Yemeni official: Attackers of the Defense Minister have no legitimate demands

16/8/2012 -


Alsahwah.net- A spokesman of the Security Committee formed under the GCC power transfer deal has said that the committee is investigating dozens of soldiers who attacked the Interior Ministry.

He affirmed that al-Qaeda carries out explosive and suicidal bombings after it is provided with information by security services.  

In an interview the London-based al-Sharq Al-Awsat, Ali Saeed Obaid that soldiers of the Police Department looted the Interior Ministry, indicating that some of them are being investigated.

He denied that the soldiers who tried to storm the Defense Ministry on Tuesday any legitimate demands, asserting that they only wanted to storm the ministry and destroy its contents.

He further said that 62 soldiers were arrested, hinting that they will be referred to military courts.  

Hundreds of the Republican Guards soldiers attempted to control on some hotels and high places surrounding the ministry blocked streets and shot fire on guards of the Defense Ministry on Tuesday.

A panel of the Interior Ministry and the Defense ministry was formed to investigate the event and identify its reasons, a security source said.  

The source said that a number of soldiers were killed and wounded during the storm attempts, pointing out that soldiers of the Republican Guards blocked all roads leading the ministry.

These developments came as the President Abdu Rabo Mansour Hadi was taking part in the summit of Muslim leaders held in Mecca.

Last week, hundreds of Republican Guard forces loyal to Saleh surrounded  the Defense Ministry in Sana'a for several hours, protesting decreases issued by Hadi in which he transferred some brigades of the Republican Guard to other military units.

The soldiers were dispersed after government forces threatened to open fire if the protesters didn't leave.

Several soldiers were killed around the Interior Ministry as soldiers affiliated to the former president Ali Abdullah Saleh stormed its building.

Yemen's security forces have regained control of the interior ministry day after fighting in the complex killed 15 people.

Forces from the central security services intervened to secure the ministry after most of its assets were looted.

Yemeni politicians accused Saleh and his family of seeking to spread chaos in a desperate attempt to undermine the political process in Yemen.

Hadi's efforts to shake up the military are always faced with Saleh's resistance.  Previous decrees to remove Saleh loyalists were challenged.