Yemeni president warns of civil war

to quit and Washington voiced concern about instability in the Arabian state that has become an al Qaeda stronghold.
Seven weeks of unrelenting anti-government protests and defections among the ruling elite have piled pressure on Saleh, a US ally against radical Islamist ambitions in the Arabian peninsula, to step down immediately after 32 years in power.
But an aide said he would leave office only after organising parliamentary polls and establishing democratic institutions, by January 2012 – a declaration the opposition promptly rejected.
“Ali Abdullah Saleh does not seek power,” Saleh’s media secretary Ahmed al-Sufi told Reuters. “Ali Abdullah Saleh will not leave without knowing who he is handing over to.”
The United States, grappling with the diplomatic fallout of uprisings and uncertainty across the Arab world, voiced rare public alarm about the situation in Yemen.
“We are obviously concerned about the instability in Yemen,” US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said.
His chief concern was to avoid “diversion of attention” from opposing al Qaeda there.
Opposition spokesman Mohammed al-Sabry, rejecting Saleh’s offer to go by January 2012, said the coming hours would be decisive.
In speeches to army officers and tribal leaders in Sanaa, Saleh said Yemen faced a danger of civil war and disintegration because of efforts to stage a “coup” against his rule.
“You have an agenda to tear down the country, the country will be divided into three instead of two halfs. A southern part, northern part and a middle part. This is what is being sought by defectors against . . . unity,” he said, referring to northern Shi’ite rebels and al Qaeda militants.
“Those who want to climb up to power through coups should know that this is out of the question.” – Reuters.