President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh,... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, after serving as a lieutenant colonel in the army. He had been part of the conspiracy that bumped off his predecessor, Ibrahim al-Hamdi, in the usual tiresome military coup, and he has maintained power by keeping Yemen's many tribes fighting with each other, rather than uniting to string him up. ...
in power since 1978, vowed today not to quit under pressure from the street, as MPs joined thousands of protesters in Sanaa calling for his departure.
In the country's south, police rubbed out a protester in the regional capital Aden, bringing to 12 the number of people killed in protests that have raged there since February 16, according to an AFP tally based on reports by medics. Dozens have been maimed.
Anti-regime protests also spread to the north of the country, with tens of thousands of Shiite Houthis demonstrating on Monday in Saada to demand the ouster of Saleh, a local tribal leader said.
Saada is the stronghold of the rebels, who from 2004 fought six wars with Saleh's government before signing a peace treaty in 2010.
"If they want me to quit, I will only leave through the ballot box," Mr Saleh told a news conference as the protesters, including opposition MPs, gathered outside Sanaa University.
"The opposition are raising the level of their demands, some of which are illicit," the Yemeni leader said.
Mr Saleh, whose long reign makes him one of the Middle East's great survivors, said the protests were "not new," accusing his opponents of having been behind the demonstrations for a while.
Around a dozen opposition MPs, who vowed to take to the streets in a statement issued on Sunday, joined students who have been protesting for the past nine days.
Security forces surrounded the protesters as they gathered in a square near Sanaa university, which they have dubbed Al-Huriya (Liberty Square), brandishing banners declaring: "People want change", "People want to overthrow the regime" and "Leave!"
The protesters, who have set up tents at the square, vowed to stand firm despite Saleh having announced the formation of three committees to examine issues relating respectively to security, medical care and nutrition.