SANAA (AFP) - Security forces and backers of Yemen’s embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh on Saturday shot dead seven protesters in the south of the capital, medical sources said.
Dozens more demonstrators were injured when tear gas and water cannons were used against thousands of marchers demanding that Saleh go on trial, witnesses and medics said.
“Four of the dead were taken to the field hospital” at Change Square in Sanaa, the epicentre of anti-regime protests in the capital, the facility’s director, Mohammed al-Abbahi, told AFP. The bodies of three others were taken to a private clinic in the city, said Mohammed al-Sormy, a doctor there. All of the victims had been shot dead, said Abbahi, who added that “dozens of wounded have been admitted to different medical centres.” Tens of thousands of protesters who set off from the southern city of Taez on Tuesday for the 270-kilometre (170-mile) march to the capital had arrived in Sanaa in mid-afternoon but were blocked in a southern suburb.
Government forces blocked the streets leading to Sabine Square, adjacent to the presidential palace, where Saleh loyalists have previously gathered on Fridays to voice support for the veteran leader, targeted by waves of protests since January.
The objective of the march was to ensure that Saleh and his top allies face criminal charges for their roles in the crackdown on anti-regime protesters that left hundreds dead.
The tens of thousands of Yemenis who have braved the streets of the capital demanding regime change in recent months have held weekly protests against the Gulf Cooperation Council plan that promised Saleh immunity.
For the time being, Saleh holds the title of honorary president until elections are held in February when he will formally resign in favour of his deputy, Vice President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi.