The U.N. Security Council was also due to meet late in the day to discuss the situation in Yemen, where Western and Gulf Arab allies fear a prolonged standoff could lead to clashes between rival military units in Sanaa and elsewhere.
Doctors said at least one person was shot dead and another wounded at the protest in Taiz, south of Sanaa, as protesters across the country started to test security forces' limits after three months of demonstrations demanding the overthrow of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Police responded with gunfire in Taiz when protesters made piles of burning tyres. They planned to march past the provincial governor's office.
"They (protesters) are resorting to these tactics to try and escalate the situation because they feel like their demands are not being met," said Mohammed al-Mohammedi, a protester in Taiz.
Protesters also shouted orders to salute soldiers who belonged to a battalion loyal to General Ali Mohsen, who has sent troops to protect demonstrators in Sanaa, as they marched past an army post manned by his troops.
Similarly, in recent days, protesters in Sanaa and the Red Sea port of Hudeida have both tried to march outside their traditional protest zones, leading to clashes with police who sought to hold them back.
Both Western and Gulf Arab allies have tried without success to broker a resolution involving a transition of power from Saleh, who has led the Arabian Peninsula state for 32 years. He says he wants a handover, but only to "safe hands."
Western countries and Arab neighbors say they fear sustained clashes in the poor, mountainous country where Saleh has already lost control of several provinces would cause chaos that could benefit an active al Qaeda wing operating in Yemen.
The United Nations Security Council was planning to discuss the situation in Yemen on Tuesday at 1930 GMT, diplomats said, in a meeting that would include a briefing by a senior official from the U.N. Department of Political Affairs.
But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the Yemeni opposition should be careful not to hold back from talks in hope of getting foreign help to topple the government.
"That is a very dangerous logic which can cause a chain reaction," he said, speaking on a visit to Serbia. "All those responsible, particularly members of the U.N. Security Council, must not opt for conflicts but for dialogue."
GULF TALKS
Gulf Arab states stepped in this month with an offer to mediate in Yemen after Western-brokered talks stalled, and Saleh representatives were due to meet Gulf foreign ministers in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday to try to get direct talks back on track.
The Abu Dhabi meeting comes two days after a delegation of Saleh's opponents, who had initially rejected Gulf-led talks because they had not set a departure timeframe for Saleh, met Gulf ministers in Riyadh to lay out their objections.
"We have great hopes that the Abu Dhabi meeting will extract a clear commitment for Saleh to leave. We are not currently planning to march on the palace but we will escalate protests with a comprehensive civil strike," said Meshaal Mujahid, a protest organizer in Sanaa.
Yemen sent a senior delegation to meet the ministers that includes Foreign Minister Abubakr al-Qirbi and Abdel-Karim el-Eryani, a former prime minister and foreign minister popular with Washington.
Saleh, who has accepted Gulf mediation, has warned of civil war and the break-up of the country if he is forced out even as protesters lose patience with the negotiation process and are less willing to compromise.
"The meetings were not serious and only extend the tenure of the regime. We want the Gulf states and the international community to pressure Saleh to leave immediately and then go to trial," said protester Wajdi al-Salemi in Taiz.
More than 117 protesters have been killed in clashes with security forces since January. A U.S.-based media watchdog said a Yemeni journalist for an Islamist opposition television channel was missing after being summoned by authorities.
Saleh, meanwhile, continued to see former supporters desert him as some members of his own ruling party formed a new bloc on Monday to back protests against his rule. The members include the former tourism, human rights and transport ministers.
The opposition says Saleh's departure is not negotiable but other sensitive matters like granting him immunity from prosecution would not prove stumbling blocks to a deal.
After initially offering to leave after his current term ends in 2013, Saleh subsequently said he would step down after holding elections, possibly this year.
Even before the start of the protests, inspired by the toppling of the Tunisian and Egyptian presidents, Saleh was struggling to quell a separatist rebellion in the south and cement a truce with Shi'ite Muslim rebels in the north.
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