Over 30 protesters shot dead in Sanaa: medics

[Bosonic]

Source: AFP

More than 30 anti-regime protesters were shot dead and over 100 wounded during a demonstration in the Yemeni capital Sanaa on Friday, medics and witnesses said.

According to witnesses, pro-regime "thugs" opened fire on protesters calling for the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh from houses close to the square at Sanaa University.

Read more: http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/over-30-protesters-shot-dead-in-sanaa-medics-20110318-1c0td.html

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Yemen next for the middle east war tour?

[Turborama]

1. Not funny. Not funny at all. This isn't something to joke around about.

Watch this 25 minute documentary to see what I mean when I say that comment is disrespectful of the protesters who lost their lives today campaigning for a democracy. I watched it on TV a few hours before the bloodbath today and was hoping these sweet and goodhearted people weren't going to be gunned down...

Yemen: A tale of two protests
As demonstrations advance across Yemen, People&Power follows activist Tawakkol Karman.

Last Modified: Mar 16 2011 13:56

For weeks activists there have been calling for political reform and for Ali Abdullah Saleh, Yemen's president, to step down. The regime, in power for more than 30 years, has responded with a typically heavy-handed crackdown and then apologies for the deaths that have occurred.

What is different is that President Saleh has been effective in getting his own supporters onto the streets.

Their presence is clearly intended to send a simple message: not all Yemenis want sweeping political changes, or at least not while the country faces long-standing rebellions in the north and south, and is fighting al-Qaeda elsewhere.

On the opposition side, the key departure from the norm is that its most prominent activist is a mother of three, an inspiring figure in a country not known for progressive attitudes towards women. But for Tawakkol Karman it is political change for all that matters right now: http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/peopleandpower/2011/03/201131683916701492.html

Al Jazeera English on today's massacre...

Yemen protest turns deadly
30 killed and scores wounded as government security forces open fire on anti-regime protests in the capital Sanaa.
Last Modified: March 18 2011 13:26



At least 30 people have been killed and scores were wounded after Yemeni security forces opened fire on protesters at University square, in the capital Sanaa.

Security forces opened fire on Friday, in attempts to prevent protesters from marching out of the square where they were gathered, sources said. Medical sources said the death toll was likely to rise.

Pro-regime "thugs" also opened fire on protesters from houses close to university square, witnesses told the AFP news agency.

Friday's attack came as tens of thousands gathered across the country, continuing to demand that president Ali Abdullah Saleh - the country's ruler of 32 years - step down.

Full article: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/03/2011318115434957754.html

[WhiteTara]

2. Yemen troops shoot protesters dead

Source: guardian.uk

At least 35 people have been shot dead and hundreds wounded in Sana'a after soldiers and plain-clothed government loyalists opened fired on protesters trying to march through the Yemeni capital.

snip

The protest on Friday had started peacefully. Tens of thousands filled a mile-long stretch of road by Sana'a University for a prayer ceremony mourning the loss of seven protesters killed in similar violence last weekend.

As the prayers came to an end, however, the sight of black smoke from a burning car caught the attention of protesters, who began surging towards it.

Witnesses say the first shots were fired by security forces trying to disperse the protesters and they were joined by plain-clothed men who fired on the demonstrators with Kalashnikovs from the roofs of nearby houses.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/18/yemen-troops-shoot-dead-protesters

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More struggles for freedom and the violent repression by the "leaders."


(The headline should be added to the worst headlines in history file.)

[Uncle Joe]

3. Kicked and recommended for democracy in Yemen.

Thanks for the thread, WhiteTara.

[raccoon]

4. K&R. nt

[golddigger]

5. What no-fly zone?

[Igel]

6. Right.

It's a moral argument that was made in Libya. That the same moral argument holds in a dozen other places doesn't matter; that many of these places have been worse or of longer standing doesn't matter.

There's a moral imperative to save some lives. It's the same with species: Popular, furry and cute species, like popular causes, are the focus of a moral imperative. If you're in someplace without oil, someplace that doesn't fuel your constituents' imagination and hopes and dreams, someplace of no strategic value it's as though they're an endangered fungus.

What's weird is that the moral imperative is always couched in absolutist terms: We must defend democracy, we must protect the poor, we must protect human rights, due process, human dignity, territorial integrity, etc., etc., when nobody actually believes that such imperatives are in any sense absolute. Or, rather, they only believe that they're absolute intermittently: When they're believed, they're absolute; the next week, when it's inconvenient and not judged interesting, morality is relative; the week after, when another popular cause comes up, morality is again absolute.

[pinboy3niner]

7. Yemen update: Doctors say 42 people killed, more than 300 injured

Reuters via The Guardian:

The news agency reported President Ali Abdullah Saleh had said armed groups rather than the police were behind the violence.

Reports have suggested Yemeni security forces and unidentified snipers had opened fire on the crowds after Muslim prayers in the capital, Sana'a.

The interior ministry put the death toll at 25, Reuters said, but doctors said 42 people had died and at least 300 were injured. ...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog/2011/mar/18/libya-military-action-live-updates

[PurityOfEssence]

8. Good thing they don't have oil, or we'd be no-flyin' 'em like no tomorrow

Unless, of course, they have oil and we like the government, in which case they can kill as they please.

[joshcryer]

10. This happened in Libya over 2-3 weeks ago.

I know your attempt at equivalence took some effort, but it fails.

[David__77]

9. Southern separatism will emerge again soon as well.

Yemen People's Democratic Republic was probably, despite all its problems, ahead of its time (too much), with its relatively progressive, secular laws. The more progressive southern people in the united Yemen will likely again soon be fighting for independence. At that point, things will really get out of control.

[Lars77]

11. At least 30 killed in Yemen, raising fears of a broader conflict

Source: Christian Science Monitor


At least 30 were killed in Yemen Friday as government loyalists opened fire on opposition demonstrators gathered at Sanaa University, according to medical workers at the scene.

ust after Friday prayers, men armed with semiautomatic weapons began firing on protesters from rooftops of buildings overlooking the area. Massive clouds of black smoke could be seen billowing from the edge of the demonstration area.

“As soon as we got up from prayer they started firing from the tops of multiple buildings in the area,” said Essam al-Maqtary, a Sanaa resident who was shot in the leg. “The baltageya lit tires on fire so nobody could see exactly where they were and so they couldn’t be recorded on video.”

The intensification of force used against demonstrators has some concerned that protesters will retaliate, threatening the possibility of a broad war that could engulf the country. Yemen is the second most heavily armed country in the world, behind the US.

Read more: http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2011/0318/At-least-30-killed-in-Yemen-raising-fears-of-a-broader-conflict

[Downwinder]

12. If protesters killed 30 people, how long would it be before police

would be breaking in doors and arresting people? Would the Gov. be appointing a committee to investigate?