In a move that is designed to curb the thousands of protesters taking to the streets of Yemen's capital, Sana'a, to demand accountable democracy, incumbent President Ali Abdullah Saleh met with opposition leaders to negotiate an exit from power earlier than his promise not to run for re-election in 2013.

"We've agreed on a settlement proposal including a roadmap for the president's departure before the end of this year," said Mohammed al-Sabri, a spokesperson for the parliamentary opposition.

The plan would have Saleh exit the presidency by the end of 2011, although the president himself has yet to confirm the move.

Negotiations come as rights groups decry extrajudicial police action against protesters in the south of the country.

"We demand a stop to the chasing and terrorizing of activists without obtaining legal warrants," wrote the Yemeni Organization for the Defense of Human Rights and Democratic Freedoms in a statement.  "These violations of human rights by security forces in the south have crossed the line."

Yemen has been an uneasy ally of the United States in its global counterterrorism and counterinsurgency efforts since 9/11.  Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is active in the country, and trains militants on Yemeni soil.  The United States provides training assistance to Yemen's counter terrorism unit.

President Saleh lashed out against the United States and Israel for destabilizing his country.

"There is an operations room in Tel Aviv with the aim of destabilising the Arab world" he said, that is "run by the White House."

U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley responded by insisting that "The protests in Yemen are not the product of external conspiracies. President Saleh knows better. His people deserve a better response."

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