(EXTRA and MET for more on Mideast unrest.)
March 23 (Bloomberg) -- Thousands of Yemeni women carrying candles held a vigil in central Sana’a last night to mark the killing of dozens of people by government forces as military commanders defected and stood with the protesters.
In an address on state television, Saleh said that military officials who have joined the protest movement should “return to reason.” The president is “ready to leave power by the end of the year after a new government based on parliamentary election is formed,” his press secretary, Ahmed al-Sufi, said.
Efforts to oust Saleh, a U.S. ally against al-Qaeda, have gained momentum after the crackdown against protesters on March 18. At least 46 people died and scores were injured in the capital as police and snipers opened fire in the worst violence since the unrest started two months ago. The wave of regional protests has already driven longtime rulers from power in Tunisia and Egypt, and unleashed a civil war in Libya.
“A very serious error was made in opening fire on peaceful demonstrators, which showed probably panic, maybe rage. It was a very key error,” said Sheila Carapico, professor of political science and international studies at Richmond University and visiting at the American University in Cairo. “The spate of defections, a lot of them are honestly people who are horrified and disgusted and some of them are expecting the regime to fall.”
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March 23 (Bloomberg) -- Thousands of Yemeni women carrying candles held a vigil in central Sana’a last night to mark the killing of dozens of people by government forces as military commanders defected and stood with the protesters.
In an address on state television, Saleh said that military officials who have joined the protest movement should “return to reason.” The president is “ready to leave power by the end of the year after a new government based on parliamentary election is formed,” his press secretary, Ahmed al-Sufi, said.
Efforts to oust Saleh, a U.S. ally against al-Qaeda, have gained momentum after the crackdown against protesters on March 18. At least 46 people died and scores were injured in the capital as police and snipers opened fire in the worst violence since the unrest started two months ago. The wave of regional protests has already driven longtime rulers from power in Tunisia and Egypt, and unleashed a civil war in Libya.
“A very serious error was made in opening fire on peaceful demonstrators, which showed probably panic, maybe rage. It was a very key error,” said Sheila Carapico, professor of political science and international studies at Richmond University and visiting at the American University in Cairo. “The spate of defections, a lot of them are honestly people who are horrified and disgusted and some of them are expecting the regime to fall.”
Read More...