"The home of Sheikh Sadiq al-Ahmar was hit by a missile and there were several dead or wounded," a tribal source said.

"Among the wounded was General Ghaleb Gamash, who was leading a mediation mission," the source added.

Sheikh al-Ahmar, who heads the Hashid tribal confederation, the largest in Yemen and a former crucial source of support for President Ali Abdullah Saleh, pledged his support for the opposition in March.

He accused Saleh, who is facing mounting pressure to quit office after 33 years, of trying to spark a "civil war" in an attempt to remain in power.

Two days of clashes in the capital Sanaa between his backers and security forces had already killed at least 12 people in the past two days before the missile attack, tribal sources said earlier.

"An armoured vehicle stationed near the interior ministry fired shells and killed five people" outside Sheikh al-Ahmar's home, source close to the tribal chief said.

The same source said at least 90 people were hurt. A security official said one policeman died and four others were wounded.

Machinegun and rocket-propelled grenade fire gripped the Al-Hasaba neighbourhood of north Sanaa where the sheikh's home is located, an AFP correspondent said.

Heavy shelling also targeted tribesmen stationed at several government buildings including the trade and industry ministry, a tribal source close to the sheikh said.

State news agencies quoted an interior ministry official as saying that Sheikh al-Ahmar's supporters fired rocket-propelled grenades at interior and tourism ministry offices.

Heavy gunfire was heard near the rebel chief's home where dignitaries from the powerful Bakil and Hashid tribal confederations had gathered in his support.

Most of the dignitaries had insisted on a peaceful solution to end the violence that killed six people Monday, although tribal mediators have so far failed to secure a ceasefire.

Saleh on Sunday warned of civil war in the deeply tribal country as he refused to ink a Gulf-brokered accord under which he would cede power within 30 days in exchange for immunity from prosecution for himself and his aides.

Sources close to Sheikh al-Ahmar said the fighting had broken out on Monday after security forces tried to deploy around his residence and his gunmen retaliated.

A security official said the gunmen broke into a nearby school and police responded.

The conflicting accounts could not be independently verified.

Sheikh al-Ahmar said five of his supporters were killed on Monday and 52 wounded. The official Saba news agency said one policeman was killed and five people wounded.

One of the 10 sons of Sheikh Abdullah al-Ahmar, who was until his death Saleh's main ally, Sheikh Sadiq is capable of rallying thousands of armed supporters, tribal sources say.

Yemen has an estimated 60 million firearms in private hands, roughly three for every citizen.

The country's opposition vowed on Monday to step up street protests, while insisting on efforts to avoid violence.

Since late January, security forces and armed Saleh supporters have mounted a bloody crackdown on protests demanding his ouster, killing at least 181 people, according to a toll compiled from reports by activists and medics.

Analysts warned the crisis may degenerate into a civil war after Saleh refused to sign the Gulf-brokered deal to end the popular uprising inspired by protest movements that ousted veteran strongmen in Tunisia and Egypt.

Saleh "realises that his regime is over but he is looking for a decent exit," said Ibrahim Sharqieh, deputy director of the Brookings Doha Centre.

"He doesn't want an exit like that of Egypt's Hosni Mubarak or Tunisia's Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. He is basically concerned over the way by which he will be remembered in history."

earlier related report
Arab spring could easily be 'snuffed out': Netanyahu
Washington (AFP) May 24, 2011 - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Tuesday hailed the "courageous Arab protestors" battling tyranny, but warned their hopes could easily be crushed, pointing to the 1979 Iranian revolution.

"An epic battle is now unfolding in the Middle East, between tyranny and freedom. A great convulsion is shaking the earth from the Khyber Pass to the Straits of Gibraltar," Netanyahu said in an address to a joint session of the US Congress.

The Middle East stands at a "fateful crossroads," with pro-democracy revolutions shaking Arab nations which hold "the promise of a new dawn of freedom and opportunity," the Israeli premier said in a speech punctuated by warm applause and standing ovations.

"Yet, as we share their hopes, we also must also remember that those hopes could be snuffed out as they were in Tehran in 1979," he said, referring to the revolution that deposed the shah but brought in a strict Islamic republic.

"The brief democratic spring in Iran was cut short by a ferocious and unforgiving tyranny. This same tyranny smothered Lebanon's democratic Cedar Revolution, and inflicted on that long-suffering country, the medieval rule of Hezbollah," Netanyahu said.

He again highlighted Israel's fears that Iran could one day develop a nuclear weapon, saying "the hinge of history may soon turn.

"For the greatest danger facing humanity could soon be upon us: A militant Islamic regime armed with nuclear weapons," he said.

"A nuclear-armed Iran would ignite a nuclear arms race in the Middle East. It would give terrorists a nuclear umbrella."

Those who dismissed the threat from Iran were "sticking their heads in the sand," Netanyahu said.

He also took issue with those who refused to condemn Iranian calls for the annihilation of the Jewish state, saying: "In much of the international community, the calls for our destruction are met with utter silence."

But Netanyahu praised the United States for its stand.

"You have acted differently. You've condemned the Iranian regime for its genocidal aims. You've passed tough sanctions against Iran. History will salute you America," he said to loud applause.

The Israeli premier spoke as the United States unveiled a slew of new sanctions against Iran, targeting foreign firms including from Venezuela, Singapore, and Israel -- as part of efforts to check Iran's nuclear ambitions.

Netanyahu said his country has always embraced democracy, and maintained that out of the region's 300 million Arabs, only Israel's one million Arab citizens "enjoyed real democratic rights."

"This startling fact reveals a basic truth: Israel is not what is wrong about the Middle East. Israel is what is right about the Middle East," he said.

"Israel fully supports the desire of Arab peoples in our region to live freely. We long for the day when Israel will be one of many real democracies in the Middle East," he said.

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