Yemeni security forces forcibly end Aden sit-in

[April 30, 2011]  SANAA, Yemen (AP) -- Eyewitnesses say Yemeni forces stormed the main square in a southern Yemeni city to forcibly evict a two-month-old encampment of 1,500 anti-government protesters.

Security forces armed with heavy weapons moved in during the early hours of the morning to evict the protesters from Aden's al-Mansoura district on Saturday.

In response, demonstrators later marched through several neighborhoods. Gunfire and the wail of ambulance sirens could be heard throughout the city.

Hundreds of thousands have protested for months around Yemen for the long serving president to step down.

A delegation from the neighboring Gulf Cooperation Council is meeting with Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh invite him to the Saudi capital to sign a deal for him to step down in return for immunity from prosecution.

[Associated Press; By AHMED AL-HAJ]

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