Yemen’s Hashed and Baqil tribal confederations announced on Saturday that they had joined protests calling for President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down

Yemen's Hashed and Baqil tribal confederations announced on Saturday that they had joined protests calling for President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down, tribal sources told AFP.
  
"I have announced my resignation from the (ruling) General People's Congress (GPC) in protest at the repression of peaceful demonstrators in Sanaa, Taez and Aden," the source quoted Sheikh Hussein bin Abdullah al-Ahmar, head of the Hashid confederation, as saying.
  
The Hashid are considered Yemen's most powerful tribal confederation and encompass nine clans, including the Sanhan which has long been a bulwark of Saleh's power.
  
The announcement was warmly received by a large crowd of tribal representatives, including elders of Yemen's second largest confederation, the Baqil, who had gathered for the meeting, the tribal source said. The tribes wield enormous power in Yemen, where they are a major brake on the power of the central government.