SANAA (Reuters) – Yemenis fled the capital on Wednesday to escape gunbattles between loyalists and opponents of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who said he would make no more concessions to those seeking his ouster.

Sporadic machinegun fire rang out for the third day in the sandbagged streets around the mansion of an influential tribal leader who has backed protesters seeking to overthrow the longtime ruler after repeated international mediation failed.

SANAA (Reuters) – President Ali Abdullah Saleh said on Wednesday Yemen would not become a failed state or be dragged into civil war despite fierce clashes in the capital with tribal gunmen seeking his ouster.

But Saleh, who has ruled the fractious Arabian Peninsula state for nearly 33 years, said that while he was willing to sign a deal that would end his rule he would not make any further concessions.

LONDON (Reuters) – Tanks are pushing into Syrian towns. Snipers are on rooftops, shooting at anything that moves. Security forces are mowing down or rounding up protesters.

The presence of heavy amour is familiar to the Arab world. It could easily have been that of U.S. tanks sweeping into Baghdad in 2003 or Israeli tanks storming south Lebanon in 2006. But the tanks are Syrian and the targets are Syrian protesters demanding the downfall of Bashar al-Assad’s rule.

LONDON (Reuters) – Tanks are pushing into Syrian towns. Snipers are on rooftops, shooting at anything that moves. Security forces are mowing down or rounding up protesters.

The presence of heavy armour is familiar to the Arab world. It could easily have been that of U.S. tanks sweeping into Baghdad in 2003 or Israeli tanks storming south Lebanon in 2006. But the tanks are Syrian and the targets are Syrian protesters demanding the downfall of Bashar al-Assad’s rule.

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Those who revered him prayed the news was not true but many in the Arab world felt the death of Osama bin Laden was long overdue.

Some said the killing of the Saudi-born al Qaeda founder in Pakistan was scarcely relevant any more, now that secular uprisings have begun toppling corrupt Arab autocrats who had resisted violent Islamist efforts to weaken their grip on power.

BEIRUT (Reuters) – From Israel to Iran, Syria’s neighbours are starting to contemplate the possibility of a future without the Assad family as Lords of Damascus, and, whether friends or foes, some don’t like what they see.

Indeed, some are in denial about what they are witnessing.

Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shi’ite movement widely seen as an Iranian proxy in the Middle East, purports to believe the government of President Bashar al-Assad is putting down an insurrection by armed gangs of Salafi or Sunni Muslim fanatics.

BEIRUT (Reuters) – From Israel to Iran, Syria’s neighbors are starting to contemplate the possibility of a future without the Assad family as Lords of Damascus, and, whether friends or foes, some don’t like what they see.

Indeed, some are in denial about what they are witnessing.

Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shi’ite movement widely seen as an Iranian proxy in the Middle East, purports to believe the government of President Bashar al-Assad is putting down an insurrection by armed gangs of Salafi or Sunni Muslim fanatics.

BEIRUT (Reuters) – President Bashar al-Assad is in a quandary as the challenge to his autocratic rule grows in the streets of Syria: more concessions could signal weakness, but harsher repression risks radicalising a growing opposition.

While some analysts believe Assad can contain the revolt through bold reforms, others believe he missed the chance to open up Syria’s dictatorship when he inherited the presidency from his strongman father, the late Hafez al-Assad, in 2000.

BEIRUT (Reuters) – President Bashar al-Assad is in a quandary as the challenge to his autocratic rule grows in the streets of Syria: more concessions could signal weakness, but harsher repression risks radicalizing a growing opposition.

While some analysts believe Assad can contain the revolt through bold reforms, others believe he missed the chance to open up Syria’s dictatorship when he inherited the presidency from his strongman father, the late Hafez al-Assad, in 2000.

LONDON/DUBAI (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies are trying to broker a deal to have Yemen’s president step down and hand over power, possibly to an interim council of tribal and political leaders, sources told Reuters on Wednesday.

Ali Abdullah Saleh’s at times bloody response to protests, inspired by those in Egypt and Tunisia, against his 32-year rule has tried the patience of his U.S. and Saudi backers.