Asia

Asia

Yemenis renew calls for trial of Saleh

08 March 2013 02:42 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Yemenis have once again thronged the streets of the capital Sana'a, renewing calls for the trails of former dictator Ali Abdullah Saleh, APA reports quoting Press TV.

The protest on Thursday coincided with a conference in London on how to release a multi-billion-dollar international aid package to the Middle Eastern country.

The demonstrators called on the participants in the conference to instead find solutions for Sana’a to recover funds stolen by Saleh and his family.

The Yemeni people regularly stage protest rallies, demanding that the former regime officials stand trial.

Saleh, who ruled Yemen for 33 years, stepped down in February 2012 under a US-backed power transfer deal in return for immunity, after a year of mass street demonstrations demanding his ouster.

His vice president, Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi, replaced him on February 27, 2012 following a single-candidate presidential election backed by the United States and Saudi Arabia.

London is hosting the fifth meeting of the Friends of Yemen group, which comprises 39 countries and organizations.

Addressing the conference, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said that the United Nations Security Council will seriously respond to any attempt aimed at disrupting parliamentary and presidential elections in Yemen next year.

“Yemen matters to the UK and it matters to the international community,” Hague was quoted as saying. “The international community cannot afford to let Yemen's transition falter.”

The meeting of the Friends of Yemen focused on how 7.9 billion US dollars in aid, which was pledged to Yemen last year, is being disbursed.