Monday, February 28, 2011

Yemen President Ali Abdullah Saleh vowed Sunday to defend his three-decade regime “with every drop of blood,” accusing opponents of hijacking protests in a ploy to split the nation.
Anti-government protests were held Sunday in cities across Yemen, including the capital of Sanaa, the city of Taiz and the port of Aden.

Despite two weeks of escalating protests demanding that he step down, Saleh has repeatedly refused to resign.
In his latest comments, reported by the state-run Saba news agency Sunday, he accused his opponents of trying to revive secessionist efforts that sparked a short-lived civil war in 1994.

“There is a conspiracy against Yemen’s unity and territorial integrity and we, in the armed forces, have served to preserve the republican regime with every drop of blood we have,” Saba quoted Saleh as saying. “We are trying in every way possible to deal with and overcome these difficulties democratically, through dialogue with all political leaders, but in vain.”

His one concession has been to pledge not to seek re-election in 2013.
Amnesty International has put the death toll at 27, an average of nearly three killed every day since Feb. 16.
Five protesters were wounded Sunday, as police dispersed a demonstration of students in the city of Mukala, in Hadramaut province.

Medics said one protester was wounded by a bullet, and the other four injured were beaten by batons.
But a local official quoted by Saba said police did not clash with demonstrators in Mukala, insisting that a confrontation took place between protesters and “rioters with batons who infiltrated” the demonstration.
In the capital, students maintained a sit-in outside Sanaa University, where they have vowed to remain until the fall of Saleh’s regime.
And in Taez, south of Sanaa, protesters continued their second week camping out in a main square to demand that Saleh stand down.

Security officials said Saleh dispatched army units, bolstered by tanks, to Aden to help security forces in putting down the protests.
Pressure on Saleh to bow out intensified Sunday when Yemen’s opposition parties said they are joining the young protesters. Mainstream opposition parties had been reluctant to join.

However, they said Sunday they would hold rallies Tuesday to show solidarity with the protesters.
“We call on all the citizens to come out Tuesday and condemn the regime for its crimes,” said the Joint Gathering, an umbrella group for seven opposition parties, including socialist, moderate Islamic and nationalist factions.
The announcement marked the second major setback in two days for Saleh. Two powerful chiefs from his own tribe abandoned him and joined the anti-regime movement Saturday.

In a speech to the protesters, Sheikh Hussein bin Abdullah al-Ahmar, a key Hashid leader and a longtime ally to Saleh, said he is resigning from the leadership of the ruling party. “I call on every honorable Yemeni to work to topple the regime” said Ahmar to the applause of the protesters, many carrying weapons.
In a separate statement Saturday, Mohammad Abdel Illah al-Qadi, a key leader of the Sanhan, a Hashid affiliate and a longtime bulwark of Saleh’s regime, said he was resigning from the ruling party.

The protests have been strongest in south Yemen, which united with the Saleh-ruled north only in 1990.
In an address to military and police forces late Saturday, Saleh accused southerners of again seeking to secede and “divide Yemen” and northerners of aiming to reinstate the monarchy that ruled the country until 1962.

A security source told AFP that five Southern Movement activists, including former diplomat Qassem Askar, were arrested Sunday on suspicion of having fomented violence in a massive demonstration Friday. – Agencies