SANAA - Thousands of rival demonstrators gathered in different areas of the Yemeni city of Taiz on Friday in a contest between supporters of President Ali Abdullah Saleh and those demanding an end to his 32 years in power. At least 10,000 Saleh loyalists took to the streets of Taiz, 200 km (134 miles) south of the capital Sanaa, witnesses said. Thousands of Saleh's opponents were gathering in the city's Hurriya (Freedom) Square, where they have camped out for days, in imitation of Egyptian protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square. Saleh, a US ally against a resurgent Al Qaeda in Yemen that has launched attacks at home and abroad, is struggling to quell month-old protests now erupting daily across the country. State television, airing the pro-Saleh demonstration, said a million people had gathered in Taiz, a city of four million, to voice support for the 68-year-old leader. In Hurriya Square, protesters prepared for Friday prayers, set up first-aid and food tents, and organised groups to try and prevent Saleh supporters from entering the square. Some analysts see Taiz as a barometer for the future of the protest movement in Yemen, which has gathered strength since Tunisians and Egyptians toppled their presidents this year. “Sanaa is important, but if Taiz really gets going this thing could take off,” Gregory Johnsen, a Princeton scholar, said in his blog, Waq Al Waq. Saleh, whose country is mired in poverty, is also struggling to quash Al Qaeda militants, defuse a southern separatist revolt and maintain a shaky truce with northern rebels. In a sop to protesters, he has promised to step down when his term ends in 2013 and not hand power to his son. A coalition of opposition parties, which had laid on rallies that drew tens of thousands, has now agreed to talk to him, but smaller, more spontaneous protests have continued, organised by students and others using mobile text messages and Facebook. Streets were quiet in Sanaa and the southern port city of Aden, another protest flashpoint, but crowds were expected to take to the streets after Friday afternoon prayers. Dozens of Saleh loyalists gathered near Sanaa University, apparently to deny his opponents access to one of their favourite rallying points, a photographer said. Four people have been killed in Aden by what local officials called “random gunfire” as police tried to disperse the crowds.
