By Mohamed Sudam, Mohammed Ghobari

Reuters

SANAA: Huge crowds in Sanaa and other Yemeni cities demanded Friday that President Ali Abdullah Saleh leave after months of unrest that has brought the Arab world’s poorest country close to economic meltdown.
But in a defiant speech to thousands of flag-waving supporters in the Yemeni capital, Saleh declared: “We will confront a challenge with a challenge.”
Three people were killed and 15 wounded when troops shot at protesters in Ibb, a city south of Sanaa, medics and witnesses said. Demonstrators then set fire to an armored troop carrier. Gunfire wounded three protesters in Yemen’s third city, Taiz.

The latest killings pushed the overall death toll since protests began to at least 170, according to a Reuters tally.
Armored vehicles, troops and even military academy students with batons deployed in Sanaa to contain a sea of protesters stretching seven kilometers down a main street in Sanaa.
“We are steadfast, you leader of the corrupt,” anti-Saleh demonstrators chanted. “Peaceful, peaceful, no to civil war.”
Saleh, addressing his supporters, denounced opponents as saboteurs and said they should use the ballot box instead. “You are not using the same restraint [as us]. We don’t cut roads, we don’t cut gas lines in Maarib – this is the property of the people,” he said.

The president’s remarks suggested serious high-level concern about pipeline sabotage and economic damage from the conflict, earlier highlighted by two government ministers.
“If the problem persists, the government will be unable to meet the minimum needs of the citizens. The situation will pose a catastrophe beyond imagination,” Oil Minister Amir al-Aidarous told Parliament, according to the official news agency Saba.
Saleh offered a “constructive dialogue” with opposition parties, but did not promise to sign a Gulf Arab plan to which they have already agreed. Under the proposal, Saleh would step down in 30 days, rather than when his term ends in 2013.

The U.S. and its European allies urged all parties to sign and implement the agreement, but GCC member Qatar pulled out Thursday, citing “stalling … and lack of wisdom.”
Shadi Hamid, director of the Brookings Doha Center, said Qatar’s move would make little difference. “The GCC fell short. They were not able to persuade Saleh to give up power, so I think we’re back at square one now,” he said.
Armed tribesmen killed three soldiers in an attack on an army vehicle. The soldiers were from a unit loyal to Gen. Ali Mohsen, a kinsman of Saleh who has defected to the opposition.
Many tribesmen have also deserted Saleh. Thousands from the formidable Kholan tribe, apparently not armed, joined the demonstration in Sanaa.

“We will stand with the opposition and support it until the regime leaves,” Sheikh Bakil al-Sufi, their leader, told protesters. “Say it loudly: victory or death,” he added.
Tens of thousands of demonstrators tried to march on a presidential palace in the port city of Hudaida, but security forces blocked them, witnesses said.
In Mukalla, one of 10 southern cities swept by protests, marchers chanted for Saleh’s overthrow, rejecting negotiation.