Third Day of Fierce Fighting in Yemen

[bemildred]

Source: NYT

WASHINGTON — Hopes for a peaceful settlement of Yemen’s political crisis receded further on Wednesday as intensifying street battles between government security forces and opposition tribesmen moved into a third day, leaving at least two dozen people dead and turning part of the Yemeni capital, Sana, into a war zone.

Government checkpoints and impromptu blockades erected by tribal fighters disrupted traffic around central Sana as clashes continued near several important government buildings in the Hasaba district. On Wednesday, opposition tribesmen controlled at least two ministries — f trade and tourism — and a building that houses the state-run news agency, Saba.

Many Yemenis fear the bloodshed could spiral into a broader war between supporters of Yemen’s embattled president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, and tribesmen allied with the powerful Ahmar family, whose house was at the center of the fighting.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Mr. Saleh accused the Ahmar family of trying to drag the country into civil war. In a later interview with Reuters, he said, “Yemen, I hope, will not be a failed state or another Somalia.”

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/26/world/middleeast/26yemen.html

[PurityOfEssence]

1. Too bad they don't have any oil...

The humanitarian threshold gets really high in the absence of proper lubricants.

[muriel_volestrangler]

2. They are a net exporter of oil

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ym.html

288,000 barrels/day produced; 155,000 consumed. The 37th largest producer in the world.