Yemen death toll estimated at 10,000

Press, 24 January 1986, Page 6

Yemen death toll estimated at 10,000

NZPA-Reuter Manama, Bahrain A power struggle in South Yemen between the President, Mr All Nasser Muhammad, and hardline Marxist rebels appeared to be spreading throughout the country, neither side in complete control, reliable Arab sources said yesterday. The sources, in neighbouring North Yemen, said that the rebels seemed to be tightening their grip on Aden, the capital, but Mr Nasser Muhammad was entrenched in his rugged home region of Abyan, 160 km to the east.

Bloody fighting, which began in Aden on January 13, had taken some 10,000 lives and caused damage of about SUS 4 billion ($7.72 billion), the sources said.

Tank and artillery battles were reported in only one district of Aden yesterday, around the airport and the Interior Ministry.

A huge explosion was heard at an ammunition depot. Four of six provinces were also said to be under rebel control but there were fears that tribal warfare, based on personal loyalties rather than ideology, might erupt in the interior, imposing a prolonged struggle on the Arab world’s poorest nation.

Some 4500 foreigners have been moved to the East African port of Djibouti by British, French, and Soviet vessels. More await rescue.

The British Defence Ministry said yesterday that the Royal Yacht Britannia, which has already plucked several hundred refugees from beaches near Aden, was going in again, accompanied by two Soviet and one East German ship.

A French merchant ship had picked up about 50 employees of the French oil company, Elf-

Aquitaine, from the shore of the Makalla region, 400 km east of Aden yesterday, company sources in Djibouti said.

Details of events that sparked the power struggle between rival Marxist factions in the nation of 2.2 million remained conflicting.

The United Arab Emirates newspaper, "AlKhaleej,” said that two leaders of the faction opposed to Mr Nasser Muhammad, the Defence Minister, Saleh Mosleh Qassem, and his predecessor, Ali Ahmed Nasser Antar, had been killed on January 13. Another rebel leader, the former President, Ab-dul-Fattah Ismail, had been wounded, it said.

Aden radio, now controlled by the rebels, said that Mr Nasser Muhammad had “physically liquidated the cream of the (ruling Yemeni Socialist) Party.” It did not elaborate.