Military positions separating Yemen's warring forces in central Sanaa were dismantled on Wednesday in a show of faith by both sides that they want to halt nearly a year of fighting to topple the president. Bulldozers crashed through the walls of sandbags fortifying the fighters' positions on a main street in Hasaba, a flashpoint area where tribal leader Sadeq al-Ahmar's compound is located and the site of fighting between his and outgoing President Ali Abdullah Saleh's forces, including units led by Saleh's son.
However, underscoring how volatile the country remains, one person was killed and three wounded when gunmen loyal to a pro-Saleh security chief based in the suburbs of Sanaa opened fire on a group of subordinates, who had revolted against him and demanded he be sacked, a security source said.
Separating the country's many warring forces is central to a plan brokered by Yemen's wealthier neighbours to ease Saleh from power and avoid civil war they fear could give al Qaeda a foothold in Yemen. The move by a military committee to separate the forces comes a day after Washington, which long backed Saleh as part of its counter-terrorism strategy, said it was weighing giving Saleh a visa to undergo medical treatment in the United States. Saleh announced on Saturday he would head to Washington, hours after his forces killed nine protesters demanding he face trial for killing demonstrators during the uprising against him.