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.
DETERRENCE: With 1,000 indigenous Hsiung Feng II and III missiles and 400 Harpoon missiles, the nation would boast the highest anti-ship missile density in the world With Taiwan wrapping up mass production of Hsiung Feng II and III missiles by December and an influx of Harpoon missiles from the US, Taiwan would have the highest density of anti-ship missiles in the world, a source said yesterday. Taiwan is to wrap up mass production of the indigenous anti-ship missiles by the end of year, as the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology has been meeting production targets ahead of schedule, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said. Combined with the 400 Harpoon anti-ship missiles Taiwan expects to receive from the US by 2028, the nation would have
North Korea yesterday fired about 10 ballistic missiles to the sea toward Japan, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, days after Pyongyang warned of “terrible consequences” over ongoing South Korea-US military drills. Pyongyang recently dashed hopes of a diplomatic thaw with Seoul, Washington’s security ally, describing its latest peace efforts as a “clumsy, deceptive farce.” Seoul’s military detected “around 10 ballistic missiles launched from the Sunan area in North Korea toward the East Sea [Sea of Japan] at around 1:20pm,” JCS said in a statement, referring to South Korea’s name for the body of water. The missiles
North Korea tested nuclear-capable rocket launchers, state media reported yesterday, a day after Seoul detected the launch of about 10 ballistic missiles. The test comes after South Korean and US forces launched their springtime military drills, due to run until Thursday. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Saturday oversaw the testing of the multiple rocket launcher system (MRLS), the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. The test involved 12 600mm-caliber ultra-precision multiple rocket launchers and two artillery companies, it said. Kim said the drill gave Pyongyang’s enemies, within the 420km striking range, a sense of “uneasiness” and “a deep understanding
‘UNWAVERING FRIENDSHIP’: A representative of a Japanese group that co-organized a memorial, said he hopes Japanese never forget Taiwan’s kindness President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday marked the 15th anniversary of the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, urging continued cooperation between Taiwan and Japan on disaster prevention and humanitarian assistance. Lai wrote on social media that Taiwan and Japan have always helped each other in the aftermath of major disasters. The magnitude 9 earthquake struck northeastern Japan on March 11, 2011, triggering a massive tsunami that claimed more than 19,000 lives, according to data from Japanese authorities. Following the disaster, Taiwan donated more than US$240 million in aid, making it one of the largest contributors of financial assistance to Japan. In addition to cash donations and
RSS