Yemeni protesters defy cleric's appeal for calm

Thousands of protesters defied appeals for calm from the military and the country's most influential Islamic cleric and marched in cities across Yemen yesterday, pressing on with their campaign to oust president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

In the capital Sanaa, protesters fought off attacks by police and government supporters swinging batons and daggers. Municipal vehicles ferried sticks and stones to the pro-government side, witnesses said.

In the port city of Aden, protesters burned tires and government vehicles the day after security forces killed two demonstrators there, witnesses said.

For seven straight days, protests have hit the capital, Sanaa, and other cities in the Arab world's poorest country, a mountainous territory racked by tribal conflicts, armed rebellion and other serious woes.

Yemenis have poured into the streets to demand the removal of Saleh after 32 years in power - three years more than Egypt's Hosni Mubarak. Their main grievances are poverty and government corruption.

Saleh's promises not to run for re-election in 2013 or to set up his son as his heir have failed to calm the anti-government storm sweeping Yemen.

The Yemeni president has been an important Western ally in fighting al-Qaeda.