Anti-government protesters clashed with police trying to prevent them from marching toward Yemen’s presidential palace in Sana’a yesterday, witnesses said.
Shortly before the clashes, the opposition agreed to enter talks with Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who is keen to avert an Egypt-style revolt in the country, a US ally against al-Qaeda.
“The Yemeni people want the fall of the regime,” protesters shouted during the demonstration attended by about 1,000 people, before dozens broke off to march to the palace. “A Yemeni revolution after the Egyptian revolution.”
Photo: AFP
Sporadic anti-government protests have gathered momentum in Yemen. Earlier this month, tens of thousands took part in an opposition-led “Day of Rage” to demand a change of government, inspired by popular protests in Tunisia and Egypt.
Pro and anti-government protesters have clashed in recent days.
Opposition officials said 10 protesters were detained in Sana’a and 120 were taken into custody overnight in the city of Taiz, where authorities broke up a demonstration on Saturday.
Four people were hurt in the Sana’a clashes, in which police hit protesters with batons and demonstrators threw rocks at police, witnesses said.
Saleh, in power for more than three decades and concerned about unrest in some parts of the Arab world, has said he would step down in 2013 and pledged his son will not take over the reins of government. He invited the opposition for talks.
“The opposition does not reject what came in the invitation by the president and is ready to sign an agreement in no more than a week,” said former Yemeni foreign minister Mohammed Basindwa, now an opposition politician, adding that the talks should include Western or Gulf observers.
ALGERIA
Up to 2,000 demonstrators evaded massed police on Saturday to rally in a central Algiers square, calling for Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to go following the overthrow of leaders in Egypt and Tunisia.
Ringed by hundreds of riot police, some of whom carried automatic weapons in addition to clubs and shields, they waved a large banner reading “Regime, out” and chanted slogans borrowed from the mass protests in Tunis and Cairo.
However, police deployed in their tens of thousands prevented them making a planned 4km march from May 1 Square to Martyrs’ Square.
The demonstrators included both the head of the opposition Rally for Culture and Democracy (RCD), Said Sadi, and his one-time enemy Ali Belhadj, the former leader of the now-banned Islamist Salvation Front.
A knot of police surrounded Sadi to prevent him using a loudspeaker to address the crowd, while a number of arrests were made.
By the afternoon, only about 150 mainly young protesters were left in a corner of the square still chanting defiantly.
However, Fodil Boumala, one of the founders of the National Coordination for Change and Democracy, which called the march, was jubilant.
“We’ve broken the wall of fear, this is only a beginning,” he said. “The Algerians have won back their capital.”
IRAN
Iran’s opposition yesterday renewed its call for a rally in support of protesters in Tunisia and Egypt despite a government warning of repercussions if demonstrations take place, a reformist Web site reported.
In a statement published on -Kaleme.com, the opposition urged its supporters to rally today in central Tehran and accused the government of hypocrisy by voicing support for the Egyptian and Tunisian uprisings while refusing to allow Iranian political activists to stage a peaceful demonstration.
Wary of a reinvigorated opposition at home, Iranian authorities have detained several activists and journalists in recent weeks and opposition leader Mahdi Karroubi was put under house arrest, apparently in connection with the request to stage the rally.
The statement said further restrictions on Karroubi and fellow opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi were a sign of the “increasing weakness and fear of the government about the most peaceful civil and political rights” of Iranians.
In another report, Kaleme said many university students as well as a reformist cleric group have promised to attend the rally. However, it was not clear whether the rally would actually take place. Many opposition calls for demonstrations in the past months have gone unheeded.
BAHRAIN
Bahrain’s leaders promised yesterday to expand media freedoms in another apparent attempt to quell plans for the first major anti--government protests in the Gulf since the uprising in Egypt.
The tiny kingdom of Bahrain is among the most politically volatile in the Gulf and holds important strategic value for the West as the home of the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet. Bahrain’s majority Shiites have long complained of discrimination by the ruling Sunni dynasty, whose crackdown on dissent last year touched off riots and clashes.
Shiite-led opposition groups and others have joined calls for demonstrations today — the anniversary of Bahrain’s 2002 Constitution that brought some pro-democracy reforms such as an elected parliament.
Security forces were deployed in malls and other key spots around Bahrain yesterday in a clear warning against holding the rallies, but a prominent human rights activist predicted “chaos and bloodshed” if attempts were made to crush the planned demonstrations.
Bahrain’s leaders, meanwhile, have stepped in with concessions to try to defuse the protests.
Government media monitors began talks yesterday with publishers and others to draft new rules to limit state controls. The Bahrain News Agency, meanwhile, launched a new multimedia service that includes social media applications to seek more outreach.
It’s unclear, however, whether activists and rights groups will be satisfied with the proposed changes after facing widespread blocks on Web sites and blogs.
Japan has deployed long-range missiles in a southwestern region near China, the Japanese defense minister said yesterday, at a time when ties with Beijing are at their lowest in recent years. The missiles were installed in Kumamoto in the southern region of Kyushu, as Japan is attempting to shore up its military capacity as China steps up naval activity in the East China Sea. “Standoff defense capabilities enable us to counter the threat of enemy forces attempting to invade our country ... while ensuring the safety of our personnel,” Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi said. “This is an extremely important initiative for
MORE POPULAR: Taiwan Pass sales increased by 59 percent during the first quarter compared with the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said The Tourism Administration yesterday said that it has streamlined the Taiwan Pass, with two versions available for purchase beginning today. The tourism agency has made the pass available to international tourists since 2024, allowing them to access the high-speed rail, Taiwan Railway Corp services, four MRT systems and four Taiwan Tourist Shuttles. Previously, five types of Taiwan Pass were available, but some tourists have said that the offerings were too complicated. The agency said only two types of Taiwan Pass would be available, starting from a three-day pass with the high-speed rail and a three-day pass with Taiwan Railway Corp. The former costs NT$2,800
POLLS CONCERNS: There are concerns within the KMT that a Cheng Li-wun-Xi Jinping meeting could trigger a voter backlash in elections in November Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) accepted an invitation from Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to visit next month, her party and Chinese state media reported yesterday. Cheng, who took up her role in November last year, “gladly accepted” the invitation to lead a delegation to China, the KMT said in a statement, confirming a Xinhua news agency report. Cheng “looks forward to joint efforts by both parties to advance the peaceful development of cross-strait relations, promote cross-strait exchanges and cooperation, and work for peace in the Taiwan Strait and greater well-being for people on both sides,” the statement said. Chinese
SIGNIFICANT TO THE WORLD: The delegation’s visit aims to send a clear message that bipartisan support for Taiwan is consistent, US Senator Jeanne Shaheen said The US Senate’s bipartisan support for Taiwan remains strong and Taiwan-US ties would continue for decades to come, a US Senate delegation said in Taipei yesterday, while calling on the legislature to swiftly pass a special defense budget bill. A US delegation led by Democratic US Senator Jeanne Shaheen and Republican US Senator John Curtis — both members of the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations — arrived in Taiwan yesterday for a two-day visit. The other senators of the delegation included Senate Taiwan Caucus cochair Thom Tillis and Senate Committee on Armed Services senior member Jacky Rosen. Shaheen told a news
RSS