Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh says he will step down from power “in the coming days.”

He made the announcement in a speech broadcast by state-run television Saturday. Mr. Saleh has led Yemen for 33 years, but the country has been increasingly paralyzed by nearly nine months of unrest, and repeated mass protests have demanded his departure.

Opposition activists say there can be no reforms in Yemen until Mr. Saleh leaves office. He was out of the country for nearly four months this, recuperating in Saudi Arabia for wounds he suffered in an attack in early June, but did not yield his presidential powers.

The six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council has held lengthy talks on a plan that would have Mr. Saleh step down in favor of a deputy. In recent weeks and months negotiators believed they were just hours away from arranging a transition of power, but in each case the agreement stalled.

Separately, an explosion rocked a police station in the southern city of Aden on Saturday. Officials say the blast killed one security officer and wounded at least five peope.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. Al-Qaida-linked militants have strongholds in several southern towns.

Opposition activists urged protesters across Yemen Saturday to rally in support of Tawakkul Karman.

The Yemeni woman, a prominent opposition figure, is one of three recipients of this year's Nobel Peace Prize. After Friday's announcement in Oslo, Karman said she is dedicating the prize to the “youth of the revolution in Yemen.”