Yemeni Demonstrators Demand Creation of Transitional Council

By Mohammed Hatem - Jun 14, 2011

Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Sana’a to demand the formation of a transitional council to run Yemen after President Ali Abdullah Saleh left to receive medical treatment in Saudi Arabia.

As they marched toward Vice President Abduraboo Mansur Hadi’s house, the demonstrators chanted: “The people want a transitional council” and “No dialogue with the remnants of the regime.” They demanded Hadi support their revolt and called for the prosecution of officials from Saleh’s regime.

The organizing committee of the Popular Youth Revolution said in an e-mailed statement read to protesters that any agreement stemming from talks with “remnants” of Saleh’s regime would be “illegitimate.” Hadi would be “accountable” for “any crimes committed by the remnants and sons of Saleh” against protesters, according to the statement.

Saleh is recuperating in Saudi Arabia after surgery for injuries sustained during the June 3 bombing of a mosque in his presidential compound in Sana’a, the capital. After months of anti-government protests, fighting in the Arabian Peninsula country escalated when Saleh refused to sign a Gulf Cooperation Council plan calling for him to step down within 30 days and turn leadership over to Hadi in exchange for immunity from prosecution.

Source: Bloomberg