SANAA: Hundreds of thousands of Yemenis descended on Sanaa Thursday in a major show of force for ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh, whose alliance with the country’s Huthi rebels has been shaken by mutual distrust. Tensions have been rising between Saleh and his one-time foe, rebel chief Abdul Malik al-Huthi, who in 2014 joined ranks in a shock alliance that drove the government out of the capital and into the southern province of Aden. The rally marking 35 years since the founding of Saleh’s Arab nationalist General People’s Congress sends out a signal that the strongman remains a force to be reckoned with. Crowds filled the four-square-kilometre (1.5-square-mile) square and poured into the streets of the capital, waving the blue flag of the GPC and carrying pictures of the 75-year-old Saleh. Saleh ruled Yemen with an iron fist for more than three decades before stepping down in 2012 after a bloody year-long uprising. But the strongman retained the loyalty of some of the best-equipped units in the military and later joined forces with the Huthis, after they overran the capital in 2014. The ensuing civil war between the Saudi-backed government and the Huthi-Saleh alliance has killed thousands and brought the Arabian Peninsula country to the brink of famine. Saleh’s supporters had travelled to Sanaa from across the impoverished country, camping out in Sabaeen Square overnight ahead of the rally. An AFP reporter in Sanaa said the Huthis had set up checkpoints at the main entrances to the city. But they did nothing to stop the demonstrators from reaching the square, where the rebels had also deployed but did not interfere with the rally. Saleh — who survived the Arab Spring protests that saw a string of his peers ousted from Egypt to Libya — appeared in person at the rally and gave a brief speech behind bulletproof glass, surrounded by heavily armed guards. “We are political pioneers with a solid anchor, and we have been facing conspiracies against us since 2011,” he told the cheering crowd, referring to the start of protests in Sanaa that eventually led to his resignation. Saleh said he was ready to deploy “tens of thousands of fighters to the frontlines”, on condition the rebel-led government train and pay them. Analysts have said the rally serves in part as public protest against the Iran-backed Huthis, who with Saleh have run the capital since 2014. Published in Daily Times, August 25th 2017.