Yemen may not have the massive numbers of protesters as Egypt's revolution did, but pressure continues for the fifth consecutive day against President Ali Abdullah Saleh. The demonstrations come as Saleh attempted to maneuver around protests in recent weeks by saying he would not stand for re-election in 2013 and neither would his son. However, it hasn't stopped a steady string of demonstrators calling for the end of his 33-year power hold over the country. On Tuesday, police and government forces clashed with protesters as they attempted to push the protesters away from Sanaa's Tahrir Square. A number of protesters have been arrested in the ensuing violence of the past five days, but it has kept the opposition remaining stalwart in their demands for Saleh to step down. A BBC journalist and his cameraman were deliberately attacked by government supporters in Yemen while reporting on the violent demonstrations, the British news organization reported on Tuesday. On the morning of February 11, 2011, students and activists staged an anti-government demonstration in front of the new university in Sanaa, the capital. It grew to the hundreds as onlookers and passersby joined the protesters, who called for Yemen's president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, to resign. Yemeni security forces arrested one youth who was writing slogans for the protesters. Pro-government thugs carrying sticks then arrived. Known locally as “balataga,” they clashed with the demonstrators. The anti-government protesters headed towards the old university, where they were met by additional security forces. On Qasr Street, demonstrators were confronted by dozens more balataga who carried clubs, axes, the traditional Yemeni daggers called jambia, and electroshock tasers. According to eyewitnesses, the balataga assaulted the demonstrators. One demonstrator, a middle-aged mechanic named Muhamad who joined the demonstrators while on his way to work, said that he was shocked by a taser, stabbed in his hand, and beaten on his leg, face, and back of the head. BM
