Opposition wants some accountability [Archives:2002/17/Front Page]

SANA’A – The opposition parties in Yemen have demanded in a letter to president Ali Abdullah Saleh that policemen firing at protesters earlier this month be held accountable.
A leading opposition figure told the Yemen Times opposition leaders have already met with president Saleh, who expressed displeasure with the action and demanded a probe into the incident.
The opposition parties said they were surprised at the event at the time the government itself calls for demonstrations in support of the Palestinian cause.
Four people were injured and two detained when police tried to disburse demonstrators near USA embassy in Sana’a last Friday.
Confrontation erupted when the police stopped a protester who tried to deliver a massage of protest of US support for Israel to the embassy.
Police used batons and tear gas, and fired in the air to disburse the demonstrators, estimated at 5,000.
Wire nettings were set around the embassy to prevent access to the premises.
The protesters called for severing relations with the US, sacking the ambassador and closing the embassy.
They condemned the US unfair stand towards the Mideast problem. They burned the US flag, and Sharon and Bush photos to express protest against the US support for Israel and its offensive and incursion of the Palestinian territories.
The crowd, which marched from 41-Mashhid mosque towards the US embassy, was headed by some opposition leaders like Jarallah Omar of the Socialist party, Ali Saif Hasan from the Nasserite party as well as members of the Yemeni Writers Union.



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