Yemen - Timeline

A chronology of key events:



1500s - Ottomans absorb part of Yemen into their empire but are expelled in the 1600s.

Sanaa, one of the world's oldest continuously-inhabited cities Population: 1.6 million Sanaa means 'fortified place'

1839 - Aden comes under British rule, and when the Suez Canal opens in 1869 serves as a major refuelling port.
1849 - Ottomans return to north, but later face revolt.
1918 - Ottoman empire dissolves, North Yemen gains independence and is ruled by Imam Yahya.
1948 - Yahya assassinated, but his son Ahmad beats off opponents of feudal rule and succeeds his father.
1962 - Imam Ahmad dies, succeeded by his son but army officers seize power, set up the Yemen Arab Republic (YAR), sparking civil war between royalists supported by Saudi Arabia and republicans backed by Egypt.
South Yemen formed
1967 - Formation of southern Yemen, comprising Aden and former Protectorate of South Arabia. Country is later officially known as the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY). Programme of nationalisation begins.

Qat, a leafy stimulant, is chewed by many Yemeni men

1971 - Thousands flee to north following crackdown on dissidents. Armed groups formed in bid to overthrow government.
1972 - Border clashes between YAR and PDRY, ceasefire brokered by Arab League.
1978 - Ali Abdallah Saleh named as president of YAR.
1979 - Fresh fighting between YAR and PDRY. Renewed efforts to unite the two states.
1982 - Earth quake kills 3,000.
1986 - Thousands die in south in political rivalry. President Ali Nasser Muhammad flees the country and is later sentenced to death for treason. New government formed.
North and south unite
1990 - Unified Republic of Yemen proclaimed, with Saleh as president.
1991 - Yemen opposes US-led action against Iraq in Gulf War.
1992 - Food price riots in major towns.
1993 April - Coalition government formed, made up of ruling parties of former north and south.
1993 August - Vice-President Ali Salim al-Baid withdraws to Aden, alleging that south is being marginalised and that southerners are being attacked by northerners.
1994 - Armies of former north and south, which have failed to integrate, gather on former frontier as relations between southern and northern leaders deteriorate.
Attempted split
1994 May - Saleh declares state of emergency and dismisses al-Baid and other southern government members following political deadlock and sporadic fighting. Foreigners flee escalating fighting.

Tenth anniversary unification celebrations in Sanaa, May 2000

1994 May 21- Al-Baid declares independence of Democratic Republic of Yemen. Saleh rejects secession as illegal.
1994 July - Northern forces take control of Aden, secessionist leaders flee abroad and are sentenced to death in absentia.
1995 - Yemen, Eritrea clash over disputed island territory.
US vessel attack
2000 October - US naval vessel USS Cole damaged in suicide attack in Aden which is subsequently blamed on al-Qaeda. Seventeen US personnel killed.
2000 October - Bomb explodes at British embassy. Four Yemenis who are jailed say they carried out attack in solidarity with Palestinians.
2001 February - Violence in run-up to municipal polls and referendum, in which voters show support for constitutional reform extending presidential term and powers.
Terror crackdown
2001 November - President Saleh visits US, tells President Bush that Yemen is a partner in the fight against terrorism.

Hundreds have been killed in rebel cleric's revolt 2004: Yemeni forces kill rebel cleric

2002 February - Yemen expels more than 100 foreign Islamic scholars, including British and French nationals, in crackdown on terror and suspected al-Qaeda members.
2002 October - Supertanker Limburg badly damaged in attack, blamed on al-Qaeda, off Yemeni coast.
2003 April - The 10 chief suspects in the bombing of the USS Cole escape from custody in Aden.
2004 March - Two militants, suspected of masterminding bombing of USS Cole, are re-arrested.
Clashes in north
2004 June-August - Government troops battle supporters of dissident cleric Hussein al-Houthi in the north; estimates of the dead range from 80 to more than 600.
2004 August - Court sentences 15 men on terror charges, including bombing of Limburg tanker in 2002.
2004 September - Government says its forces have killed dissident cleric Hussein al-Houthi, the leader of a revolt in the north.
2005 March-April - More than 200 people are killed in a resurgence of fighting between government forces and supporters of the slain rebel cleric Hussein al-Houthi.
2005 May - President Saleh says the leader of the rebellion in the north has agreed to renounce the campaign in return for a pardon. Minor clashes continue.

Women back opposition's Faisal Bin Shamlan ahead of 2006 poll

2005 July - Police and witnesses say at least 36 people are killed across the country in clashes between police and demonstrators protesting about a cut in fuel subsidies.
2005 December - More than 60 people are killed when a landslide destroys a mountain village around 20km from Sanaa.
2006 March - More than 600 followers of slain Shia cleric Hussein al-Houthi who were captured following a rebellion he led in 2004 are released under an amnesty.
2006 September - President Saleh wins another term in elections.
2007 January-March - Scores are killed or wounded in clashes between security forces and al-Houthi rebels in the north.
2007 June - Rebel leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi accepts a ceasefire.
2007 July - Suicide bomber attacks a tourist convoy killing eight Spaniards and two Yemenis in the province of Marib.
2007 August - Citizens banned from carrying firearms in Sanaa. Demonstrations without a permit are outlawed.

A volcano erupts on the Red Sea island of Jabal al-Tair for the first time since the 1800s.

2007 October - Volcano erupts on the Red Sea island of Jabal al-Tair where Yemen has a military base.
2007 November - Clashes between Yemeni tribesmen and army personnel protecting a Ukrainian oil company leave 16 people dead in the south-eastern Shabwa province.
2008 January - Renewed clashes between security forces and rebels loyal to Abdul-Malik al-Houthi.
2008 April - Clashes with troops as southern Yemenis protest against alleged northern bias in state job allocation. One man killed.
2008 March-April - Series of bomb attacks on police, official, diplomatic, foreign business and tourism targets. US embassy evacuates all non-essential personnel.
2008 September - Attack on US embassy in Yemeni capital Sana'a kills 18 people, including six assailants. Six suspects arrested.
2008 October - President Saleh announces arrest of suspected Islamist militants allegedly linked to Israeli intelligence.
Demands for reform
2008 November - Police fire warning shots at Common Forum opposition rally in Sanaa. Demonstrators demand electoral reform and fresh polls. At least five protesters and two police officers injured.
2009 February - Government announces release of 176 al-Qaeda suspects on condition of good behaviour.

AL-QAEDA IN ACTION 1992 December - Bombers hit hotel in Aden formerly used by US marines - first known al-Qaeda attack in Yemen. 2000 October - Suicide attack on destroyer USS Cole in Aden. Bomb attack on British embassy in Sanaa. 2002 October - French tanker Limburg damaged by bomb-laden boat in port of Ash-Shir. 2007 July - 8 Spanish tourists, 2 local drivers killed by car bomb at historic site in Maarib. 2008 January - Two Belgians, their guide and driver shot dead in attack in Wadi Hadramout. 2008 March - Policeman, student killed in attempted bombing of US embassy. 2008 September - 16 killed in double car bombing outside US embassy. 2009 January - Saudi and Yemeni al-Qaeda branches announce merger to form al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). 2009 March - 4 South Korean tourists killed by suicide bomber in Shibam. 2009 August - AQAP bomber dies in failed bid to kill Saudi Deputy Interior Minister Prince Mohammed bin Nayef. 2009 December - 'Underwear bomber' Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab allegedly tries to down Detroit-bound US airliner in plot claimed by AQAP. 2010 January - London conference on extremism in Yemen. 2010 April - Attempted suicide bomb attack on convoy of British envoy Tim Torlot in Sanaa. 2010 June - Attack on Aden security complex. 10 security officers said killed. 2010 July - 11 security forces killed in 2 separate attacks in Shabwa province. Al-Qaeda attackers hit South Yemen security offices in 2 coordinated attacks. 2010 October - Rocket attack targets British embassy car 2010 October - Parcel bombs, thought to have been made by al-Qaeda and dispatched in Yemen, found on US-bound cargo planes

2009 June - Nine foreigners are abducted in remote Saada region. The bodies of three are later found. The fate of the remaining six hostages remains unclear, though local rebels deny responsibility.
2009 August - The Yemeni army launches a fresh offensive against Shia rebels in the northern Saada province. Tens of thousands of people are displaced by the fighting.
2009 October - Clashes break out between the northern rebels and Saudi security forces along the two countries' common border. The rebels accuse Saudi Arabia of supporting the Yemeni government in attacks against them. The Saudi government denies this.
2009 November - Saudi Arabia says it has regained control of territory seized by Yemeni rebels in a cross-border incursion.
2009 December - Yemen-based branch of al-Qaeda claims it was behind failed attack on US airliner. The government calls on the West for more support to help it combat the al-Qaeda threat.
2010 January - President Saleh says government open to talks with Al-Qaeda militants, provided they renounce violence.
2010 February - Government signs ceasefire with northern rebels.
2010 March - Northern rebels release 178 captives after the government accuses the Shia Houthi group of failing to comply with the terms of the truce reached in February.
2010 September - Thousands flee government offensive against separatists in southern Shabwa province.
2010 October - Global terror alert after packages containing explosives originating in Yemen are intercepted on cargo planes bound for the US.
2010 December - Yemen says 3,000 soldiers killed in recent outbreak of fighting involving Houthi rebels.
2011 January - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visits to express "urgent concern" at al-Qaeda activities in Yemen.
Tunisian street protests which unseat President Ben Ali appear to encourage similar demonstrations in other countries, including Yemen.
President Saleh pledges not to extend his presidency in 2013 or to hand over to his son.
2011 March - Pro-reform demonstrations continue. Police snipers open fire on pro-democracy camp in Sanaa, killing more than 50 people.
Senior military figures including key general, Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, declare their backing for protest movement. Several ministers and other senior regime figures also defect to protesters.
President Saleh says unrest risks plunging country into civil war. State of emergency is imposed.
2011 April - Unrest and violent government response continue. President Saleh vows to remain in office.
2011 May - Dozens die in clashes between troops and tribal fighters in Sanaa. Airport shuts and thousands flee the city.














BBC.News

Saleh: Yemen will not be a failed state

Yemen's president, Ali Abdullah Saleh

YEMEN,Sanaa,MAY 25,2011(Naseh News)--Yemen will not be “a failed state, another Somalia or a safe haven for extremist group al-Qaeda,” Saleh told Reuters on Wednesday, vowing to fight those “who threaten the security and stability” of the Arab country.

The embattled president has also slammed efforts by US President Barack Obama to use the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) as a tool to pressure Saleh into a step down.

He stressed that the crisis in the impoverished country is purely “an internal matter” and claimed that he would never take orders from any foreign powers.

However, despite the harsh warnings, Saleh asserted that he is now ready to sign a power transition deal within the framework of a dialogue.

He, however, outlined that he would not leave Yemen and would continue as part of the opposition after he leaves power.

This is while on Sunday, Saleh refused for the third time to sign a deal layed out by the [Arab] Gulf Cooperation Council ([A]GCC), to transfer power to his vice president and resign within 30 days in exchange for immunity from prosecution.

Following his rejection, fierce clashes broke out between Saleh's troops and tribesmen loyal to opposition tribal chief Sheikh Sadeq al-Ahmar in the capital Sana'a on Monday.

Ahmar who is the leader of the Hashid tribal federation and a former supporter of President Saleh, joined the opposition in March. Saleh himself comes from the Hashid tribe.

The strongman accuses Saleh of trying to spark a "civil war" in an attempt to remain in power.

Fighting between the two sides continued on Wednesday, a day after fierce clashes left over 60 people dead and hundreds more injured, Xinhua said.

According to witnesses, the tribesmen have so far managed to take over Yemen's state news agency Saba and the country's national airliner Yemenia.

They are now trying to take control of the interior ministry headquarters.

Since late January, hundreds of thousands of anti-government protesters have been staging anti-Saleh protest rallies across the country on a daily basis, demanding the ouster of Saleh

Yemeni tribesmen, security forces clash

Sana’a,May 23,2011(Naseh News)---The heavy fighting broke out in the Hassaba district of Sana'a, near the residence of the Hashid tribe leader, Sheikh Sadeq al-Ahmar, on Monday a day after Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh refused to sign a power transition deal.

Witnesses say machine-guns and rocket-propelled grenades were used during the fighting. There were also reports of huge explosions in the northern neighborhood, where a number of ministries are located.

A Yemeni official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that Ahmar loyalists had taken over the trade and industry ministry as well as a religious school and that a Yemeni Airlines office building was set on fire and smoke belched out of a building inside the Interior Ministry compound.

The headquarters of the state news agency, Saba, was also attacked.

According to medical sources, at least 5 was killed and dozens wounded .
It was not immediately clear what caused the clashes, but some reports suggest that the fighting broke out after security forces tried to set up roadblocks between al-Ahmar's residential compound and the nearby Al-Rammah schoole which the tribes refused.

Abdel-Qawi al-Qabasi, an aide to al-Ahmar, however, said security forces were trying to storm al-Ahmar's house and that tribal fighters counterattacked.

Al-Ahmar, who is the leader of the Hashid tribal federation and a former supporter of President Saleh, joined the opposition in March. Saleh himself comes from the Hashid tribe.

Hundreds of Hashid fighters were moving in from outside Sana'a to al-Ahmar's house to protect it, a tribal official speaking on condition of anonymity said.

GCC Deal Reaches Dead End In Yemen



Yemeni President Ali Abdullash Saleh

 YEMEN,Sanaa,May 19,2011---Opposition spokesman Mohammed al-Sabri said on Wednesday that Abdul-Latif al-Zayyani, the Secretary General of the six-nation  Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which had brokered the deal, "flew out of Yemen and would not come back'' because of Saleh's refusal to sign the deal.

 Yemen' ruling General People's Congress party(GPC) has also confirmed al-Zayyani's departure, saying Saleh would not resign "as long as the security situation remains unstable."

Saleh, who has been in power since 1978, has repeatedly said that he will stay in power until end of his term despite massive anti-government protests across Yemen. His current term of office ends in 2013.

It is the second time in nearly a month that Saleh backs out of signing a deal for transition of power at the last minute.

The Yemeni president and the opposition were expected to sign the deal yesterday. Officials from both sides had announced that they have agreed to sign the deal after a number of modifications were made in the original version.

Last month, the signing was thwarted after the isolated Yemeni president refused to sign in his capacity as president, insisting on endorsing the agreement only as the leader of the ruling GPC, a move opposed by the opposition.

The exit plan proposes the formation of a national unity government, Saleh transferring power to his vice president and submitting his resignation to parliament within 30 days in return for immunity from prosecution.

According to local reports, at least 300 protesters have been killed and many others injured during clashes with riot police and armed forces loyal to the embattled Yemeni president since anti-Saleh demonstrations began in late January.

Press TV made an interview with Mohamed Qubaty, Yemini political opposition activist in London

Mohamed  Qubaty, Yemini  political opposition  activist based  in London

In a Press TV interview, Mohamed Qubaty, a Yemeni political opposition activist, expressed his views on the reasons behind Saleh's refusal to sign the deal and what actions the international community should take in order to help the people of Yemen.


Press TV: Mr. Qubaty, speaking of the demands that we were just hearing, no guarantees for immunity and the immediate departure of President Saleh, with those demands coming from the opposition, if they are, do you think that there is any hope for this deal to work?

Qubaty Practically, I think the whole bargain or transaction was built on the premise that guarantees given to the president that he will not be prosecuted or pursued for his crimes vis-à-vis his early departure from power. I think as long as there is an early departure from power, the question of guarantees given would not stand at all in front of any court in the West, or anywhere else. And the president knows that, he knows that his only practical guarantee is for him to disappear somewhere in one of GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries, and most likely in Saudi Arabia, where he cannot be extradited, even if he is given guarantees that are assured by the parliament, okay. First of all this parliament has lost its term, it's not actually legal at any time, but even if it's given on the business of constitutional sort of arrangement, such guarantees could easily be thwarted at any time.

So the president knows that, the question is: is he willing to leave or not, and now he's actually cornered, he knows that the GCC, especially after the Qataris have pulled out from the initiative, and I think two other perhaps GCC countries will be about to pull, it's our brothers in Saudi Arabia [who] have got to push him and say sign it, if he signs it then it's the end of the game, because I'm sure then all of his entourage and the people who are, who have been around him will just fall around and leave him alone. And, but I think the man is also clever, he's a fox. I think he's trying to buy some more time, by many excuses.

Today, we're hearing that he says well, I'm going to sign it, but I don't want Mr. Hammas-al-Bassundu, who is his advisor, and he's the leading sort of personality in the so-called national dialogue committee. He said, I'll only sign it if it's signed by the GMP [Joint Meeting Parties] leader Mr. Yaseen Saeed Noaman. it doesn't make a difference as long as he signs, and he agrees to leave the country, and guarantees given would not stand. Anybody could take a potshot at those guarantees and they will fall. And he has been informed by the West and even by the Arab countries that those countries would not stand at all; it only depends on the will of the Yemeni people, if they want to change them.

Press TV: Mr. Qubaty, you were speaking there of you say efforts by the president to get out of the situation, maybe to even try and flee to Saudi Arabia, where he would not be extradited and tried as proposed for him. Do you think that the Yemeni president at this point in time is losing his support among his Arab allies, and rather their interests in Yemen is not the interest to save necessarily the president, but to save their interests there?

Qubaty: Obviously, we have got to be practical. We are sure that in politics everybody would be serving their own interests. But, as I've said it's not the president that is willing to fly to Saudi Arabia that is what is offered to him. What is offered to him in that deal is that he is practically going to move to one of the GCC countries and disappear there. Anywhere else, all guarantees given would not stand at all, a potshot by anybody. So, the man, he knows that he's going to be cornered. And, he doesn't want to sign that deal. This is a deal which has been offered for the past seven weeks now for him. He is looking for, as I've said many times, the man is trying to push the whole region into a state of catastrophe, into a state of anarchy, and disintegration. He wants Yemen to be fragmented. He's looking for a civil war and a sort of inside battling by everybody.

So that would be his real guarantee. Because he thinks if Yemen moves into anarchy and complete sort of disintegration, then he could disappear anywhere. There is no credible authority to follow him for his crimes, and for the money, and for the funds he's embezzled the country from. But, I think that now it's high time that our brothers in the  GCC realize that this man is actually now driving the whole region into very deep waters. I could see and everybody following should see that we are now, there is now there a catastrophe impending, there is a complete disaster of very huge magnitude. It is staring at us and walking. So, all parties concerned: local, regional, and international have got to move and move swiftly to prevent such a catastrophe which is going to cause a lot of repercussions. Our brothers in Saudi [Arabia] should know that we in Yemen, we have received at least a million Somali refugees in spite of having a sea separating us between them, the Gulf of Aden.

But, if things in Yemen falter and we move into a sort of internal anarchy, then they should expect three to five million people, refugees, moving into the country. So, the international community should know what Ali Abdullah Saleh has been claiming that he's preventing al-Qaeda from appearing there, he is driving Yemen towards anarchy in Yemen and we have got al-Qaeda made-up of a hundred persons or two-hundred people, which he has grown into two-thousand, and even ten-thousand people. So, the world has got to move. I don't understand myself what sort of price the Yemenis have got to pay, at what cost will the international community and our brothers in the GCC will come out clearly and say to the man: time is finished, move out because, you are not only actually harming the Yemeni stability, but you are now threatening the stability, peace, and security of the whole region.

Press TV: Mr. Qubaty, you referred to the issue of al-Qaeda and how the Yemeni president was using that issue as a threat. We've been hearing him repeatedly say that there is a threat of al-Qaeda rise if he does leave and if the situation in the country gets out of hand. How serious is the threat of al-Qaeda, even if we see the scenario of the Yemeni president leaving? Does that mean that there is going to be an open ground for al-Qaeda to launch attacks or to get some kind of standing in Yemen?

Qubaty: Well, as I said the president, you know, he's trying to drive the whole situation in Yemen into a state of complete disintegration so that there could be some easier foothold for any group like those. But, you see, this man has all the time played that game and that card very well. Al-Qaeda has been his number-one fundraiser for money from Saudi Arabia and from the United States. And, all these past years, he's been playing a game; he doesn't want to kill the wolf, and he wants to keep him there so that he could extract more money from them.

But, the thing which we have got to take into consideration, apart from what I've said previously the economic situation now in Yemen is getting so bad, we have been seeing here some of the ministers from the UK, with some of the businessmen and a lot of the intellectuals, as well as some of the people working in the judiciary, and we have told them that the situation here is getting very grave, the whole country could fall apart because of the economic situation. Then, if you move into such a situation, then Ali Abdullah Saleh has managed actually to punish the West by getting that situation so badly out of control, so that gives the chance for al-Qaeda to grow even worse than it is now. But, we want to reassure our friends in the West, we want to reassure our brothers in the area around that the coming authority would be actually the authority which can clamp down on al-Qaeda activities. We do understand that the president has given a lot of room for, especially for the West to carry-out some clandestine operations, and to carry out a lot of covert activities.

We know that and we have told them Ali Abdullah Saleh has been chewing cut on both cheeks, as we say in Yemen. He's giving them chances to work on the ground but, on the other hand, he's all the time reporting to al-Qaeda any movement which is done by those Westerners. So, for the past five years, they haven't managed actually to clamp-down, or to actually get to lower the al-Qaeda activities. On the contrary, things have been getting worse. So, our friends in the west should realize that the man is playing a game, and I think they have realized that game. It's only our brothers in the GCC now who have been asking for time to deal with the situation because Yemen is on their back door.

Press TV: And, Mr. Qubaty if the West has realized that the Yemeni president is playing with them, why do you think we haven't been seeing the kind of pressure that we're seeing for instance on Libya, that we've been seeing on Egypt earlier on, and Tunisia; why isn't there any direct call from them?

Qubaty: I have pointed out to that and I've said in the beginning, what cost do you want us to pay? But, obviously we have asked from President Obama to speak with President Ali Abdullah Saleh on the phone and King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, they have got to use the correct words for the man, and tell him time is finished and you have got to leave; or else, they are actually compromising their own interests, and in the region at large.

Press TV: Mr. Qubaty, how optimistic you are, do you think that the opposition is prepared to take on the role of [governance of Yemen]?

Qubaty: Yes, I think we have got to enter into dialogue, and get all the parties concerned, all opposition groups, and the different sections of the opposition inside and outside the country, Houthis, the southerners, the youths, everybody else, and to really re-affirm their commitment towards the creation of a civic and democratic country, which will actually shoulder its responsibilities locally, regionally, and internationally.

There is great chance for that as long as our brothers now in the GCC, and the world at large, moves very quickly to push this man out, and they have got a lot of leverage, we haven't heard any freezing of their assets, we haven't heard any travel ban on them, we haven't heard a lot of the leverages which our [P]GCC brothers [can use]. I think they should keep their word and say this is the last chance for him, if he doesn't sign today, then they have got to start movement, and move this case towards the Arab League, and from the Arab League to the United Nations, and the world at large. We need a lot of help from the world, and from the international community, because I think we have to build it down very much.

Yemeni opposition to consider modified Gulf deal

YEMEN,Sanaa,May 18,2011,(Naseh News)---Yemen opposition leaders will consider modifications to a Gulf Arab plan that aims to ease the entrenched President Ali Abdullah Saleh out of nearly 33 years in power.

Gulf, US and EU diplomats are trying to resurrect the Gulf Arab deal, which would see Saleh resign a month after signing, as violence rises in the impoverished Arabian Peninsula state, home to one of al Qaeda’s most aggressive regional wings.

Modifications proposed by the ruling party, passed on to the opposition by diplomats, would let the ruling party appoint a unity government for the transition period until elections and would also change which opposition representative would sign the deal, the opposition leader said.

“The opposition is now holding another meeting in the next few hours to discuss these ideas and respond to them, but it may stick to the principle that the Gulf initiative cannot be amended,” an opposition leader told Reuters.

He indicated that the opposition’s main objections were not with the changes being proposed but with setting a precedent for modifying the original deal.

Abdullatif al-Zayani, the secretary general of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), has been in capital Sanaa since Saturday trying to revive the GCC-brokered deal that Qatar, one of its six members, backed out of citing stalling and “lack of wisdom”.

Saleh, a shrewd political survivor who has outlasted previous opponents’ attempts to challenge his power, indicated in April he would sign the Gulf deal, but refused to put his name to it in the final hours. He said at the time he would only sign in his capacity as ruling party leader, not as president.

He and his party have now agreed he would sign as president of both the party and the country.
Violence in south

In the southern port city of Aden, gunmen in civilian clothes fired into the air at a protest camp early Tuesday morning, protesters said, in an apparent attempt to scare demonstrators out of the area where they have camped out for months to demand Saleh’s immediate ouster.

Residents and medics said several were hurt but no one was killed. Fleeing protesters, some of whom hurled stones at their attackers, quickly returned to their camp after the clashes.

Elsewhere in the south, suspected Islamist militants shot dead two soldiers and a civil servant as they drove up in a lorry to a security checkpoint in the southern city of Mukalla, a local official said. A fourth person was wounded.

The United States and neighbouring oil giant Saudi Arabia, both targets of foiled attacks from al Qaeda’s Yemen wing, have been keen to see an end to Yemen’s political stalemate out of concern that continued chaos could give the militant group more room to operate freely.

Protesters, frustrated that three months of protests have failed to dislodge Saleh, say they will step up their campaign by marching on government buildings, a move which brought new bloodshed last week as security forces fired to stop them.

Aden residents on Tuesday said their city was almost completely shut down — this time, not by protesters closing government buildings but by army roadblocks posted around the city to prevent a march on the presidential palace.

Protest leaders had called for marches on presidential palaces in several Yemeni cities but on Wednesday sent messages on Facebook cancelling the plan.

Yemen rights group seeks repatriation from Pakistan of bin Laden's young Yemeni widow


 YEMEN,Sana’a May17,2011(Naseh News) - A Yemeni rights activist says his organization is trying to repatriate the young Yemeni widow of Osama bin Laden following the U.S. raid that killed the al-Qaida chief in Pakistan.
    Lawyer Abdul Rahman Barman from HOOD Org. says the widow, Amal Ahmed Abdel-Fatah al-Sada, should be brought back to her native country. She and her daughter, as well as two other bin-Laden wives and several children, are now held by Pakistani authorities.
    "We will call on the Yemeni government to demand the release and repatriation of Amal, who is detained and being questioned in Pakistan by the Americans," said Baraman.
  "She is innocent. Her only crime was having married Osama bin Laden," he added
    The 29-year-old al-Sada was shot in the leg during the May 2 raid by U.S. Navy SEALs on bin Laden's compound in Pakistan.
   Amal al-Sada's family told The Associated Press that they saw her only once after her marriage in late 1999 to the al-Qaeda leader - during a monthlong visit to Afghanistan the following year. Communication was largely limited to messages delivered by couriers.
    Her father, Ahmed Abdel-Fatah al-Sada, says his daughter wasn't involved in bin Laden's activities, and that "her return is a basic demand."


Amal Ahmed Abdel-Fatah al-Sada,29,from IBB, 100 miles south of the Yemeni capital, Sanaa

 
     Barman says his National Organization for Defending Rights and Freedoms(HOOD) hopes for support from the Yemeni government.

" Yemeni Opposition Rejects (P)GCC Deal"

Yemeni anti-government protesters in the capital Sana'a call for an end to the longtime rule of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

A Yemeni government official said late Monday that opposition leaders rejected the Council's new proposal that Saleh “should at first sign the deal as the chairman of the ruling party and then sign it as the president,” Xinhua reported.

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh met with the visiting [P]GCC Secretary General, Abdullatif al-Zayani, on Monday in the capital Sana'a to discuss the initiative to settle the ongoing standoff.

"What kind of achievement are we going to make if the ruling party remains our partner in the future?" said an unidentified opposition leader.

"Saleh should sign the deal in his capacity as president, otherwise we will not approve such a deal," he added.

Hundreds of thousands of people have turned out for regular demonstrations in Yemen's major cities since late January, calling for an end to corruption and unemployment and demanding the ouster of Saleh.

President Saleh has been in office since 1978 and recently rejected a plan proposed by the [P]GCC that offers him immunity in return for his resignation.

At least 300 protesters have been killed and thousands injured and detained during clashes with riot police and armed forces loyal to the Yemeni president since the beginning of the anti-regime demonstrations, according to local reports.