Yemeni Protests.

[SubGod22]

Thousands Protest in Yemen for Fifth Day

SANAA, Yemen – Thousands of people marching for the ouster of Yemen's U.S.-allied president clashed Tuesday with police and government supporters, and at least three demonstrators were injured in a fifth straight day of Egypt-inspired protests.

Police tried to disperse the demonstrators using tear gas and batons, but about 3,000 protesters defiantly continued their march from Sanaa University toward the city center, chanting slogans against President Ali Abdullah Saleh, including "Down with the president's thugs!"

"We will not back off, whatever the government thugs do," said Tawakul Karman, a senior member of the opposition Islamic fundamentalist Islah Party, She was briefly arrested last month for leading anti-government protests.

"We will retain the dignity of the people and their rights by downing the regime," she added.

Rights activist Fathi Abu al-Nassr called the demonstrations "the people's uprising."

"We will not be intimidated by the thugs' attacks," he said, adding that the government funded the demonstrations by supporters, some of whom included senior party members.

Independent lawmaker Ahmed Hashid appealed to international human rights groups to intervene and end the government's harsh treatment of peaceful demonstrators.

Things are getting quite interesting in the Middle East...

[SubGod22]

Thousands of police confront protesters in Yemen

SANAA, Yemen – Authorities flooded the streets of Yemen's capital with 2,000 police Wednesday to try to halt six days of Egypt-style demonstrations against the president of 32 years, a key U.S. ally in battling al-Qaida. One person was killed when police and protesters clashed in the southern port of Aden in the first known death during Yemen's political unrest.

The police, including plainclothes officers, fired in the air and blocked thousands of students at Sanaa University from joining thousands of other protesters in the capital of the Arab world's most impoverished nation.

Saleh's government is weak — its control barely extends beyond the capital and is dependent on fragile alliances with powerful tribes — and it faces other serious challenges.

For more than six years, government forces have been battling a sporadic armed rebellion in the north. A secessionist movement by once-independent southern Yemen also is heating up.

Yemen's main source of income — oil — could run dry in a decade, and the country is also rapidly running out of water. Much of the population suffers from malnutrition.

Yemen has been the site of anti-U.S. attacks dating back to the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in Aden harbor, which killed 17 American sailors. Radical U.S.-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, thought to be hiding in Yemen, is suspected of having inspired some attacks, including the deadly 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas.

[Maggie]

And.....?

[SubGod22]

Yemeni Police Open Fire on Protesters, Killing 31

SANAA, Yemen -- Yemeni government snipers firing from rooftops and houses shot at tens of thousands of anti-government demonstrators on Friday, killing at least 31 people and injuring hundreds in the crowd demanding the ouster of the autocratic president.

The protest in the central square was the largest yet in the popular uprising that began a month ago -- and the harsh government response marked a new level of brutality from the security forces of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, a key -- if uneasy -- ally in the U.S. campaign against al-Qaida who has ruled Yemen for 30 years.

The protests are just one of the problems in this extremely poor, tribal country. Saleh's weak central government also faces one of the world's most active Al Qaeda branches, a secessionist rebellion in the south and a Shiite uprising in the north.

[SubGod22]

Yemeni Leader Says Ready to Step Down by Year-End

SANAA, Yemen -- Yemen's embattled U.S.-backed president pledged to step down by year's end but vowed not to hand power to military commanders who have joined the opposition in defections that he branded as an attempted coup, a spokesman said Tuesday.

There was no immediate response from the opposition, which has won the loyalty of influential clergy and tribal leaders, along with the powerful army commanders now calling for the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

[SubGod22]

Yemeni parliament gives president emergency powers

SANAA, Yemen – Yemen's parliament enacted sweeping emergency laws Wednesday after the country's embattled president asked for new powers of arrest, detention and censorship to quash a popular uprising demanding his ouster.

The move escalates the showdown between U.S.-backed leader Ali Abdullah Saleh and the movement that has unified military commanders, religious leaders and protesting youth in demands for his immediate departure.

The law suspends the constitution, allows media censorship, bars street protests and gives security forces 30 days of far-reaching powers to arrest and detain suspects without judicial process.

Its adoption was a virtual certainty because Saleh's ruling party dominates the 301-seat legislature. Opposition and independent legislators stayed away from Wednesday's parliamentary session along with dozens of lawmakers from Saleh's own ruling party. Parliament said more than 160 lawmakers were present Wednesday.