Anti-government protests continue in Yemen

SANAA - About 500 people, demanding the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, held demonstrations Saturday in front of Sanaa University in the Yemeni capital. In southern port city of Aden, nearly 7,000 protesters stormed into two government buildings and set them on fire.

“Leave, leave Saleh, our demands are clear,” they chanted. “Ali, go after Mubarak.”

It was the ninth consecutive day that demonstrators had called for the ouster of the president, who has been in power for 32 years, DPA reported.

Meanwhile, over 100 pro-government demonstrators gathered nearby, chanting “We want no one but Ali.”

On Friday, about 7,000 protesters stormed into two local council buildings and a police station in Aden and set them on fire, leaving several people injured, Xinhua reported quoting a local councilman.

Amnesty International has urged the Yemeni authorities to stop using excessive force to control anti-government demonstrations as continued violence against protesters across the country reportedly left many wounded.

According to DPA, four people were killed and dozens injured Friday in two separate attacks on protesters in the southern cities of Taiz and Aden, the website Yemenpost.net reported.

In Aden, two people were killed and an unknown number injured when security forces used tear gas, batons and stun guns to try to disperse protesters.

Another two people were killed in Taiz when a man threw a hand grenade from his car at a group of anti-government protesters. Forty-one people were injured.

Protests in several countries across the region have been inspired by uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt this year, which saw the overthrow in both countries of their long-time presidents.