The Yemeni American Coalition for Change (YACC) and Yemeni American community in the United States applauds the series of historical and brave decrees issued yesterday by Yemen’s President, Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi on the consolidation and restructuring of the army, the removal of dictator and overthrown president Ali Saleh’s nephew, Yehya Saleh from his powerful post as deputy chief of central security, and the weakening of the rest of the family from military posts.

These long-awaited and long-overdue decisions are powerful steps in the right direction and a glimmer of hope that lays down a strong foundation for building a unified and modern national army and state. We welcome these fundamental steps for building a modern Yemeni state and call upon President Hadi to quickly embark on the implementation of these decisions without delays.

Spokesperson of YACC and human rights activist Ibraham Qatabi called upon President Hadi to also “swiftly and without delays make another brave and historic decision to withdraw the armed forces and military units from within Yemen’s capital, Sana’a, and other cities, and to put an end to the militarization of Sana’a University and other universities across the nation once and for all. Ending the militarization of civilian life is essential if Yemen is to become a civil state.”

We affirm our full support for any decisions to cope with the sacrifices of the People of Yemen and meet their aspirations to build a civilian and a true democratic state. We will continue to march and advocate tirelessly until all goals of the youth peaceful revolution for radical change are met and realized.

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The Yemeni American Coalition for Change (YACC) is an advocacy and solidarity group comprised of activists, professionals, students, teachers and concerned Yemeni-Americans, representing various Yemeni-American organizations, all uniting to support the youth peaceful revolution and change in Yemen and to see an end to violence against the protesters who demand freedom and an end to the vicious regime of Yemen’s ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh.