Yemen Gun Battle Wounds Ten

Yemeni loyalist forces fought a gun battle on Monday with opponents of entrenched President Ali Abdullah Saleh one day after he backed out of a Gulf-brokered accord for him to step down.

The clashes in Sanaa cast renewed doubt on a prospect for a political solution to a three-month crisis.

The youth-led demonstrators, inspired by protests that swept aside the leaders of Egypt and Tunisia, are demanding an end to Saleh's nearly 33-year rule.

Ten people were reported wounded, one of them a journalist with the state news agency Saba.

The shooting, followed the collapse of a transition deal that Saleh was to have signed on Sunday and would have given him immunity from prosecution, ensuring a dignified exit.

Saleh has backed out of previous deals aimed at easing him out of power, but Sunday's turnabout appeared to be among the most forceful.

It came after loyalist gunmen trapped Western and Arab diplomats in the United Arab Emirates embassy for hours.

Inside were the head of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Abdullatif al-Zayani, who has spearheaded mediation efforts, and the U.S. and several European ambassadors. 

The mediators were effectively blocked from heading to the presidential palace where the now failed deal was to be signed.

Gulf neighbors subsequently withdrew the initiative, citing a "lack of suitable conditions."