Agencies/Sanaa
Yemeni government forces clashed yesterday with supporters of the powerful Hashed tribal grouping led by Sheikh Sadeq al-Ahmar that is demanding President Ali Abdullah Saleh leave office. The two sides exchanged fierce gunfire in a northern district of the capital Sanaa, eyewitnesses said. There were no immediate reports of casualties. Fierce clashes between Ahmar’s tribesmen and loyal troops in the capital’s Al Hassaba neighbourhood in May killed more than 140 people before the two sides agreed a truce. The sheikh heads the powerful Hashid tribe which ended its support to Saleh—also a member of Hashid—in March and joined the protests which erupted in January demanding the ouster of the president who has ruled since 1978. Influential tribal leaders formed last week a coalition headed by Ahmar to bolster the uprising against Saleh who has been in a Saudi hospital since June after being wounded in a bomb attack on his Sanaa compound. Tribes wield much influence in impoverished Yemen, where the Hashid is a heavily armed tribal confederation capable of rallying and financing thousands of fighters. The Bakil is the other main tribal confederation. Tens of thousands of opponents and supporters of Saleh held rival rallies following prayers on the first Friday of Ramadan. “Our revolution is popular, and we will continue peacefully” chanted large masses of anti-regime protesters who gathered in Sanaa’s Sittin Street for a rally entitled “peaceful until victory”. “The tyrant will go, and the people will stay,” chanted the crowds that organisers put at around 250,000. Large anti-regime protests were also held across Yemen. In Taez, Yemen’s second largest city, a mass protest was held in Freedom Square, calling for an end of Saleh’s regime and insisting on following peaceful ways to achieve the goals of their protest. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of his loyalists rallied at Sanaa’s Sabeen Square renewing allegiance to Saleh in a rally titled the “Friday of compassion.” “The people want Ali Abdullah Saleh” they chanted as many carried posters of him and Saudi monarch Abdullah as a sign of gratitude for providing medical care for Saleh. The Arab world’s poorest state has edged toward chaos during six months of protest against the 69-year-old leader, which its neighbour Saudi Arabia and the US fear could provide a foothold to the country’s Al Qaeda wing. Long-standing conflict with separatist forces in the country’s south has flared anew and intersected with a battle against Islamists the government accuses of links to Al Qaeda. Islamist fighters seized Zinjibar, capital of the southern Abyan province in late May, and the ensuing fighting has displaced as many as 90,000 residents of the province.