His announcement came with a major opposition demonstration planned for the middle of the month.

The day’s events were both driven by  and helped propel  a popular movement for change that drew its inspiration from the revolt in Tunisia that forced the president to flee into exile. Nationwide, crowds of protesters turned to the streets in seven provinces, and while most were peaceful, one person was killed and seven were wounded in clashes between demonstrators and the police in the southern port city of Aden.

Opposition protesters wore pink bandannas in Sana, a sign of what has become known as the Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia. The opposition had hoped to demonstrate in Tahrir Square but had to move to the campus of Sana University. Still, the excited crowds chanted, “The people want to topple the regime.”

“We need real reforms, otherwise there will be a revolution,” said Watha Thaha, 23, a student at Sana University who was wearing a pink bandanna and a scarf with the Palestinian flag.

The day’s events in Yemen suggested that all sides had carefully watched and tried to learn from the vicious battle taking place in Egypt to control the course of change. Yemen’s opposition tried to pick up momentum, calling for a “day of rage” and pressing for nationwide participation, while the president and his supporters sought to avoid what they might have perceived as the missteps of Egypt’s president, Hosni Mubarak, and his ruling party. The government supporters came into central Sana in droves from outside the city, encouraged by their tribal chiefs and the president, in what proved an effective hedge against the opposition call for protests.