SANA’A, April 18 – General Mohammed Saleh Al-Ahmar, the dismissed commander of the Air Force still refuses to leave his office despite a republican decree that removed him from his position on April 6, according to a source in the Air Force.

President Hadi gave a 48-hour deadline on Sunday to Al-Ahmar to relinquish power, otherwise he will be prosecuted. The deadline ran out on Wednesday.

The UN envoy Jamal bin Omar arrived in Sana’a on April 18 to discuss the current rebellion by Al-Ahmar and the obstacles which the ousted president Saleh’s relatives and supporters are putting in the way of implementing the political power transfer agreement.

It was expected that Al-Ahmar will leave his post on Wednesday, particularly after the arrival of the UN envoy to Yemen.

The UN envoy is expected to discuss Saleh’s relatives’ refusal to implement the presidential decrees replacing them, according to Abdurrahman Al-Helali, the Air Force press secretary.

“Al-Ahmar had been convinced to step down, but the ousted president and his relatives are forcing him not to do so,” said Al-Helali.

“General Mohammed Nasser Ahmed, the Minister of Defense, has banned any warplane from taking off from any air base in Yemen, except with the permission from either himself or President Hadi,” added Al-Helali.

“Brigadier Al-Ahmar attended a meeting with the ousted president Saleh who ordered him not to relinquish his position. Then he returned on Monday with 20 military cars and is still at the Air Force headquarters,” said another military source.

Those loyal to the former regime have realized that President Hadi is no longer by their side, and they are afraid that he might issue new decrees  appointing new leaders in place of the former regime’s loyal leaders, according to the military source.

“The Air Force brigades will follow the commands of the new commander,” added the military source.

All the brigades of the Air Force have announced their support of the presidential decrees and called on Al-Ahmar to relinquish his position, according to the Yemeni Ministry of Defense.

President Hadi has received congratulations from the officers and soldiers of Al-And Military Airbase in Lahj, Brigade 180 Air-defense in Marib, Brigade 120 Air-defense in Aden city, Tareq’s Airbase in Taiz, Brigade 130 Air-defense in Hodeida, Brigade 190 Air-defense in Al-Rayan in Hadramout, and Brigade 67 in Hodeida, all who affirmed their support for the decrees, according the Defense Ministry website.

The officers and soldiers have requested the immediate implementation of the decrees and urged Al-Ahmar to start his new job as the advisor to the defense minister for military manufacture, according to the defense ministry.

Al-Ahmar has prevented the members of the military committee from entering the Air Forces headquarters to mediate between him and the newly appointed leader on Tuesday, a military source said.

Brigadier General Tareq Mohammed Abdullah Saleh, the former president’s nephew, is also refusing the implementation of the presidential decree appointing him as head of Brigade 37 in Hadramout, and allowing a new head of the Special Forces to be appointed, according to a military source.

President Hadi dismissed Mohammed Saleh Al-Ahamr, Saleh’s half-brother, and Tareq Mohammed Abdullah Saleh, Saleh’s nephew two weeks ago and appointed new leaders to replace them.

Al-Ahmar refused the presidential decree dismissing him and demanded that the defense minister and other military commanders be sacked before he will leave his office.

Sana’a International Airport closed down on April 7 because of Al-Ahmar’s supporters who imposed a siege on the airport after the presidential decree  appointing a new Air Force commander was announced. The airport resumed its flights the next day.

When demonstrations started by soldiers in the Air Force calling for their commander to be dismissed, Al-Ahmar brought some troops from the Central Security Forces to control the Air Force headquarters at the Al-Anad Military Airbase in Sana’a.

The ousted president Saleh is accused of hindering the implementation of President Hadi’s decrees. The power transfer deal will be brought to the Security Council again to discuss Saleh’s relatives rebellion against President Hadi’s decrees, according to some sources in the Yemeni government.

“The ambassadors of the ten countries who witnessed the signature of the GCC Initiative have shown their willingness to convey the Yemeni issue again to the Security Council to punish those who hinder the implementation of the GCC Initiative,” said the government sources.

A senior official in the Yemeni government, requesting anonymity, has told the UAE-based Al-Bayan newspaper that Saleh’s relatives have rebelled against the presidential decrees for their dismissal.

“The Security Council must impose sanctions against Saleh’s relatives who refused the decrees of appointing new leaders instead of them,” said the official source.