Yemeni security forces have fired on a group of anti-government protesters and striking teachers, killing two and and wounding several others.
Witnesses and medics said security forces moved into Taiz early Monday to quell a rally blocking the city's main street. At least three people were seriously wounded. Teachers demanding better pay also participated in the rally.
More than 140 people have died in protest-related unrest since January.
Anti-government protesters are calling for Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh to immediately step down, but the president has clung to power.
A Gulf Arab plan to end Yemen's political stalemate stalled in recent days. The plan called for President Saleh to hand over power to a deputy and resign within 30 days of signing the initiative. It would have established a unity government that would have included opposition members.
Both the opposition and Saleh said they agreed to the deal that was supposed to be signed earlier this month. But Saleh later said he would sign the deal only as leader of the ruling General People's Congress party and not in his capacity as president, as required by the plan.
Officials with the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council are trying to revive the pact.
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