Sanaa, Yemen (CNN) -- For at least the fourth day in a row, clashes broke out between pro- and anti-government protesters in Yemen's capital Monday morning.
About 200 anti-government protesters were rallying outside Sanaa University calling for regime change as they have since the weekend, when about 300 counter-demonstrators carrying pictures of President Ali Abdullah Saleh confronted them.
The anti-government protesters included at least 150 members of a lawyers' syndicate, who were marching through the streets on their own shouting anti-government and anti-corruption chants, before meeting up with students from Sanaa University.
The two sides threw rocks at each other, and later brandished daggers and knives. Eyewitnesses said the pro-government demonstrators had the weapons, while the anti-government demonstrators were armed with sticks.
Some security forces at the scene tried to separate the two sides, while others stood on the sidelines.
The anti-government protesters accused the counter-protesters of being plainclothes policemen, a charge denied by a government spokesman.
Several protesters were arrested by security forces, said human rights activist Abdulrahman Barman.
CNN employees were told to leave the scene for security reasons as a crush of protesters was pushing up against the gates of Sanaa University, trying to flee the pro-government protesters. More and more security forces came out and were attempting to clear the crowd.
Witnesses reported later that most people had left and the scene was becoming calmer.
On Sunday, hundreds of anti-government protesters marched toward a presidential palace.
Some of them chanted, "First Mubarak, now Ali," referring to the Yemeni president and Hosni Mubarak, who recently resigned as president of Egypt after nearly 30 years in power.
Security forces put up a barbed wire barricade and blocked the protesters' paths about two miles from the palace. At that point, the situation intensified as protesters turned away and attempted to reach the palace through side streets. CNN
