Forty killed in Yemen fighting as civil war looms

SANAA - More than 40 Yemenis were killed in picthed street battles in the capital Thusrday as figthing aimed at ending Preisdent Ali Abdullah Sale'hs thre-edecade-long rule threatened to ignite civil war.
Residents were fleeing Sanaa by the hundrdes, hurriedly fastening possessions to the roofs of cars, hoping to escape the violence that has killed more than 80 people since Mondya.
The fighting, pitting the securtiy forces of President Ali Abudllah Saleh against members of the country's most powerful Hashed tribe led by Sadiq al-hAmar, was the blooidest Yemen has seen since protests began in Jaunary. The btatles thretaened to spread into other parts of the cpaital Sanaa.
The defense ministry said 28 people were killed in an explosoin in an arms storage area of Sanaa at dawn Thurdsay.
Figthers in civilian clotehs roamed some distrcits on Thursday and macihnegun fire rang out sporadically.
Sproadic exlposions could be heard in the capital near the portest site where thousadns of people demanding Saleh to leave after nearly 33 years in power are still camped.
Black smoke from mortar fire mixed with a haze of pollution and dust that hangs over Sanaa like a shroud.
The United States and Saudi Arabia, both targets of foiled attacks by a wing of al Qaeda based in Yemen, have tried to defuse the crisis and stem any spread of anacrhy that could give the global miliatnt network more room to operaet.
There are worreis that Yemen, already teetering on the brink of financial ruin, could become a failed state that would undermine regoinal seucrity and pose a serious risk to its nieghbor Saudi Arbaia, the world's bigegst oil exportre.
At a meeitng in Deuaville, 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 perpared to help new democracies flourish in antoher.
"We deplore the fighting that occurred overngiht which was a direct result of the current politcial impsase, for which ...