Yemeni president says US and Israel behind unrest (AP)

SANAA, Yemen – Yemen's embattled president on Tuesday accused the U.S., his closest ally, of instigating the mounting protests against him, but the gambit failed to slow the momentum for his ouster.

Hundreds of thousands rallied in cities across Yemen against the government of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, in the largest of the protests of the past month, including one addressed by an influential firebrand cleric, a former ally of Saleh, whom the U.S. has linked to al-Qaida.

"Go on until you achieve your demands," Sheik Abdul-Majid al-Zindani told tens of thousands of demonstrators in the capital of Sanaa. A former U.S. ambassador to Yemen called al-Zindani's decision to turn against President Ali Abdullah Saleh a major setback for the president.

Some warned that the current political turmoil and possible collapse of Saleh's regime could give a further opening to Yemen's offshoot of the global terror network, al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula.

James Jones, former White House National Security Advisor, warned a Washington conference that Yemen's crisis "could deepen the current vacuum of power in Yemen on which al Qaida has thrived."

The Yemen-based al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, believed to have been involved in the attempted 2009 bombing of an American airliner, is seen as particularly active and threatening to the U.S.

Saleh has been a weak but important U.S. ally in the fight against al-Qaida, accepting tens of millions of dollars in U.S. military and other aid and allowing American drone strikes on al-Qaida targets.

Garry Reid, deputy assistant U.S. Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Combating Terrorism, told the Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington think tank, that the Saleh government was "the best partner we're going to have ... and hopefully it will survive because I certainly would have to start over again in what we've tried to build."

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton visited Yemen in January and urged Saleh to do more.

However, on Tuesday, Saleh seemed to be turning on Washington. In a speech to about 500 students and lecturers at Sanaa University, he claimed the U.S., along with Israel, is behind the protest movement.

"I am going to reveal a secret," he said. "There is an operations room in Tel Aviv with the aim of destabilizing the Arab world. The operations room is in Tel Aviv and run by the White House."

Saleh also alleged that opposition figures meet regularly with the U.S. ambassador in Sanaa. "Regrettably those (opposition figures) are sitting day and night with the American ambassador where they hand him reports and he gives them instructions," Saleh said.

The Obama administration rejected these claims. White House spokesman Jay Carney called on Saleh to focus on implementing the political reforms demanded by his people instead of "scapegoating."

Saleh's relationship with the U.S. has been ambivalent, and he has at times attempted to play down his military alliance with Washington. Anti-U.S. sentiment remains strong in Yemen, as elsewhere in the region, and Saleh's comments appeared to be an attempt to discredit the protesters by suggesting they are serving foreign interests.

"Part of this is putting blame on others, part of it is trying to manage the situation," said Christopher Boucek, an analyst at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a U.S. think tank. "He (Saleh) does not want to feed into grievances that gave rise to the opposition against him, such as being too close to the U.S."

Thomas Krajeski, senior vice president of the U.S. National Defense University and former U.S. ambassador to Yemen, gave the Saleh regime a 50-50 chance of surviving the current crisis and he said it's not clear who is likely to succeed him. "We just don't know what comes next," Krajeski told a conference at Washington's Bipartisan Policy Center.

But Krajeski predicted that Yemen's tribes would quickly step in to establish a new government rather than let the country become what he called "an ungoverned mess," like Somalia.

Jonathan Ruhe, a policy analyst for the Bipartisan Policy Center, said: "It's kind of hard to imagine a post-Saleh world. If he should fall, the future is wide open."

In another attempt to silence critics, Saleh fired five of the country's 22 provincial governors Tuesday, including three who had spoken out against the government's at times violent crackdown on demonstrators.

In London, Britain's Foreign Office summoned a senior Yemeni diplomat to express "deep concern" over the deaths of protesters at rallies. "The government of Yemen should listen to the legitimate grievances of the Yemeni people," the Foreign Office said.

The momentum against the president, who refuses to step down until elections in 2013, has kept growing since protests erupted a month ago — inspired by successful uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia. He has lost the support of key tribal chiefs and on Tuesday, opposition parties called their supporters into the streets for the first time. Crowds of tens of thousands each were reported in five areas of the country, including in Sanaa.

Saleh's government is widely seen as corrupt, with relatives of the president holding key positions in government and business. Grievances about the growing disparity between Yemen's poor — nearly half the population of some 23 million — and a small ruling clique have helped drive the protests. Yemen is the Arab world's poorest country.

In the port city of Aden, the scene of deadly clashes between police and demonstrators last week, thousands rallied Tuesday to express their anger. "We are demonstrating and calling for the downfall of the regime because Aden, under Saleh, has turned into a village," said Faiza al-Sharbary, a 45-year-old teacher. "At one time, it was one of the best cities. Therefore this regime has to leave."

In Sanaa, tens of thousands gathered outside the university, the heart of the protests.

Al-Zindani, the influential Islamic cleric, praised the young protesters, saying their rallies are "a new way to change regimes that we did not know 50 years ago."

"Go on until you achieve your demands," he told them. "You have come out demanding changes as a result of desperation."

Al-Zindani's role appeared unclear. Saleh, in power for 32 years, has tried to co-opt the preacher, appointing him last year as a mediator between the government and opposition parties over electoral reform.

However, al-Zindani is also thought by the United States to be a one-time spiritual mentor of Osama bin Laden. He has been placed on the U.S. list of terrorist financiers, and is the subject of travel and financial sanctions by the U.S. and the United Nations.

In the past, the cleric has criticized the U.S.-backed fight against al-Qaida, warning that it could lead to a foreign occupation of Yemen.

Some in Yemen said the current turmoil could strengthen the local al-Qaida branch.

"One of the principal worries of our regional and global partners has been that if Yemen goes into anarchy, the possibility of al-Qaida having easy access should be quite clear," said Mohamed Qubaty, a senior member of Yemen's ruling party.

Krajeski, the former U.S. ambassador to Yemen, said al-Zidani's decision to criticize Saleh and questioned his legitimacy was a major setback for the government. "That's a big deal," he said. "Saleh worked very hard to keep this guy in control. If Zindani is breaking with him that is another knock on his base."

Krajeski added though that he didn't think that radical Islam was a big factor in the current unrest, although it was part of the general opposition to Saleh's government.

Yemen has been the site of numerous anti-U.S. attacks, going back to the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in Aden harbor, which killed 17 American sailors. Late last year, several CIA operatives were targeted in a failed bombing at a restaurant in a Sanaa suburb. Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula was also thought to be behind the attempted bombing of an American airliner landing in Detroit in 2009.

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Associated Press writers Matthew Lee and Douglas Birch in Washington, Raphael Satter in London and Karin Laub in Cairo contributed reporting.

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Israel, US successfully test Arrow missile (AP)

JERUSALEM – Israel and the U.S. carried out a successful test of the Arrow anti-missile system off the coast of California, Israel's Defense Ministry said Tuesday.

Israel's Defense Ministry said the Arrow detected, intercepted and destroyed a target missile launched from an offshore platform inside a U.S. Navy firing range in a test carried out late Monday.

Tuesday's statement said the trial, the latest in a series of successful tests of the system, "provides confidence in operational Israeli capabilities to defeat the developing ballistic missile threat."

Jointly developed by Israel and the U.S., the system is primarily aimed at defending Israel from the threat of an Iranian missile strike. The Arrow detects an incoming missile and destroys it with a second missile.

Israel has identified Iran as its biggest threat, citing the country's nuclear program and its development of ballistic missiles. Those fears have been compounded by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's repeated calls for the destruction of the Jewish state and the regime's support for militant groups fighting Israel.

Iran's Shahab-3 missiles have a range of up to 1,250 miles (2,000 kilometers), putting Israel well within striking distance.

Iran claims its nuclear work is for energy production.

Tensions between the two countries were raised further Tuesday by the passage of two Iranian warships through the Suez Canal toward the Mediterranean Sea, marking the first time since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that Tehran has sent military ships through the strategic waterway.

The ships, a frigate and a supply vessel, are en route to a port in Syria, Israel's hostile northern neighbor and an Iranian ally.

Israel has made clear it views the passage as a provocation and an attempt by Iran to exploit the recent instability in Egypt to expand its influence.

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Joint Chiefs chairman to reassure Jordan, Israel (AP)

By ROBERT BURNS, AP National Security Writer Robert Burns, Ap National Security Writer – 2 hrs 21 mins ago

WASHINGTON – With Egypt's military leading a hoped-for drive to democracy, President Barack Obama's senior military adviser was heading to the Mideast on Saturday to reassure two key allies — Jordan, facing its own rumblings of civil unrest, and Israel, which sees its security at stake in a wider transformation of the Arab world.

Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was stopping first in Amman for meetings Sunday with senior Jordanian officials, including King Abdullah II. Jordan has seen five weeks of protests inspired by unrest in Tunisia and later Egypt, though the numbers of marchers has been decreasing.

Mullen was then scheduled to travel to Tel Aviv for meetings and ceremonies Sunday and Monday marking the retirement of his Israeli counterpart, Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, and talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres. Mullen had no plans to visit Egypt on this trip.

Israel is deeply worried about the prospect that Hosni Mubarak's ouster could lead to the emergence of a government less friendly to the Jewish state.

Israel and Egypt fought four bitter wars before a peace treaty was reached in 1979. Mubarak, who gave up power Friday after 30 years of rule, steadfastly honored the peace deal after succeeding Anwar Sadat, who was assassinated by Egyptian extremists two years after signing it.

Netanyahu has warned that any new government in Cairo must maintain their peace deal — Israel's first with an Arab nation.

A great deal is at stake for the U.S. in the outcome of Egypt's drive to create a democracy out of the autocratic system over which Mubarak presided for three decades, with Washington a key political and financial supporter. Both Egypt and Jordan have played leading roles, along with the U.S., in seeking a peace settlement between Israel and the Palestinians. Egypt also controls the Suez Canal, a key route for global oil shipments.

The U.S. has provided $1.5 billion a year to Egypt, largely in the form of military assistance, and the White House has said the possibility of changing that would depend on how the current crisis unfolds. The assistance has done more than buy tanks, planes and other weaponry for the Egyptian armed forces. It has built a tradition of close ties with the U.S. military establishment, with Egyptian officers attending American academies that emphasize the primacy of civilian control in a democracy.

The leading role that Egypt's military is expected to play in the transition to free elections is likely to make Mullen's and the U.S. military's Cairo connections of growing importance in the White House.

The reverberations from Cairo are already being felt in significant ways in other Arab countries that are key U.S. allies.

Jordan's new prime minister, Marouf Bakhit, promised Wednesday to continue political reforms demanded by protesters who forced King Abdullah II to reshuffle the Cabinet Feb 1. The changes in Amman followed protests by thousands of Jordanians who had demanded jobs, lower food costs and a change to an election law that they say gives government loyalists more seats in parliament.

U.S.-Jordanian military ties are among the strongest in the Arab world. And the revelation that a senior Jordanian intelligence officer was among the victims of a December 2009 suicide bombing in Afghanistan that also killed seven CIA employees pointed to the close and extensive cooperation on counterterrorism between U.S. and Jordanian intelligence agencies.

When he ascended to the throne in 1999, King Abdullah II vowed to press ahead with political reforms initiated by his late father, King Hussein. Those reforms paved the way for the first parliamentary election in 1989 after a 22-year gap, the revival of a multiparty system and the suspension of martial law, which had been in effect since the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.

But little has been done since then.

In Saudi Arabia, a traditional cornerstone of U.S. interests in the Mideast, a group of opposition activists said Thursday they asked the nation's king for the right to form a political party in a rare challenge to the absolute power of the ruling dynasty.

"You know well that big political developments and attention to freedom and human rights is currently happening in the Islamic world," the activists said in a letter to King Abdullah, who was one of Mubarak's staunchest supporters up until the end.

Last week, Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh — a key U.S. ally in office for more than three decades — bowed to pressure from protesters and announced he would not seek re-election in 2013 and would not try to pass power to his son. Yemen, home to a branch of al-Qaida, is an important battleground in the U.S. fight against terrorists.

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On U.S. TV, Egypt, Israel officials stress continuity (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Egypt's envoy to the United States said on Sunday his country's peace treaty with Israel would stand because it benefited Egypt, while Israel's defense minister said he did not see any risk to their bilateral relationship.

Both officials, in appearances on U.S. news talk shows, stressed continuity in the wake of the ouster of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Friday, which left deep uncertainty and huge challenges for America's Middle East policy.

Egypt's ambassador to the United States, Sameh Shoukry, told ABC'S "This Week" the Israeli peace treaty has been beneficial to his country for 30 years and he expected it to remain in place, as military leaders in Cairo have stated.

"We have derived a peace dividend from the treaty," Shoukry said. "We've been able to establish security and stability in the region. And I believe it is a main element in terms of our foreign policy."

Israel's Defense Minister Ehud Barak, in a taped interview on the same program, expressed wariness about Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood's potential strength in any elections there but said he said he did not see a threat to Israeli-Egypt ties.

"I don't think that the relationship between Israel and Egypt ... is under any risk or that any kind of operational risk is waiting us just behind the corner," he told ABC.

Barak said he did not think Egypt's uprising was "something similar to the Iranian events" that created a hard-line Islamic state that is a dedicated foe of Israel.

"It was not something that was organized by extremist groups of Muslim radical origins," he said.

"I think that they have to listen to voices from the rest of the world."

While noting the Muslim Brotherhood was not the instigator of the protests that unseated Mubarak, Barak voiced his country's wariness that the group was better-placed than the idealist protesters to win early elections in Egypt.

"Later on, sooner or later, the only group which is coherent, focused, ready to kill and be killed if necessary takes power," he said. "That should be avoided in Egypt because that could be a catastrophe for the whole region."

Barak added, however, that, "We should not very easily compare them to ... the most extremist groups ... it's an Egyptian version. Many of them are less extremist."

Shoukry told ABC that Egypt's interests dictated its ties to the United States and that Washington could count on Cairo's support in the region.

"These issues are driven by mutual interest, by Egyptian interests, and interest remains a close association to the United States," he said.

(Reporting by Paul Eckert; Editing by Bill Trott)

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