Yemeni security forces wounded dozens of people as they fired bullets and tear gas to disperse hundreds of thousands of protesters in the flashpoint city of Taez yesterday, witnesses said.
Large crowds gathered in Taez, south of Sana’a, to pressure Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down immediately despite a US-backed Gulf plan for a transition, they said.
The protesters, who have been demonstrating across Yemen since late in January, rallied against a Gulf Cooperation Council plan under which Saleh would quit in 30 days with immunity from prosecution.
“No rest, no respite for the executioner,” protesters shouted as tension gripped the the area.
The witnesses said security forces erected concrete barriers to block access roads leading to the Taiz governor’s office and deployed armored vehicles on the streets.
The latest flare-up came after the US urged a peaceful transition after Saleh’s ruling General People’s Congress said on Saturday it accepted the transition plan drawn up by Yemen’s oil-rich Gulf neighbors.
“No negotiations, no dialogue,” banners carried by the demonstrators read yesterday.
Bahraini flags were also spotted in a show of solidarity with pro-democracy demonstrations in the kingdom, where street protests were crushed in the middle of last month after a deployment of a joint Gulf force.
Meanwhile, deep divisions within Yemen’s opposition appeared to doom the Arab proposal for the president to step down within a month, raising the prospect of more bloodshed and instability in a nation already beset by deep poverty and conflict.
Saleh, who has ruled for 32 years, agreed on Saturday to the council’s formula for him to transfer power to his vice president within 30 days of a deal being signed in exchange for immunity from prosecution for him and his sons.
A coalition of seven opposition parties generally accepted the deal, but after thousands stood their ground on Sunday in a permanent protest camp in Sana’a, their leaders said they suspected Saleh was just maneuvering to buy time and cling to power. The protesters said the established opposition -political parties taking part in the talks with Arab mediators did not represent them and could not turn off the rage on the streets.
“President Saleh has in the past agreed to initiatives and he went back on his word,” said Khaled al-Ansi, one of the youth leaders organizing the street protests. “We have no reason to believe that he would not do this again.”
So far, Saleh has outrun more than two months of protests pressing for him to immediately step down, thanks in large part to the unwavering loyalty of the country’s best military units, which are controlled by one of his sons and other close relatives.
A bloc of Gulf nations, including powerful Saudi Arabia, has been trying to broker an end to the crisis, fearing the potential blowback of more instability in the fragile country on the southern edge of Arabia.
However, the protesters in the streets, who are from an array of different backgrounds and are not represented in the talks, reject the proposal outright and want nothing short of Saleh’s immediate resignation and his trial on charges of corruption and for the killings of unarmed protesters.
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