Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh has fired a Cabinet minister who failed to persuade opposition protesters to end a monthlong uprising against the president's 32-year rule.
The firing comes as Yemeni security forces and protesters engaged in confrontations in several regions Monday. In one incident, the governor of central Yemen's Marib province was stabbed and wounded during a demonstration outside the provincial government headquarters. He was flown to the capital, Sana'a, for treatment.
Elsewhere, Yemeni security forces opened fire on protesters trying to storm a local government building in the northeastern province of Jawf. At least 20 people were injured in the fighting. Police also opened fire to disperse protesters in southern Yemen's Taiz province, injuring three people.
Mr. Saleh fired his Endowments and Guidance Minister Hamoud al-Hattar on Sunday in apparent frustration at the government's failure to engage in a dialogue with his opponents. Al-Hattar was replaced with another minister, Hamoud Mohammad Abad.
Yemeni security forces continued in a standoff on Monday with opposition activists in Sana'a who have been camping for weeks in a square near Sana'a University.
At least 30 people have been killed in protest-related violence since anti-Saleh activists began rallying across the country earlier this year, inspired by Egyptian and Tunisian uprisings fueled by similar grievances.
Yemeni authorities detained three journalists and a researcher from Britain and the United States Monday, on suspicion of trying to work in the country illegally. The identities of the four Westerners were not immediately released.