Yemenis hold anti-regime demo in Sana’a

Yemenis have held a demonstration in Sana’a to demand the dismissal of ex-regime remnants loyal to deposed dictator Ali Abdullah Saleh.

On Tuesday, the demonstrators chanted anti-regime slogans and called for the trial of Saleh and his aides over the killing of anti-government protesters during the country’s revolution, which began in January 2011.

The protesters also said that the new president and the new government need to stop the US drone attacks targeting various places in the country.

Saleh formally stepped down and handed power over to Vice President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi on February 27. The power transfer occurred under a Saudi-backed deal brokered by the [Persian] Gulf Cooperation Council in April 2011 and signed by Saleh in Riyadh on November 23, 2011.

The new Yemeni president, who is a UK-trained field marshal, was sworn in on February 25 following a single-candidate presidential election on February 21, which was supported by the United States and Saudi Arabia.

On May 3, United Nations envoy to Yemen Jamal Benomar said General Tariq Mohammed Abdullah Saleh, a nephew of the former dictator, who commanded the presidential guard, finally stepped down.

Hadi issued a decree on April 6, firing General Tariq Mohammed Abdullah Saleh and Yemeni Air Force commander General Mohammed Saleh al-Ahmar, a half-brother of the former Yemeni dictator. Both generals had initially refused to obey the order.

General Ahmar resigned on April 24, Benomar said.

According to the April 6 presidential decree, about 20 other senior Yemeni officers were also dismissed as part of a restructuring of the army.

Yemenis have held numerous demonstrations across the nation to demand the political restructuring of the country and the dismissal of members of Saleh’s regime from their government posts.