7 Shot Dead in Yemen Protest

Security forces and backers of Yemen's embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh shot dead seven protesters on Saturday in the south of the capital, medical sources said.

Dozens more demonstrators were hurt when tear gas and water cannons were used against thousands of marchers demanding that Saleh go on trial, witnesses and medics said.

"Four of the dead were taken to the field hospital" at Change Square in Sanaa, the epicentre of anti-regime protests in the capital, the facility's director, Mohammed al-Abbahi, told Agence France Presse.

The bodies of three others were taken to a private clinic in the city, said Mohammed al-Sormy, a doctor there.

All of those killed had been shot, said Abbahi, who added that "dozens of wounded have been admitted to different medical centers."

Tens of thousands of protesters who set off from the southern city of Taez on Tuesday for the 270-kilometer march to the capital had arrived in Sanaa in mid-afternoon but were blocked in a southern suburb.

Government forces blocked the streets leading to Sabine Square, adjacent to the presidential palace, where Saleh loyalists have previously gathered on Fridays to voice support for the veteran leader, targeted by waves of protests since January.

The objective of the "March for Life" was to press for Saleh and his top allies to face criminal charges for their roles in the crackdown on anti-regime protesters that has left hundreds dead.

The tens of thousands of Yemenis who have braved the streets of the capital demanding regime change in recent months have held weekly protests against the Gulf Cooperation Council plan that promised Saleh immunity.

A national unity government, headed by the opposition, was sworn in earlier this month to lead a three-month transition period until early polls are held and Saleh formally steps down.

Saleh holds the title of honorary president until elections in February, when he will resign in favor of Vice President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi.

On Friday, Saleh loyalists also attacked demonstrators gathered south of Sanaa.

Assailants, some of them armed, attacked a group of 2,000 demonstrators in Hizyaz, a southern suburb, before they could join the march from Taez, said Mondher al-Asbahi.

"Dozens of demonstrators were wounded, struck by stones, and one was hit by a bullet," said Asbahi, a member of a Taez youth group organizing the rally.

The march had amassed tens of thousands of participants along the road to Sanaa.