Protesters throw rocks at a police station in Sana, Yemen. Four people were… (Ahmad Gharabli / AFP/Getty…)
Reporting from Sana, Yemen, and New York — A wave of anti-government anger continued to sweep in a crescent from the Mediterranean to the Caspian Sea as tens of thousands of people joined violent, often lethal, protests Thursday against their autocratic Muslim leaders.
Weeks of demonstrations have provoked some presidents and kings to offer concessions and reforms that have often been viewed as too little too late. Others have attempted to smother potential uprisings through force, as in Bahrain, where a government crackdown left at least four protesters dead and more than 200 injured.
In Yemen, thousands of rival demonstrators protesting for and against longtime President Ali Abdullah Saleh clashed in Sana, the capital, amid a sprawl of burning tires, chunks of concrete and fistfights that marked the seventh straight day of unrest across the nation.
Four people were killed in the country's increasingly violent confrontations.
Thousands of pro- and anti-government protesters faced off on Sana's Al Rabat Street at midday, throwing stones and pieces of concrete and occasionally rushing each other in mass offensives that one participant likened to 13th century Scottish battles portrayed in the film "Braveheart."
Young men on both sides of the burning-tire barricade wore Yemeni flags as headbands and capes. Some, seasoned by days of protests, wore helmets and carried cardboard shields. After more than an hour, the police arrived, firing warning shots into the air until the crowds dispersed.
In the port city of Aden, officials at two hospitals said three men died of gunshot wounds after clashes with police, and a local official earlier reported another death by "random gunfire."
Saleh has made a number of concessions, including agreeing not to run again when his term ends in 2013 or to manufacture his son's ascent to the presidency. He also promised to begin talks with the opposition coalition about reform and anti-corruption measures within his government.
But Yemenis are concerned that, over the course of his 32-year rule, Saleh has woven such a complex web of allies and family members in key positions in the government and among the tribes that rule Yemen that removing him from power could set off a domino effect, leading to long-term violence in one of the poorest and most volatile countries in the Arab world.
"Yemen is not like Egypt or Tunisia. We have many internal enemies," said Yasir Refaee, a pro-government protester at a morning rally in front of Sana University. "We need a strong leader like Saleh to face our problems, or we will turn into Somalia."
But many anti-government protesters said such claims were scare tactics to keep people from protesting.
"They say Yemen will collapse without Saleh, but we don't believe it. We are done waiting for reforms. We need a new president now. A new parliament, new elections. We will be stronger with real freedom," said protester Basem Madhehagi, standing amid homemade signs and banners crafted from bedsheets.
Pro-government protesters credited Saleh for bringing peace and unity to Yemen despite an array of internal threats and for making steps toward reform.
But Saleh's government has been unable to stem rising frustration, especially among the young, over unemployment, poverty and corruption. A third of the Arabian Peninsula state's people face chronic hunger, and 40% live on less than $2 a day.
Also Thursday, violence erupted in at least five Libyan cities, according state media, witnesses using social networks and independent news sites, although a "Day of Rage" called for in the capital failed to ignite much activity.
"The situation in Tripoli is cautious but quiet," Libyan journalist Fatthi ben Eissa said. "So far, no demonstrations have taken place in Tripoli apart from the pro-Kadafi protests in the city's Green Square."
But in communities elsewhere, clashes between opponents of strongman Moammar Kadafi — Africa's longest-serving ruler after 41 years in power — and government loyalists backed by security services were widespread and deadly, with 20 people reported killed nationwide.
In the Libyan coastal city of Benghazi, a witness reported that authorities fired on about 5,000 protesters, killing six. The witness added that pro-government thugs were deployed to attack the demonstrators, and numerous journalists were reportedly detained.
To the northeast in Beida, at least 14 people have been killed, including six by security force snipers when 10,000 took to the streets, an opposition website said.
In the city of Zentan, protesters set a police department on fire.
Confirming reports of violence out of Libya is difficult because of the severe restraints the government places on the news media.
