Yemen President offers dialogue with protesters

Yemen's embattled president Ali Abdullah Saleh has today offered to oversee a dialogue between his ruling party and the opposition to defuse the ongoing stand-off with protesters demanding his removal.

The offer by the US-backed Saleh came as protests demanding that he step down continued for the 11th day.

The protests pose the most serious challenge to Saleh’s rule to date.

He has already made a series of concessions, pledging that his son would not succeed him and that he would not seek another term in office. Today, he repeated his offer for negotiations.

“Dialogue is the best means, not sabotage or cutting off roads,” Saleh, in office for more than 30 years, told a news conference.

“I am ready to sit on the negotiating table and meet their demands if they are legitimate,” said the Yemeni leader, who warned against “infiltrators” seeking to divide Yemenis and sabotage their country.