13 die as Saleh clings to constitution

Yemen's veteran President Ali Abdullah Saleh said he supports "peaceful" and "constitutional" change as 13 more people were killed on Wednesday with no let-up in protests demanding his ouster.

Four members of the security forces and nine protesters were killed in violence across the country's restive south, officials and medical sources said as anti-Saleh demonstrators vowed they would not stop their actions.
 
Yemeni troops killed at least nine people and wounded more than 100 others as they opened fire at anti-regime protesters in Sanaa on Wednesday, medical sources said.

Eight bodies were taken to a private university hospital and one was carried off to a field hospital in the main square where a protest camp has been active for the past three months, the sources said.

They said 10 of the wounded were in serious condition, after violence broke out as troops moved in to disperse the demonstration to call for the immediate ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
 
"We are not against change as long as it is done by democratic and peaceful means, within the constitution, and with respect to the people's will," Saleh said Wednesday in a statement carried by state news agency Saba.

Saleh also accused his opponents of attempting a "coup against democracy and the constitution."

The embattled leader's comments came after the president and opposition agreed on Tuesday to sign a landmark deal in the coming days for an orderly transition and end three months of unrest that has killed more than 135 people.

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which is brokering the transition deal, said their foreign ministers would meet in Riyadh on Sunday to work out the modalities of their plan for Yemen.

"Riyadh will host on Sunday an extraordinary meeting for the Gulf Cooperation Council foreign ministers to continue the procedures for the adoption of the GCC initiative," the Gulf Arab grouping said in a statement.

However, hundreds of activists demonstrated outside the Saudi embassy in Sanaa on Wednesday in protest at the Gulf initiative, insisting that Saleh go immediately.

"Youth of the revolt reject the Gulf initiative," said a banner carried by the young protesters outside the embassy.

The main moderate opposition parties have accepted the GCC plan, but the demonstrators on the streets said politicians should not hijack their campaign against Saleh.

The six-nation GCC has proposed the formation of a government of national unity in Yemen, Saleh transferring power to his vice president, and an end to deadly protests rocking the impoverished country.

Under the GCC initiative, the president would submit his resignation to parliament within 30 days, with a presidential election being held within two months.

However, a defiant Saleh, who has ruled Yemen for 32 years, has publicly insisted on sticking to the constitution in any transfer of power, even though his ruling General People's Congress party has said it accepts the GCC plan.

In the main southern city of Aden, two policemen and a protester were killed in a gunfight on Wednesday, a security official and medics told AFP. Medics said three protesters were also wounded.

In another southern province, Abyan, suspected Al-Qaeda gunmen killed two soldiers and wounded three others on Wednesday, a security official said.

Another security official said the network's militants had also seized two government buildings in Abyan -- intelligence and a criminal investigations headquarters -- on Tuesday.

Abyan is considered a stronghold of Osama bin Laden's local branch, AQAP.

Last month, at least 150 people were killed in a massive blast and fire at an ammunition plant looted the previous day by Al-Qaeda in Abyan.

Washington has expressed fears that Al-Qaeda could take advantage of a prolonged political crisis in Yemen. The 69-year-old president has been a close US ally in Washington's fight against Al-Qaeda.

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