300,000 Yemeni protest, foreign embassies close War fever [Archives:2003/09/Front Page]

More than 300,000 Yemenis took to the streets on Saturday to denounce the United States and Israel as part of an “axis of evil” and urge Arab leaders meeting in Egypt to deny Washington any help in a war against Iraq.
In one of the biggest anti-war protests in the Middle East, Yemenis of different affiliations and backgrounds gathered in the
capital, Sanaa, for the demonstration, and called on Arab states to kick out from their countries any U.S. forces poised to
attack Iraq.
The United States and Britain have now massed about 200,000 troops in the Gulf in preparation for war.
“America and Israel are an axis of evil,” banners read, recalling the words U.S. President George W. Bush used to describe Iraq, Iran and North Korea.
Other placards read “‘No’ to military bases in Arab land” and “‘No’ to blood for oil”.
The protest was held as as Arab leaders began a summit in Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh resort to agree a unified policy on Iraq they hope can prevent a U.S.-led war in the volatile region.
Yemen’s senior presidential adviser, Abdul Karim al-Iryani, read a statement to the crowd which urged Arab leaders to prevent any “aggression” against fellow Arab nation Iraq.
Yemen, whose parliament last week passed a law requiring advance permission for protests, has seen some of the largest peaceful anti-U.S. demonstrations in the region over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Iraq.
Anti-U.S. sentiments have been on the rise in the Arab world as the United States pours troops and arms into the Gulf region ahead of a possible attack on Iraq over its alleged weapons of
mass destruction. Baghdad denies it has such arms.
Some Gulf Arab states, such as Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain, host U.S. forces and may be springboards for a war. Saudi Arabia has also been home to U.S. forces since the 1991 Gulf War.
Saturday’s protest followed one in Yemen on Friday by around 7,000 people calling for a jihad (holy war) against Americans and urged Arab states to expel their U.S. and British envoys.
Protesters waved banners saying “Death to America” and “Death to Israel.”
The Iraqi and Palestinian ambassadors in Yemen were to address the crowd. Protesters called for a jihad (holy war) against Americans and urged Arab countries to expel their American and British ambassadors and end sanctions against Iraq.
Elsewhere in Yemen, thousands also staged a demonstration earlier in the week, Wednesday, in Taiz, 250 km south of the capital.
They demanded that Arab leaders in their summit support Iraq and activate the Arab Defense Joint Agreement. They also called them to boycotting Israeli and US products.
Dr. Abdullah al-Dhaifani, the Chairman of the Peoples Committee for Supporting the Arab and Islamic Nations told the Yemen Times that the march aimed to show Arab anger against the US practices and its insistence to invade Iraq.
“Those marches are an expression of the Arabs desire for peace and its total rejection for war in the region under the pretext of weak excuses,” he said.
Political parties leaders, syndicates, organizations, human rights activists, and students of the Taiz university took part in the demonstration.
In Bahrain on Friday, headquarters of the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet and a key ally of Washington in the Gulf region, More than 4,000 people, some waving Iraqi flags, marched through the capital Manama in the biggest protest in the kingdom so far against U.S. plans to attack Baghdad.
“No to aggression and war,” read one banner carried by protesters. “No to facilities to U.S. troops in the region,” read another. Some marchers pinned an Israeli flag to the street for others to trample.
The U.S. embassy warned Americans to avoid the path of the march from a Shi’ite Muslim mosque to the U.N. office, near the U.S. navy base.
“The (U.S.) government wants war but not the people in the United States. We’re not against the people but against Bush,” said Dina Jassim, marching with her seven-year-old daughter.
Politicians and Islamic clerics led the march after Friday prayers. “The Bahraini people will continue to support the Iraqi people against America’s aggression plans,” activist Rasool al-Jishi told Reuters.
“The plan does not only aim at controlling Iraq but also the whole region. It aims at controlling its oil and economies.”
In Bahrain, influential Shi’ite cleric Sheikh Ali Salman said there was no justification for an attack on Iraq.
“Controlling oil is only one reason for an attack on Iraq,” he said. “The United States wants to control the world… so it appoints or dismisses governments according to its interest.”
In the heart of Cairo, about 5,000 worshippers protested amid tight security inside the grounds of al-Azhar mosque after Friday noon prayers.
Some urged Arab leaders to prevent a conflict or shouted: “Where are the Arab armies?” Others expressed a widespread Arab belief that Iraq is only the first step of a U.S. plan to dominate the region, chanting: “George Bush is a pirate of this age. After Iraq he will turn to Egypt.”
Egypt’s government is opposed to war, but has increasingly put the onus on Baghdad to prove it is complying with U.N. resolutions in order to avert attack.
Meanwhile, amid fears of deteriorating security, Britain has closed its embassy in Yemen to the public and withdrawn most of its staff.
It said the consulate general in Aden and the embassy in Sana’a would close to the public from March 1 and renewed its advice to Britons to consider leaving the country.
The statement, posted on its website (www.fco.gov.uk), also repeated advice that Britons avoid travel to Yemen.
Francis Guy told the Yemen Times that the measure has been taken because of the tense situation in the region.
She said most of the fifty diplomats that work at the embassy are have already left the country. The ambassador and one other worker will stay in the country, for now, but won’t work out of the embassy building.
She said the regular staff won’t return until the Iraq crisis is settled.
The Dutch embassy in Sana’a has also advised its citizens and some diplomats to leave Yemen.
Information attache, Janet Alberda said that the foreign ministry issued this advice February 20th as a precautionary measure due to the “increasing tension in the region and the risk of terrorist activities against western targets in Yemen.”
About 95 Dutch citizens and diplomats were asked to leave.
Alberada said eight diplomats would remain in the embassy that the consulate section would remain open as the embassy will try to keep its projects working.
The Netherlands, is one of the biggest donors to Yemen. Donations for 2003 are put at $45.7 million.


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