Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh has ordered the creation of a special committee to start dialogue with opposition leaders, local media reported on Friday.
Protesters in Yemen are demanding the resignation of the U.S.-backed president, who has been in power for 32 years.
The committee, headed by Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Megawar, is expected to start talks with protesters to hear their demands.
Thousands of people gathered in a main square in the Yemeni capital of Sana'a for Friday prayers that were expected to be followed by mass rallies demanding the president's resignation.
Yemen has been hit by the wave of unrest that has swept through the Arab world, toppling authoritarian regimes in Tunisia and Egypt and stoking mass popular uprisings in Libya and Bahrain.
ABU DHABI, February 25 (RIA Novosti)
