In capital Sanaa, more than 5,000 protesters, including students, journalists and human rights activists, gathered outside the University and marched along the main streets, waving Egyptian flags and calling for the Egyptian-style uprising against President Saleh. Forcing their way to Sanaa’s main square Al-Tahrir, protesters shouted, they will oust President Saleh. In the southern port city of Aden, thousands of protesters also marched along the streets t o celebrate the Egyptian revolution. Protesters clashed with soldiers who fired in the air to disperse the march. Witnesses said that one person was killed and security forces arrested many. Saleh, who has been in power for more than 30 years, announced earlier this month that he will not stay in office or pass power to his son when his term expires in 2013.
In Algeria, thousands of people defied an official ban on demonstrations in the capital Algeria and gathered in the city centre for a pro-reform protest today. The move comes a day after weeks of mass protests in Egypt succeeded in toppling the President. Organisers of the march estimated some 10,000 people had flooded downtown Algiers, where they skirmished with riot police, attempting to block streets and disperse the crowd. Some arrests were also reported. Protesters chanted slogans including “No to the police state” and “Bouteflika out,” a reference to President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who has been in power since 1999. Under the country’s long-standing state of emergency, protests are banned in Algiers, but the government’s repeated warnings for people to stay out of the streets apparently fell on deaf ears. The march was Organised by the Coordination for Democratic Change in Algeria, an umbrella group of human rights activists, unionists, lawyers and others, and was aimed at pressing for reforms to push Algeria toward democracy.