International pressure is mounting on Yemen's president Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down, after the deaths of at least 19 people in anti-government protests in the last two days.
Strong statements from the United States, United Nations and European Union countries came as Saleh backers clashed with protesters in the capital, Sanaa, and security forces opened fire during protests in the southern city of Taiz on Tuesday.
The official SANA news agency said four people were killed in Sanaa and dozens injured.
Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, told Saleh in a telephone call that he sent a small team to determine how the world body could best help quell tensions.
The UN chief's office said Ban "expressed strong concerns for the dead and the injured, and urged utmost restraint from both government and opposition's forces". Meanwhile, the Pentagon said the US was calling for a negotiated transition in Yemen "as quickly as possible".
"Obviously the situation right now is a difficult one. The longer it festers, the more difficult it becomes," Geoff Morrell, the Pentagon Press Secretary said. More than 120 people have been killed and 5,000 injured since Yemen's protests started on February 11, inspired by the popular uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt.
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