This piece was reprinted by OpEd News with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.
Lawyers dressed in black robes joined protesters, chanting: "The people want the regime to step down. Leave Saleh, (and) After Mubarak, Ali." Al Jazeera's Hashem Ahelbarra said:
"What we are seeing is thousands of pro-government protesters (and security forces), armed with batons, attacking the pro-democracy protesters and dispersing the crowd using violence. The situation is very tense. The government has been describing the pro-democracy protesters as traitors and accusing them of pushing foreign agendas. But the mood of the pro-democracy protesters is on the rise and they are saying that they will continue their fight to bring down this regime and to bring about a change."
The Yemen Post said, "Police and bullies hurled stones at the protesters fed up with bad living conditions, high unemployment rates, widespread corruption at the public institutions and oppression. They also beat them with stun batons, and police fired live ammunition in the air in an attempt to disperse the protesters."
Numerous injuries were reported. In Aden, dock workers stormed the Yemen Gulf of Aden Port Corporation offices, seizing top officials, including chairman Mohamed Bin Aefan. One protester said, "We have had it with corrupt officials and it's time to tell them to leave. What happened in Egypt and Tunisia motivated the workers to demand their rights."
Even after opposition parties accepted Saleh's dialogue offer, demonstrations grew. He also agreed not to change Yemen's constitution to remain president for life and have his son, head of the Republican Guard, succeed him. At the same time, a new National Defense Council law lets it freely tap phones, open mail, and monitor Internet and other electronic communications repressively.
For Washington, Yemen is strategically important, located near the Horn of Africa on Saudi Arabia's southern border, the Red Sea, its Bab el-Mandeb strait (a key chokepoint separating Yemen from Eritrea through which three million barrels of oil pass daily), and the Gulf of Aden connection to the Indian Ocean.
As a result, military ties between Washington and Saleh have grown stronger, said Al Jazeera, as the country faces a southern secessionist movement, besides rising food and energy costs in the Arab world's poorest country. Nearly half its people live on $2 or less a day for those lucky enough to have work. Nearly half of Yemenis don't. They want better lives, including ending Saleh's 32 year dictatorship.
Updating Egypt
Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
1
1
