Yemen's Rebel General Raises the Stakes

A firefight reportedly broke out between rival security forces in Sanaa as forces loyal to the embattled president confronted pro-rebel forces loyal to major army defector Maj. Gen. Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar. Though al-Ahmar is attempting to raise the stakes against Saleh in positioning his forces to seize strategic targets on the outskirts of Sanaa, he remains outgunned and outnumbered by pro-Saleh forces. Unless mass defections occur on Saleh's side, the security situation in Sanaa is likely to remain a standoff while the writ of the state in the rest of the country continues to weaken.