The marginalization of General Ali Mohsen al Ahmar
One school of thought holds that the inexplicable duration of the Sa’ada War is, in part, a mechanism to weaken Ali Mohsen (dubbed by some as Chemical Ali) who was too strong for a frontal assualt by Saleh, and in turn pave the way for Prince Ahmed. The 26 Septemper (sic) really flipped out at the paper that originally published the analysis below.
Yemen Tribune SANAA, 09 Oct — The independent weekly newspaper, Almasder Thursday published an article written by Hussein al-Laswas on the relations between President Saleh and his half brother, General Ali Muhsen. “It was Ali Muhsen who assisted Saleh to come to power when he besieged the capital back in the seventies and hence furnished the way for Saleh’s coup d’état to succeed … Ali Muhsen who was once Yemen’s most powerful general was capable of toppling Saleh after the civil war of 1994 when his popularity among the soldiers, the Islamists and the Saudis was at its top, but he remained loyal to Saleh. Trust between the two has waned after Ali Muhsen failed in the fifth round of war with the Huthis and Saleh opted to remove him from the sixth round of war … both men have palaces and huge bank accounts and both see Yemen as their own personal property … Saleh has been trying to liberate the capital from the grip of Muhsen’s battalions and when the sixth round of war with the Shiite rebels erupted, Saleh and his son, Ahmad found a historical opportunity to make the change and spread the control of the republican guards over Sanaa.
While General Ali Muhsen was busy in the battlefield during the first and second wars with the Huthi insurgents, Saleh and his son were busy marginalizing him. Ali Muhsen escaped eight assassination attempts so far and he is now left with nothing but a few fragile battalions whose loyalty to him is doubtful and the republican guards along with battalions from the central forces have taken over in several governorates … Ali Muhsen ended from being the commander in chief leading wars against the Huthis to merely a military commander in al-Malahid region who receives orders. But Ali Mushen is a still a power to reckon with.” Meanwhile, the defense ministry online news website, 26-September Friday attacked Almasder newspaper describing it as “suspicious,” and threatened to “muzzle the mouths of Almasder’s writers and break their pens.”
