Yemeni president vows to stay in power

A protester holds up a poster depicting Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh as Adolf Hitler, during a pro-democracy rally outside the Sana'a University in the capital on February 26, 2011

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/167344.html

Yemen's decades-long president has vowed to maintain his cling on power until his last “drop of blood” in the face of a massive pro-democracy call across the country.

“We, in the armed forces, have served to preserve the republican regime with every drop of blood we have," Ali Abdullah Saleh said on Sunday, AFP reported.

"There is a conspiracy against Yemen's unity and territorial integrity,” he claimed, referring to 11 straight days of popular protests, which have swept the country.

Dozens of people have been killed since the beginning of the protests. The Amnesty International has put the death toll at 27.

Earlier major Yemeni tribes joined protesters and held a demonstration.

Saleh has already been in office for 33 years with several opposition members arguing that his long-promised reforms have not taken place.

To appease the people, he made more pledge-ridden remarks and promised to leave power at the end of his term in 2013 and not to hand over the reins to his son.

Seven Yemeni lawmakers resigned on Wednesday to protest the government's use of excessive violence against the demonstrations.