Ali Abdullah Saleh's injuries from a rocket attack on his palace at the weekend were more serious than previously reported, a Yemeni official said, raising further questions about his rule.Saleh was initially said to have received a shrapnel wound, and his vice president was quoted on Monday as saying the president would return to Yemen within days from Saudi Arabia where he is being treated.
The Yemeni official reiterated comments by a U.S. official, saying Saleh was in a more serious condition with burns over roughly 40 percent of his body. Britain called on Tuesday for an orderly transition of power from Saleh.
In the capital Sanaa, thousands of protesters gathered in front of the Yemeni vice president's residence on Tuesday, demanding the acting leader for Saleh form a transitional council to create a new government.
Outside the peaceful protest in the capital of Sanaa, battles raged in a southern town held by Islamist militants.
Around 4,000 demonstrators in Sanaa, who have been calling for Saleh to step down for five months, called for a "million-man march" for him to stay in Saudi Arabia, where he has been treated for injuries since an attack on Friday.
"The people want to form a transitional council, we will not sleep, we will not sit until the council is formed," the protesters chanted.
Protesters carried banners saying "The blood of the liberated achieved victory," while others waved banners saying "Our revolution is Yemeni, not Gulf or American."
"We will remain in front of the residence of the vice president for 24 hours to pressure him for the formation of a transitional council," youth activist Omar al-Qudsi said.
"The era of Saleh has ended," he told Reuters.
