Clashes rock Yemen after Saleh peace vow

Clashes rocked the Yemeni capital on Saturday after 37 people were killed in 24 hours despite calls by President Ali Abdullah Saleh for peace after his return from months of medical treatment in Riyadh.

"We slept and woke up to the non-stop sound of gunfire," one Sanaa resident said as firefights between rival military units raged in the city centre.

Republican Guard troops, commanded by Saleh's son Ahmed, have been locked in a week of deadly battles with dissident soldiers from the First Armoured Brigade headed by General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, who have since March protected anti-regime protesters camped out on Sanaa's Change Square.

Security forces have also been fighting supporters of dissident tribal chief Sheikh Sadiq al-Ahmar in Sanaa's northern Al-Hasaba district.

The fighting has caused 132 deaths since Sunday, based on a tally obtained from medics and tribal and opposition sources. State news agency Saba said 24 of Saleh's soldiers have also been killed.

Troops loyal to Saleh killed at least 17 people in an attack launched just after midnight on Friday, shelling and firing on Change Square which protesters first occupied in February.

"Seventeen people were killed and 55 others were wounded,"said Mohammed al-Qabati, a medic at the field hospital in the square.

Among the dead were dissident soldiers, while the rest were civilians, Qabati said without providing specific figures.

Snipers also opened fire from buildings around the square, witnesses said.