Yemen president isolated as generals join the protesters
Rival tanks were deployed in the streets of Yemen's capital today after three senior army officers joined protesters demanding the resignation of the president.
Major General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, commander of the army's powerful 1st Armoured Division and the most senior of the defectors, delivered his message of support to protest leaders where they are camped in a Sana'a square.
Ali Abdullah Saleh has now lost support from every power base. He has fired his whole cabinet, a series of ambassador have quit and the chief of Mr Saleh's tribe, the Hashid, said today he too was joining the opposition.
Crowds flooded cities and towns to mourn dozens of protesters killed on Friday when government snipers opened fire from rooftops in Sana'a.
Experts said Mr Saleh would now be forced to choose between stepping down or confronting demonstrators with even more force.
"We're talking a new set of dynamics that are driving the conflict into either the resignation of Saleh or a very serious clash between the two sides," said Ibrahim Sharqieh, of the Brookings Doha Centre, a think tank on the Muslim world. "The US should work now on an orderly transition in Yemen and press Saleh to find an arrangement that doesn't allow chaos."
