Violence in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, killed dozens of people on Saturday after incumbent President Ali Abdullah Saleh had returned from Saudi Arabia where he was recovering from wounds inflicted during a bomb attack last June.

"I have returned home carrying the dove of peace and an olive branch, not holding any grudges or hatred towards anyone," state news agency Saba quoted Saleh as saying after returning to Yemen Friday.

But more than 40 people were killed in battles scattered across Sanaa on Saturday. The violence also engulfed Change Square, the epicenter of the anti-government protest movement that has been calling for Saleh's ouster since last February.

Saleh's Republican Guards have engaged in a week of clashes with dissident soldiers from the First Armored Brigade, which has sided with and protected anti-regime demonstrations. State security forces have also clashed with dissident tribal chief Sheikh Sadiq al-Ahmar.

The Saba agency also reported that the president would make "an important speech to mark the 49th anniversary" of the September 26, 1962 revolution when the country became a republic. Saleh traditionally makes such a speech on the eve of the anniversary, which would be Sunday, although no appearance has been officially announced.

Calls for restraint

The United Nations Security Council made a new call for an end to the violence on Saturday. The 15 member nations issued a statement calling on all sides to "reject violence, including against peaceful and unarmed civilians, and show maximum restraint."

The statement stressed the role of a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) initiative that would see the 69-year-old Saleh step down after more than three decades in power and allow a democratic transition in exchange for immunity from legal prosecution.

"They called on all parties to move forward urgently in an inclusive, orderly and Yemeni-led process of political transition," the statement said.

The US also appealed for peace and urged a democratic transition in Yemen.

"Too many Yemenis have lost their lives," US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said. "Each day that passes without a peaceful and orderly transition is another day that the Yemeni people are forced to live in an unstable environment that threatens their security and livelihood."

Arab Gulf foreign ministers echoed the US calls for Saleh to sign the GCC transition plan "immediately."

Author: Spencer Kimball, Holly Fox (AFP, dpa)
Editor: Ben Knight