Sunday, September 21, 2014

Yemen's Government, Protesters Reach Peace Deal
Yemen masses protest the government in Sanna.
TEHRAN (FNA)- An agreement including a ceasefire has been reached between protesters and Yemen's government after days of crackdown on the popular uprising, the UN special envoy said.

"This agreement shall be a national document that will advance the path of peaceful change, and will lay the foundations of a national partnership and for security and stability," Jamal Ben Omar said in a statement on Saturday, Aljazeera reported.

"Preparations were being made for the signing ceremony of a ceasefire on Sunday," he said.

Fighting between protesters and the government troops continued for a second day in the capital Sanaa on Friday as war planes flew over the city.

Fighting in the capital had become so intense that, by Friday, international airlines suspended flights in and out of the nearby airport.

Yemeni troops stepped up their crackdown on anti-government protesters in the past one month, killing nearly 40 people outside Sana'a.

Friday's deaths brought to 81 the number registered in three days of fighting.

Scores of Yemeni people were shot dead and several others wounded as soldiers opened fire on protesters as part of the government's plan to suppress the popular uprisings in the past two weeks.

Police used tear gas and water cannon against the protesters, who were camped along the road near the interior ministry.

The latest round of fighting comes as hundreds of thousands of Yemeni people from various tribes and faiths have been staging massive protests in Sanaa for the last several weeks to demand the dismissal of the government and the reversal of an earlier government decision to slash fuel subsidies.

They rejected Mansour Hadi’s initiative to form a new government and partially reduce fuel prices.

The protesters said they will continue their mass rallies until all their demands are met.

The Yemeni army and security forces have on numerous occasions used force against the protests. But the crackdown has so far failed to stop the protests.

The Houthi movement that played a key role in the popular uprising that forced former dictator Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down in 2012 is now a part of the comprehensively popular protests.

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