Violence in Yemen, where thousands have been demonstrating for months demanding that Saleh end his 33 years in power, has spiked since the president returned from Saudi Arabia after treatment for injuries sustained in an assassination attempt.

Saleh has already backed down three times from signing the Gulf initiative, and says he will only hand over power to “safe hands.”

“Now that the president has returned, they say there is no need for the vice president to sign. Fine, I am ready to sign,” Saleh told a meeting of party leaders in the capital Sanaa broadcast on state television.

“But provide guarantees to implement this initiative. We want Gulf guarantees, first, second, European guarantees and third American guarantees,” he added.

The Gulf initiative provides for him to hand over power to his deputy to prepare for elections.

“These three guarantees must accompany the Gulf initiative,” Saleh said.

Saleh’ comments came after the five permanent members of the UN Security Council circulated a draft resolution to the full 15-nation body urging a swift signing and “implementation” of the Gulf Arab plan, under which Saleh would be immune from prosecution.

The draft resolution, obtained by Reuters, would have the Security Council say it “stresses that all those responsible for violence, human rights violations and abuses should be held accountable.” It did not give any details on how accountability would be achieved.

Yemeni Nobel peace laureate Tawakul Karman made an impassioned plea to the United Nations on Tuesday to reject the Gulf Arab plan that would grant immunity to Saleh, calling the president a “war criminal.”

Referring to the dismantling of now deceased Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s Baath party after the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, Saleh said the world has been pushing him to sign the Gulf accord without any assurances on the fate of members of his administration.

“They say sign without any conditions and then we will look into the mechanism of the timing,” Saleh said. “First, you must show your goodwill, and then we are willing to sign the initiative,” he added.

The Yemeni protests are one of a series of “Arab Spring” uprisings that have already toppled long-serving rulers in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya.

The United States fears that the Yemen protests might let militants linked to Al-Qaeda expand their control in the country.

Dissident Gen. Ali Mohsen Al-Ahmar, who had broken away from the Yemeni government army and sided with the protesters, has said that nearly 200 people have died since Saleh’s return on Sept. 23.

In the past three days, at least 26 people died in almost daily clashes between Saleh’s troops and forces loyal to Al-Ahmar and a tribal leader allied with the protesters.

Saleh blames the opposition for the violence.

In the latest violence, Yemeni tribesmen blew up an oil pipeline used to carry crude from the Maarib Province in central Yemen to Ras Isa port on the Red Sea, a government official said.

It was the fifth attack on the pipeline in one month.

In southern Yemen, an unidentified assailant threw a grenade into a crowded market place of a town on Wednesday, killing two people and wounding 11, witnesses and doctors said.

The attacker fled the scene in the town of Al-Habilayn in Lahej province, where central government control has been weakened by the protest.