SANA’A, July 21 – Yemeni activists launched a campaign via Facebook to pressure the Yemeni government to take a stand with regard to the crisis in Syria.

The campaign is called “Together to Expel the Syrian Ambassador to Yemen”.

The campaign organized a number of protests and demonstrations in Change Square and in the vicinity of the Syrian embassy in Sana’a.

 Al-Zubair Al-Himyari, information assistant for the campaign, said the Facebook and Twitter campaign has received a positive reaction in addition to a large number of supporters, estimated at more than 2,000.

He said protesters in Sana’a’s Change Square and in Taiz’s Freedom Square have already staged demonstrations and protests in solidarity with the Syrian nation over the course of the past weeks. He said a demonstration will head for the Foreign Affairs Ministry this coming Saturday.

 “The government should be ashamed of its stance toward what is happening in Syria,” Al-Himyari said. “The government raises no finger to send the Syrian ambassador back.”

Mareb Al-Ward, an activist and journalist, said a number of influential figures have reacted positively toward the campaign. They call for a serious stand to dispel the Syrian ambassador to Yemen, saying the ambassador doesn’t represent the Syrian nation any more. He represents Assad’s regime, according to Al-Ward.

In an exclusive statement to the Yemen Times, Ali Al-Amadi, the information unity head in the Foreign Affairs Ministry, said that since 2011, there has been no Syrian ambassador in the embassy; the Yemeni ambassador to Syria is unavailable as well. He said there is only an acting person in the Syrian embassy in Sana’a, responsible for routine procedures.

Al-Amadi said allegations claiming the Syrian ambassador seeks asylum in Yemen are untrue.

“We don’t know who to expel,” he said. “The Syrian ambassador himself is not in Yemen. If they want to make sure, why not.”