Yemenis rally against Saleh-style policies

Yemeni people have staged massive demonstrations in various cities across the country, calling on the government not to follow the policies of the former regime.

Thousands of protesters on Thursday took to streets in Sana’a to renew their demand for the prosecution of deposed ruler Ali Abdullah Saleh and his aides.

Gathering in front of the residence of Saleh’s successor, Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, the protesters urged the removal of the ex-ruler’s relatives from key government and army posts as the precondition for engaging in a national reconciliation dialogue, Xinhua reported.

“The army must be reconstructed,” protesters shouted during the rally in the capital.

“No dialogue before removing sons of Saleh,” they said, referring to Saleh’s son Ahmed Ali who commands the Republican Guards, and his nephews Yahya Mohamed Saleh, who heads Yemen’s Central Security forces, and Ammar Mohamed Saleh, the deputy head of the National Security Agency.

Similar rallies were held in other major provinces, including Taizz, Sa’ada, Hajja, al-Hodayda, Hadramout, al-Bayda and Ibb.

Saleh ceded power in November, after receiving immunity from prosecution as part of a deal brokered by the [Persian] Gulf Cooperation Council, but stayed formally at the helm until February.

He was then replaced by his deputy Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi in a single-candidate presidential election backed by the US and Saudi Arabia.

The Yemeni public and Human rights groups hold Saleh accountable for the killing of hundreds of protesters in a brutal crackdown against the country’s popular revolution that erupted in early 2011.