Sanaa: At least 45 people were killed and 270 injured when some unidentified gunmen opened fire on an anti-government rally in Sanaa, doctors said.
The gunmen fired from rooftops overlooking the central square in what the opposition called a massacre.
President Ali Abdullah Saleh declared a national state of emergency but denied his forces were behind the shooting.
US President Barack Obama has condemned the violence, urging Saleh to allow peaceful protests.
In a statement, he said those responsible for Friday’s violence “must be held accountable”.
Separately, France demanded an end to attacks “by security forces and armed pro-government groups… against people exercising their rights to free speech and demonstration”, media reports.
Yassin Noman, rotating president of Yemen’s umbrella opposition group, was quoted as saying there was “no longer any possibility of mutual understanding” between the protesters and President Saleh, and he should resign.
Another opposition spokesman, Mohammad al-Sabri, accused Saleh of presiding over a “massacre”.
“This is part of a criminal plan to kill off the protesters, and the president and his relatives are responsible for the bloodshed in Yemen today,” he said.
Soon after the shooting in the capital, the country’s Tourism Minister, Nabil al-Faqih, resigned in protest.
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