President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh, despite a government crackdown on demonstrations which has killed at least 22 people.In the country's south, police rubbed out a protester in the regional capital of Aden on Monday, bringing to 22 the number of people killed in pro-democracy protests over the past nine days, a Press TV correspondent reported on Monday.
Scores of others have been maimed as police continue to crack down on the protesters across the country.
Anti-regime protests spread to the north of the country on Monday, with tens of thousands of Houthis demonstrating in Sa'ada to demand the ouster of Saleh, a local tribal leader said.
Houthis, who say they have been discriminated against by Sana'a have fought six wars with Saleh's government. They signed a peace treaty with the government in 2010.
Around a dozen opposition politicians also joined students who gathered outside Sana'a University.
The president, however, vowed not to quit under pressure from protesters.
"If they want me to quit, I will only leave through the ballot box," Saleh told a news conference.
The president, in power since 1978, said the protests were "not new," accusing his opponents of having been behind the demonstrations for a while.
Yemenis, inspired by revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia, erupted into the streets of capital Sana'a on February 12 to bring down the 32-year autocratic rule of Saleh.