Tenuous ceasefire eases conflict in Yemen

An informal ceasefire between President Ali Abdullah Saleh's security forces and a tribal group brought a pause in fighting on Saturday after nearly a week of deadly clashes left Yemen close to civil war. Fighting this week has killed some 115 people, prompted thousands of residents to flee Sanaa and raised the spectre of chaos that could benefit the Yemen-based branch of al Qaeda and threaten adjacent Saudi Arabia, the world's No 1 oil exporter.
The latest violence, pitting Saleh loyalist forces against members of the powerful Hashed tribe led by Sadeq al-Ahmar, was the bloodiest since pro-democracy unrest erupted in January and was sparked by a Saleh refusal to sign a power transfer deal. Tribal sources and residents said a tenuous calm prevailed in the capital's northern district of Hasaba, the scene of heavy clashes this week for control of government buildings, and outside Sanaa, a city now divided between the sides.