Protesters call on Arab League to suspend Yemen's membership

Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets in Yemen's capital Sanaa on Wednesday to urge the Arab League (AL) to suspend membership of their country as a sanction against the "crimes of President Ali Abdullah Saleh's regime." The move came in a fresh escalation of the 10-month-old protests following the pan-Arab group's suspension of Syria's membership last Saturday. "After Syria ... we call on the Arab League to suspend membership of Saleh's regime," the protesters demanded. "No immunity, no guarantee for Saleh and his aides ... no negotiation, no dialogue," they shouted, referring to a Gulf- brokered initiative for transferring power from Saleh in return for immunity from prosecution. Marches repeating the same slogans took place simultaneously in the southern provinces of Taiz, Lahj, Ibb, Al-Bayda, Dhamar and in the western port city of Al-Hodayda, according to several witnesses. Saleh, who has been confronting the protests demanding an end to his 33-year rule since late January, backed out from signing the UN-backed Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) initiative for at least three times since the deal was initiated in April. At least 94 people were killed and hundreds injured during clashes with Saleh's forces since the UN resolution 2014 was issued on Oct. 21, according to recent statistics by the opposition coalition Joint Meeting Parties. The visiting UN envoy to Yemen Jamal bin Omar, who is to report on his mission to the Security Council on Nov. 21, was still making efforts to implement the resolution and end the violence.