BBC News Middle East
3 February 2011 Last updated at 14:26 GMT
Yemen protests: 20,000 call for President Saleh to go
The BBC's Lina Sinjab says that for the demonstrators, the rally "is only the
beginning and the protests will continue"
Continue reading the main story
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More than 20,000 anti-government protesters gathered in the Yemeni capital,
Sanaa, for a "day of rage" against President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
The demonstrators called for a change in government and rejected Mr Saleh's
offer to step down in 2013 after more than 30 years in power.
Meanwhile, a similar number of his supporters rallied in a central square.
The gatherings are the largest in two weeks of protests inspired by the popular
uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt.
In an emergency parliament session on Wednesday, Mr Saleh, 64, laid out his
plans to move aside, saying he would not seek to extend his presidency when his
current term expires in 2013 and pledging not pass on power to his son.
'Regime change'
The opposition rally lasted only a few hours, but the protest leaders say this
is only the beginning.
They are calling for immediate and radical reforms, though some of them added
they were not yet calling for the resignation of the president.
President Saleh has been in power for 32 years, and today he too brought his
supporters out to the streets.
After the crowd dispersed on Thursday, a group of about 150 opposition students
formed a circle on the street and began a sit in.
"We won't leave until the president goes," they chanted.
Then, when it was time for the noon prayer, they lined up and prayed for change.
Despite his call to protesters to cancel their planned rallies, both pro- and
anti-government demonstrators gathered in different parts of Sanaa.
"The people want regime change," anti-government protesters shouted as they
gathered outside Sanaa University. "No to corruption, no to dictatorship."
The so-called "day of rage" was organised by civil society groups and
opposition leaders who complain of mounting poverty among a growing, young
population and frustration with a lack of political freedoms.
Unemployment in Yemen runs at 40%, and there are rising food prices and acute
levels of malnutrition.
The country has also been plagued by a range of security issues, including a
separatist movement in the south and an uprising of Shia Houthi rebels in the
north.
There are fears that Yemen is becoming a leading al-Qaeda haven, with the high
numbers of unemployed youths seen as potential recruits for Islamist militant
groups.
Political reform
The pro-Saleh supporters rallied in Sanaa's central Tahrir (Liberation) Square.
They carried banners saying: "Yes for development, yes for stability, no for
chaos."
A supporter of President Saleh kisses his portrait in Sanaa, 3 February Mr
Saleh's supporters were also out in force
The pro-government supporters are also calling for political and economic
reforms, but they believe only Mr Saleh can guarantee the security and
stability of the country, and they do not want him to step down now, says the
BBC's Lina Sinjab in Sanaa.
But they say they will keep up their street protests until Mr Saleh delivers on
the promised reforms, our correspondent says.
There were initial fears that violence could break out on Thursday, but the
protests ended peacefully by mid-morning, she added.
President Saleh, a Western ally, became leader of North Yemen in 1978, and has
ruled the Republic of Yemen since the north and south merged in 1990. He was
last re-elected in 2006.
In January, he had proposed a constitutional amendment that would allow him to
stand for re-election in the next presidential ballot in two years' time.
But after the revolt in Tunisia, which forced the country's president to flee
into exile, he has publicly stated that he is opposed to hereditary rule. There
has been widespread suspicion that was grooming his eldest son, Ahmed Saleh,
who commands an elite unit of the Yemeni army, to succeed him as president.
Mr Saleh has also made a series of other concessions - halving income tax,
ordering his government to control prices, and pledging to raise the salaries
of civil servants and military personnel by around $47 (£29) a month.
Middle East social indicators
Country pop. (m) median age jobless (%) below poverty
line (%) internet users (m)
Algeria
34.5
27.1
9.9
23
4.7
Egypt
80.5
24
9.6
20
20
Jordan
6.4
21.8
13.4
14.2
1.6
Lebanon
4.09
29.4
na
28
1
Libya
6.4
24.2
30
33
0.35
Morocco
31.6
26.5
9.8
15
13.2
Saudi Arabia
25.7
24.9
10.8
na
9.6
Syria
22.1
21.5
8.3
11.9
4.4
Tunisia
10.5
29.7
14
3.8
3.5
W Bank & Gaza
2.5
20.9
16.5
46
1.3
Yemen
23.4
17.89
35
45.2
2.2
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