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Protests erupt in Yemen to demand ouster of president

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The opposition coalition then vowed to boycott the upcoming parliamentary elections and called for protest against the ruling party's "unilateral action."

Protesters are seen on the streets of Sanaa, capital of Yemen, Jan. 27, 2011. Around 15,000 protesters took to streets in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa on Thursday, calling for the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh. [Yin Ke/Xinhua]

Ali Saif Hassan, the head of the independent Yemeni Political Forum said that the popular protests here may not make any political change.

"Tunisia is a civil society, while Yemen is a divided tribal society and the opposition here is very weak, so there is not any civil coalition in Yemen that may lead these protests," he told Xinhua.

"Unlike Tunisia, Yemen is awash with more than 60,000 pieces of weapons, and if turmoil took place throughout the country, thousands of people would be tragically killed," he added.

Inspired by the anti government protests in Tunisia, hundreds of protesters went to the streets in Sanaa and other major cities over the past days, demanding the stepping down of their president Saleh, who has been in power for more than 30 years.

The 68-year-old President Saleh, who has been in power since 1978 announced on Sunday on the state TV that he would step down after his second presidential term expires in 2013.

"Yemen will not become another Tunisia," Saleh said. "We are a democratic republic, we have peacefully changed rulers and we call on opposition parties to take part in the dialogue with the ruling party before chaos takes place," he added.