SANAA – When Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh ordered his military on March 18 to fire on peaceful protesters calling for his resignation, he sealed his fate. A wave of military, government, and diplomatic defections, led by his long-time ally First Armored Brigade Commander General Ali Muhsin al-Ahmar, rocked his regime.
发自也门首都萨那——从也门总统阿里·阿卜杜拉·萨利赫在3月18日命令部队向要求他下台的和平示威者开枪的那一刻起，他就已经注定走向末路了。以他的长期盟友，精锐部队第一装甲师师长阿里·穆赫辛·阿赫玛尔将军为首的一众军队，政府和外交官员纷纷倒戈，使其统治当即陷入危机之中。