SANA'A: Yemen's Sheikh Sadeeq al-Ahmar, the powerful leader of the Hasheed confederation of tribes and the main political and tribal opponent to President Ali Abbullah Saleh, and also one of al-Islah party leaders, Yemen's Islamist party, announced this week in an interview with Suhail TV channel, a station owned by his brother, Hameed al-Ahmar, that he was favorable to the return of President Saleh on humanitarian grounds. The Sheikh explained that even though Saleh had behaved as a tyrant for the past three decades and was responsible for the deaths of many Yemenis during the course of the popular uprising, it was time for the nation to move forward and let Saleh be forgotten. “He left as president, but will return as a normal citizen, the nation has nothing to fear from him anymore. He should be allowed to stay since he has been deeply wounded in his compound attack and suffer now from ill health. I guarantee that no harm will come to him,” declared the Sheikh. Al-Ahmar also urged his fellow Yemenis to cast their vote on Tuesday, stressing that Yemen was witnessing an historical event. However, many of the Sheikh detractors are arguing that if he is so much in support of the presidential elections it is because his party, al-Islah has managed so far to stay in control of the revolutionaries, manipulating them through repression and money. “What the Sheikh is looking for is to assert al-Islah as the most powerful political force in Yemen to ensure a win in the next presidential elections. We all k now that Hameed, his brother has had his eyes set on Saleh's chair for years. It has nothing to do with his love for democracy but rather hegemony,” Ahmed al-Kareemi, a pro-democracy activist, told Bikyamasr.com. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/6sQZg Tags: Ahmar, Asylum, featured, Saleh Section: Latest News, Yemen
