(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - We talked with Jason Ditz, managing editor of antiwar.com from Michigan who says Yemen does not have a government with enough power to move forward and so the ruling elite are unable to take back territories they have lost.
Q: Isn't Saleh's treatment in Saudi Arabia taking too long? Lack of proper media access to him...Is this to buy time for his government and if you think so what purpose does it exactly serve?
Jason Ditz: It's not really clear if it's too long or not; we really don't know the extent of his injuries. The initial Yemeni government reports were that his injuries were extremely mild, but now the sound of it is that they were quite severe. There were even talks at one point that he might have already died of his injuries, but that doesn't appear to be the case.
I don't know what they stand to gain by delaying giving him over to the media for access.
Q: These days in most rallies the protesters chant slogans against the US, Saudi Arabia and Israel -- what do you think is behind peoples' anger at the three?
Jason Ditz: It's mostly reflective of the same thing that President Saleh's multi-decade rule wouldn't have been possible without the acquiescence particularly of Saudi Arabia and the US, and also Israel.
There is a sense that the change that was essentially going to happen from the protesters has been slowed down primarily by the US and Saudi Arabia who are trying to orchestrate an orderly transition of power to another convenient ruler.
Q: Some 16 opposition leaders are wanted by the government on charges of attacking the Republican Guard. Interestingly, there are also officers arrested for betraying Ali Abdullah Saleh. What do you think is the government's policy towards the people at this point?
Jason Ditz: I think right now it's not a formal policy as such, but a piece-meal attempt to survive as long as possible and it doesn't seem to be working.
Of course, there's been a lot of speculation about the loss of some of their southern territories, whether or not that was deliberate, but it seems like the inability to retake those territories speaks volumes about just how weak this government has gotten and just how far they are away from any hope of being a realistic government going forward.
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