SANA'A: A top military officer and at least 18 other senior commanders defected Monday to the opposition movement demanding the immediate ouster of Yemen's embattled president, depriving the ruler of most of his fast-dwindling power base. Monday's defections led to rival tanks being deployed in the streets of Yemen's capital, Sana'a, creating a potentially explosive situation and prompting Defense Minister Mohammed Nasser Ahmed to announce the military remained loyal to the leader. The armed forces will counter any plots against the government, Ahmed declared on state television. The defection of Maj. Gen. Ali Mohsen Al-Ahmar, a longtime Saleh confidante and commander of the army's powerful 1st Armored Division, was seen by some as a turning point. Tanks, armored vehicles and soldiers directed by Al-Ahmar fanned out around the Sana'a square that has become the epicenter of the opposition movement, moving in for the first time to protect demonstrators. Al-Ahmar also sent tanks to the state television building, the Central Bank and the Defense Ministry. In response, at least a dozen tanks and armored personnel carriers belonging to the Republican Guards, an elite force led by Saleh's son and one-time heir apparent, Ahmed, were deployed outside the presidential palace on Sana'a's southern outskirts. The deployment of Al-Ahmar's troops in Sana'a was greeted by wild jubilation from protesters. Al-Ahmar and two other senior army officers who defected Monday belong to Saleh's Hashid tribe and a tribal leader said it was rallying behind Al-Ahmar as a possible replacement for Saleh. Monday's defections included at least 15 other top military figures. Several top diplomats also said they were joining the opposition, including Yemen's ambassadors to Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Japan and the Arab League. Lawmakers, editors of state-owned newspapers, parliament's deputy speaker and the governor of the southern province of Aden also quit their jobs to join the opposition and urge Saleh to step down. Meanwhile, in a sign of the deepening divisions in the armed forces, gunfire broke out late Monday between the central security force protecting the presidential compound in the port city of Mukalla and the Yemeni army outside, security officials said.
