Yemenis march in bid to oust president
Source: Agencies |
February 18, 2011, Friday
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Print Edition
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SEVERAL thousand Yemeni protesters defied appeals for calm from the military and the country's most influential Islamic cleric and marched through the capital yesterday, pressing on with their campaign to oust the president, a US ally.
The protesters fought off attacks by police and government supporters swinging batons and daggers. Municipal vehicles ferried sticks and stones to the pro-government side, witnesses said.
For seven straight days, protests have hit the capital, Sanaa, and other cities in the Arab world's poorest country, a mountainous territory wracked by tribal conflicts, armed rebellion and other serious problems.
Inspired by uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, Yemenis have poured into the streets to demand the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh after 32 years in power - three years more than Egypt's Hosni Mubarak. Their main grievances are poverty and government corruption.
Saleh's promises not to run for re-election in 2013 or to set up his son to succeed him have failed to quiet the anti-government storm sweeping Yemen.
The Yemeni president is an important US ally in fighting al-Qaida. The terror group's Yemen-based offshoot has been linked to attacks beyond Yemen's borders, including the failed attempt in December 2009 to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner.
Yesterday's protests began with small groups of students marching toward downtown Sanaa. Other people joined them as clashes broke out with police and government supporters. There were about 6,000 protesters.
"People want to topple the president, people want to topple the regime," they chanted.
Witnesses said police fired shots in the air to disperse the protesters. A dozen protesters and an unknown number of policemen were injured.
The protesters fought off attacks by police and government supporters swinging batons and daggers. Municipal vehicles ferried sticks and stones to the pro-government side, witnesses said.
For seven straight days, protests have hit the capital, Sanaa, and other cities in the Arab world's poorest country, a mountainous territory wracked by tribal conflicts, armed rebellion and other serious problems.
Inspired by uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, Yemenis have poured into the streets to demand the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh after 32 years in power - three years more than Egypt's Hosni Mubarak. Their main grievances are poverty and government corruption.
Saleh's promises not to run for re-election in 2013 or to set up his son to succeed him have failed to quiet the anti-government storm sweeping Yemen.
The Yemeni president is an important US ally in fighting al-Qaida. The terror group's Yemen-based offshoot has been linked to attacks beyond Yemen's borders, including the failed attempt in December 2009 to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner.
Yesterday's protests began with small groups of students marching toward downtown Sanaa. Other people joined them as clashes broke out with police and government supporters. There were about 6,000 protesters.
"People want to topple the president, people want to topple the regime," they chanted.
Witnesses said police fired shots in the air to disperse the protesters. A dozen protesters and an unknown number of policemen were injured.
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