Little sympathy for Qaddafi on the Arab street -- so far

“The operation is a strong message to rulers that the dictator era is over,” said Ali Abdul Rahman in Sanaa, where protesters have called for the end of President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s 32-year rule of their impoverished country.

“The beginning of the no-fly zone is a positive step…It came late and we would have preferred if the Arab countries were the ones that carried out this step,” Mohammed al-Sharki, an activist in Yemen’s youth movement said.

“But this step will still have a positive impact on the situation in Yemen because the regime understands that the international community will not be silent over oppression.”