Yemen protests unfold peacefully

Thousands of pro and anti-government demonstrators held peaceful protests in this impoverished capital. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

SANAA, Yemen - THOUSANDS of pro and anti-government demonstrators held peaceful protests in this impoverished capital Thursday.

It echoed the similar themes that have rocked nations across the Arab world as autocratic leaders struggle to press back the roaring demands of movements hungry for democracy, accountability and the rule of law.

Yemen's tribal culture and its heavily armed population raised fears of violence as events here seemed to unfold at a consolidated pace, with all sides trying to draw lessons from popular uprisings in Tunisia and then Egypt.

But the events in the city appeared to end peacefully one day after the president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, went on television to offer his own concession to increasingly large opposition protests. He promised that he would not run - and that his son would also not run - when his term expired in 2013.

He also saw to it that the capital was full of supporters when the opposition arrived. 'I came here today to take part in the rally against extremism and to promote democracy,' said Sadiq al-Qadoos, a pro-government demonstrator joined by thousands who were camped in Sanaa's Tahrir Square, or Liberation Square, for the past two days. 'And to show I am against chaos.'

The events in Yemen, a sliver of a nation at the foot of the Arabian Peninsula, were among the many fires racing across a region that has long been a bastion of autocratic rule. -- AP