Protest in Egypt that many say will fuel more protests. (courtesy of Creative Commons)

YEMEN

Last week President Ali Abdullah Saleh said he would not seek re-election. He also said that he would not pass power over to his son. This did not calm thousands of anti-government protesters, however.

Around 20,000 protesters gathered near Sana’a University, in the nation’s capital.  Saleh’s term ends in 2013, but protesters asked that he step down. 

“Together we fight against poverty, corruption and injustice,” protestors at Sana’a University chanted, according to The Guardian. 

Soldiers watched these protests from rooftops and formed a human wall around the protesters in hopes to prevent clashes. The students wore pink bandannas in reference to the uprising in Tunisia. 

As in Egypt, protesters asked for democratic elections. They planned to hold demonstrations in Tahreer (Liberation Square) in the capital. Before they were able to, though, government officials filled the square with marquees and tribesmen camping there overnight, according to The Guardian. 

Large protests also occurred in other cities. The demonstrations went against Saleh’s plea to call off protests.

Friday, approximately 3,000 people took to the streets across southern Yemen in a “Friday of Rage,” according to Reuters. These protesters demanded secession form the north. 

This protest is separate from the one in Sana’a and instead of asking for political reforms or the other aims of protesters in Sana’a, it is asking for an end to “northern Yemeni occupation and the restoration of an independent southern Yemeni state,” according to The Christian Science Monitor.

Both protests are using momentum from the revolts in Tunisia and Egypt, but are not working together and do not share the same goals. 

The protesters in the southern region are claiming that they do not have proper representation in the government and that their resources, such as oil, are taken without compensation or investment in the region. 

Reach Hannah Madans here.