Thursday, December 29, 2011

Protesters seek removing heads of Yemen institutions, transition government urges calm



By Mohammed al-kibsi
For the second consecutive day the military committee chaired by vice president Abdu Raboo Mansour Hadi continued dismantling military positions in central Sana’a today and yesterday.

Bulldozers crashed through the walls of sandbags fortifying the fighters' positions on a main street in Hasaba, a flashpoint area where fierce fighting took place between Sadeq al-Ahmar's tribesmen and the security forces in the past few months.
The military committee also announced starting to dismantle military positions in the southern ring road where military vehicles affiliated to the central security forces were deployed in the past few months.
However eyewitnesses from al-Hasbab neighborhood said that the entrenches were removed from the main street leading to the airport but not from all other minor streets where they said hundreds of tribesmen affiliated to Sheikh Sadek al-Ahmar still positioning in their entrenches in most streets of al-Hasabah and Sofan neighborhoods.  

Vice President Abdo Rabbo Mansour Hadi chaired on Wednesday a meeting of the military commission in the presence of the ambassadors of the permanent members of the UN Security Council and the Gulf Cooperation Council’s states.
In the meeting, the Vice President pointed to the successes achieved by the commission during the last three weeks in addition to the difficulties associated with the process.

Hadi said also that he was trying to reach an agreement with the Joint Meeting Parties opposition parties lead by Islah Islamist party not to stage further protests or marches, especially from a province to another, briefing the meeting on the foot march came from Taiz to Sana'a which resulted in killing and wounding dozens of protesters last Saturday.

He said that the march had been secured until they reached the suburbs of Sana'a, adding that some people was seeking to change its direction, causing clashes, shootings and the use of smoke bombs and tear gas.

He confirmed the government had formed an investigation committee headed by the Ministers of Defense and Interior. The committee report will be submitted to the government as soon as possible.

The Vice President also said that the military commission began on Wednesday the removal of roadblocks in al-Hasabah area in Sana’a.

Yemen parliament voted on Wednesday to approve the program of the transitional government, which is led by a Mohammed Salem Ba Sindwah a former foreign minister who joined the opposition to Saleh.
The parliament offered confidence to the transition government that half of its bags gone to the ruling party GPC and the other half for the opposition parties JMP.
However the MPs stressed that the government should give priority for restoring peace and security and to fully implement the GCC reconciliation deal.
The MPS also stressed that the government should restore the essential services including electricity, water and oil derivatives for the public in Sana’a and all other main cities across the country. 
President Saleh announced on Saturday he would head to Washington not only for medical treatment but also for political affairs and said he wanted to pave the road for the transition government to conduct an early presidential elections and to implement the GCC deal.
The military committee overseeing the disengagement is headed by vice president Abdu Raboo Mansour Hadi whom Saleh had handed over power to as part of the GCC deal.
The ruling party organized a demonstration in Sana’a last Monday demanding full implementation of the GCC’s deal, urgent remove all military presence from the streets of Sana’a and to restore the electricity and water services.
In return the JMP launched protesting strikes at many governmental institutions where the members of JMP and particularly members of Islah party, who are working for many governmental offices, demanded to oust the heads of these institutions accusing them of being corrupt.
Among these protests were the one staged against the head of the moral guidance of the Yemeni army forces where some soldiers staged a sit in demanding to oust General Ali al-Shater who has been holding this post for more than 40 years.
Also some workers of the Saba news agency protested demanding to oust the chairman of the agency Tariq al-Shami, who is the spokes person of the GPC.
Other workers from the bank of instruction and development staged a sit in demanding to replace the chairman of boards of directors of the bank accusing him of being corrupt.
The government that is chaired by an opposition figure Mohammed Salem Ba Sindwah called on all parties to avoid such protests and to avoid any troubles at the current time so as to give the government a chance to implement the GCC deal and to restore security and services for the citizens.
According to the executive mechanism of the GCC deal no officials should be replaced during the transition period and changes can occur only after elections.   

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