Sanaa: Police on rooftops fired live
bullets and tear gas at protesters today, injuring more than
100 people who were camping near Sanaa University, the latest
in weeks of demonstrations calling for the Yemeni President to
step down.
Wielding clubs and knives, police and government
supporters also attacked protesters on the ground, said
Mohammed al-Abahi, a doctor in charge of a makeshift hospital
near the university.
Among the injured, more than 20 suffered gas
inhalation, and one was in critical condition after being
struck with a bullet, the doctor said.
The violence came a day after security forces killed
seven demonstrators in protests around the country.
In Washington, State Department spokesman P J Crowley
expressed deep concern and said the violence must stop.
"We call on the Yemeni government to quickly
investigate these incidents," he said, adding, "People
everywhere share the same universal rights to demonstrate
peacefully and to freely assemble and express themselves."
In the southern Aden province, demonstrators stormed a
police station, seizing weapons after the police fled,
witnesses said.
In the Taiz province, clashes between demonstrators
and police left at least four wounded, witnesses said.
Yemen has been hit by the wave of protests since
mid-February. Even before that, the country`s government was
weak and struggling to confront one of the world`s most active
al Qaeda branches, a secessionist rebellion in the south and a
Shiite uprising in the north.
The protests are part of a wave of unrest sweeping the
region. Yemen`s demonstrators are calling for President Ali
Abdullah Saleh to step down after 32 years in power, a demand
he has repeatedly rejected while also trying to assuage
opposition groups.
Saleh has said he would not seek another term in
office in 2013, and offered to form a unity government with
opposition figures. These overtures have failed to satisfy the
protesters.
On Sunday, Saleh sacked a close relative from a senior
military post. He later announced his support for the
protests.
Major General Abdel Illah al-Qadi told reporters he
planned to visit protesters in Sanaa later today. Al-Qadi`s
son, Mohammed, resigned earlier from the ruling Congress
Party.
Resigned parliament member Abdel-Bari Degheish said a
protester in Aden died Sunday from wounds he suffered a day
earlier, bringing to seven the number killed during
yesterday`s demonstrations.
PTI
