President praises security control of riots

SANA’A, July 23 (Saba)- President Ali Abdullah Saleh has praised the control of riots that overwhelmed a number of cities over the rise of fuel prices. In a meeting with the Supreme Security Committee, Saleh praised security men for successfully quelling violent demonstrations, and political parties, religious leaders and NGOs for denouncing the violence of the hooligans. While welcoming peaceful protests as a constitutional right, the president said what the hooligans did on 21 and 22 of July was a chaos, urging security authorities to trail demonstrators who smashed public and private properties. He called for rounding up those who intercepted some oil and gas tanks in Marib-Sana’a highway. Hooligans burned buses, looted equipment from some companies and smashed glasses of state and private facilities. AA/NS