SANA'A: Clashes were reported this Thursday in the Yemeni capital, Sana'a, as soldiers and officers decided to take their protest to President Abdu Rabbo Mansour Hadi by staging a sit-in in from of his residence in 60 Street. According to witnesses, men from the Central Security forces would have tried to search Sheikh Faris Manna, the acting Sa'ada governor as he was driving through a check point near Hadi's residence, accompanied by men loyal to defected General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar. As Manna, a notorious armed dealer, refused to be searched for weapons, a war of words ensued leading to guns being fired. Mayhem erupted when demonstrators sided against the Central Security Forces, with soldiers turned rebels accusing President Hadi of being the regime's new face. Al-Methaq, a pro-regime online news site accused gen. Mohsen's men of trying to bring about a military confrontation with the government forces by reporting the rebel unit had moved many of its troops and equipment near 60 Street a clear sign of provocation it wrote. Simultaneously, residents in the Old Sana'a said they could hear small arms fire in the distance accompanied by loud explosions; they could not however identify whether the shooting was celebratory or foreteller of more violence to come. Tensions are certainly on the rise in Yemen as new decrees announcing the appointment of Yemen' s new governors and other local officials are being published. “President Hadi is merely switching Saleh's people [President Ali Abdullah Saleh] around, moving them from one post to the other. Is he serious? We will show who Yemenis are?” said a disillusioned Yoth protester to Bikyamasr.com from Taiz by phone. Meanwhile in “Change Square” in Sana'a, the main gathering point of the Revolution, Tawakkul Karman, the 2011 Nobel Peace prize winner announced that the Youth would not leave until a “real civil state was established”, threatening the government with reprisals if profound reforms were not implemented swiftly. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/mfhwS Tags: Clashes, Small arms fire, Yemen Section: Latest News, Yemen
