SANA'A: Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh fired his government Sunday after a string of allies broke ranks with him as he faces increasing pressure from street protests to step down. Meanwhile, mourners buried some of the 52 anti-government protesters shot dead by rooftop snipers after Friday prayers in the Arabian Peninsula state, where tens of thousands of people have protested for weeks against Saleh's three decades-long rule. “The president of the republic has dismissed the government,” state media said, adding that efforts to form a new government were under way. No reasons were given for the move. Yassin Noman, rotating head of an opposition coalition, dismissed the move as “an attempt to diminish the repercussions that the regime faces after the resignations of a number of ministers and ambassadors”. Friday's bloodshed prompted Saleh to declare a state of emergency for 30 days. Yemen's envoy to the United Nations Abdullah Alsaidi resigned Sunday as defections picked up steam. Earlier, Saleh's own tribe called on him to step down after the deadly crackdown on protesters, robbing the embattled leader of vital support in a society dominated by blood ties. Some Islamic scholars in Yemen also called on soldiers to disobey orders to shoot demonstrators, and blamed Saleh for the slaughter Friday. “We call on the army and security forces to not carry out any order from anyone to kill and repress” demonstrators, a group of influential scholars said in a joint statement. They called for Saleh's elite Republican Guard troops to be withdrawn from the capital, where protesters have defied the state of emergency called after Friday's violence and continued a sit-in. Police, whom protesters blame for the deaths, withdrew from public sight near protest areas to be replaced by soldiers dressed in camouflage uniforms but bearing only batons, in an apparent bid to reduce tensions. Tanks stood guard near the presidential palace in Sana'a and armored vehicles were positioned outside sensitive locations. In the protest camp near Sana'a University, mourners placed roses at a site where five protesters died. Protesters said they had caught at least seven snipers carrying government identity cards who they said had been involved in the shooting, but Saleh denied this, blaming gunmen among the protesters for the violence. In addition to the UN envoy, Yemen's Minister for Human Rights Huda Al-Ban resigned Sunday, the second cabinet member to defect since Friday. Tourism Minister Nabil Hasan Al-Faqih resigned and quit the ruling party Friday. The head of the ruling party's foreign affairs committee also left, and on Sunday a deputy from Dalea province left the party. Two other prominent members of the ruling party also quit including the head of the state news agency, Nasr Taha Mustafa. A former ambassador, Abdul Malek Al-Iryani, declined an invitation to join the Shoura Council.
