Yemen Dissidents Urge Swift Action in Saleh Absence

Dissidents on Monday called for a swift power transfer as Yemen’s opposition vowed to block the return of President Ali Abdullah Saleh whose party insists he will be back after surgery in Saudi Arabia.
A youths’ committee, which has been a key player behind an uprising against Saleh’s nearly 33 years of iron-fisted rule, appealed on Monday for immediate steps to ensure a power transfer.

It urged “all national and political forces to begin with forming an interim presidential council… and creating a national transitional council,” in a statement. The committee also called for the forming of a “government of technocrats” to lead the transition.

The youth group, organizers of an anti-regime sit-in demonstration at a square in Sanaa since February, encouraged people to celebrate what they hailed as “the ouster of Saleh.” “The revolution has achieved its first objective — the ouster of Saleh,” it said, adding the protesters would “continue (their) sit-in until the achievement of all goals.”

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Yemen’s capital on Sunday to cheer “the end of Saleh’s regime”. Hundreds also celebrated in the second-largest city Taez.

The parliamentary opposition vowed Sunday to prevent Saleh’s return to the country roiled by deadly unrest since the revolt against his rule erupted in January.