Arming Syrian rebels 'excellent idea: Saudi Arabia

United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (L) meets with Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, Tunis, February 24, 2012.

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/228494.html

Saudi Arabia has said that arming the Syrian rebels is “an excellent idea,” following remarks by US President Barack Obama vowing to use every tool available against Damascus.

"I think it's an excellent idea... because they have to protect themselves," Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal said before a meeting with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on the sidelines of a conference on Syria in Tunisia.

The pro-opposition so-called Friends of Syria conference organized by a number of Western countries and the Arab League kicked off in Tunisia on Friday to discuss the Syrian unrest.

Faisal’s remarks could yet be seen as another signal of Riyadh's intervention in a foreign country after it sent hundreds of troops to neighboring Bahrain to crush peaceful protests there.

Clinton also threatened Syrian President Bashar al-Assad with a "heavy cost" if he refuses to resign.

Meanwhile, Obama has threatened to mount pressure on the Syrian government.

"We're going to continue to keep the pressure up and look for every tool available” to put pressure on Syrian government, Obama told reporters in Washington.

Pro-Israeli US Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich have also called for arming the Syrian opposition with the help of Turkey and Saudi Arabia.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since mid-March 2011. Damascus blames ‘outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorist groups’ for the unrest, asserting that it is being orchestrated from abroad. The West and the Syrian opposition, however, accuse the Syrian government of killing the protesters.

Dozens killed in car bomb attack in Yemen

Scene of an explosion in Yemen (file photo).

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/228564.html

As Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi the winner of the country's single-candidate presidential vote takes office, a bomb attack in southern Yemen has killed at least 32 people.

The causalities come after a car bomb exploded outside the presidential palace in al-Mukalla located in Hadramawt Province, where Hadi was sworn in on Saturday.

Members of the elite Republican Guard are thought to be among the dead.

Al-Qaeda has reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack.

The violence comes hours after the new president replaced Ali Abdullah Saleh, who was forced to resign after months of protest against his rule.

Hadi, Saleh’s ex-deputy, was the single candidate in the presidential vote that took place on Tuesday, which was described by pundits as a mockery of democracy. He will lead Yemen for a two-year interim period.

Saleh, who returned home from a “medical visit” to the United States late on Friday, is set to formally hand over power to Hadi in a ceremony at the presidential palace on Monday.

Hadi pledged to continue the fight against al-Qaeda, which he called a "national and religious duty" in a live broadcast speech on television. "If we don't restore security, the only outcome will be chaos," he said.

Meanwhile, people took to the streets in the city of Taizz once again to renew their demand for a free Yemen and the prosecution of the 69-year-old Saleh and his aides.

In the southern Yemeni port city of Aden regime forces reportedly used live bullets against protesters.

Saleh's deputy takes oath of office after sham election

Yemen's new President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi arrives to take the oath of office during a ceremony at the parliament, Sana’a, February 25, 2012

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/228516.html

The former deputy of Yemen’s Ali Abdullah Saleh has been sworn in as the country’s new president after winning a US-backed one-man vote.

Saleh’s ex-deputy Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi was the single candidate in the presidential vote that took place on Tuesday, which was described by pundits as a mockery of democracy. He will lead Yemen for a two-year interim period.

"It is a patriotic and religious duty to continue the battle against Al-Qaeda," claimed the new Yemeni president.

"If we don't restore security, the only outcome will be chaos," Hadi said.

Saleh, who returned home from a “medical visit” to the United States late on Friday, is set to formally hand over power to Hadi in a ceremony at the presidential palace on Monday.

Saleh traveled to New York in late January allegedly to receive treatment for wounds sustained in an attack on his palace last year. The Yemeni people have slammed the US government for sheltering a man whom they blame for the deaths of a large number of protesters since a revolution began in January 2011.

The protesters now want the prosecution of the 69-year-old Saleh and his aides over the regime's deadly crackdown on peaceful demonstrators during the past year.