A Blog by the Editor of The Middle East Journal

Putting Middle Eastern Events in Cultural and Historical Context

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Yemen: Salih Loses the Tribes

Remember this picture I posted a few days ago? The fourth man there, ‘Ali ‘Abdullah Salih, is getting even lonelier. Hussein ‘Abdullah al-Ahmar, head of the Hashid tribal confederation and son of a very powerful father until his death a few years ago, has jumped ship. Salih's own native tribe, which is allied with the much more powerful Hashid, is also protesting, and the other big northern tribal confederation, the Bakil, was reportedly present as well. The southern part of the country is already alienated; if Salih loses the big northern tribes, it may be time for that guesthouse in Jidda.

I suspect the news networks now can figure out where they need to deploy as soon as Libya wraps up.

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