Amid Political Turmoil in Arab World, Yemen’s President Pledges to Step Down in 2013

The Takeaway

Following massive protests in Egypt and Tunisia, longtime president of Yemen, Ali Abdullah Saleh, announced he would not seek re-election in 2013. He also pledged that he his son would not be his successor. The concessions come ahead of planned anti-government protests in Yemen today.

However, this is not the first time President Saleh has said he would not run. To assess the political stability in Yemen and what it means for the United States, we talk with  Wallace A. Terrill, professor at the Strategic Studies Institute at the U.S. Army War College. Terrill recently published a major  study  about Yemen for the Strategic Studies Institute. Natalia Antelava, BBC reporter, is in Yemen, where she says there were two demonstrations in Sana, with some demonstrating in support of the president. She says that there are concerns that protests could grow violent.

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