Friday’s bloody protest signals that the worse is yet to come:It’s war [Archives:2003/628/Front Page]
March 24 2003
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SANA'A ) As many as four people were killed and several more injured in violent confrontations Friday in Sana'a between police and protesters against the war.
Medical sources said four died, however, the ministry of interior said two citizens were killed and nine injured while thirteen soldiers were wounded, three of them seriously.
Among the killed was an eleven-year child.
Around ten thousand angry protestors were prevented from going to the US embassy. The police said they believed they wanted to attack.
Police said the protesters did not obtain a license from the ministry of interior as stated in the law, and police needed to protect the embassy.
Observers believe that this could be the beginning of a series of similar demonstrations against the US-led war on Iraq that started on Thursday “As war goes on, we will be having more demonstration and greater anger.” said a protester.
In a statement released after the bloody confrontation, authorities said some protestors fired their guns and therefore the police had to respond. They said they fired into the air, and used clubs and tear gas to disperse demonstrators after they threw stones at police men and their cars.
The clashes continued for over three hours. The protestors showed fierce resistance and insisted on heading towards the US embassy to express their strong opposition to the war against Iraq.
It seemed to me that death was nothing for them. The protest was the most severe and angry demonstration Yemen has witnessed for a long time.
The protest started when the people came out from mosques and gathered around at al-Tahreer Square, then headed towards the US embassy. They condemned the US strikes and called on all Arab leaders to voice their people and close down the US, UK and Spanish embassies, expelling their ambassadors.
They also demanded that borders should be opened to people to take part in the Jihad against the invaders. Several opposition leaders took part in the protest.
President Saleh held an extraordinary meeting for defense council and security committee to discuss the violent incident and ordered that a committee should be set up to investigate into the incident which he described as painful, to find whether the police or the protesters are to be held accountable.
He said people in Yemen, both officials and citizens, agree in opposing and condemning the war and added that people should express their opinion in a peaceful way that does not hurt the national security, and that they should obtain a license according to law.
” We condemn this war which hurts people all over the world. We condemn the terrorist acts in the US and what is happening in Palestine,” he said. Tens of arrested people would be interrogated.
In its first reaction towards the US war, the Joint Opposition Parties demanded that Arab leaders expel the US, UK and Spanish ambassadors and to call Arab ambassadors to these countries back home.
The opposition parties said in a statement that this very critical situation entails that the Arab leaders should fulfill this nationwide demand. They condemned what they called an act of barbarism, calling on the Arab leaders to get rid of their fear and lingering in defending Iraq.
They also urged all Arab people to hurry up and fight against this US invasion and pressure their political regimes to take brave and responsible positions towards this aggression. The statement said the war reflects the political bankruptcy and barbarism of the US leadership that failed to face the worldwide opposition to the war.
It warned against any weakness or defeatism in facing this war and that it would lead to very bad consequences.
In its official comment on the war, the Yemen government appealed to the international community and UN to interfere to stop the military action against Iraq. It said the war would destabilize the region and encourage the growth of terrorist and extremist movements.
It confirmed that the position of Yemen is clear in opposing the war and clinging to the principles of the international legitimacy and peaceful and diplomatic means of sorting out problems. It repeated that the ramifications of the war will be very serious.
In the meantime, sources in the opposition said that the Yemeni authorities summoned seven of their leaders in connection with Friday's violent protest.
Among those summoned were Abdulwahhab Al-Anisi Assistant Secretary General of the Islah Party, Abdulmalik Al-Mikhlafi, General Secretary of the Nasserite Unionist Party, Abdulwahid Hawwash Assistant Secretary General of the Baath Party, and Sultani Al-Atwani, leading member of the Nasserite party.
However, Al-Mikhlafi and Al-Atwani refused to be interrogated because both have diplomatic immunity as the first is a Member of Shoura and the latter is a member of parliament.
However, the General Prosecutor told Al-Mikhlafi that he informed the Shoura Council of the obligation of lifting his immunity so as to be interrogated.
The Joint Opposition Parties held the security accountable for the violence. They condemned in a joint statement what they called the reaction of the police “irresponsible and barbaric practice” when they dispersed the protestors.
They demanded that the arrested should be released swiftly claiming that the authorities have been misleading the public by providing false information of what happed during the protest.
They said they would not let the police who caused the death of many protestors go unpunished. They also authorized a number of lawyers to file a lawsuit against the police as they considered the practice of the police in shooting at civilians as a violation of the constitution, despite the fact that protestors were quite a distance away from the US embassy when it all happened.
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