Yemeni protesters urge stronger UN action against Saleh

Hundreds of thousands of Yemen protesters took to the streets across the country on Friday, calling on the UN Security Council to play a stronger role in forcing President Ali Abdullah Saleh's resignation and stop " government crackdown" on them, witnesses said. In Sanaa, tens of thousands crowded in the 60th Street in northwestern Sanaa since early morning, shouting slogans that called on the Security Council to take a "decisive solution" to force Saleh step down. "We are looking forward to the UN Security Council's help to stop Saleh from using violence against us, waiting for their resolution to support our demand of political change," protester Mohamed Motahar told Xinhua. The similar rallies took place simultaneously in other major provinces, including Taiz, Saada, Amran, Marib, Al-Jouf, Hajja, Al- Hodayda, Ibb, Dhamar, Al-Bayda, Aden, al-Dhalee, Shabwa and Hadramout. The impoverished Arab country has been in the grip of political crisis since the eruption of protests in late January that still continuously demanding an end of Saleh's rule. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of Saleh supporters gathered in the 70th Street in southeast Sanaa near the presidential palace, said eyewitnesses. "We tell the UN Security Council that no one, including you, can force any resolution or sanction against our president who was elected in fair elections by all Yemeni people in 2006," Yehya Kasim, a pro-Saleh demonstrator, told Xinhua. The UN Security Council is scheduled in the coming days to discuss a resolution to force the embattled president to implement a power-transition Gulf deal and step down. Opposition spokesman Mohamed Qahtan told Xinhua on Friday that "the opposition support a UN resolution against Saleh ... as for the GCC chief al-Zayani's coming visit, we would like to tell him that any move without Saleh or his deputy Hadi sign the GCC initiative firstly is a vain attempt and we will not waste time on it."