Yemenis take to the streets after Saleh says he will not resign.

A demonstration calling for the resignation of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh drew tens of thousands of people after Friday prayers, a day after the ruler stated he would not step down.

The protesters marched down the main avenue of the country's capital, Sana'a, chanting "victory in our Yemen and in your Syria," a declaration of support for Syrian pro-democracy activists who are calling for the downfall of President Bashar al-Assad.

"Oh God, grant victory to Syria and Yemen. Oh God...let Saleh and Bashar fall," chanted the protesters as they concluded their prayers this Friday. 

In Syria, pro-democracy activists called for protests on Friday under the slogan "Victory for Syria, victory for Yemen".

Also in the Yemeni capital, thousands of pro-Saleh supporters demonstrated their support for the president.

The protests took place a day after Saleh told Time magazine and The Washington Post that he would not leave power if his rivals participated in future elections in the country.

He specifically referred to the dissident general Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, who defected earlier this year in support of anti-government protesters, and to the powerful tribal chief Sheikh Sadiq al-Ahmar.

"If we transfer power and they are still there, it will mean that we have surrendered to a coup d'état," Saleh said in his first interview since returning to Yemen a week ago, after leaving Saudi Arabia where he went to recover from injuries sustained in an attack on his palace in June.

Anti-government protesters in Yemen and Syria have been demanding the resignation of their respective leaders for months, and both governments have responded with violent repression. This information comes from Dow Jones.