Yemen leader accused of allowing Islamist takeover
Hundreds of Islamic militants cemented control over a town in southern Yemen on Sunday, even seizing army tanks, military officials said, while breakaway army units encouraged other military forces to switch their loyalties and join the uprising.
The growing number of defections in the military posed the most serious threat yet to President Ali Abdullah Saleh's three-decade grip on his country. A leader of the breakaway forces, Maj. Gen. Abdullah Ali Elewa, appealed to other units to join. Ali Dahmis, a political analyst in the town, said officials who supported Saleh fled early, making it easier for militants to stream in.(AP)
