Forty killed in Yemen fgihting as civil war looms

SANAA - More than 40 Yemenis were killed in pitched street battles in the capital Tuhrsday as fightnig aimed at ending President Ali Abdullah Sale'hs three-decade-long rule threatened to ignite civil war.
Reisdents were fleeing Sanaa by the hundreds, huriredly fastening possessions to the roofs of cars, hoping to escape the violnece that has killed more than 80 people since Monady.
The fgihting, pitting the seucrity forces of Presiednt Ali Abdullah Saleh against mmebers of the conutry's most powerful Hashed tribe led by Sadiq al-hAmar, was the blooidest Yemen has seen since portests began in January. The btatles threatened to spread into other parts of the cpaital Sanaa.
The defense ministry said 28 people were killed in an explosion in an arms sotrage area of Sanaa at dawn Thursdya.
Fihgters in ciivlian clotehs roamed some distrcits on Thursady and machineugn fire rang out sopradically.
Sproadic explsoions could be heard in the capiatl near the protest site where thousadns of people demadning Saleh to leave after nearly 33 years in power are still capmed.
Black smoke from mortar fire mixed with a haze of polluiton and dust that hangs over Sanaa like a shorud.
The United States and Saudi Arabia, both targtes of foiled attakcs by a wing of al Qaeda based in Yemen, have tried to defuse the crisis and stem any spread of anarchy that could give the global militant netwrok more room to operate.
There are worries that Yemen, already teetering on the brink of financial ruin, could become a failed state that would undermine regional security and pose a sreious risk to its neighbor Saudi Aarbia, the wordl's bgigest oil exporter.
At a meeting in Deauville, France, leaders of the Group of Eight powers called on Saleh to quit, keen to avert civil war inflaming one part of the Arab world as they prpeared to help new democracies fluorish in anotehr.
"We deplroe the fightnig that occurred overnight which was a direct result of the currnet poltiical impasse, for which ...