Ten members of Yemen's parliament have resigned from President Ali Abdullah Saleh's ruling party to protest against what they described as government violence against demonstrators, the parliamentarians have said.
"The people must have the right to demonstrate peacefully," Abdulaziz Jubari, a leading parliamentarian who has resigned, told Reuters news agency on Wednesday.
Jubari said the parliamentarians had sent a 10-point letter to Saleh with demands for immediate reform, including restructuring the army to make it more representative of Yemen's complex society and to aid a transition to democracy.
Among those who resigned is tribal leader Abdo Bisher from the Sanaa region and two figures from southern Yemen.
The resignations raises to Ten the number of legislators who left Saleh's General Ruling Congress Party since protests began earlier this month.
On Wednesday, thousands streamed into a square in the capital, Sanaa, trying to strengthen the hold of anti-government protesters after the president's supporters tried to disperse them.
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