Sanaa - Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh has ordered his security forces to protect demonstrators trying to end his 32-year rule, but a leading opposition figure said the move was “too little, too late”.
A statement relayed by Yemen's press attache in Washington on Thursday said Saleh had “demanded security services to offer full protection for the demonstrators”.
“Saleh instructed all security services to thwart all clashes and prevent direct confrontation between pro- and anti-government protesters...
“Furthermore, the government calls on protesters to remain vigilant and take all precautionary steps to prevent the infiltrations of individuals seeking to carry out violent actions.
“The government ... will continue to protect the rights of its citizens to assemble peacefully and their right to freedom of expression,” the statement said.
Lawmaker Abdulmoez al-Dabwan told Reuters Saleh “is trying to distract from the violence wreaked by thugs whom the government backs”.
“His statement is too little, too late. It is the duty of the security forces to protect peaceful demonstrators in any case,” said Dabwan, who is from the Islamist party Islah.
Hours after Saleh's statement was issued, a bomb exploded at a protest march by southern secessionists in the town of Lawdar, killing one person and wounding two, a local official said.
A man who had set himself on fire earlier this week died of his injuries at a hospital in Aden on Thursday, a doctor told Reuters. The man's relatives said he had acted in protest against the killings of protesters in the southern port city. - Reuters