Demands for Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh to resign have for the first time reached the northern city of Sa’dah.

Thousands turned out with banners condemning his regime and calling for his three-decade rule to end. Opposition parties have warned if the leader doesn’t respond he will face the same fate as the toppled rulers of Egypt and Tunisia. So far most of the demonstrations have been in the capital, Sanaa, but a teenager is said to have died in clashes with soldiers in Aden.

The pressure on Saleh to go has been growing for more than a week. At least a dozen people have died and opposition parties are in no mood to accept the president’s offer of a dialogue.

They want a root and branch reform of the political system which has for decades favoured Saleh’s allies.