Dropped by a portion of his army, the President of Yemen Ali Abdullah Saleh on Tuesday proposed to resign in early 2012, but the opposition rejected the offer insisting on his immediate departure.
Earlier, President Saleh, in power for 32 years, warned against the risks of civil war in his country including the capital Sana'a is the setting for Monday in a deployment of military units rival tanks.
In south-east, in the city of Moukalla a first incident on Monday night between elements of the regular army and presidential guard units had two killed, witnesses and medical sources.
This tension redoubled concern the United States, said Tuesday the U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. Washington has so far seen the president Saleh as an ally in the war against terrorism and Al Qaeda affiliates.
Of the likes of Osama bin Laden are active in Yemen and were involved in attempted attacks against the United States in 2009 and 2010. Washington provides an annual grant of $ 150 million in Sana'a to combat them.
"The instability and diversion of attention vis-à-vis AQPA (Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula) is certainly my primary concern in this situation," said Gates, after a trip to Moscow.
To overcome this crisis, the head of state, whose term expires in 2013, proposed "holding parliamentary elections before the end of 2011, followed by election by members of a president in early 2012," according to a senior Yemeni official, who requested anonymity.
But the opposition immediately rejected this offer: "The Yemeni people calling for the immediate departure" of the president, said his spokesman Mohammed al-Sabri."Only one thing can satisfy the people, and that the resignation of this man," he added.
In Sanaa, the military and officials have continued to succeed in front of the demonstrators University Square, the epicenter of protest, to announce their allegiance to the "youth revolt".
The challenge, launched in late January, has gained momentum after the death March 18, 1952 people in an attack against demonstrators in Sanaa attributed to supporters of the regime.
Representatives of members of the Arab League have condemned Tuesday the "crimes against civilians" and urged the Yemeni authorities to meet the demands of the population to "peacefully".
Protesters on Monday received the support of the army chiefs, including General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, head north-east which includes the capital.
Armoured units loyal to General Ahmar were deployed around the Central Bank, the headquarters of the General People's Congress (GPC ruling party) and other vital facilities in Sana'a.
But the tanks of the presidential guard, headed by the president's son, Ahmed Saleh, and special forces, commanded by his nephew Tarek Saleh, took up positions around the presidential palace.
A Moukalla, clashed Monday night soldiers under the command of the Eastern Military District, General Mohammed Ali Mohsen, who joined the protest, members of the presidential guard.
A soldier of the regular army and a member of the presidential guard were killed, medics, and three soldiers wounded, including an officer of the regular army.
Mr.Saleh, 69, warned that any conspiracy to precipitate his departure would lead to Yemen, a poor country of 24 million, to civil war.
"Any attempt to take power in a coup would lead to civil war," he said on television before military leadership, whereas the divisions within the army were "harmful" to the country.
