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Top generals, ambassadors and some tribes threw their support behind Yemen's anti-government protesters on Monday in a major blow to President Ali Abdullah Saleh's efforts to ride out demands for his immediate exit.
Residents said explosions and shooting were briefly heard on Monday evening near a presidential place in Yemen's eastern port of Mukalla. The nature of the shooting was unclear but it highlighted a growing tension across the country.
The president, a perennial survivor who has stayed in power for 32 years throughout a civil war, numerous uprisings and militant campaigns, has seen a string of officials break ranks in recent days although some key military allies remain.
France became the first Western power on Monday to call publicly for Saleh to stand down.
"We say this to Yemen, where the situation is worsening. We estimate today that the departure of President Saleh is unavoidable," French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said at a European Union meeting in Brussels.
Yet pan-Arab TV channel Al Arabiya quoted him as saying the majority of Yemenis were with him and he would remain steadfast. A government official said the president had asked Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal to mediate in the worsening crisis.
Washington and Riyadh, Yemen's main financial backer, have long seen Saleh as a bulwark against a dynamic al Qaeda network in the Arabian Peninsula. U.S. President Barack Obama, grappling with sweeping change across the region from Egypt to the war zone of Libya, is pressing for "peaceful transition" in Yemen.
Defense Minister Mohammad Nasser Ali said the army still backed Saleh, setting the stage for a possible standoff with those commanders who threw in their lot with tens of thousands of protesters who have taken to the street for weeks.
"The armed forces will stay faithful to the oath they gave before God, the nation and political leadership under the brother president Ali Abdullah Saleh," the minister, dressed in military fatigues, said in a statement read on state TV.
"We will not allow under any circumstances an attempt at a coup against democracy and constitutional legitimacy."
Hours after the statement, Al Jazeera said security men raided its office in Sanaa and seized broadcast equipment.
Tanks were deployed outside the presidential palace in the southern port city of Aden as part of enhanced security.
Residents said explosions and shooting were briefly heard on Monday evening near a presidential place in Yemen's eastern port of Mukalla. The nature of the shooting was unclear but it highlighted a growing tension across the country.
The president, a perennial survivor who has stayed in power for 32 years throughout a civil war, numerous uprisings and militant campaigns, has seen a string of officials break ranks in recent days although some key military allies remain.
France became the first Western power on Monday to call publicly for Saleh to stand down.
"We say this to Yemen, where the situation is worsening. We estimate today that the departure of President Saleh is unavoidable," French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said at a European Union meeting in Brussels.
Yet pan-Arab TV channel Al Arabiya quoted him as saying the majority of Yemenis were with him and he would remain steadfast. A government official said the president had asked Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal to mediate in the worsening crisis.
Washington and Riyadh, Yemen's main financial backer, have long seen Saleh as a bulwark against a dynamic al Qaeda network in the Arabian Peninsula. U.S. President Barack Obama, grappling with sweeping change across the region from Egypt to the war zone of Libya, is pressing for "peaceful transition" in Yemen.
Defense Minister Mohammad Nasser Ali said the army still backed Saleh, setting the stage for a possible standoff with those commanders who threw in their lot with tens of thousands of protesters who have taken to the street for weeks.
"The armed forces will stay faithful to the oath they gave before God, the nation and political leadership under the brother president Ali Abdullah Saleh," the minister, dressed in military fatigues, said in a statement read on state TV.
"We will not allow under any circumstances an attempt at a coup against democracy and constitutional legitimacy."
Hours after the statement, Al Jazeera said security men raided its office in Sanaa and seized broadcast equipment.
Tanks were deployed outside the presidential palace in the southern port city of Aden as part of enhanced security.