YEMEN: Former President Ali Abdullah Saleh addresses thousands of his supporters, calling for 'reconciliation and tolerance'

Record ID: 213920

  • Title: YEMEN: Former President Ali Abdullah Saleh addresses thousands of his supporters, calling for 'reconciliation and tolerance'
  • Date: 27th February 2013
  • Summary: SANAA, YEMEN (FEBRUARY 27, 2013) (REUTERS) VIEW OF FORMER YEMENI PRESIDENT ALI ABDULLAH SALEH SUPPORTERS IN STREET HOLDING BANNERS MORE OF SUPPORTERS SECURITY/CROWDS MORE OF SUPPORTERS WAVING FLAGS AND BANNER, AND CHANTING BANNER OF SALEH SALEH WALKING THROUGH CROWDS SALEH WAVING AT SUPPORTERS SALEH SEATED MORE OF SUPPORTERS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) FORMER YEMENI PRESIDENT, ALI ABDULLAH SALEH, SAYING: ''On this day, I call for reconciliation and tolerance, and for this new chapter to build a new Yemen, a united Yemen, a free and democratic Yemen.'' MORE OF CROWDS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) FORMER YEMENI PRESIDENT, ALI ABDULLAH SALEH, SAYING: '' No to blowing up oil pipelines, or to cutting of electricity, or to blowing up gas pipes, no to calling for separation, we must be united and rooted, no to secession, no to secession, no to secession.'' MORE OF SALEH SUPPORTERS SALEH SUPPORTERS IN THE STREET BANGING DRUMS
  • Embargoed: 14th March 2013 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Yemen
  • Country: Yemen
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAA6A55IS3Y0LG890LJ2SVWM10N
  • Story Text: Thousands of supporters of Yemen's former president Ali Abdullah Saleh poured into the streets of the country's capital on Wednesday (February 27).
    Waving banners and chanting 'with our souls and our blood we are with you Ali' they flocked to an address in Sanaa by Saleh himself.
    ''On this day, I call for reconciliation and tolerance, and for this new chapter to build a new Yemen, a united Yemen, a free and democratic Yemen,'' said Saleh.
    ''No to blowing up oil pipelines, or to cutting of electricity, or to blowing up gas pipes, no to calling for separation, we must be united and rooted, no to secession, no to secession, no to secession,'' he added.
    Saleh stood down in February last year, after a year of protests and infighting among his army and tribal allies that left over 2,000 dead, in return for immunity for himself and his relatives.
    Protests are becoming a regular occurrence in the impoverished state that borders top oil exporter Saudi Arabia.
    Southern Yemen, which was an independent state until 1990, is troubled by both separatist unrest and an insurgency led by Islamist militants linked to al Qaeda, a source of concern to Gulf states and the West.
    Separatist leaders had called for a day of civil disobedience in major southern towns and cities after the deaths of six people in protests on Thursday (February 21).
    The resurgent movement for a south Yemen state has aggravated political instability in the Arabian Peninsula country, where Washington fears political chaos is giving al Qaeda space to operate.
    North and south Yemen were unified in 1990 after the Communist-led southern government collapsed. Northern forces won a brief civil war four years later after the south tried to secede from the union.
    The secessionist movement gained strength during mass, nationwide street protests against former president Ali Abdullah Saleh in 2011, which forced the veteran strongman from office, ending his 33 year rule.
    Saleh's address is ahead of United Nations-backed national reconciliation talks scheduled for March 18, a date set by Yemen's President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
    The talks are aimed at drafting a new constitution and electoral law for elections next year.
    Restoring stability in Yemen has become an international priority for fear that Islamist militants will further entrench themselves in a country neighbouring top oil exporter Saudi Arabia and lying on major world shipping lanes.
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