5 Apr 2011

More protesters killed in Yemen

9:14 pm on 5 April 2011

Security forces have shot dead two protesters in Yemen's western city of Hudaida.

Police and armed men in civilian clothes fired live rounds and tear gas at hundreds of demonstrators marching on a presidential palace, injuring about 30 people.

More than 100 people have now died since demonstrations began in late January in the south Arabian Peninsula.

An official quoted by the Saba state news agency confirmed the deaths in Hudaida.

They were among thousands of people who took to the streets to denounce the killing of at least 15 anti-regime protesters earlier in the city of Taiz, south of the capital Sanaa.

Tanks and armoured vehicles blocked entrances to the city and

surrounded Freedom Square, the focal point of protests, arresting anyone who tried to leave.

The unrest follows weeks of protests calling for President Ali Abdullah Saleh to stand down.

The president has said he will not run for re-election in 2013 and could step down following new presidential and parliamentary elections within a year. On Sunday, he called on the opposition to end protests to help ease talks.

The United States has publicly called on the president to relinquish power sooner rather than later.