Protesters celebrate departure of Yemen's leader {medical treatment}

[xchrom]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110605/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_yemen

SANAA, Yemen – Protesters danced, sang and slaughtered cows in the central square of Yemen's capital Sunday to celebrate the departure of the country's authoritarian leader for medical treatment after he was wounded in a rocket attack on his compound.

There was no official announcement on who was acting as head of state. But under Yemen's constitution, the vice president takes over for up to 60 days when the head of state is absent. Vice President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi met Sunday with U.S. Ambassador Gerald Michael Feierstein, the strongest indication yet that he is in charge.

Yemen's conflict began as a peaceful uprising that the government at times used brutal force to suppress. It transformed in recent weeks to a more violent struggle for power when formal tribal allies of President Ali Abdullah Saleh turned against him and transformed the streets of the capital Sanaa into a war zone.

Other forces rose against Saleh at the same time. There were high-level defections within his military, and Islamist fighters took over at least one town in the south in the past two weeks. Saleh blamed the tribal rivals for the attack on his compound Friday that killed 11 bodyguards and wounded at least five senior government officials in addition to the president.

[cutlassmama]

1. Isn't it odd that all the foreign leaders are having medical problems all of a sudden?

[xchrom]

2. well this one was wounded by the protestors, i believe. nt