Why Yemen's youths are not bowing to government pressure, violence (The Christian Science Monitor)

Sanaa, Yemen – Yemen protesters have returned to the main entrance of Sanaa University to stage a sit-in, calling for President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down and defying the police and plain-clothed government supporters who opened fire on them Saturday.

“God willing, we will be here until the system falls,” Adel Al Suraby said Sunday night as other demonstrators, mostly young men in their 20s, danced behind him in the celebratory atmosphere. Others laid large blue tarps out on the ground for the protesters to sit on overnight.

Despite the brutal attacks against them throughout the past week, Yemen’s idealistic and determined younger population continues to be the main voice pressing for regime change, as was initially the case in Egypt. Yet unlike in Egypt, these youths are trying to mobilize a highly uneducated population, many of whom lack access to the Internet and believe that ousting President Saleh will prove too bloody of an affair due to Yemen’s highly armed population.

Countries in the Middle East where the 'winds of change' are blowing

"The situation here is totally different from Egypt. Here in Yemen there are very few that use technology like Facebook and Twitter,â€

Yemen protesters get organizedStill on Sunday, the young protesters in Sanaa seemed to have defeated one of their main problems: disorganization.

After a week of protests in which the location, time, and purpose were flexible until the last minute, Sunday’s demonstration was much more structured.

There was a tent for medical services, free dinner, and even an impromptu checkpoint on the perimeters of the sit-in. Some of the plain-clothes thugs who have been attacking protesters carry pistols in their jacket pockets.

“We are still in the beginning,â€

Gregory Johnsen, an expert on Yemen based at Princeton University in New Jersey, says the protests' increasing intensity underscores that protesters are starting to believe in their power to change the political order.

"We haven't yet reached the point in Yemen where it is clear that President Saleh will be forced to step down, but Yemenis are, for the first time, beginning to believe that what happened in Tunisia and Egypt can also happen in Yemen, and that is a major change in the mindset of most,â€

In a press conference Monday morning, however, the president rejected demands to step down and said that if protesters "want power, they must reach it through the ballot boxes." He said the protests are part of an “influenzaâ€

Youths weary of corruption, monarchyThese youths, more tuned into the rest of the world than ever before, say that they are tired of the corruption that riddles Yemeni society. Many of them are unemployed.

“I graduated from university in 2006,” says Noman Al Shurahy. “People told me that I had to pay 5,000 rials ($23) to get a job. Can you believe that, that I had to pay money to find a job?”

“We want the president to come from the people. Not Ali Saleh’s sons,” says Ruqaya Al Qawas, who was handing out cookies at the protest.

She echoed the common distrust protesters felt toward Saleh when he said in a conciliatory speech two weeks ago that there would be “no inheritance” in Yemen’s leadership.

Many protesters also express confusion as to why the United States continues to give aid to their president, who has ruled for 32 years. Because the threat from Al Qaeda has little or no effect on their lives, these young people don’t understand the crux of American policy toward Yemen – counterterrorism.

“Why do the Americans support the oppression of Saleh?” asks Faruq Abdelmalek.

Holding their groundProtesters have vowed that they will not be intimidated by the plain-clothed thugs who have routinely attacked them.

On Saturday, after protesters held their ground and yelled “Don’t be afraid” when government supporters shot live ammunition into the air about three blocks away, the gunfire began to be directed at them. At least four protesters were shot, one of whom remains in critical condition.

After a week of violence, Yemen’s coalition of opposition parties finally pledged their support for the young protesters on Sunday. In a statement, the coalition said that they "warmly tribute the actions of youths and civil society" and would "unite with the young protesters" to demonstrate against "the continued oppression, tyranny, and corruption.”

But protester Adel Al Abasy says that the northern tribes who protect Saleh in times of trouble will make it difficult to bring about regime change. And most Yemeni men, he adds, are comfortable sitting back and chewing the popular narcotic qat on their afternoons, instead of joining the protests.

“If there was no chewing qat," he adds, "[revolution] would be easier."

Countries in the Middle East where the 'winds of change' are blowing

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Hariri rallies supporters against Hezbollah-backed government (The Christian Science Monitor)

Beirut – In a gathering Monday to commemorate Rafik Hariri’s 2005 assassination, his son sought to rally his supporters against a new government that he says will lead Lebanon deeper into the embrace of Iran and Syria.

Saad Hariri, whose coalition government was toppled last month, used the occasion to formally announce his opposition to the new administration now being formed. Led by his successor, Najib Mikati, the dominant partner is the militant Shiite Hezbollah movement.

Speaking to several thousand supporters, he also called for an opposition rally for March 14 – an attempt to rekindle the huge demonstration on that date six years ago that drew some 1 million protesters and was the pinnacle of the Beirut spring protests against Syria's domination of Lebanon.

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“We are going on March 14 to say no,” said Hariri. “No to the betrayal of coexistence … no to the armed internal tutelage [of Hezbollah], no to moving Lebanon to an axis rejected by the Lebanese,” he added, referring to the so-called "axis of resistance," which groups Iran, Syria, and Hezbollah, among others, against Israel and Western influence in the Middle East.

Hariri based his movement's opposition to the new government on its continued support for the United Nations-based tribunal investigating his father's assassination and to protect Lebanon from the "predominance of weapons," a reference to the arms held by Hezbollah.

Uphill battle for popular supportBut Hariri faces an uphill struggle to recreate the wave of popular support that followed the assassination of his father. At that time, a series of mass demonstrations in central Beirut toppled the pro-Syrian government and led to the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon.

Since then, however, Lebanon has been wracked by internal crises, assassinations, a war with Israel, and political deadlock, culminating in the collapse of Hariri’s coalition government last month when ministers allied to Hezbollah resigned.

The resignations came after Hariri refused to yield to pressure to cease cooperation with the Netherlands-based tribunal. The first set of indictments, which are expected to be released in the coming weeks, reportedly will name members of Hezbollah. Hezbollah denies any involvement in Hariri’s assassination.

In his speech today, Hariri revealed that negotiations between Saudi Arabia and Syria prior to his government’s collapse had centered on the idea of holding a national reconciliation conference in which Lebanese leaders would confess and apologize for past crimes going back three decades or more. The conference, which was to be held in the Saudi capital of Riyadh, was intended to help dilute the fallout from the tribunal’s investigation.

“We negotiated in all honesty for the sake of Lebanon’s interest, but we were met once again with a request to surrender, and not to reconcile, by those who don’t want a dialogue because they consider themselves bigger than Lebanon,” he said, explaining why the talks had failed.

Hariri's successor backed by HezbollahHariri was replaced as prime minister by Najib Mikati, a Sunni billionaire businessman from the northern Lebanon city of Tripoli who won the backing of Hezbollah and its allies.

Many Lebanese, even those unhappy with Hariri’s fall from the premiership, say they are willing to give Mikati a chance. Mikati is regarded as a moderate and as politically neutral, despite his close personal ties to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Syria, along with Iran, is a backer of Hezbollah.

Mikati had hoped to form another coalition government, a goal that appears to have been dashed by Hariri’s announcement that he and his allies plan to stand in opposition.

Hezbollah, reassured that its formidable military wing will be protected by Mikati, is likely to play a limited role in the new government. Sheikh Nabil Qawq, a senior Hezbollah official, said Sunday that the new government “should help remove Lebanon from the American minefield.”

“The party [Hezbollah] does not oppose the participation of any side in government,” he said, “but it opposes American conspiracy plans and its attempts to threaten Lebanon’s stability and national unity.”

New PM under pressure not to cooperate with tribunalThe tribunal set up to investigate Hariri's assassination is partly funded by Lebanon and includes Lebanese judges. If Mikati’s new government halts the funding and withdraws the judges, it could plunge Lebanon into confrontation with the UN and Western powers.

Given that Hezbollah endorsed Mikati for the premiership, analysts say it will be difficult for the new prime minister to maintain Lebanon’s support for the tribunal in opposition to the wishes of the powerful Shiite party.

Still, so far, Mikati has been vague on his plans for the tribunal. Last week, he angered some of Hezbollah's allies by backing a statement released by a gathering of Lebanon’s top Sunni religious and political figures which, in part, called on the Lebanese government to continue cooperating with the tribunal.

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