Timeline: Protests against Saleh rule in Yemen

Jan 29, 2011 - October 9, 2011
(Reuters) - Following is a timeline of events since protests against the 33-year rule of Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh began in January this year:

Jan 29, 2011 - Yemen's ruling party calls for dialogue with the opposition. Saleh supporters attack, disperse Yemenis trying to march to the Egyptian embassy to express solidarity with Egyptian anti-government demonstrators. Yemeni protesters chant "the people want the regime to fall."

Feb 3 - A day of anti-government protests brings more than 20,000 people onto the streets in Sanaa.

March 2 - The opposition presents Saleh with a plan for a transition of power, offering him a graceful exit. Saleh says he will draw up a new constitution to create a parliamentary system. The opposition rejects the proposal.

March 18 - Snipers kill 52 protesters at Sanaa University after Friday prayers. Saleh declares a state of emergency.

March 20 - Saleh dismisses his government.

March 21 - Senior army commanders, including Saleh ally General Ali Mohsen, commander of the northwest military zone, say they have switched support to pro-democracy activists.

March 23 - Saleh offers to step down by the end of 2011. He proposes to hold a referendum on a new constitution, then a parliamentary election and presidential vote.

March 25 - Saleh says he is ready to cede power to stop more bloodshed. Thousands rally in "Day of Departure" protests.

March 29 - Saleh holds talks with Mohammed al-Yadoumi, head of the Islamist Islah party, once a partner in government. Saleh proposes staying in office until elections but transferring his powers to a caretaker. The opposition rejects the offer.

April 2 - The opposition proposes a five-point plan for the army and security forces to be restructured by a vice-president acting as temporary president.

April 6 - Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani says the regional Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) will strike a deal for Saleh to leave.

April 18 - Ruling party members form Justice and Development Bloc to support protests.

April 23 - Saleh agrees to step down in weeks in return for immunity from prosecution. The opposition agrees to the plan.

April 25 - The opposition agrees to join a transitional government under a Gulf-negotiated plan for Saleh to step aside.

April 30 - Saleh appears to sabotage the plan by refusing to sign in his capacity as president. GCC mediators tell the opposition Saleh will only sign the deal as leader of his party.

May 13 - Huge crowds across Yemen demand Saleh leave. Saleh declares: "We will confront a challenge with a challenge."

May 21 - The opposition signs the transition deal.

May 22 - Five members of the ruling party sign the deal, but Gulf Arab states suspend it after Saleh asks for additional conditions and diplomats fail to persuade him to sign it.

-- Loyalist gunmen trap Western and Arab diplomats in the UAE embassy in Sanaa, blocking mediators from going to the presidential palace. Diplomats later leave by helicopter.

May 23 - Saleh apologizes to the UAE, foreign governments criticize him for refusing to sign.

May 24 - Saleh's refusal to sign sparks street battles in Sanaa between security forces and a powerful tribal group, the Hashed tribal alliance, led by Sadeq al-Ahmar. At least 20 people are killed.

May 26 - Several countries, including United States, ask their diplomats to leave.

May 28 - Security forces and tribesmen agree to a truce.

May 30 - Truce breaks down, militants regain control of ruling party building in the Hasaba district of Sanaa.

June 3 - Opposition parades through Sanaa the bodies of 50 people it says were killed in clashes with Saleh's forces.

-- A bomb explodes at Saleh's palace in Sanaa, wounding the president, the prime minister, and the parliament speaker.

-- Saleh leaves for treatment in Riyadh

June 4 - Vice-President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi takes over as acting president and supreme commander of the armed forces.

July 7 - Saleh makes first televised appearance since attack, says he supports dialogue and welcomes power sharing.

July 25 - Opposition rejects government plan for dialogue, refusing to negotiate until Saleh signs transition deal.

Aug 20 - Several opposition figures quit newly formed National Council, exposing division in anti-government movement.

Aug 29 - Saleh says he is committed to holding elections for a new president as soon as possible.

Sept 7 - Ruling party approves changes to power transfer plan, which would transfer Saleh's powers to his vice president but give him three months to formally step down.

Sept 12 - Saleh empowers vice president to sign deal.

Sept 21 - Yemeni forces clash again with soldiers loyal to defected top general Ali Mohsen, violating a short-lived truce.

-- GCC Secretary General Abdbullatif al-Zayani leaves Sanaa after failing to get a power transfer deal signed.

Sept 23 - Saleh returns from Saudi Arabia, greeted by gunfire and explosions.

Sept 24 - At least 17 people are killed when government forces attack the main opposition protest camp in Sanaa, raising death toll in five days of fighting to at least 100.

-- Saleh says he is "carrying the dove of peace and the olive branch."

Sept 30 - Saleh says he will step down only if key rivals do not take over.

-- Yemeni and U.S. officials say Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S.-born Muslim preacher linked to al Qaeda's Yemen-based wing, has been killed in an air strike.

Oct 3 - U.N. envoy Jamal Benomar leaves Yemen to brief the Security Council on what appears to be a fruitless effort to end the crisis.

Oct 8 - Saleh says he will step down in "the coming days" after months of protests, but the government says his exit is not imminent.

Oct 9 - U.S. Ambassador Gerald Feierstein meets Yemeni Foreign Minister Abubakr Abdullah Al-Qirbi and discusses the power transfer plan, official news agency SABA reports.

(Reporting by David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit; Additional writing by Jason Benham)

source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/09/us-yemen-events-idUSTRE7981BN20111009