Police crackdown kills 22 in Yemen

Yemeni police block the way as protesters attend a demonstration against the government of President Ali Abdullah Saleh in capital, Sana'a

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/166340.html

Protesters continue to demand the ouster of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, despite a government crackdown on demonstrations which has killed at least 22 people.

In the country's south, police shot dead a protester in the regional capital of Aden on Monday, bringing to 22 the number of people killed in pro-democracy protests over the past nine days, a Press TV correspondent reported on Monday.

Scores of others have been wounded as police continue to crack down on the protesters across the country.

Anti-regime protests spread to the north of the country on Monday, with tens of thousands of Houthis demonstrating in Sa'ada to demand the ouster of Saleh, a local tribal leader said.

Houthis, who say they have been discriminated against by Sana'a have fought six wars with Saleh's government. They signed a peace treaty with the government in 2010.

Around a dozen opposition lawmakers also joined students who gathered outside Sana'a University.

The president, however, vowed not to quit under pressure from protesters.

"If they want me to quit, I will only leave through the ballot box," Saleh told a news conference.

The president, in power since 1978, said the protests were "not new," accusing his opponents of having been behind the demonstrations for a while.

Yemenis, inspired by revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia, took to the streets of capital Sana'a on February 12 to bring down the 32-year autocratic rule of Saleh.