SANAA - INFLUENTIAL Yemeni tribal leaders on Saturday announced the creation of a coalition to bolster six months of popular protests to demand the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
'Ali Abdullah Saleh will not rule us as long as I am alive,' Sheikh Sadiq al-Ahmar, the powerful head of the Hashid tribe, said after being appointed head of the new coalition, an AFP correspondent reported.
The so-called 'Alliance of Yemeni Tribes' was revealed during a ceremony at the headquarters of the First Armoured Division whose leader, dissident General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmad, joined the protest movement in March.
The coalition pledged 'to protect and defend... the popular and peaceful revolution' of youths who since January have been holding sit-ins or protesting across Yemen against Mr Saleh's rule, a statement said.
'Any aggression or threat against the (protest) venues... will be considered an attack against the tribes,' it added.
Mr Saleh belongs to the Hashid tribe which was a steadfast backer of the regime until it broke ranks with him to join the protest movement in March. -- AFP
