The Yemeni president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, has said he will step down in the coming days.

Late last month Saleh, who has been in power for 33 years, called for early elections in his first speech since his return from Saudi Arabia to Yemen, which provoked a wave of violent protests.

Saleh, who had travelled to Saudi Arabia for medical treatment after a June assassination attempt, said then that he accepted a power transfer, adding that the vice-president retained authority to hold talks with the opposition.

Since the crisis began in January, when protesters took to the streets of the capital, Sana'a, demanding that he resign, the embattled president has made lavish proposals to end the violence but followed up on none that entail him surrendering power.