SANA’A, Sept. 16 – In a statement released Saturday, parliament said it doesn’t approve of any foreign presence—either minor or major—on Yemeni soil under any pretext. The legislative body called for the removal of a recently arrived contingent of U.S. Marine forces to leave the country.

The Marines arrived in Yemen to help increase security at the U.S. embassy in Sana’a, which was attacked by protestors Thursday. According to Pentagon spokesman George Little, 50 Marines were deployed. Similar teams have been deployed to Libya and to Sudan in recent days.

Dr. Zaid Al-Shami, an opposition parliament member, said parliament called for the U.S. to withdraw all the just-arrived Marines, asserting that defending the embassy is the Yemeni government's responsibility.

Al-Shami said the Yemeni government should remedy the consequences of the security failure for the embassy.

“Security made inadequate efforts, yet this is not a justification for the arrival of American Marine forces to Yemen.”

  For his part, Abdulkareem Al-Aslami, an independent parliament member, said some parliament members understand why the Marines were deployed, explaining that the circumstances the Yemeni government has been undergoing caused the government to accept the advent of the American military team.

Al-Aslami said the U.S. has a right to send forces to protect its interests, institutions and ambassadors.

“We understand that the major countries need to protect their interests considering the Yemeni army is divided.”

Meanwhile, all parliament members denounced the film maligning Prophet Muhammad that sparked anger among many Muslims protesting outside the embassy, Al-Shami said. He said they strongly refuse the slander of any religion.  

The parliament demanded a ban on words maligning religions, calling on the U.S. to officially apologize to Muslims and to remove the film from public consumption as well as punish anyone who contributed to the film’s production. The film maligning the Prophet Muhammad was made in the United States.

“We call on everyone to strive to establish a law punishing those who slander religions,” Al-Aslami said.