HUNDREDS OF thousands of Yemenis yesterday filled the square outside Sanaa University in the capital and took to the streets in 14 other cities and towns to demand the resignation of President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Mosques in Sanaa closed their doors as congregations and preachers flocked to the square. Protesters, who had called for a “Friday of Salvation” clamoured for the president to leave.
Across the city, tens of thousands of pro-government support- ers gathered outside the presidential palace where Mr Saleh, who has ruled Yemen for 32 years, delivered a brief address, warning that the country will descend into chaos if he is ousted. “With my blood and soul, I will redeem you!” he shouted, a slogan used commonly by throngs but not leaders in the Arab world.
Thousands of Syrians chanting, “We want freedom!” marched in the streets across the country, challenging security men, armed with tear gas, rods and guns, who tried to contain the protests.
The demonstrations were organised to commemorate the more than 70 people killed in countrywide rallies which began on March 18th in the agricultural town of Deraa near the Jordanian border. In Doumar, a Damascus suburb, three new “martyrs” were added to the toll; another seven were, reportedly, killed elsewhere. Scores were beaten and detained.
In Deraa, some 5,000 people called, “The blood of martyrs is not cheap.”
Many Syrians were deeply disappointed when President Bashar al-Assad did not proclaim wide-ranging reforms on Wednesday in his first address to the nation since the protests began. Instead, he promised to form committees to investigate the deaths of demonstrators and the possibility of lifting the emergency law imposed when the ruling Baath Party seized power in 1963.
In Cairo, 50,000 Egyptians filled Tahrir (Liberation) Square in a demonstration dubbed “Friday for the Rescue of the Revolution”. They rejected a new law criminalising protests, called for the prosecution of key members of the entourage of former president Hosni Mubarak and demanded the urgent repatriation of assets and money sent abroad by Mr Mubarak and his lieutenants.
A significant number of Muslim Brotherhood members took part in this event, perhaps, signifying that the movement intends to display its strength on the streets.
Another 10,000 gathered in the port city of Alexandria to call for the removal of Mubarak era officials still in the government and bureaucracy. The turnout showed that the democracy movement, born on January 25th, retains the power to mount mass rallies.
In Muscat, Omani police used tear gas and water cannons to dis- perse hundreds of people demanding the release of protesters.