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One thousand Yemenis rally to support president Saleh

Arab World Materials 3 February 2011 02:27 (UTC +04:00)

About one thousand pro-government protesters on Wednesday gathered at Al-Muraisi Stadium in Yemen's capital of Sanaa to back President Ali Abdullah Saleh who was called by the opposition to step down.

"We will sacrifice our souls and blood for President Saleh," the crowd shouted, Xinhua reported.

"Do not pass the Zionist project," supporters shouted, waving Saleh's pictures "yes to the security and stability, no to the chaos and violence."

Abdul Ghani Jamil, secretary-general of the local council in Sanaa, delivered a speech to the crowds, in which he reviewed the important achievements made during the terms of Saleh, urging the protesters to defend the country against what he dubbed as "the enemies of the country."

"We will be at the forefront to defend the country and its mighty gains against anyone who seeks to harm the security, stability and sovereignty," Jamil said.

The pro-government protesters expressed their adherence to the democratic and peaceful transfer of power through polls, vowing to back and defend the political leadership.

"We do not want sabotage, unrest or riots and there was no comparison between Yemen and those Arab countries like Egypt and Tunisia," Hasan Tawfic, a supporter, told Xinhua.

The gathering took place simultaneously with an emergency meeting of the parliament, consultative council and military leaders that convened by Saleh, in which he made a reform initiative and pledged he would not seek re-election after his term expires in 2013 and he would not hand the power over to his son.

Saleh said he has frozen the ruling party's controversial amendments, which proposed to allow him to be the country's president for life, adding he postponed next parliamentary elections to meet all the demands of the opposition.

Saleh also called the opposition to cancel the mass protest to be held on Thursday.

However, the opposition said they will still go to the streets on Thursday to demand more reforms that the people deserve.

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