Cautious calm prevailed Saturday in the Yemeni capital Sana'a after at least 40 people were killed in the worst violence to hit the city in a week, dpa reported.
At least 23 people were killed in renewed fighting between troops loyal to President Ali Abdullah Saleh and dissident forces, according to medical sources.
The fighting raged in central Sana'a between pro-Saleh troops and forces commanded by the dissident General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar.
More than 110 people were injured in the clashes, added the sources.
The pro-Saleh forces fired scores of shells and rockets on the headquarters of the First Armoured Division led by al-Ahmar, who defected from the army in March this year, a witness told the German Press Agency dpa.
Houses and stores near the scene were heavily damaged as other properties caught fire, witnesses said.
The building of the Yemeni Press Syndicate in Sana'a was damaged too, they added.
One day after his return to Yemen from Saudi Arabia, Saleh ordered on Saturday all barricades and checkpoints be removed from the streets of Sana'a, according to the state news agency SABA.
He also ordered army and security forces be sent back to their barracks in order to "keep the capital safe", reported the news agency.
SABA quoted the presidential order as saying that the arrangements were obligatory to all parties. There was no immediate reaction from Saleh opponents.
On Friday, Saleh called for "a truce and a complete ceasefire" to allow a consensus among the country's political factions following a week of deadly violence. But the call was largely ignored.
Early Saturday, government troops launched an attack on protesters in the capital, killing 17.
According to broadcaster Al Arabiya, the troops had tried to storm Change Square, the focus of anti-government activity in Sana'a.
Some of the tents in the square caught fire during the attack, the Dubai-based television said.
Opposition activists accused the elite Republican Guard, led by Saleh's eldest son, Ahmed, of being behind the attack.
Around 10,000 anti-government protesters continued Saturday to camp in the square, a witness told the German Press Agency dpa.
On Saturday, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) called on Saleh to "immediately" sign a pact brokered by the six-member bloc on a peaceful power transition in Yemen.
"The council strongly condemns the use of violence, especially heavy weapons, against demonstrators," the GCC said in a statement.
In Cairo, around 300 Yemeni activists protested outside the Arab League against what they called the sheer silence over "bestial crimes" in Yemen.
Saleh returned Friday from Saudi Arabia, where he had spent three months recovering from injuries sustained in an attack on his palace on June 3.
Millions of Yemenis have taken to the streets since February this year, demanding an end to Saleh's 33-year rule.
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