YEMEN: 30 KILLED IN PROTEST AGAINST OIL PRICESAccording to al-Jazeera, the
Yemeni protest for better oil prices has by now claimed more than 36 lives. Some other sources agree on a higher number such as 39 deaths and 50 wounded. The demonstration originally started in Sanaa, the capital and has spread to other cities like Hedida and Aden.
Yemeni people started a violent protest on Wednesday against oil prices which are higher than affordable for the citizens of one of the poorest countries in the world. During the first day the people were chanting against the ruling party of President Ali Abdullah Saleh and the Prime Minister Abdul-Qadir Bagammal. The two politicians were guilty, in the eyes of the demonstrators, of raising the prices of oil recently.
According to al-Jazeera,
the rising cost of petrol caused an unacceptable increase of every oil-related service/good:A liter of diesel rose to 45 rials (24 US cents) from 17 rials, a liter of petrol was priced at 65 rials, up from 35 rials and kerosene was up to 45 rials from 16 rials.
Along with these new prices, the government promised the people a gradual growing of wages within the next years as well as 200,000 new cases to accept for social care.
Nabil al-Sughi, a member of the Islamic Islah party, said in a statement,
"The state general budget must change, all public spending must be reviewed and a new programme to cut on military spending and the president's portions which eats up the general budget must be diminished."
The government has officially explained that, due to an economic mechanism, it was virtually impossible to keep down the prices or to maintain them, therefore they were forced by the international situation to raise them.
It is interesting to note that
the Yemeni Civil Service Minister Hamoud Khalid al-Soufi
denied that the fact that people were demonstrating. He said that they were "expressing their views" and that some of them took advantage of the situation to be violent.
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Il Romanaccio at 11:05 AM
