U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh has told him he will travel to New York for medical treatment after signing an agreement to end his 33-year rule. 
 
 Ban told reporters Wednesday that he talked with Saleh by telephone, and would be happy to meet with him in New York. He provided no information about when Saleh planned to arrive in New York, nor what treatment he would be seeking. 
 
 Saleh's signature on an accord brokered by Yemen's powerful Gulf Arab allies would start a new chapter in the nine-month popular uprising that has shaken the Arab world's poorest country. Saleh has repeatedly agreed to sign the deal, only to back away at the last minute. 
 
 THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below. 
 
 SANAA, Yemen (AP) _ Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh plans to sign a deal Wednesday in the Saudi capital that could mean the end of his 33-year rule, the U.N. envoy to Yemen said. 
 
 Saleh's signature on the Gulf-brokered accord _ if he goes through with it _ would start a new chapter in the nine-month popular uprising that has shaken the Arab world's poorest country. Since January, tens of thousands of Yemenis have protested in cities and towns across the nation, calling for democracy and the fall of Saleh's regime. 
 
 The uprising has led to a countrywide security collapse, with armed tribesmen battling security forces in different regions and al-Qaida-linked militants stepping up operations in the country's restive south. 
 
 For months, the U.S. and other world powers have tried to get Saleh to agree to a proposal sponsored by Yemen's powerful Gulf Arab allies to end the crisis. 
 
 Speaking to reporters in the Yemeni capital Wednesday, the U.N. Secretary General's special envoy to Yemen, Jamal bin Omar, said opposition and ruling parties agreed on a mechanism to carry out the plan and that Saleh would sign the deal at a ceremony in the Saudi capital Riyadh later in the day. 
 
 "The agreement is an important step for the people of Yemen to solve the political crisis in the country and move their country toward a better future," bin Omar said. 
 
 The plan calls for a power transfer to Saleh's vice president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, within 30 days and early presidential elections with in 90 days of the signing. It also calls for a two-year transition period in which a national unity government will amend the constitution, work to restore security and hold a national dialogue on the country's future. 
 
 The deal gives Saleh immunity from prosecution _ contradicting one key demand of Yemen's opposition protesters. 
 
 Saleh has repeatedly agreed to sign the deal, only to back away at the last minute. This time, though, a signing appeared more likely since Saleh flew to Saudi Arabia early Wednesday before the announcement was made. 
 
 Yemeni state TV reported on Saleh's arrival in Riyadh and said Gulf Arab representatives who sponsored the agreement and European and American envoys would also attend the signing. 
 
 A Saudi official said King Abdullah and Crown Prince Nayef were planning to attend the ceremony, expected to take play Wednesday evening. 
 
 In his statement, the U.N. envoy, bin Omar, praised Yemen's youth, saying the young people had "created the momentum" for change in the country and encouraging all "to invest in this historic opportunity." 
 
 Still, Saleh's signing is unlikely to appease the protesters on the streets, who demand more sweeping political changes. 
 
 Protest organizer Walid al-Ammar in Sanaa criticized the deal as a pact between Saleh's ruling party and a group of opposition parties, while ignoring protesters' demands. 
 
 "They agreed. That's their business," he said. "For us, the revolution continues in the square." 
 
 He said protesters set out not just to topple Saleh, but to get rid of corruption in Yemen's government. 
 
 "If we see that the corrupt system is removed, we'll welcome it," he said, "not just replacing the corrupt people with others." 
 
 Saleh has clung to power despite the 9-month-old uprising, daily mass protests calling for his ouster and a June assassination attempt that left him badly wounded and forced him to travel to Saudi Arabia for more than three months of hospital treatment. 
 
 The unarmed protesters have held their ground with remarkable resilience, flocking to the streets of Sanaa and other Yemeni cities and towns to demand reforms and braving a violent crackdown by government forces that has killed hundreds. 
 
 Their uprising, inspired by other Arab revolts in the region that saw longtime rulers of Egypt and Tunisia go, has at times been hijacked by Yemen's two traditional powers _ the tribes and the military _ further deepening the country's turmoil. 
 
 Breakaway military units and tribal fighters have been battling in Sanaa with troops loyal to Saleh, in fighting that has escalated in recent months. 
 
 Security is particularly bad in southern Yemen, where al-Qaida militants _ from one of the world's most active branches of the terror network _ have taken control of entire towns, using the turmoil to strengthen their position. 
 
 An impoverished nation of some 25 million people, Yemen is of strategic value to the United States and its Gulf Arab allies, particularly Saudi Arabia. It sits close to the major Gulf oil fields and overlooks key shipping lanes in the Red and Arabian seas. 
 
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 Hubbard reported from Cairo. ||||| Ali Abdullah Saleh, the Yemeni president, suffered "extensive" injuries including severe burns in an attack on his Sana'a palace last week, reducing the chances that he will be able to return home after undergoing treatment in Saudi Arabia. 
 
 Saleh was said on Monday to be in a stable condition in a military hospital in Riyadh after he was operated on by a Saudi-German medical team for shrapnel wounds to his face, neck and chest. 
 
 Aides initially claimed he had suffered only minor injuries, but diplomatic sources estimated that he had received burns to 40% of his body. 
 
 Al-Jazeera Arabic TV reported that he would require cosmetic surgery and quoted Saudi medical sources as saying he would need to recuperate for two weeks before returning to the Yemeni captial, a timeframe which looks far too long in the current uncertain and volatile climate. 
 
 The state news agency Saba reported vice-president Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, now acting leader, as saying the president would return home "in the coming days" after speaking to Saleh by telephone. Yemeni opposition forces have pledged to prevent Saleh's return. 
 
 Mohammad Qahtan, spokesman for the Joint Meeting Parties, said the coalition backed the transfer of presidential powers to Hadi, but as only a temporary rather than a permanent measure. 
 
 Underlining fears about instability and chaos in the country, British naval sources revealed that Royal Marines were on standby off the coast of Yemen to evacuate British citizens. 
 
 The Foreign Office has advised all UK nationals to leave Yemen by commercial means. Britain has already sent 80 commandos aboard one of the Royal Navy's support ships, the Royal Fleet Auxiliary Fort Victoria, to sit off Yemen. It will soon be joined by another RFA vessel, the landing ship Cardigan Bay. The US, Britain and its EU partners are all urging the Saudis to persuade Saleh to stand down by signing a deal drawn up by the Gulf Co-operation Council granting him immunity from prosecution and paving the way for new elections. 
 
 Diplomats said the Saudis had lost patience with Saleh but that a final decision rested with King Abdullah. 
 
 The Saudi cabinet appeared to signal a shift towards the western position by saying it hoped "the Gulf initiative would be signed by all parties to resolve the Yemeni crisis and ... preserve the security and stability of Yemen and its unity". 
 
 The standoff over Saleh's return has focused attention on his sons and nephews, who control key elements of the security forces. Yemeni media reported that several of them had taken part in a meeting chaired by Hadi on Monday. 
 
 A Saudi-brokered truce was largely holding in Sana'a after two weeks of fighting between Saleh's forces and powerful tribal opponents in which more than 200 people were killed and thousands fled in fear of being caught up in the clashes. 
 
 There was fresh fighting in the southern city of Taiz, however, where the UN said it was investigating reports that as many as 50 people have been killed in the past week.
– Ali Abdullah Saleh resigned as president of Yemen today, signing a deal in Saudi Arabia to cede power to vice president Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi until elections can be held in three months. The signing was aired on Saudi state-run TV, which showed a smiling Saleh sitting beside King Abdullah and clapping briefly. Yemeni opposition officials signed the deal soon after, according to Reuters. Saleh will now travel to New York for medical treatment, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told the AP, though he didn’t specify what treatment Saleh might require, or exactly when he'd arrive.