ADEN – Central government forces in Yemen fought Islamist militants on Sunday after the militants seized control of parts of a south Yemen town, residents said. The militants forced the army to retreat from a hill overlooking the town of Jaar, taking over a state broadcast building and a rest house used by President Ali Abdullah Saleh on visits to the region.
The militants seized two tanks and one soldier was killed, the sources said. The army shelled key government buildings that a coalition of different Islamist groups had taken control of on Saturday. Residents said there was no visible presence of government security forces in the town of several hundred thousand people, which appeared to be in militant hands.
Six soldiers were killed on Saturday in an ambush by Al Qaeda militants in the town of Lawdar, also in Abyan. President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s ruling party will meet for crisis talks on Sunday after Saleh said he was ready to hand over power on condition he be allowed to leave with dignity.
Saleh, who is under pressure from tens of thousands of Yemenis gathered in the streets demanding his departure after 32 years in power, is expected to attend and update senior party members on his talks with the opposition. Late on Saturday, Saleh said he was prepared to step down within hours.
But a deal did not appear imminent since the opposition had hardened their demands. “I could leave power … even in a few hours, on condition of maintaining respect and prestige,” Saleh said in a televised interview. “I have to take the country to safe shores … I’m holding on to power in order to hand it over peaceably.”
Yet Saleh also appeared to warn against any sudden transition by saying Yemen could slide into a civil war and fragment along regional and tribal lines.
