AFP - Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh on Saturday reaffirmed his intention not to cede power, nearly two months after the beginning of the controversy insists his departure.
"We're always there, solid as a rock, and we will not be shaken by events," said Mr. Saleh in front of notables, showing no sign of letting go of the reins of power he has held for 32 years .
"Our nation has overcome in the past a lot of obstacles and emerge stronger from the ordeal now," assured the Head of State challenged in the street who has lost the support of part of the military, religious and tribal.
Mr.Saleh has accused the Islamists and the opposition have caused shortages of gas and fuel in the country "by cutting the roads" and a shortage of electricity "sawing the high voltage pylons.
The presidential party's General People's Congress (GPC) has already considered "unacceptable" a departure from Mr.Saleh said Friday that his supporters want to "resist" the pressures of the street and its opponents.
The spokesman of the GPC, Tariq al-Shami told AFP Saturday that "power will be delivered only one that will choose the people through elections, the only way for a peaceful transition of power."
The politburo of the GIC said about him, according to state news agency Saba, having met on Friday under the chairmanship of Mr.Saleh, from "review the obstinate position of the party al-Islah (Islamic) and its allies (...) who closed the door for dialogue and tried climbing.
Among these allies, the political bureau cited the parliamentary opposition parties, the Shiite rebellion in northern Yemen and Al-Qaeda.
The manifestation of support to President Saleh in Sana'a organized on Friday alongside the protesters, expresses "the attachment (the people) to constitutional legality," said the Politburo.
Increasingly isolated after the denial of religious and tribal leaders, Mr.Saleh said Friday he was unwilling to cede power to opponents he described as "adventurers and conspirators."
An attempt at reconciliation between MrSaleh and the strong man of the army, General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, who joined the protest, has "failed to defuse the crisis or to bring their points of view", had said Friday a source close to the AFPs discussions.
In the south, the daily "October 14", which was the mouthpiece of the Yemeni regime in Aden but was discontinued Tuesday, reappeared on newsstands Saturday, taking the defense of the protest movement.
"The opposition demonstrations shouting slogans demanding the fall of the regime," as the newspaper had stopped publishing its editorial on Tuesday when refused the instructions of the Ministry of Information.
Aden was the capital of former South Yemen before the country's unification in 1990, is more liberal than Sanaa, the capital, and the city is at the forefront of protest against the regime.
Also in the south, six alleged members of al-Qaeda were killed Saturday in a clash with the army in the Abyan province, a stronghold of the extremist network.
"Militants of Al-Qaeda launched Saturday at dawn an armed attack against a military unit on guard near a power plant Loder.The soldiers returned fire, killing six attackers, "said a source within the security services, a report confirmed by medical sources.
Some parts of Yemen, particularly in the south, beyond increasing the control of central government, particularly after the defection of army leaders who joined the movement demanding the resignation of President Saleh.
