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Yemen calls state of emergency after protest massacre

18 March 2011 18:40 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. Yemen’s beleaguered president declared a state of emergency on Friday after at least 25 protesters were killed at an anti-government rally, saying armed groups rather than the police were behind the violence, APA reports quoting â€œReutersâ€.
Medical sources and witnesses had told Reuters that Yemeni security forces and unidentified snipers had opened fire on the crowds after Muslim prayers in the capital, Sanaa.
The interior ministry put the death toll at 25, but doctors said 42 people had died and at least 300 were injured.
President Ali Abdullah Saleh, struggling to maintain his 32-year grip on power in the impoverished nation, denied that his police were to blame and said the deaths happened during clashes between various protesters.
He declared a state of emergency, saying this meant that ordinary citizens would not be able to carry weapons.
Yemen, which is home to an active al Qaeda cell, is the second country in the region to announce emergency rule this week, following Bahrain’s introduction of martial law on Tuesday which was followed by a major crackdown on protesters.
However, it was not immediately clear if Saleh had the military power to impose such an order, with the Arabian Peninsula nation deeply divided and wracked by weeks of civil disturbance that have left well over 70 people dead.
Witnesses said security forces at first fired into the air on Friday to prevent anti-government protesters from marching out of the encampment in front of Sanaa University, which has become the focal point of the demonstration movement.
After the initial gunfire, the shooting continued and the toll mounted. It was not clear who was responsible for the deaths, with witnesses saying firing appeared to come from different directions.
"The police were not present and did not open fire. The clashes happened between citizens and demonstrators," Saleh told a news conference. "It is clear there are armed elements among the demonstrators."
AMERICAN CONDEMNATION
The United States, which has long seen Saleh as a bulwark against al Qaeda, condemned the bloodshed and repeated its call for a negotiated end to the political crisis.
"The violence needs to end, negotiations need to be pursued in order to reach a political solution," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told reporters after meeting Ireland’s deputy prime minister in Washington.
However, after the deaths, Yemen’s opposition said there was no way they could negotiate with Saleh’s government.
"We condemn these crimes," said Yassin Noman, rotating president of Yemen’s umbrella opposition group.