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Sana’a:
Some 100 armed tribesmen loyal to former President Ali Abdullah
Saleh stormed the Interior Ministry, demanding to be enlisted in
the police force, officials said.
Tribesmen briefly held interior
ministry employees hostage. They freed the ministry personnel a
few hours later but continued to occupy the building, a ministry
official said.
In another development, gunmen
kidnapped an Italian diplomat in Yemen yesterday.
“The diplomat was near the embassy
building when men came by in a car and took him by force. He is
responsible for security in the embassy,” a security source said,
adding that it was not known where the men had taken the diplomat.
The incidents highlighted the
continuing turmoil in Yemen despite a peace deal under which Saleh
stood down after months of protests against his 33-year rule and
was replaced in February by his deputy, Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
The ministry storming was a direct
challenge to Hadi’s authority. He is trying to restructure the
armed forces and stabilize the impoverished Arab nation, where
Saleh’s legacy still looms large.
The Interior Ministry official said
the tribesmen were Saleh loyalists, who were promised they would
be enrolled in the police force in return for helping tackle last
year’s uprising. The promise has not been fulfilled.
“At midday, the armed tribesmen...
stormed the ministry building, took control of it and climbed onto
the roof with their guns,” the official said. “They refuse to
leave until their demands are met.”
Tribesmen have fought alongside government troops in a US-backed
offensive against Al-Qaeda-linked militants that drove insurgents
out of several towns in the south of the country last month.
Many tribal fighters also sided with
Saleh who was toppled by a popular uprising. Disgruntled tribesmen
often kidnap foreigners and bomb oil and gas pipelines as a way to
press demands on authorities.
In April, officers and tribesmen
loyal to Saleh forced Yemen’s main airport to close for a day in
protest at the sacking of the air force commander, a half-brother
of Saleh.
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