Six people were killed and dozens wounded during armed clashes in Sanaa yesterday between police and supporters of powerful opposition tribal chief Sadiq al-Ahmar, tribal sources and state media said.

The clashes came a day after President Ali Abdullah Saleh refused to ink an accord brokered by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) under which he would cede power within 30 days in exchange for immunity from prosecution for himself and his aides.

Five supporters of Sheikh Sadiq al-Ahmar were killed and 35 others wounded during clashes with police, the sheikh’s office said in a statement, updating an earlier toll from medical officials.

The defence ministry’s 26sep.net news website, meanwhile, said that one citizen was killed and two wounded by gunfire from Ahmar supporters.

The official Saba news agency, citing an interior ministry official, said Ahmar supporters “opened fire on and assaulted Al-Rumah school in Al-Hasaba neighbourhood” and Saba’s headquarters. And Al-Yemen state TV said more than 200 journalists were trapped inside the Saba building, including two who were wounded.

A Yemeni official, speaking on condition of anonymity, also said that Ahmar loyalists had taken over the trade and industry ministry.

Witnesses had said earlier that machine guns were fired and grenades thrown during fighting between police and tribesmen near Ahmar’s home in Sanaa.

Sources close to Mr Ahmar said the fighting erupted after security forces tried to deploy around the tribal leader’s residence and that loyalist gunmen had retaliated.

The fighting had wound down by yesterday evening, an AFP correspondent reported.

Mr Ahmar, who heads the Hashid tribal federation, the largest in deeply tribal Yemen and a former crucial source of Mr Saleh’s power, in March pledged his support for the opposition.

Yemen’s opposition vowed earlier yesterday to step up street protests, while insisting on efforts to avoid violence.