Yemenis call for swift transition of power

Press TV, Sun Jun 12, 2011 4:29PM Share

Yemenis have once again poured into the streets across the country, calling for the establishment of a transitional council to enable the handover of power to the people.

“People want a transitional council,” and “people will continue to overthrow the regime,” shouted the protesters on Sunday, Reuters reported.

In a popular revolution, hundreds of thousands of people have turned out for regular demonstrations in Yemen's major cities since late January. They have been calling for an end to corruption and unemployment and demanding the overthrow of the regime.

Yemen's Ali Abdullah Saleh has been receiving treatment in Saudi Arabia after a last-Friday rocket attack on the presidential palace.

The demonstrators want the formal overthrow of the regime while Saleh is away.

He has been in a serious condition with reported burns on 40 percent of his body.
Yemeni and Saudi officials, however, insist that the 69-year-old's condition is improving and that he will be back home soon.

Protesters have also promised to prevent his return to power.

Yemenis hold fresh anti-Saleh protests

Press TV, Sat Jun 11, 2011 5:2AM

Soldiers sympathetic to antiregime protesters chanted slogans against Yemeni President Saleh in San'a on Friday, a day of countrywide rallies. Tens of thousands of anti-government protesters have once again taken to the streets across Yemen on a day of loyalty to the revolution's goals.

Following the Friday prayers, demonstrators rallied in several cities including Taizz, Ibb, Bayda and the capital Sana'a, a Press TV report said.

But the most prominent rally was held in the northern city of Sa'ada, home to the Shia Houthis, who have long been at odds with Sana'a for discrimination against the country's Shia minority.

Calling for the establishment of a new and modern Yemen, protesters across the nation renewed their call for President Ali Abdullah Saleh to surrender all power.

Saleh currently remains in Saudi Arabia, where he is allegedly being treated for injuries he reportedly suffered in an attack on the Yemeni presidential palace on Friday, June 3.

Official sources had originally said that President Saleh would return back to the country within a matter of days. However opposition groups believe that with his departure, Saleh's 33-year rule has come to an abrupt end.

The protesters are now demanding the formation of a transitional presidential council in the country.

They have also slammed Saudi Arabia and the United States for their meddling in the Arab country.

On Friday, a security official in the Abyan governate in southern Yemen said a US drone aircraft had attacked what they called al-Qaeda fighters in the town of Jaar, killing three people.

Pentagon officials could not be reached to comment about the reported strike, The Wall Street Journal said.

The US military has secretly stepped up strikes against so-called al-Qaeda targets in Yemen in recent weeks using manned and unmanned aircraft, officials say.

Yemen has been rocked by anti-government protests since January.

During the past five months, hundreds of people have been killed and many more injured by forces loyal to Saleh's US-backed regime.

Reports say that Yemeni authorities are now trying to move Saleh's family members from Sana'a to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.

FF/MGH