SANAA, Yemen - Tens of thousands of anti-government protesters in Yemen hurled stones Saturday at riot police backed by tanks in the southern province of Aden, as dueling rallies were held in the capital.
Nearly two months of daily protests demanding the president's ouster have so far failed to bring an end to his 32-year rule over Yemen, a corner of the Arabian peninsula beset by poverty, conflict and a long list of other woes. Seizing on the example of Egypt and other uprisings, the protesters want to open up the country's political system as a path toward a better life.
President Ali Abdullah Saleh's crackdown has been so harsh that it has propelled some of his key allies -- even his own tribe -- over the opposition camp. Still, he has refused to step down immediately, saying the country would sink into chaos without an orderly, negotiated transition.
Reflecting the standoff, both sides held demonstrations Saturday in the capital, Sanaa.
Anti-government protesters staged huge rallies in northern districts. Government supporters, meanwhile, continued their overnight rally in another neighbourhood. Saleh appeared briefly toward the start of that rally on Friday, pledging to sacrifice his "blood and soul" for the sake of the Yemeni people.
In Aden, protesters set tires on fire, sending black smoke into the sky. They also built barricades with large rocks at the entrance of main roads to prevent tanks from moving. Stone-throwing clashes broke out with police.
Workers and students appeared to abide by calls for a general strike on Saturday in Aden and in Taiz, another southern city, witnesses said.
Yemen's unrest is of great concern to the United States, in particular, because the country is home to al-Qaida's most active franchise. Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula has been behind several nearly successful plots to attack international targets, including sending bombs hidden in printer cartridges onto cargo planes and getting a would-be suicide bomber onto a Detroit-bound flight in December 2009.
On Friday, U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Washington was concerned about the situation in Yemen but insisted counterterrorism co-operation was continuing between the two countries.
The U.S. gives Saleh's government financial and military aid for fighting al-Qaida and has provided training to some of his forces.
With so much at stake, U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates said a week ago that the fall of Saleh's regime could pose a "real problem" for America.
Yemeni protesters said Friday that the United States has taken "a shameful position" toward their movement and called on it to support the uprising and reject "dictatorship."
The Organizational Committee for the Popular Youth Revolution, an umbrella group for the protesters, called on the U.S. administration to stop security co-operation and financial aid to Saleh's government.
It also sought to reassure Washington that a post-Saleh government would not would not take a different position on al-Qaida.
"The U.S. administration should know that there is no place for al-Qaida and terrorism under a peaceful Yemeni people's revolution which achieves peace and internal harmony," it said. "Yemen without Saleh, will be better."
