Tens of thousands of Yemenis squared off in street protests for and against the government today during an opposition-led "Day of Rage”.
The protests come a day after President Ali Abdullah Saleh offered to step down in 2013.
Anti-government activists drew more than 20,000 in Sanaa, the biggest crowd since a wave of protests hit the Arabian Peninsula state two weeks ago, inspired by demonstrations that toppled Tunisia's ruler and threaten Egypt’s president.
But an equally large pro-Saleh protest also picked up steam, and supporters of the president who has ruled Yemen for more than three decades drove around the capital urging Yemenis over loudspeakers to join their counter-demonstrations.
The protests in Sanaa fizzled out by midday, with demonstrators on both sides dispersing peacefully ahead of a traditional afternoon break to chew qat, a mild stimulant leaf widely consumed in Yemen.
"The people want regime change," anti-government protesters had shouted as they gathered near Sanaa University, a main rallying point. "No to corruption, no to dictatorship."
Further anti-government protests were seen across Yemen, including in the town of Taiz, where Mr Saleh once served as military governor, as well as in flashpoint southern towns where a separatist movement has grown increasingly active.
Mr Saleh, eyeing the unrest spreading in the Arab world, indicated yesterday he would leave office when his term ends in 2013, and promised that his son would not take over the reins of government, among a host of other political concessions.
It was Mr Saleh's boldest gambit yet to stave off turmoil in Yemen, a key ally of Washington against al-Qaeda, as he sought to avert a showdown with the opposition that might risk sparking an Egypt-style uprising in the deeply impoverished state.
The stakes are high for Yemen, on the brink of becoming a failed state, as it tries to fight a resurgent al-Qaeda wing, quell southern separatism, and cement peace with Shia rebels in the north.
Yemen's biggest opposition party, the Islamist Islah, welcomed Mr Saleh's initiative but snubbed a presidential appeal to call off protests. Yet anti-government protesters appeared to lack consensus, with some calling for the president to get out while others wanted him to prove he would act on his promises.
"What the president offered yesterday was just theater, I don't trust him," a protester, Mahmoud Abdullah, said in Sanaa.
Mr Saleh, a shrewd political survivor, has backed out of previous promises to step aside. Analysts say his pledge could be a genuine way to exit gracefully but he may also hope to wait out regional unrest and reassert dominance another day.
Yemen's opposition coalition said it wanted assurances that reforms would be implemented, and demanded better living conditions for Yemenis, about 40 per cent of whom live on less than $2 a day while a third suffer from chronic hunger.
Reuters