SANAA (Reuters) – Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh said yesterday he would leave for the United States and give way to a successor, hours after his forces killed nine people demanding he be tried for killings of protesters over the past year.
But Saleh, who agreed to step down last month under a deal cut by his wealthier neighbours who fear civil war in Yemen will affect them, did not say when he would depart and vowed to play a political role again, this time opposed to a new government.
The bloodshed and political uncertainty hinted at the chaos which oil giant Saudi Arabia and Saleh’s former backers in Washington fear Yemen could slip into, giving the country’s al Qaeda wing a foothold overlooking oil shipping routes.
Troops from units led by Saleh’s son and nephew opened fire with guns, tear gas and water cannon against demonstrators who approach-ed his compound in the capital Sanaa after marching for days from the southern city of Taiz, chanting “No to immunity”.
Mohammed al-Qubati, a doctor at a field hospital that has treated protesters during 11 months of mass demonstrations against Saleh, said some 90 people suffered gunshot wounds in addition to the nine killed. About 150 other people were wounded by tear gas canisters or incapacitated by gas, he said.
The marchers denounced the deal Saleh agreed last month giving him immunity from prosecution in exchange for handing power to his deputy, who is to work with an interim government including opposition parties before a February presidential election.
That plan, crafted by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and mirrored in the terms of a U.N. Security Council resolution, has been bitterly condemned by youth protesters who demand Saleh face trial and his inner circle be banned from holding power.
“The blood of the martyrs has been sold for dollars,” shouted protesters, before forces from the Republican Guard and Central Security Forces attacked on roads leading to Saleh’s compound, which was surrounded by tanks and armoured vehicles.
