Tuesday, 22 March 2011

Yemen Live Blog - March 22

By Al Jazeera Staff in on March 21st, 2011.
Photo by Reuters
Show oldest updates on top

As the Yemen uprising escalates, we update you with the latest developments from our correspondents, news agencies and citizens across the globe. Al Jazeera is not responsible for content derived from external sites.

Mar21

(All times are local in Yemen GMT+3)

  • Timestamp:
    1:32pm

    Yemeni president Saleh says in a speech to army commanders that efforts to seize power via a "coup" will lead to civil war.

    Those who want to climb up to power through coups should know that this is out of the question. The homeland will not be stable, there will be a civil war, a bloody war. They should carefully consider this.

  • Timestamp:
    1:30pm

    Journalists at the 14 October state-run newspaper in the main southern city of Aden have joined anti-regime protesters and decided to cease publishing the paper, one of them said.

    The decision was taken to "protest against instructions from the Ministry of Information" determining the newspaper's editorial line, one journalist said.

    He added that Ahmed Hobayshi, the head of the publishing company that prints the paper, decided to stop printing and distribution operations as a sign of solidarity with the journalists.

  • Timestamp:
    1:25pm

    Bulgaria's foreign ministry has condemned attacks against civilians in Yemen, urging swift elections and constitutional changes to stave off looming "lawlessness."

    "We insist on an immediate cessation of all acts of violence against civilians," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Vesela Cherneva said in a statement.

    The chances for dialogue towards reconciliation and reforms between the government and the opposition are growing weaker by the hour and Yemen is quickly falling into lawlessness.

  • Timestamp:
    1:02pm

    Yemen's leader says he is ready to step down by year-end, vows not to hand power to military.

  • Timestamp:
    12:30pm

    Yemeni ambassadors to Pakistan, Qatar, Oman and Spain as well as the Yemeni consul in Dubai have decided to back anti-regime protesters, Gulf News daily reported.

    After our long waiting for our homeland's voice and interest to win, we declare our total support to the youth and their demands

  • Timestamp:
    12:20pm

    High profile members of Yemen's military have defected to support the anti-government protesters. Al Jazeera's Alan Fisher has the latest in this report:

  • Timestamp:
    11:29am

    Yemeni and Saudi leaders are engaged in mediation efforts to hold early presidential elections in Yemen. Media source in Riyadh said that the Yemeni foreign minister in the care-taker government has returned to Sanaa after delivering a message from the Yemeni president to the Saudi king last night.

    Diplomatic sources said the Yemeni president requested Saudi help in reaching out to the leaders of the opposition. There were reports that the Yemeni president may offer to step down in six month in return for a “period of calm” agreed upon by all sides.

  • Timestamp:
    11:01am

    BBC Arabic radio says that the clashes took place between Republican guard units loyal to president’s son and military units loyal to resigned Major General, Ali Mohsen.

    They says at least 3 soldiers were injured in the attacks, and that military units were seen today in Sanaa around major sites, such as central bank and the department of defence building.

  • Timestamp:
    10:35am

    An army officer and three soliders were injured in clashes between a military unit and a republican guard unit in the city of Al Mukalla, in Yemen's Hadramaut province. A number of tanks gave been deployed to the entrance and main roads of the city.

  • Timestamp:
    9:56am

    Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh met with defence force officials in Sanaa yesterday:

    File 17346

  • Timestamp:
    8:16am

    Gunmen attacked Al Jazeera's offices in the capital Sanaa and fled with some of the equipment.

  • Timestamp:
    7:31am

    Anti-government protesters wear hamlets to protect themselves from rocks during clashes with supporters of Yemen's President's Ali Abdullah Saleh near a rally square in Sanaa.

    File 17326

  • Timestamp:
    6:01am

    Four out of the six staff members at the Yemeni embassy in Washington are saying they no longer support President Saleh and are siding with the people.

    But one political officer, Khaled M Alkathiri, told Al Jazeera that doesn't necessarily mean he backs the opposition movement.

    What's going on in Yemen is not about opposition parties. It's about those young people in the university, militants, and a lot of people so the opposition is not the one who's leading this. It's a national movement, it's everybody protesting and we've joined that.

    I'm still in my office, I'm doing my job because we're serving the Yemeni people. Yes, we are representing the government but at the same time we're representing Yemeni people. The government of Yemen changes from time to time but the diplomatic corps are still there."

  • Timestamp:
    3:39pm

    Khaled Ismail al-Akwa'a, Yemen's ambassador to France, is one of several to sign a letter to President Saleh, urging him to resign. He says that unless there is a quick and peaceful transition of power, Yemen will go into a "very serious situation".

  • Timestamp:
    2:52am

    Gunmen have stormed the offices of Al Jazeera in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, seizing broadcasting equipment. More information soon.

  • Timestamp:
    12:50am

    Our correspondent John Terrett, reporting from Washington, said Al Jazeera has learned in the last few hours that four out of six diplomats at the Yemen embassy in DC have "sided with the people":

    I want to make this clear: I spoke to the political officer at the embassy this morning - Khaled Al Kathiri - and he said that what he and his four colleagues are doing is: they are not resigning their jobs, they are not joining the opposition, but they are siding with the Yemeni people in their call for Saleh to stand aside and for the reforms to be allowed to go ahead."

  • Timestamp:
    12:45am

    The White House has told the Yemeni government that the crackdown on protesters is quote "unacceptable".

    The Obama administration has issued a number of statements in the past month condemning the violence. But it has also called for the opposition to enter into dialogue with the government - and it has not called for president Saleh to step down.

    Speaking earlier Mark Toner, a US state department spokesman, said Washington has given a clear message to Yemeni officials:

    We are obviously very concerned about the violence in Yemen. The president condemned it on Friday.

    "We've made it quite clear that any Yemeni government needs to refrain from violence against nonviolent peaceful protesters. And any government has to support political change that meets the aspirations of the Yemeni people."

  • Timestamp:
    12:29am

    Our live blog on Yemen continues here for March 22. To look back on the events of yesterday, check out our March 21st blog here.

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