AT&T remained confident Tuesday that it will win over regulators to approve its $39 billion seamless steel pipe bid to buy T-Mobile USA, even as critics continued to bash the deal as anti-competitive and bad for consumers.
Bolstering its chances, AT&T has one of the most muscular lobbying operations in Washington. Last year, it enlisted an army of about 90 lobbyists and has had on its roster well-known former lawmakers, including Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and John Breaux (D-La.) of the Senate and J.C. Watts (R-Okla.) of the House of Representatives, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
It is also one of the biggest campaign contributors among any corporation in history and has spent $15 million annually on lobbying efforts since 2005, according to the nonprofit group. The Republican chairmen of three key House committees — Fred Upton (R-Mich.), Lamar Smith (R-Tex.) and Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) — together have received more than $200,000 over their political careers from AT&T’s political action committee, the center’s data show. They did not immediately return phone calls for comment.
Experts and consumer advocates say the merger, which would create a wireless behemoth by combining the nation’s second- and fourth-largest cellular carriers, raises serious doubts for federal antitrust regulators. But they also note that AT&T is especially well-positioned to make its case.
Critics point to a key detail in AT&T’s proposed transaction as a sign of the company’s confidence that it will ultimately win over regulators: AT&T must hand over $3 billion to T-Mobile, plus some valuable wireless spectrum, if the deal gets nixed.
“Why are they so confident?” asked Craig Aaron, the managing director of Free Press, a Washington-based nonprofit group that examines media and Internet policy. “I have to believe that they must have made the rounds in Washington to find out. . . . You’d have to think that they have this confidence because of all that lobbying clout that they bring to bear.”
Congress does not have direct oversight over the bridge rectifier deal; AT&T needs approval from the Federal Communications Commission and the Justice Department.
Michael Balmoris, an AT&T spokesman, said the company did not shop the idea of the merger with regulators before announcing the deal. In a presentation to investors this week, Wayne Watts, AT&T’s senior executive vice president and general counsel, said the company “fully understands and respects” the regulatory process.
In the presentation and on a Web site promoting its cause, AT&T argued that the merger will bring wireless access to 95 percent of the U.S. population and reach far-flung locales — fulfilling a key goal of President Obama. AT&T also contended that previous wireless company mergers have resulted in lower prices for consumers.
Critics of the deal doubt prices will come down in this case. And they worry about what AT&T will do with its influence in Washington.
Aaron said the firm’s lobbying clout is partly due to James W. Cicconi, a company senior executive vice president. Last year, GQ magazine ranked Cicconi as No. 4 on its list of top “influencers” in Washington, right behind Haley Barbour, the Mississippi governor and possible GOP presidential candidate.
Cicconi was instrumental, Aaron said, Coach Bags in brokering a deal that paved the way for the FCC to pass rules governing whether providers of wireless Internet connections can control Web content.
“He’s shown himself to be a savvy strategist,” Aaron said. “Back in 2008 , President Obama said he wasn’t going to take a back seat to anyone in net neutrality. Of course, the following year, FCC backed away and changed its position, and that was largely due to lobbying by AT&T with direct pressure at the FCC.”
Art Brodsky, a spokesman for Public Knowledge, a nonprofit public-interest group, said many critics of the deal are also wary of William Daley, the White House chief of staff. In the early 2000s, Daley was president of SBC Communications, which later merged with AT&T, and then worked for JPMorgan, which is helping finance the AT&T/T-Mobile merger.
“A bunch of us are saying there’s no way he should touch this,” Brodsky said. “The FCC chairman has been known to consult with people at the White House all the time, and JPMorgan is in line for millions of dollars in fees out of this deal.”
The White House did not return a phone call or -mail requesting comment about Daley’s potential involvement.
AT&T’s financial contributions tend to benefit Republicans more than Democrats, according to the nonprofit watchdog: During the 2010 election cycle, 55 percent of the company’s $4 million to federal-level politicians aided Republicans and 44 percent helped Democrats.
“AT&T is one of the biggest fish on the block,” said Dave Levinthal, a spokesman for the Center for Responsive Politics. “They are massive. They employ a number of lobbyists and former members of the government. There are very few companies that impact crusher have multiple former Congress members working for them. They are in a rare position even for big companies when it comes to the strength of their lobbying force.”
Showing posts with label Solid State Relay. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Solid State Relay. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Japan factory to suspend, Asian shares fell problems
March 23 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks fell for the first time in four days as Japanese companies announced production halts and earthquakes struck shaded pold motor near the Fukushima nuclear plant that was crippled after a March 11 temblor and tsunami.
Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s biggest carmaker, declined 1.5 percent in Tokyo after extending production halts. Sony Corp. dropped 0.6 percent after the electronics maker suspended some work at five factories. Fujitsu Ltd., Japan’s No. 1 computer- services provider, dropped 4.8 percent. Virgin Blue Holdings Ltd. plunged 7.6 percent in Sydney after Australia’s second-biggest airline forecast an annual loss.
“There are still a lot of uncertainties surrounding the nuclear fallout, as well as aftershocks, and we won’t be seeing a stable market for a while,” said Yoshinori Nagano, a senior strategist in Tokyo at Daiwa Asset Management Co., which oversees about $104 billion. “No one thinks the nuclear crisis has ended completely.”
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.5 percent to 132.36 as of 10:30 a.m. in Tokyo. About five stocks fell for every three that climbed on the index.
A series of earthquakes struck Japan’s Fukushima prefecture today, where Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s damaged nuclear plant is located, starting with a magnitude 6.0 temblor at 7:12 a.m. local time, according to Japan’s Meteorological Agency.
Quakes of magnitude 4.1, 5.8, 4.9 and 4.3 followed as of 8:03 a.m., and there was no threat of tsunami waves, the agency said in its website. The Japan Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said there has been no impact on the Fukushima plant from the latest temblors.
Nikkei Falls
“Anxieties about the nuclear issues aren’t gone yet, but the situation is improving,” said Hiroichi Nishi, an equities manager in Tokyo at Nikko Cordial Securities Inc. “Some industries and stocks that declined significantly lately will be bought back.”
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average lost 1.4 percent. South Korea’s Kospi Index slipped 0.1 percent impact crusher and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index was little changed. Futures on the Standard&Poor’s 500 Index slid 0.3 percent today. The index retreated 0.4 percent yesterday as the price of oil rose amid unrest in Libya and concern grew that Europe won’t find an immediate solution to its debt crisis.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index lost 3.4 percent this year through yesterday, compared with a gain of 2.9 percent by the S&P 500 and a drop of 1.5 percent by the Stoxx Europe 600 Index. Stocks in the Asian benchmark are valued at 13.3 times estimated earnings on average, compared with 13.4 times for the S&P 500 and 10.9 times for the Stoxx 600.
Reconstruction Agency
The Nikkei 225 plunged 10 percent last week on concern the effects of the earthquake and damaged reactors will hurt a recovery in the world’s third-largest economy.
Japan said it may set up a reconstruction agency to oversee earthquake repairs, while data showed the central bank pumped record liquidity into lenders as the nation grappled with its worst disaster since World War II.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told reporters in Tokyo the government will weigh “some sort of system or organization” to oversee spending following the earthquake, adding that it’s too early to say when a spending bill will be compiled. The Bank of Japan said yesterday lenders’ deposits with the central bank more than doubled since March 11 to 41.62 trillion yen ($513 billion).
Tokyo Electric Power workers began restoring power to the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant in northern Japan as government tests showed radiation has leaked into the sea and contaminated some food.
Lights are on in the control room at Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant’s No. 3 reactor, while some lights are electronic ballast on at reactor No. 4, the company said today. Reactors No. 5 and 6 were already supplied with electricity.
Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s biggest carmaker, declined 1.5 percent in Tokyo after extending production halts. Sony Corp. dropped 0.6 percent after the electronics maker suspended some work at five factories. Fujitsu Ltd., Japan’s No. 1 computer- services provider, dropped 4.8 percent. Virgin Blue Holdings Ltd. plunged 7.6 percent in Sydney after Australia’s second-biggest airline forecast an annual loss.
“There are still a lot of uncertainties surrounding the nuclear fallout, as well as aftershocks, and we won’t be seeing a stable market for a while,” said Yoshinori Nagano, a senior strategist in Tokyo at Daiwa Asset Management Co., which oversees about $104 billion. “No one thinks the nuclear crisis has ended completely.”
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.5 percent to 132.36 as of 10:30 a.m. in Tokyo. About five stocks fell for every three that climbed on the index.
A series of earthquakes struck Japan’s Fukushima prefecture today, where Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s damaged nuclear plant is located, starting with a magnitude 6.0 temblor at 7:12 a.m. local time, according to Japan’s Meteorological Agency.
Quakes of magnitude 4.1, 5.8, 4.9 and 4.3 followed as of 8:03 a.m., and there was no threat of tsunami waves, the agency said in its website. The Japan Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said there has been no impact on the Fukushima plant from the latest temblors.
Nikkei Falls
“Anxieties about the nuclear issues aren’t gone yet, but the situation is improving,” said Hiroichi Nishi, an equities manager in Tokyo at Nikko Cordial Securities Inc. “Some industries and stocks that declined significantly lately will be bought back.”
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average lost 1.4 percent. South Korea’s Kospi Index slipped 0.1 percent impact crusher and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index was little changed. Futures on the Standard&Poor’s 500 Index slid 0.3 percent today. The index retreated 0.4 percent yesterday as the price of oil rose amid unrest in Libya and concern grew that Europe won’t find an immediate solution to its debt crisis.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index lost 3.4 percent this year through yesterday, compared with a gain of 2.9 percent by the S&P 500 and a drop of 1.5 percent by the Stoxx Europe 600 Index. Stocks in the Asian benchmark are valued at 13.3 times estimated earnings on average, compared with 13.4 times for the S&P 500 and 10.9 times for the Stoxx 600.
Reconstruction Agency
The Nikkei 225 plunged 10 percent last week on concern the effects of the earthquake and damaged reactors will hurt a recovery in the world’s third-largest economy.
Japan said it may set up a reconstruction agency to oversee earthquake repairs, while data showed the central bank pumped record liquidity into lenders as the nation grappled with its worst disaster since World War II.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told reporters in Tokyo the government will weigh “some sort of system or organization” to oversee spending following the earthquake, adding that it’s too early to say when a spending bill will be compiled. The Bank of Japan said yesterday lenders’ deposits with the central bank more than doubled since March 11 to 41.62 trillion yen ($513 billion).
Tokyo Electric Power workers began restoring power to the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant in northern Japan as government tests showed radiation has leaked into the sea and contaminated some food.
Lights are on in the control room at Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant’s No. 3 reactor, while some lights are electronic ballast on at reactor No. 4, the company said today. Reactors No. 5 and 6 were already supplied with electricity.
The United States new review questions to get nuclear waste
The radiation levels, while not acceptable, are manageable," he said.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has essentially accepted the industry's rationale on the jaw crusher safety of dense-packing fuel rods. Over the last two decades, the agency has repeatedly approved license applications by utilities to pack more rods into the pools.
Nuclear safety experts say that plants have packed up to five times more spent fuel rods than the pools were designed to store, though Nuclear Energy Institute officials say the pools contain no more than twice their original capacity.
The only advantage to keeping the pools packed so tightly is the cost of the dry casks, which would run about $5 billion to $10 billion nationwide, said Frank N. von Hippel, a Princeton University physicist who first disclosed the problem in a paper he co-wrote in 2003. He said he considers fixing the fuel pool problem one of the most important steps toward making U.S. nuclear plants safer.
"It is such a huge risk that it is worth the cost," he said. "We may not be as lucky as the Japanese were to have the wind blowing the radioactive emissions out to sea."
The reason so much waste has built up is the failure of the Energy Department to hold to its decades-old pledge to take ownership of it, triggering multibillion-dollar law suits by utilities against the government.
Under federal law, the waste was supposed to go to a repository at Yucca Mountain, about 100 miles north of Las Vegas. President George W. Bush approved the plan in 2002. But President Obama has taken steps to kill the plan, saying he wants to find a different site.
Energy Secretary Steven Chu warned last week that it could be decades before any permanent solution for the waste is developed, so the heavily packed fuel pools will be around for a long time.
"The utilities say that even if an accident happens here, they can deal with it," said Lyman of the Union of Concerned Scientists. But, he said, the Fukushima accident shows that some events will cold room be difficult to anticipate and plan for.
"The Japanese have run out of pages of their operating manual, and they are just making things up," he said.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has essentially accepted the industry's rationale on the jaw crusher safety of dense-packing fuel rods. Over the last two decades, the agency has repeatedly approved license applications by utilities to pack more rods into the pools.
Nuclear safety experts say that plants have packed up to five times more spent fuel rods than the pools were designed to store, though Nuclear Energy Institute officials say the pools contain no more than twice their original capacity.
The only advantage to keeping the pools packed so tightly is the cost of the dry casks, which would run about $5 billion to $10 billion nationwide, said Frank N. von Hippel, a Princeton University physicist who first disclosed the problem in a paper he co-wrote in 2003. He said he considers fixing the fuel pool problem one of the most important steps toward making U.S. nuclear plants safer.
"It is such a huge risk that it is worth the cost," he said. "We may not be as lucky as the Japanese were to have the wind blowing the radioactive emissions out to sea."
The reason so much waste has built up is the failure of the Energy Department to hold to its decades-old pledge to take ownership of it, triggering multibillion-dollar law suits by utilities against the government.
Under federal law, the waste was supposed to go to a repository at Yucca Mountain, about 100 miles north of Las Vegas. President George W. Bush approved the plan in 2002. But President Obama has taken steps to kill the plan, saying he wants to find a different site.
Energy Secretary Steven Chu warned last week that it could be decades before any permanent solution for the waste is developed, so the heavily packed fuel pools will be around for a long time.
"The utilities say that even if an accident happens here, they can deal with it," said Lyman of the Union of Concerned Scientists. But, he said, the Fukushima accident shows that some events will cold room be difficult to anticipate and plan for.
"The Japanese have run out of pages of their operating manual, and they are just making things up," he said.
Anti-aircraft weapons outbreak in tripoli
Anti-aircraft fire has erupted over the Libyan capital, Tripoli, after a day of heavy fighting between pro-democracy fighters and forces loyal to leader Muammar Gaddafi.
Anti-aircraft crews began firing shortly after nightfall in the capital on Tuesday Coach Bags, four nights after an international military coalition launched an operation enforce a no-fly zone over the country.
"We've been hearing big noises. We've heard some explosions in the last 10 minutes," Al Jazeera's Anita McNaught, reporting from Tripoli, said.
"We haven't seen any smoke on the horizon. People are firing guns in defiance. We're in the loyalist heartland here where people are utterly defiant of the international effort to force Gaddafi to surrender, as they would see it.
"The anti-aircraft fire has not been as intense [as Monday night when two naval installations outside the city were hit]. Perhaps they feel in the immediate neighbourhood that most of the significant targets have already been hit."
The AFP news agency reported that at least two blasts were heard at a distance before the capital's air defences opened fire.
Several strong detonations followed, said the journalists who were unable to determine the site of the explosions.
They said anti-aircraft fire streaked into the night sky for around 10 minutes, especially in the area near Gaddafi's residence, not far from the hotel where the international press corps is housed.
In the previous night's operations, the coalition air campaign suffered its first loss with the crash of a US fighter jet in the rebel-held east.
Both crew ejected safely.
The no-fly zone is intended to protect civilians from attack by forces loyal to Gaddafi in their battles with opposition fighters bridge rectifier. The United States announced on Tuesday that it is shifting its focus to widen the no-fly zone across the north African country.
Despite the strikes, Gaddafi has remained defiant. The Libyan leader made a public appearance at his Bab Al-Aziziyah compound in Tripoli that was the target on Sunday of a coalition missile strike, Libyan state television reported.
In televised remarks, Gaddafi said Libya was "ready for battle, be it long or short".
"We will win this battle," footage showed him telling supporters at the compound. "The masses were the strongest anti-air defences."
Fighting rages
The developments came after a day of intense fighting in the three Libyan cities of Misurata, Ajdabiya and Zintan.
Forces loyal to Gaddafi have been shelling Misurata for days, pressing their siege of the embattled western city. Four children were killed in the shelling on Tuesday and at least 40 people were killed on Monday, a resident said.
There was also fierce fighting seamless steel pipe further east in Ajdabiya. Opposition fighters were seen retreating in the face of an attack by government forces.
Al Jazeera's Tony Birtley, reporting from an area close to Ajdabiya, said there had been clashes outside the city.
"There's been heavy fighting and heavy shelling going on ... the rebels told me there have been heavy casualties and there are a number of corpses between here and the town [of Ajdabiya] that they have been unable to reach," he said.
Meanwhile, around 106km south of Tripoli, Libyan pro-democracy fighters forced government troops to withdraw from the outskirts of Zintan, breaking a siege of the town.
A resident of Zintan told the Reuters news agency that at least 10 people were killed in the bombardment by Gaddafi's forces.
"Gaddafi's forces bombarded Zintan this morning and killed 10 to 15 people," Abdulrahman said.
"After the bombardment they retreated from the eastern area of Zintan. But they have not withdrawn from the northern area electronic ballast. There is still a huge number of soldiers there, backed with 50 to 60 tanks and several vehicles."
Anti-aircraft crews began firing shortly after nightfall in the capital on Tuesday Coach Bags, four nights after an international military coalition launched an operation enforce a no-fly zone over the country.
"We've been hearing big noises. We've heard some explosions in the last 10 minutes," Al Jazeera's Anita McNaught, reporting from Tripoli, said.
"We haven't seen any smoke on the horizon. People are firing guns in defiance. We're in the loyalist heartland here where people are utterly defiant of the international effort to force Gaddafi to surrender, as they would see it.
"The anti-aircraft fire has not been as intense [as Monday night when two naval installations outside the city were hit]. Perhaps they feel in the immediate neighbourhood that most of the significant targets have already been hit."
The AFP news agency reported that at least two blasts were heard at a distance before the capital's air defences opened fire.
Several strong detonations followed, said the journalists who were unable to determine the site of the explosions.
They said anti-aircraft fire streaked into the night sky for around 10 minutes, especially in the area near Gaddafi's residence, not far from the hotel where the international press corps is housed.
In the previous night's operations, the coalition air campaign suffered its first loss with the crash of a US fighter jet in the rebel-held east.
Both crew ejected safely.
The no-fly zone is intended to protect civilians from attack by forces loyal to Gaddafi in their battles with opposition fighters bridge rectifier. The United States announced on Tuesday that it is shifting its focus to widen the no-fly zone across the north African country.
Despite the strikes, Gaddafi has remained defiant. The Libyan leader made a public appearance at his Bab Al-Aziziyah compound in Tripoli that was the target on Sunday of a coalition missile strike, Libyan state television reported.
In televised remarks, Gaddafi said Libya was "ready for battle, be it long or short".
"We will win this battle," footage showed him telling supporters at the compound. "The masses were the strongest anti-air defences."
Fighting rages
The developments came after a day of intense fighting in the three Libyan cities of Misurata, Ajdabiya and Zintan.
Forces loyal to Gaddafi have been shelling Misurata for days, pressing their siege of the embattled western city. Four children were killed in the shelling on Tuesday and at least 40 people were killed on Monday, a resident said.
There was also fierce fighting seamless steel pipe further east in Ajdabiya. Opposition fighters were seen retreating in the face of an attack by government forces.
Al Jazeera's Tony Birtley, reporting from an area close to Ajdabiya, said there had been clashes outside the city.
"There's been heavy fighting and heavy shelling going on ... the rebels told me there have been heavy casualties and there are a number of corpses between here and the town [of Ajdabiya] that they have been unable to reach," he said.
Meanwhile, around 106km south of Tripoli, Libyan pro-democracy fighters forced government troops to withdraw from the outskirts of Zintan, breaking a siege of the town.
A resident of Zintan told the Reuters news agency that at least 10 people were killed in the bombardment by Gaddafi's forces.
"Gaddafi's forces bombarded Zintan this morning and killed 10 to 15 people," Abdulrahman said.
"After the bombardment they retreated from the eastern area of Zintan. But they have not withdrawn from the northern area electronic ballast. There is still a huge number of soldiers there, backed with 50 to 60 tanks and several vehicles."
Yemen's President salih civil war threat, called for dialogue
The mood in the capital, Sanaa, was tense amid reports that opposing military units cold room, some supporting Saleh and some backing recently defected military commanders, had faced off in skirmishes around the country.
The United States and Saudi Arabia, with strong vested interests in Yemen’s ongoing counterterrorism cooperation, worked behind the scenes to promote a solution, but made no public expressions of support for Saleh, who has been in power for 32 years.
“We continue to consult with our regional partners, including Saudi Arabia, about the situation in Yemen,” an Obama administration official said, declining to comment further. The White House has had no direct contact with Saleh since a call made Sunday by John O. Brennan, President Obama’s chief counterterrorism adviser.
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates told reporters traveling with him in Moscow that it was “not my place” to comment on events in Yemen. “We are obviously concerned about instability” there, he said, describing the focus of U.S. worry as a possible “diversion of attention” from the threat posed by the al-Qaeda offshoot in Yemen.
According to news wire reports and Internet postings by Yemenis, Saleh’s army repelled an attack by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula on a military position east of Lawdar, a city in the southern part of the country, killing 12 militants and injuring five. Armed militants have been on a rampage in the southern city of Aden, breaking into nightclubs, throwing out patrons and setting fire to buildings, the Associated Press reported.
Clashes were also reported in the north between pro-revolution Houthi rebels and tribes loyal to the government.
Six weeks of largely peaceful protests against Saleh appeared to reach a tipping point Monday, when dozens of senior military officials, diplomats and government officials resigned to protest the killing Friday of more than 50 demonstrators by government snipers.
“Friday broke our hearts; yesterday opened our eyes,” said Mohammed al-Basha, who has not resigned his position as spokesman for the Yemeni Embassy in Washington but described himself as a “neutral”civil servant.
“We saw people of our generation killed with head shots and chest wounds,” he said. “We don’t want that pain again.”
In a meeting with military and tribal leaders late Monday night, Saleh agreed to a plan under which he would leave office at the end of the year jaw crusher. He had initially dismissed the proposal when it was advanced weeks ago by a coalition of opposition political parties that joined with the youthful and civil society protesters, and the opposition Tuesday told him it was no longer on the table.
“We reject Saleh’s offer to step down, and we tell him that the next couple of hours will be decisive for his regime,” Mohammed Qahtan, a spokesman for an opposition political bloc, said Tuesday.
Maj. Gen. Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, the powerful commander of Yemen’s northwest military district, who was the most prominent defector Monday, called on Saleh to resign to save the country from disaster. “The military is the property of the people and its protector,” Mohsen said. “It does not work for any specific person.”
In a televised speech to his National Defense Council, Saleh vacillated between threats of a “bloody” civil war and appeals for dialogue. In an apparent effort to split the opposition, he warned that youthful protesters would be victimized by the political factions that have joined them.
To military defectors, he said: “Those who want to reach power through coups should know what they are seeking is impossible.”
Late Tuesday evening, a government spokesman reiterated Saleh’s calls for “direct and transparent dialogue” with Yemeni youth.
The opposition political groups,electronic ballast called the Joint Meeting Parties, denied fears expressed on the street that they or the military were interested in a deal with Saleh. “Civil society youth are now controlling politicians, military and the tribes,” Qahtan said. “Military commanders will not steal the revolution from the people.”
Ali Amrani, the leader of a bloc of politicians who have left the ruling General Peoples Congress party over the past month, said that Saleh must leave but did not rule out an exit strategy agreed to by all sides, including Saleh and his remaining backers, to avoid chaos.
“Those with the revolution have numerous ideological differences,” he said, “and we need to make sure that the sides don’t start disputes immediately at the fall of Saleh.”
The protesters are suspicious of Mohsen’s motives, said Gregory Johnsen, a Yemen expert at Princeton University. “But at the same time, they’re willing to make a deal for the moment to get rid of Saleh.”
Mohsen, a longtime ally of the president bridge rectifier and the most powerful military figure in the country, “is taking advantage in order to ensure for himself a position in a post-Saleh government,” Johnsen said.
The United States and Saudi Arabia, with strong vested interests in Yemen’s ongoing counterterrorism cooperation, worked behind the scenes to promote a solution, but made no public expressions of support for Saleh, who has been in power for 32 years.
“We continue to consult with our regional partners, including Saudi Arabia, about the situation in Yemen,” an Obama administration official said, declining to comment further. The White House has had no direct contact with Saleh since a call made Sunday by John O. Brennan, President Obama’s chief counterterrorism adviser.
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates told reporters traveling with him in Moscow that it was “not my place” to comment on events in Yemen. “We are obviously concerned about instability” there, he said, describing the focus of U.S. worry as a possible “diversion of attention” from the threat posed by the al-Qaeda offshoot in Yemen.
According to news wire reports and Internet postings by Yemenis, Saleh’s army repelled an attack by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula on a military position east of Lawdar, a city in the southern part of the country, killing 12 militants and injuring five. Armed militants have been on a rampage in the southern city of Aden, breaking into nightclubs, throwing out patrons and setting fire to buildings, the Associated Press reported.
Clashes were also reported in the north between pro-revolution Houthi rebels and tribes loyal to the government.
Six weeks of largely peaceful protests against Saleh appeared to reach a tipping point Monday, when dozens of senior military officials, diplomats and government officials resigned to protest the killing Friday of more than 50 demonstrators by government snipers.
“Friday broke our hearts; yesterday opened our eyes,” said Mohammed al-Basha, who has not resigned his position as spokesman for the Yemeni Embassy in Washington but described himself as a “neutral”civil servant.
“We saw people of our generation killed with head shots and chest wounds,” he said. “We don’t want that pain again.”
In a meeting with military and tribal leaders late Monday night, Saleh agreed to a plan under which he would leave office at the end of the year jaw crusher. He had initially dismissed the proposal when it was advanced weeks ago by a coalition of opposition political parties that joined with the youthful and civil society protesters, and the opposition Tuesday told him it was no longer on the table.
“We reject Saleh’s offer to step down, and we tell him that the next couple of hours will be decisive for his regime,” Mohammed Qahtan, a spokesman for an opposition political bloc, said Tuesday.
Maj. Gen. Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, the powerful commander of Yemen’s northwest military district, who was the most prominent defector Monday, called on Saleh to resign to save the country from disaster. “The military is the property of the people and its protector,” Mohsen said. “It does not work for any specific person.”
In a televised speech to his National Defense Council, Saleh vacillated between threats of a “bloody” civil war and appeals for dialogue. In an apparent effort to split the opposition, he warned that youthful protesters would be victimized by the political factions that have joined them.
To military defectors, he said: “Those who want to reach power through coups should know what they are seeking is impossible.”
Late Tuesday evening, a government spokesman reiterated Saleh’s calls for “direct and transparent dialogue” with Yemeni youth.
The opposition political groups,electronic ballast called the Joint Meeting Parties, denied fears expressed on the street that they or the military were interested in a deal with Saleh. “Civil society youth are now controlling politicians, military and the tribes,” Qahtan said. “Military commanders will not steal the revolution from the people.”
Ali Amrani, the leader of a bloc of politicians who have left the ruling General Peoples Congress party over the past month, said that Saleh must leave but did not rule out an exit strategy agreed to by all sides, including Saleh and his remaining backers, to avoid chaos.
“Those with the revolution have numerous ideological differences,” he said, “and we need to make sure that the sides don’t start disputes immediately at the fall of Saleh.”
The protesters are suspicious of Mohsen’s motives, said Gregory Johnsen, a Yemen expert at Princeton University. “But at the same time, they’re willing to make a deal for the moment to get rid of Saleh.”
Mohsen, a longtime ally of the president bridge rectifier and the most powerful military figure in the country, “is taking advantage in order to ensure for himself a position in a post-Saleh government,” Johnsen said.
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