CAIRO: Yemen’s ambassadors to Egypt and the Arab League on Monday defected from the regime to join a rapidly growing protest movement demanding that President Ali Abdullah Saleh resign, a diplomat said.
Abdel Wali Al-Shemiri and Abdel Malek Mansur "have joined the revolutionaries (but) continue to represent the Yemeni people in Egypt and at the Arab League," the diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The government has already lost the support of religious leaders and been weakened by the resignations of ministers, ambassadors and a host of ruling party MPs, but Saleh has refused to stand down until his term ends in 2013.
Top generals on Monday joined the revolt against Saleh — the longest serving leader in the Arab world — opening a dangerous split in the military leadership of Yemen where tanks were deployed in the capital.
