Sanaa airport closed under threat

A source in the Yemeni airport administration said that Sanaa airport has been closed down following threats to shoot down any plane landing or taking off from it. The source added that these threats came from members of the military loyal to the former President Ali Abdullah Saleh. The same source described the airport as being surrounded by military men loyal to the air force commander Gen Mohammed Saleh al-Ahmar, the half-brother of the former president, who refused to relinquish his position. Yemeni President Abdrabuh Mansour Hadi  on Friday issued a decree of dismissal  of Gen Mohammed Saleh al-Ahmar as the air force commander and appointing him as assistant to the defence minister for  Military Industrialisation Affairs, which is a marginal position as Yemen almost has no military industrialisation. Hadi appointed General Rashed Ali Nasser al-Jund as  Air Force Commander. A Yemeni military source said that Gen Mohammed Saleh al-Ahmar was refusing the dismissal notice  unless a large number of defence ministry officials are sacked, including the minister.