Sixteen reported dead in petrol price protests

Tension remains high in the Yemeni capital, Sana, after 16 people were reportedly killed on Wednesday during protests. Clashes took place between police and local people demonstrating against government subsidy cuts, which have doubled petrol prices. Protests were held in four Yemeni cities, according to the Ministry of Interior. In Sana, thousands of angry men took to the streets, setting fire to tires, blocking roads and hurling stones at the prime minister's office, while shops closed for fear of looting. "This is really a crazy decision. I cannot pay 1,300 riyals (US $7) for 20 litres of petrol. I will have to park my car at home or sell it. People are very poor and can no longer afford any price hikes," Mohammed Ali, an angry protestor, said. The same amount of petrol previously cost $4. Police fired shots to disperse protesters hurling stones at the house of Vice-President Abdu Mansour Hadi, the offices of Prime Minister Abdul-Qader Bagammal, and other government buildings and banks. Local media reported 16 deaths nationwide between protestors and soldiers. However, the government has not confirmed this figure. Ambulances were seen rushing the injured to hospital. Seven of the deaths were reported in cities other than Sana, in the north of the country. Eyewitnesses said protestors in the governorate of Amran, 100 km to the north of Sana, looted the Central Bank of Yemen. Although there were no protests on Thursday, a heavy presence of soldiers and tanks protected key government buildings in the capital.

Protestors heading towards the house of the vice president

The Yemeni government decided on Tuesday to lift subsidies on oil products in order to tackle a rising budget deficit as a result of the international increase in the price of crude oil. Deputy Prime Minister Ahmed Sufan claimed it was a necessary step. He said the government had imported almost 70 percent of the market's oil needs from abroad at a very low cost, and that the low prices that resulted in Yemen had encouraged businessmen to smuggle the petrol into neighbouring countries. Opposition parties say such measures will increase pressure on the poor. They have instead demanded a crackdown on corruption, which they blame for the country's economic problems. Yemen is one of the poorest countries in the Middle East. According to a 2004 World Bank report, 42 percent of Yemen's 19.7 million people live on under US $2 per day, literacy rates are estimated at 50 percent and unemployment was running at 37 percent in 2003. The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) reports that 7.9 percent of people in Yemen experience severe food insecurity and cannot afford to buy food for themselves or their families. In August 1995, Yemen implemented harsh economic reforms to address a budget deficit and high unemployment, as part of a cooperation programme with the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF). The World Bank warned in September 2004 that the economic reform package could collapse if firm action was not taken immediately to improve the government's performance.