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February 8, 2011
Posted: 951 GMT
Yemen's prime minister, Ali Mujawar, on Monday defended his government, saying there is no reason Egypt-style protests should take off in the country. "Yemen is not Tunisia or Egypt," he said. "Yemen has its own different situation... Yemen is a democratic country. Through all the stages, elections took place. And therefore this is a democratic regime." He accused opposition parties of "trying to duplicate what happened in Tunisia and Egypt, and act as if it should be imposed on the people here in Yemen." Last Thursday, thousands of anti-government demonstrators gathered near Sanaa University in Yemen's capital. People of all ages chanted and held signs with messages against poverty and the government. Many not only expressed solidarity with the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt but also demanded that Yemen's president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has been in office for 32 years, needed to step down. While the protests in recent weeks in Yemen have been on a smaller scale than in Tunisia and Egypt, analysts say that Yemeni protesters are seeking many of the same things - particularly a government that they feel represents them and that will provide them with more economic opportunities. Read more... Posted by: IME Producer |
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