Yemen’s opposition coalition has rejected an offer from the president Ali Abdullah Saleh’s to form a government of national unity provided that protests against him stop

Yemen's opposition coalition has rejected an offer from the president Ali Abdullah Saleh's to form a government of national unity provided that protests against him stop.

Mohammed Saleh al-Qubati, an opposition leader, said that the president should step down instead of offering outdated "tranquilizers".

Mohammed al-Sabry, a spokesman for Yemen's umbrella opposition coalition, said that the "opposition decided to stand with the people's demand for the fall of the regime, and there is no going back from that".

Vast numbers of protesters poured into the centre of Yemen's capital Sanaa on Tuesday for a massive anti-regime rally called by the opposition, an AFP correspondent said. Protesters crowded three streets leading to a square near Sanaa University, where students and pro-democracy demonstrators have been camped for more than a week.

"The people want the departure of Ali Abdullah Saleh," they chanted. "The people want to overthrow the regime."

The protest got under way as Saleh called a press conference in Sanaa at which he accused Israel and the United States of fomenting anti-regime revolts rattling the Arab world.
The UN human rights chief on Tuesday warned Yemeni authorities against the violent repression of peaceful protests, saying that people have the right to express their grievances. "We have seen over and over again in the past few weeks that violent responses, in breach of international law, do not make the protestors go away and only serve to exacerbate their frustration and anger,"  Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in a statement.

Saleh's efforts to stay in power appeared to receive another blow when a senior leader of the Baqil tribe - the second largest in Yemen - called on him to "do what the people want and take important and rapid decisions that meet the demands of the people".

Sheikh Amin al-Okeimy, who is a member of Saleh's ruling Congress Party, said in a statement that the tribe stands by "the people until they achieve all their goals".

The statement came two days after a pair of powerful chiefs from Saleh's own tribe, Hashid, abandoned him.

Saleh has promised to step down after national elections in 2013, but that has not stopped the protests. "I am ready to form a national unity government" when the opposition names its candidates for government posts, Saleh said, adding that it should happen after protests end. The president accused his opponents of "planning to reach power through chaos".