Sana’a in dark as Yemen tribesmen blow up pylons

Sana’a: Yemen’s electricity company has said protesting tribesman blew up main pylons a day earlier, cutting off power to the capital, Sana’a, and plunging it into darkness.

Powercuts are common in Yemen, where the cash-strapped government struggles with resources. Sabotage attacks on oil pipelines and electricity pylons are also common in a country that is flush with weapons and where the government has little control outside the main cities.

Security officials said repair teams have not been able to reach the damaged pylons in Marib, north-east of the capital, because the tribesmen were blocking the way in protest at a death sentence against one of their members convicted of belonging to Al Qaida and killing security agents. Mubarak Hadi Al Shabwani was sentenced to death in 2009 but appealed.

The court endorsed the death sentence on Tuesday, prompting his relatives to blow up the pylons in protest.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the reporters, said the military is threatening to use force if the tribesmen do not leave the area.

On Wednesday, the same court sentenced a man to death after he was convicted in the fatal shooting of a French manager of an Austrian oil company in 2010.