Yemen's president Ali Abdullah Saleh said in an interview published today that he will only step down if key rivals do not assume influential positions.
"Because if we transfer power and they are there, this will mean that we have given into a coup," Saleh told the Washington Post.
Mr Saleh has hung on to power in the face of mass protests demanding an end to his 33-year rule.
Gunfire hit a protest camp in southern Yemen late yesterday after fighting in northern districts of the capital broke a truce aimed at ending the worst violence since a revolt against the president began eight months ago.
South of the capital, in the protest hotbed of Taiz, activists said their protest camp, where demonstrators have camped out for months to demand Mr Saleh's removal, was under attack.
Northern districts of Sanaa were rocked by fighting early in the day, but the city later settled into a tense calm, with extra checkpoints set up by warring factions and many streets still deserted.
A Reuters reporter at the scene said shelling and gunfire had engulfed part of north Sanaa at dawn as troops and tribes loyal to the president battled armed followers of powerful tribal leader Sadeq al-Ahmar, who supports opposition demands for an end to Mr Saleh's 33-year grip on power.
Reuters
