Yemeni protesters are gathering once again to condemn Saleh's immunity Yemeni opposition parties agreed on Friday to nominate National Council's chairman Mohamed Basindwa to form a new government. The agreement was reached two days after President Ali Abdullah Saleh signed a Gulf-brokered power transfer deal.
"The executive board of the Opposition National Council (ONC) would like to nominate Mohamed Basindwa to form the new opposition-led consensus government with the ruling party," the opposition's website "Almasdaronline" reported.
But other opposition sources said the final nomination of Basindwa has yet to be approved.
Sources also expected an official announcement made by the authority to its nominee for leading the new government. The executive mechanism of the initiative states that one of the two components of the political landscape in Yemen, opposition and the ruling party, should prepare two lists of nominees and submit them to the other partner in the government as the government is due to be formed by the end of this week.
Meanwhile, a ruling party official said Vice President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi is due to announce a new prime minister within 48 hours.
The landmark signing of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) deal, which came after a 10-month-old political deadlock, took place in the Saudi capital of Riyadh on Wednesday.
Under the deal, President Saleh handed all his power to his deputy Hadi in return for immunity from prosecution.
Protesters have so far rejected the deal as it granted Saleh immunity from prosecution. On Friday, hundreds of thousands of Yemeni protesters took to the streets across the country.
In Sanaa, tens of thousands of people crowded 60th Street since early Friday morning, chanting "Revolting until goals are met," "Oh GCC leaders, no compromise with bloodshed," and "The people reject the GCC deal, the people want to prosecute the murderer Saleh."
The protesters also mourned five of their fellows who were shot dead during Thursday's march by plain-clothes forces.
Anti-immunity protests were also staged in several other major provinces, including Taiz, Aden, Al-Hodayda, Ibb, Saada, Dhamar, Shabwa, Marib, Amran, Al-Bayda and Hadramout, according to witnesses.
In the meantime, the General People's Congress (GPC), Yemen's ruling party, staged a rally with thousands of demonstrators in eastern Sanaa.
Under the GCC deal, an opposition-led national government will be formed within 14 days of the effective date of the initiative and presidential elections will be arranged in 90 days.
Saleh will retain the title of president until a new leader for the country is elected, according to government officials.
While the protesters were staging massive rallies, fierce clashes between rival army units also flared in Yemen's capital on Friday, leaving two soldiers dead.
The clashes pitted central security forces commanded by Saleh's nephew, Col. Yehia Saleh, against troops from the First Armored Division, headed by Gen. Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, who defected and joined the protesters in March.
One soldier from each side was killed before the fighting stopped around dawn, a security official said on condition of anonymity.
The two units had clashed in the past, but Friday's fighting was the first showdown since Saleh signed the power transfer deal in Riyadh.
A Saudi-based daily newspaper reported Friday that Saleh has remained in Riyadh for a medical examination and set no specific date for his departure to New York or his return to Yemen.
Also on Friday, Saleh warned his opponents against reneging on their commitment to implement the Gulf-brokered deal for power transfer.
"We are committed to implementing the Gulf deal and its implementation mechanism, and we warn them (opponents) not to renege on their commitment," the state-run Saba news agency quoted Saleh as saying in a congratulatory message to the army and Yemeni people on the occasion of the Muslim new year.
"We wish the opposition parties would implement the power-transfer deal and not fail it through their continuing attempts to escalate tension, repeat attacks on the army and security camps, ignite wars, cut off roads and carry out subversive acts against electricity supplies and oil and gas pipelines," Saleh said.