SANAA, 22 March 2003 — Four people were killed yesterday during violent clashes between police and demonstrators as tens of thousands of people rallied against the US-led war on Iraq in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, officials said. A spokesman for the Yemeni Interior Ministry said another 23 people were injured, including 14 police officers, during the rally outside the US Embassy.
“Security forces used tear gas and water cannons to disperse the protesters and stop their advance toward the US Embassy” during the demonstration, which was organized “without authorization,” the Interior Ministry spokesman said.
Police officers “fired into the air” in response to “armed intruders who were shooting aimlessly,” he said, adding that most people at the rally had “demonstrated peacefully”. Witnesses said the demonstrators set tires and garbage cans alight while chanting: “Oh youth of Islam, say no to war and yes to peace” and “No to US hegemony and hypocrisy”. Earlier, a police officer told reporters that “three demonstrators and a member of the security forces” were killed and 25 Yemenis were injured during the clashes. “Some of the protesters were carrying weapons ... which led them (the police) to fire,” the officer said.
He added that some demonstrators had set fire to garbage dumpsters on one of the city’s main avenues and that police had called on additional anti-riot units for assistance. Anti-riot police fired in the air and used tear gas and water cannons to keep order, but later fired at protesters when they started to throw stones during the protests on two avenues west of the US Embassy, the police officer said.
The Arabian Peninsula republic has seen waves of anti-war protests in recent weeks, including a turnout of hundreds of thousands at demonstrations across the country last Saturday. On Tuesday, an American, a Canadian and a Yemeni were shot dead in an attack by a Yemeni gunman who then killed himself at an oil field east of Sanaa.
