanaa, Andrew Hammond and Isabel Coles in Dubai; Editing by Dan Williams)

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Braving police, Saudi women drivers take to streets (The Christian Science Monitor)

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – She was probably the first to put foot to pedal.

It was 12:44 a.m. and middle-of-the-night dark. She turned the ignition key, lit the headlights, and drove.

In the backseat, her supportive husband filmed his wife making history as the earliest participant in Friday’s campaign by Saudi women to get the right to drive on the roads of their country.

IN PICTURES: Behind the veil

“I felt great,” the university student said later in an email exchange. “I couldn't believe that I was in Riyadh and driving! I look forward for the day that all of this becomes as natural as men driving.”

The woman, who posted the video on YouTube, said she wanted to remain anonymous “because I'm afraid of the authorities.” She’s also not certain, she wrote, about how her extended family would react to news of what she called “my small mission.”

Overall, the driving campaign got off to a slow start with just shy of 50 women reporting – mostly via Twitter – by the evening that they had gotten behind the wheel in violation of the kingdom’s national ban on female drivers.

The campaign is perhaps the largest and most genuinely grass-roots campaign by Saudi women to demand one of the many rights they are denied in this country, which severely restricts female independence.

Under the guardianship system, women need the permission of their father, husband, or brother to marry, travel outside the country, work outside the home, and have certain kinds of medical procedures.

Though there is no law prohibiting women from driving, the government supports the social custom that women not drive, at least not in the urban areas. In rural parts of the kingdom, women drive regularly without interference.

Many senior members of the royal family and the government have no objection to women driving. But they are reluctant to upset conservatives, both men and women, who argue that their Islamic society should not follow the same pattern of women’s liberation as in Western societies.

The last time the driving ban was challenged in an organized fashion was in 1990 when more 48 Saudi women drove in a convoy around Riyadh for an hour. The women were harshly punished – banned from international travel and suspended from their jobs. Mosque preachers labeled them “whores.”

Later, the kingdom’s most senior religious figure issued a fatwa, or religious ruling, that said women should not drive. But 21 years later, that fatwa is no longer seen as valid by many Muslims, especially since women drive in every other Muslim-majority country in the world.

Other things have also changed. Some religious sheikhs are breaking their silence and speaking out against the austere hardliners, arguing that nothing in Islam prevents women from driving.

The concept behind Friday’s campaign, which was launched in March, is that since there is no law banning women from driving, they should go out and drive en masse to persuade the government to lift the ban. Women were advised not to congregate so as not to violate the ban on demonstrations.

In recent years an increasing number of women have driven, sometimes out of necessity. If caught by traffic police, they were held until their male guardian picked them up and signed a pledge that they would not allow the women to drive again.

By mid-evening Friday, there was no evidence of arrests.

It was a far different story last month, when the government took a tough line against one of the driving campaign organizers. After Manal al-Sharif posted a YouTube video of herself driving around the town of Al Khobar to encourage women to join the campaign, she was detained for nine days.

According to Saudi sources, she was released on orders of King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, who is seen as a supporter of women’s rights.

Traffic about the campaign was heavy on Twitter (much of which can be found at the #Women2Drive hashtag), which along with Facebook and YouTube was the main way it was organized.

Tweets poured in from Saudis and non-Saudis offering encouragement to women who drove or were planning to drive. Women who defied the ban and drove tweeted about the responses they got.

“I went to the supermarket and I noticed [that] some grandpa generation were upset but all the people were smiling,” tweeted Maial Shareef.

“I drove my dad’s car this afternoon. Delivered him to the jumah (Friday) prayer and back home,” wrote Mozah. “It went well. Some weren’t happy to see me pick him [up at] the mosque.”

And Tawfiq al-Saif, an author and community leader in the Eastern Province, commented that he was taken for a ride by his wife. It went “just fine,” he wrote. “[S]ome people looked surprised, others were smiling."

IN PICTURES: Behind the veil

Yahoo! News

Saudi women defy driving ban

Women get into the backseat of a vehicle in Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh on June 14, 2011.Saudi women say they feel disadvantage because they cannot driveAn online movement encouraged Saudi women to drive FridayReligious edicts, not specific laws, bar women from a host of activitiesWomen are emboldened to get behind the wheel

(CNN) -- Women put keys to ignitions Friday in Saudi Arabia to start up a roaring challenge to the conservative Islamic kingdom's prohibition of female drivers.

"It's a disadvantage for us," said Sulafa Kurdi who lived in the United States once and got her driver's license when she was 18.

"It's something that we want to do, and hopefully, it will happen," she said after driving to a Riyadh restaurant with her friends and cousin.

Fueled by "Women2Drive," a campaign demanding the right for women to drive and travel freely in Saudi Arabia, Kurdi and other Saudi women commanded streets and roads normally reserved for men.

Though there are no specific traffic laws that make it illegal for women to drive in Saudi Arabia. However, religious edicts are often interpreted as a prohibition of female drivers. Such edicts also prevent women from opening bank accounts, obtaining passports or even going to school without the presence of a male guardian.

Authorities stopped Manal al Sharif, 32, for driving a car May 21 and detained her the next day. She said she was forced to sign a form promising not to drive again and spent a week in jail.

Al Sharif has not been charged, but the case remains open and she may be called back, according to human rights activist Waleed Abu Alkhair. Her name has become a rallying cry for women demanding their rights.

The "Women2Drive 17th June," Facebook page includes a banner that reads "We are all Manal Sharif," and a quote from King Abdullah stating that "the day will come when women will be able to drive."

In an interview with CNN before her detention, al Sharif said she was determined to speak out.

"We have a saying," she said. "The rain starts with a single drop. This is a symbolic thing."

The Women2Drive campaign was expected to be a test of wills between the government and half of the nation's citizenry. However, campaign organizers were explicit in laying out conditions for participants.

Women were told to adhere to full Islamic dress. Wave the Saudi flag and plaster a picture of the king to show patriotism. It was best to have an international driving license if you planned to drive. And to have a man with you.

The campaign said it would not be responsible for any women who breached a list of 14 such principles. The were asked to show defiance but within societal confines.

A Riyadh man who went out to document what would be an unusual scene in Saudi Arabia said the streets were typically empty for a Friday morning, but that there were many fewer police officers than in March -- when online organizers had called for mass demonstrations.

"I'm thinking that the government is turning sideways," said the man, Ahmad Alafaliq. "They don't want to see it, they don't want to deal with it."

A Saudi woman told CNN her mother drove her and her sisters down Riyadh's main street on Thursday.

The woman, who asked not to be named because she was worried about harassment and possible reprisals, said no one bothered them.

"This is important for women here -- this is one of our rights," she said

Nadya Khalife, a Human Rights Watch women's rights researcher for the Middle East and North Africa, said the freedom of movement is a basic right. Saudi Arabia, she said, is the only country that bans women from driving.

Strict segregation by sex means women in Saudi Arabia can't travel without a male relative or take public transportation. Ironically, many women hire are forced to hire expensive private drivers or taxis to get around, forcing them to be in the company of unfamiliar men, which, said activists, does not make sense from a religious standpoint.

Khalife said what separates the latest campaign from other efforts to get women to drive is the degree to which it has relied on social media. Women who got behind the wheel were encouraged to shoot videos of themselves.

But Saudi women face challenges, Khalife said.

"They're up against society as a whole," Khalife said. "Some women may even face harassment or pressure from their families. Some women have clearly been in support, but others are saying they don't want to 'shame.'"

Osamah Alluaidan, an opponent of female drivers, posted on Facebook, "It is not a sin for women to drive but when women drive and disobey the Kingdom's guardians, that's the problem, this is unacceptable."

Khalife noted that some men have been supportive of their daughters, wives and sisters taking part in the driving campaign.

Alkhair, speaking Thursday from London, said he encouraged his wife to drive in Jeddah on Friday.

"I think after what the police and the interior ministry did to Manal al Sharif, a lot of women became afraid," he said. "The Interior Ministry has put a lot of police on the street. They want to send a message to all women."

But on Friday, Saudi women defied tradition, no matter how bumpy the road.

CNN's Eve Bower and Atika Shubert contributed to this report.

CNN

Saudi women to drive for change

Women2Drive is an initiative demanding the right for women to drive and travel freely in Saudi Arabia.Saudi Arabian women encouraged to drive FridayManal al Sharif is part of Women2Drive campaignShe claims woman are not breaking the law by driving in Saudi ArabiaReligious edicts limit activities of women

(CNN) -- Saudi women are being encouraged to challenge the status quo and get behind the wheel Friday.

Though there are no traffic laws that make it illegal for women to drive in Saudi Arabia, religious edicts are often interpreted as a ban against female drivers. One female motorist spent more than a week in custody in May, supporters said.

The day is expected to be a test of wills -- and authority -- between police and the campaign, which has been publicized by Facebook, Twitter and other social media. It was not clear late Thursday how many would participate.

A Saudi woman told CNN her mother drove her and her sisters down Riyadh's main street on Thursday.

The woman, who asked not to be named because she was worried about harassment and possible reprisals, said no one bothered them.

"I believe there will be women driving (Friday)," she said. "This is important for women here -- this is one of our rights."

Read Isobel Coleman's piece on the largest protest by Saudi women

This is important for women here -- this is one of our rights.
--Unnamed Saudi woman

Authorities stopped Manal al Sharif, 32, for driving a car May 21 and detained her the next day. She said she was forced to sign a form promising not to drive again and spent a week in jail.

Al Sharif has not been charged, but the case remains open and she may be called back, according to human rights activist Waleed Abu Alkhair.

Al Sharif is part of Women2Drive, an initiative demanding the right for women to drive and travel freely in Saudi Arabia.

In an interview with CNN before her detention, al Sharif said she was determined to speak out.

"We have a saying," she said. "The rain starts with a single drop. This is a symbolic thing."

Hundreds of women have joined the campaign to begin driving Friday. Some women with international licenses, such as al Sharif, began driving earlier.

Alkhair, speaking Thursday from London, said he encouraged his wife to drive in Jeddah on Friday.

"I think after what the police and the interior ministry did to Manal al Sharif, a lot of women became afraid," he said. "The Interior Ministry has put a lot of police on the street. They want to send a message to all women."

Strict segregation by sex means women in Saudi Arabia can't travel without a male relative or take public transportation. Many women hire expensive drivers or taxis to get around.

Since al Sharif's detention, several Saudi women have uploaded their videos onto the web.

Amnesty International said Saudi women should be allowed to seek more freedoms.

"Saudi Arabian authorities must stop treating women as second-class citizens and open the kingdom's roads to women drivers," the organization said.

CNN's Atika Shubert contributed to this report.

CNN

In Saudi Arabia, Lingerie Reveals All (Time.com)

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Saudi TV: Saleh to return to Yemen

NEW: The government denies being behind the shooting of 3 tribesmenOpposition leaders express cautious support for the vice presidentA tribal spokesman says the government kills 3 tribesmen despite a cease-fireYemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh is in Saudi Arabia for medical treatment after being wounded

(CNN) -- Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh underwent two operations in Saudi Arabia and will return to Yemen after he recovers, the Saudi state-run Ekhbariya television station reported Monday.

Saleh is in Saudi Arabia for treatment following a rocket attack on his presidential compound on Friday.

There are conflicting reports about his health, with Western diplomatic sources saying Sunday Saleh was undergoing neurosurgery while a spokesman for his party described Saleh's procedures as "simple check-ups."

A senior U.S. official said Saleh had shrapnel wounds and severe burns to his face and chest, adding that it was not clear how serious the injuries were. The official declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the situation.

Two opposition leaders in Yemen expressed cautious support Monday for acting President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, the vice president who assumed temporary power when Saleh flew to Saudi Arabia.

"We do not have any problem if Hadi takes control of the government. He is respected by the people," said Tawakkul Karman, adding that Hadi "must use this historic moment to enter Yemen's history as a leader and revolutionary."

But, she warned that if he does not "conduct immediate reforms, the youth protesters will go against him the same way they did against Saleh. It's Hadi's choice to decide which door of history he wants to go through."

Ahmed Bahri, a senior official of the opposition Joint Meeting Parties, said that if Hadi can lead peaceful change, "we welcome it. If not, he should step aside and not stall the revolution."

"Hadi has been respected by all the political factions for decades, but Saleh did not give him a chance to lead positive change," Bahri said. "Today is his opportunity to repay the Yemeni people for their patience and work for the sake of the people and not for Saleh."

Violence in Yemen continued Monday as three Hashed tribesmen were killed by Yemeni government snipers despite a cease-fire between the two sides, a spokesman for the tribe's leader said.

The cease-fire was agreed upon late Sunday between Hashed leader Sadeq Al-Ahmar -- who opposes the Yemeni government -- and Vice President Hadi, said Abdulqawi Al-Qaisi, spokesman for the Hashed leader.

He blamed Yemen's Republican Guard for the tribesmen's deaths in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa.

"The tribes are insistent that the cease-fire continues, but the Republican Guard wants chaos as usual to show the people that without Saleh, clashing will take place everywhere," Al-Qaisi said.

But the government denied being behind the deaths.

"The government does not attack people who are not going against the law," government spokesman Abdu Ganadi said. "These are claims from the tribes in order to cause more crimes in Sanaa."

Supporters of Al-Ahmar are suspected in the Friday attack on the Yemeni presidential compound. Yemen's state-run news agency SABA, citing a source in Saleh's office, reported last week that three guards and an imam were killed.

Yemeni security forces shelled Al-Ahmar's home on Friday in response to the attack, leaving 10 people dead and 35 others wounded, according to Fawzi Al-Jaradi, an official with the Hashed tribal confederation.

The cease-fire deal followed two weeks of clashes between government and tribal forces in Yemen, where thousands of protesters have been pressuring Saleh to give up power since January.

The fighting erupted when Saleh balked at a deal with the opposition that would have eased him out of office in 30 days.

Yemen's largest opposition bloc had vowed to prevent Saleh from returning.

"The Yemeni people will do all in their power to not allow Saleh to re-enter the country," JMP spokesman Mohammed Qahtan said Sunday.

But what's next for the embattled president and country remains unclear.

Joost Hiltermann, an Washington-based analyst at the International Crisis Group, said Saleh's decision to seek treatment in Saudi Arabia means a shift in power is likely, but "not yet a foregone conclusion."

"The president's sons and nephews control a significant part of the security apparatus," Hiltermann said. "And they might yet put up a fight, or decide to go into negotiations over a transition of power."

CNN's Tim Lister, Nic Robertson and Elise Labott contributed to this report.

CNN

Yemen president flies to Saudi for treatment (Reuters)

SANAA/RIYADH (Reuters) – President Ali Abdullah Saleh, wounded in an attack on his presidential palace, has flown to Saudi Arabia for medical treatment, potentially offering a face-saving end to his three decade rule.

But uncertainty about whether his sons and nephews would try to maintain a grip on power following months of protests against Saleh's rule meant the risk of further turmoil remained.

Acting President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi was slated to meet members of the military and Saleh's sons, Al Arabiya television said on Sunday, citing sources. It was the first indication Saleh's powerful sons had not left the country.

Saudi sources said Riyadh had brokered a ceasefire between rival clans and political elites.

But on Sunday, heavy gunfire and explosions rang out in the capital Sanaa. Witnesses said the gunfire was heard in the Hasaba district, a focal point of fighting in recent weeks between Saleh's forces and members of the powerful Hashed tribe led by Sadeq al-Ahmar.

The streets of Sanaa had been mostly quiet earlier on Sunday except for a few small gatherings celebrating Saleh's departure.

"Our happiness will be complete once we're sure that Saleh won't come back," a resident at a local cafe said."

In the southern city of Taiz, thousands of people celebrated Saleh's trip to Saudi Arabia with a fireworks display.

The Saudi royal court said Saleh had arrived to be treated for wounds suffered in Friday's rocket attack on his presidential palace -- an assault that marked a major escalation in a conflict building toward full civil war.

Rumors of Saleh's departure had circulated in Sanaa for hours before his arrival in Riyadh was confirmed, and Yemeni officials repeatedly denied he had any plans to leave.

"These are the most difficult days and we're worried the coming days will be even more difficult," Sanaa resident Ali al Mujahid, 42, said. "We want them to solve their conflicts and leave us to live in peace."

Saleh, whose Saudi medical evacuation plane was met by a senior Saudi official, walked off the aircraft but had visible injuries on his neck, head and face, a source told Reuters.

Saudi Arabia, itself concerned about militant groups operating on Yemeni territory, has been to the fore in efforts by Gulf states to negotiate Saleh's resignation and peaceful handover of power to fractious opposition groups. He has several times backed away from agreements at the last moment.

The world's top oil exporter shares a 1,500-km (950-mile) border with Yemen, and until recently with the United States had backed Saleh as an ally against a Yemen-based arm of al Qaeda.

"I think this is just about the end of his match," Khalid al-Dakhil, a Saudi political analyst, said. "The Saudis are not going to bargain with him."

DIFFICULT DAYS

Leaving Yemen at a time of such instability, even for medical care, could make it hard for Saleh to retain power. Saleh's vice-president, largely a figurehead, took over as acting president and head of the armed forces in Yemen.

U.S. President Barack Obama's top counter-terrorism aide spoke on Saturday with the Yemeni vice-president, the White House said, without offering details of the talks. Washington has been calling for Saleh to leave.

The true seat of power, following Saleh's departure, has yet to be decided. But Saleh's eldest son, Ahmed, commands the elite Republican Guard and three of his nephews control the country's security and intelligence units.

Saleh was transferred to a military hospital after landing at King Khalid Air Base, a Saudi source said.

He will have tests before surgery to remove shrapnel from his body, the source said, adding Saleh was also expected to have plastic surgery to mend wounds on his face and neck.

The rocket attack, which killed seven people, devastated the government. The prime minister, two deputy prime ministers and the speakers of both parliamentary chambers are being treated in Riyadh for injuries.

The latest violence, which pitted Saleh loyalist forces against members of the Ahmar's Hashed tribe, was the bloodiest since pro-democracy unrest erupted in January and was sparked by Saleh's refusal to sign a power transfer deal.

A Saudi official said Saudi Arabia had brokered a fresh truce between the Hashed tribe and forces loyal to Saleh, and a tribal leader said his followers were abiding by it.

A truce agreed a week ago held for only a day before fresh street battles broke out in the capital Sanaa, leading to the most intense fighting there in the four-month-old uprising against Saleh's rule.

Abdulla Ali al-Radhi, Yemen's ambassador to Britain, said of Friday's attack on the palace: "The rocket was devastating. It was a clear assassination attempt against the president."

AL QAEDA

Worries are mounting that Yemen, already on the brink of financial ruin and home to al Qaeda militants, could become a failed state that poses a threat to the world's top oil exporting region and to global security.

Saleh's forces retaliated over the attack by shelling the homes of the leaders of the Hashed tribal federation, which has been engaged in street fights with his forces. Spokesmen for the group denied responsibility for the palace attack and said 10 tribesmen were killed and dozens injured by the shelling.

A growing number of people in Saleh's inner circle feel the attack may have been carried out by General Ali Mohsen who has broken from Saleh, sided with anti-government protesters and called the president a "madman who is thirsty for more bloodshed."

An expert on Yemen with close ties to Sanaa's leadership said: "Nobody could have done this with such military precision other than a military man."

Saleh has exasperated his former U.S. and Saudi allies, who once saw him as a key partner in efforts to combat Yemen-based al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), by repeatedly reneging on a deal brokered by the Gulf Cooperation Council for him to quit in return for immunity from prosecution.

(Additional reporting by Mohammed al-Ramahi in Sanaa, Mohammed Mukhashaf in Aden, Khaled al-Mahdi in Taiz, Mahmoud Habboush in Dubai, Samia Nakhoul in London, Erik Kirschbaum in Berlin and the Madrid bureau; writing by Ralph Boulton; editing by Myra MacDonald)

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Yemeni leader accepts Saudi offer of treatment (AP)

SANAA, Yemen – Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh accepted an offer from the Saudi king to get medical treatment there for wounds from a rebel rocket attack, but had not yet left his country, officials close to the president said Saturday.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters, said Saleh spoke to Saudi King Abdullah shortly after the rocket attack Friday night that wounded Saleh and five top government officials. Eleven security men were killed.

Sheik Mohammed Nagi al-Shayef, a leader of the Saleh-allied Bakeel tribe, said he met with Saleh Saturday evening at the Defense Ministry compound in the capital.

"He suffered burns but they were not serious. He was burned on both hands, his face and head," al-Shayef told The Associated Press.

He said Saleh also was hit by jagged pieces of wood that splintered from the mosque pulpit. There were about 200 people inside the mosque when the rocket landed.

A secretary in Saleh's office and a member of his ruling party said the president's plane was still at the Sanaa airport.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Officials close to Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh say he has accepted an offer from the Saudi king to travel there for medical treatment for wounds from a rebel rocket attack, but has not yet left Sanaa, the capital.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters, said Saleh spoke to Saudi King Abdullah shortly after the rocket attack Friday night that wounded Saleh and five top government officials. Eleven security men were killed.

A secretary in Saleh's office and a member of his ruling party said the president's plane was still at the Sanaa airport.

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Saudi Arabia brokers new truce in Yemen: Saudi source (Reuters)

SANAA (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia has brokered a fresh truce between a powerful Yemeni tribal federation and forces loyal to President Ali Abdullah Saleh, a Saudi source said on Saturday, and a tribal leader said his followers were abiding by it.

A Saudi-brokered truce agreed a week ago held for only a day before fresh street battles broke out in the capital Sanaa, leading to the most intense fighting there since the uprising against Saleh's 32-year role began.

Broadcasters Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya, citing Yemeni and Saudi sources, said Saleh was on his way to Saudi Arabia for medical treatment, a day after suffering head wounds in a shelling attack on a mosque in the presidential compound, but Yemen's deputy information minister denied the reports.

Seven people were killed when what appeared to be rockets hit the presidential palace and several government officials were wounded. Saleh blamed a tribal federation for the assault.

"The rocket was devastating. It was a clear assassination attempt against the president," said Abdulla Ali al-Radhi, Yemen's ambassador to the United Kingdom.

The BBC reported that the attack left Saleh with shrapnel near his heart and second-degree burns to his chest and face. It said sources close to the president had told the broadcaster Saleh had a piece of shrapnel almost 7.6 cm long under his heart.

Four months into a deadly revolt, worries are mounting that Yemen, already on the brink of financial ruin and home to al Qaeda militants, could become a failed state that poses a threat to the world's top oil exporting region and to global security.

Saleh's forces retaliated by shelling the homes of the leaders of the Hashed tribal federation, which has been engaged in street fights with his forces. Spokesmen for the group said 10 tribesmen were killed and dozens injured while denying responsibility for the palace attack.

A growing number of people in Saleh's inner circle feel the attack may have carried out by General Ali Mohsen who has broken from Saleh, sided with the protesters and called the president a "madman who is thirsty for more bloodshed."

An expert on Yemen with close ties to Sanaa's leadership said: "Nobody could have done this with such military precision other than a military man."

Global powers have been pressing Saleh to sign a Gulf-brokered deal to end his 33-year rule. Leaving Yemen, even for medical care, would make it hard for Saleh to retain power and could be seen as the first step in a transfer of leadership.

A Yemeni official told Reuters that Saleh "had suffered minor wounds to his head and I believe his face."

"It's not easy for the president. He has lost people close to him and who were sitting next to him when it happened," the official said.

Saleh has exasperated his former U.S. and Saudi allies, who once saw him as a key partner in efforts to combat Yemen-based al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

Defying world pressure, Saleh has thrice reneged on a deal brokered by Gulf states for him to quit in return for immunity from prosecution, even as he haemorrhages support at home.

'BULLETS EVERYWHERE'

Residents in Sanaa faced worsening fears after fighting between the Hashed tribal federation and Saleh's forces spread to new parts of the divided capital on Friday, prompting a fresh exodus of war-weary civilians.

Tensions in the flashpoint of Taiz, about 200 km (120 miles) south, eased after police and military units withdrew from the city following a week of clashes with pro-reform demonstrators that left dozens dead.

The U.N. human rights chief was checking reports that more than 50 people had been killed in Taiz since Sunday.

Nearly 200 people have been killed in the capital in the past two weeks as street battles using machineguns, mortars and rocket propelled grenades shuttered shops and forced Sanaa's airport to ground flights twice.

Sanaa roads were clogged when the sun rose by civilians fleeing violence that has engulfed more of the city.

"Bullets are everywhere, explosions terrified us. There's no chance to stay any more," said Sanaa resident Ali Ahmed.

Spain said it was evacuating its citizens and diplomats in Yemen, while Germany ordered the temporary closure of its embassy, adding to the number of countries shutting the doors on their diplomatic missions in Sanaa due to the fighting.

At least 420 people have been killed since the uprising against Saleh began in January, inspired by the movements in Tunisia and Egypt that toppled their long-standing leaders.

The battles are being fought on several fronts, with popular protests in several cities and military units breaking away from Saleh to protect the protesters.

There has also been a week-long campaign in Zinjibar by locals and Saleh's soldiers to oust Islamist and al Qaeda militants who seized the southern coastal city near a shipping lane where about 3 million barrels of oil pass daily.

(Additional reporting by Mohammed al-Ramahi in Sanaa, Mohammed Mukhashaf in Aden, Khaled al-Mahdi in Taiz, Mahmoud Habboush in Dubai, Samia Nakhoul in London, Erik Kirschbaum in Berlin and the Madrid bureau; writing by Jon Herskovitz; editing by Tim Paerce)

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Gunmen kill Saudi diplomat in Pakistan's Karachi (Reuters)

KARACHI/ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Gunmen on motorcycles shot and killed a Saudi diplomat in the Pakistani city of Karachi on Monday, police and the Saudi ambassador said, the second attack on the mission since the killing of Osama bin Laden increased tension in the region.

Pakistan's Taliban claimed responsibility, and warned the United States against attacking its close ally al Qaeda.

Al Qaeda has waged a bloody campaign to topple the royal family and government of Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of its leader bin Laden. The group has also vowed to avenge his killing by U.S. special forces in a Pakistani military town on May 2.

Four people riding motorcycles opened fire on the Saudi diplomat's car, a Karachi police official said. The diplomat, a low ranking security official, was on his way to the consulate when the assailants struck.

Pakistan's interior minister condemned the attack and ordered Karachi authorities to provide "complete security" to Saudi nationals stationed in the city, where analyst say militants generate funds through extortion and robberies.

"We condemn this attack. No one who carries out this kind of attack can be a Muslim," the Saudi ambassador, Abdul Aziz al-Ghadeer, told Reuters. Four bullets were fired and one struck the diplomat in the head, said senior Karachi police official Iqbal Mehmood.

The Saudi state news agency named the diplomat as Hassan al-Qahtani and described his killing as a "criminal attack." It said Saudi officials would investigate the shooting alongside the Pakistani authorities.

The shooting, which a Saudi embassy official said occurred about 60 meters (200 feet) from the consulate, came days after unidentified attackers threw two hand grenades at the consulate in Pakistan's commercial hub. No one was hurt in that attack.

Saudi Arabia, one of the United States' most strategic allies, is the world biggest oil exporter and any signs that its security is threatened could move global oil prices.

A Saudi Interior Ministry official, who declined to be identified, told Reuters in Dubai that security would be stepped up to protect Saudi diplomats living in "dangerous" areas.

FUNDING EXTREMISM?

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have long been close allies and Islamabad needs all the support it can get after the discovery of bin Laden embarrassed the South Asian country.

"We trust the Pakistani authorities and hope they will identify the terrorists and bring them to justice," ambassador al-Ghadeer said.

Before claiming responsibility for the shooting, Pakistan's Taliban had described Pakistan and Saudi Arabia as American "slaves" and hailed the attack as a "very good job."

Saudi Arabia has its own internal security to worry about, not just the safety of diplomats who may be targeted.

Militants swearing allegiance to al Qaeda attacked Western targets, government sites and oil facilities in Saudi Arabia, between 2003 and 2006.

The operations included suicide bombings at Western housing compounds, the Saudi Interior Ministry headquarters in the capital Riyadh and petrochemicals companies.

Saudi Arabia responded with a largely successful security crackdown in 2007 and 2010, arresting more than 170 suspects, including some trainee pilots preparing for suicide attacks.

Analysts, however, suggested Saudi policy in Pakistan backfired.

Saudi Arabia, which is home to the fundamentalist Wahhabi brand of Islam, is seen as funding some of Pakistan's hardline religious seminaries which churn out young men eager for holy war, posing a long-term threat to the stability of the region.

"The Saudis have led a pretty successful campaign to root out al Qaeda and its extremists in Saudi Arabia over the last decade or so," said Salman Shaikh, director of Brookings Doha Center, a policy research institute.

"I have to say that Saudi Arabia has had a mixed history in Pakistan as well. Many have accused it or certainly elements of its religious establishment of financing extremist education (in Pakistan) over the years."

(Additional reporting by Imtiaz Shah in Karachi, Kamran Haider, Chris Allbritton and Robert Birsel in Islamabad, Amena Bakr and Cynthia Johnston in Dubai and Yaw Yan Chong in SINGAPORE; Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Miral Fahmy)

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