Yemenis calling for President Ali Abdullah Saleh's departure massed in several locales on Friday including the capital Sana'a and the southwestern Taiz region.

They took to the streets after Friday prayers, while the government said “millions” of the president's supporters gathered to show their “love of the homeland.”

The rival demonstrations come on the heels of a series of meetings by the country's ruling party in which it considered ways to get Mr. Saleh to relinquish power before his term ends in 2013.

The General People's Congress is considering a Gulf Cooperation Council plan that calls for Mr. Saleh to hand over power to a deputy and allow a coalition to form a national unity government.

The Yemen Post said Thursday that the ruling party had agreed on a modified version of the proposal that, if adopted, would give the president more time to resign.

The six-nation GCC initially proposed its plan in April in an effort to end months of anti-government protests in Yemen. Mr. Saleh agreed to the proposal three times, but each time backed out before the deal could be signed.

In August, the president told ruling party members he was willing to consider the plan. The same month, opposition activists announced they had elected a 143-member “national council” that would explore ways to replace Mr. Saleh and enact political reforms.

Mr. Saleh remains in Saudi Arabia, recovering from injuries sustained during a June attack on his presidential compound in Sana'a. He has not returned to Yemen since seeking medical care in Saudi Arabia.