- Title: YEMEN: Pro and anti-government protesters march in Sanna
- Date: 30th January 2011
- Summary: SANAA, YEMEN (JANUARY 29, 2011) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ANTI-GOVERNMENT PROTESTERS SHOUTING SLOGAN, "PEOPLE WANT THE REGIME TO FALL" (5 SHOTS) VARIOUS OF SECURITY OFFICERS (2 SHOTS) VARIOUS OF GOVERNMENT SUPPORTERS CONFRONTING ANTI-GOVERNMENT SUPPORTERS, GOVERNMENT SUPPORTERS POINTING TO AIR AND SHOUTING, "WITH OUR BLOOD AND SOULS WE DEFEND YOU, ALI" VARIOUS OF GOVERNMENT SUPPORTERS, MARCHING, SHOUTING, "WITH OUR BLOOD AND SOULS WE DEFEND YOU, ALI" (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PRO-GOVERNMENT PROTESTER, AHMED AL KHAWLANI SAYING: "We want our leadership. We don't want to be like other countries. We are a peaceful people. We don't want crashing and destruction and devastation. We are satisfied with our leadership. With our souls and blood we sacrifice ourselves for Ali and Yemen." SECURITY OFFICERS, PROTESTERS SHOUTING (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) ANTI-GOVERNMENT PROTESTER SAMIA AL AGHBARI SAYING: "They are trying to hit women protesters and female journalists, but some of the male protesters are protecting us." (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) ACTIVIST, TAWAKUL KARMAN SAYING: "The same people that surrounded us today, they are the same people that surrounded our protest on Wednesday and tried to hit some of protesters. The only guarantee: they will not terrify us, and they will not scare us." PRO-GOVERNMENT PROTESTERS SHOUTING SLOGAN, "WITH OUR BLOOD AND SOULS WE DEFEND YOU, ALI" SECURITY OFFICERS IN FRONT OF PROTESTERS
- Embargoed: 14th February 2011 01:51
- Keywords: Yemdunc
- Location: Yemen, Yemen
- Country: Yemen
- Topics: Domestic Politics
- Reuters ID: LVAAZB5KT4XRGW9PH709NZK49VW9
- Aspect Ratio: 4:3
- Story Text: Pro and anti-government protesters confront each another at the Egyptian embassy in the Yemeni capital Sanaa.
Supporters of the government of President Ali Abdullah Saleh in Yemen attacked and dispersed dozens who tried to march to the Egyptian embassy in Sanaa to express solidarity with anti-government Egyptian demonstrators on Saturday (January 29).
Around 100 protesters marched from the Yemeni Journalists' Syndicate to the embassy where they were stopped by a line of policemen blocking the street.
The protesters shouted, "the people want the regime to fall", calling for Saleh to step down.
Pro-government bystanders confronted the crowd, yelling, "with our blood and souls we defend you, Ali."
One said, in apparent reference to the unrest elsewhere in the region, "We want our leadership. We don't want to be like other countries. We are a peaceful people. We don't want crashing and destruction and devastation. We are satisfied with our leadership."
Some of the anti-government protesters alleged they'd faced threatening behaviour from government backers. One woman, Samia al Aghbari said the backers were "trying to hit women protesters and female journalists, but some of the male protesters are protecting us."
Activist, Tawakul Karman added that they were undeterred.
"The same people that surrounded us today, they are the same people that surrounded our protest on Wednesday and tried to hit some of protesters. The only guarantee: they will not terrify us, and they will not scare us."
Saturday's protest came two days after around 16,000 opposition supporters took to the streets in Sanaa to call for a change in government in the largest rally since a wave of protests erupted in Yemen last week.
On Friday (January 28), the country's state news agency reported that the ruling party, the General People's Congress (GPC) had called for dialogue with the opposition.
The GPC said in October it would participate in an election scheduled for April 2011, dashing opposition hopes that the government would delay the poll to allow more time for talks on long-promised reforms.
Current unrest appears to be partly a reaction to a proposal last year by GPC members to end presidential term limits that would require Saleh to step down when his termin 2013.
Saleh's party backtracked last week in an effort to calm discontent, floating the idea of a new amendment that would limit a president to two terms of either five or seven years.
Saleh, a key ally of the United States in a war against a resurgent al Qaeda wing in Yemen, has ruled the impoverished Arabian Peninsula state for over 30 years.
Yemen is trying to quell a secessionist rebellion in its south and cement a truce with northern Shi'ite rebels. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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