DTN News - YEMEN UNREST: Yemen Gunmen Kill Five In Sanaa, 17 Dead In South
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada / SANAA, Yemen - November 24, 2011: Gunmen killed at least five people protesting against a deal to end the rule of Ali Abdullah Saleh in Yemen's capital on Thursday, a day after the president bowed to pressure and agreed to step down, while the army killed 17 Islamists in the south.
If the deal goes according to plan, Saleh will become the fourth Arab ruler brought down by mass demonstrations that have reshaped the political landscape of the Middle East.
"We were marching on Zubayr street demanding Saleh and his followers be tried when we were attacked by armed men in civilian clothes who opened fire on us directly," a protester who identified himself as Nael told Reuters.
The deal, brokered by Yemen's wealthier Gulf neighbors, granted Saleh and his relatives immunity from prosecution.
The latest bloodshed in Sanaa, which witnesses blamed on Saleh loyalists, underscored the volatility of the impoverished country after 10 months of street protests aimed at toppling the leader that brought Yemen to the brink of civil war.
Thursday's shooting followed street clashes between Saleh's foes, once united in protest against him, inspired by the example of revolts in Tunisia, Egypt and then Libya.
The clashes between Saleh's foes pointed to the challenges Yemen faces in a transition away from Saleh's era and the network of his relatives still in positions of military and economic power.
At least 45 people were wounded in the attacks, said Mohammad al-Qubati, director of the field hospital near the square that Yemenis demanding an end to Saleh's 33-rule made the center of their campaign.
Saleh signed the deal in the presence of Saudi King Abdullah in Riyadh. Saudi Arabia and the United States had urged Saleh to step down as political deadlock over his rule pushed the country toward chaos they feared could embolden Yemen's al Qaeda wing.
