President Ali Abdullah Saleh sacked the government on Sunday and later reappointed it as a caretaker government until a new government is formed.

The decision included ordering the government to manage the ordinary public affairs but there were no new appointments.

It came amid the escalating protests demanding the ouster of the regime across the republic and two days after killing 52 protesters and injuring hundreds, tens seriously, in the square of change outside Sana'a University.

Security forces out of uniform and pro-Saleh thugs sniped and shot dead the protesters after hundreds of thousands finished the Friday prayers in the square, where tens of thousands have been conducting a sit-in demanding the departure of Saleh for more than a month.

The move also came after collective resignations of officials including ministers, Yemeni ambassadors and other senior officials from their posts and from the General People's Congress, the ruling party.