Brussels, 31/05/2011 (Agence Europe) - The EU has expressed its “shock” at the bloody and deadly crackdown on anti-government protestors in Yemen. Repression grew in intensity on Tuesday 31 May, at the cost of many protestors' lives, several sources report. “I am shocked and condemn in the strongest terms the use of force and live ammunition against peaceful protestors in the city of Taiz. Reports of attacks on medical facilities are appalling. The continued repression by the Yemeni regime and grave violations of human rights and international humanitarian law cannot be accepted. Those responsible for such deeds must be held accountable”, Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, says in a statement on 31 May. She calls on the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to launch an independent assessment in order to determine who is responsible for these acts. Ashton concludes her statement with a further appeal to President Ali Abdallah Saleh, urging him to address the “legitimate demands of the Yemeni people regarding political transition, to refrain from violence and to end abuses of human rights”. The president must no longer use “pretexts” not to implement the agreement negotiated by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), she states. On Tuesday morning, at least seven demonstrators were killed by shots fired by the police seeking to prevent any further assembly of demonstrators in Taëz. Fighting has also resumed in Sanaa. (H.B./transl.jl)