Anti-riot policemen block government supporters shouting at opposition supporters during an anti-government rally outside Snaa University campus in Sanaa January 22, 2011. [Xinhua/Reuters Photo]

Nearly one thousand Yemeni protesters gathered Saturday inside and outside Sanaa University in the capital to call for a "Jasmine revolution" against their president who has been in power for 32 years.

The demonstrators, including students and opposition activists, chanted slogans, demanding the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

The growing popular protests have taken place in major Yemeni cities for seven days since the Tunisians overthrew their president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

"Oh Ali, join your friend Ben Ali," the crowds chanted.

One of the protesters, Shajie Muhsin, told Xinhua that "after Tunisia, the second Jasmine revolution will take place in Yemen."

Another demonstrator said, "we will make the revolution, we will make it."

The police managed to disperse the protesters without any clash.

Earlier, official Saba news agency reported that Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh named a new minister on Saturday in a partial reshuffle.

President Saleh replaced Minister of Industry and Trade Yahya al-Mutawakil with Deputy Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Hisham Sharaf Abdullah, according to a republican decree.

Besides protest against proposed constitutional amendments that could make Saleh the country's president for life, the protesters also demand the government curb increasing commodity and fuel prices.

Go to Forum >>0 Comments