Ali Abdullah Saleh, the embattled Yemeni president, is reportedly preparing to sign a Gulf-led agreement on Saturday to phase him out of power in exchange for immunity from prosecution for him, his family and top aides.
However, many anti-government protesters have rejected the deal, which was endorsed by an opposition group.
Pro-reform demonstrators are also planning to march to presidential Palace in Sanaa on Saturday, demanding Saleh's immediate ouster.
This comes as unrest spreads to the southern part of the country. At least one person was killed and many injured when security forces tried to break into a protest square in the coastal city of Aden.
Tensions in Yemen have been boiling since gunmen shot dead 12 protesters in Sanaa on Wednesday and the opposition warned that violence could derail the deal.
Tens of thousands of protests took to the streets across Yemen on Friday, vowing to stay there until Saleh quits his post, which he held since 1978.
They also called for him to be put on trial for corruption and the deaths of the estimated 142 protesters killed since rallies began three months ago.
The Gulf Cooperation Council [GCC] deal stipulates that Saleh step down in a month and offers him and his entourage, including relatives who run branches of the security forces, immunity from prosecution.
Friday's anti-Saleh protests in Sanaa ended in a funeral procession for 12 protesters shot dead two days earlier, with thousands passing their wooden coffins from hand to hand to their graves.
"The people want the trial of the murderer," anti-government demonstrators shouted.
Transition government
Analysts say the 30-day window for Saleh to resign gives plenty of time for disgruntled forces from the old guard to stir trouble in Yemen, where half of the population owns a gun.
Should the deal go through, Saleh would appoint a prime minister from the opposition to head a transition government, which would set up presidential elections 60 days after he resigns.
The Yemeni president has in principle accepted the agreement negotiated by the six-state member GCC.
His departure would make Saleh the third ruler, after Tunisia and Egypt, to be ousted by a wave of popular uprisings.
Saleh has forced mediators to split the signing ceremonies over two days.
So while the Yemeni leader signs the pact in Sanaa on Saturday, his party's vice president will travel to the Saudi capital Riyadh for Sunday's official signing ceremony by the opposition.
PHOTO CAPTION
Army soldiers block a demonstration demanding the ouster of Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh in the southern city of Taiz April 28, 2011.
Al-Jazeera