Yemeni president moves to hand over power

Heavy fighting between Saleh’s supporters and opponents spread through Yemen’s third-largest city of Taiz, some 200 km south of the capital Sanaa, killing four people and wounding 40 on Wednesday, a doctor there said.

Saleh, 69 and in power for 33 years, has three times agreed to give up power, only to pull out at the last minute, defying hostile demonstrations inspired by protests across the Arab world.

Michele Cervone d’Urso, the European Union Resident Ambassador, was quoted by Saba as saying he believed the Yemeni leader had now accepted a UN transition plan.

"We are convinced that we are on the verge of reaching an agreement soon and above all else the matter calls for political commitment. We hope that Eid al-Adha (Muslim holiday) will be an occasion to announce to Yemen and the world that Yemen has passed towards a new stage," d’Urso told Saba.

D’Urso asked the opposition to return home before the holiday next week, so that a deal could be finalized. Opposition leaders are in Kuwait to drum up support for their movement.

A spokesman for a Yemeni opposition council treated the development with caution.

"We heard good things from the diplomats, but actions speak louder than words. We are not optimistic but if the Gulf initiative is signed we will be more optimistic," said Houriya Mashhur.

Ruling Yemen since 1978 through a civil war and rebel movements, Saleh has clung to power despite an assassination attempt that sent him abroad for three months for medical care, breakaway generals and nine months of street protests.

Neighboring oil giant Saudi Arabia and the international community fear growing lawlessness in Yemen is giving al Qaeda’s regional wing scope to plan and potentially launch attacks in the region and beyond.

In Taiz, fighting raged between government troops and dissident army units on the city’s main street. A local source said a bank had been attacked and looting had broken out.

There was no immediate Yemeni government reaction on d’Urso’s remarks. But there have been indications of progress.