1 protester killed, 50 injured in clashes in Yemen

Xinhua, February 18, 2011

A Xinhua correspondent said the armed government backers chased down the protesters as both sides threw stones against each other and police fired warning shots into the air.

Another several hundreds of anti-government protesters took to streets in provinces of Al-Bayda, Al-Hodayda, Taiz, Abyan, shouting slogans that called for the ouster of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, according to a security source of the Yemeni Interior Ministry.

Eyewitnesses said the angry protesters chanted slogans such as "The people want to overthrow the regime" and "After Mubarak, it's Ali's turn," referring to the president, who has been in power for over 30 years.

Saleh sacked the security director of Aden province Brigadier Abdullah Gairan Thursday due to the clashes in protests, and ordered Deputy Interior Minister Saleh al-Zawari to replace Gairan, a security source told Xinhua.

In a statement posted on the country's official news agency Saba Thursday, the Yemeni government accused foreign media of stirring up the political tension in the country.

"Foreign media's reports rely on false information and lack of balance and objectivity in covering events in Yemen, aiming at igniting a political tension that could harm the stability and security of Yemen," it said in the statement without naming any media.

"Such baseless reports also inflame the situation and encourage violence rather than promoting the reconciliation and national dialogue," it said.