Saleh refuses to leave Yemen

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SANAA, Yemen, March 16 (UPI) -- Former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh says he won't leave the country until his enemies depart.

Thousands of youth activists protested this week, calling for Saleh's prosecution and demanding he leave the country.

Saleh left office last month after decades of rule under an agreement brokered by the Gulf Cooperation Council to end months of protests and violence. He was replaced by President Abed Rabu Mansour Hadi, the only candidate on the ballot in the country's presidential election.

Gen. Ali Mohsen tops Saleh's enemies list, an aide told CNN. Others on the list include members of the powerful Ahmar tribal family who battled Saleh's forces last year before Saleh was seriously wounded in an assassination attempt.

Saleh, in an address to the media, said he refuses to leave his homeland when he knows "traitors and foes" are threatening the very existence of the republic, Bikya Masr reported Friday.

Opposition groups say Saleh is violating the brokered power-transfer agreement by meddling in politics, adding Saleh's family members remain in control of Yemen's armed forces.