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One killed, 7 injured in latest Yemen street clashes
[Arab News] An anti-government protester was killed and seven injured in festivities with supporters of Yemen's President  President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, after serving as a lieutenant colonel in the army. He had been part of the conspiracy that bumped off his predecessor, Ibrahim al-Hamdi, in the usual tiresome military coup, and he has maintained power by keeping Yemen's many tribes fighting with each other, rather than uniting to string him up. ... in Sanaa on Saturday, a day after five people died in protests against his 32-year rule. Saleh blamed a "foreign agenda" and a "conspiracy against Yemen, its security and stability" for the string of protests against poverty, unemployment and corruption which have gained momentum since the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt. The protester was shot in the neck and was taken to a hospital near Sanaa University where he died, witnesses told Rooters. At one stage both sides fired pistols and assault rifles -- the first reported use of firearms by demonstrators. Four other Saleh opponents were seriously maimed by gunfire, two of them seriously, and three were maimed when demonstrators threw stones at each other outside the university. A photographer saw one man with his face covered in blood and another being carried away by protesters. Around 1,000 anti-Saleh demonstrators chanted "Leave! Leave!" and "The people want the fall of the regime!," echoing the slogans of Tunisian and Egyptian protesters. Between 200 and 300 Saleh supporters called for dialogue. "Those who want power let them come with us to the polling stations ... the Yemeni people face elements of sabotage and those who are outside the system and the law," Saleh said in a speech to representatives of civil society organizations. In a concession to protesters, he has promised to step down when his term ends in 2013 and not to hand power to his son. A coalition of opposition parties has agreed to talk to him, but protests have continued. In south Yemen, where resentment of rule from Sanaa runs high, dozens of men used their cars in the town of Karish to block the main road between Taiz and the southern port city of Aden, shouting for "the fall of the regime," residents said. In Aden as many as 400 protesters staged a peaceful sit-in, holding banners saying: "No to oppression. No to corruption." The local council of Sheikh Othman, a directorate in Aden, said in a statement it resigned in protest at the use of live bullets by security forces against protesters which led to deaths and injuries in the city on Friday. In Sanaa, the editor of Defense Ministry newspaper September 26 was maimed when he was beaten and stabbed by anti-government protesters, a government official told Rooters. On Friday, security forces and pro-government loyalists clashed in several cities with crowds demanding Saleh step down. Doctors said four people died from gunfire in Aden and one was killed by a grenade in Taiz, Yemen's second city. US President Barack B.O.Obama said he was deeply concerned by the violence in Yemen, Bahrain and Libya. "The United States condemns the use of violence by governments against peaceful protesters in those countries and wherever else it may occur," he said in a statement. Posted by: Fred 2011-02-20 |
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