Fresh defections mark new blow for Yemen’s Saleh

SANAA, (Reuters) – Yemen President Ali Abdullah  Saleh suffered fresh defections today when a diplomat and a  former minister backed pro-democracy protestors demanding an end  to his 32 year-rule.
Abdel-Malik Mansour, Yemen’s representative to the Arab  League, told Al Arabiya television he was siding with the  protestors and water and environment minister Abdul-Rahman  al-Iryani, sacked with the rest of the cabinet on Sunday, said  he was joining “the revolutionaries”.
The latest defections came after top generals, ambassadors  and some tribes on Monday backed anti-government protesters in  the Arabian Peninsula state in a major blow to Saleh’s efforts  to ride out demands for his immediate exit.
France became the first Western power on Monday to call  publicly for Saleh to stand down, with Foreign Minister Alain  Juppe describing his departure as “unavoidable”.
Attention was set to shift to the United States and Saudi  Arabia, two key allies who see Yemen as a bulwark against a  dynamic al Qaeda network that has made skilful use of Yemen’s  poverty, tribal system and central government dysfunction.
On Monday Saleh asked Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal  to mediate and state media said he had dispatched his foreign  minister to Riyadh with a message for Saudi leaders.
U.S. President Barack Obama, grappling with sweeping change  across the region from Egypt to the war zone of Libya, has  called for “peaceful transition” in Yemen, where the lack of a  clear successor to Saleh has increased global nervousness.
Residents said explosions and shooting were briefly heard on  Monday evening near a presidential place in Yemen’s eastern port  of Mukalla. The nature of the shooting was unclear but it  highlighted a growing tension across the country.