Nigeria Content Online

Anti-government
protesters clashed with police blocking them from marching to Yemen’s
presidential palace in Sanaa on Sunday, witnesses said. The clashes
occurred while President Ali Abdullah Saleh and the main opposition
group were preparing for talks that the government hoped would help
avert an Egyptian-style revolt in the Arabian Peninsula state, a vital
U.S. ally against al Qaeda.

Saleh decided to
postpone a visit to the United States planned for later this month “due
to the current circumstances in the region,” About 1,000 people
attended the demonstration shouting “the Yemeni people want the fall of
the regime” and “a Yemeni revolution after the Egyptian revolution,”
before dozens broke off to march to the palace.

In the harshest
response yet to a wave of protests in the capital, police prevented the
smaller group from reaching the palace, hitting them with batons, while
protesters threw rocks at the police, witnesses said. Four people were
injured. Opposition officials said 10 protesters were briefly detained
in Sanaa on Sunday and 120 more were taken into custody overnight in
the city of Taiz after protests on Saturday.

The United States
relies heavily on Saleh to help combat al Qaeda’s Yemen-based arm,
which also carries out attacks in neighbouring Saudi Arabia. U.S.-based
Human Rights Watch criticised Yemen for allowing government supporters
to assault, intimidate and sometimes clash with protesters calling on
Saleh to quit. U.S. President Barack Obama has urged Saleh to follow up
his pledges of reform with concrete action.

Algeria police stifle protest

Meanwhile,
thousands of police in riot gear blocked off the centre of Algeria’s
capital on Saturday and stopped government opponents from staging a
protest march that sought to emulate Egypt’s popular revolt.

Small groups of
demonstrators angry at President Abdelaziz Bouteflika gathered in May 1
Square shouting “Bouteflika out!” They waved newspaper front pages
reporting Friday’s overthrow of Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak.

However the riot
police was deployed to suppress the protest. After about three hours,
hundreds of people left the square quietly, with police opening up gaps
in their cordon to let them through. Some 200 young men from a poor
neighbourhood nearby stayed on the square. Some threw objects at
police. Widespread unrest in Algeria could have implications for the
world economy because it is a major oil and gas exporter. But many
analysts say a revolt is unlikely because the government can use its
energy wealth to resolve most grievances.

Huge police deployment

Government
officials had banned Saturday’s protest, citing public order concerns.
A massive police mobilisation, which started on Friday afternoon,
appeared to have stifled it. Human Rights Groups condemn this move;
they say it is bad for Algeria’s image. The protest was not backed by
the main trade unions or the biggest opposition parties. Most members
of radical Islamist groups in Algeria banned in the 1990s, but still
have grassroots influence, stayed away.

Responding to
opposition pressure, government officials say they are working hard to
create more jobs and improve housing, and they have promised more
democratic freedoms including the lifting of a state of emergency in
force for 19 years. The Interior Ministry statement on Saturday’s
protest said: “An attempt to organise a march was recorded today at May
1 Square by a crowd estimated at 250 people. Fourteen people were
detained and immediately released.” But contradicting his statement,
officials with the opposition RCD party, which helped organise the
protest, told Reuters the demonstrators totalled between 7,000 and
10,000 and that 1,000 people were arrested.