Yemeni leader Ali Abdullah Saleh to Step Down

Yemeni leader Ali Abdullah Saleh declared on 2 Feb 2011 after coming under pressure from the opposition to step down that he will freeze constitutional changes which would enable him to remain President for life. Civil society and opposition leaders had organised a day of rage and on the eve of the day of rage called by opposing forces, Saleh declared in the Yemeni parliament that he put off controversial plans to hold elections in April 2011 without a promised dialogue on reform. He also appealed for an end to street protests. Like embattled Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Saleh in the past was accused repeatedly by the opposition of grooming his son to succeed him in a bid to create a republican dynasty.

Yemen is located at the strategic southern tip of the Arabian peninsula and is wrecked with numerous conflicts like a separatist movement in the once-independent south, a Shia rebellion in the north, and a growing presence of Al-Qaeda guerrillas.