At Least 40 Protesters Are Killed in Yemen

By LAURA KASINOF and ROBERT F. WORTH
NYT

SANA, Yemen — Yemen’s pro-democracy protests exploded into violence on Friday, as government supporters opened fire on demonstrators in the capital, killing at least 40 people and wounding more than 200. The bloodshed failed to disperse the angry throng of protesters, the largest seen so far in a month of steadily rising demonstrations calling for Mr. Saleh’s ouster.

President Ali Abdullah Saleh declared a state of emergency shortly after the shootings, denying that security forces had been involved and promising a full investigation. The state news agency said the state of emergency would last 30 days.

The shootings seemed certain to provoke more violence in Yemen’s tribal society, and analysts said they could further weaken Mr. Saleh, whose rivals have already used the protests to undermine him. Although the United States has voiced sympathy for pro-democracy protesters here and elsewhere in the Arab world, it has special concerns about the stability of Yemen, a strife-torn country that is home to one of Al Qaeda’s most active branches and has been an American ally in the fight against terrorism.

Protesters have been killed here in recent weeks, but the violence on Friday dwarfed that seen in earlier clashes. There were different accounts of how the shooting started; most Yemenis are armed. Some said it began with a fight between protesters and residents near Sana University — known as a pro-Saleh neighborhood — who have been trying for days to build barriers to protect their homes. Others said men in plain clothes began burning protesters’ tents to stop the protests from expanding further.

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