Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh expressed confidence that Russia and China would defend his continued rule today, as violence again rocked the capital city of Sanaa and troops attacked pro-democracy demonstrators.
The violence included major battles in the Hassaba neighborhood of the capital, near Sanaa University, where regime troops clashed with members of the First Armored Division, which defected to the side of the protesters earlier this year.
The defectors were backed by tribesmen loyal to Sheikh al-Ahmar, and back and forth shelling in the area led to the destruction of a number of homes in the area. Though the fighting is believed to have caused significant casualties, so far no figures have been released.
Yemen was one of the first nations during the Arab Spring to see major protests, and while President Saleh has repeatedly promised to step down when a deal was reached, he is now talking about retaining power well into next year.
And wouldn't ya know… Uncle Sam is helping this killer. But, of course, an SOB on the payroll of Murder, Inc. is never the bad guy… just those ungrateful peasants who see through the lies.
How cute! President uses his best street smarts to suggest that Russia and China would support his rule!!!
Russia and China do not support anybody's rule. They vetoed a resolution in UN to prevent another round of using UN for bombing another country in order to change the regime. Basically, let the people of that country decide. The whole idea of "protecting" civilians has been trully discredited. It appears that a small group of people, as was the case in Libya's Benghazi uprising — could claim the right to rule the whole country! Who decided that they are called on by the citizens to govern? With the help of NATO airforce, the rest of the country was bombed into the submission to the tiny fraction of the usurpers. It was wise to prevent any more instances of such abuse of international firepower. China and Russia do not want to see bombing of countries to bring people to power that the population of the country never heard of before. As for Saleh, it is up to his population.