Yemenis voted in large numbers Tuesday as President Ali Abdullah Saleh's 33-year rule came to an end in a poll marred by deadly clashes in the south and a Shi'ite rebel boycott in the north.

Men and women lined up in separate queues even before polling stations opened their doors in Sana'a at 8 am, waiting to cast their votes for the only name on the ballot: Vice President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi.

Hadi cast his ballot amid cheers and applause at a far more secluded polling station near his home in the capital.

"This is a historic day for Yemen. We will put the past behind us and turn a new page on which we will write a new future," said Hadi, who according to close aides was surrounded by heavy security because of threats to his life.

Yemen's new president will rule for an interim two-year period, after which presidential and parliamentary elections will be held, a condition of the Gulf-brokered transition deal signed by Saleh in November.

Despite heightened security throughout the south, violence, not voting, characterized the day.

At least four people were killed, including a child, and dozens of others wounded in vote-related violence Tuesday, medics and security officials said.

"Half of the polling booths in Aden were shut down after they were seized by gunmen from the Southern Movement," a local government official told AFP.

In the Shi'ite rebel strongholds of the north, many polling stations were either deserted or closed. The rebels, who have fought six wars with Saleh's regime since 2004, also boycotted the election. According to a security official, only one polling station in the northern town of Saada was open.

AFP