Yemen police injure over 400 protesters

Yemeni demonstrators, wounded by police's live firing and tear gas, are given medical aid as they rest in a mosque in Yemen's southwestern city of Taiz on April 3, 2011

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/172946.html

Yemeni police's live fire has injured over 400 anti-government protesters who tried marching toward the presidential palace in the Red Sea city of Hudaidah.

Thousands of demonstrators had planned a 2 a.m. march to protest the Sunday's crackdown on protesters in Taiz, south of capital Sana'a, that killed two people and injured over a hundred others.

Police fired live rounds and tear gas against the crowd that wounded at least 409 people.

The protesters are demanding the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Salah who has often signaled that he has no intention of resigning soon.

"A successful revolution in Yemen could mean the whole Persian Gulf region erupting into revolution," Chris Bambery, a Middle East expert, told Press TV on Sunday.

"Yemen has been an important staging post for the Americans ... It is one of the major centers of the CIA in the region," he said.

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh is an important ally for the US and the Saudis and they are trying to keep him in power to maintain their control over the Persian Gulf region, the analyst underlined.

Therefore, "There is no attempt [by the West] to reveal the realities of the Saleh regime: the torture, the repression, or the record of the Saudis constantly intervening in Yemen, carrying out bombing missions, etc." he argued.

Inspired by the protests of Tunisia and Egypt, Yemen has witnessed daily anti-government protest rallies since mid-February, which demand crucial economic and political reforms, including an immediate end to President Saleh's 33-year rule

Several opposition members arguing that his long-promised political and economic reforms have not materialized.