President's 'no-women' comment draws hundreds of thousands of enraged Yemenis out for mass protests
Hundreds of thousands of people demonstrated across Yemen on Sunday, denouncing President Ali Abdullah Saleh for saying women should not take part in protest rallies.
At least 10 people were shot and wounded in Sana'a by forces loyal to the president, doctors said, and around 200 were overcome by teargas. Clashes were also reported to have taken place in Dhamar, just south of the capital.
In a speech on Friday, Saleh had condemned the mingling of men and women at demonstrations, saying it violated Islamic law. The comments enraged many Yemenis and prompted the youth movement to call for mass protests, on what they called a day of honour and dignity.
There was a significant turnout, with more than 100,000 people – including significant numbers of women – taking to the streets in Taiz, and tens of thousands more marching in Ibb, Aden, Shabwa and other cities. Demonstrators also demanded the president step down.
Abdel-Malek al-Youssefi, a youth movement activist and organiser, said the protests could be "the last nail in Saleh's coffin".
Yemen has been racked with anti-government demonstrations for the past two months. The protesters are calling for steps to improve livelihoods and open up the country's restricted political life.
A young woman first led anti-Saleh rallies on a university campus in January, but women did not begin taking part in large numbers until early last month.
While Yemen has conservative social and religious traditions, women can vote, run for parliament and drive cars, unlike in neighbouring Saudi Arabia.
Near-daily protests and defections by key allies in the military, powerful tribes and diplomatic corps have failed to bring an end to Saleh's 32-year autocratic rule. A crackdown on protesters by government forces has killed more than 120 people, according to Yemeni rights groups, but has not deterred the crowds from gathering.
Last week, the six-nation Gulf Co-operation Council suggested Saleh transfer power to his deputy, seeking an end to the unrest. The opposition criticised the proposal for not suggesting that the power transfer should be immediate. Opposition members are expected in the Saudi capital on Sunday to explain their position to Riyadh and other Gulf mediators.
In Syria, three people were killed after a gunman opened fire at the funeral of an anti-government protester. It was not clear who was behind the shooting at the funeral near Homs, 100 miles from Damascus.
More than 200 people have been killed by security forces trying to crush the protests using live ammunition, tear gas and batons over the past four weeks. The government has blamed many of the killings on armed gangs looking to stir up unrest.
Syria's state-run news agency later said one policeman was killed and 11 others wounded when an "armed criminal gang" opened fire on them in Talbiseh.
The killings occurred as thousands of people waving national flags and demanding freedom took to the streets Sunday the day after President Bashar al-Assad promised to end nearly 50 years of emergency rule, hoping to quell the unrest.
Activists had called the protests to mark Independence Day, and to bolster the month of demonstrations against the country's authoritarian regime.
Demonstrations also erupted on Sunday in the southern agricultural city of Deraa, which has become the centre of the protest movement, and the nearby town of Suweida.
Witnesses reached by telephone said tens of thousands of people were marching in Deraa, shouting "Whoever kills his own people is a traitor!" Others shouted: "The people want to topple the regime," which was the rallying cry during protests in Egypt and Tunisia that ousted the countries' longtime leaders.
Another demonstration in Suweida drew about 300 people. Witnesses. They said police beat up demonstrators with batons, injuring several of them.
The witness accounts could not be independently confirmed because Syria has placed tight restrictions on media outlets and expelled foreign journalists.