YEMEN: Anti-government protesters open an arts and crafts exhibition on the fringes of their rally in Sanaa

Record ID: 212720

  • Title: YEMEN: Anti-government protesters open an arts and crafts exhibition on the fringes of their rally in Sanaa
  • Date: 14th July 2011
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PROTESTER U+0650AFRAH AL YARIMY, SAYING: "We wanted to participate in this new exhibition for children, because the children have been deprived of this kind of entertainment for 30 years, and this is a new initiative for children."
  • Embargoed: 29th July 2011 13:00
  • Keywords: Yemdunc
  • Location: Yemen, Yemen
  • Country: Yemen
  • Topics: Arts,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAEL7S8XISEZOF2W634VP7K6QDE
  • Story Text: Anti-government protests in Sanaa's Tagheer Square may be something of a daily occurance.
    But on Wednesday (July 13), anti-government tactics got more artful.
    While men chanted slogans calling for the downfall of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, children and women queued for face painting -- as part of an anti-government art exhibition.
    "We wanted to participate in this new exhibition for children, because the children have been deprived of this kind of entertainment for 30 years, and this is a new initiative for children," one femal protester said.
    "The women who were sidelined by Ali Abdullah Saleh are now saying: 'I will participate in building Yemen.' Ali Abdullah Saleh sidelined us even though he always pretended he supported women and a woman's right to participate in public life, but we did not find our true place in society during his rule," another added.
    Yemen is a southern neighbor of Saudi Arabia and the world's largest oil exporter.
    But the country has been rocked by months of protests -- with tens of thousands demanding Saleh end his 33 years in power.
    The United States and Saudi Arabia fear that Islamist militants linked to al Qaeda, which has established a foothold in southern Yemen, might exploit the unrest to carry out attacks in the region and beyond.
    Both have urged Saleh to step down under a plan proposed by Gulf Arab states.
    But 69-year-old Saleh has resisted the pressure, hoping protesters will grow tired and drop their demands.
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