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Loyalist troops clash with guards siding with opposition after Ali Abdullah Saleh pulled out of peace deal brokered by Gulf powers
Yemeni government forces have been locked in gun battles with opponents of the entrenched president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, a day after he backed out of a Gulf-brokered accord for him to step down.
The clashes in the capital, Sana'a, cast fresh doubt on prospects for a political solution to a three-month crisis in which youth-led demonstrators, inspired by protests that swept aside the leaders of Egypt and Tunisia, are demanding an end to Saleh's 33-year rule.
"There is heavy gunfire and violent clashing between government forces and Sheikh (Sadiq) al-Ahmar's guards," a witness said, referring to a powerful tribal leader who has sided with protesters. No injuries were reported.
The violence followed the collapse of a transition deal Saleh was to have signed on Sunday and would have given him immunity from prosecution, ensuring a dignified exit.
Loyalist gunmen trapped western and Arab diplomats in the United Arab Emirates embassy for hours on Sunday and blocked mediators from heading to the presidential palace to secure Saleh's signature on the deal.
Inside were the head of the Gulf Co-operation Council, Abdullatif al-Zayani, and the US and several European ambassadors, who had to later be flown out by helicopter.
Gulf neighbours who have spearheaded efforts to mediate a transition deal withdrew their initiative, citing a "lack of suitable conditions".
Saleh has now apologised to the UAE but foreign governments piled criticism on him over his refusal to sign.
"President Saleh is now the only party that refuses to match actions to words," the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, said on Sunday.
"We urge him to immediately follow through on his repeated commitments to peacefully and orderly transfer power and ensure the legitimate will of the Yemeni people is addressed. The time for action is now," she said.
France accused Saleh of being irresponsible by refusing to sign, describing the turnaround as "unacceptable".
The US and Saudi Arabia, both targets of foiled attacks by al-Qaida's Yemen-based regional wing, are keen to end the stalemate and avert a spread of anarchy that could give the global militant network more room to operate.
Saleh, playing on western fears of chaos, blamed the opposition for the deal's collapse and warned that if Yemen erupted into civil war that "they will be responsible for it and the bloodshed".
