TIMELINE-Saleh signs deal ending 33-year rule
Wed, 23 Nov 2011 21:36 GMT
Nov 23 (Reuters) - Following is a timeline of events since protests began against Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Jan 29, 2011 - Yemen's ruling party calls for dialogue with the opposition. Saleh supporters attack Yemenis trying to march in solidarity with Egyptian anti-government demonstrators.
Feb 3 - A day of anti-government protests brings more than 20,000 people onto the streets in Sanaa.
March 2 - The opposition presents Saleh with a plan for a transition of power. Saleh says he will draw up a new constitution. The opposition rejects the proposal.
March 18 - Snipers kill 52 protesters at Sanaa University. Saleh declares a state of emergency.
March 20 - Saleh dismisses his government.
March 21 - Senior army commanders, including Saleh ally General Ali Mohsen, commander of the northwest military zone, say they have switched support to pro-democracy activists.
March 25 - Saleh says he is ready to cede power to stop more bloodshed. Thousands rally in "Day of Departure" protests.
April 6 - Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani says the regional Gulf Cooperation Council will strike a deal for Saleh to leave.
April 23 - Saleh agrees to step down in weeks in return for immunity from prosecution. The opposition agrees to the plan.
April 25 - The opposition agrees to join a transitional government under a Gulf-negotiated plan for Saleh to step aside.
April 30 - Saleh refuses to sign in his capacity as president. GCC mediators tell the opposition Saleh will only sign the deal as leader of his party.
May 13 - Huge crowds across Yemen demand that Saleh leave. Saleh declares: "We will confront a challenge with a challenge."
May 21 - The opposition signs the transition deal.
May 22 - Five members of the ruling party sign the deal, but Gulf Arab states suspend it after Saleh asks for additional conditions and diplomats fail to persuade him to sign it.
-- Loyalist gunmen trap Western and Arab diplomats in the UAE embassy in Sanaa, blocking mediators from going to the presidential palace. Diplomats later leave by helicopter.
May 26 - Several countries, including United States, ask their diplomats to leave.
June 3 - A bomb explodes at Saleh's palace in Sanaa, wounding the president, the prime minister, and the parliament speaker. Saleh leaves for treatment in Riyadh.
Sept 23 - Saleh returns from Saudi Arabia, greeted by gunfire and explosions.
Sept 24 - At least 17 people are killed in continuing fighting.
Sept 30 - Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S.-born Muslim preacher linked to al Qaeda's Yemen wing, is killed in an air strike.
Oct 21 - U.N. Security Council urges Saleh to sign a deal requiring him to step down in exchange for immunity.
Oct 25 - After weeks of fighting, a ceasefire deal between the government and breakaway general, Ali Mohsen, is agreed however residents report sporadic fighting.
Nov 23 - Saleh signs a deal brokered by Gulf states in Saudi Arabia. Saleh is to hand over to his deputy, Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who will form a new government with the opposition and call a presidential election within three months. (Reporting by David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit)
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