Yemeni women burn their veils in protest, plea for help

GlobalPost

Yemeni women burned their veils Wednesday to protest the government’s deadly crackdown against protestors that killed dozens of people.

Thousands of women gathered at the country’s capital, Sanaa, where they carried banners that read: "Saleh the butcher is killing women and is proud of it" and "Women have no value in the eyes in Ali Saleh,” CNN reports.

The burning of veils comes after Saturday’s violent government-led attack against dissenters that killed at least 25 people, just a day after the U.N. Security Council unanimously condemned the months of violence in Yemen.

GlobalPost: Yemen's capital rocked with violence day after UN resolution

The move to set veils ablaze was a Bedouin tribal gesture requesting tribesmen to help stop the government-led attacks against protesters.

The female protesters handed out pamphlets during the veil burnings that read: "This is a plea from the free women of Yemen; here we burn our makrama in front of the world to witness the bloody massacres carried by the tyrant Saleh," the AP reports.

Women in Yemen have had a lead role in the rebellion against Saleh and his government that started in March as a result of neighboring Arab revolts; Yemeni woman activist Tawakkul Karman was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her struggle for women's rights.

VIDEO: Yemeni women burn veils in protest
 

Saleh has promised to sign an agreement mediated by the Gulf Cooperation Council that would give him immunity from prosecution if he stepped down from power, but has yet to do so.

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