Yemen President Rejects Deal, Cracks Down

Millions of Yemenis Out for Prayer as Clerics Condemn Saleh

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, apparently content on retaining power as long as possible, today angrily rejected the political opposition’s scheme that gave him until the end of the year to produce a “transition plan” for leaving office.

The deal had already been chided by the student protesters for giving Saleh too long, they want him to step down immediately, but the Saleh government was reportedly keen on the deal before as a way of delaying the inevitable.

For even as Saleh moved to violently crack down, anti-regime prayer rallies in the streets today were massively centered around the major protest cites, with 2.5 million Yemenis praying as clerics condemned Saleh and demanded his ouster.

Saleh’s latest attempts at violent crackdowns appear to have centered around the northern Shi’ite region, where the secessionist Houthi movement holds considerable sway. Troops opened fire on the protesters there, killing four and wounding seven others.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.