Eight months after the first protesters began calling for revolution in Yemen, the beleaguered country has entered a new round of violence, in which street demonstrators appear to have become little more than sacrificial pawns in a long-term rivalry among members of Yemen's political elite. A shaky cease-fire largely held on Wednesday, after three days of gun battles and artillery barrages that left dozens of unarmed protesters dead. But the violence appears to have shattered the latest round of diplomatic efforts to ease out Yemen's long-term president, Ali Abdullah Saleh. That may have been precisely the point. The negotiations appeared to be making progress last week, and foreign diplomats issued statements suggesting that a deal to transfer power was just days away. Then, on Sunday, protesters in Sana, the capital, advanced toward government troops and began throwing rocks — at whose instigation is not clear — and the soldiers responded with deadly force. Five more protesters were killed in scattered violence Wednesday, including three by snipers and one by a mortar attack. Explosions rocked the Yemeni capital Sanaa and clashes between government forces and soldiers backing protesters resumed on Thursday with time running low for a diplomatic solution to prevent the country from sliding into full-blown civil war. Another anti-government demonstrator was shot dead and at least eight wounded by snipers just off “Change Square”, where activists have camped out for eight months demanding an end to President Ali Abdullah Saleh's 33-year rule. A ceasefire called by Yemen's vice president and acting leader earlier this week failed to hold for more than a few hours, lending greater urgency to diplomacy to end the bloodshed, which has killed some 86 people in five days. “There are some initiatives being discussed for a political solution under the supervision of Jamal bin Omar and we hope these efforts succeed. Their failure will push this country into more violence,” a high-ranking Yemeni opposition official told Reuters, referring to the UN envoy on the Yemen crisis.In another sign of worsening conditions for a political solution, Gulf Cooperation Council Secretary General Abdbullatif al-Zayani left Sanaa empty-handed on Wednesday night after a two day effort to get a mediated power transfer plan signed.That deal would see Saleh, who is recovering in neighbouring Saudi Arabia from a June assassination attempt, hand over power in a matter of months. He has already accepted it only to back out at the very last minute on three occasions. Yemen's deterioration is causing alarm abroad because central governance has unravelled, leaving a gun-ridden power vacuum filled by militants.
