Yemenis start Taizz to Sana’a march

Thousands of Yemenis have begun a protests march from the southern city of Taizz to the capital, Sana’a, to demand the prosecution of Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Demonstrators, who will travel the 270-kilometer distance on foot, began their journey on Wednesday and are expected to reach the capital on Sunday to attend a protest rally rejecting a US-backed Arab-brokered power transition deal which granted Saleh immunity in return for resignation.

According to the Taizz-based Youth Revolutionary Union, which organized the march, Yemenis from towns and villages along the road to Sana’a are expected to join Taizz demonstrators. It is also expected that 50,000 protesters will join the march by the time it reaches the capital.

The organizers say the four-day march aims to send the message to the United Nations Security Council and the Arab League that Yemenis want Saleh and his regime officials to be brought to justice over the killing of hundreds of protesters since the beginning of the uprising in the country in late January.

They also expressed hoped the march would pressure the newly formed unity government to withdraw amnesty from Saleh and other regime officials.

Saleh, who has been in power for 33 years, signed the power transition deal brokered by Persian Gulf Arab states in Saudi Arabia on November 23 and resigned as president and handed authority to Vice President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi in return for immunity. He is now serving as an honorary president until polls are held in February to elect his successor.