Yemen crackdown on anti-govt protestors
Anne Barker reported this story on Saturday, March 19, 2011 08:12:00
ELIZABETH JACKSON: Elsewhere in the Middle East, at least 40 people have been killed, and as many as 200 wounded, as security forces in Yemen launched a bloody crackdown on protesters there.
Anti-government groups have rallied for weeks calling for the resignation of the country's president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, who's been in power for decades. He's now declared a state of emergency, like neighbouring Bahrain, which is also struggling to crush a campaign to overthrow the ruling family.
Our Middle East correspondent Anne Barker reports.
(Sound of crowds protesting)
ANNE BARKER: Protesters began gathering in the Yemeni capital Sana'a, as they've done for weeks now, shortly after Friday prayers. Only this time things turned decidedly ugly.
(Sound of bombing)
Witnesses say snipers in plain clothes began shooting indiscriminately from rooftops, apparently to stop them massing at nearby Sana'a University. More than 100 people were wounded, and at least 40 were killed.
(Sound of gunfire)
Some victims were shot several times.
(Man speaking)
"We finished prayers and I felt a shot on my leg," said one man carried away on a stretcher.
"They shot me in both legs four times. There are many other people who were shot too."
With so many wounded, doctors set up a makeshift hospital to carry out emergency first aid. Most of the victims, they say, were shot in the head, neck or chest. And there were gruesome scenes, as the mostly male victims, were brought in soaked with blood.
Nearby all doctors could do was lay out the dead in a long row, with a Koran placed on every chest.
(Ali Abdullah Saleh speaking)
Yemen's president Ali Abdullah Saleh denies his forces had anything to do with the violence, and blames clashes between private citizens. But in a televised speech he said he regretted the deaths, and declared a state of emergency across the country.
"What happened today was very regrettable," he said. "The death of our children."
But protest leaders say there's now no way to reach any mutual agreement with the government and they won't give up their campaign until President Saleh is gone.
Like Yemen, Bahrain too has declared a state of emergency, as anti-government protests there also spiral out of control. Earlier this week foreign forces from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states, poured into Bahrain to help local forces crush the unrest, forcing most of the protesters off the streets.
But it hasn't stopped the latest violence in the capital Manama, where demonstrators tore down a giant statue that represents those same Gulf powers. They spent hours digging at the statue's base until finally it collapsed in a mound of rubble. Toppling their government, though, may not be so easy.
This is Anne Barker reporting for AM.
Anti-government groups have rallied for weeks calling for the resignation of the country's president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, who's been in power for decades. He's now declared a state of emergency, like neighbouring Bahrain, which is also struggling to crush a campaign to overthrow the ruling family.
Our Middle East correspondent Anne Barker reports.
(Sound of crowds protesting)
ANNE BARKER: Protesters began gathering in the Yemeni capital Sana'a, as they've done for weeks now, shortly after Friday prayers. Only this time things turned decidedly ugly.
(Sound of bombing)
Witnesses say snipers in plain clothes began shooting indiscriminately from rooftops, apparently to stop them massing at nearby Sana'a University. More than 100 people were wounded, and at least 40 were killed.
(Sound of gunfire)
Some victims were shot several times.
(Man speaking)
"We finished prayers and I felt a shot on my leg," said one man carried away on a stretcher.
"They shot me in both legs four times. There are many other people who were shot too."
With so many wounded, doctors set up a makeshift hospital to carry out emergency first aid. Most of the victims, they say, were shot in the head, neck or chest. And there were gruesome scenes, as the mostly male victims, were brought in soaked with blood.
Nearby all doctors could do was lay out the dead in a long row, with a Koran placed on every chest.
(Ali Abdullah Saleh speaking)
Yemen's president Ali Abdullah Saleh denies his forces had anything to do with the violence, and blames clashes between private citizens. But in a televised speech he said he regretted the deaths, and declared a state of emergency across the country.
"What happened today was very regrettable," he said. "The death of our children."
But protest leaders say there's now no way to reach any mutual agreement with the government and they won't give up their campaign until President Saleh is gone.
Like Yemen, Bahrain too has declared a state of emergency, as anti-government protests there also spiral out of control. Earlier this week foreign forces from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states, poured into Bahrain to help local forces crush the unrest, forcing most of the protesters off the streets.
But it hasn't stopped the latest violence in the capital Manama, where demonstrators tore down a giant statue that represents those same Gulf powers. They spent hours digging at the statue's base until finally it collapsed in a mound of rubble. Toppling their government, though, may not be so easy.
This is Anne Barker reporting for AM.
(ABC News)
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