Yemen president warns of civil war, US concerned

Yemen's president said on Tuesday his country would descend into civil war if he were forced to quit and Washington voiced concern about instability in the Arabian state that has become an al Qaeda stronghold.

Seven weeks of unrelenting anti-government protests and defections among the ruling elite have piled pressure on Saleh, a US ally against radical Islamist ambitions in the Arabian Peninsula, to step down immediately after 32 years in power. (Reuters)