Hundreds hurt in Yemen protests

Anti-government protesters in Sanaa Protesters kept up the heat on President Ali Abdullah Saleh on Saturday as fresh clashes raged in the flashpoint city of Taez, and as a dissident general denied aiming to replace the Yemeni leader.On the regional scene Yemen recalled its ambassador to Qatar, state news agency Saba announced, after a call from the Gulf state for Saleh to step down stirred anger in Sanaa.

Police fired volleys of live rounds at demonstrators in Taez on Saturday, in what local residents termed some of the worst violence since anti-regime protests broke out in Yemen in January. At least 14 people were shot and wounded, three of them seriously, and hundreds more needed treatment for tear-gas inhalation, medics said.

Witnesses said security forces attacked protesters, angry at the killings of four demonstrators over the previous 24 hours, gathered near the government offices of the city, south of Sanaa. On Saturday night, seven protesters were wounded by police and another 150 treated for tear-gas inhalation after thousands of them left their base in the university square and marched on a police control point, witnesses said.  Three of the wounded were hit by live bullets and the others beaten by regime supporters, the sources added.

Earlier on Saturday, thousands of protesters massed in Al-Hurriya (Liberty) Square in Taez, calling for those behind the deadly shooting of protesters to be held to account and for Saleh to go. Medics said Yemeni security forces shot dead four protesters and wounded 116 in the flashpoint city in clashes that erupted on Friday and carried on into the next morning.Clashes lasted until about 3:00 am (0000 GMT) on Saturday, with protesters trying to take over a provincial government building near the square, witnesses said. I

In another bastion of opposition to Saleh, a protest strike paralysed southern Yemen's main city of Aden, where shops were shuttered in many districts, roads were cut off and public transport ground to a halt.Six hours later, the protesters reopened shops and roads but vowed to continue with similar daytime strikes every Saturday and Wednesday.

Meanwhile, General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, who has sided with anti-regime demonstrators and accused regime supporters of trying to kill him, denied having his sights set on political power. Ahmar, who commands Yemen's northwest military district including Sanaa, pledged in late March to defend the protesters, who have pressed since January for Saleh's ouster."The army will be under the control of civilians, and I do not seek any position of power," Ahmar told an envoy of UN chief Ban Ki-moon, according to an overnight statement from the general's office.Yemen's foreign ministry, quoted by Saba, said Sanaa's ambassador to Doha was "recalled for consultations following remarks by. Qatari Prime Minister) Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr al-Thani. "Sheikh Hamad said on Thursday that Yemen's Arab neighbours in the Gulf "hope to reach a deal with the Yemeni president to step down," a position which Saleh slammed as a case of "blatant interference in Yemeni affairs."

The United States, which has cooperated closely with Saleh in its battle against Al-Qaeda, on Friday urged all sides in Yemen to engage in an "urgently needed dialogue" on a political transition.Washington has expressed concern that Al-Qaeda militants could take advantage of unrest in Yemen, and that pressure from the impoverished country on the group has let up.On Saturday, an officer from Yemen's 25th mechanised brigade said army units had begun shelling the Joar area in Abyan province, where Al-Qaeda militants were believed to have taken refuge.The attack came two days after US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said Yemen had since the outbreak of its political crisis "really eased up the pressure on Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula," referring to the group's local affiliate.