Sanaa, July 01: Yemeni anti-government protesters have once again held demonstrations, condemning Saudi Arabia’s interference in the country’s internal affairs.
“Al Saud, listen to millions of people: Saleh will not come back,” the public chanted, according to video footage aired on Media.
The rallies came as Yemen’s Ali Abdullah Saleh continues to receive treatment in Saudi Arabia for the injuries he received in an attack on the presidential palace on June 3.
The protesters also slammed the United Nations’ delayed dispatch of a fact-finding mission, which is to investigate rights violations committed by the government during the demonstrations.
The protesters demand that Saleh stand trial for murdering hundreds of Yemenis during the regime’s crackdown on protests, which began in January.
Saleh has been in office for nearly 33 years with opposition groups arguing that his long-promised political and economic reforms have never materialized.
Some 40 percent of Yemenis live on USD 2 a day or less and one third is wrestling with chronic hunger.
Yemen’s Deputy Information Minister Abdo al-Janadi has said an expected television interview with Saleh would be aired “after Thursday.”
On Wednesday, however, a Yemeni diplomat said that “Saudi authorities, in compliance with doctors’ orders, forbid any filming or visits,” to Saleh since “this contradicts the atmosphere needed for his recovery.”
Yemeni and Saudi officials insist that Saleh would return home to continue his tenure — something the protesting public steadfastly opposes.
——-Agencies