Sanaa — Hundreds of thousands of Yemenis packed a square in the capital and marched in villages and cities across the nation on Friday in what appeared to be the largest demonstrations in more than a month of demands the country's longtime ruler step down.
Many mosques in the capital shut down as worshippers and clerics streamed to the square outside Sanaa University.
Protesters filled the plaza and spilled out along three adjoining streets. Previous demonstrations have taken up the square and at most two of the streets that feed into it.
The demonstrators set up tents and hung up posters of young men who were fatally shot by government forces during previous protests.
The opposition said it hoped to have 1 million people on the streets on Friday to press for President Ali Abdullah Saleh's ouster after 32 years in power.
There were anti-Saleh protests in at least 14 other provinces around the country. Witnesses said hundreds of thousands of people attended demonstrations in the provinces of Aden, Taaz, and Hadramout.
The Sanaa crowd was supported by soldiers who have joined the protesters in the month of Yemen's turmoil. The soldiers have set up half a dozen checkpoints around the square to prevent intrusions by president's loyalists.
Protesters, who have called for a "Friday of Salvation," raised black cards while chanting "Ali Leave!" Women and children, their faces painted in the colors of the Yemeni flag, or the word "Leave," joined the protests.
Cleric Taha al-Moutawkel told the crowd during afternoon prayers that Saleh's regime was already collapsing, and he vowed that the protests will remain peaceful.
"Whenever they threaten us, we will face their tanks with our bare chests," he said. "Saleh is over and he knows that, but he is betting that people will eventually run out of patience."
He said that even if the West backs Saleh, the people will keep pushing for his ouster.
"If the president's popular legitimacy plunges, no any power in the West or the East can bring him back," he said.
The demonstrators blame Saleh for mismanagement, repression and the fatal shootings of protesters. They say they will not relent until he goes.
In a parallel demonstration, some 10,000 government supporters rallied to al-Sabaeen Square outside the presidential palace, where Saleh made a brief speech, telling them, "With my blood and soul, I redeem you."
