Yes, because the protesters have been calling for the cabinet to resign as opposed to the president. Right. This is yet another US “friend” who is more of a problem than an actual friend. These relationships have to end.

Yemen’s president has fired his entire cabinet amid escalating protests demanding his resignation. The announcement by President Ali Abdullah Saleh came after tens of thousands of mournersflooded the streets of the Yemeni capitalon Sunday in a mass funeral for 52 protesters killed on Friday in a sniper attack by government loyalists.

The president’s office issued a statement saying he was firing his cabinet, although Yemen’s official news agency reported he had asked them to remain in place until a new one could be appointed.

The 150,000 turnout for the funeral at Sana’a University was by far the largest gathering seen in Yemen since protests against Saleh began in earnest over a month ago. Dozens of bodies were wrapped in Yemen’s tricolour flag and hoisted onto shoulders of young men who paraded the bodies through the streets shouting, “There is no God but Allah” and “Ali Saleh the tyrant is the enemy of God.”