US-Saudi deal to cement Saleh control

Press TV interviews talks with Nada Hashwi, political activist in Beirut who frames the deal as one between the US, Saudi Arabia and Ali Abdullah Saleh, but not the true opposition or the Yemeni people and that US unwillingness to let go of Yemen control could further threaten a drawn out civil war. Following is a transcript of the interview.

Press TV: Do you think Abdullah Saleh will remain in control of Yemen since he does have half of the ministers?

Nada Hashwi Definitely: Definitely. Saleh signed the accord after a lot of pressure was applied by the US and by Saudi Arabia. They want to feel comfortable and to freely deal with the other situations in the region especially in Syria.

In regards to Saleh, his signing only takes him away from his seat, but in general he is in control of the security forces; he's in charge of the Special Guards - his son is the head of the Special Guard. So, in my opinion he is definitely in control of everything and he can come back at any time after signing and say he wants to come back to controlling everything in Yemen, especially with his long history of deceiving his people.

I think he will definitely stay in power and all of what's happening now is sort of like a new make up for Yemen, but with different kinds of puppets.

Press TV: The parties to this new unity government - they don't really represent the opposition. What gave them the right to represent the opposition and sign this deal?

Nada Hashwi Definitely: They didn't take the right from anybody. The (P)GCC accord was done by the approval of the US military and Washington. So, they didn't need to get anybody's opinion especially the Yemenis i.e. the revolutionaries that have been on the streets for ten months. They didn't need to take approval from anybody because what is happening right now is that they are trying to control what's been happening in Yemen and as we saw with what was happening in Egypt as well.

What we're going to see in Yemen in the future I think is going to be more violence. It will go into a civil war because nobody wants this to happen. What has happened is a deal that's been done with the US, Saudi Arabia and Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Press TV: Do you think the US stance to try and degrade the revolution in Yemen is part of its strategy to safeguard its interests in light of all the revolutions and changes taking place in the region?

Nada Hashwi Definitely: US military and CIA involvement in Yemen has far broader objectives. They have armed and trained many of the elite troops in Yemen so they intend to stay and to maintain what they have been doing so far. In my opinion they will not let the revolutionaries win in any way - they will whatever they can.

The country is definitely going to a civil war if the US keeps on insisting on doing what they are doing, backed up by the Saudis.

Let's not forget about the Houthi as well because they are a major power and the Saudis are very scared of them. They will not let them do anything that will take the security out of their own hands.

For this unity government, a lot of obstacles are going to be in its way; this is not going to work out. The US is not going to let go of Yemen because they have their so-called war on terrorism so they're going to keep doing what they're doing and the poor people are going to… eventually….