The charm of Lake Como knows no bounds. And so it happens that people who drove for 33 years, and Yemen risked big during the “Arab spring”, now a golden exile dreams on the Lario.
Is Ali Abdullah Saleh, President of Yemen, but still powerful enough to suppress the revolt and barter his “down” from the throne with immunity.
Saleh was seriously injured during an assault on his headquarters in Sana’a on 3 June 2011. He had been hospitalized in Saudi Arabia and worked in a military hospital while being initiated procedures for the transfer of powers to former Vice-President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi.
Now the former Yemeni President Saleh might choose a quiet convalescence right on Lake Como. Why the Lario? Because Saleh has already been on the Lake for a short trip during which he met, away from prying eyes, the former Saudi defence minister Sultan bin Abdulaziz. The news was reported in recent days by the newspaper “La Repubblica”, while the news of his impending departure were launched by the news agencies Associated Press and France Presse.
The former strong man of the State at the southern tip of the Arabian peninsula had gotten in recent days also a visa from Italy for medical care. Medical care or Golden exile? The news has bounced immediately Arab newspapers. Rome, in fact, had accepted the request for asylum immediately, unlike other Western countries.
Saleh’s family but of the lifespan for a tenure of Ali Abdullah in Saudi Arabia. And this is not any family, since his son was, until a few months ago, the Commander of the presidential guard, his half-brother commands the armed forces and the clan of Yemeni Saleh is still the most powerful in the country.
The clan of Saleh feared that, during his stay on Lake Como, the former President could be indicted for human rights violations during the revolt of 2011. The game is still open. The arrival of Arabic in Italy could also mean great deals for the national economy. Italian companies would in fact participate in the creation of new water desanilizzazione plants that in the future the Yemen never thirst again.