Sana'a: Tens of thousands of Yemenis took to the streets of the capital Sana'a in two huge rival rallies yesterday — one calling for the removal of President Ali Abdullah Saleh's regime and the other supporting it.
Close to the gates of Sana'a University, northwest of the capital, about 10,000-12,000 demonstrators from the opposition parties were chanting anti-government slogans and carrying placards that read: "No for hereditary rule, no for the rule of one family, no for constitutional amendments."
Young people wearing pink headbands and sashes chanted: "People want to topple the regime."
Yesterday's protests, the biggest staged against Saleh in the past few weeks, came despite the president announcing on Wednesday that he would not seek another term and that he had postponed controversial April elections — two key opposition demands.
The opposition plans were affected when armed supporters of Saleh's General People's Congress took over Al Tahrir Square, the venue of the planned protest, on Wednesday night, setting up tents and carrying portraits of the president.
Protest organisers early yesterday then drove through the streets using megaphones to announce the venue had been changed to Sana'a university, about two kilometres from the square. They blamed the change on the fact that "the men of the ruling party and their armed elements are holding Al Tahrir".
— With inputs from AFP
