"Narrative Summit" Releases 2025 Recommendations to Cement Egypt's Position as a Global Tourism Destination    Egypt, S.Arabia step up trade ties through coordination council talks    Egypt reviews progress on $200m World Bank-funded waste management hub    Egypt urges Israel to accept Gaza deal amid intensifying fighting    Egypt, ADIB explore strategic partnership in digital healthcare, investment    SCZONE, Tokyo Metropolitan Government sign MoU on green hydrogen cooperation    Egypt welcomes international efforts for peace in Ukraine    Al-Sisi, Macron reaffirm strategic partnership, coordinate on Gaza crisis    Contact Reports Strong 1H-2025 on Financing, Insurance Gains    Egypt, India's BDR Group in talks to establish biologics, cancer drug facility    AUC graduates first cohort of film industry business certificate    Egyptian pound down vs. US dollar at Monday's close – CBE    Egypt's FM, Palestinian PM visit Rafah crossing to review Gaza aid    Egypt prepares unified stance ahead of COP30 in Brazil    Egypt recovers collection of ancient artefacts from Netherlands    Egypt harvests 315,000 cubic metres of rainwater in Sinai as part of flash flood protection measures    Egypt, Namibia explore closer pharmaceutical cooperation    Fitch Ratings: ASEAN Islamic finance set to surpass $1t by 2026-end    Renowned Egyptian novelist Sonallah Ibrahim dies at 88    Egyptian, Ugandan Presidents open business forum to boost trade    Al-Sisi says any party thinking Egypt will neglect water rights is 'completely mistaken'    Egypt's Sisi warns against unilateral Nile measures, reaffirms Egypt's water security stance    Egypt's Sisi, Uganda's Museveni discuss boosting ties    Egypt, Huawei explore healthcare digital transformation cooperation    Egypt's Sisi, Sudan's Idris discuss strategic ties, stability    Egypt to inaugurate Grand Egyptian Museum on 1 November    Greco-Roman rock-cut tombs unearthed in Egypt's Aswan    Egypt reveals heritage e-training portal    Sisi launches new support initiative for families of war, terrorism victims    Egypt expands e-ticketing to 110 heritage sites, adds self-service kiosks at Saqqara    Palm Hills Squash Open debuts with 48 international stars, $250,000 prize pool    On Sport to broadcast Pan Arab Golf Championship for Juniors and Ladies in Egypt    Golf Festival in Cairo to mark Arab Golf Federation's 50th anniversary    Germany among EU's priciest labour markets – official data    Paris Olympic gold '24 medals hit record value    A minute of silence for Egyptian sports    Russia says it's in sync with US, China, Pakistan on Taliban    It's a bit frustrating to draw at home: Real Madrid keeper after Villarreal game    Shoukry reviews with Guterres Egypt's efforts to achieve SDGs, promote human rights    Sudan says countries must cooperate on vaccines    Johnson & Johnson: Second shot boosts antibodies and protection against COVID-19    Egypt to tax bloggers, YouTubers    Egypt's FM asserts importance of stability in Libya, holding elections as scheduled    We mustn't lose touch: Muller after Bayern win in Bundesliga    Egypt records 36 new deaths from Covid-19, highest since mid June    Egypt sells $3 bln US-dollar dominated eurobonds    Gamal Hanafy's ceramic exhibition at Gezira Arts Centre is a must go    Italian Institute Director Davide Scalmani presents activities of the Cairo Institute for ITALIANA.IT platform    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Yemen's Saleh hurt in palace attack: diplomat

SANAA: President Ali Abdullah was slightly wounded when shells struck his palace in Sanaa on Friday, a Western diplomat said, as Yemen slid toward civil war.
The attack targeting Saleh in a mosque located in the presidential palace killed an imam and three presidential guards, Yemen's state news agency said on Friday.
Fierce fighting engulfed the Yemeni capital, where residents cowered in their homes and explosions rocked the city.
The senior diplomat in Sanaa said the prime minister, his deputy, the parliament speaker and other senior aides had been wounded in the attack. Four guards were reported killed.
"The president is well and he will address the people in one hour, there are some slight injuries among officials," Abdu Al-Janadi, deputy information minister, told Reuters.
The government blamed the shelling on Hashed tribesmen led by Sadeq Al-Ahmar, whose family has backed protesters demanding Saleh's overthrow. Ahmar later denied responsibility and blamed Saleh for the attack, saying it was done to help justify a government escalation of street fighting in the capital.
Suspicion has also fallen on renegade General Ali Mohsen, who defected to the opposition in April and who sent his troops to the capital to protect anti-Saleh demonstrators.
A Yemeni opposition TV station, Suhail, reported earlier that Saleh had died in shelling that hit the palace mosque.
Forces loyal to Saleh later shelled the homes of the leaders of the Hashed tribal federation, security sources said.
Yemen has tipped swiftly towards civil war this week, with Hashed tribesmen battling Saleh forces in Sanaa and elsewhere. More than 370 people have been killed, at least 155 of them in the last 10 days, since a popular uprising began in January against Saleh's nearly 33 years in power.
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 hemorrhages support at home.
Ceasefire call
The secretary-general of the Saudi-led Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) urged all parties in Yemen to end the fighting.
"The ministerial council of the GCC is following with concern and sadness the deteriorating situation and the continued fighting. This situation is regrettable and benefits no one," Abdulattif Al-Zayani told Al Arabiya television.
By clinging stubbornly to power, Saleh has exasperated his former US and Saudi allies who had once seen him as a key partner in efforts to combat Al-Qaeda's ambitious Yemen-based wing, known as Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).
Yemen's increasingly bloody struggle looks sure to go on as long as Saleh refuses to step down and it will complicate the already formidable challenge of uniting the country and rebuilding shattered state institutions in any post-Saleh era.
Instability in Yemen could threaten regional security and possibly global oil supplies due to its proximity to the world's largest oil exporter, Saudi Arabia, and vital shipping lanes.
"The dangers a collapsed Yemen poses for the region are too horrendous to contemplate," said Ghanem Nuseibeh, founder of Cornerstone Global Associates and senior analyst at Political Capital. "Although the border with Saudi Arabia is more secure than in recent years, it is still a relatively porous border.
"The consequences will be on the security front, as well as economic. AQAP in particular will find comfort in a failed Yemen, and threaten the rest of the GCC and (this) will have implications for piracy across the Gulf of Aden," he said.
Before the attack on the palace, protesters paraded the coffins of 50 people it said were killed by Saleh's forces.
Heavy fighting spread for the first time to southern Sanaa, held by Saleh loyalists fighting disaffected military units and tribesmen in the north. Thousands of civilians have fled.
Taiz violence
Explosions were also heard in the southern city of Taiz, where the United Nations has said it is investigating reports that 50 people have been killed since Sunday.
Two policemen were killed in a rocket-propelled grenade attack, medical officials said, after security forces fired warning shot earlier at protesters gathering for Friday prayers.
The bloodshed has eclipsed a mostly peaceful pro-democracy movement inspired by successful revolts in Egypt and Tunisia.
Yemen is engulfed in multiple conflicts, with street battles between tribal groups and Saleh's forces in Sanaa, popular unrest across the country and fighting against AQAP and other Islamist militants who seized the coastal city of Zinjibar.
One constant factor is Yemen's crippling poverty. Jobs and food are scarce, corruption is rampant and two-fifths of the 23 million people struggle to live on less than $2 a day.
"Economic migrants will also pose a challenge for the region. We are getting very close to an irreversible situation," Nuseibeh said. Tribes might start fighting among themselves, especially those close to the Saudis and those which are not.
"The danger is that this civil war is not along north-south lines but more internalized, within regions. When the conflict turns tribal, as well as nationalistic along the former north-south borders, it becomes very difficult to stop." –Additional reporting by Mohammed Mukhashaf in Aden, Khaled Al-Mahdi in Taiz, Mahmoud Habboush in Dubai and Samia Nakhoul in London


Clic here to read the story from its source.