Yemen President Ali Abdullah Saleh warns of coup
Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh meets with defence force officials in
Sanaa in this still image taken from video on 21 March 2011 President Saleh
remains defiant in the face of protests and resignations
Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh has said there could be a civil war in
Yemen because of attempts to stage what he called a coup against his rule.
"Those who want to climb up to power through coups should know that this is out
of the question. The homeland will not be stable, there will be a civil war, a
bloody war," he said.
Army officers expressed their support for pro-democracy protesters on Monday.
A senior EU official has predicted that the president "won't last long".
Call for dialogue
Hugues Mingarelli, of the European External Action Service's Middle East
office, told a European Parliament committee the Yemeni leader had lost too
much support to stay in power, according to AFP.
"I don't see how the president can hold on much longer, given the fact that
part of the army, part of the tribal chiefs and part of his political allies
have distanced themselves from him," he said.
After some 50 protesters were shot dead at a demonstration in the capital,
Sanaa, on Friday, President Saleh's authority has been further undermined by a
string of resignations.
Continue reading the main story
Middle East unrest: Yemen
Map of Yemen
President Ali Abdullah Saleh in power since 1978
Population 24.3m; land area 536,869 sq km
The population has a median age of 17.9, and a literacy rate of 61%
Youth unemployment is 15%
Gross national income per head is $1,060 (£655) (World Bank 2009)
Protests: Country by country
Key Yemeni General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, long close to President Saleh, on
Monday said he was backing the protesters. Two other senior army commanders
were also reported to have resigned.
On Tuesday, two soldiers reportedly died in clashes between the army and the
elite Republican Guard in the south-eastern city of Mukalla.
The president has said that he is "truly sympathetic" with the problems faced
by the country's youth, according to a report on state news agency Saba,
Reuters reports.
He called on them to engage in "a transparent, sincere and open dialogue".
A source close to President Saleh told the BBC on Monday that the president
would not stand down - and would call elections later in the year.
On Sunday, he fired his entire cabinet in apparent response to protests against
his rule. He asked them to stay in place in a caretaker capacity.
Yemen is one of a number of countries in the region that have seen unrest since
the presidents of Egypt and Tunisia were ousted in popular revolts.
The president has been in power for 32 years, facing a separatist movement in
the south, a branch of al-Qaeda, and a periodic conflict with Shia tribes in
the north.
He has said he will not seek another term in office in 2013, but has vowed to
defend his regime "with every drop of blood".
In Moscow on Tuesday, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said he feared
political unrest in Yemen could distract from efforts to fight Yemen-based
al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which the US considers a terror group.
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