BBC News Middle East
24 February 2011 Last updated at 08:20 GMT
Yemen's president orders forces to protect protesters
Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh has ordered his security forces to offer
"full protection" to anti- and pro-government demonstrators alike.
He has also instructed forces to prevent direct confrontation between the two
sides, according to an official statement.
Since the unrest began two weeks ago, 15 people have reportedly been killed.
Nine members of the ruling party have quit over the government's handling of
the protests.
"Late this evening.. Saleh instructed all security services to thwart all
clashes and prevent direct confrontation between pro- and anti-government
demonstrators," read the statement, relayed by the Yemeni embassy in Washington.
"The government... will continue to protect the rights of its citizens to
assemble peacefully and their right to freedom of expression."
On Wednesday security forces used tear gas and fired bullets in the air to
disperse protesters in Aden, and two demonstrators were reported to have been
killed during an attack on a sit-in in the capital, Sanaa.
Continue reading the main story
Middle East unrest: Yemen
Map of Yemen
* President Ali Abdullah Saleh in power since 1978
* Population 24.3m; land area 536,869 sq km
* The population has a median age of 17.9, and a literacy rate of 61%
* Youth unemployment is 15%
* Gross national income per head is $1,060 (World Bank 2009)
* Protests: Country-by-country
Thousands have demonstrated daily in these and other Yemeni cities over the
past few weeks, demanding that the president step down and that unemployment
and corruption be tackled.
They have been confronted not only by security forces but also by armed
government loyalists staging counter-protests.
President Saleh has made some concessions to the opposition and promised to
step down when his term ends in 2013 but that has not been enough for the
protesters.
The president has been in power since 1978, and has faced a separatist movement
in the south, a branch of al-Qaeda, and a periodic conflict with Shia tribes in
the north.
Yemen is one of a number of countries in the region that have seen an increase
in unrest since uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia unseated the presidents there.
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