Tag: Yemen

SANAA - Thousands of students and lawyers demanding Yemen's president step down clashed on Monday with baton-wielding riot police and security forces who threw up razor wire to force them out of the centre of the capital Sanaa. An AFP journalist said more than 3,000 protesters marched from Sanaa University towards Al-Tahrir square calling for the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
City streets around the square echoed to chants of "After Mubarak, Ali," referring to the

SANAA - Opposition leaders in Yemen on Wednesday vowed to go ahead with anti-government protests on Thursday - billed as a "day of rage" - despite a pledge by President Ali Abdullah Saleh not to extend his rule.
"Thursday's demonstration will continue as scheduled," said Mohammed Kahtan, a member of the Islamist Al-Islah (Reform) party in the Yemeni consultative council.
Mohammed al-Sabri, a leader in the Common Forum, a parliamentary opposition alliance, added, "We will

SANAA - Dozens of activists calling for the ouster of Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh clashed on Saturday with the regime's supporters in Sanaa, an AFP journalist reported. Plainclothes police also attacked the demonstrators who marched to the Egyptian embassy in Sanaa chanting "Ali, leave leave" and "Tunisia left, Egypt after it and Yemen in the coming future."
The chants were referring to the ouster of veteran Tunisian strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali early this month and

CAIRO - Thousands of Yemenis took to the streets of Sanaa on Thursday to demand a change of government, inspired by the unrest that has ousted Tunisia's leader and spread to Egypt this week. Reuters witnesses estimated that around 16,000 Yemenis demonstrated in four parts of Sanaa in the largest rally since a wave of protests rocked Yemen last week, and protesters vowed to escalate the unrest unless their demands were met.
Meanwhile, Egyptian police fought protesters in two

BEIRUT - Only bold reforms can calm Yemen's perfect storm of economic and political woes, the deputy finance minister said in Sanaa, where angry street protests have erupted against President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
"People do have fair grievances everywhere in Yemen, but unfortunately they are being used by politicians from both sides," Jalal Yaqoub told Reuters in a telephone interview on Thursday. "The government should listen to the people and enact substantial reforms that give

SANAA - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton landed in Yemen on Tuesday on a surprise visit aimed at helping President Ali Abdullah Saleh tackle problems that allow Al Qaeda to threaten his country and the West.
The first chief US diplomat to visit Yemen in more than 20 years, she said the trip was aimed at going beyond military cooperation to broach a "comprehensive strategy" for tackling Yemen's myriad problems. "We are partnering with Yemen and other countries in the Gulf and

ADEN - At least 43 African migrants have drowned off the coast of Yemen while trying to cross to the Arabian Peninsula country, Yemen's Interior Ministry said on Monday.
The ministry website said three Somalis were rescued after a vessel carrying 46 people mostly from Ethiopia capsized, with another boat missing with up to 40 on board. Many African migrants try to reach Yemen, which they see as a gateway to wealthier parts of the Middle East and the West.

ABU DHABI: US Defence Secretary Robert Gates is meeting on Thursday with Emirati leaders on Iran's nuclear programme and Al Qaeda threat in Yemen, as WikiLeaks exposed Gulf Arab fears of the Islamic republic. Gates was to meet the deputy commander of the United Arab Emirates armed forces, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammad bin Zayed al-Nahayan.
Their talks will touch on military cooperation and "challenges that we are working together to try to solve," press secretary Geoff

ADEN: Gunmen attacked a military checkpoint outside a south Yemen city on Thursday and demonstrators tried to break into a jail to protest against a southern separatist leader's arrest, local officials said.
The checkpoint clash occurred hours before about 4,000 people, according to local residents, took to the streets in the southern city of Dalea for a second day of protests against Tuesday's arrest of the leader of a southern secessionist group. Hasan Baoum is accused of

SANAA: A Yemeni court ordered radical Yemeni-American cleric Anwar al-Awlaqi on Saturday to appear before it on charges of links to Al-Qaeda and incitement to kill foreigners, or face arrest by any means.
Judge Mohsen Alwan ordered the representative of the public prosecutor to inform the concerned authorities "to forcibly arrest ... Anwar al-Awlaqi and ... Othman al-Awlaqi."
US-born Awlaqi and Othman al-Awlaqi, a relative, were both charged in absentia by a Sanaa court on

BERLIN: Germany has extended a ban on air freight from Yemen to passenger flights, a transport ministry spokesman said Monday after parcel bombs posted in that country were found in US-bound cargo.
The spokesman told a regular government briefing that Germany had stepped up its emergency measures when it emerged that one of the parcel bombs had been routed via the western German city of Cologne. Germany is the first country to announce a ban on all flights from Yemen.
"All

SANAA: Yemeni security forces were on Sunday searching for suspects who posted bombs on two US-bound flights after arresting a woman over an alleged Al-Qaeda plot that sparked a global air cargo alert.
The woman was detained on Saturday after being tracked down through a mobile number written on the explosives-filled packages, which were found on freighter jets in Britain and Dubai the day before, Yemeni officials said.
In the US, counter-terrorism chief John Brennan said on

SANAA: Yemen on Saturday launched a probe after explosives were found in air parcels sent to US synagogues from its territory by suspected Al-Qaeda militants whom it is under renewed pressure to eliminate.
With alarms bells going off across the world, US President Barack Obama said on Friday that the two packages which originated from Yemen were destined for Chicago synagogues and were a credible terrorist threat. He blamed Al-Qaeda's Yemeni affiliate of being responsible for the