Yemen revolt

SANAA (AFP) -- Tens of thousands of Yemenis staged a "day of rage" on Thursday calling for the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, as a similar number of government loyalists held a counter protest in the capital.

"We are here to bring down a corrupt and tyrannical regime," Najib Ghanem, a lawmaker from the Islamist Al-Islah party that belongs to the Common Forum alliance of opposition parties, told anti-Saleh protesters at Sanaa University.

"The revolt for justice began in Tunisia. It continues today in Egypt, and Yemen tomorrow will be free from injustice," he said of the Tunisian president's fall and protests in Egypt seeking the departure of its president.

Addressing the massive crowd, Common Forum speakers all repeated the same message: the peaceful struggle will continue until the fall of an unjust regime.

The demonstration, the biggest since protests against Saleh's rule first erupted in mid-January, came despite the president saying on Wednesday that he would not seek another term and that he had postponed controversial April elections, two key opposition demands.

"We are gathered here demanding that President Saleh and the corrupt government resign," said a member of parliament from the opposition parties, Abdulmalik al-Qasuss as news AFPpada Thursday (27/01/2011). They see the problems of poverty, unemployment, and corruption, collusion, and nepotism became increasingly. Yemen is the poorest country in the Arab world.