The protests in Yemen have been relatively uneventful with few deaths reported. That was the case until President Ali Adullah Saleh returned from his medical treatment in Saudi Arabia. Protesters and the international community have called for Saleh’s step down from power even in the months before he was injured in a bomb blast in the presidential compound. Saleh has promised that he was going to do so, but each time, his vague promises go unfulfilled. His latest promise was delivered in his first official appearance since returning to Yemen but were greeted with distrust and disbelief./

The protests have taken a violent turn in recent months and have increased in duration and intensity. Over 164 injuries were reported in Sanaa and 38 people were killed in clashes that have pitted dissident soldiers who are in agreement with the opposition against the Government Representative Guards who remain loyal to Saleh. The First Armored Division, formerly a member of the Yemen army has defected and took heavy fire from the loyalist security forces, sustaining over one hundred casualties and a dozen deaths. Those who were injured are described as being in critical condition at this time, according to spokesman Abdul Ghani al Shamiri. Shamiri also reported that as many as 93 rockets or more were fired at the division during protests in the streets of Sanaa. Representative Guards also shot and killed one person in the city of Taiz on Saturday night with no further details released on who that person was or why he was killed.

Nearly thirty people were killed by the security forces in Sanaa’s Change Square, the location that is currently being used as the epicenter of the opposition movement. Fifty two others were injured with security forces opened fire and shot rockets into the crowd.

The UN Security Council has again expressed “grave concerns” for the situation in Yemen, describing it as rapidly deteriorating both in terms of economic and the human rights situation. Conditions in Yemen are bad and getting worse, with services like electricity and others only spotty at best. Power has been off for as long as two days at a time in some areas.

Saleh gave his first official speech, declaring that he was ready to cede power and claiming that he never really wanted it in the first place. But, opposition leaders point out that the speech was merely meant to placate the UN Security Council and the West because Yemen was without electricity at the time of that speech. Following that speech, two high ranking Yemeni officials were set to travel to the United Arab Emirates with a proposal that would allow Saleh to remain in power until elections are held in 2012.

Saleh has repeatedly denied being the cause of the controversy in Yemen saying that his foes caused create chaos in his absence. He has also cryptically warned that his opposition has been working on “a dark and destructive project” but gave no further details.