SANAA, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Eleven protesters were wounded in clashes with police in Yemen on Thursday, activists said, as the opposition stepped up rallies against what is sees as government efforts to manipulate parliament elections next year.

At least 10 were arrested after police broke up the protest by several thousand people in the capital Sanaa, they said.

Government officials were not available for comment.

In a separate incident, witnesses said at least two people were injured when a van running on liquefied gas blew up in Sanaa. Other witnesses said the blast was caused by a bomb.

The opposition has accused the ruling party of trying to "hijack" the April 2009 parliamentary elections by excluding opposition figures from a body that will oversee the polls.

The opposition boycotted the election in May of provincial governors by local councils, saying 2006 polls that elected the councils were rigged. EU observers said the polls, which also included a presidential election, were "genuine" despite some breaches.

The opposition has organised several demonstrations over unemployment this year, some of which led to clashes between government forces and activists.

Poverty and unemployment is fuelling discontent in the country of 22 million people, one of the poorest outside Africa.

President Ali Abdullah Saleh, re-elected in the 2006 vote, has ruled Yemen since its unification in 1990.

Yemen is the ancestral home of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and has cracked down on militants. It cooperated closely with Washington after the Sept. 11 attacks and al Qaeda attacks at home, including the bombing of a U.S. warship in 2000.

Two Islamist militants were killed in southern Yemen on Thursday when explosives they were carrying on a motorcycle blew up accidentally, a security source said. (Reporting by Mohammed Ghobari and Mohammed Mokhashef; writing by Inal Ersan)

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