Several thousand young Yemenis gathered in central Sana’a, calling for President Ali Abdallah Saleh to step down and follow the example of Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has stepped down and handed over power to the army, Vice President Omar Suleiman announced in a surprise televised address.
Thousands of Egyptian protesters are facing down army troops and tanks at the parliament building and other government offices after Mubarak failed to accede to demands that he step down.
Unprecedented numbers of protesters filled Cairo’s Tahrir Square to demand President Mubarak’s ouster, even as the regime and world media colluded to present a return to “normality.”
Egyptian security forces in Rafah, the Sinai peninsula town bordering the Gaza Strip, came under attack by gunmen believed to be from the radical Islamist group Takfir Wal-Hijra.
The Muslim Brotherhood met with Vice President Omar Suleiman, but the two sides remain at odds over the demand that Mubarak step down. Tahrir Square remains occupied by protesters.
At the Munich summit, US envoy Frank Wisner said that "Mubarak's continued leadership is critical." His PR firm, Patton Boggs, has contracts with the Egyptian government.
While John McCain is leading a growing chorus of voices in the US Congress calling for Mubarak’s immediate departure, Adm. Mike Mullen cautioned against cutting military aid to Egypt.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay praised the efforts of Egyptian protesters to win democratic reforms—while repeating concerns over mounting casualties.
Tens of thousands of protesters massed on Yemen’s Sana’a University for a “day of rage” against Ali Abdullah Saleh’s rule—while Saleh loyalists occupied the city’s central square.
Fighting between protesters and government loyalists raged into a second day in Egypt, with the opposition pledging to go ahead with a massive “departure day” march tomorrow.
Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh, facing growing demands that he step down, said that he will drop constitutional changes that would allow him to be president for life.
