The Editorial

The first wave of the “Arab Spring,” which happened to take place in winter, was the relatively rapid tottering and fall of two Middle Eastern leaders, namely Tunisia’s Zine al-Abidine bin Ali and Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak.
Now, as summer begins, some people are now referring to a second wave of the Arab Spring, and one of the focal points in this phase is Yemen, where a relatively calm stand-off has, over the last few weeks, degenerated into an alarming spiral of violence.

Friday’s attack on the Presidential Palace compound signals a new “peak” of violence, although everything about the situation signals a series of low points.
The president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, the vice president, and the speaker of Parliament, were wounded in the mortar attack, the most spectacular strike in the capital since the regime and tribal elements began battling it out over the last few weeks.

The Arab Spring in Yemen began as a largely peaceful movement, but it is now entering a new phase. It’s not the clear-cut war of Libya, but what are now “running battles” in Sanaa and elsewhere could become even more regular, and approach an all-out conflict.
One aspect of the situation in Yemen is complexity.
Several conflicts are taking place, as Saleh faces the challenge of powerful tribes, the popular resentment of his regime in the southern part of the country, and the direct threat of Al-Qaeda, which has declared itself in control of the city of Zanzibar.

Before Friday’s violence, there were reports that Saleh had requested mediation by Senegal, which is the kind of move one might expect from Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, and an alarming sign for the Yemeni president. Any call for mediation by Saleh is ludicrous, after Gulf countries spent the last few months sparing no effort to arrive at a solution to the Yemen crisis. Saleh has played games and procrastinated, and only ended up adding lost credibility to his lost legitimacy, as his country heads for a bloodbath.

When so much blood has been spilled, the issues of reform and negotiations over the future fade into the background. Poverty is rife in Yemen, along with corruption. The regime has lost its legitimacy, and this is the bottom line. The details of the situation on the ground in Yemen might be complex, but one aspect of the crisis is crystal-clear: Saleh must go.

His departure is a case of the sooner, the better, because every day brings more casualties. The violence has reached the Presidential Palace, and it becomes more difficult to envision how the people can be restrained. The instability could threaten regional security, because of Yemen’s proximity to countries like Saudi Arabia.
Saleh is doing no one any favors by clinging to power, and his departure might prove to be the first key development of the second phase of the Arab Spring.