Sanaa (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Anti-government protests continue for a fourth day in a row in Yemen in the wake of similar events in Tunisia and Egypt. About 3,000 people, mostly students and lawyers, took to the streets of Sanaa today to demand the resignation of President Ali Abdallah Saleh. “After Mubarak, Ali,” as they shouted their anger at the Yemeni president who, like Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak, has been in power for 32 years.
Students and civil society groups are behind the protest action. Demonstrators gathered at Sanaa University in order to march on Tahrir Square, where the government has its headquarters. Police created a human wall between protesters and government supporters.
In the industrial town of Taiz and in Aden, police fired shots into the air to disperse crowds.
Human Rights Watch slammed Yemeni police for using brutal methods without reason.
Thousands of protesters clashed with police yesterday.
Ali Abdullah Saleh, in power since 1978, recently announced that he would not run for re-election in 2013.
Local media say that he put off a visit to the United States because of the protests. Demonstrators attempted to march to the presidential palace in Sanaa on Sunday, chanting: "A Yemeni revolution after the Egyptian revolution."
Witnesses said several people were hurt as police armed with batons clashed with stone-throwing protesters. At least ten people were arrested, reports said.
The uprising in Egypt appears to have caused a domino effect across the region. Thousands of people protested on Saturday in Algeria. A "day of rage" got underway today in Bahrain with a number of people injured. The Palestinian government headed by Salem Fayyad also resigned.