On April 8, the Qatari-owned Al-Quds al-Arabi daily carried the following report from Taiz by its correspondent Khaled Hammadi: “Local sources mentioned that the situation had militarily exploded in the coastal city of Mocha in Taiz Governorate between the forces of General Tareq Saleh, the nephew of late President Ali Abdullah Saleh, and local leaders in the General People's Congress Party, against the backdrop of a political conflict between the GPC wings over Ali Saleh’s political inheritance, after they were excluded from power by the 2011 revolution. They indicated that dead and wounded had fallen in armed clashes that erupted between both sides during the last two days and that the ongoing confrontations foreshadowed a military confrontation if the senior leaders of the party are unable to contain the situation.

“In the meantime, each side is barricading itself behind some of the party’s leaders abroad. At this level, Al-Quds al-Arabi learned from a political source close to the GPC that “the party’s leaders abroad did not like the fact that Tareq Saleh announced the establishment of a political council for his forces in the western coast, which he is dubbing national resistance. And all the efforts to prevent him from doing so have failed, at a time when it is believed that the latter council might pull the carpet from underneath the feet of some GPC leaders in Saleh’s family itself.” The source was referring to the heated political conflict between General Tareq Saleh and his cousin, Ambassador Ahmad Ali, the son of late President Ali Saleh, who lives in the UAE, seeing as how each of the two men is trying to seize Saleh’s political inheritance in the GPC.

“The source added: “When Tareq Saleh announced the formation of the national resistance political council in the western coast of Taiz Governorate around two weeks ago, the launch gathered all the leaders and dignitaries of the GPC in the area to show that he controlled the party there... But some of the latter leaders are currently engaged in the military insurgency against Tareq Saleh’s forces, and leading the military operations against him, while potentially relying on the instructions and support of GPC leaders abroad, most probably Ambassador Ahmad Ali...” He continued that both Ahmad Ali and Tareq Saleh were hoping to lead the party as a gateway for their return to power in the future, which the UAE was supporting through two different projects. The first was politically led by Ahmad Ali, and the second military, led by Tareq Saleh.

“And both men are holding on to the remaining cards of Saleh’s toppled authority in the country, as Tareq Saleh is relying on his powerful brothers, i.e. General Yahya Saleh, the former commander of the Central Security Forces, General Ammar Saleh, the former deputy head of the National Security Apparatus, i.e. the intelligence body affiliated with Saleh’s family... As for Ambassador Ahmad Ali, he is standing alone in the confrontation without strong support from inside the family...”