government demonstrators armed with knives and batons broke up a protest Saturday by around 2,000 Yemenis inspired by the overthrow of Egypt's president. Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, trying to ward off protests spreading across the Arab world, has promised to step down when his term ends in 2013, but the opposition has yet to respond to his call to join a unity government. The opposition wants talks to take place under Western or Gulf Arab auspices. As well as sporadic protests, the Arabian Peninsula state is also struggling with a secessionist movement in the south, a shaky ceasefire with Shiite rebels in the north and a resurgent Al-Qaeda presence, all against a backdrop of chronic poverty. Some 300 anti-government student demonstrators assembled at Sana'a University Saturday morning. As numbers swelled into the thousands, they began marching toward the Egyptian embassy. “The people want the fall of the government,” protesters chanted. “A Yemeni revolution after the Egyptian revolution.” But a group of government supporters armed with knives and sticks confronted the protesters at the central Tahrir Square. Scuffles broke out and the protesters were forced to flee. Two people were lightly injured, witnesses said. The clash came after armed men forced around 300 anti-government protesters to quit an impromptu demonstration in the Yemeni capital Friday night. Yemeni authorities detained at least 10 people after anti-government protesters in Sana'a celebrated Mubarak's downfall Friday, US-based Human Rights Watch said. – ReutersCaption: A Yemeni police officer pushes back a government supporter, center, carrying a dagger as he and other supporters reach to scuffle with anti-government demonstrators in Sana'a, Saturday. (AP) __
