| Protests across Yemen demanding the immediate resignation of President Ali Abdullah Saleh are continuing, despite a plan from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) that President Saleh hand over power to his vice-president a month after an agreement is signed with the opposition. The six-nation GCC, made up of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman, was responsible for the invasion of Bahrain by Saudi Arabian and other foreign troops in mid-March in which thousands of protestors were brutally attacked. The agreement grants Saleh immunity from prosecution, as well as for his family and aides, agencies report. Yemen's ruling party and the official opposition coalition are reported to have endorsed the deal on April 23. On April 24, protesters issued a statement rejecting the plan for Saleh to transfer power in return for immunity, vowing to step up their protests to force Saleh to leave immediately and reiterating their demand that he along with his family members be prosecuted for corruption, and that he be held accountable for the the violent repression against the people in which more than 300 have been killed since late January. In their statement, the protesters said the opposition Joint Meeting Parties (JMP), which accepted the U.S.-backed GCC plan "only represents itself." They called on the JMP to refrain from engaging in any deal with Saleh and to merge entirely with the revolution that seeks to oust Saleh right away and rapidly prosecute his aides. Protests took place across the country on April 25 to underscore these demands. In the city of Ibb, south of the capital Sana'a, at least one protester was killed and over 30 others wounded after security forces and Saleh loyalists attacked a protest march, agencies report. According to reports, armed men belonging to the ruling party also attacked a sit-in demonstration in the southeastern province of al-Bayda, killing at least one protester. Also in the city of Taez, at least 10 protesters were injured after security forces fired live rounds and tear gas at anti-regime demonstrators to disperse the huge crowd. Similar anti-Saleh rallies were also held in Sana'a, Mukalla and Hudaydah. However, there were no reports of clashes there. Protesters expressed great scepticism about the deal. Said one, quoted by Press TV: "The Gulf plan for Yemen is a joke played on the young people's revolution, because they want the youth to concede their true demands, demands that have taken them out of their homes, that is, the removal of the regime. As for the opposition, they are with us, but what can they do? The President wants them to commit political suicide." |