Sana'a: Yemen's parliament on Saturday agreed in principle to make constitutional amendments that could see President Ali Abdullah Saleh rule for life ahead of a formal vote later this year, an AFP journalist reported.
Despite opposition protests and calls by the United States for a vote delay, some 170 members of Saleh's General People's Congress (GPC) party voted in favour of the constitutional amendments.
Only two independent MPs who attended the meeting called for postponing the vote which sparked an opposition sit-in outside parliament on Saturday.
In line with the constitution the amendments will be discussed in detail again on March 1.
On Friday, the United States urged Yemen's parliament not to go ahead with any move to amend the constitution,
"We continue to believe that the interests of the Yemeni people will be best served through... negotiations," State Department acting spokesman Mark Toner said in a statement.
