Three Killed at Anti-War Protest in Yemen

SAN`A, Yemen – Police clashed with anti-war demonstrators trying to storm the U.S. Embassy in Yemen on Friday, leaving a policeman and protester dead amid a barrage of bullets, rocks, water cannons and tear gas canisters.

Dozens more people were injured, and three protesters were hospitalized in serious condition. A crowd of about 30,000 protesters chanted "Death to America!" as outrage over the U.S.-led attacks on Iraq spilled into the streets for a second day Friday.

The policeman was shot by demonstrators, a security official said on condition of anonymity.

A protester also was shot, he said without elaborating, although witnesses said the protester was hit by police gunfire.

Scores of soldiers in at least a dozen armored vehicles were called in to contain the demonstration, the most violent in the Yemeni capital since price-hike riots six years ago.

The crowd assembled in central San'a after Friday prayers and marched several miles toward the U.S. Embassy, which was closed.

Hundreds of police ringing the compound tried to stop the crowd with tear gas and water cannons before shooting automatic rifles into the air.

Protesters pushed ahead, picking up stones and tear gas canisters and hurling them at police. Crowds shouted, "No American and no British Embassy on Yemeni land!," and, "Death to America! Death to Israel!"

The Yemeni security official said seven other policemen were injured by stones thrown by protesters.

About 30 protesters were overcome by tear gas, and three were hospitalized in serious condition, he said.

Yemen, where the government has been outspokenly opposed to war, has seen some of the largest and most volatile demonstrations recently in the region, where anti-American sentiment has risen and is expected to increase as the U.S.-led attack on Iraq continues.

Riot police fired rubber bullets at a smaller crowd in Bahrain, while water cannons and tear gas were used in Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon.