Defected Yemeni minister slams Saleh

In a televised statement, former Yemeni Defense Minister Abdullah Ali Aliwah said, “We denounce Ali Abdullah Saleh’s plan to deliberately allow the town to fall,” a Press TV correspondent reported late on Sunday.

Aliwah made the remarks as hundreds of suspected militants stormed the small coastal town on Friday, capturing a number of army tanks and several armored cars.

He also urged all military units to join popular protests in the country.

"Stand side by side with the courageous armed forces, Republican Guards and security officers who endorsed the peaceful popular youthful revolution," Aliwah stated.

Meanwhile, the Yemeni president labeled those that defected from the military as "traitor elements."

Experts have stated that Saleh is trying to spread fear that Yemen will plunge into chaos without him.

On May 23, clashes broke out between Yemeni security forces and members of the country’s powerful Hashid tribe in capital Sana’a, near the residence of tribal leader Sheikh Sadeq al-Ahmar.

Scores of tribesmen and regime forces have been killed in clashes that took place after Saleh refused to sign a power transition deal brokered by the [Persian] Gulf Cooperation Council. Some reports have put casualty figures at well over a hundred.

A truce between Yemeni forces loyal to President Saleh and opposition tribesmen came into effect on Sunday.

Sheikh Sadeq’s youngest brother, Hashim al-Ahmar has accused President Saleh of trying to throw the country into a civil war.

“No one wants civil war. It is not in the interest of anyone. We will continue our revolution peacefully, but Saleh wants to drag the country into a civil war,” he said.

Hundreds of thousands of people have turned out for near daily demonstrations in Yemen’s major cities since late January, calling for an end to corruption and unemployment and demanding the ouster of Saleh, who has been in office since 1978.