Anti-government protests swell from Egypt to Yemen

Thousands of protesters Thursday took to the streets of Yemen, one of the Middle East's most impoverished countries, and secular and Islamist Egyptian opposition leaders vowed to join large protests expected Friday as calls for change rang across the Arab world.

The Yemeni protests were another moment of tumult in a region whose aging order of U.S.-backed governments appears to be staggering. In a span of weeks, Tunisia's government has fallen, Egypt's appears shaken and countries such as Jordan and Yemen are bracing against demands of movements with divergent goals but similar means.

Protests led by young people entered a third day in Egypt, where Mohamed ElBaradei, the Nobel laureate who has become an outspoken opponent of President Hosni Mubarak, returned in hopes of galvanizing the campaign. The Muslim Brotherhood, long Egypt's largest organized opposition, ended days of official inaction and said it would join the Friday protests, declaring "a day of rage for the Egyptian nation."

ElBaradei called on Mubarak to step down. "He has served the country for 30 years, and it is about time for him to retire," he told Reuters.

Egyptian officials started shutting down the Internet in the country early Friday, and also moved to disable text messaging services and disrupt cellphone networks in an attempt to limit protesters' ability to organize, according to a U.S. official.

The Egyptian shutdown, if continued Friday, could be the most drastic move against anti-government activists' use of technology since the Iranian government cracked down on protests in 2009.

Although a relative calm settled on Cairo, smoke rose over the city of Suez, as sometimes violent protests continued there.

In Yemen, organizers vowed to continue demonstrations Friday and for weeks to come until the 32-year-old U.S.-backed government of Ali Abdullah Saleh either fell or consented to make changes.

Visually, the scenes broadcast from Yemen were reminiscent of the events in Egypt and the demonstrations that brought down the government in Tunisia. But as they climaxed by midday, they appeared to be carefully organized and mostly peaceful, save for some arrests. Pink — be it in the form of headbands, sashes or banners — was the dominant color; organizers described it as the symbol of the day's protests.

"To Jiddah, oh Ali!" some shouted, in reference to the Saudi Arabian city where Tunisia's president fled this month. "The people's demand is the fall of the government!"

Unlike in Egypt, the peaceful protests in Yemen were not led by young people but by the traditional opposition, largely Islamists. And the opposition remained divided over whether to topple the Saleh government or push for changes.

The potential for strife in the country is difficult to overstate. Yemen is troubled by a rebellion in the north and a struggle for secession in the once independent, Marxist south. In recent years, an affiliate of al-Qaida has turned parts of the country, a rugged, often lawless region on the southwestern corner of the Arabian Peninsula, into a refuge beyond the state's reach.

Added to the mix is a remarkably high proportion of armed citizens, some of whom treat assault rifles as a fashion accessory.

"I fear Yemen is going to be ripped apart," said Mohammed Naji Allaw, coordinator of the National Organization for Defending Rights and Freedom, which was one of the protest organizers.

A portion of Allaw's worries sprang from the inability of the opposition to forge a unified message. Some are calling for secession for the south, he said, while others are looking to oust the president. Yet the mainstream, he said, simply wanted Saleh to agree not to run for another term after 2013 and guarantee his son would not succeed him.

Yemen's fragile stability has been of increasing concern to the United States, which has provided $250 million in military aid in the past five years.

Information from The Washington Post is included.