Yemeni president says anti-government protesters elements of coup

February 17, 2011

Yemeni president says anti-government protesters " elements of coup "

English.news.cn 2011-02-17 05:38:02

SANAA, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has been in

power for 33 years, dubbed the protesters who demanded his resignation as

" elements of the coup " , the official Saba news agency reported Wednesday.

" The young people who stage protests are trying to spread unrest across the

country and they are elements of the coup, " Saleh was quoted by Saba as saying.

" I'm not stick to the power, power is available to anyone, but through ballot

boxes, " he said in a speech when addressing thousands of his tribal supporters

in northwest province of Hajja on Wednesday.

" The time of coups and chaos is over, " Saleh told his supporters. " Whoever wants

to take the power, he must should take it through the ballot boxes, not through

chaos in streets, " he added.

Saleh, who has been in power for 33 years and is facing growing popular protests

demanding his resignation, announced last week that he would step down after his

term expires in 2013 and promised not to hand power over to his son.

Earlier Wednesday, two protesters died of wounds from gunshot during clashes

between anti-government protesters and the police in the country's southern city

port of Aden as several anti-regime rallies violently rattled other major

provinces simultaneously, leaving up to 14 demonstrators injured.

Yemen, the impoverished Arab country, struggles to cement a fragile ceasefire

deal with a Shiite rebellion in the north and to quell a growing separatist

movement in the south while mounting resurgent al-Qaida regional group rampaging

through the country's major cities.

Northern Shiite rebel commander Abdulmalik al-Houthi pledged late on Tuesday in

a statement posted on the internet to order his armed groups to support the

Yemeni people against President Saleh if the " revolution breaks out. "

Recommended Posts