Both Sides Take to Yemen’s Streets Over Saleh’s Crumbling Dictatorship

Jakarta Globe, Mohamed Sudam & Mohammed Ghobari, April 22, 2011

Antigovernment protesters hold a giant Yemeni flag during a protest calling
for the ouster of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh in the flashpoint
city of Taiz, 255 kilometers south of Sanaa, on Friday. Reports said
hundreds of thousands of protesters turned out across the county. (AFP Photo)

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Sanaa. Yemenis flooded the streets of Sanaa and Taiz on Friday in rival demonstrations for and against President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who gave a guarded welcome to a Gulf Arab plan for a three-month power transition.

He told supporters in Sanaa that any arrangements had to be “within the framework of the Yemen constitution” — language that could mask objections to the plan — and also vowed to “confront challenge with challenge,” but without bloodshed.

Riot police fired in the air in the southern city of Taiz to try to keep vast, unruly crowds of both pro- and anti-Saleh demonstrators apart, witnesses said. Ambulance sirens could be heard, but there was no immediate news on casualties.

A sea of anti-Saleh protesters, perhaps in the hundreds of thousands, inundated the streets of Taiz, Yemen’s third city and an epicenter of opposition to the 69-year-old president.

Tens of thousands of Saleh loyalists turned out in the capital, Sanaa, for what they called a “Friday of Reconciliation,” waving Yemeni flags and pictures of Saleh.

Their numbers were matched by protesters demanding Saleh’s immediate departure, spilling out of their usual protest area around Sanaa University to mark a “Last Chance Friday” in nearby Siteen street, where there was a heavy security presence.

That raised concern that Saleh’s security forces and republican guards might clash with troops loyal to renegade general Ali Mohsen, protecting the protesters in Sanaa.

Demonstrators voiced skepticism about the latest Gulf plan aimed at halting Yemen’s descent into more violence.

The proposal of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council calls for Saleh to hand power to his vice president one month after signing an agreement. He would appoint an opposition leader to lead an interim cabinet to prepare for presidential elections two months later, a Yemeni official said.

The plan, presented on Thursday, also gives immunity from prosecution to Saleh, his family and aides — anathema to his foes, who would also have to end protests under the proposal.

“We won’t depend on any initiative that doesn’t demand that this man leaves right away,” protester Manea Abdullah said. “We are sticking to the demands of the revolution for an immediate departure and prosecution of those who killed our comrades.”

Saleh’s Gulf and Western allies, concerned the chaos in Yemen will open opportunities for Al Qaeda militants, are trying to broker a peaceful transition after three months of protests against Saleh’s 32-year rule.

Reuters