Yemeni police block march on palace

ANTI-GOVERNMENT protesters clashed with police who were blocking them from marching to Yemen’s presidential palace in Sanaa yesterday.

The clashes occurred while President Ali Abdullah Saleh and the main opposition group were preparing for talks that the government hoped would help avert an Egyptian-style revolt in the Arabian Peninsula state, a vital US ally against al-Qaida.

Saleh decided to postpone a visit to the US planned for later this month “due to the current circumstances in the region,” the state news agency Saba said without elaborating.