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After Cairo, it’s Sanaa
Yemen’s ‘day of rage’ draws thousands

Sanaa, February 3
Tens of thousands of protesters today massed at Sanaa University for a “day of rage” against Ali Abdullah Saleh’s rule, while a similar number of loyalists flooded a central square in support of the embattled Yemeni President.

The protest, the biggest staged against Saleh in past weeks, came despite the President announcing yesterday that he would not seek another term and that he had postponed April elections, two key opposition demands.

Opposition leaders, who have been calling protesters onto the streets, had said they would push on with today’s planned “day of rage” but that they would also study his latest announcements.

Their plans were affected when armed supporters of Saleh’s General People’s Congress took over Al-Tahrir Square, the planned protest venue, last night, setting up tents and carrying portraits of the president. Protest organisers from early today then drove through the streets blaring out over megaphones that the venue had been changed to Sanaa university, about 2 km from the square.

The switch in venue did little to dampen the enthusiasm of protesters, who flocked to the university where they were joined by leaders of the Common Forum, an alliance of five parliamentary opposition parties including the Islamist Al-Islah and the Yemeni Socialist Party.

Protesters held banners reading, “The people demand a change” of regime, and “No to a hereditary regime, no to an extension of mandate.” Saleh pledged he would not seek either yesterday.

Protesters expressed solidarity with Egyptian demonstrators who were today staging a 10th day of increasingly bloody protests against the regime of President Hosni Mubarak.

“May God help the Egyptian people against the tyrant Hosni Mubarak,” the protesters chorused, while police stood at a distance.

At Al-Tahrir Square, tens of thousands of loyalists-about the same sized crowd as the protesters-pledged their support for Saleh and carried banners reading, “We are with Ali Abdullah Saleh. We are with Yemen,” “The opposition wants to destroy Yemen” and “No to destruction, no to sedition.” — AFP