Tearing downs the walls in Yemen
- 12 years ago
Bulldozers raze the barricades near an anti-Saleh stronghold in Yemen.
Military positions separating Yemen's warring forces in central Sanaa are dismantled in a show of faith by both sides that they are ready too put down their arms.
Yemen Defense Minister Mohamed Naser Ahmed
(SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) DEFENSE MINISTER, MOHAMED NASER AHMED, SAYING:
"We are happy about what is happening. This is the second day work takes place in the Hasaba area. We thank all those involved, including citizens, tribal leaders, military forces and security forces, for their cooperation. We are cooperating for the good of the country, and I wish all involved success."
Residents of the area say that dismantling the barriers is not enough.
(SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SANAA RESIDENT, SAYING:
"Our main demand now is security and stability, security and stability."
Separating the country's many warring forces is central to a plan brokered by Yemen's wealthier neighbors to ease Saleh from power and avoid civil war they fear could give al Qaeda a foothold in Yemen.
But the deal granting Saleh immunity from prosecution is still raising outcry on the streets.
Any successor to Saleh will face overlapping conflicts throughout the country. There is a Shi'ite Muslim rebellion in the north and renewed separatist sentiment in the south, which fought a civil war with Saleh's north in 1994.
Deborah Lutterbeck, Reuters.
Military positions separating Yemen's warring forces in central Sanaa are dismantled in a show of faith by both sides that they are ready too put down their arms.
Yemen Defense Minister Mohamed Naser Ahmed
(SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) DEFENSE MINISTER, MOHAMED NASER AHMED, SAYING:
"We are happy about what is happening. This is the second day work takes place in the Hasaba area. We thank all those involved, including citizens, tribal leaders, military forces and security forces, for their cooperation. We are cooperating for the good of the country, and I wish all involved success."
Residents of the area say that dismantling the barriers is not enough.
(SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SANAA RESIDENT, SAYING:
"Our main demand now is security and stability, security and stability."
Separating the country's many warring forces is central to a plan brokered by Yemen's wealthier neighbors to ease Saleh from power and avoid civil war they fear could give al Qaeda a foothold in Yemen.
But the deal granting Saleh immunity from prosecution is still raising outcry on the streets.
Any successor to Saleh will face overlapping conflicts throughout the country. There is a Shi'ite Muslim rebellion in the north and renewed separatist sentiment in the south, which fought a civil war with Saleh's north in 1994.
Deborah Lutterbeck, Reuters.