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Thousands of Yemenis rally to support or oppose president

26 August 2011 17:51 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Thousands of protesters staged rallies across Yemen Friday to express their support or opposition to President Ali Abdullah Saleh, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

The anti-government protesters dubbed the day as "Friday of promising victory", while supporters of Saleh called it "Friday of Martyrdom."

Yemen has been in the grip of political crisis since the eruption of protests against Saleh’s 33-year rule in late January.

Saleh, along with other 87 officials, was forced to seek medical treatments in Saudi Arabia in early June after a bomb hit his presidential palace in the capital Sanaa.

Spokesman of the Yemeni government Abdu al-Janadi told reporters Thursday that the president will come back to Sanaa once the investigation into the attack on his compound is completed.

Hours following the remarks of al-Janadi, the opposition newly- formed National Council, which was seeking to prevent Saleh from returning to resume his presidential duties in Sanaa, issued a statement to "urge neighboring Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries to align with the aspirations of the Yemeni people, and not to provide support for the remnants of the regime."