Pro- and anti-government demonstrators are out in force today in Sana’a, the Yemen capital, as embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh says he will only hand over power “to safe hands”.
Today has been dubbed a “day of departure” by protesters, who are demanding an end to the President’s 32-year rule. Thousands camped outside Sana’a University are being protected by soldiers who have pledged support for the opposition.
Meanwhile President Saleh, addressing supporters at a rally this morning broadcast on state television, said: “We don’t want power, but we need to hand power over to safe hands, not to sick, resentful or corrupt hands.”
He continued: “We are ready to leave power, but only for safe hands. We are against firing a single bullet, and when we give concessions, this is to ensure there is no bloodshed.”
The New York Times yesterday reported that Saleh was in engaged in negotiations over the timing and conditions for an end to his time in office.
Last Friday an estimated 52 demonstrators were killed in Sana’a, apparently by plain-clothes snipers.
Can anyone emerge triumphant from the turmoil in Yemen?
Yemen's future remains impossible to call. Latest reports say President Saleh is engaged in serious negotiations over the timing and conditions for the end of his 32-year rule.
"My feeling is that President Saleh won't go easily - but that doesn't mean he won't go," says Benedict Wilkinson of the Royal United Services Institute. "And that doesn't mean the Saudis can't put pressure on him.
"But there are so many different factors involved in whether he can maintain support internally and externally, that anything could happen."
Read more from Who Knows Who: Yemen peers into the abyss
The killings prompted the resignation of General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, commander of Yemen’s north western zone and a powerful relative of the President. General Mohsen went on to pledge his support and protection for the protesters.
On 2 February, in an apparent attempt to pre-empt the growth of political unrest in Yemen, the President announced he would not run for re-election in 2013. Earlier this week he promised that he would step down by the end of this year.
The United States and Saudi Arabia view Yemen, which is the poorest of all Arab countries, as a bulwark against the spread of al-Qaeda. It shares a northern border with Saudi Arabia, and its location on the Arabian peninsula makes it strategically important.