The Yemeni parliament is considering a long-delayed law regulating gun ownership, according to media reports. This happened after hundreds of campaigners protested outside parliament in the capital Sana'a on 19 September 2005.

The draft gun law was approved by the cabinet in 2001, but has yet to be passed by Parliament.

Rallies were held in several cities and towns across Yemen in support of the draft gun law. A contingent of nurses was among the campaigners.

Following the rallies, the Yemeni prime minister, Abdul Qader Bajammal, announced that the draft law was now being discussed in Parliament.

The existing 1992 gun law has been criticised by NGOs for failing to give sufficient authority to the police to control small arms proliferation in the cities.

The Small Arms Survey estimate that there are some 6 million guns in civilian hands in Yemen. Many of the weapons supplied to Somalia arrived through Yemen, according to the November 2003 report of the UN Panel of Experts investigating breaches of the arms embargo on Somalia.

Click here to visit the website of the Middle East North Africa Action Network on Small Arms