Yemeni protesters demand interim council to prevent Saleh’s return

Monday, 20 June 2011

Women carry a mock coffin of the 'Constitutional Legitimacy' during a demonstration to demand the ouster of Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh in the southern city of Taiz. (File Photo)

By SARA GHASEMILEE
Al Arabiya with Agencies

Tens of thousands of anti-government protesters demonstrated in the Yemeni capital Monday demanding the formation of an interim ruling council to prevent the wounded president from returning to power.

“Raise your voice and demand a transitional council,” demonstrators chanted as they marched in Hayel Street, near the main protest centre at University Square, an AFP correspondent reported.

Protesters who for five months have been demanding the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, have been pressing his deputy Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi to set up a transitional council since Mr. Saleh was flown to Riyadh earlier his month for treatment for blast wounds sustained in a bomb attack on his palace.

The demonstrators also chanted slogans calling for the removal of Mr. Saleh relatives from the helm of security bodies, including his son Ahmed and nephew Amar, who head the elite Presidential Guard and National Security force, respectively.

On Friday, hundreds of thousands of Yemenis held protests across the impoverished state, pushing for the swift formation of the interim council.

Meanwhile, six Yemeni soldiers, including two officers, were killed in clashes with Al Qaeda-linked militants near the gunmen-held southern city of Zinjibar overnight, an officer said on Monday.

The officer from the 119th Artillery Brigade said army units “fought fierce battles on Sunday night with Ansar Al Sharia (Supporters of Islamic Sharia law) gunmen connected to Al Qaeda.”

“Six members of the brigade were killed, including Colonel Jamal Al Jaafi, and eight others were wounded,” he told AFP, adding that the militants had also suffered casualties.

He said that air support had been called in and warplanes hit several areas held by the militants.

Hundreds of gunmen took control of Zinjibar on May 29 in battles in which some 90 soldiers died.

Officials say the militants are connected to Al Qaeda but opponents of President Saleh accuse his government of exaggerating a jihadist threat to head off Western pressure on his 33-year rule.

Yemen is the home of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, an affiliate of the slain Osama bin Laden’s militant network. The group is accused of anti-US plots including an attempt to blow up a US-bound aircraft on Christmas Day, 2009.