A protester shouts and gestures during a demonstration against proposed immunity for Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh under a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)-sponsored deal for his ouster in Sanaa November 23, 2011. RIYADH Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh signed a deal on Wednesday under which he will step down after 33 years in power and 10 months of protests against his rule that brought the country to the brink of civil war. Yemenis danced in the streets, set off fireworks and waved flags as Saleh finally agreed to step down. "I declare the turning of a new page in the history of Yemen," Saudi King Abdullah said in a brief statement before the signing ceremony, also attended by Crown Prince Nayef. 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. "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. 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 69-year-old leader, who has ruled Yemen since 1978, asked Saudi Arabia and members of the U.N. Security Council to ensure the implementation of the accord, brokered by Yemen's Gulf Arab neighbors. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told reporters in New York that Saleh had told him in a telephone conversation on Tuesday that he intended to "come to New York to take medical treatment immediately after signing this agreement."
– 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.