Saleh agrees to quit by Jan 2012: top official

SANAA: Yemen's embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh has agreed to leave office by January 2012 after a parliamentary election, 20 months earlier than planned, a top official told AFP on Tuesday.

Saleh has proposed organising a "parliamentary election before the end of 2011 to pave the way for parliament to elect a new president at the beginning of 2012," said the official on condition of anonymity.

He said it was part of an initiative by Saleh, who has previously insisted on staying in office until his latest