SANAA — Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh on Sunday called for early presidential elections and said he was still committed to handing over power peacefully, in a speech that offered little concrete concessions to demonstrators demanding he steps down immediately. "Let's all go towards dialogue, understanding and peaceful exchange of power through elections and early presidential elections," Saleh said in his first televised speech since he returned to Yemen after more than three months in Saudi Arabia. Saying he was committed to a Gulf initiative calling for a transfer of power to his deputy ahead of elections, he said: "I would like to add to the Gulf initiative, that the elections will be comprehensive, presidential and parliamentary and local elections if an understandings is reached. If not, we are committed to the Gulf initiative." Saleh's speech could further inflame the situation in Yemen, where violence has spiked since his sudden return on Friday from Saudi Arabia, where he was undergoing treatment for injuries sustained in an assassination attempt in June. Yemenis fear the country might slide faster towards an all-out civil war if Saleh continues to cling to power.
