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A televised speech late Thursday by badly burned Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh set off rival protests across Yemen on Friday that left at least 11 people dead, according to reports.
In Sanaa's abandoned presidential palace, where Saleh was seriously injured in a June 3 bomb attack, thousands of loyalists gathered to celebrate what they called a "Friday of Thanks" after the leader's brief appearance on state-run television.
The supporters chanted pro-government slogans, among them "The people want Ali Abdullah Saleh".
Hospital officials said most of Friday's shooting was in celebration of Saleh's address but it's unclear if all the deaths were accidental, the Associated Press reported. The officials said five people died from gunshots in the capital, four in the town of Ibb, and at least two others elsewhere.
Tens of thousands of anti-Saleh protesters also rallied on Friday in response to the speech, declaring the 69-year-old leader "politically dead" and denouncing Yemen's alleged dependence on the United States.
While recovering in a Riyadh hospital, Saleh has clung to power despite international pressure and six months of protests against his 33-year rule.
His family and inner circle continue to hold vital security and energy portfolios and he is said to retain significant support among some powerful tribal leaders.
But Saleh's opponents continue to grow in strength, bolstered by high-level defections from military leaders and prominent clerics and politicians.
At least 200 protesters have died in the uprising while the country and its impoverished economy remain paralyzed by daily protests and violence.
Even so, Saleh's appearance has left his opponents to assume he has no intention of stepping down anytime soon.
"His speech didn't offer anything new. It's the same thing he used to say before the attack. You don't feel there's any real commitment to transferring power, but rather that the situation is heading back to square one," a leader of Yemen's main opposition bloc told Reuters.
Saleh did not suggest any timeframe for a return to Yemen, only saying he had undergone eight operations. One analyst was quoted as saying that Saleh may not be allowed to leave Saudi Arabia even if he is healthy enough to go.
"I think we need to start considering whether Saleh is a guest or prisoner, and will he be able to return to Yemen at all," Theodore Karasik, director of research and development at Middle East think tank INEGMA, told Reuters.
PHOTO CAPTION
Video grab of Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh speaking in a television interview broadcast.
Al-Jazeera
