Thousands, apparently inspired by events in Tunisia and Egypt, held a mass demonstration on Thursday calling on Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh to quit after holding power since 1978.
It came a day after a 28-year-old man set fire to himself in the port city of Aden, the former capital of the formerly independent south, witnesses said. That brought to four the number of such copycat self-immolation attempts in the Arab world’s poorest nation.
The US, which has played an increasingly active role in efforts to stem al-Qaeda’s use of the Arab world’s poorest nation as a rear-base for its worldwide activities, said it backed the right to peaceful protest.
Photo: AFP
Washington backs the right of Yemenis to “express themselves and assemble freely,” US Department of State spokesman Philip Crowley told reporters, echoing the message that it has been delivering to key Arab ally Egypt.
“Enough being in power for [more than] 30 years,” chanted protesters in demonstrations staged by the Common Forum opposition in four different parts of the capital Sana’a.
In reference to the ouster of veteran Tunisian strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, the demonstrators said he was “gone in just 20 years.”
However, Yemeni Interior Minister Motahar Rashad al-Masri dismissed any resemblance between the protests in Yemen and the public outcry in the North African country that led to Ben Ali’s departure.
“Yemen is not like Tunisia,” al-Masri said, adding that Yemen was a “democratic country” and that the demonstrations were peaceful.
Witnesses said that during protests on Wednesday a bus station employee set fire to himself in a central square in Aden and was only saved from death by the swift action of passers-by, who put out the flames.
Medics said he remained in intensive care after suffering extensive burns. He was at least the fourth such protester, security sources said.
A 45-year-old who poured gasoline on himself in the southeastern province of Hadramawt on Jan. 20 died of his injuries, the only fatality so far.
Slogans chanted during Thursday’s demonstration in the capital were firm in demanding Saleh’s departure.
“No to extending [presidential tenure]. No to bequeathing [the presidency],” chanted demonstrators, insisting that it was “time for change.”
Security measures at the demonstrations appeared relaxed, but were tight around the interior ministry and the central bank.
Saleh’s ruling General People’s Congress (GPC), meanwhile, organized four simultaneous counter-demonstrations which were attended by thousands of the government’s backers.
“No to toppling democracy and the Constitution,” the president’s supporters said on their banners.
Last Saturday, hundreds of Sana’a University students held counter-protests on campus, with some calling for Saleh to step down and others for him to remain in office.
Saleh, who has been president for decades, was re-elected in September 2006 for a seven-year mandate.
A draft amendment of the Constitution, under discussion in parliament despite opposition protests, could allow him — if passed — to remain in office for life.
Saleh has urged the opposition, which rejected the amendment, to take part in April 27 parliamentary elections to avoid “political suicide.”
Thousands gathered across New Zealand yesterday to celebrate the signing of the country’s founding document and some called for an end to government policies that critics say erode the rights promised to the indigenous Maori population. As the sun rose on the dawn service at Waitangi where the Treaty of Waitangi was first signed between the British Crown and Maori chiefs in 1840, some community leaders called on the government to honor promises made 185 years ago. The call was repeated at peaceful rallies that drew several hundred people later in the day. “This government is attacking tangata whenua [indigenous people] on all
The administration of US President Donald Trump has appointed to serve as the top public diplomacy official a former speech writer for Trump with a history of doubts over US foreign policy toward Taiwan and inflammatory comments on women and minorities, at one point saying that "competent white men must be in charge." Darren Beattie has been named the acting undersecretary for public diplomacy and public affairs, a senior US Department of State official said, a role that determines the tone of the US' public messaging in the world. Beattie requires US Senate confirmation to serve on a permanent basis. "Thanks to
UNDAUNTED: Panama would not renew an agreement to participate in Beijing’s Belt and Road project, its president said, proposing technical-level talks with the US US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday threatened action against Panama without immediate changes to reduce Chinese influence on the canal, but the country’s leader insisted he was not afraid of a US invasion and offered talks. On his first trip overseas as the top US diplomat, Rubio took a guided tour of the canal, accompanied by its Panamanian administrator as a South Korean-affiliated oil tanker and Marshall Islands-flagged cargo ship passed through the vital link between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. However, Rubio was said to have had a firmer message in private, telling Panama that US President Donald Trump
‘IMPOSSIBLE’: The authors of the study, which was published in an environment journal, said that the findings appeared grim, but that honesty is necessary for change Holding long-term global warming to 2°C — the fallback target of the Paris climate accord — is now “impossible,” according to a new analysis published by leading scientists. Led by renowned climatologist James Hansen, the paper appears in the journal Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development and concludes that Earth’s climate is more sensitive to rising greenhouse gas emissions than previously thought. Compounding the crisis, Hansen and colleagues argued, is a recent decline in sunlight-blocking aerosol pollution from the shipping industry, which had been mitigating some of the warming. An ambitious climate change scenario outlined by the UN’s climate
RSS