The struggle over the future of Yemen is intensifying following the return of President Ali Abdullah Saleh from Saudi Arabia, where he has spent three months recuperating from an assassination attempt. As the capital Sanaa is paralysed between rival factions who control the streets with checkpoints, artillery and gun-mounted trucks, these are some of the key players vying to come out on top: AL-AHMAR FAMILY The Ahmar family is the head of Yemen's most powerful tribal confederation, the Hashed. Led by patriarch Abdullah al-Ahmar, the Hashed helped Saleh come to power in the 1970s and stood by him for nearly 30 years. Tensions between the Ahmar and Saleh families have flared since Abdullah's death in 2007. The Ahmar family also founded the Islamist Islah Party, which was part of the ruling coalition until it broke off and joined the opposition. SADEQ AL-AHMAR The eldest of Abdullah's 10 sons, Sheikh Sadeq al-Ahmar took over as head of the Hashed confederation after his father's death. His forces, which include the first tank brigade, have been at the forefront of attacks on government loyalists in the Yemeni capital Sanaa. HAMID AL-AHMAR A wealthy business tycoon who owns Sabafon mobile network and opposition satellite channel Suhail TV, Hamid is also a leading member of the Islamist Islah Party. During the early wave of anti-government protests, Hamid's Sabafon mobile network sent out messages with details of the time and place of demonstrations. He is also the chairman of Saba Islamic Bank and owns the Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise in Yemen. Brothers Hussein and Himyar al-Ahmar were also ruling party members until they resigned when protests erupted. GENERAL ALI MOHSEN AL-AHMAR A military commander and close kinsman to President Saleh, General Ali Mohsen defected in March and threw his weight behind the protesters, taking a chunk of the armed forces into the opposition camp with him. Despite having the same surname, Ali Mohsen is not a member of the Ahmar family. It was fighting between Ali Mohsen's forces and government soldiers that erupted this week, prompting Saleh's sudden return to Sanaa. The general's relationship with Saleh had begun to sour in recent years due to rivalry between him and the president's eldest son, Ahmed Ali. Both Ahmed Ali and Ali Mohsen were sent to fight rebels in the north of the country, where Yemeni media said the two men's forces were engaged in a proxy war. Leaked diplomatic cables from the U.S. embassy in Saudi Arabia show that the Yemeni government gave the Saudis the coordinates of Ali Mohsen's home, saying it was a rebel base and inviting them to bomb it. Another U.S. embassy cable dated 2005 described Ali Mohsen as the "most powerful military man in the land". OPPOSITION COALITION An eclectic grouping of Islamists, socialists and tribal elements go under the umbrella of the Joint Meeting Parties (JMP) -- the official Yemeni opposition. The JMP spent weeks trying to broker Saleh's exit and in May signed a deal drawn up by the Gulf Cooperation Council which sought to end the veteran leader's rule. That signature put them at odds with the protesters on Yemen's streets, who were angry at the deal's promise of immunity and its 30-day window for Saleh to step down. AHMED ALI SALEH Saleh's eldest son Ahmed Ali was widely thought to be next in line for the presidency until protests broke out. In an early bid to placate protesters, Saleh guaranteed he would not hand power down to his son, who is in charge of the Republican Guard. Saleh, alongside his brothers and cousins, fears his family could lose everything if it fails to secure a powerful role in any new government. But the protesters who first plunged Yemen into turmoil eight months ago are adamant the presidential family must entirely quit.
