An anti-government protester was shot dead by police in southern Yemen and 19 opposition activists were arrested in the capital, including a prominent woman who led rallies against the president last week.
The arrests sparked a new wave of student protests in Sanaa, days after demonstrations against the government of President Ali Abdullah Saleh broke out across Yemen, inspired in in part by the recent ouster of Tunisia's long-time ruler.
Tawakul Karman, a journalist and member of the Islamist party Islah who was a leading figure in last week's protests, was detained by police and charged with unlawfully organising demonstrations, her husband said.
Police in Sanaa arrested 18 other activists, including the heads of two human rights groups, as they left a meeting to discuss Karman's arrest.
In the southern city of Aden, the site of frequent protests by separatists, a demonstrator was shot dead by police who were trying to stop a march, residents said.
The arrests of the activists in the capital sparked a protest of several hundred at Sanaa University.
The demonstrators, chanting ‘release the prisoners’ and holding pictures of Karman, tried to march to the state prosecutor's office, who a security source said had ordered her arrest.
But riot police carrying batons beat them back. Police also beat up two TV cameramen filming the protests and confiscated their cameras, a Reuters witness said. One was briefly arrested.
