[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] As soon as the news of Cuba’s former strongman Fidel Castro’s death was announced, Yemen’s ex-president President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it...
submitted a request from the United Nations
...an idea whose time has gone...
Security Council to allow him to travel to Cuba "to pay respects".
The United Nations Security Council in 2014 imposed targeted sanctions on Saleh for threatening peace and obstructing Yemen’s political process that subject him to a global travel ban and asset freeze.
The request by Saleh, who was ousted by a popular uprising against his rule in 2011, would need to be accepted by the 15-member UN Security Council Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic...
sanctions committee which makes decisions by full consensus.
But Yemen observers are viewing his request as a last-ditch effort of escaping Yemen following massive losses of his forces and Houthi
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the
Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is
God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews...
militias after coalition forces supporting the legitimate president of Yemen Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi in several areas.
Saleh was quoted as saying that his forces "have destroyed everything that was good in Yemen" recently, leading some to suggest the former president is losing confidence.
Tensions have been escalating between Saleh and Houthi militia leadership in recent weeks, with the former leader at odds with the interim Supreme Revolutionary Committee established by the Houthis.