Yemen president rejects demand to step down
17:28, 21 February 2011
SANAA. February 21. KAZINFORM Yemen's president rejected demands that he step down and said Monday that the widespread demonstrations against his regime were unacceptable acts of provocation, though he renewed calls for talks with the protesters; Kazinform refers to Arab News.
After a week and a half of marches that have left nine dead, President Ali Abdullah Saleh told a news conference that he ordered the army to fire at demonstrators "only in case of self-defense."
As Saleh talked, a Yemeni teenager was killed and four people were wounded in a clash with soldiers in the southern port of Aden on Monday, witnesses said.
They said soldiers opened fire at the youths who were throwing stones at their military patrol in the city's Khormaksar district.
The death brings to 12 the number of people killed in unrest in Yemen since Thursday; Kazinform cites Arab News.
See www.arabnews.com for full version