AFP - Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, subjected to growing popular opposition, promised Thursday a referendum by the end of 2011 on a new constitution paving the way for a parliamentary system demanded by the opposition.
Speaking to thousands gathered in Sanaa, M.Saleh also pledged to "continue to protect" the protesters, whether for or against his regime, after clashes that left at least two dead in violence in the country.
"I propose a new initiative to prevent the country's insurgency," said the Yemeni president, announcing "a referendum before the end of the year on a new constitution clearly stipulates the separation of powers."
He said the Constitution should "establish a parliamentary system, giving all executive powers to a government elected by Parliament in late 2011 or early 2012."
The mandate of MrSaleh, in power for 32 years ending in 2013.
Last week, the head of state, an ally of the United States in the fight against the followers of Osama bin Laden in the region, but increasingly politically isolated, rejected a plan proposed by the crisis opposition for departure before the end of the year.
The opposition had declared then determined to oust him.
Wednesday, medical sources have assured that a young man wounded by police Tuesday night before the University of Sanaa, where camping since February 21 angry students, died in hospital.
The Interior Minister Rashid Metahar Masri denied but Amnesty International has confirmed the death of a protester, calling on authorities to end the night attacks against the demonstrators.
The same day, an official security services said a supporter of the regime had been killed in the province of Hadramout, in south-eastern Yemen.
The U.S. expressed "deep concern" over violence in Yemen."We remain deeply concerned over the continuing violence in Yemen, and we continue to call the security forces, as the demonstrators to show restraint and to refrain from violence," said Mark Toner, a door Speaker of the State Department.
The deteriorating situation in Yemen, a poor country on the Arabian peninsula, had prompted the U.S. State Department to advise its nationals to leave the country.London and Ottawa have also urged their nationals to leave.
The Yemeni regime is challenged since late January with events in Sana'a, Taiz, Aden and the rest of the country.
Since the beginning of the protest movement late January against the regime of President Saleh, thirty people were killed in the violence, according to Amnesty International.
