Protesters defied the scorching summer weather and the dawn-to-dusk fasting hours during the holy month of Ramadan to renew their demands for Saleh’s resignation. They waved Yemeni flags and chanted anti-regime slogans at the rallies, according to witnesses.

Protest organizer Abdel Handi Al-Azazi said that the high turnout for Friday’s demonstrations sent a clear message to Saleh that “you will not return to the country whatever you do.”

Al-Azazi said if Saleh does indeed return, the protest movement will push to have him put on trial.

“We want to see Saleh in cage, to be the second Arab president to be tried by his own people,” he said, according to Reuters.

Meanwhile, Saleh’s supporters rallied in tens of thousands outside Saleh’s mosque in the capital, cheering the news of his quick recovery and urging him to return home. The protesters carried pictures of the beleaguered leader.

Tariq Al-Shami, the ruling party’s spokesman, told Arab News that the opposition has exhausted all possibilities at their disposal to grab power, accusing them of orchestrating the bomb attack on the presidential compound in June.

“The possible formation of the so-called National Council by the opposition shows that the opposition’s main intention is to grab power. Their biggest attempt to seize power was the failed assassination attempt against the president.”

Al-Shami said that Saleh would return only when the doctors allow him.

“President’s latest appearance was an assurance message to the Yemenis that he is in good health and carrying out his responsibilities as a president. The president will return when his doctors allow him.”

In Taiz, a soldier was killed and three were injured when their military patrol came under attack as the province’s governor is working to reach a cease-fire agreement with the tribesmen, government-run Saba News Agency reported on Friday.

The agency called the Taiz attackers “anarchic, lawless elements”, without specifying their identity. Two other soldiers were wounded, it said.

Taiz has recently turned into a battle zone for government forces and armed tribesmen who claim to safeguard the anti-regime protesters.

In Abyan, the same government agency said that local people in Lawder district arrested 15 Al-Qaeda militants and handed them to the army. The militants were arrested while trying to plan a terrorist attacks targeting government and private facilities.