Yemeni President Says Opposition Dragging Country to Civil War

Yemen President Ali Abdullah Saleh said the opposition is pushing the Arabian Peninsula country toward a civil war as shops and businesses across the country remained closed amid protests against his rule.

“They want to drag the area to civil war and we refuse to be dragged to civil war,” Saleh said in a speech today to the military and students, the official Saba news service said. “Security, safety and stability are in Yemen’s interest and the interests of the region.”