Protest in Yemen, President Saleh have turned violent
YEMEN: A huge number of anti-government protesters in Yemen have hurled stones at anti-riot police backed by tanks in the southern province of Aden.
Protesters demanding the ouster of Ali Abdullah Saleh, the country’s longtime president, called for a general strike on Saturday and witnesses said many of residents responded by not going to work.
Demonstrators set tyres on fire, sending black smoke in the sky. They also erected barricades with large rocks at the entrance of main roads to prevent tanks from moving.
Saleh has ruled Yemen for 32 years and has warned that if he is ousted, Yemen will descend into chaos, boosting the al-Qaeda presence already in the country.
The latest protests come days after Saleh made a fresh offer to demonstrators, proposing he stays in office until elections are held and that he will transfer his powers to a caretaker government.
The offer was made on Tuesday at a meeting with Mohammed al-Yadoumi, head of the Islah party. It was the first time the president had dealt with Islah, once a partner in his government, an opposition spokesmen said.
“The opposition could pick a head of government of its own choosing and there would be parliamentary elections by the end of the year,” an opposition source said of Saleh’s offer.
The opposition promptly rejected the offer, with a spokesman calling it “an attempt to prolong the survival of regime”.
Weeks of protests by many thousands in Sanaa, the capital, and other cities have sent Saleh’s rule to the brink of collapse.
However, the United States and top oil producer Saudi Arabia, a key Yemen supporter, are worried over who could succeed their ally. They have long regarded Saleh as a bulwark of stability who can keep al-Qaeda from extending its foothold in an Arabian Peninsula country.
Yemen’s al-Qaeda wing claimed responsibility for a foiled attempt in late 2009 to blow up an airliner bound for Detroit, and for US-bound cargo bombs sent in October 2010.
