A Yemeni armored division has defected to the rebel side. Things are looking very bad for the long time dictator of Yemen, Saleh.
Quote:
SANAA, Yemen – Rival tanks deployed in the streets of Yemen's capital Monday after three senior army commanders defected to a movement calling for the ouster of the U.S.-backed president, radically depleting his support among the country's most powerful institutions.
Maj. Gen. Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, commander of the army's powerful 1st Armored Division, announced his defection in a message delivered by a close aide to protest leaders at the Sanaa square that has become the epicenter of their movement.
Some of the division's tanks and armored vehicles then deployed in the square, which protesters have occupied for more than a month to call for the resignation of President Ali Abdullah Saleh after 32 years in power. An increasingly violent crackdown on the demonstrations escalated dramatically on Friday when Saleh's forces opened fire from rooftops, killing more 40 in an assault that caused much of his remaining power base to splinter.
Maj. Gen. al-Ahmar also sent tanks to the state television building, the Central Bank and the Defense Ministry.
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110321/...mi_ea/ml_yemen
Yemen General Defects To Rebels
