SANAA, Apr 22, 2011 (AFP) - Massive crowds took to the streets of Yemen's capital on Friday calling for the immediate ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, whose loyalists staged a rival demonstration nearby, an AFP reporter said.
Protesters swarmed into Sanaa on the weekly Muslim day of prayers, which for for weeks has become the occasion for rival political rallies.
While anti-Saleh protesters rallied on what they have named "The Last Chance Friday," his loyalists gathered in Sanaa for a "Reconciliation Friday."
Army and police were deployed in force to prevent clashes between the two sides, with several tens of thousands gathered at squares a few kilometres (miles) apart, as on previous Fridays.
mou-lyn/bpz
Copyright AFP 2011.
