(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Supporters of the Yemeni government and its opponents held huge rival rallies yesterday here, where tensions escalated as Shia Houthi rebels vowed to step up anti-government protests.
Outside the capital, clashes between Houthi rebels and loyalist tribes backed by government forces have killed at least 22 people since Thursday, tribal sources said.
Tens of thousands of Shia rebels, also known as Zaidis or Ansarullah, gathered with supporters for the Friday prayers along the airport road, where they have been demonstrating for weeks.
After the prayers, organisers called for further action against the government, which the Houthis accuse of corruption and whose resignation they have been demanding. The Shia rebels have rejected overtures from President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi to name a new prime minister, replace the government and reduce a disputed fuel price hike.
Taha Al Mutawakel, a member of Ansarullah's politburo, called for "civil disobedience" and urged supporters to join in new protests tomorrow and on Monday to keep up the pressure on the government. "People want escalation," protesters chanted.
At the same time, supporters of the embattled government mobilised what appeared to be a much larger crowd for a rival rally and prayers on Sittin Street in western Sanaa. The protesters chanted slogans of support for Hadi and denounced Houthi protests that have crippled the capital, witnesses reported.
"Listen to us Houthi: The Yemeni people believe in the republic," they chanted. The official Saba news agency said "millions" of Hadi supporters took to the streets in Sana'a and in other parts of Yemen yesterday.
The rebels, who have been camped inside and outside Sana'a for weeks, have dismissed as insufficient the 30 percent cut in the fuel price hike and pressed demands to end alleged corruption. They have threatened to escalate their campaign against the government, which included briefly blocking main arteries in Sana'a on Wednesday.
In violence in Jawf province, north of Sana'a, rebels fought for control of roads linking Sanaa with the province of Marib. Clashes rocked Ghayl and Majzar regions straddling Jawf and Marib, east of the capital, killing 17 Houthi rebels and five tribesmen, tribal sources said.
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