Yemeni President Blames US, Israel for Protests

Yemeni dictator Ali Abdallah Saleh has been under tremendous pressure the last several weeks. He has seen protests to his over twenty-year rule blossom on the streets of Sa’ana and his own power base eroding. Key tribes have withdrawn their support and Saleh himself pledged not to run for another term in 2013.

Saleh (left) and his pals

Now, needing a way to justify his further presence, he goes to the predictable refrain of blaming America and the Jews.

“I am going to reveal a secret,” he said. “There is an operations room in Tel Aviv with the aim of destabilizing the Arab world. The operations room is in Tel Aviv and run by the White House,” he said.
He said opposition figures meet regularly with the U.S. ambassador in Sanaa to coordinate efforts.
“Regrettably those (opposition figures) are sitting day and night with the American ambassador where they hand him reports and he gives them instructions,” Saleh alleged.
“The Americans also talk with the government officials about this (the protests), but they tell them `allow these people to demonstrate in the streets’,” Saleh said. “We say that this is a Zionist agenda.”

Further in the speech he stated again that he will not leave. He must believe that this will play to people’s nationalism or provincial beliefs. Most likely he’s wrong, and this will be just another nail in the coffin of his regime.

Cross-posted at WorldThreats.

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