Faced with intense opposition from both politicians and angry protesters who have spent months demanding his ouster, Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh raised eyebrows on Saturday with a vaguely worded pledge to step down “in the coming days.” By the following day, it appeared his words were hollow when Yemeni officials announced that Saleh would stay in power until elections scheduled for next year. Barbara Bodine, who was ambassador to Yemen from 1997-2001, discusses what it would take to remove the strongman leader from his three decade-long rule.
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