Qatar quits Gulf plan for Yemen, cites delays

Qatar's withdrawal came just as the opposition said the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), of which it is a member, was sending its secretary-general to Yemen to revive the stalled deal.

The accord has been teetering on the brink of collapse for weeks as Saleh, a shrewd political survivor in power for 33 years, refused to sign the deal.

The plan was mainly backed by regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia to halt weeks of bloodshed, but the withdrawal of Qatar, which has mediated in several conflicts in the Middle East and Africa, was a further psychological blow.

"Qatar was forced to take this action because of the stalling in signing the proposed agreement ...the continued escalation, the intensity of the confrontations and a lack of wisdom," the Qatari state news agency QNA reported, citing a Foreign Ministry official.

Saleh has accused Qatar of funding the opposition in Yemen and said the gas-rich Gulf state's pan-Arab television channel Al Jazeera has provoked the protests.

Yemeni forces fired machineguns to halt a protest against Saleh on Thursday, wounding dozens in the southern city of Taiz and two protesters were killed in another southern city.