Yemeni protestors ask UN to try president as a criminal

The protesters behind Yemen's months-long rising against President Ali Abdullah Saleh, has called on the United Nations to try him.

NEW YORK, NY (Catholic Online) - The protesters have sent a letter to the UN addressed to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. In the letter they say at least 861 people have been killed and 25,000 wounded since January when protests began.

The letter also asks the international community to freeze the bank accounts and assets of the president, his family, and their supporters.

The group has organized an anti-government protest in Sanna's "Change Square" since February. Despite being subjected to repeated attacks from Yemeni security forces, the group has not left the square or quit their protests.

The conflict between the protesters and government is escalating in Yemen. Government troops have been fighting Al Qaeda linked fighters as well as trying to quell public protest against the regime. 

On Sunday a Yemeni military source said that a warplane accidentally struck a military position in Zinjibar city, a strike which killed 30 troops. However the Defense Ministry denied the claim and labeled it, "false news."

The situation in Yemen is becoming increasingly complicated. While Washington condemns the harsh crackdown on the protesters, they also regard in Yemen as an important ally in the war on terror. Seeking to capitalize on this alliance, Yemeni government officials have stepped up cooperation with the CIA and US military and their efforts to hunt down and destroy Al Qaeda cells in Yemen.

Experts say Saleh is trying to cling to power by making himself more valuable to Washington.
Yemeni security officials are saying that the US is conducting multiple airstrikes each day in the southern part of the country and has been doing so since May. And that US officials are now being allowed to interrogate Al Qaeda suspects.

That cooperation has allowed the US to kill Anwar al-Awlaki a most wanted Yemeni-American cleric who has been instrumental in Al Qaeda's propaganda efforts against the US. The same strike also killed Samir Khan, a Pakistani-American Al Qaeda propagandist, and Ibrahim al-Asiri the Saudi bombmaker who has attempted at least two plots to destroy US-bound aircraft.

So far the UN has not issued a response to the protesters' letter. Meanwhile, Saleh remains in a Saudi hospital recovering from wounds sustained during an attack in June.

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